Socal Multiunit Real Estate

Computer Use California and the Nation

Computer Use California and the Nation

 We’re a bit of a statistics fiend, and although statistics on computer use among ethnic groups is not necessarily realy estate related, we found the information fascinating none the less….Three in four Californians (75%) use a computer at home, school, or work, a statistic that has held steady since 2000. A 2008 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found similar results (74%) nationwide. The percentage of Californians who use the Internet has increased since 2000, from 65 percent to 70 percent. Today, Californians and adults across the nation are equally likely to have Internet access at home (63% vs. 62% in the 2008 Pew survey) and a broadband connection (55% each).White, Black, Older Californians Increase UseDifferences emerge in the way demographic groups use technology.

• Race/ethnicity: Since 2000, computer use has grown among whites (79% to 85%) and blacks (76% to 83%), as has Internet use (70% to 81% for whites, 60% to 82% for blacks). Among Latinos, computer use has declined (64% to 58%) and Internet use is unchanged (47% to 48%). Asians have seen declines in both their use of computers (91% to 81%) and the Internet (84% to 80%).
• Age and income: Internet use has grown sharply among those age 55 and older (42% to 58%), but not among adults with household incomes less than $40,000 (47% to 49%). Adults under age 35 are more likely to use the Internet (78%) than older adults. Almost all adults with household incomes of $80,000 or more use computers (94%) and the Internet (92%).

Fewer Latinos Have Computers, Web Access at Home A digital divide is also apparent among ethnic/racial groups, income levels, and regions when comparing rates of computer ownership, Internet access, and broadband connections at home.

• Race/ethnicity: Less than half of Latinos (48%) have a home computer compared to about eight in 10 or more for whites (86%), Asians (84%), and blacks (79%). Just four in 10 Latinos (40%) have Internet access and a third (34%) broadband connection at home. In contrast, majorities in other racial or ethnic groups have both Internet access and broadband.
• Income: Among households with incomes under $40,000, half have home computers, but only four in 10 (40%) have home Internet access and just a third (33%) have broadband. At higher income levels, overwhelming majorities of Californians have home computers, Internet access, and broadband.
• Region: Majorities in each region of the state say they have home computers and Internet access, but Los Angeles residents report lower rates of broadband connection (48%) than residents in the San Francisco Bay Area (65%), Orange County/San Diego (58%), Inland Empire (56%), and Central Valley (53%). Rural residents are somewhat less likely than urban residents to have a computer (65% vs. 73%), Internet connection (58% vs. 63%), or broadband (51% vs. 56%).

What Are Californians Doing Online?Californians are far more likely than they were in 1999 (PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government, September 1999) to report that they go online to shop (52% vs. 30% in 1999) or get news about current events (55% vs. 43% in 1999), and slightly more likely to seek information about their work or jobs (49% vs. 45% in 1999). Half of Californians (50%) look for health information online or visit government websites. Less than half (47%) bank or manage finances online or look for community events and activities (47%). Fewer go online to use government resources, such as downloading forms (43%); get housing or real estate information (40%); engage in education activities, such as taking a class (27%); or use social networking sites (26%), such as Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn.Stark differences emerge in the way demographic groups use the Internet. Latinos are more likely than they were in 1999 to go online for news (35% vs. 28%), but far less likely to do so than whites (67%), blacks (62%), and Asians (61%). Comparing age groups, most people under age 35 (62%) and between ages 35 and 54 (61%) get news online, compared to 41 percent of residents age 55 and older.While more Latinos report shopping on the web today (29% vs. 16% in 1999), they are far less likely than whites (67%), blacks (63%), or Asians (58%) to research or make purchases online. Among other differences:

• Health information: While half of Californians say they get health information online, lower income adults (30%) and Latinos (31%) are the least likely to do so.
• Social networking: Half of residents under age 35 use social networking sites, compared to 20 percent in the 35-54 age group and 8 percent of adults over age 55.
• School websites: More than half of parents (56%) visit their children’s school websites. However, only 30 percent of those with household incomes under $40,000 do so, compared to 84 percent of those with incomes of $80,000 or more.

Who’s Texting?Some experts have suggested that mobile devices may be the platform to bridge the digital divide because a phone and service plan costs less than a computer and Internet connection. In California, 75 percent of all adults and solid majorities in all demographic categories have cell phones. Whites (83%) and blacks (78%) are more likely than Asians (72%) and Latinos (63%) to have cell phones.  Nearly six in 10 use their cell phones to send or receive text messages, and younger residents (87%) are the most likely to do so. They are also most likely to use their cell phones for email or to access the Internet. Overall, one in four Californians uses cell phones for email (26%) or to go online (25%).More Key Findings:

• More have DSL connections – Page 12
  To access the Internet, 29 percent have DSL, 19 percent have cable modems, 5 percent have wireless, and 2 percent have fiber optic or T-1 connections. Just 7 percent have dial-up connections.
• Most say cities should provide free wireless – Page 19
  As local governments consider the benefits and difficulties of providing free wireless Internet access, 67 percent of Californians say it is a good idea and 26 percent say it is a bad one.
• Comfort with technology, worries about security – Pages 20, 21
  Internet users are comfortable using technology but less confident that they can keep viruses and spyware out of their computers. They’re even less confident about the security and privacy of financial transactions online.
• Californians concerned about digital divide – Page 22
  Two-thirds (65%) think Californians in lower-income areas are less likely to have broadband Internet access, and nearly as many (62%) are at least somewhat concerned about the disparities.

About the SurveyThis is the first survey in a series on public opinion and information technology conducted with funding from the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and ZeroDivide. The report is based on a telephone survey of 2,503 California adult residents, including 2,253 interviewed on landline telephones and 250 on cell phones, conducted between June 3 and June 17, 2008. Interviews were conducted in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Korean. The sampling error for the 2,503 adults is +/- 2%. The sampling error for subgroups is larger.  All the info can be had at @ http://www.ppic.org/main/pressrelease.asp?p=851  

Multiunits: 1of 3 Areas of Real Estate Expected to Boom

Multiunits: 1of 3 Areas of Real Estate Expected to Boom 

David Lee, who has managed the $2.5 billion T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund (TRREX) since it opened in October 1997, says the following areas of the housing market are either doing well now or soon will be.

Mall companies. “There’s good scarcity value in regional malls and not a lot of construction going on in the mall business,” he notes. “Short of going bankrupt, we’re not convinced that all these retailers can close their way to profitability. They’re going to continue to pay rents to have stores in the highly profitable malls.”

Residential apartment communities. “If you can’t buy a home, you have to rent.”

Industrial REITs (or real estate investment trusts). Warehouses are pretty economically sensitive right now, Lee says.

Source: Business Week (07/02/08)

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008070702?OpenDocument

GREEN YOUR BUILDINGS WITHOUT DEBT

GREEN YOUR BUILDINGS WITHOUT DEBT 

BOMA - The Building Owners and Managers Association International- has unveiled a standardized contract that allows building owners to reduce energy costs via retrofitting their buildings and at the same time finance those retrofits without placing additional debt on their buildings. The model contract, developed by BOMA in cooperation with the Clinton Climate Initiative, is an agreement between an energy service provider and a building owner in which the energy service provider guarantees to save the building owner a certain amount of money on energy costs each year by retrofitting a building. In return, the building owner agrees to pay the energy services provider out of the savings realized through the retrofit.

   The new BOMA-CCI model energy performance contract is designed to overcome those obstacles by providing a standardized contract that addresses all of the legal and technical issues involved in negotiating such a deal, and it also provides a blueprint for financing the contract via a lease between the building owner and the energy services provider. Henry Chamberlain, president and CEO of BOMA stated the association’s objective was to create “a turn-key program and a simplified contract” for building owners. Get all the details @ http://www.globest.com/news/1185_1185/denver/171797-1.html 

Apartment Rents Rise in 2nd Quarter

Apartment Rents Rise in 2nd Quarter

The average apartment rent, including concessions, rose 1.1 percent in the second quarter to $994 a month, up from the 0.8 rise in the first quarter, according to Reis, a real estate research firm. This was slightly less than the 1.3 percent increase in the second quarter of 2008.

The average asking rent rose only 1 percent, indicating that landlords did not have to offer as many months free rent or other concessions to attract tenants.

The U.S. apartment vacancy rate stood firm at 5.9 percent, slightly more than last year’s 5.8 percent.

Of the top 79 markets that Reis tracks, the New York market remained the tightest with vacancy unchanged at 2.2 percent. Jacksonville, Fla., was the weakest with vacancies at 10.8 percent.

Source: Reuters News, Ilaina Jonas

http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2008070705

SANTA MONICA’S LANDMARK MAJESTIC/MAYFAIR THEATRE MULTIUNIT PROJECT IS GREENLIGHTED

SANTA MONICA’S LANDMARK MAJESTIC/MAYFAIR THEATRE MULTIUNIT PROJECT IS GREENLIGHTED

by Jodi Summers

Since the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Santa Monica�s landmark Mayfair Theatre has piqued the interested of many a real estate developer. All along, the building�s owner, Karl Schober and Santa Monica�s Architectural Review Board have been negotiating the future.

�The place was trashed by the earthquake,� said Karl Schober, who owns the building. �The guts of the Theatre collapsed.�
After years of negotiation the ARB and Schober have finally agreed on a design - what remains of the old structure will become the fa�ade of a new 34-unit apartment building with retail on the ground floor, adjacent to the hugely popular Third Street Promenade.
Of the apartments, 60 percent will be one-bedroom units and 40 percent will have two bedrooms. Of the two-bedroom apartments, three will be set aside for very low-income tenants, said architect David Forbes Hibbert.
�We have tried to make a simple structure … so as not to overshadow the existing building,� Hibbert stated.

Legend had it that Santa Monica�s Majestic Theatre, originally built in 1911, was the oldest legitimate Theatre operating in Los Angeles. Designed by Henry Hollwedel the Churrigeuresco-style building at 212-216 Santa Monica Blvd. The Roccoco structure was dessimated in the Northridge earthquake, and has remained under scaffolding for the past 14 years.

When it was known as the Majestic, the Theatre was one of Los Angeles County�s premier opera houses. When the Majestic became the Mayfair Theatre, it was a single-screen Theatre that seated 602.
Details from:
http://www.santamonicalandmarks.com/landmk29.html
http://www.smdp.com/article/articles/3422/1/New-day-for-the-Mayfair/Page1.html
http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2008/March-2008/03_19_08_Rebirth_of_a_Landmark.htm

SANTA MONICA RENT CONTROL GRIPE

By Jodi Summers

It is astounding how local, state and federal governments hold landlords responsible for so many things.

After a brief meeting and credit check a landlord is expected to take on the liabilities of a virtual stranger, and then be held responsible because that tenant is an Illegal aliens, smokes, has pets, trims a neighbor’s tree, has a bad temper.

Our city’s Rent Control board do their best to make multiunit ownership undesirable Santa Monica, CA.

As an incorporated city, Santa Monica has created their own special set of rules, which can be a deterrent to unseasoned property investment owners and developers.

This week’s grumble, instead following the City of L.A. example and allowing landlords to raise rent 4% every year, the City of Santa Monica devises an annual General Rent Adjustment which seldom if ever equals the annual cost of living increase. For example, this year’s proposed General Rent Adjustment is 2.7% .