Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Here is the real cause of increase in homelessness in Los Angeles 2019 - by Mary Cummins

cause of homeless increase in los angeles california is the recovery from the real estate recession, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, appraisal, mayor eric garcetti,

There has been a significant increase in the number of homeless people in Los Angeles and the entire state of California. One of the biggest causes besides stagnant wages and 30 years of not building enough units is the recovery from the real estate recession that began in late 2007. If you look at the chart there is a direct correlation between the rising price of homes, 2-4 units and apartment buildings and homelessness.

I've been a real estate broker, appraiser in Los Angeles since 1983. My specialty is apartment buildings. I have gone through three boom and bust real estate cycles in Los Angeles as a broker, appraiser. While I've always been concerned about the homeless I've never lived in an area with homeless people previously. I'd only see them doing appraisals in South LA or downtown. I now live in an area with homeless people.

The great recession started in the fall of 2007. By 2009 some properties had dropped 35%. Some new DTLA lofts dropped by 50%. HOA were going bankrupt. Entire loft buildings were in foreclosure. During this time people who could afford to hold their property held and rented it out. By 2010 prices started to rise a little. By 2014, 2015 some values were almost close to what they were fall 2007. Some people started to sell in the bull market while prices continued to rise. Prices continued to rise until fall 2018. We are now in the beginning of a real estate recession though apartment buildings are still doing well because of lack of sufficient units.

By 2016, 2017, 2018 people started selling their properties. They sold homes and 2-4 units, apartment buildings. Most of the homeless came from 2-4 units and apartment buildings though some may have come from homes which were group rented. As these properties sold the tenants were evicted for many legal reasons. You can pass through major renovations to tenants. As most landlords were not properly maintaining their units during the recession these properties needed work. They were class C buildings. Class A buildings are luxury new. Class B buildings are renovated and rented for market. The tenants were not able to pay the increase in rents. They became homeless. They couldn't afford to move or store their possessions so they left most of them. Landlords, contractors dumped the items on the street or maybe dumped it a few blocks away. This is where a lot of the trash comes from. You can tell it's eviction trash when it includes mattress, clothing, household items... Construction trash and business trash looks very different.

The best way to make money as a real estate investor in Los Angeles is to buy run down units with below market rents. Get rid of the tenants, renovate the building and re-rent for market rent. This provides the best return on investment. It's just a business deal like buying a car for $5,000, fixing it up for $1,000 and selling it for $7,500. Investors aren't trying to make people homeless. Homelessness is just collateral damage.

I will now focus on an area of which I'm very familiar, the area around USC. Rents around colleges and universities are generally higher than the rest of the city. From 2015 to today I'd say at least four run down apartment buildings per block have been sold, renovated and re-rented for market rent. The rate of sale of these buildings increased drastically since 2013 and mainly 2015. Some of these properties were old large homes converted to units with and without permits back in the 1980's when the area was very run down.

The poor tenants and their poor friends who stayed with them were all evicted. With some of these properties people were living in garages, carports and patios. In some apartments every room was turned into a bedroom including the living room, dining room, pantry. Some rooms were divided with a hanging sheet into two bedrooms. The tenants appeared to be Latino, some black, a few white day laborers, maids, restaurant workers, construction workers... low wage people. They were not Section 8 tenants.

The rebound of the real estate market happened in Los Angeles alongside the revitalization cycle of real estate of some poorer parts of the city. Some call it gentrification. This causes an increase in renovation and new developments which bring money, tax income, jobs, businesses which help the community, city and state at the cost of an increase in number of homeless. Here is one property which I watched as poor tenants were evicted, their possessions were dumped on the street, property was renovated and they're now trying to rent it. I can give you many more addresses where the same exact thing happened. Most were just poor working people who were evicted.

http://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/2019/06/flop-houses-in-shitty-areas-sold.html

The other causes of the rise in homeless is stagnant wages. Even if you made $15/hr, you still couldn't rent a one bedroom in Los Angeles with your take home pay. You need two people making $15/hr to rent a cheap one bedroom.

The most significant cause of homelessness and the housing crisis in LA is lack of development of housing units over the last 30 years. The cause is/was rise in cost of land, cost of construction, development red tape and NIMBYs. Here are a few ideas from others and some of my own about how to deal with the housing crisis.

http://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/2019/04/ideas-to-help-solve-housing-crisis-here.html

FTR Mayor Eric Garcetti did not cause this problem. He inherited this problem. The rise in homelessness is caused by the rebound from the housing recession, developer red tape, stagnant wages, insufficient development of new units and NIMBYs. Garcetti is doing what he can to try to fix the problem. Instead of trying to house the homeless as a way out of this mess we need to look at the causes. In domestic animal rescue we state you can't adopt your way out of pet over population. You have to work on the causes of pet over population. The same applies here. LA can't afford to build housing for all the homeless. We need to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place. We need to get the homeless back into productive jobs so they can pay for housing on their own.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Flop houses in shitty areas sold, rehabbed and re-rented as "luxury" rooms in Los Angeles - cause of rise in homeless

1409 1411 w 25th st, los angeles, california, 90007 duplex, slum, dangerous, usc, rental, sale, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, flop house, half way house, homeless, tripalink, high crime area, murder, stabbings, death, shootings, the zoe, tripalink

A flop house owned by "Second Chance" at 1409-1411 W 25th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007 sold late 2018 for $749,000. Months before that it sold for $485K. It was originally owned by a woman who is now elderly or dead. It's located off an alley and behind an auto store right off Vermont across from a Jack in the Box and a liquor store. It was sold as a two unit with four beds, two baths each. It was broken down into eight rooms rented separately to near homeless people. They would panhandle across the street at the Jack in the Box or in the Ralphs parking lot. People were frequently passed out in front of the building or they were smoking pot, doing drugs on the porch. It was built in 1904 and is in a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. It was a total fixer. Below are some pics of it before. It was boarded up to keep the ex-tenants and homeless out.

They renovated the place and it's already listed for rent. Here's the ad listing. Mind you it's in a very, very dangerous area where people have been murdered. Someone was murdered at the Jack in the Box across the street. Another person murdered a block up. Within last six months someone murdered two blocks away. A USC couple murdered two blocks to the west. Cars are broken into every night. People steal mail. It's within 500 feet of the 10 freeway which is dangerous for your health. It's also located next to a very, very busy intersection. The air pollution, sound, constant police sirens, police helicopters, people fighting, yelling... The address of the owner is a Marcus & Millichap office. The people who were evicted from there now live on the parkway and still hang out there as they are now homeless. The spelling errors below are not mine. The site seems to be run by Chinese people as it's also in Chinese.

"Enjoy private relaxation and high-quility living experience in this luxury house close to USC and DTLA. This duplex is located in UPC Patrol Areas (DPS patrols) which provides safe and private space for every resident. Situated in a convenient location, surrounding by multiple restaurants, 3 minutes’ walk to Ralphs and 4 minutes to USC by riding. This duplex is equipped with all the amenities needed to feel right at home. Brand new mattress, beddings, and solid wood furniture will be provided to giving you a place for the most comfortable rest and study.With a cozy living room on second floor including sofa, coffee table and carpet."

https://www.tripalink.com/#/cityDetail/36

It's already for re-sale for $1,200,000. It's allegedly master leased to a student housing group. It's actually illegal to rent out the rooms separately as this is not zoned for a boarding house. I wonder if leasing to a corporation who subleases to individuals gets it out of rent control? The master lease includes 3% increase in rent per year which is Los Angeles City rent control. Do the sublessees have tenant rights since they aren't the main tenant? Maybe this is how they are getting the units out of LA City rent control. Per rent control even if you rent a room in a boarding house for 30 days plus you are covered by rent control. By July 2019 the landlord can increase your rent by 4%.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1409-W-25th-St-Los-Angeles-CA/15814642/

They said they added heat and cooling, new copper plumbing, electrical. They say there are two units with four beds and four baths each. I think only two baths are legal. Everything else was done without permits. They state it was built in 1907. It was built 1904 and moved in 1907.

I pity anyone who rents a room there for $1,400/month. There are eight rooms. You have to rent for 12 months so it's not student housing. The site advertises itself as communal living. It's now called "The Zoe." I bet they paint over graffiti every morning and roll homeless people off the grass. Whoever cleaned out the building just dumped everything on the sidewalk and parkway across the street in front of Jack in the Box. The homeless people didn't do that. The contractor did. This is where all the trash and dumping is coming from. When you evict a poor person they can't afford to rent another place, move, pay for storage so they have to leave everything. Landlord, contractor dumps it on the street and blames the tenants. The tenants wouldn't dump their stuff on the street. They'd just leave it. I've appraised properties like this with evicted poor tenants. They leave almost everything because they can't afford to move it and have no place to move it to.

And this is why there was a huge increase in homeless. Investors are buying slum buildings cheap, renovating and re-renting for market rent. This is the real estate cycle of revitalization though some call it gentrification. It's good for the community and city bringing jobs, money, taxes, business but it displaces a few of the poorest people in the city.

I'll post a few more of these that I've seen. Chinese investors are buying up a lot of slum homes, apartments to turn into individual room rentals. When you ask them what are their plans for the building they lie and tell you they are going to move into it ;-)

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins

Friday, June 14, 2019

Cause of increase in homelessness is lack of Class B, C units for rent. Mary Cummins estate appraiser

This is the cause of the increase in homelessness right here. There are few Class B, C apartments. This is causing rent to increase at double the normal rate. If LA had only built enough units starting 30 years ago, we wouldn't have this problem today. This problem is 30+ years in the making. Land and labor are now so expensive that only luxury units (Class A) make sense to build in Los Angeles.

"Minimal availability among Class B and C apartments is generating above-trend rent growth of mid-4 to low-5 percent, well above the traditional 2-3 percent range observed in prior years."

Another cause is real estate investors buying run down Class B and C buildings, evicting tenants, renovating and turning units into Class A-/B+ units which they rent for market. The stock of cheap apartments is getting smaller and smaller. Investors can make more money buying existing run down building and renovating then renting for market rent than building new.

https://blog.marcusmillichap.com/2019/06/13/tight-labor-market-constrains-job-creation

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Donald Trump sells his home in Beverly Hills at 809 N Canon Dr, 90210 for $13,500,000

Donald Trump Beverly Hills home house 809 N Canon Drive, California 90210, Beverly Hills Hotel, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, appraisal

Donald Trump sold his home at 809 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90210 for $13,500,000. Seller was 809 N Canon LLC, Trump Tower, 725 5TH AVE # 26THFL, NEW YORK NY 10022, and buyer was Hillcrest Asia Ltd. The home was built in 1927. It is 5,395 sf on a 29,295 lot. It's located on an acute corner with three major streets surrounding it. It has 5 bedrooms, 6 baths and a pool.

Donald Trump bought the property in 2007 for $7,000,000 at the peak of the market six months before the great recession began. Trump appeared to have owned it with no loan. The current owner paid all cash.

I ran some comps +/- 15% GLA, within six months of date of sale properties between Carmelita and Sunset, and Bedford and Alpine. Value $9.5-$10M tops. The location is bad because it's at the intersection of Sunset Blvd and Beverly and Canon. It's a corner lot with a tight angle. Lack of privacy, security and noise, light pollution from Sunset Blvd. You also can't build on most of the lot because of the irregular shape and setbacks.

The previous owner was Thomas C Bowles a real estate investor who died in 1985. His wife Mary Bowles survived then died in March 2006. The trust sold the home to Trump. The home had been in the family since at least the 1960's.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Ideas to help solve the housing crisis. Here are a few ideas from others and some of my own. Mary Cummins

How to solve the housing crisis, homeless, eviction, homelessness, house, home,condo, shelter, apartment, building, mary cummins, los angeles, california, ideas, solutions

There is no doubt that California has a Housing Crisis. Not enough units have been built in the last 30 years to keep up with the demand for housing. Insufficient housing has been built because of rising cost of land and construction, miles of red tape in development and NIMBYs (not in my back yard) to name just a few causes. The article linked below has some good ideas to help solve the housing crisis. I will list all the ideas then add my own.

Provide resources and incentives for local governments to pay for their fair share of housing.
Integrating housing and transportation planning and investment.
Working with locals to reduce regulatory barriers to production.
Making state excess property available for affordable housing.
Providing financial assistance to developments to ensure long-term housing affordability.
Recognizing that wildfire, climate change, water supplies and quality, environmental protection, efficient transportation and protecting good jobs are all involved.
Change zoning restrictions so multi-family buildings can be built in other zones.
Expand tax incentives for below market rate housing construction.
Stop adding costs to the home building process with more costly laws and regulations.
Roll back some of the out of control building fees.
Allow an increase in density along transit corridors.
CEQA reform to make it easier and quicker to get projects approved.
Guarantee a living wage so wages can keep up with rent increases.
Train young people through union apprenticeship programs so they can earn more money.
Ensure new buildings are sustainable for the environment.
Provide rental assistance to help families secure a home.
Protect renters from losing their home and falling into homelessness.
Every city in the state must build affordable housing.
Allow novel housing options such as micro units, cooperatives, co-living, modular housing.
Increase homeowner property tax exemption which hasn't changed since 1974.
Reform RHNA process to increase development of homes.
Don't allow NIMBYs to use CEQA to stop housing projects for political reasons.

Below are some of my ideas. My basic idea is to have pre-approved plans for standard 2-8 unit two-story buildings on 50' x 100' or 150' lots which NIMBYs can't reject or even have a say in the matter after initial approval. I'm talking about sites already zoned for multi units which only have one old house which are R2+ and other zones which are grandfathered such as C2. The public can have a say in the initial approval of the cookie-cutter units but not after that. This would cut down on the holding costs from permit to occupancy certificate. It would also cut down on the architect, design fees by having the plans be in the public domain. This would make it easier and faster for building and safety inspectors to inspect.

Have pre-approved plans for cookie cutter developments on R2+ standard lots for 2-8 U.
Have pre-approved plans for ADUs.
Educate poor people about how to work, save money to buy, maintain a home.
Protect poor people from real estate scams. I've seen so many people get ripped off because they didn't speak English, couldn't read or write or just were uneducated and naive.
Inventory all vacant properties, underutilized and raw land. Work with owners to make vacant properties habitable, redevelop or sell. Same with vacant land. Other cities have done this with help from cities, developers and non-profits.

Below are some pics of new two and four unit buildings which are cookie cutters. There are a few developers building these on lots with only one old major fixer home. The first is two units, two story. The units are 3 bed, 2 bath which can house an extended family. The ones I've seen have good sized rooms so there could be two beds in each room and/or bunk beds.

Below is a four unit building. These are plain buildings that meet strict city of Los Angeles building and safety building codes. There should be one plan for properties with an alley which has parking in the rear and properties which don't have an alley and will need a driveway to garages in rear.

I also believe the city, county, state should do an analysis of the current housing stock. It should include a list of vacant land suitable for housing, under developed properties and properties with inhabitable structures. Plans should be made to give the owners incentives to rehab, develop or rehab the properties. Other cities such as South Bend, Indiana has done this with success.

Government should also look at the various properties and their zones. Perhaps some non-residential zoned land could be used to build multi-family. Maybe some areas zoned R1 which already have some multi-family can be rezoned for R1.5 or R2 uses. Perhaps people with R1 properties should be allowed to legally rent out the individual rooms to different individuals. People are already doing this illegally. If it were legal, there could be regulations to make sure the housing is safe and the tenant is protected. Generally if you share a kitchen in a home, you're not a tenant. You could be evicted with no notice. I'm sure there are many more ideas out there. I welcome a multi-prong approach to help solve the housing crisis.

Let me add a list of things that won't help the housing crisis. In fact these things have caused and made the housing crisis much worse.

Rent control. This will cause landlords to remove units from the market. It will cause developers to buy run down buildings, either demolish or do major renovations, pass that through to the tenant who can't afford it and tenant will have to leave. Rent control makes things worse. Developers won't build if they think the buildings could have rent control. As rents rise so do landlords property tax, insurance, supplies, labor, permits, maintenance...
Yelling "gentrification" and attacking developers, development as "evil" because the rent has risen for some tenants in some buildings. "Gentrification" is actually a real estate cycle called "revitalization." It's not a dirty word. I wrote an article about it here. If you don't revitalize the area, you create slums. Revitalization creates jobs, causes wages to increase, adds living units, improves the neighborhood, increases value of real estate, increases revenue to businesses, the city, county, state and federal government. More jobs, more homes are created for each tenant who must leave a building for redevelopment. The tenant gets relocation fees in the thousands. Notice property owners are fine with property values increasing. It's only the tenants who are not. Notice offices, retail stores, restaurants have to move. They realize it's just economics and move. DTLA artists moved from those artist lofts to lofts in Long Beach. When Long Beach became more expensive they move to lofts in Santa Ana. If you want low rent, you have to live in a low rent area.
Building condo units for poor people to buy under market value. When the value of the unit increases, they will want to sell for profit. Some don't allow the owners to sell for profit. When they don't, the owners refinance all of the equity out of the property. Most end up in foreclosure because they can't sell the condo for market i.e. more than their new loan. These people didn't have enough money or income to buy a home. They are set up to fail and lose their home. I've seen this happen repeatedly. The owners also stop paying HOA dues as the complexes fall apart. This is one of Bernie Sanders ideas so is rent control and yelling "gentrification." He needs a real estate consultant because all of his ideas fail in real life. I've been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. I watched rent control in BH, WH, SM and LA. It failed.

https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opinion-influencers/article229271379.html

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The Notre Dame Cathedral fire shows how building structure affects susceptibility to fires - Mary Cummins

Credit. New York Times. Mary Cummins real estate appraiser agent broker los angeles california. Notre Dame cathedral Paris France. fire suppression, fire rating, sprinklers, fire department, firefighter, fires, attic, oak, wood spire, transept, beams, towers

UPDATE: The church posted a pic of the roof damage. The roof and spire are completely gone. There are a few holes in the ceiling which allowed parts of the roof and spire to fall into the cathedral.

This drone footage is excellent. You got to give it to whoever put up that scaffolding. Even with all the water and the spire falling the scaffolding held.

André Finot, Notre-Dame's spokesman said, there were "smoke detectors everywhere" that were connected to the cathedral's safety HQ at the presbytery, where a firefighter is posted 24 hours a day.

This article is about Britain's most famous cathedral York Minster which was completed in England in 1360. It's the same style as Notre Dame. They had a fire in 1984 and had to restore the burned roof. They installed fireproof compartments into the roof to keep flames from spreading in the future.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/britains-notre-dame-tells-fiery-tale-restored-glory-135847883.html

ORIGINAL: While the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France is a heartbreaking architectural and iconic loss it is also a monumental teaching moment for building structures that can survive fires. Vincent Dunn a fire consultant and former New York City fire Chief stated “These cathedrals and houses of worship are built to burn. If they weren’t houses of worship, they’d be condemned." That is exactly what happened with Notre Dame. First, some background on the fire.

The fire started in the attic under the 300 foot tall oak spire. The attic is made up of long wooden trusses. Once these massive timber structures start to burn they can almost never be stopped. This is why in the United States we no longer build two story homes with tall horizontal wood members. History has shown that a fire started in the kitchen which is generally on the first floor quickly burns to the second floor where the bedrooms are located. Once the beams are on fire they are almost impossible to extinguish.

After Notre Dame's attic was on fire the roof and oak spire started burning. Eventually the spire fell sideways. By then the entire roof was aflame. Two thirds of the roof collapsed into the building creating holes in the stone ceiling of the cathedral. In the below pic you see the burned roof on the floor of the Cathedral.

Christophe Petit Tesson/Agence France-Presse

One difficulty fighting the Notre Dame fire is the location of Notre Dame. It is located on an island in the middle of the Seine river. The island can only be accessed by smaller bridges which can only be accessed by compact firefighting trucks.

Another difficulty was the height of the Cathedral. Originally it was built to be a fort-like structure to protect the interior. A fire department would need tall ladders and hoses with enough pressure to reach the roof which was 115 feet tall. The fire department did not have the proper equipment to effectively reach the roof.

All that said the fire department did an amazing job fighting this fire and eventually extinguishing it by morning. They were able to save many artifacts, sculptures and paintings. Most of the stained glass windows were also saved besides the two bell towers and a good portion of the interior of the Cathedral.

Going forward there are many things that can be done when they rebuild the structure to better protect it from risk of fire.

1. There are no longer long wood trees to rebuild the trusses. They should be built out of flame proof metal and other materials.

2. Fire breaks should be installed in the attic and in other parts of the cathedral. Fire breaks can stop fires from spreading or at least slow them down and limit the damage they can cause. This can include fire doors and breaks between the ceiling, attic, floors and roof.

3. There should be fire sprinklers on the top of the roof, under the roof and in the attic. This would have stopped the spread of the flames and flying burning embers. The sprinklers have water and fire retardant liquids.

4. The smoke, fire detectors need to be more sensitive. They also should immediately show where the smoke, fire has been detected in the building. Maybe there should be video camera in the attic and on the roof.

5. The Cathedral like most monuments should have its own fire department with firefighters, equipment, water supply and water hookup to the Seine river. For a roof fire there must be ladders and hoses that can reach the roof. They should be in place so they can instantly have hoses on the roof that would not also burn if the roof burns.

6. If the spire is rebuilt, it should be built out of fire proof metal. The sculptures should be reproduced out of fire proof material. The originals can be in a museum.

I hope other similarly built structures will learn from this travesty so they can better protect their structures. These are just a few suggestions from a real estate appraiser with over 35 years of experience.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/15/world/europe/paris-notre-dame-fire.html

Notre Dame is not owned by the Church. It is owned by the French Ministry of Culture. They haven't been able to afford the past renovations. The Archbishop of Paris and the Diocese of Paris created the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris organisation. The Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris is a charity that urges people to donate money to go towards the cathedral’s upkeep.

Mary Cummins is a licensed real estate appraiser, expert witness and was a real estate agent, broker since 1983 in Los Angeles, California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills High School and the University of Southern California.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins

Monday, January 1, 2018

Richardson Family Park, Don Richardson, 2700 Budlong, Los Angeles, California by Mary Cummins

Richardson Family Park, 2700 Budlong, Los Angeles, California, Donald Richardson, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate, appraisal, appraiser, Martin Luther King Legacy, Esperanza Community Housing, USC

Richardson Family Park is located at 2700 S Budlong, Los Angeles, CA 90007. The park has a basketball court, children's playground and picnic tables. It's closed from sunset to dawn.

The park was developed by the Esperanza Community Housing Corp, a nonprofit neighborhood-based organization, and Martin Luther King Legacy Assoc with a Proposition K "LA for Kids" prog grant of $253,492 and with a commitment to transfer the deed and title to the City of LA, Dept of Rec & Parks for its maintenance.

The site was originally owned by the Richardson family. Lloyd E Richardson 1886-1971 and Maud Marie Jolliff Richardson 1890-1965. They had three children, Maud Richardson Smith 1909-1989, Lloyd Otto Richardson Jr 1911-1970 and Donald Jolliff Richardson 1920-2000. The surviving heirs were Donald J Richardson and Dr Elinor Smith Richardson 1914-2004 his sister-in-law.

Donald married Margaret Sample 1923-1991 in 1944 and had three children, James, Ronald and William. Below is Donald Richardson's photo and obituary.

"RICHARDSON Donald Jolliff (80) Died at home Friday evening July 14. A World War II hero of D-Day and Battle of the Bulge, Don faced all the challenges life gave him with great heart and determination, making the best of any situation. His life profoundly and positively impacted thousands of people. Born in Bakersfield, California and raised in Los Angeles, he graduated from UCLA and married Margaret Sample in 1943. Serving as teacher and Assistant Superintendent for LAUSD from 1947-1980. Don "retired" to become a tireless full-time volunteer leader-advocate for mental health at both the national and state levels. President of the National Alliance for the Mentally III (NAMI), and member of Rosalynn Carter's National Advisory Commission on Mental Health, Don was a principal contributor to the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, 2000. Honors include L.A. County's "Volunteer of the Year", California Psychological Association's "Distinguished Humanitarian Award" and U.S. Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services'" Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Disabled in America. Don had a lively sense of humor, enjoyed gardening, dancing and traveling. He was unfailingly loving and courageous. His life will continue to inspire those who knew him, including his three sons, two grandchildren, dear companion Wyoma Perryman, and many cherished friends. A memorial celebration will be held in his home in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 23, from 2:00-4:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to NAMI are encouraged."

Donald Richardson, Dr Elinor Richardson 1999 Grand Opening of Richardson Family Park

The park location used to be the Richardson Family house located at 2700 S Budlong Ave, Los Angeles, California, 90007. It was built in 1904 for Adolph Herman who died 1939. The age of home was deduced by directory listings, voter records, census data, land sales in LA Times articles. It was sold as land in 1903. First directory listing as a home was 1904. Below is a photo from the USC archives which states 1930 2700 S Budlong Ave.

The site is assessor parcel number 5054-031-901, legal description WHITNEY TRACT LOTS 49 AND 50. It's a 150' x 135' corner lot which was two residential lots. One address may have been 1534 W 27th St. It was a large three story home with seven garages. Some of the rooms were rented individually. There are ads in LA Times 1949 for $9.50/week for two room apt. The previous owner was Charles Herman. He sold it in 1930 for $15,000. It was ten rooms, five bedrooms, two story with two bathrooms on a corner. ~~The home was built before 1919 most likely 1900-1905.~~

Below is an ad to sell it in the LA Times from 1930.

1971 the building was demolished. 1999 it was officially opened as a new park.

Below is the plat map of the site and plot plat for the new park.

References

"L.A. Neighborhood Gives Gang a New Role: Park Design Consultant," LA Times, January 13, 1999.

"Parks Have Their Day in the Sun," LA Times, June 20,1999, pg 35. http://www.latimes.com

"Greening West Adams," 1996. https://news.usc.edu/13367/USC-in-the-Community/

Los Angeles Parks https://www.laparks.org/park/richardson-family

Park Mural "It Takes a Village" by artists Asylm, Vyal and Man One http://politicalmurals.org/com-murals/rfp/

LocoScout https://www.locoscout.com/location_detail.php?location_id=537

Facebook Richardson Family Park https://www.facebook.com/pages/Richardson-Family-Park/147197498671446

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

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Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

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