The South Florida Real Estate Market In July

I. THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME MARKET

After the party comes the after-party. Or the hang-over. 

And as so often, that’s the case here with July housing numbers. No wonder: June sales stats were exceptional, while in July the general public experienced a Congressional budget debate that was without precedence... (full article at http://www.modernsouthflorida.com/current-market-data.html)

DIY Security Check for (Modern) Homes III: Windows

In part III of the Do-It-Yourself Security Check for Modern Homes (I had to find a modern tie-in somehow, no?), we’ll examine your windows to see whether they are an open invitation to criminals.

Check ground-floor and basement windows

Ground-floor and basement windows are more likely to be targeted than those on the second floor, and deserve the most attention. The exception is those second-floor windows that can be easily accessed by a deck or other elevated structure outside the home.

Start your home security check by looking at your ground-floor windows from afar. Are they blocked by high shrubbery? Bushes give ideal cover for someone planning to break or force open a window; cut greenery back so that front windows are fully visible from the street. And do not forget your basement windows.

Keep locks locked

Make sure all windows can be opened, closed, and locked with relative ease—and then remember to keep them locked whenever you’re not around. The biggest problem that occurs with windows is when home owners exit their home and leave windows wide open.

In spring and fall, when daytime temperatures swing and windows are frequently opened and closed, get in the habit of locking windows as you shut them.

Install simple security devices

Add blocking devices to the most easily accessed windows so they can’t be opened from outside:

• Wooden dowels placed in the track block windows that slide horizontally, and require no installation.
• Steel locking pins (about $7 each), inserted in small holes that must be drilled through the frames, prevent vertically-sliding windows from being opened.
• Aluminum clamps with thumbscrews can be affixed to casement windows, preventing them from being opened too wide for a person to reach or get through
• Your friendly neighborhood hardware store can advise you on other lock types which are easy to mount and inexpensive

Should you install a home security system later, the pros will install glass-break sensors on your most vulnerable windows.

Check garage windows

Garage windows are often forgotten—give them a home security check to make sure they’re securely locked. Install curtains or apply translucent security film on garage windows so that valuables aren’t readily visible. Thieves are more likely to attempt a break-in if they see items worth stealing.

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Next installment: Your home office.

Based on an article series by Joseph D'Agnese for the National Association of Realtors®

Security Check for (Modern) Homes, part II

This from the Dept. Boring-But-Useful:

Mid-century modern home or fake Spanish Revival MacMansion: burglars don’t discriminate, certainly not when it comes to building styles. Any home can be burglarized, especially when times are tough. Unemployment is up, and so are property crimes.

It is difficult to make a house completely burglar-proof, but it is rather easy to increase your odds dramatically. In the second of a five-part series on home security, let's look at your doors.

Doors are First Line of Defense. Protect against break-ins with a security check that shows where the entrances to your house – your doors – are vulnerable.

Think like a burglar

First, stand back: is your front door visible from the street, or is it obscured by bushes? A door that's covered by shrubbery offers thieves the perfect chance to break in without being seen. Trim back or remove shrubbery that offers cover for potential intruders.

Upgrade strike plates and deadbolts

Open all doors and check the strike plates, the metal fittings that catch bolts and latches. Chances are, they're fastened to the soft wood of the door jamb with two screws only. Not good. Upgrade security with four-screw strike plates ($3) and 3-inch screws that bite all the way into the stud behind the jamb.

When conducting your home security check, make sure exterior doors have deadbolts that throw at least a 1-inch bolt. Ask your locksmith to upgrade to Grade 1 or Grade 2 locksets and deadbolts ($25 to $80), the most secure options.

Check garage doors

Back doors and garage doors are more likely to be attacked than the front door. If you have an attached garage, disable the automatic opener and lock the garage door before you go away on a long trip. The door leading from the garage into the house should be outfitted with the same hardware as exterior doors and kept locked at all times.

Patio doors are vulnerable

Sliding doors leading to a patio can be a home's weak spot. To beef up security:

• Closely inspect the doors and their hardware.
• Replace any missing or broken locks.
• Consider installing locking pins to prevent the doors from sliding.
• Get into the habit of locking the doors, not just the screen, when patio doors are unattended.

Replace your entry door

Check the construction of your entry doors. Steel, solid wood, and impact-resistant fiberglass are all good choices for security. If you must have glass, make sure it is tempered or reinforced for added strength. Expect to pay $1,400 to $2,300 for an exterior replacement door, including installation.

Strengthen the lock on your outdoor storage shed

Don't ignore the doors on your outdoor storage shed, especially if you store tools there; they could be useful to a burglar. As with house doors, the best option is a secure deadbolt. If your shed doors are unable to accommodate a deadbolt, a heavy-duty slide bolt ($15 to $25) secured by a padlock is a good substitute.

Now, doesn't it feel good to increase the odds in "You-against-burglar" in your favour?
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Next installment: Windows.

Based on an article series by Joseph D'Agnese for the National Association of Realtors

Home Security Check, part I

Burglars do not discriminate, certainly not when it comes to building styles: modern or not, any home can be burglarized. And though it is difficult to make a house burglar-proof, it is rather easy to increase your odds dramatically.

In the first of a five-part series on home security, let's start with the overall perspective.

The first step toward protecting your home from break-ins is to conduct a home security check that will show where your property is most vulnerable.

This step-by-step list, arranged according to the hierarchy of risk, is a good place to start.


Your home's appearance

Burglars want an easy target, so try to think like a burglar. Stand on the street outside your house and ask yourself: Does this property look neglected, hidden, or uninhabited? A front door or walkway obscured by shrubbery offers crooks the perfect cover they need while they break a door or window.

Consider trimming shrubs away from windows, widening front walks, and installing outdoor lighting with motion detectors. Simple motion-activated floodlights cost less than $50, and installing them is an easy DIY job if the wiring is already in place. All sides of your house should be well-lit, not just the front.


Doors: The first line of defense

Are your front and back doors vulnerable? Steel, solid wood, and impact-resistant fiberglass are all good choices for security.

Open all doors and check the strike plates, the metal fittings that catch bolts and latches. If they are fastened to the soft wood of the door jamb with two screws: you need to upgrade (details on how to upgrade and what to install in the next post “Doors”.)

Especially vulnerable are back doors and garage side doors. If you have an attached garage, secure the door by disabling the automatic opener and locking the door before you go away on a long trip. The door leading from the garage into the house should be outfitted with the same hardware as all other exterior doors and be kept locked at all times.


Windows

In order of risk, ground-floor and basement windows are more likely to be attacked than second-floor windows. The exception is second-floor windows that can be easily accessed, by a deck or other elevated structure outside the home. Make sure all windows can be opened, closed, and locked with relative ease–and then remember to lock them. The biggest problem with windows is that homeowners leave the house and leave them wide open.

Don’t ignore the doors and windows on your garage as well as an outdoor storage shed, especially if you store tools such as ladders, saws, screwdrivers, and hammers, any of which would be handy to a burglar. As with house doors, the best option is a secure deadbolt. Hasp closures are easily defeated because someone can insert a crowbar behind the hasp and snap it.


Patio doors

It's relatively easy to lift a set of older patio doors off the track, even when they are locked. Don't attempt to do this on your audit, but take time to inspect the doors and hardware. Replace any missing or broken locks, and consider installing and using locking pins to prevent them from sliding.

Consider your family's habits: Do you leave the patio doors open all summer? Locking the screen door isn't good enough; it keeps out bugs, not thieves. Get in the habit of closing and locking patio doors when they're unattended or you're not home.


Safeguarding household valuables

Thieves want easy-to-grab electronics, cash, jewelry, and other valuables, though some are not above running down the street with your flat-screen TV. Most make a beeline for the master bedroom, because that's where we're likely to hide spare cash, jewelry, even guns.

Tour each room and ask yourself: Is there anything here that I can move to a safe deposit box? Alternatively consider a home safe, bolted to your basement slab–a good spot for everything else. These safes come in various sizes, from drawer-safes to wall safes that go between wall studs to free-standing monsters, not to forget dummy can-safes. The rule: anything that costs a burglar time helps you. Run a search on amazon.com for safes, and you'll get a good overview of cost and availability.

Have you made a video inventory of other items of value in your home? Are you properly insured for theft? Understand that high-ticket items in your home office, such as computers, professional camera equipment, or other business essentials, may require an additional rider or a separate policy. And take steps to back up the personal information stored on your home computer.

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In the next installment: Doors.

Based on an article series by Joseph D'Agnese for the National Association of Realtors

The Kronish house by Richard Neutra in Beverly Hills threatened by demolition – for sale at $13.995M

For the first time in 30 years, this Richard Neutra Beverly Hills home has been offered for sale. In essence, it was listed as a tear-down in April for $13.995 million, with no real photos and no mention of the name Neutra. Those details were added a few weeks later.

Named for its original owner, Herbert Kronish, and built in 1954, the one-story house sits at the end of a 250-foot-long driveway on a 2-acre, flag-shaped lot with mature trees and a swimming pool.

With 6,891 square feet of living space, six bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms, the contemporary home is the Modernist architect’s largest in Southern California, according to his son, Dion Neutra. Walls of glass open to a terrace that steps down to the pool.

Dion Neutra, who runs Neutra Architects, says that the owners have refused to let anyone in to photograph the house and that he's hoping any plans for demolition can be stopped. Beverly Hills doesn't have strong preservation laws and has let other mid-century houses by big names bite the dust.

Eyewitness reports from commenters say the house is in bad shape, but it is large (6,891 square feet) and it does have a pool. Either way, a buyer will end up with a two acre flag lot off Sunset and an occasional next door neighbor named Madonna.

Commenting on the fact that a demolition permit has been applied for but not yet granted – or so it seems –  blogger Barbara Lamprecht writes

“The proposed demolition of any work anywhere by a master architect is automatically discretionary. Period.”

Please email me if you are interested in preserving this important property.

Via:
http://neutra.org/kronish.html
http://architectureforsale.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/richard-neutra-kronish-house-in-beverly-hills/
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/07/neutradesigned_kronish_house_looks_headed_for_demolition.php
http://barbaralamprecht.com

A Day of Architecture

Update: 2012 dates are June 23 and 24, 2012. The main event site has not been updated yet... let me know if you need help translating ;-)

For the 17th year in a row (!), in June Germany celebrated a “Day of Architecture” throughout the whole country, with 1668 open-house-projects in nearly every state. Organized by the Architekten-Kammern (Architect Chambers, the German equivalents to state AIA chapters), the focus this year was on modern and contemporary residential projects, which generated intense interest from a curious public.

The 2011 event, under the motto “Better Living. With Architects” (which probably did not mean to imply that you necessarily live better if you share your bed with an architect), tackled subjects such as new forms of living, demographic changes, new use-concepts and building without barriers for handicapped residents.

The “Day of Architecture” – actually whole a weekend, always the last one in June – is such a success that it has become a permanent item in the annual calendar of every architecture-crazed fan as well as the professionals (except this writer, who only learned about in late June). US-style “open houses” are otherwise unknown in Germany, but on this weekend, builders, owners and architects fling open their doors to let the public romp through their new homes, renovated buildings and rehabed interiors.

A selection of interesting projects from all states in Germany can be seen here (use the arrows next to “Bildauswahl” to scroll through the photos on that page; click on a photo to read a brief description in German; click on the link under the word “Projekt” to get a detailed description).

Some of the featured projects (below not linked):

Have a Great Independence Weekend!

A mid-century-modern summer pool scene, Strümp/Germany 1958. Photo © G.Kaiser