Archive for March, 2008
Go Native, Go Green: Privy to LA’s Most Creative Gardens in the Native Plant Garden Tour
March 31st, 2008 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, Things To Do, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
Come see how native plants can brighten your yard and make it gorgeous- while saving you time and water! It’s taking place soon- Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13, 2008, 10:00-4:00p.m. each day.
This is a two-day self-guided journey through 38 Los Angeles home gardens of all shapes, sizes and design styles, each containing at least 50% California native plants. You’re invited also to attend a free presentation, “Designing Native Plant Gardens,” with author/garden designer Alrie Middlebrook on Saturday, Apr. 12, 6:30p.m., at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028.
Proceeds benefit the programs of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants., Inc., California’s only non-profit native plant nursery, seed source, bookstore and education center. They’re located at 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley, CA 91352. 818-768-1802. Open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 8:30a.m.-4:30p.m.
Admission: $20/person.
Tickets and info: www.theodorepayne.org
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Multiple Offers Sweep Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Hollywood Hills…
March 17th, 2008 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Buying Real Estate, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
Per our last posting, there are plenty of reports from reputable sources and sensationalistic news articles that can argue the ups and downs of our Los Angeles Westside real estate market all day long.
We could argue for the stability of our unique market and likewise we could tell you it’s all going to hell in a hand basket. You’ve heard it all before.
What we’d rather do is to give you a small sample of what’s actually happening behind closed doors (as the seller reviews with his/her agent, the spread of offers to purchase their home). As they say, “show me the money” and in our market, there seems to be lots of it flying around. Yes, still.
Observed Multiple Offers on Hot Properties in the last 14 days:
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Mixed Signals: Making Sense of Real Estate News for the Westside
March 14th, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
We are asked by clients every day about what we’re seeing in the market. Are prices really dropping like what we’re seeing in the news? What’s going to happen next year? When should they buy? Should they sell now or wait to get more? And so it goes. Well, no one has a crystal ball but I can tell you what I’m noticing lately…
Everywhere we look, we see stories about the real estate market. This was true before the mortgage crisis in September and will be true next year and the year after. What’s happening is newsworthy, yes, but more than that, it sells papers and the media knows that if they lead with a story about the real estate market, people are going to watch. We are all interested and bad news- not good news- is going to get viewers’ attention. To confuse everyone even more, we see a constant stream of mixed signals by the press (see the relatively positive recent UCLA Anderson School’s report and a recent negative Los Angeles Times’ article as examples).
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Beverly Hills Post Office - Elegant Cape Cod Contemporary
March 7th, 2008 Categories: Beverly Hills - BHPO, Buying Real Estate, Selling Real Estate
Click the mini flier photo for detailed property information.
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SOLD! To the Highest Bidder at a Santa Monica Home Auction
March 3rd, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Events, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate
If you haven’t attended a live home auction recently, you’re like the rest of us because they just don’t take place all that often!
I witnessed my first home auction this Saturday at 710 Kingman Ave in Santa Monica. The property is a beautiful Spanish contemporary on a lovely tree lined street. The home is in great condition, 4 bedrooms with 3.5 baths in just over 3,000 square feet, on a 7,500 square foot lot. There is a beautiful tropical grotto style lagoon pool in the back, with the master balcony overlooking it. Fabulous home in a great neighborhood.
The living room was filled to capacity. It started with the expected dictation of the auction’s rules and regulations followed by a fun and LOUD practice bid for those participating in the process to get warmed up to the real deal. Yes, the Santa Monica Pier was auctioned off.
Opening bids for the home started at $2,000,000. The energy in the room blew the roof off as the auctioneer swung his gavel in the air rambling (in his professional auctioneer way that only an auctioneer can) off the increasing prices while the (five registered bidders’) paddles shot up in succession of one another…until we reached…da da da dummm…MARKET VALUE.
SOLD! with the crack of the gavel promising the home to the winning buyer for $2,450,000.
(Understand, that with an auction home sale, the buyer pays the costs of the sale, so the price sold is the amount the seller nets not what the buyer ends up paying. The buyer actually will pay about 8% on top of the $2.4M he’s agreed to pay for the house itself.)
A home auction is quite like dealing with mulitiple offers on a property that’s for sale, with some minor differences. As one of the buyers, you know what the other buyers are willing to pay when everyone is standing in the same room at the same time with the same goal. For the seller, the process of the auction saves time and the paperwork of having to counter offer all buyer offers in writing, a process that can take days.
Most obviously illustrated for all to see is that on the day and time of the auction when real serious buyers (cashier checks in hand!) turn out for the bidding to bid against each other for said property, there is no doubt about the home’s market value once THE MARKET SPEAKS.
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