Former Long Beach City Council Members Home-Sold in Foreclosure Auction

The Wall Street Journal reports:  The Sacramento home of Rep. Laura Richardson was sold in a public auction two weeks ago for $388,000. The Southern California Democrat bought the house for $535,000 with no money down in January 2007 and owed nearly $575,000 to Washington Mutual when the mortgage was sold earlier this month at a significant loss to Red Rock Mortgage Inc.

Rep. Richardson, a former Long Beach city council member, bought the home after winning a seat in California's state assembly. She maintains her primary residence, a four-bedroom home, in her Long Beach district. Months later, Rep. Richardson ran in a hard-fought election for the congressional seat, which was vacated when the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald died from cancer. To fund that campaign, Rep. Richardson lent herself more than $75,000 and stopped making payments on the Sacramento home around the same time. 

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Posted on May 23, 2008 04:05:05 by Laurie.Manny

Memorial Day Weekend in Long Beach California

Memorial Day 2008 - in and around Long Beach California

Start Your Engines?

Not!

With the high cost of Gasoline many are planning the holiday weekend closer to home this year.  If you are planning a trip you may find the AAA fuel cost calculator to be a handy tool. 

Long Beach provides many wonderful forms of entertainment making it easier to play close to home. 

Things to do in Rainbow Harbor:

• Rent a speedboat
• Rent a jet ski
• Bicycle Boats
• Rent a Kayak
• Go Sailing
• Fishing
• Whale Watching
• Scuba Dive Charters
• Private Charters
• Yacht Charters
• Harbor Tours
• Harbor Cruises
• Private Charters
• Tall Ship American Pride Educational & Charter Tours
• Romance Charters
• Aqua Link
• Aqua Bus
• Dream Cruises
• Educational Expeditions to Catalina & Channel Islands
• Rainbow Rocket-Ride
• Guest Day Mooring Area
• Dockside Boat & Bed - Spend the night on a Yacht

Things To Do in Long Beach:

• Shoreline Village / Rainbow Harbor
• RMS Queen Mary
• Aquarium of the Pacific
• Harbor Breeze Cruises
• Scorpion submarine
• Comedy Murder Mystery Dinner Cruises
• The Tallship American Pride
• Long Beach Sport Fishing and Whale Watching
• Catalina Express
• The Pike
• Gameworks
• East Village Arts District
• Museum of Latin American Art
• Pine Avenue
• Romantic Gondola
• Luxury Yacht Rental
• Party Cruises
• Romantic Gondola Ride - Naples Island
• Earl Burns Japanese Gardens at UCLB
• Long Beach Museum of Art
• Cohiba Club on Pine
• El Dorado Nature Center
• Long Beach Parks
• Long Beach Fire Department Museum
• Rancho Los Alamitos -Historic Ranch and Gardens
• Rancho Los Cerritos
• Wayfarers Chapel

Local Beaches of Long Beach California:

Alamitos Beach from Alamitos to 15th Place. You can glide, ride or stride along the waters edge on the main beach from Alamitos Avenue on the west to 54th Place on the east on the 3.1-mile, 17-foot-wide Shoreline Pedestrian Bike Path. Two six foot lanes are for bicycle traffic and one five foot lane is for pedestrians. You can rent skates, bikes, umbrellas and beach chairs at Alfredos.

Bayshore Beach at 5415 E. Ocean Blvd. offers access to Alamitos Bay and other diversions such as:

• basketball,
• volleyball
• handball courts
• play equipment for the kids

Belmont Plaza Beach at 4000 Olympic Plaza is close to the bike path and Belmont Pier. Be sure to get a front row seat (bring your own chair!) for exciting California Beach Volleyball Association events.

Belmont Shore Beach from 39th Place to 54th Place, and Peninsula Beach from 54th to 72nd Place offer long stretches of white sand, volleyball courts and beautiful scenery.

Colorado Lagoon at 5119 E. Colorado St. offers calm waters, picnic areas and a nautical themed playground.

Junipero Beach from 15th to 39th Place can be conveniently accessed from Ocean Blvd. on Junipero Avenue which ends at a beach parking lot.

Marine Park at 5839 Appian Way is known as 'Mothers Beach because of its popularity among families with small children. All ages can relax and enjoy the day with shallow, calm waters, a lifeguard station, restrooms and play equipment.

The next chance you have to spend a day at the beach, remember that some of the best ones are right here in Long Beach.

History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states...Read More>>>

Memorial Day Events in Long Beach California:

May 26...Memorial Day Picnic on the Lawn of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Downtown Long Beach 

Times: 11a.m. - 1:30p.m.

Join us for a Memorial Day Picnic on the Front lawn of the Aquarium.  Menu:  Grilled Rosemary Tri-tip, Honey BBQ Chicken, Chipotle BBQ Ribs, Hot Dogs, and much more.  Cost:  Members- Adults - $16, Kids 3-11  $9,  Non-Members-Adult $26, Kids 3-11 $19.  For your reservations and more info call 562/590-3100.

Fly the flag at half-staff from dawn until noon in observance of the holiday. 

Memorial Day Ceremonies, Forest Lawn - Long Beach, Paradise Mosaic Forecourt, Long Beach, CA.

Highlights include color guards, bagpiper, a wreath placement ceremony, roll call of deceased veterans, Presidential Proclamation, a parade of flags by local veterans, and patriotic music.  For more information, call: (800) 204-3131 ext. 4743.  

Going out to Celebrate? 

Celebrate too much?   You can get a free ride home from the Scooter Patrol. To make reservations call 577-7365.

Long Beach, Belmont Shores

Scooter Patrol, Inc.

Long Beach, CA  

(562) 577-7365

Sunset Beach, Newport, Huntington, Seal Beach

Scooter Patrol, Inc. 

(714) 240-3534

Call a Taxi:

Taxi Services

275 Redondo Ave, Long Beach
(310) 374-8440

Long Beach Yellow Cab
(562) 435-6111

LA Yellow Cab TOLL-FREE:

1-800 TAXICAB
(800) 829-4222

Some of us will be working through the weekend.  Prices on homes for sale in Long Beach have become very desirable, many buyers are out shopping now.  There are currently many out of towners here in Long Beach looking for investment properties and finding great buys. 

I wish you all a safe and enjoyable weekend. 

Posted on May 22, 2008 19:02:36 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Real Estate - A Peek Inside the Business of Selling Long Beach Real Estate

Here on our Long Beach Real Estate site I usually write purely real estate related articles targeted at educating and informing buyers and sellers of Long Beach Real Estate. Today I would like to give you a little peek into the business side of things and explain how they can affect the sale or purchase of your Long Beach homes.

In a recently published post I disclosed the 2008 closed sales in Long Beach; 674 of them, through 4/30/08. While the chart shows the sales increasing each month, the sales figures are still very low. (Includes sales of homes, condos, lofts, co-ops, Oyos, 2-4 units and 5+ units as recorded on the MLS)

• Jan 130
• Feb 153
• Mar 179
• Apr 212
• Total: 674

These are difficult times for those of us surviving in the real estate industry. Going into this down market there were about 2900 licensed Realtors on record, there are currently about 1600 licensees active in the Long Beach area. Every market will support a certain amount of agents based on the closed sales of that market. Each agent needs a certain amount of closed sales in order to survive. Lets assume that 8 to 10 closed sales for the year are required for a Realtor to even survive this market; 674 closed sales would produce 8 to 10 sales for the year, for between 200 and 250 Realtors. Those sales are currently spread across 1600 current licensees, which would equate to less than ½ of a sale for each Realtor for the first 4 months of 2008.

In the real estate industry we have an 80/20 saying. It states that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. 20% of 1600 agents = 320 which would equate to about 2 closed sales for the majority of the 20% still doing business.

So how are 1600 Realtors surviving a market with sales that will currently only support 200 to 250?

• Some have other income, or a spouse or significant other with income.
• Some have taken on Part or Full time jobs, while trying to juggle their real estate.
• Some have anticipated this market and made plans to survive it.
• Some are making enough sales to manage.

What of the 80%? That is 1280 agents, still active, for the last 4 months. How are they surviving with little or no sales? Well, they either have spousal support a trust fund or they have accepted salaried positions. Lets take a look at that. Real estate is a more than full time job; it is a commitment which permeates every hour of every day of our lives. Real estate transactions require a lot of attention on a daily basis. Escrow, title, lenders, inspections, appraisers banks and more need to be attended to, mostly during normal business hours. Buyers need to see properties around their schedules which often means after work or weekend showings. Sellers properties often need tending, flyers run out; keys go missing from a lock box or end up in another box on the same property. A pipe may burst on a listing with an out of town owner; anything can happen. How is an agent who has accepted employment elsewhere, with a set schedule, going to be able to deal with the schedule and responsibilities of a full time Realtor? How does that affect the buyer or seller? Has the agent even disclosed to the buyer or seller that they are not fully available? Do you know if your agent is available to conduct business, full time on your behalf?

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Posted on May 01, 2008 23:00:00 by Laurie.Manny

Colorado Lagoon Park - Long Beach California

I remember when I first moved into Long Beach and drove past Colorado Lagoon.  In my own New York way I asked my friend ˜Whats with the swamp?.  It was looking pretty raggy way back then, but as they say, its come a long way baby! Yesterday I was driving by, it was such a pretty day and the park was so peaceful, I pulled over and took a few pictures. 

Colorado Lagoon is comprised of 41.63 acres of wetland and Marine Education Science Center and is located at 5119 E Colorado St.; they can be reached at (562) 570-1720. Colorado Lagoon Park is bounded on the West by Park Ave; on the South by E Appian Way and E Colorado St; on the North by E 6th St. and Recreation Park 9 Hole Golf Course; and on the East by Monrovia Ave, E 4th St, Haines Ave, E Vermont St., and Orlena Ave. 

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Posted on April 25, 2008 19:13:16 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Elementary Schools Win California Distinguished School Awards in 2008

Long Beach Elementary Schools Win California Distinguished School Awards in 2008.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack OConnell today announced that 343 exemplary California public elementary schools from 189 districts in 39 counties have been selected as 2008 California Distinguished Schools.

The entire list may be viewed at:  California School Recognition Program.

Congratulations to the 5 repeat Long Beach winners for their success!

Special Congratulations to First Time Long Beach Winners of this prestigious award:

Emerson Parkside Academy

Patrick Henry Elementary

Robert E. Lee Elementary

This year, the selection criteria for the Distinguished School program were more stringent than ever. Schools wrote a substantive narrative application and then were subject to an extensive site validation.

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Posted on April 15, 2008 12:00:00 by Laurie.Manny