Flipping a house for profit is not for the faint of heart. But real estate agent Jose Reyes has a bit of information on a Silver Lake bungalow that explains why some investors are attracting to flipping. The plain, small (less than 900 square feet) home on Occidental Boulevard was purchased for $300,000 in December. After being prettied up, the home was put back on the market in April at an asking price of $499,000. The house just sold for $576,000. Is this deal a sign, as Reyes said, ” that there is amazing opportunities for investors” or that buyers are once again getting a bit too excited.
Photos from theMLS.com
Sunday night was not very relaxing for some residents of Echo Park and Silver Lake. In Echo Park, a couple witnessed a pack of bike thieves at work. Meanwhile, in Silver Lake, two small fires near Silver Lake and Griffith Park boulevard left some people worried. More details in Eastside 911.
An Echo Park woman and her fiance - who live across the street from each other near Echo Park and Lucretia avenues – were awakened Sunday night to the sound of his driveway gate being opened. The couple, who were spending the night at her place, went into the street to see four men stealing a bike from the fiance’s garage:
“We were just settling down to sleep around 11:30 pm tonite when we heard the gate in front of his driveway jangle. I know the sound well, because he opens his gate daily to come across to my house. We both felt alarm bells and he sprang up to have a look out my front door. Seeing nothing but still feeling alarmed, we dressed quickly and dashed into the street to discover multiple thieves had hopped his locked fence and were in the process of passing bicycles over the fence. He confronted one of the very young men, who stammered a response and ran to a waiting getaway vehicle that held another bicycle stolen from his garage, and then sped out. There were at least 4 young men involved in the burglary, two of whom ran out the front, towards Echo Park Avenue.
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A Silver Lake resident who lives near Griffith Park and Sunset boulevards reports that a small pile of debris caught fire Sunday at about 10 PM in the parking lot of the new hair salon Naturalmind. The fire caused minimal damage, scorching a concrete block wall of and a car. However, the resident on a walk last night also noticed that an abandoned couch had also been recently torched against the wall of a near a nearby auto repair shop. There is no evidence that the two small fires are related but the resident worries about a possible connection:
“As we walked our dog to the park, we realized that there had been
another fire recently outside Enrique’s Auto Parts at the corner of Griffith Park Blvd. and Edgecliffe Dr., just a few doors away from Naturalmind. It looked like a couch had been burned against the wall of the building, and someone had dragged it away and put out the fire, leaving the remains at the curb. We’re not sure when it happened and if the fire department was involved, as no one was around to tell us anything, but it looked recent.
We’re not sure if the fires are related, but they were suspiciously close to each other, and they were very similar in that they were both very small, and they both burned walls. It seemed as if there were an accelerant involved, as the items were burned thoroughly. I’m hoping that these were isolated incidents from pranksters and that they won’t happen again.”
The watch commander at the Northeast Division said a police helicopter and officers on the ground were looking into reports of shots fired shortly before midnight in Echo Park. However, it’s not clear if there has been a shooting or if anyone has been injured. The Eastsider will update this post with any new developments.
* Update: A person named Macho Mouse left this info in a comment to this post: “We live near alvarado and glendale and the police blocked off all the streets here for about 20 minutes so so..I checked the police scanners but got more info from overhearing the officer’s radio parked in front of our house..sounds like someone fled up alvarado (the small side street, not major street) and was apprehended.. the hills are crazy steep around here..bad choice in directions to flee.”
Blue pin marks the scene of the morning shooting; yellow pin marks the afternoon shooting
Fickett Street in Boyle Heights was the scene of two unrelated shootings today that left a juvenile dead and two people injured. The juvenile died and another person was injured following the first shooting of the day, which took place at about 11:30 AM near Fickett and Fairmount streets, said LAPD spokesman Cleon Josef. The shooting was related to tagging but it’s still not clear what happened, Joseph said. The fatally wounded victim died at a hospital about two hours after the shooting, said Lt. Robert Miles with the Hollenbeck Division. He said gang unit detectives were investigating the case and looking for suspects.
Shooting at Fickett at Cesar Chavez.
Meanwhile, Hollenbeck officers responded to the second shooting of the day on Fickett Street, this one was six blocks south of the first incident at Fickett and Cesar Chavez Avenue. The second shooting, which took place near carnival, involved two feuding neighbors, Miles said. The shooter fired at a pick up truck, hitting the driver, a man in his 40s. Police are also seeking suspects in the second incident. which left a blood-spattered truck at the scene.
Bottom photo by Jesse Saucedo
Memorial Day Vigil - first watch
Memorial Day vigil - evening watch
The annual 24-hour Memorial Day vigil began this morning at the Mexican-American All Wars Memorial at Cinco Puntos in East Los Angeles. Photographer Aurelio Jose Barrera came in the morning to take a photo of the first watch (pictured at top) and then return in the evening to take capture a different view.
The first watch, pictured above, included Cub Scout Jonathan Ruiz, 10, CPO David Jimenez, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Councilman José Huizar, Cub Scout Andrew Ruiz, 7, and PFC Timothy Veloz. From 11 PM – 11:30 PM, Rudy Stone (L) and Mike Castañon (pictured at bottom) kept watch. This year’s ceremony coincided with the naming of the East Los Angeles freeway interchange in honor Eugene Obregon, a Medal of Honor recipient who died during the Korean War.
* Update: This post has been updated with the evening photo and information.
Photos by Aurelio Jose Barrera
Burglaries reported in the Northeast Division Jan. 1 – May 22 2010:
319
(vs 209 in 2008 & 319 in 2008)
Typical registration fee for a resident student taking 8 units at Cal State LA this summer:
$1,883.90
The old phone exchange number for Echo Park’s Brite Spot in 1953:
DUnkirk 9-2063
The highest elevation in Deb Park:
884 feet
Cost of a glass of Dassai Junmai Daiginjo sake at Lamill Coffee Boutique in Silver Lake:
$16
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