Mary Cummins Investigative Reporter Los Angeles, California

Monday, November 10, 2014

How to prevent Google glasses from blocking peripheral vision - Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

As a motorcycle rider and car driver I don't wear sunglasses that block my peripheral vision. I don't wear sunglasses with thick temples, i.e. the "arms" of glasses. Google glass has the same problem. The temples are solid and wide. That part should be above the line of sight or back where the battery is near the ear.

Google glass blocks peripheral vision becaise of solid wide temples

Based on the chart below there should be no obstruction on the left temple of the glasses. The DMV states that people need peripheral vision to drive. I would think it'd also be a good idea just walking on the street.

Peripheral vision, horizontal, vertical

I see no reason why Google glass can't just relocate the hardware on the temple farther back or higher to get it out of the line of peripheral vision. They can connect it with a wire on the top of the temple.

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Friday, November 7, 2014

9505 Lanai, Beverly Hills, California 90210, $195,000,000 Jeff Greene. Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser

9505 Lanai Lane, Beverly Hills (post office), CA 90210 is owned by Jeff Greene a Forbes 400 real estate investor.

"Magnificent one-of-a-kind Estate compound w/ total privacy & security up a 1/4 mile private driveway. Fabulous Mediterranean Villa sits on 25+ prime acres minutes from Rodeo Drive. Suited for royalty, incredible room proportions, exceptional detail, amazing entertaining areas, extraordinary city & country vistas. Wine producing vineyards, tennis court, beautiful gardens, commercial kitchens, discotheque, fabulous master suite. Available fully furn, immediate occupancy & short term lease possible."

Currently listed for sale at $195,000,000. Has a $29,000,000 loan with JP Morgan Chase.

http://www.palazzodiamoreestate.com/

9505 Lanai Lane, Beverly Hills, California 90210. Jeff Greene Forbes 400 billionaire

9505 Lanai Lane, Beverly Hills, California 90210

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Los Angeles City halts tear downs and mansionization in Los Angeles - Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser

I was wondering why so many people were contacting me about my mansionization articles. I didn't realize Paul Koretz made a motion to temporarily halt demolition of historical type homes and the approval of permits for homes too big for their lot. This will cover Beverly Grove North where I lived. They will be reducing the FAR with some bonuses for green building and specific designs.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mansionization-demolition-20141104-story.html

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Mary Cummins home, house at 359 N Sweetzer Ave, Los Angeles, California 90048.

Mary Cummins, home, house, 359 N Sweetzer, Los Angeles, California 90048

Pictures, photos of my old house which I sold in 2008 for $1,100,000.

http://mary.cc/h/

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

McMansion update - This was just built next to my old home. This is 363 N Sweetzer Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90048

363 N Sweetzer, Los Angeles, CA 90048 - Modern McMansion over built for neighborhood

363 N Sweetzer is right next door to the home I sold for $1.1M in 2008. It was a 3 bed, 2 bath 1,500 sf home on a 6,500 sf lot. All the homes are just like this in the area. They are Spanish or Traditional all about the same size and age 1920-1930.

363 N Sweetzer sold for $1.2M in 2013 and was torn down to build the modern totally out of place McMansion. The home is almost triple the size and two stories. If they had tried to build this when I lived there, I would have shut them down. This is way over built for the area. Whoever buys this had better buy it to live in and not as an investment. Over built homes like these have limited buyers, take longer to sell and you generally don't get a good return on your investment. Below is a pic of what the home used to look like.

363 N Sweetzer Ave, Los Angeles, CA before it was torn down

363 N Sweetzer Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90048

"Custom state of the art pool home adjacent to Beverly Hills and Hancock Park. This home features four bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms with almost 4,000 sq ft of living area. This home will have a state of the art Viking kitchen, an open floor plan with high ceilings and a custom pool with (sic) jaccuzzi."

Before and after side by side.

363 N Sweetzer Ave, Los Angeles, California 90048 - Before and after. 1,500 sf home turned into 4,000 sf modern mcmansionized monstrosity.

The problem here is old zoning called for 25' front setback, 5' side setbacks, 15' rear setback, 33' maximum height (3 stories), two car garage or carport on this lot. The lots are 50' x 150'. In theory you could have a three story square block home with built in garage or a maximum of 9,126 sf. Here is the specific zoning. The lot is R1-1. The FAR is 3:1, i.e. three times the buildable area. LA I think just reduced it or is trying to reduce it to 1:1. In this instance a 6,500 sf lot with a FAR of 1:1 could build a 3,600 sf home. If it stays at 3:1, you could build a 9,126 sf home which is ridiculous. 3:1 FAR is for multi-family residential in any other city. Normal FAR is 1:1 and in some areas it's .5:1. I think this 3:1 FAR is something leftover when you could build apartments, four plexes in the area. Across the street is a huge duplex which is two story built in 1928 which was featured in AD.

http://cityplanning.lacity.org/zone_code/Appendices/sum_of_zone.pdf

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Mary Cummins is a certified real estate appraiser with perfect record, Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins is listed as a licensed real estate appraiser in California and in the national registry with a perfect 30 year record. Mary Cummins also has a 30 year perfect history as a real estate sales agent and/or broker and as a notary.

Mary Cummins, California real estate appraiser, appraisal, Los Angeles

Mary Cummins National real estate appraiser, Los Angeles, California

Link to search licensed California real estate appraisers
http://www.orea.ca.gov/html/SearchAppraisers.asp

Link to search licensed national real estate appraisers

https://www.asc.gov/National-Registry/FindAnAppraiser.aspx

https://www.asc.gov/Pages/AppraiserDetail.aspx?key=BOQN4TrqwRYvDRWvur9t4g**&Standard=1

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

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Monday, September 29, 2014

Mary Cummins Resume Curriculum Vitae Real Estate Appraiser Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins

Curriculum Vitae

Abstract

Cummins is a high energy, versatile, results-oriented professional having significant expertise in real estate sales, leasing, inspection, evaluation and expert witness testimony. In her 30 years in the business she's appraised and sold over 20,000 residential, residential income, commercial, raw land, construction projects, industrial and mixed-use properties.

Cummins has worked for AMCs, lawyers, expert witness companies, relocation companies, builders, credit unions, banks, mortgage brokers, factors, brokers, investment bankers and individuals evaluating and selling property in all of California.

Education

Beverly Hills High School 1982 - Dean's list, swim team, water polo
University of Southern California 1984 - Dean's list, swim team

Licenses

Real Estate Sales License 1984
Real Estate Brokers License 1986
California Notary Public 1989
Real Estate Appraisal License Certified Residential 1994

Work Experience

1984 Merrill Lynch Real Estate - Sales, Comparative Market Analysis
1984 to present - Cummins Real Estate Services - Real Estate Appraisal, Sales
1985 Apartment Owners Association - Commercial Brokerage Division
1986 Forensis Group - Expert Witness
1990 Westside Properties - Real Estate Appraisal, Sales. 100% office

Selected Legal Cases

1989 Schine vs Schine - Appraisal of Ambassador Hotel as land for development project with Donald Trump. Deposed.
Various cases for Forensis Group 1986-2006
2009 Union Pacific vs Jimmy Nasralla. Criminal. Court appearance.
2010 Don Carstens vs JP Morgan. Civil. Deposed. Court appearance.
2013 Narrative Appraisal for LA Metro Eminent Domain.

Selected Clients

Crestview Financial, Mortgage Broker
Don Carstens, Attorney at Law
Home Savings, Bank
Countrywide Home Loans, Mortgage Lender
Chase Financial, Bank
First Franklin, Mortgage Broker
Forensis Group, Expert Witness
Western Relocation Services

Selected Professional Education

1984 Lumbleau School of Real Estate - Real estate sales
1985 Merrill Lynch - Real estate sales, CMA
1986 Lumbleau School of Real Estate - Real estate broker
1986 Apartment Owners Association - Income property evaluation and sales
1984 to present - Various real estate schools, Expert Witness Testimony, Appraising Apartments, Land and Site Evaluation, Oddball Appraisals, 2-4 Family Finesse, Mortgage Fraud, Sales Comparison Approach, Nuts and Bolts of Green Buildings for Appraisers, Understanding Residential Construction, Laws and Regulations for California Appraisers, USPAP, FHA Appraising, Appraising Manufactured Homes, California Laws and Regulations, Environmental Issues for Appraisers, Fair Housing, LEED Real Estate, Foundations in Sustainability: Greening the Real Estate and Appraisal Industries, Review Appraisals, REO and Foreclosures, The Cost Approach.

Selected Media

1985 LA Times “People in Westside Real Estate” Cummins joins Merrill Lynch
1990 LA Times “People in Westside Real Estate” Cummins joins Westside Properties
2002 LA Times “Suggestions for the bidder whose offers are rejected”
2007 LA Times “Historical homes, not for everyone”
2009 LA Weekly “Jimmy Nasralla finds a lawyer”
2009 LA Weekly “Is LA City Attorney Trutanich screwing over the little guy?”
2009 LA Weekly “Jimmy on the edge of town”

Other Experience

Bilingual - English/Spanish
PC, iMac, iPhone
UAD, Pdf, Doc, .xml, .env, html, FTP, Power Point
Approved by several Appraisal Management Companies
MLS, Homeputer, a la mode, AppraisalMAT, Loop Net, Carets, UAD forms, WinTOTAL
Real estate photography, panaramas
E&O insurance $1,000,000/$1,000,000
Never had a real estate claim or lawsuit
Perfect appraiser license record
Passed full SterlingBackcheck background check
Passed multiple DOJ background checks for professional licenses
Perfect driving record, type 100 wpm