The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) this week submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in response to a recent request for input (FRI) on GSE single-family pricing framework. Its message? The trade group asked the regulator to “make no further changes for an extended period of time.”
The original RFI published in May was designed to gather public feedback on goals and policy priorities the agency should pursue in its oversight of the pricing framework.
CHLA says that its recommendation comes from the idea that “Enterprise pricing changes can create short term transition risk for lenders as they approach dates where prices change and that frequent pricing changes can pose a cost and resource burden on lenders, particularly with respect to necessary IT changes,” the letter said.
Because of this, CHLA says it would be “comfortable” if guarantee fees and loan-level pricing adjustments (LLPAs) remained at current levels for a “significant period of time,” which they define as through the end of 2024.
CHLA, which represents smaller lenders, said it continues to be “extremely critical” of a move by Congress at the end of 2021 to renew a 10 basis point increase to mortgage fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac indirectly charge to consumers. The additional revenue generated by these fees was allocated for infrastructure spending.
The organization is critical of the move because “the proceeds of such fee collections [are] being used solely to pay for non-housing federal expenditures under the federal budget process,” the letter said. “This is a much broader concern than just Enterprise loans. CHLA has long been a vocal critic of budget and appropriations actions and rules under which federal agency mortgage loan fees are diverted to pay for non-housing spending.”
Because of that, CHLA is renewing its request to rescind the 10 basis point increase.
After expressing appreciation to FHFA for Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (PSPA) changes that established guarantee fee parity, CHLA requests that such parity be extended to mortgage insurance pricing, and that a recent 400% increase by FICO for its credit scores should be scaled back to align more consistently with inflation.
“[FHFA] should direct FICO to eliminate the preferential pricing it arbitrarily gave to a select group of 54 lenders,” the letter said. “It is reasonable for FHFA to take such action, since FHFA requires a credit score on all Enterprise loans.”
Proposed LLPA changes to conventional mortgages initially announced in January have been a source of controversy. The mortgage industry itself expressed nervousness at the prospects of the changes, and an uproar eventually led to a sustained front of opposition by lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives which introduced a bill designed to block such changes from going into effect.
The changes specific to conventional borrowers with debt-to-income (DTI) levels at or above 40% were ultimately rescinded, but not before House Republican lawmakers took aim in a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing and an additional hearing with FHFA Director Sandra Thompson as a witness.
“I want to be very clear on one key point, and one that bears repeating: under the new pricing framework, borrowers with strong credit profiles are not being penalized to benefit borrowers with weaker credit profiles,” Thompson said during the hearing. “That is simply not true.”
The Economy, Though Volatile, Has Shown Resilience in the Face of Rising Interest Rates
The housing market has also been impacted by high rates as millions of homeowners locked into previously low mortgage rates and are content to remain in their current homes, therefore helping to keep inventory low
The U.S. economy has been resilient in the face of rising interest rates and grew at its long-run average rate of 2% during the first quarter of 2023. The labor market remains strong with an unemployment rate below 4% and rising labor force participation for the 25–54-year-old age group. The housing market has also been impacted by high rates with millions of U.S. homeowners locked into previously low mortgage rates and content to remain in their current homes, helping to keep inventory low and the balance tilted in favor of home sellers over buyers in most markets. In this month’s spotlight we show that this “mortgage rate lockin effect” is the largest ever in U.S. history, and is likely to impact the housing market for years to come.
Recent developments in the U.S. economy
Per the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the third and final estimate of first quarter 2023 Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was much stronger than previously reported. Quarterly growth was revised up 0.7 percentage points to an annualized rate of 2%. While real GDP was revised upwards, the pace of growth continues to slow mainly due to the drag from the interest rate-sensitive sectors such as residential fixed investment and business investment. But the undaunted U.S. consumer has remained resilient, and consumer spending grew at an annualized rate of 4.2% in the first quarter, contributing to the upward revision of real GDP growth.
Consumer confidence and sentiment play a pivotal role in boosting consumer spending. The Conference Board’s June 2023 measure of consumer confidence jumped to the highest level since January 2022, reflecting improvements in the current conditions as well as in the future expectations. Expectations of inflation fell in June to 6%, the lowest reading since December 2020.
On the labor market side, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary for June 2023, the economy added 209,000 jobs in June led by the government, health care, social assistance, and construction sectors. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6% to remain near 50-year lows. The prime age (25–54-year-old) labor force participation rate has been rising and is now at the highest level since April 2002 (Exhibit 1). This suggests that the tight labor market is bringing many of the younger workforce, who were on the sidelines, back into the market.
The economy added 209K jobs in June, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6% to remain near 50-year lows.
Inflation has been cooling in recent months, and the measure tracked by the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ “core” price index for personal consumption expenditures, excluding food and energy (Core PCE), came in at 4.6% year-over-year in May. While housing continues to be the largest contributor to the increases in inflation and prices, it has started to cool off. Another inflation measure that the Federal Reserve has been tracking recently is the supercore service inflation (core services excluding energy and housing). Supercore inflation has been decreasing and the year-over-year change in May 2023 came in at the lowest since March 2022.
Inflation has been cooling in recent months, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ “core” price index for personal consumption expenditures came in at 4.6% year-over-year in May.
Recent developments in the U.S. housing market
The divergence between existing home sales and new home sales has grown wider in recent months. Existing home sales receded 20% from a year ago, while new home sales surprised on the upside and increased 20% from a year ago in May. The mortgage rate lock-in effect continues to impact the listings of existing homes, which are down 35% as of April 2023, compared to the pre-pandemic average between 2016-19 (Exhibit 3). Pending home sales, which are a forward-looking indicator for existing home sales, also declined during May and were down 2.7% over the month and 22.2% over the year according to the National Association of Realtors®.
On the other hand, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index builder confidence improved to the highest level in nearly a year due to continued housing demand and easing of supply chain issues, as well as the lower level of existing homes for sale. All three subcomponents of the HMI increased: the sales expectation component saw the greatest increase of 6 points to 62, current sales conditions increased 5 points to 61, and buyer traffic rose 4 points to 37.1 The current sales conditions and the sales expectations rose to levels above 60 for the first time in a year as homebuyers warm up to mortgage rates in the 6-7% range.
This increased builder confidence was also reflected in the housing starts, which jumped 21.7% in May. Furthermore, the monthly increase in total starts at 291,000 units was the highest in over three decades. Permits also increased over the month of May and were up 5.2% on a month-over-month basis, despite being down 12.7% year-over-year.
House prices may have bottomed and continue to firm up in the short run. Per the FHFA’s Purchase- Only House Price Index, house prices increased nationally 0.7% from March to April 2023. While house prices increased across all the divisions over the month of April—ranging from +0.1% in the Pacific division to +2.4% in the New England division—the variation is wider when we consider the house price appreciation as compared to a year ago. The 12-month changes ranged from -3.8% in the Pacific division to +6.1% in the East South-Central division.
Recent developments in the U.S. mortgage market
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as measured by our Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, settled at 6.7% in June, partly due to the Federal Reserve’s decision to pause increases in the Fed Funds Rate. Partially in response to the stabilization in mortgage rates, purchase applications increased 7.1% over the month of June, while refinance applications increased 2.8%, both after seasonal adjustment according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Applications Survey.
Delinquency rate went down 11 basis points in May to 3.1%, close to the historical low of 2.92%; foreclosure starts remain 41% below 2019 levels.
With respect to mortgage performance, the delinquency rate, as measured by loans 30 or more days past due went down 11 basis points in May to 3.1%, close to the historical low of 2.92%, according to Black Knight’s May Mortgage Monitor. Serious delinquent loans (90 or more days past due) also fell by 18,000 over the month and are down around 30% since May 2022. While foreclosure starts increased 2.2% over the month of May, they remain 41% below 2019 levels.
The outlook
The outlook remains volatile as we enter the second half of the year. The Federal Reserve’s pause on interest rate hikes after ten consecutive increases since March 2022 was a welcome breather for the economy. The labor market remains strong with low unemployment and inflation appears to be moderating. Downside risks as a slowing economy could tip into recession, but on balance our outlook is cautiously optimistic.
General economy, rates, inflation
The U.S. economy will continue to grow, unless consumers pause their spending. While the labor market is gradually moderating, it remains sufficiently tight, and combined with consumers’ excess savings and recent wage gains, consumers will continue to spend and the economy will continue to expand, although at a reduced pace.
While the labor market is gradually moderating, consumers will continue to spend, and the economy will continue to expand, although at a reduced pace.
Under our baseline scenario, we expect inflation to continue cooling as the long and variable lags of monetary policy work through the economy. The slowing growth in prices of goods and services will further reinforce consumers’ purchasing power. However, even though inflation is expected to slow it will be gradual and the pressure on long term rates including mortgage rates will not likely abate this year. Therefore, we expect mortgage rates to stay above 6% for the second half of 2023. High mortgage rates will increase the cost of owning a home, likely leading to a reduction in other spending. However, savings from cooling inflation could be enough to offset the increased housing costs. If this is the case, consumers will keep spending, and the economy will continue to grow unless the labor market further moderates significantly.
Home sales
On the housing front, home sales are plagued by a combination of a lack of inventory of existing homes and high mortgage rates. Due to the mortgage rate lock-in effect (described further below), many existing homeowners are unwilling to list their homes for sale, and we do not expect sufficient existing homes to come on the market any time soon to significantly boost existing home sales. Therefore, we expect existing home sales to remain low through the rest of 2023. However, new home sales are expected to pick up through the rest of the year. Although new home sales’ contribution to the total sales has been increasing in recent months, they are a fraction of the total home sales, we expect total home sales to remain muted for the rest of the year.
Home prices
Our official corporate forecast for the next 12 months has house prices falling by 2.9% and an additional 1.3% over the subsequent twelve months. However, given the current housing market conditions with historic low inventory and an early read on our data, we will likely revise our home price forecast in the next iteration of the Economic, Housing and Mortgage Market Outlook. We expect tight inventory will push sales volume down, and we expect it to keep home prices up.
Mortgage originations
Due to lower home sales, purchase origination volumes are expected to remain muted this year, while high mortgage rates keep refinance activity low. As homebuyers get accustomed to the new normal in terms of mortgage rates, we expect home sales to pick up and purchase originations to resume modest growth in 2024.
JULY 2023 SPOTLIGHT:
Mortgage rate lock-in and the housing market
The recent rapid increase in mortgage rates from historical lows to 20-year highs has created a scenario that we have not seen in more than 40 years. Because so many households have a fixed-rate mortgage, which exists in part because of financing from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, they were able to refinance into low interest rates in recent years. This contrasts with variable-rate mortgages, which have increased significantly as a result of rising mortgage rates. Nearly 6 out of 10 borrowers now have a mortgage rate at or below 4%. Given current market rates, many of those homeowners have locked in payment savings, but they also may have locked themselves into a forever home. Throughout this spotlight we use the term “mortgage rate lock-in effect” to refer to the ownership of a mortgage on favorable terms compared to current market interest rates.
Nearly 6 out of 10 borrowers now have a mortgage rate at or below 4%. While those homeowners have locked in payment savings, they also may have locked themselves into a forever home.
The mortgage rate lock-in effect is a benefit to homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages. To illustrate the benefit of the mortgage rate lock-in effect, suppose a lucky homeowner has refinanced their mortgage of $250,000 at 2.65% in January of 2021. Their current monthly principal and interest payment would be $1,007 and after 29 months of payment their current outstanding balance would be $236,379. If the borrower obtained a new 30-year mortgage of $236,379 at the prevailing market interest rate of 6.81%, their monthly payment would increase to over $1,500 a month.
Following Quigley2, we compute the net present value of the mortgage rate lock-in effect by taking the difference between the outstanding balance of the mortgage and the present value of the mortgage at prevailing market interest rates.3 The value of mortgage rate lock-in is $86,136 in our example.4
Except for certain limited cases, the mortgage is not portable or assumable. In today’s market, most mortgages have due-on-sale clauses, requiring the borrower to terminate the mortgage when they sell the property. To enjoy the benefit of the value of their low mortgage rate, the borrower must continue to live there, maintain it as second home, let it sit vacant or rent it out. In our example, the homeowner is only going to be willing to sell their current home, and thus give up their low mortgage rate, if the net benefit of a move is worth at least $86,136. For some households who are pursuing a new job opportunity or moving to be closer to family the move could be worth it, but others may opt to stay put.
The national average mortgage rate lock-in effect for 30-year and 15-year fixed rate loans is $55,000.
For each 30-year and 15-year fixed rate loan in Freddie Mac’s portfolio active as of June 2023, we computed the value of the mortgage rate lock-in effect.5 Per these calculations, the national average mortgage rate lock-in effect is $55,000 per household but because of differences in average loan sizes and the timing of originations and the history of refinance activity, the average value varies considerably across the country and by year of origination. Across geographies the average mortgage rate lock-in effect varies from a high of $91,000 in Hawaii to a low of $32,000 in West Virginia. Considering year of origination, the highest average values are for loans originated in 2020 and 2021 with average mortgage rate lock-in effect of $77,000 and $85,000, respectively. But, as rates continue to increase, even mortgages originated in 2023 have an average mortgage rate lock-in effect of $10,000.
To get a sense of how significant the mortgage rate lock-in effect is for the U.S. economy, we can sum the mortgage rate lock-in effect over the Freddie Mac portfolio. Considering only 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages financed by Freddie Mac, the aggregate mortgage rate lock-in effect for borrowers in Freddie Mac’s portfolio is substantial. We estimate that, considering the company’s single-family mortgage portfolio, homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages financed by Freddie Mac have locked in savings of a collective $700 billion dollars in total value. This is equal to about 25% of the outstanding unpaid principal balances in Freddie Mac’s single-family mortgage portfolio.
Our aggregate estimate of 25% of outstanding mortgage balances is significant and shows that many have truly benefitted from their fixed-rate mortgage when rates hit record lows. For comparison, Quigley calculated the average mortgage rate lock-in effect equal to $1,800 in 1981 for households with mortgages, which represented about 5% of outstanding mortgage balances versus about 25% today.6 In Exhibit 4 (on the following page) we show a time series of quarterly average mortgage rate lock-in effect in the Freddie Mac portfolio since 2018. From March 2019 through December 2021, the average lock-in effect was negative, meaning that the average borrower had significant incentive to refinance. But since March 2022, the average lock-in effect has surged, reaching over $50,000 in each
of the past four quarters.
The mortgage rate lock-in effect is already having a significant impact on the U.S. economy and will likely continue to do so for years to come. One of the major challenges to the current U.S. housing market is a lack of available-for-sale inventory. The lock-in effect is yet another layer contributing to the dearth of available inventory. How much so is an active area of research.
Footnotes
1 The Housing Market Index is a diffusion index normalized so that a value of 50 indicates sentiment balanced between positive and negative. Any value above (below) 50 indicates that on average survey respondents have a positive (negative) sentiment. For more information on the index see https://www.nahb.org/news-and-economics/housing-economics/indices/housing-market-index.
2 Quigley, J.M., 1987. Interest rate variations, mortgage prepayments and household mobility. The Review of Economics and Statistics, pp.636-643.
3 The net present value of the mortgage rate lock-in effect is denoted by V and computed by using the value of the current mortgage balance (B) and the present discounted value of the payments (P) using prevailing market interest rates (r) discounted over the remaining (n) periods of the loan:
4 In our example, the borrower’s current balance B is $236,379, but the present value of the monthly payments (P=$1,007) discounted for the remaining (n=331) months at 0.005675 (r=6.81/1200) equals $150,243. Thus, the value V is $86,136 ($236,379-$150,243) which represents the value the borrower gets by having locked in a low mortgage interest rate.
5 Due to curtailment, or early payment of principal, our formula is slightly more complicated than the one presented above. To adjust for cases of curtailment we use the modified formula:
Where n is now the remaining months left adjusting for curtailment and F is the residual partial payment due in period n to pay off the remaining balance.
6 Per the 1981 American Housing Survey (https://www2.census.gov/prod2/ahsscan/h150-81a.pdf page 10 Table A-2) there were about 27 million households with a mortgage in the U.S. Multiplying $1,800 by 27 million gives us a little less than $50 billion in aggregate mortgage rate lock-in effect in 1981. Per the Financial Accounts of the United States, the total mortgage debt outstanding on 1-4 family housing was $1 trillion in 1981. $50 billion / $1,000 billion = 5%.
An interesting thing happened to a pair of Ocean City, New Jersey homeowners recently.
Residents Bill and Barbara Doughten received an anonymous handwritten note from a real estate agent who took offense to them parking the car on the front lawn of their property.
Apparently the elderly couple parked their car sideways on the front lawn instead of using their driveway, something that can be seen as crude to some.
“I’m Trying to Sell Million Dollar Homes”
Unfortunately, the real estate agent didn’t take the time to investigate the why of the matter, and instead left the scribbled note expressing his or her disgust for the seemingly tacky move.
The agent expressed intense frustration in having trouble selling million-dollar homes because of the unsightly parking situation, writing, “You have a driveway – use it.”
But little did the individual know that the reason the homeowner parked on the lawn was because of their old age/health, with the lawn parking spot making for a shorter trip inside the home.
After receiving the note, the incensed granddaughter of the couple took to Facebook to set the record straight.
Stephanie Powley asked whether the agent actually took the time to think before writing the note, and called the person a “true coward” for staying anonymous.
She added that her grandparents have been living in the home for longer than the agent has probably been alive, noting that the rest of the community understands the parking situation and has no problem with it.
Real Estate Agent Irony
I felt this story was noteworthy (no pun intended) for a few different reasons. For one, writing a handwritten, inflammatory note, as opposed to knocking on the door or writing a formal letter, seems very unprofessional.
In fact, it could be seen as on par with someone who parks their car on the front lawn, assuming they don’t have a good reason to do so.
So in that respect, by penning the note the agent was essentially acting in the very same way that they loathe.
Second, it makes you wonder if real estate agents sometimes go too far. I get it; agents have a big job to do. They need to sell prospective buyers on a neighborhood that is often foreign to them.
And when we’re talking about million-dollar homes, it can be embarrassing when you turn the corner and see a car on the front lawn. Or some other eyesore.
But agents should also remember that these neighborhoods belong to the residents, not the agents who often live miles away and are only there for a month or so to sell a property and move on.
Sure, this was just one agent, and not representative of an entire group of people, but perhaps it’s a good lesson for the rest of them. Heck, they could have even earned a referral in the process if they handled it a bit differently!
Have you found yourself contemplating flipping a house for the first time? Or you’ve flipped a house in the past, and something went terribly wrong. Now you want to know what other home renovators are and aren’t doing.
Whether you’re searching to flip a house in Ventura, CA, or a home in Las Vegas, NV, this Redfin article offers valuable tips to save time and money. From selecting the best location to choosing a reliable contractor and marketing your property, we’ve got you covered.
1. Do consider the location
Choosing a location is one of the most important factors when you flip a home. For starters, if you plan to actively participate in the renovation process, you’ll want to ensure the commute is close. However, to assemble the right team (contractors, painters, designers, etcetera), you’ll also want to be sure that anyone working on the home can access it readily and isn’t deterred by the distance.
Now, from the perspective of when you go to sell the property, location is equally important. Flipping a home in an area with active demand for your listing can make or break the deal. If you plan to keep the property as a rental, consider both short-term and long-term demand. Would it be best to be located near the city for visitors to access hot commodities quickly? Or is the home a retreat tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the world and instead amongst the quiet wilderness?
Rui Wang, is the VP of marketing for Ark7, an online platform for investing in fractional real estate. She recommends having a rental property near an urban center. This will boost occupancy rates and give easy access to travelers.
2. Do budget accordingly
Numbers are critical when it comes to flipping a house. Spend too much, and you’ll find yourself at a financial loss. On the other hand, spending less may find yourself struggling for occupancy or buyers.
Real estate finance gurus, BiggerPockets, discuss the importance of calculating after-repair value (ARV). What is the property going to be worth after repairs? To determine a property ARV, you must know its current value, the value of the renovations, and perform a comparable market analysis (CMA). A good rule of thumb to help you along the way is the 70% Rule, which states that you shouldn’t pay more than 70% of the ARV minus the repairs needed.
Konstantin Podyachev, CEO of Expo Home Buyers, recommends “setting aside a buffer of around 10-15% for unexpected expenses.” These expenses can arise throughout the renovation process; the last thing you want is to be financially strung out. In the best-case scenario, everything goes according to plan, and the 10-15% stays in your pocket.
3. Do consult with a real estate agent
Even before you purchase a home to renovate, you’ll want to consult a real estate agent. Agents are equipped with a vast knowledge of the area you desire to purchase and can guide you through the process. From learning about recently sold or leased homes comparable to your vision, it’s essential to understand what you’re up against.
Additionally, assembling a team of contractors, designers, appraisers, and inspectors can be challenging. Having a real estate agent as a guiding resource to connect with those individuals can be a step in the right direction.
4. Don’t assume your plan can’t be derailed
Try to assemble a foolproof plan when beginning the process of renovating a home; however, don’t expect it to stay that way. If you plan to reconfigure the layout by demolishing walls or ripping beneath the surface of the floors, you never know what may be discovered.
Termites, asbestos, mold, and other jarring, plan-wrecking things may be found beyond what the eye first sees. Before purchasing a property, perform due diligence and have an inspector review the house. They should look at everything from sewage pipes and water lines to foundation and structural integrity.
Bobbie Wasserman, Founder and CEO of Single Lady Estates, shares to bring in a specialist if concerns arise. “Their insights can provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the home’s critical (and expensive to repair) systems.”
5. Don’t cut corners, but don’t over rehab
The lowest contractor bid is constantly enticing. However, before deciding, be sure you’re asking to see a portfolio of anyone’s work (maybe even touring a current project). Another helpful tip is to read reviews or connect with someone they’ve worked with before to hear firsthand how well they executed their vision.
Will Rugeley, marketing manager for Good Vibes Homebuyers, shares that in 2020 their team bought a home for $15,000, sold it for $143,000, yet lost $8,500. This happened because they chose a contractor with the lowest bid before vetting them. Based on early estimates, Will and his team were significantly over budget as expenses continued to arise. He now advises “being wary of strangely high or low rehab estimates.”
6. Do consider the design
You’ve considered the location; now it’s time for the fun part, crafting the home’s design. First and foremost, decide if you’re going to design it yourself or if you’re going to hire a professional interior designer.
Designing a home as a short-term rental (such as an Airbnb or VRBO) can be much different than how you’d create one for a long-term rental or to sell. For short-term rentals, Wang suggests molding each room into a “functional oasis, where guests are treated to both essential amenities and supreme comfort.”
When designing a long-term rental or selling property, the saying “less is more” may be helpful. Consider prospective buyers or renters touring your magnificently curated property; you’ll want them to picture their life in the home. That life may mean leaving room for accent walls or taking inspiration from what you’ve already designed and offering a higher price tag for added features.
7. Don’t forget about marketing
After pouring your heart and soul into designing the perfect property, the last thing you want to forget about is marketing. Your real estate agent will be the greatest asset for introducing your home to potential buyers or renters.
The experts at Old Pueblo Stucco share the reminder of creating stunning curb appeal so that there is a “wow” factor at first glance. Hire a photographer or videographer to capture the best angles of everything that makes your home unique. Additionally, be sure you (or your agent) have written an attractive copy that will be front and center within the property description, highlighting all the best features.
Final thoughts on do’s and don’ts for flipping a house:
Flipping a home can seem extraordinarily overwhelming. Remembering integral parts can serve as your guiding light from start to finish. Learn from people along the way, consult experts, and continue diving into online resources available when you need clarification.
Beyond the challenges and the windy road that is “do this” or “don’t do that” lies an incredible experience of what is your piece of art coming to life.
The chasm runs the full length of the condominium complex, from the shuttered tennis court to the shuttered pool. Measuring more than 500 feet long and 20 feet wide, the gash divides the complex in two, its weed-choked perimeter cordoned off with chain-link fencing. A grimy trickle of water oozes along the chasm’s concrete floor a dozen feet below, like some ugly open wound that just won’t heal.
Welcome to Coyote Village, a 70-unit condo complex in suburban La Habra whose residents have been living out a homeowner’s nightmare. Over the last four years, portions of the tree-lined greenbelt that once shaded the complex have violently collapsed into a concrete maw below. That’s because, unbeknownst to most residents, the greenbelt wasn’t built on solid earth. Running beneath it is a cavernous flood channel that decades ago was sealed with a concrete lid then topped with mounds of soil and landscaped with pine trees.
The first collapse of the concealed lid came in January 2019, when a section of the greenbelt near the tennis court caved in, exposing the flood channel below. The second implosion came in March, when heavy winter rains saturated the greenbelt and the concrete lid couldn’t handle the weight of the soggy soil and towering pines. This time, the collapse took out a huge swath of the greenbelt near the community pool.
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Most residents were shocked to learn that their complex was built on top of a private canal that plugs into Orange County’s larger Imperial Channel, which routes storm water out of La Habra, Brea and Fullerton. It stood as the only covered private channel in the county’s 380-mile public storm drain system.
And that “private” designation is where the residents’ encountered another chasm, in the form of a years-long legal battle.
After the 2019 collapse, the county did some cleanup work at the site and provided security fencing around the exposed portion of the channel. Following the March 15 collapse, La Habra brought in construction crews to excavate the channel, which at that point was clogged with dirt, tree limbs and concrete that the city worried would create a damming effect in the broader drainage system during future storms.
But the city’s work stopped there.
La Habra officials have argued since the first collapse that the channel belongs to the complex. And worse, that the channel’s concrete lid had been improperly covered with a breadth of landscaping that violated what had been approved in the city permitting process. According to the city, the homeowners association that represents Coyote Village is responsible for repairing and rebuilding the channel.
The Coyote Village Homeowners Assn. has challenged that stance in a running legal battle, started in 2020, contending the channel is integral to a larger public system and was damaged by public use without just compensation. It has sued the city, the county and the county flood control district, among others, for relief.
“While the conduit runs through the HOA property, the water is public,” said John Peterson, an attorney representing the homeowners group. “The public needs to share in the responsibilities.”
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State Sen. Josh Newman, a Democrat whose district encompasses La Habra, tried to broker a solution last summer and was able to secure $8.5 million in state funding to repair the flood channel. “The residents were wholly unprepared and financially unequipped to deal with this,” Newman said. “I was happy to secure those funds.”
But a year later, that money remains unspent.
La Habra initially questioned the propriety of expenditure, asking the state Atty. General’s Office if the allocation could be considered an improper gift of public funds. The state’s Legislative Counsel determined it was not. In the months since, the city and homeowners association have haggled over who would run the major construction project, with the HOA concerned it does not have the expertise and city officials reluctant to take charge of repairs on a canal they consider private property.
Residents have watched in a mix of frustration and resignation as the saga has unfolded.
Jan Duncan, an HOA board member, said she put her Coyote Village loft on the market in June and received six offers the first week. Then came questions about the flood channel and why it hasn’t been fixed in four years. In short order, every offer was rescinded.
“I cannot give buyers anything in writing to guarantee that this is going to be resolved,” she said. “Without that, they’re uncomfortable. I can’t blame them.”
Justin Marinello is among the parents in the complex who worry about the safety risk the exposed channel poses for children. His condo looks out on the gritty channel and his 4-year-old son had a front-row view of the city’s excavation work after the March collapse.
“My son enjoyed watching the construction because he likes giant Tonka toys playing with dirt,” Marinello said. “But it would be nice to be able to open the door up and just have some grass for him to run on.”
On the other side of the chasm, Lizeth Ruiz knew about the exposed channel when she moved to her condo in 2019 but figured it would be quickly repaired. Instead, she finds herself fending off mosquitoes that breed in the canal’s dingy water. “Now, I keep everything closed and have to be more mindful about wearing pants instead of shorts,” Ruiz said, holding her newborn baby tight.
As the summer heat soars, the concrete channel is lined with dry weeds that rise taller than the 6-foot safety fencing. The channel itself is defaced with graffiti. Residents continue to pay $390 in monthly homeowners fees even though the channel’s collapse has sidelined amenities like the tennis court and pool.
It marks a wrenching chapter in the life of a property with an eccentric history.
In mid-century La Habra, a ranch owner flooded a portion of the area to create a lake and islet, deemed “Monkey Island,” where he let feral monkeys roam free. He also eyed the land for a track that would host ostrich races. At the time, ostrich farms were a popular tourist attraction in Orange County.
Later, the lake was drained and La Habra city leaders opted to go a development direction they considered more forward-thinking, erecting a shopping plaza and post office on the site.
In 1978, developer Loren Hendrix proposed an adjacent 70-unit condominium complex, when such communities were still novel in Orange County as an affordable alternative to single-family homes. Without yards to maintain, he envisioned residents being able to stroll along a landscaped creek — a dressed-up version of the flood control channel that crossed the property — as a key selling point.
But Hendrix faced stiff questions from city staff about how he planned to protect children from hazards posed by the channel-turned-creek. Archival records show the county flood control district rejected Hendrix’s creek design. The district recommended design changes Hendrix considered too costly. Instead, the complex would host an enclosed flood channel masked with landscaping.
La Habra City Council members approved the development in April 1979 on the condition that Hendrix’s design be approved by the city’s chief building inspector and the county flood control district. A year later, the building inspector wrote that the complex was “substantially in compliance” with applicable codes. It’s not clear in county records whether the flood control district ever approved the design.
In any case, the condo development and greenbelt were built. And for 40 years, storm runoff flowed through the underground channel unbeknownst to most residents until the 2019 collapse.
La Habra city officials say the cave-ins are more about what was built on top of the channel than what lies below.
Deputy City Atty. Gary Kranker contends that at the time of the 2019 collapse the soil piled above the channel ran 9 feet deep — 6 feet more than the greenbelt design approved by the city — and that the pine trees that by then stood 80 feet tall contributed to the channel lid’s failure.
“It’s the obligation of the individual constructing the channel, or in this case, the channel roof, to make sure it was done properly,” he said. “Based upon the calculations that we have, it would have been done properly had it only had 3 feet of soil.”
And he faults the homeowners association for failing to take aggressive action to alleviate the risks between the first cave-in and the implosion in March. “To be quite candid, [they] did not do anything to try and alleviate this condition,” he said. “They could have hired someone to remove the soil, one wheelbarrow at a time.”
Last year, the homeowners association sued Hendrix, the complex developer, for fraud. The complaint alleged that he concealed the channel and any maintenance responsibilities from the association so he could sell condos “more quickly and at higher prices.” Peterson, the association’s attorney, said a settlement agreement compels Hendrix to find the insurance policies that covered the development and assign the rights over to the association.
Hendrix did not respond to requests for comment through his attorney.
Last week, representatives for the city and homeowners association said they were closing in on an agreement for moving forward with repairs that would free up the $8.5 million in state funding. Once a resolution is reached, the canal’s reconstruction is expected to take at least a year.
Roma Damo, who has lived at Coyote Village for 35 years, doesn’t see much light at the end of the tunnel — or flood channel, in her case.
“I’m seriously thinking about renting this condo out and getting myself an apartment,” said Damo, 88, eyeing the degraded channel outside her condo windows. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here looking at this.”
Inside: Are you struggling to manage your money? Feeling overwhelmed with debt? If so, it’s time to take action and build better habits. This guide will teach you how to create a budget and start your savings. You need these financial tips for young adults.
The importance of sound financial advice for young adults cannot be overstated.
Often, a lacuna exists in our educational system where personal finance is concerned, leaving many young adults ill-equipped for the financial decisions that await them in their adult life.
Yet, you will encounter situations that require a sound understanding of budgeting, credit usage, investment, and an array of other financial tools without any formal education in these areas.
Financial advice can act as a compass, guiding you on a path to financial health and stability.
This early orientation can help you avoid the pitfalls of needless debt accumulation, poor money management, and inefficient financial choices like I made.
That is why it is of utmost importance to start imparting knowledge and financial habits to young adults as early as possible.
Why Financial Advice is Crucial for Young Adults
Money matters! Especially when you’re young and there’s a world of financial responsibilities unveiled before you.
Understanding financial basics early on is key to smart monetary decisions in the future. Here’s why you should consider this vital:
Knowledge Burst: Understanding finance terms, the implications, and their impacts arm you with knowledge for future decisions.
Saving for Later: Early investment in savings accounts or retirement funds can maximize your funds later in life.
Debts Control: Ensuring debts are paid off faster helps avoid excessive interest in the long run.
Investment: Stock or mutual fund investment can multiply your savings in the right condition.
Remember, your financial health requires deliberate action, start early!
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What is the best saving advice for young adults?
The best saving advice for young adults is to start early and save regularly.
This will help you build up a nest egg that you can use in the future.
Personally, this is my own regret as such it took me way too long to become financially sound.
Also, you want to be mindful of your spending and live within your means.
Best Financial Advice for Young Adults
When you’re in your 20s, the world feels like your oyster, ripe with opportunities and potential.
But among this plethora of choices, the most important decisions you make may very well relate to your finances.
While the excitement of earning and spending your hard-earned money can be exhilarating, it is crucial to remember that wise financial decisions made early on can set the stage for long-term financial success.
We have curated some of the best financial advice to help you make informed decisions and set the foundation for a secure financial future.
1. Create a Budget
Creating a budget can seem like a daunting task. However, once correctly accomplished, it can undeniably make your life a lot easier.
Below are some reasons to start budgeting from the start:
Money management: Knowing the ins and outs of your financial transactions helps manage your money efficiently. A budget gives you a clear snapshot of your income and expenses, allowing you to make strategic decisions about spending and saving. This level of control can be incredibly liberating and reassuring.
Financial discipline: Creating a budget encourages discipline when it comes to financial decisions. It can show you areas where you’re spending more than necessary, such as an underutilized gym membership, frequent dining out, or an unused streaming subscription. By addressing these expenses, you could easily save an additional $100 per month.
Alignment with goals: A budget can provide clarity and align your financial actions with your long-term goals. If you are side-tracked and lose sight of these ambitions, the budget serves as a potent reminder to guide you back to the right path.
Effective savings: A budget constitutes a robust tool that allows you to maximize your income and inculcate a savings habit. Essentially, it’s a roadmap that shows you, in real time, where you can minimize and direct those funds into savings. Those savings can then be invested toward achieving significant life goals more efficiently.
Stress reduction: Tracking income and expenditure can culminate in a stress-free financial life. For example, it helps manage unexpected emergencies or allows you to enjoy after-office drinks without any worries about overspending.
To simplify the job, various user-friendly budgeting apps are available.
These digital budgeting tools or apps offer handy features that can streamline tracking expenses and income. These tools can automatically categorize transactions, display visual charts of spending, and send alerts when you’re nearing the limit of a budget category.
Enjoy guilt-free spending and effortless saving with a friendly, flexible method for managing your finances.
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So, no more wondering where your money went.
With a budget in place, you get to tell your money exactly where to go, and this is an empowering shift from feeling out of control to feeling in control of your finances.
By making budgeting a consistent part of your financial routine, you adopt a proactive approach to your money, making your life easier, and your future brighter.
2. Manage Your Debt
As a young adult, managing your debt is incredibly crucial. Not only does it set the foundation for your financial future, but it also helps to keep your credit score healthy.
Here are some top-notch expert tips on how to effectively manage your debts:
Avoid credit cards whenever possible. Although credit card rewards may seem appealing, they can often lead to unwanted debts. Instead, try using cash, debit cards, or cash app cards.
Don’t finance purchases that depreciate in value over time. Rather than taking a loan for things like cars or other depreciable assets, save up and pay in full.
Minimize education-related costs. This can be achieved by going to in-state schools, considering trade school or community college, living off-campus, and exploring scholarships or work/study programs. Learn how to pay for college without loans.
Pay off your debts methodically. Consider strategies like the debt snowball or avalanche methods to strategically pay off your debts. Use a debt payoff app to find your debt free date.
Remember, being in debt can delay your financial goals.
So, learning to manage your debts early on in your life can have a significant impact on your future finances.
3. Invest Wisely
Investing wisely is a cornerstone of solid financial advice for young adults. It sets the foundation for a financially secure future.
Most people are terrified of the concept of investing and stay away from it, which is the worst decision possible.
Investing is about putting your money to work for you, expecting growth or income over time.
Consistently adding money to your investment portfolio can be more beneficial than staying away or trying to time the market.
Investing is ideally a long-term endeavor. Patience is key – you can’t expect to make big gains or reach your financial goals overnight. It’s a process of steady growth.
Simplicity is key for beginner investors. Buying and holding index funds is a good example of a simple and passive investment strategy. Or you can learn how to invest in stocks for beginners.
4. Educate Yourself about Savings and Investment Accounts
Understanding savings is a fundamental aspect of personal finance, yet many young adults ignore this.
Beginning an emergency fund, no matter how small is one of the oft-repeated mantras of personal finance experts.
Consistently making savings a non-negotiable monthly “expense” not only provides a safety net for emergencies but also contributes to various future goals such as retirement, vacation, or a down payment on a home.
A foundational aspect of mastering your finances involves learning self-control, reducing the tendency to make every purchase on credit, and understanding the importance of saving money before making a purchase.
Taking the initiative to read personal finance books and gain knowledge about managing money can greatly aid in controlling your financial future and making informed decisions about savings.
Starting saving for retirement early is essential to secure financial stability in the future.
Learn how much money should I have saved by 25.
5. Limit Your Expenses
Understanding how to limit expenses can be a game changer for your finances.
Track your daily expenses carefully, even the small ones like your morning coffee, as they can add up and provide crucial insights into your spending habits.
Keep your monthly costs, such as rent, as low as feasibly possible, as this will save you substantial amounts over time and accelerate your ability to invest in assets like a home. Learn the ideal household budget percentages.
This one makes the biggest different to spend less money…Categorize your expenses and set specific spending limits for each group, reviewing and adjusting these as needed to curb any overspending.
Regularly review your finances, specifically your bank and credit card statements, every two to three months to identify and eliminate any unnecessary expenditures.
6. Build Passive Income Streams
Okay, this one is my top financial tip!
Navigating the financial world requires strategy, and for young adults, generating passion income streams is a game-changer. With the decline of traditional 9-5 jobs, it’s crucial to adopt flexible financial strategies.
Start identifying your passions that can be monetized. Think about your hobbies, skills, or areas in which you’re an expert. It could be anything from blogging to tutoring or even food delivery services.
Find ways to make passive income. Remember, every bit of extra income counts, and data suggests diversifying income streams can secure your financial future.
Continuous learning is your power tool here. Aim to broaden your financial literacy, understand investing, explore various earning methods, and strengthen your entrepreneurial spirit.
While cutting expenses helps, growing your income using your passions gives you control over your financial destiny.
So, don’t hesitate in doubling up your day job with your passion-driven side hustles.
Expert tip: One of the best ways to make money online for beginners is a key place to start.
7. Create a Cash Reserve
Understand that surprise expenses can unsettle your financial plan, like a sudden car repair costing $700. Having a cash reserve will keep you financially stable through these unexpected turns.
Start an emergency fund: Alongside your regular savings, begin an emergency fund. Aim to save around three to six months’ worth of income.
Prioritize savings: Consider your savings as a non-negotiable expense. You’ll soon realize you’ve saved enough for significant objectives like a down payment on a home.
Build a rainy day fund: This larger $10k-50k rainy day account will help in those long-term expenses or job loss.
Combat inflation: Choose a money market account to preserve the value of your savings, while ensuring quick accessibility in emergencies.
Automation is key: If you’re forgetful, set up an automatic transfer that channels funds to your savings account immediately upon salary credit.
Building up cash reverses will help you to improve your liquid net worth and have less stress around money.
8. Learn About Taxes
Taxes seem complicated, huh? Well, not grasping tax basics can give you a run for your cash. So, get started young and you might save up a fortune in the long run
Start by understanding your salary. The chunk that you take home (net pay) isn’t the whole amount (gross pay) that your employer agreed on. Learn more about gross pay vs net pay.
If you’re self-employed, remember, you’ve got to handle income taxes, and also the full FICA bundle.
Do your bit of math now and avoid an unexpected cringer next April.
9. Consider a Term Life Insurance Policy
Getting a term life insurance policy while still relatively young is a smart financial move that any savvy young adult should consider early in their career.
This safety net serves multiple purposes, especially in ensuring the protection of your future family if for any reason you’re unable to provide for them.
Term life insurance policies are typically far more affordable for young adults. The research notably reveals that the younger an individual is, the more affordable the life insurance policy tends to be. Therefore, beginning this investment in your early years enables you to lock in a lower premium rate, thereby saving significant amounts in the long run.
A life insurance policy is an important piece of your financial planning puzzle. Remember, cost increases with age so act fast!
10. Take Action and Stay With It
Taking action and sticking with it is crucial in managing finances well.
First, you’ve got to get clear about your financial goals. Want to set up a passive income stream or travel? Make them specific, feasible, and measurable.
Once you’ve set your goals, break them down into bite-size pieces. For instance, calculate the costs and set quarterly goals. Make sure to these vision board supplies to keep your goals front and center.
Ultimately, this proactive approach coupled with persistence can help you efficiently manage your funds and stay financially healthy.
FAQ
Honestly, this is completely up to you.
The better bet would be to learn about financial management topics yourself.
Finding a fee-based financial advisor will be difficult when you have no significant assets. And then, when you do, a financial advisor can put a drag on your investing portfolio.
If you decide to work with a financial advisor, find a fee-only financial planner who provides unbiased advice – since they aren’t driven by commission.
Financial planning while young—especially in your 20s—is key to future success and financial security. Here are some steps to establish strong fiscal habits:
Firstly, map out your financial goals. Do you anticipate student loans, a mortgage, or potential investments?
Secondly, budget diligently to save more money early in your career.
Next, consider eliminating outstanding debt quicker by applying saved money from part-time or full-time employment.
Lastly, explore investments such as mutual funds and stocks for optimal use of leftover money after bills are paid.
Remember, according to a study of 30,000 college graduates, 70% never took a personal finance course—making self-education critical.
Use These Personal Financial Tips for Young Adults
In conclusion, managing personal finances is a vital skill that unfortunately is not emphasized enough in our educational institutions.
It’s critical for young adults – you – to learn this skill to establish a strong financial foundation for their future. Especially if you are determined to become financially independent.
This begins by developing a sense of self-control and understanding the importance of delayed gratification.
Regularly monitoring your income and expenses, and adjusting your lifestyle to live within your means, is a crucial habit.
Additionally, the importance of starting an emergency fund and saving for retirement cannot be overstated.
By incorporating these financial tips into their lives, young adults can steer clear of unnecessary financial stress and ensure a secure and financially healthy future.
Take this Advice about Money
It is crucial to understand not just the mechanics of money, but also, the long-term implications of your financial decisions.
Take control of your financial future today, and you are sure to reap the rewards in the years to come.
Discerning financial advice from trusted sources, instead of relying on potentially misleading external influences, is also key. Remember, the sooner you start, the better off you’ll be in the long run.
Remember the data-driven fact: small changes in your everyday expenses can have as big of an impact on your finances as getting a raise.
Know someone else that needs this, too? Then, please share!!
A landslide struck Laguna Beach’s Bluebird Canyon in 1978 — smashing cars, buckling streets and destroying 24 homes. An adjacent swath of earth broke loose in 2005, wiping out 12 more homes.
That wasn’t enough to keep Scott Tenney away. In 2010, Tenney and his wife, Mariella Simon, bought a 15-acre hillside ranch near the disaster area despite the listing warning that the property was on the site of an ancient landslide.
“We knew we’d have to do a bit of terracing and retaining, but California is what it is,” Tenney said. “It’s a dynamic place not just culturally, but geologically.”
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From an outside perspective, his might seem a confounding decision. But in Southern California it’s an extremely common one, because that geological diversity, as Tenney calls it, is not just the danger. It’s the allure.
Elevation has long been aspirational here — an escape from the urban flats.
Since settlers first started pouring in from the relative flatness of the East Coast and Midwest, they were captivated by California’s vertiginous landscape. Plein air painters flocked to capture the light of the arroyos. Health seekers sought the clean air of the San Gabriel foothills. Folk rockers found inspiration in Laurel and Topanga canyons. And the moneyed elite started building their houses higher and higher above the basin, forever seeking the trophy perch with the show-off view.
But that perch has always come at the risk of catastrophe. Homes slide into a gulch in Palos Verdes. Fires roar over the Malibu hills. A debris flow kills 23 people and destroys 130 homes in Montecito. Heavy snow traps thousands in the San Bernardino Mountains. And winter storms pull fragile bluffs into a rising sea.
These natural disasters so often occur where the tectonic plates collided and folded into beautiful vistas.
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While other regions may face only one main disaster threat — tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes on the Gulf and East coasts — California’s extreme topography brings siege from all sides: the ocean, the trees and brush, the sky above and the ground below. And oftentimes, the most attractive areas are some of the most dangerous.
A land of disasters
More and more people are crowding into the Wildland Urban Interface — the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development. It’s where properties mingle with undeveloped (and often steep) land, and it’s uniquely susceptible to natural disasters.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, this area grows by 2 million acres a year as people fan out to the edges of wilderness in search of affordable houses, more space or simply a break from life in the city. And California holds more homes in this dangerous zone than any other state in the country.
And prices keep soaring. It doesn’t matter if a house sits on stilts on the side of a cliff, if it’s a landslide complex slowly sliding toward the sea, or if it’s predicted to be knee-deep in water in a couple of generations — there will always be a buyer.
As Californians flock to risky areas, disasters take a greater toll. Over the last decade, the state has experienced 20 disasters that each cost at least $1 billion in damage from flooding, wildfire and extreme heat. Those 20 alone combined for 783 deaths, according to National Centers for Environmental Information.
According to the real estate listing database Redfin, the trend is nationwide. Last year, the country’s most flood-prone, heat-prone and fire-prone counties all saw more people move in than out. Redfin researcher Sheharyar Bokhari blames one primary factor: the housing affordability crisis.
“L.A. and most other coastal cities are expensive. With remote work becoming more of an option, people are finding they can have more space and finally afford a home if they move to riskier areas,” he said.
Bokhari said another L.A.-specific factor is development — mainly that there’s not as much being built in the city compared to the more rural areas surrounding it.
He points to the Inland Empire, which is typically more affordable than L.A. County. In Riverside County, roughly 600,000 homes face a high risk of wildfire, the most of any of the 306 high-fire-risk counties in the country. Despite that, the county’s population grew by 40,000 over the last two years.
Even if experts — and common sense — say to stay away from certain areas, Bokhari said that won’t likely happen because local governments aren’t incentivized to push people out.
“These disaster-prone cities need revenue and people paying taxes,” he said. “They just claim that they’ll be more resilient and take more safety measures going forward,” he said.
Where else would I go?
Since moving onto the ancient landslide zone, Tenney and his wife founded Bluebird Canyon Farms, which offers workshops and grows food for local markets. His time is split between that and taming the erosion-prone land beneath the farm.
To combat sliding land, Tenney installed a gravity wall, 200 feet long and 9 feet tall, to retain the hillside. In addition to grading the terrain to make the slopes gentler, he added powerful drainage systems and timber-and-concrete cribbing to keep structures in place.
The work never stops, and Tenney keeps a monthly schedule to keep up with tasks. Clear brush in spring. Clean storm drains in September. Inspect terracing every few months.
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“You can run but you can’t hide,” he said, adding that urban centers such as L.A. have their own laundry lists of things to worry about: crime, homelessness, etc. “You won’t experience a wildfire in downtown L.A., but there are plenty of other things to be concerned with.”
Cribbing systems used by Tenney have become commonplace in Portuguese Bend, a small coastal community on the Palos Verdes Peninsula situated on a slow-moving landslide complex. Land moves up to 8 feet a year, and at that rate residents would rather ride the sliding earth toward the sea than sell and move somewhere else.
“I’ll be here until I can’t be here anymore. I’ll slide away with the land,” Claudia Gutierrez told The Times in July after a nearby landslide in Rolling Hills Estates sent a handful of homes careening down a canyon.
You’d think the real estate market in disaster-prone areas would eventually slow down, but there are no deals to be found for house hunters. Longtime residents often stay put post-disaster, and incoming residents consistently pay a premium to live in a scenic, though potentially dangerous, area.
In cities tucked among the foothills of the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains such as Altadena and La Cañada Flintridge, buying in a high-fire-risk zone might be ever-so-slightly cheaper than buying in a safer place. And buyers pounce.
“My clients try to choose low-fire-risk zones, but if the house in the fire zone is the right price, that is more important,” said Brent Chang of Compass.
When Lisa and Michael McKean got home to Malibu Park from their honeymoon on Nov. 8, 2018, they were so exhausted that they went straight to sleep. The newlyweds didn’t even bother unpacking their suitcases of swimsuits still wet with Caribbean saltwater.
When they woke up, Lisa looked out her back window and saw a 10,000-foot cloud of billowing black smoke.
The Woolsey fire was ravaging the Malibu hills.
The pair grabbed their still-packed suitcases and fled to the Zuma Beach parking lot, where they spent the day surrounded by horses, dogs, cats and neighbors all wondering if their homes would survive.
Theirs, built a year earlier, did not.
“The entire neighborhood burned,” Lisa said. “Everything was black, scorched earth.”
Devastated, the pair spent six months crunching numbers on the cost of rebuilding versus moving. The home that was destroyed had taken four years to approve and three years to build. Their next one could take even longer.
Despite the damage, and despite the ceaseless, inescapable risk of a future fire, they ultimately decided to stay and rebuild.
Cheryl Calvert has lived in Malibu since 1985 and has adapted to a life of fire. To her, the flames are nearly routine.
“Once you make it through your first one, you realize it’s manageable. But you have to plan ahead,” Calvert said.
She keeps two bags packed at all times: one full of goggles and N95 masks and one with dog supplies.
Calvert has experienced plenty of fires during her time in the coastal community, but the worst was the Corral fire in 2007. She was in the driveway as the flames arrived, and she sprayed the corner of her wooden home with a hose as it ignited. Her guesthouse and garage burned down, but the house was saved.
She never considered leaving. Instead, she became more prepared, installing an extra water tank and leaving a pair of shoes by the front door at all times for quick escapes.
“We have to do crazy things, but it’s only crazy for an hour or two every five or 10 years,” she said.
She ran down the usual list of reasons why people move to Malibu: the beautiful landscape, the ocean breeze, the sweeping views. But she said the main reason her and so many of her neighbors stay is because of the community.
“We’re all living near like-minded people who are willing to risk themselves for each other,” she said. “It’s a bunch of hippies. Rich hippies.”
The psychology of staying
A life among the trees, coasts and cliffs is often what lures Californians to disaster-prone communities, but according to experts, the factors that make them stay after a disaster strikes are much more complicated.
Age, race and class can all indicate whether someone is more or less likely to move after experiencing a disaster. For example, Zhen Cong, professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that in the wake of tornados, the middle class might be the most inclined to move since the upper class has the resources to stay and rebuild, while the lower class is often trapped and has no other choice but to stay.
Other relocation factors include the level of damage to the home and whether the person owns the place or rents. But often the most important factor is one that can’t be easily quantified: “People who have a strong sense of place and a strong sense of community are less likely to move,” Cong said.
Ironically, some disasters can even encourage people who otherwise would have left to stay.
In studying post-tornado relocation decisions across the country, Cong found that after a disaster, people increase their disaster preparedness. Part of that includes gathering supplies, but it also includes social engagement: talking to neighbors, sharing information on social media and attending meetings. That engagement, which might not happen if a tornado doesn’t strike, brings a greater sense of community, leading people to stay in that community.
Anamaria Bukvic, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech who studies coastal hazards and population displacement, found that after Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast in 2012, non-geophysical factors mattered the most in deciding whether to stay or leave. For example, confidence in adapting to future disasters was a more relevant indicator if someone would stay than how close they lived to the ocean.
“The experience of flooding can be emotionally disturbing and traumatic,” Bukvic said. “When facing problems, some people try to avoid them. Others try to resolve them.”
She added that confidence in government plays a major role as well. If a person believes the government responded well to the disaster and will keep them safe during the next disaster, they’re more likely to stay.
That’s something that Malibu Mayor Bruce Silverstein thinks about when overseeing the city’s disaster response plan. Although L.A. County is responsible for physically fighting the fires that plague the area, Malibu has instituted a free service in which residents can request a fire-hardening expert to inspect their property to better prepare them for the next blaze.
The city also outlaws certain types of vegetation susceptible to fire and tries to prevent excessive population growth in order to make evacuation from hills and canyons easier during emergencies. It’s the main reason accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are harder to build in Malibu than L.A.
“Unlike L.A., we don’t have standards that encourage growth,” Silverstein said. “We maintain the status quo and try to keep space between properties so if one catches on fire, it doesn’t extend to the neighbors.”
Michael Dyer, a former Santa Barbara County fire chief who now serves as public safety director for Calabasas, said safety became a top priority for the city after Woolsey, energizing the community into forming multiple volunteer commissions that plan for disaster preparedness.
“We have to provide that service as a government,” Dyer said while monitoring a brush fire in Topanga from his front porch. “No one has forgotten Woolsey yet. And as long as I’m here, we won’t.”
No simple fix
As the climate crisis worsens and the Wildland Urban Interface grows in size, experts are eyeing ways to mitigate the effects of natural disasters to save both the environment and human lives.
L.A. is currently considering an ordinance that would limit development in the Santa Monica Mountains. Using recent wildfires and the Rolling Hills Estates landslide as examples, supporters said the measure would make it harder to build mansions and large hillside homes as a way to limit damage caused by disasters, as well as protect open space and wildlife.
In addition, national insurers such as State Farm and Allstate are no longer selling insurance policies in wildfire-prone areas after a series of catastrophic fires raised premiums. Without insurance, people might be disincentivized from buying and building homes in risky areas.
Redfin is also tinkering with a way to warn people of a home’s potential dangers. The company conducted an experiment in which it showed a listing’s flood risk score to certain users but not others and found that those who were shown the scores were less likely to bid on the home.
The scores have since expanded to show risk for fire, heat, drought and storms.
In the meantime, Californians continue to build, and rebuild, in disaster-prone areas. Lisa and Michael McKean, whose home burned down in 2018, moved back into Malibu Park in 2021.
As neighbors slowly filter back into the neighborhood, they walk around to measure progress and congratulate those who have returned.
“We used to hate cement trucks and jackhammers, but now we celebrate them,” Michael said. “The cheery sound of construction.”
If you grew up in the 90s as I did, you likely watched Father Of the Bride, erm, let’s say more than a handful of times.
I’m also willing to bet that, while you sat there admiring Annie’s eternally bouncy curls with utter certainty that stonewashed mom jeans and layered turtleneck sweaters would never go out of style, you also dreamt about growing up in a home as warm and welcoming, (not to mention downright huge) as the Banks’ house.
To be fair, Annie’s outfits have come full circle and are once again considered the height of cool-girl fashion. As for our love of that fairytale family home, you’re not the only one still pining to step inside over 30 years later.
To this day it remains one of the most searched-for movie houses on the internet and after a quick re-watch (or three) since the film joined Disney+, I was instantly reminded why.
It also got its fair share of recognition in the 1991 movie that starred Steve Martin as George Banks, Diane Keaton as Nina Banks, Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Annie, Kieran Culkin as Matty, and Steve Martin’s Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short as the eccentric wedding planner extraordinaire Franck Eggelhoffer.
Steve Martin’s character, George, proudly boasted that “I love this house. I love that I taught my kids to ride their bikes in the driveway. I love that I slept with them in tents in the backyard. I love that we carved our initials in the tree out front. This house is warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and looks spectacular with Christmas lights. It’s a great house, and I never want to move.” Safe to say that if we lived at the Banks’ house, we’d stay put too!
So, is the Father of the Bride house real? Can we go visit it? And, most importantly, can we too carve our initials on the tree out front?
Probably a firm no on that last one but in answer to the rest, I’ve done some digging and finally know everything I’ve ever wondered about this heart-warmingly nostalgic home. And spoiler alert, it’s not in San Marino, where Steve Martin’s character, George Banks, said it was.
“We live in a small town in Southern California called San Marino. I love this town and not just because it’s the kind of place where people still smile at each other. But because it hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years.”
Is the ‘Father of the Bride’ house real?
Yes, the Father of The Bride House is absolutely real! However, as it turns out, they actually used two homes to bring the movie together. The first, built in 1913, was used to film interior scenes and features as the front of the home that George pulls up to at the beginning of the movie.
“This is our house, 24 Maple Drive”
It has an incredible total of 8 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and remains as charming today as it was back in the early 90s.
Though the true address isn’t quite as pretty sounding as 24 Maple Drive, it is, as George says, located in California. You’ll find the house looking just as dreamy as you’ve always remembered it at 843 El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California.
It’s a private residence of course so any trips there should be respectful and discreet, making sure not to trespass on the property or disturb residents and neighbors. There’s been plenty of that in the past; according to betweennapsontheporch.com, the young couple who purchased the property shortly after the movie was made even had people ringing their doorbell and asking for a tour.
However, if you’re noticing that the first house doesn’t have those same iconic pink flower-lined white picket fences you remember from the movie, that’s because they were constructed especially (and temporarily) for the film.
The new owners had them taken out and replaced with new ones when they moved in.
The second house was used to shoot scenes for Annie and Bryan’s backyard wedding.
A Colonial home built in 1925, that property boasts 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and almost half an acre of land. There’s also a partly furnished basement, a working fireplace, and a parking spot outside to keep the family car in. No mention of a basketball hoop (or swans in the bathtub) of course but I like to think the owners have one!
House #2, the wedding house, it’s also in California and stands at 500 N Almansor St, Alhambra.
“I’ll be honest with you. When I bought this house 17 years ago it cost less than this blessed event in which Annie Banks Became Annie Banks McKenzie.”
A lot has changed since 1992 when Father of the Bride first hit theatres. Not least the cost of huge five-bedroom houses with white picket fences and beautifully landscaped backyards.
So, three decades on and, sadly, more in the know about the cost of real estate, I couldn’t help but wonder just how much the Father of the Bride house would set you back today. Zillow had the answer. Though it’s currently off the market, they estimate that the iconic 4,339 square-foothouse is worth over 3.5 million dollars!
And, if you’re hoping the house used for the backyard wedding scenes might be more reasonable, you’re in luck… kind of. Also off the market, Zillow estimates this equally striking family home’s worth at around the 2.5 million dollar mark. It was last sold in 2016 for $1.998 million.
I’m suddenly considering giving up writing in pursuit of owning my own cook nook or perhaps an athletic shoe company!
Featured image: The real-life house featured on “Father of the Bride”, photo credit: Peter M. CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr
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Have you ever seen Buzz Lightyear or Cinderella walking around the Disney World theme parks and wondered what it was like to be an actor living out those iconic roles? Or maybe you’ve dreamt of playing these classic characters for a day? Well, we talked to former actors from Disney parks who experienced first-hand what it’s actually like.
From having tourists ask strange questions to deal with wardrobe malfunctions – they had plenty of stories to share. Get ready for some wild experiences as you read all about their adventures.
1. Nick Wilde from Zootopia
A Redditor shared his experience as Nick Wilde from Zootopia and posted, “I was one of the performers for Nick Wilde from Zootopia a few years ago, And if you’re not aware; a large number of people in the furry community find him highly attractive.You can just imagine the number of people in that community who flirted with me and/or Judy and whispered some pretty [nasty] things to us. I think I also had a guy grab Nick’s tie like in that flirty way, we had to get him escorted out of the park. The moral of the story is: don’t be inappropriate with the characters, we are real people underneath, and there are legitimate consequences for that kind of behaviour.”
One user replied, “You wouldn’t go up to a random stranger in public and assault them; them being dressed as a cartoon character doesn’t make that okay.”
Another responded,”People assault random strangers in public all the time. I work in retail, and it happens almost daily. I think you, like most people, overestimate the goodness in others.”
2. Piglet
A user posted, “Dated an actress, the weirdest she had was a man asking for him to be in the suit for an hour. He offered her 3k.”
One user asked, “Which suit?”
The original poster answered, “Piglet.”
One user exclaimed, “OMG.”
Another user added, “What the actual heck!”
Another user also asked, “Did she do it? 3k is 3k.”
One replied, “I doubt Disney would let her take the costume off property, lol.”
One user also shared, “Not exactly the same situation, but where I work, there was this girl working on a golf course who got fired because a group of old guys bribed her with $200 to flash them and she did. One of the guys took a picture and their wife found it, which almost got the resort into major trouble. So the question is do you take $3k and lose your job or not?”
3. Goofy
A user shared, “I was playing Goofy inside a restaurant and I got swarmed Aliens-style by a hoard of kids [less than 10 years old]. Unfortunately, while I was playing around with them the inner hood below the mask slipped over my eyes, and I was completely blinded. We had assistants around whom we could signal for help by flapping our arms, but the kids had made it a game of attaching themselves Tarzan-like to both my arms, and to raise them I would have had to lift 3-4 kids per arm (dangerous even if I’d been strong enough to do that).
“I found myself blind and completely rooted to the spot, unable to ask for help and with nobody realizing that I was in trouble. I spent like a solid 10-15 minutes in that sort of limbo reflecting on the life decisions that had taken me there until the assistant came over and whispered, ‘Set is over, dude,’ and I finally managed to signal something was wrong.”
Another user chuckled and replied, “I’m sorry, but I’m laughing imagining Goofy, rooted in place, contemplating life decisions in the middle of a restaurant.”
The original poster answered, “There’s remarkable room for thinking inside those suits.”
“Damn. That sounds exhausting,” one user replied.
The original poster shared, “Playing Goofy in general, was mostly physically ok other than the big weight of the mask on your neck. The real grind was Sully from Monsters & Co. The mask is so big it’s basically an architecture strapped to your waist and shoulders, the boots are huge and flatfooted, and there are no gloves, instead, you hold these two artificial arms from inside the costume and wave them about (not too bad at first but do it for 30 minutes straight and those things really begin to weigh). That shift was a proper workout.”
4. Tinkerbell
One user posted, “I dated a girl that played one of the fairies for the Tinkerbell place. Beyond the pretty much daily occurrence of old dads hitting on her (she was 19 at the time), the weirdest thing to happen to her was a woman with a 4yr old little girl was all excited to get a picture with Tinkerbell, who was busy, so my ex volunteered to do pictures and entertain the little girl while they waited.
“The woman was [very rude] about that idea, rudely saying she was here to see Tinkerbell and not ‘off-brand’ fairies. So just shrugging it off, my ex moved on. A bit later, she hears a commotion, and Tinkerbell is obviously upset, and security shows up. Apparently, this woman was Tinkerbell’s bio mom and had taken her granddaughter to Disney, just to violate the restraining order against her. Disney Jail is a real place.”
5. Mickey Mouse
One user stated, “I was a ‘mouse height’ performer at Disney World around 2013. Can unfortunately confirm groping happened from time to time, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. We were trained to move away if we could and signal to the character attendants to escort the guest away if it happened. One time some guy thought it appropriate to pick me up completely off the ground in a bear hug. The head pushed back and because the inside is connected to us with headgear and a chin strap, my neck bent back with it, and it hurt like hell.
Not a weird story, but one of my most memorable guest experiences was meeting a little blind boy as Mickey in Epcot. I gently guided his hands to the soft ears, then the nose, and bow tie, and he was laughing, and his smile lit up the whole room. I still get emotional thinking about it! Interactions like that made it all worth it to me at the time.”
Another added, “The second story, the blind kid… great story. Thanks for making his day.”
Another user asked, “I’m slow… what’s a “mouse height” performer?”
A Redditor answered, “It was to imply they played Mickey or Minnie in the Parks, probably due to their height being right for the costumes. Also, Disney can get weird about performers mentioning their past work, so a lot of times, people will hint at who they played rather than outright say.”
One user also added, “They’re not supposed to ever say who they played, just that they were friends with the character.”
6. Minnie Mouse
One user commented, “I knew a friend (a guy) who wore a Minnie Mouse costume. He told me almost all guys would put their hands around his waist. He wouldn’t dare to talk, or else they will hear his manly voice, and that might [make them mad]. Edit: this blows up quickly. I feel I need to let people know that it’s not okay to grope the Disney characters… All I can tell you is that they will make a disgusting face under the mask and talk… about you later after work.”
One added, “I’d have waited till they groped then in my deepest gruffest voice said “how YOU doin’?”
The original commenter replied, “He sometimes wanted to take off the Minnie Mouse headpiece off and look straight at the guy’s eye with a straight face and say ‘Stop it.’”
7. Pluto
One of the Redditors posted, “I had a female friend who played Pluto for a few years. Even though her gender was indistinguishable because it’s a fully body Pluto costume, she would regularly share how often she was groped by kids and adults alike. In costume, she looked like she was 6’6”, but was only 5’8” in real life. You couldn’t tell the gender of any of the 3-4 in Pluto rotation and you could barely tell them apart.”
Another user also shared, “We met an absolutely amazing Pluto… many years ago. Our daughter was about 5, and was absolutely besotted with Pluto, to the extent that was all she asked for for Christmas. Just Pluto… The whole time we were at Disney, she was looking out for him without any luck. On our last full day there, we booked a character breakfast, but he didn’t turn up there, either. But as we were leaving and about to go down the stairs to the exit, who should be coming up them but the dog himself?
“I have no way of knowing who was in that costume, but I am so grateful to them. They must have seen something in our daughter’s face, because they got to the landing, went down on one knee and opened their arms to her. She absolutely FLEW down the stairs, and was given the longest hug. We took a photo (this was before cell phones, when everybody had those little disposable digital cameras). It’s one of my favorites; you can’t see her face because it’s buried in orange plush, but you can tell how much it means to her. So whoever you were—thank you. You absolutely made her day—she still mentions it now.”
“Reminds me of Marry Poppins. My daughter had just watched the original and learned the supercalifragilistic song. She was obsessed. Then when we were on It’s a Wonderful World ride, we saw her walking away. She couldn’t get off the ride fast enough. And ran to find her at the carousel. They waved at each other, and when Mary and Bert got off the ride, they came over. She walked with my daughter hand in hand, and they had a conversation…
“She invited her to come to the show in front of the castle and brought her up to sing and dance. Then later there was a parade. Mary spotted her in a nearby balcony we were watching from. She seemed genuinely excited to see my daughter. Mary made the trip awesome,” one user responded.
8. Easter bunny
One user posted, “I used to be the Easter Bunny at a function hall, and people were just…weird. I’ve been threatened by a guy that told me he was going to throw me down the stairs. It’s hot, too. Some kids were really happy to get a picture, so it made it all worthwhile.”
One added, “I read that second sentence as a completely different kind of ‘hot’ in the context of the prior sentence, and was deeply concerned for about a second.”
Another user confirmed, “I’ve done some volunteer work in costume, and I agree. People are weird. And adults are always worse than the kids.”
9. Goofy, Mickey, and the Parade
One Redditor shared, “Repost from a guy who played Goofy from a couple of years ago. ‘I have one moment that stands out above all the rest. I was waiting for someone to ask me this question. It’s the reason I left a good job as a VIP Tourguide and moved to the Character Department.
“I was working at City Hall… when two guests came in with two little girls. One was in a wheelchair, and the other one looked like she had just seen death. Both were cut and bruised and the one in the wheelchair had her arm in a cast. The two women were… nurses from a hospital and were asking for a refund on the girl’s tickets… When I asked why they told me the story. The two girls were with their mom and dad at Epcot and on the way home they got into a horrible car accident. The mother [passed away] right in front of them. The father… died too, but the two girls didn’t know that yet.
“They were from overseas and had no money and no contact information for anyone they knew. They were bringing the tickets back to get the girls some much-needed money to help get them back home. My heart absolutely sunk. [Those girls] were truly traumatized. I refunded their tickets and got permission to be their private tour guide for the rest of the day… I walked them to the VIP viewing area for the parade which was as far as I could walk them in the costume we used to wear at City Hall… On the way down I pulled out every kid joke I could think of. I was a REALLY good tour guide… and I knew how to make kids smile.
“Nothing worked. These girls were too far gone for that. I left them at the bridge to go change… and bawled my eyes out. I just had never seen something so horrible. I [had] a terrible feeling of powerlessness not being able to fix the situation. When I came back I brought them to get ice-cream, take them on rides… but they never smiled, not once. The nurses were loving it and were trying to get them into it but it just wasn’t working. We went back to the bridge to watch the parade. It was there that I honestly saw true magic. Real magic, not [fake].
“I… called the parade department to… set up a private meet and greet after the parade. As the parade was coming around Liberty Square I told the girls that I had called Mickey and told him all about them. I told them that Mickey asked to meet them after the parade. The little girl in the wheelchair smiled. “Really?” she asked. My heart skipped. “Yes, really! He told me to tell you to look out for him in the parade and to follow the float back to City Hall.” The other girl smiled. “You mean right now?” she asked.
“It worked. They were talking… It was the first time I had heard them speak. Every single parade performer came up to them on the bridge and told them to look out for Mickey. Every one of them told them that. When Mickey’s float came up Mickey (who was attached to a pole at the top of the float) managed to turn her body sideways, look down at the girls and point towards Main Street. That was all it took. The girls were excited now. They had forgotten about death. They were lost in a magical world and… I was watching it unfold in front of my eyes.
“We followed that float all the way back to City Hall, singing “Mickey Mania” the whole way. I took them in [the VIP celebrity lounge] and showed them the book where all of the autographs were. They were eating it up. The girl who was Mickey that day got down off her float and without even taking her head off walked up to me backstage and said “Let’s go.”
I walked in with Mickey behind me so I got to see the exact moment the girls met their new friend. They got shy but Mickey was in control now. Those girls met the REAL Mickey Mouse that day. Every single parade character stayed dressed to meet those girls. One by one they’d come in and play… We were in that lounge for over an hour. Mickey stayed in costume the entire time (which is hard to do after a parade). When Mickey finally said goodbye I had two excited girls on my hands that couldn’t stop smiling… We had a wonderful day after that but what I remember most is when we walked by the rose garden, the older one said “Oh, my mommy loves roses! I mean…” and she stopped.
“I held out my hand and walked her to the gate, picked her up and put her on the other side and said “Pick one!” She looked happy as she picked out her favorite rose. She didn’t say anything more and she didn’t need to. I said goodbye to the wonderful nurses and the wonderful girls then walked backstage behind the train station. This time I didn’t cry. It felt so good to be a part of that. I realized that as much as I liked helping guests at City Hall, the true magic of Disney was in the character department. I auditioned, transferred, and never looked back. Thanks for letting me relive this. It was a special day for me.”
One user replied, “I can’t imagine it… I lost both my parents last year and I’m in my 30s. The pain, impossibility of it, loneliness, fear, the MISSING them is all so intense. I can’t imagine being that young and witnessing such a thing and then having to walk through it. My first birthday without them is coming in 10 days, and I feel as devastated as when they first passed. I hope those girls have found comfort and love.”
“I’m so sorry. Much love to you on your birthday,” another user responded.
10. Chip ‘n Dale
One user said, “I was Chip ‘n Dale in Land, and some dad came up with his kids, I was doin my thang and having fun with them. When it came time for pics the dad came over to join us and all was well until after the picture when he asked for a hug so I gave him one. He squeezed, pulled away, grabbed his kids hands, smiled and said, ‘I didn’t know Dale was a girl under all that fur.’
“I played it off at the time but it made me really uncomfortable that he had actually squeezed hard enough to feel me under my costume… decided to wear binders while I was in character so that no one else could ever feel my boobs again through the suit. This was back in 2019.”
Another one responded, “I have a similar story as Smokey Bear. I used to work for the US Forest service and when I was an intern I got to be Smokey (I thought it was a high honor, turns out I was just the unlucky fool to volunteer). Still there was a bunch of training and rules before I was allowed to do it. Regardless I had a few dads grab my waist, which was actually just a pair of massive jeans and realize I was a girl and make really lewd comments. It was weirder with the handful of women who would try to grab my cr***h and make jokes about what I had down there.
“Being Smokey was a lot of fun otherwise (except also that every dog hated you) but it had its moments. Lots of weird comments, luckily I wasn’t allowed to talk at all and had handlers (fellow employees) to manage the people. It definitely always made me uncomfortable how weird people can be with someone in that situation where you’re kind of held hostage by your environment and the persona you’re inhabiting.
“Although the scariest moment was when one overzealous person tried to tackle me and the head almost came off, I don’t know what I would have done since it was in front of a crowd of like 150 children.”
One added, “That’s a gross way to phrase it, but as a teen I was shocked to realize I could see through the mesh of the character heads when close up. It looks so opaque from a distance and the accidental eye contact inside a cartoon animal’s mouth felt super awkward.”
Another user concluded, “As someone who does a lot of different character work, kids love to press their faces against the mesh mouth and try to get a look of whoever’s inside. Nothing I can really do about that, unfortunately.”
Source: Reddit.
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