The Franchise Tax Board will soon be getting a new computer system, and starting with the 2012 tax year, property owners will be required to break down payments into deductible and non-deductible portions when they file. This change could cause property owners to lose a lot of money in deductions. Up until this point, they claimed the total amount of their property tax bill as provided on the 1098 form by their mortgage company.

Learn more about tax changes from the State of California Franchise Tax Board Website.

Pasadena Heritage will highlight Modern residential architecture on its 35th anniversary Spring Home Tour, American Modern: USC Style and Beyond, to be held on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Though more rare in Pasadena, wonderful examples of mid-century architecture can be found scattered throughout the city. Featured homes were designed by local graduates and teachers from the School of Architecture, University of Southern California and by architects trained elsewhere.

The Cultural Resources of the Recent Past Historic Context Report for the City of Pasadena, prepared by Historic Resources Group and Pasadena Heritage in October of 2007, states “The term “Pasadena” or “USC style” Modernism was coined by architectural historian Esther McCoy, and reflects the profound impact that graduates of the University of Southern California School of Architecture, many of whom lived and worked in Pasadena, had on the architectural landscape of the region. The Pasadena style reflects the unique combination of factors that contributed locally to the City’s postwar architecture, and is best summarized by historian Alson Clark: The postwar Pasadenans managed to combine, successfully, creatively, the post-and-beam rationalism which ultimately came from Neutra, the Arts-and-Crafts tradition of Wright and the Greenes, and the high standards of design and technique perpetuated here by architects like Myron Hunt, Reginald Johnson and Roland Coate into a fresh, convincing expression of residential architecture.”

Tour houses will be open on Sunday, March 25th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Guests drive themselves to the five homes where trained docents will relate information about the architect, the homes, and their original owners. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Pasadena Heritage office at (626) 441-6333 or online at www.pasadenaheritage.org. Ticket prices: $40/$35 for PH Members, $42 day of the event.

If you have never been to the Pasadena Farmers Market, you’re in for a treat. You’ll love the experience of buying directly from local farmers who grows the fresh produce. The Villa Parke Center Farmers’ Market was started in 1980, and the Victory Park Farmers’ Market was started in 1984. They have been open every week since then, rain or shine (with the exception of the week of the Rose Bowl Parade). The Pasadena Farmers Market is proud to have been recognized with the 1997 Arthur Nobel Award for ‘Making Life Better in Pasadena’.

The markets are sponsored by the City of Pasadena Human Services and Recreation Department under the rules and regulations of the Department of Food and Agriculture of the State of California. As a Certified Farmers’ Market, the Pasadena Farmers Market provides us with fresh, nutritious, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The Pasadena Farmers Market is a member of the California Federation of Certified Farmers’ Markets.

The certified vendors only sell what they grow. While there are other vendors offering preserves, flowers and fresh fish, the Pasadena Farmer’s Market does not accommodate craft vendors. There are usually about 13 vendors on Tuesdays at Villa Parke Center, and as many as 40 at Victory Park on Saturdays.

I understand that the market is cash only, although some vendors will accept ATM cards. The Pasadena Farmers Market is open rain or shine.

For more information, check out the official Pasadena Farmers’ Market website.

Here’s a great article written by Rosemary Rugnetta on FreeUpdate.com providing background on the FHA guidelines for properties purchased with FHA loans.

Property conditions for FHA mortgage approval are an important part of the mortgage transaction. FHA property guidelines are put in place as a form of protection to all parties who have an interest in the transaction. FHA ‘s minimum property standards are designed to include the safety, security and soundness of the home. In other words, the home must protect the safety and health of all those that occupy it and cannot have any deficiencies or conditions that affect the sturdiness of the structure.

It is the FHA appraiser’s duty to check the property and report his findings, which includes necessary repairs, renovations and deterioration, on the FHA appraisal. FHA does not require that all deficiencies be repaired. Some of the items that do not need to be tended to prior to closing are cracked glass, damaged doors, defective paint, minor plumbing issues, worn flooring, worn out counters, damaged plaster, walls or ceilings.

In order to meet FHA approval, there are many items that must be remedied prior to closing. Some of these issues are electrical boxes that have exposed or frayed wires must be replaced, all rooms that will be lived in must have a heat source, the water heater must meet local building codes, the property must provide safe and adequate access including from the road, there must be a toilet, sink and shower and any asbestos found must be inspected by a professional. The appraiser must look in the attic in order to determine roofing issues. The roof must be expected to last at least 2 years and keep moisture out during that time period. The roof cannot have more than three layers of roofing and, therefore, if any problems are found with a roof that has three or more layers, an entire new roof is required. Property conditions and location are also looked at for any potential hazards such as contaminated soil, oil and gas wells on the property, distance to hazardous waste sites, airports and other sources of noise, distance to high voltage power lines or radio and TV transmission towers. Any structural deficiencies or conditions that can lead to future damage, such as leakage, decay, termites and dampness, must be also be repaired in advance of closing.

FHA appraisers are approved by FHA and, therefore, are knowledgeable about the terms of the FHA mortgage and the requirements of the FHA appraisal. Often, when adverse conditions are found, many home buyers will find themselves searching for another property since no arrangements could be made with the seller. Although this may seem like an inconvenience, property conditions for FHA mortgage approval are there to protect the borrower who is looking for a pleasant place to live that does not reveal a lot of costly problems after closing.

Moon Walk

Pedestrian street art has been installed at six crosswalks in District. The crosswalk art program is the first of its kind in the City of Pasadena.

The crosswalks selected form a couplet near Playhouse District art institutions: Pacific Asia Museum and the Pasadena Museum of California Art; Pasadena Playhouse, Laemmle’s and Vroman’s; Boston Court Performing Arts Center and the Ice House. All are within walking distance from one another near major boulevards: Colorado, Los Robles, El Molino, Green, Union and Mentor Ave.

Designs were created by artist, Cynthia Luna who uses stencils as a means to create repetitive patters on both large and small scale artworks. The Pasadena crosswalk designs include Gingko, Art Deco and Rose inspired patterns, which make reference to Pasadena’s trees, architecture and Rose Parade respectively.

The crosswalk design project combines Luna’s training as a print stylist with her skill as a painter. She has created her own decorative technique, combining custom-made patters with painting to transform spaces and objects. She frequently seeks harmony among wall, floor, window and ceiling surfaces through decorative designs and unique visual elements in her interior works and has also created a number of outdoor public artworks. Her design process involves reinterpreting traditional natural forms through the use of innovative geometric and color combinations.

Ms. Luna can be reached at alloverdesign@yahoo.com.

Utility

The public artwork installation on utility boxes pays homage to freedom of speech crusaders who shaped our country such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglas, and George Washington.

The utility boxes are all accessible by car and foot along Colorado Boulevard at the southeast corners of the intersections of Los Robles, Oakland, Madison, El Molino and Oak Knoll.

Susan Silton selected the image and texts for the community of Pasadena as a way of highlighting the Playhouse District as a centerpiece for culture, and the role that freedom of speech plays within culture. Free speech in the form of image and text is a direct and emblematic way to link the mission of the Playhouse District to the importance of our national right to provide a voice to everyone. Utility makes us mindful of this and is a call to action to recognize and utilize this right.

For more information about the artist, visit her official website www.susansilton.com.

The historic Pasadena Playhouse District evolved during the 1920s as a major concentration of retail, business, professional and cultural activities along Colorado Boulevard. The District still retains many of the original buildings built during this period, and a significant portion of the District has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. The development of the District marked the beginning of an eastward growth of the City which included the construction of the historic Playhouse Theatre Building, the “State Theatre of California,” in 1925.

The Playhouse District has a Historic Architecture Walking Tour that provides you with an understanding of the rich history and beautiful architectural landscape that is within our district. The walking tour takes about 30 minutes to an hour to complete.

For more information, check out the Pasadena Playhouse District official website.

Pasadena real estate market summary for March 2012: Average price per square foot for Pasadena was $343, an increase of 0.9% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Pasadena for Dec 11 to Feb 12 was $453,250 based on 326 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 2.5%, or $11,750, and the number of home sales decreased 7.6%. There are currently 595 resale and new homes in Pasadena on Trulia, including 38 open houses, as well as 602 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Pasadena was $904,772 for the week ending March 7, 2012, which represents an increase of 5.3%, or $45,849, compared to the prior week.

As part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, the Pasadena Museum of California Art will present the first major showing of Edgar Payne (1883-1947) in over forty years. One of the most gifted of the historic California plein air artists, Payne utilized the brushwork and color of Impressionism, but his powerful landscape paintings departed from the genteel refinement depicted by most Impressionist painters. He imbued his works with an internal force and an active dynamism achieved through majestic, vital landscape subjects and a bravura application of pigment. The exhibition will trace his artistic development as he traveled the world, finding magnificence in diverse settings, including the southern and central California coast, the Sierra, the Swiss Alps, the harbors and waterways of France and Italy, and the desert Southwest. The exhibition will run June 3, 2012 – October 14, 2012. For more information, visit the Pasadena Museum of California Art website.

Grow! A Garden Festival will be a great way to celebrate the spring gardening season with one-stop shopping and entertainment. It will offer favorite attractions of the Los Angeles Garden show plus much more. The Garden Festival will feature a weekend of festivities that will include:
- Introduction to the newly designed Garden for All Seasons;
- Exhibit of works of local sculptors and installation artists;
- Sale of unique and exotic plants;
- Marketplace of garden tools and accessories;
- Garden Chats, demonstrations, and meet the experts;
- Let’s Move! Family and children’s hands-on activities;
- Entertainment;
- Food trucks and specialty vendors.

Save These 2012 Dates

• Friday, May 4, 2012, Special Evening Hours, 5pm – 8pm (event fee)
• Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9am – 4:30 pm, free with admission, members free
• Sunday, May 6, 2012, 9am – 4:30 pm, free with admission, members free

For more information about this event as well as membership, visit the Los Angeles Arboretum Website.

Refinancing options now exist for California homeowners who are underwater with their mortgages. Refinancing programs depend mainly on the type of financing on your home, but if you owe more than your home is worth, consider these options to reduce your payments by hundreds of dollars each month.