Stewart Penn - Los Angeles Condo Specialist

As banks have tightened their lending criteria for homebuyers I've noticed a new strategy in their plan to lend money to the public.

My observations are based purely on my own experiences - so I'm curious to hear if fellow ActiveRainers are receiving the same or similar offers that I am from several of the well-known banks.

Over the last few weeks I've started receiving a noticeable increase in the number of offers from a variety of banks (Bank of America, Chase, and Capital One) - but not for credit cards. Instead they're offering $30,000 - $50,000 of unsecured credit for whatever I'd like (debt consolidation, a large purchase, home remodel, or even just extra cash). The ads read I could "use the money for anything".

The offers which are mailed to me (as opposed to questionable email offers), require no collateral and no application fees - and the money could be deposited directly into my checking account.

My question is if they're prepared to lend this kind of money with no security, why are they refusing to offer Home Equity Lines of Credit?

Are the banks simply pandering to regulatory authorities or are they genuinely trying to control out-of-control credit use?

An interesting article on CNN Money today claimed that "bank's prime loan delinquencies are on the rise. As of June 30, 2.19% of the prime loans issued by WaMu in 2007 were already delinquent, compared with 1.40% of prime loans issued in 2005".

So it appears that the bank's nightmare of delinquencies are not over by a long shot. And most banks are needing to shore up their capital reserves. yet the banks seem to be somewhat "schizophrenic" in how they're managing their business. Let me explain my thoughts with this example:

Merrill Lynch sold a $30.6 Billion portfolio of mortgage debt for 22 cents on the dollar yet only received $1.7 Billion in cash, lending the Buyer the balance of the Purchase Price.

Merill Lynch sold it's 20% stake in Bloomberg for $4.43 Billion, yet only received $110 Million in cash, lending the Buyer the balance of the Purchase Price.

Effectively, Merrill raised very little liquid cash for its business activities while simply rearranging it's Balance Sheet items.

Furthermore, the banks appear to have outsourced the disposition of their foreclosed properties. And I'm not referring to their emplying Realtors to list their properties. Some banks process their deals through a third-party processing center, which creates additional delays in communication which protracts the entire process of selling their properties. And we ask why they don't have money to lend to new property buyers?

As more and more Buyers and Sellers use the interenet to research their decision to buy or sell property, online sites are claiming to provide useable statistics for consumers.

My gripe is with Zillow which provides Zestimates for properties.

The "Zestimate" is "Zillow's estimated market value computed using a propretary formula".

I have recently found that an increasing number of Zillow's estimates are way off the mark: I had one Seller show me the Zestimate for his property which was over 20% above the realistic market price for his home; and another property's Zestimate was 20% under the realistic market price of that house.

So I checked my own home and found Zillow's Zestimate was a whopping 56% higher than a realistic selling price in the current market.

I'm tempted to offer my home to Zillow at a small discount to their Zestimate.

Do you know what a "Wind Farm" is?

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. Individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system and communications network - Wikipedia

I was interested to read that New York based Blackstone Group LP - said Tuesday it has partnered with German wind energy developer Windland Energieerzeugungs GmbH to build a wind farm off Germany's northern coast at a cost of more than $1.6 billion.

As far as I'm concerned that a sensible and logical investment in the future.

"The project supports the German government's stated objective of fighting global warming by reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by the year 2020," Blackstone said in a statement.

The 80-turbine wind farm will have a combined generation capacity of 400 megawatts, which when complete will generate roughly 1.6 billion kilowatt hours annually, or enough to supply 500,000 households each year.

Sounds like a promising investment to me.

I absolutely love pizza - so I decided I needed to find the "Ultimate Pizza in Los Angeles".

After eating at many, many pizzerias from Hollywood to Santa Monica, I am happy to report that I have finally found the most delicious, most flavorful, best crust, tastiest ingredients, and overall satisfying pizza available in Los Angeles: Mozza Pizzeria - 641 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038 (at the corner of Melrose) - Phone: (323) 297-0101

Celebrity chef Mario Batali, business partner Joe Bastianich, and Nancy Silverton of La Brea Bakery have created the very finest Pizza in Los Angeles. But this is no ordinary pizza - rather an unusual culinary delight.

Their deserts are unique and also unbelievably delicious.

Reservations are highly recommended to avoid a long wait - but I suggest sitting at the bar where the knowledgeable bar tender can assist you with your choice of an excellent Italian wine to compliment your pizza.

Note: The best pizza I've ever tasted outside of Italy can be found in Waitsfield, Vermont - at a family run restaurant called "American Flatbread".

They make outstanding Pizzas with organic wheat. (My favorite is the "Punctuated Equilibrium" which has kalamata olives, roasted sweet red peppers, goats cheese and garlic. I also add some of their delicious sun-dried tomatoes).

Flatbread founder, George Schenk, writes a weekly dedication to be included in the menus which provides "Food for Thought" for the customers.

I highly recommend a visit when you're in the area - but be prepared for a wait - there's always a line to get in.