NAR Opens Its American Home Week : Several Boards Plan Public Activities in Southern California
American Home Week, known last year as Private Property Week, starts today and ends Saturday with a number of Southern California activities planned in conjunction with the observance, sponsored by the National Assn. of Realtors.
The weeklong celebration was established in 1956 to create greater public awareness of private property rights.
Among the Southland activities will be two that are also official Pasadena Centennial events.
One is the Home Buyers’ Fair, to be held by the Pasadena Board of Realtors on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the board auditorium at 656 N. Los Robles Ave. Representatives from lending institutions and title, escrow, fire insurance, home inspection, home warranty and termite companies will be at the fair to assist home buyers and sellers. There is no admittance fee, and refreshments will be served.
Pasadena Tour
The other Pasadena realty board activity is a bus tour Saturday of 10 architecturally significant homes. Each home also represents a different decade in Pasadena’s history. Highlights will be the Gamble House and Wrigley Mansion. Tickets are $2.50 each, and buses will leave the board auditorium between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Homeowners in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley are invited to participate in the “Pride of Ownership Contest,” held for the second year by the area’s board of realtors to celebrate the week. Homes will be judged on front view or curb appeal. Winners, to be announced Wednesday, will be awarded plaques. Details are available from the board offices in Huntington Beach.
In San Diego, Clark Wallace, president of the National Assn. of Realtors and a real estate broker from Moraga, Calif., will speak Friday at 11:30 a.m. to the local realty board. He will discuss the importance of home ownership and how American Home Week highlights this concept.
Seminar Planned
Four realty boards have joined to plan a “Home Buyers’ Seminar” on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Grace E. Simon Lodge in Elysian Park, 1025 Elysian Park Drive, Los Angeles. The boards are from Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, Burbank and Glendale.
The seminar, free to the public, will feature a panel that will focus on first-time buyers. Speakers and their topics will include Temmi Walker, president of the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors, “Realtors, We Do Our Homework for You” (which is also the week’s theme this year); Chuck Russello of Acme Escrow Co., “The Whats and Whys of Escrow;” John Mazza, vice president and title manager, First American Title Co. of Los Angeles, “Why Do We Need Title Insurance?”
Also, John Lucas, vice president, ARCS Mortgage Co., “How to Select the Best Loan for You,” and Stephen Groome, manager, Legal Services Plan, California Assn. of Realtors, “How to Take Title and Tax Advantages.” William Chin, second vice president of the Los Angeles Board of Realtors, will be moderator.
The same day, Richard Rosenthal, president of the California Assn. of Realtors, will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. at the Pasadena Hilton hotel to address legislative issues of pubic concern affecting real estate ownership, and he will also be the principal speaker at the 16th District Regional meeting to be held in the afternoon.
Coinciding with the week is Fair Housing Month, sponsored by the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing and apartment associations and fair housing councils throughout the state. The purpose of Fair Housing Month is to educate Americans about the persistence of housing discrimination and the need for fair-housing practices.
