Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills refers to a number of distinct neighborhoods which can be described as rustic to exclusive. From the prestigious Doheny Estates on the west end of the hills to the old Hollywood charm (and home of the Hollywood sign) of Beachwood Canyon on the east, all the areas offer their own lifestyle and delectable real estate from which to choose.
The Sunset Strip is where you’ll find some of the most expensive homes the city has to offer- many with awe inspiring views of the city to the ocean, architectural pedigree from the days of John Lautner, Frank Lloyd Wright, Buff & Hensman and “smart homes” you thought only existed in high-end magazines. Doheny Road (not Drive), “the Bird Streets” and, of course, the infamous Sunset Plaza Drive offers homes averaging from $2M upwards to $15M.
Laurel Canyon is where you’ll find a collection of eclectic tastes and classic architecture born in the mid-century. There is a charming Country Mart you’ll swear belongs in Big Bear which landmarks the way home for many of Laurel Canyon’s residents. You can find more intimate homes in the community of Laurel Canyon in the $600,000 range set amongst some of the most impressive architecture in Los Angeles averaging $1M-$2M, with range up to $4M.
Outpost Estates is home to some of the most pristine original Hollywood Mediterranean estates from the 1920’s. At one time it was a planned community, built just east of La Brea Boulevard. The homes average $1M-$3M and are about 2,000 square feet or larger, many with pools and tennis courts, many retaining their original detail work and hardware hearkening back to The Silent Film Era.
Nichols Canyon continues north of Hollywood Blvd from Genesee and offers a star studded enclave of celebrity homes in the $1M- $6M range. To date, the most expensive listing in the neighborhood is a Tuscan Villa for $9.9M. You’ll also find a creek whose source is from a delightful waterfall in one lucky resident’s backyard and runs southbound along the west side of Nichols Canyon Blvd., offering a natural scenic water feature in the backyards of a handful of residents. There is a variety of architectural styles and sizes of homes to choose from in the magical and lush Nichols Canyon.
There are many pockets of neighborhoods that are jewels to be enjoyed when living here in the Hollywood Hills. Other than those areas previously mentioned, Whitley Heights, Charleston Hills, Lake Hollywood and Angelino Heights are more neighborhoods not to be overlooked for the value they offer in balancing a lifestyle that’s fast paced and full of urban conveniences with a comforting retreat in the beauty and nature of the hills.
Termite Inspections, Reports and Work - Who is Responsible?
May 21st, 2008 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Buying Real Estate, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Home Improvement, Home Resources, Inspection Resources, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
So you’re about to buy or sell a house and the subject of termite inspections come up in discussion - usually when the offer is being written and/or presented.
Here is what YOU need to know:
CUSTOMARILY, the Seller is responsible for the inspection, providing the buyer with a termite report, and ultimately a termite clearance at the close escrow. The Seller usually pays for Section I work, and the Buyer can pay for any Section II work needed.
What is “Section I” and “Section II” work?
Section I is any EXISTING termite infestation, damage or wood destroying organisms such as dryrot fungus and the like. This may include local treatment, whole house tenting, and replacement of damaged timber.
Section II is anything found to possibly invite termite infestation or cause wood damage in the future, such as debris in the attic, earth to wood contact, etc.
There are circumstances when the Seller is NOT responsible for all the “termite work”, some examples are:
- When it’s an ALL CASH purchase. The termite clearance is necessary to close escrow because it’s often a condition for funding by the lenders.
- When the property is a TEAR-DOWN. If the intent by the buyer is to bulldoze the property to the ground, no one really cares if there are termites or rotted wood all over the place.
- When the SELLER specifies in the contract they will not do any work, or caps the dollar amount they are willing to pay for work needed. The Buyer then can agree to pick up the difference.
95% of the homes that are sold here in SoCal require some termite clearance action. Homeowners are well advised to maintain a termite treatment regime once a year to keep those buggers away.
Call us anytime for a referral to a reputable company to add to your home vendors list!
| Currently 1 Comment »
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
| Currently No Comments »
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:
1211 Sierra Alta, Hollywood Hills - $2,595,000 (2 offers 1st day on market!)
866 Stanford, Santa Monica - $2,075,000
2337 Camden, Westwood - $1,095,000 (13 offers!)
1173 South Point View, Carthay Circle - $1,379,000
710 Kingman, Santa Monica - $2,000,000 (5 offers!)
Great investment opportunities under $500,000 are sold quickly in multiple offers:
1702 South Sycamore, 2030 Curson, 1839 Alsace, & 1800 Bronson
Remember that this is just one small slice of the action per one agent’s travels in just a few days. Are there more examples like the above? You bet.
Do you care?
Yes! If you are thinking of selling and you have ascertained that this market is not a good seller’s market. Keep in mind that it’s all relative - if you compare today’s seller’s market to the height of action in 2005/2006 where things were really extremely out of whack and abnormal, then your assumptions could be supported. Compare today’s market to that of a “normal and healthy” real estate market andyou’ll see that this is still a fabulous, not just good but fabulous time to sell! Just be sure to work with great real estate agents who understand how to market your property to sell immediately.
Yes! If you are thinking of buying and you’ve been convinced to ”wait it out.” This tidbit ought to enlighten you to what’s actually going on with prices of good homes in great neighborhoods…such as ours. If you wait, you may miss out on a chance to own your dream home in a market where the majority of competing home-buyers are sitting out the game while the game keeps on keeping on.
Bottom line in real estate sales:
Where there is a will, there IS a way…and it’s all negotiable!
| Currently 2 Comments »
Taking the Pulse on the Westside Market
February 26th, 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, Real Estate, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
Here’s a little inside scoop on what’s happening in our market. I won’t bore you with tons of detail but it’ll keep you posted on the latest happenings. It’s your chance to be a fly on the wall in the most powerful real estate office near and far…
The market is moving. In the last 2 weeks, our office has had more escrows opening than in the previous 30 days combined. REOs are making up about 10% of that volume- which means a solid 90% of the deals are NOT REOs, just regular sales. Last week our office has 16 closings, ranging in price from $300,000 to over $14,000,000. People are buying and writing offers for well-priced homes. We are seeing multiple offer situations every week.
The reason why it matters what our office is doing is because we have a very strong group of agents that work in every area of the Westside. It’s a good place to look to gauge overall market activity.
General concensus is that we don’t have enough good, “done” homes for sale. We aren’t seeing a build-up of inventory of homes in most areas. Homes are selling off the market, before the first open house. Homes are even selling when the for-sale sign is being nailed into the front yard (as happened with one home in the Beverly Hills Flats recently).
During Caravan today, I saw people crawling all over a home under $700,000 in West LA. It was an adorable place but wedged between 2 apartment buildings- and had apartment buildings across the street. It didn’t matter to all the buyers there ready to jump on a nice well-priced home. The house will have multiple offers and the owner is going to review all offers next Monday.
Another popular home today was a lovely Spanish in the Beverly Hills Flats over $9,600,000 on a 12,000 sq ft lot. Not an ounce of wasted space- it had a gorgeous outdoor entertainment area in the front, koi pond, pool area and 2-story guest house with an office, bedroom with bath, exercise room with bath. A hefty price for a lot of that size but the home is incredible.
Summary: People are buying but the home has to have value and must be priced aggressively.
| Currently 1 Comment »
Holding the Land Around LA Landmark for Ransom
February 22nd, 2008 Categories: Hollywood Hills, Real Estate, Real Estate News
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Walk of Fame… people from all over the world come to Los Angeles looking for the glamour of the movies. One of those landmarks may be changing- 138 Acres are up for sale right by the Hollywood Sign.
It can be your’s for a cool $22M.
The land on Cahuenga Peak, just above and west of the Hollywood Sign, was once owned by Howard Hughes as he planned to build a love nest there for his then flame Ginger Rogers. Things didn’t work out for them or the property- it stayed in his trust for decades.
The owners now are a group of Chicago investors, Fox River Financial Resources, who bought it in 2002 for $1,675,000. That’s quite an appreciation there, guys. The city says it was appraised for $6M and they would raise that much to buy it from the developers to preserve the site. The developers aren’t budging from their $22M pricetag. Maybe they can get it- but is it right?
On the listing realtor’s website, they say that the land has 5 contiguous parcels with the potential for building a single family residence and a guest house on each. Yes, our job, for those of us in real estate, is to sell properties but talk about selling your soul. They have convinced themselves that asking $22,000,000 is fair market value.
I’m sure the investors are banking on the emotion that surrounds the Hollywood Sign and hoping the city and conservationists miraculously raise enough money to buy the land from them. If that happens, how do you feel about our tax dollars going into these developers’ pockets?
Update: This story made the NBC Nightly News, on Monday 2/25/08.
| Currently No Comments »
Hello LA!
October 18th, 2007 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Real Estate, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
Welcome!!
Please come back soon for the launch of a very exciting blog about the Greater Los Angeles area Real Estate & Lifestyle!
Merrie & Noelle, the LA HOMES INSIDER girls, will keep you up to speed on the latest happenings and trends in our ever changing market. Looking for those fabulous deals and (sshhh…quiet) listings you know are out there, but not maybe in yet in the MLS? Are you looking for professional representation to market and sell your property quickly, profitably and as painless as possible? (don’t wait for the blog, just CALL!)
Stay tuned…you’ll WANT to know what the LA HOMES INSIDER knows about the real estate market where YOU live.
Merrie Kung & Noelle Hettlinger
Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills North
301 North Canon Drive E
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.736.5599 mkung@coldwellbanker.com
310.621.9800 nchettlinger@gmail.com
| Currently 2 Comments »
