We are starting to see more and more green home building which is such a wonderful trend for our planet. I ran across this video of a smart home designed by a California woman and the home is at a museum for people to go look and and get ideas from. Have a look and maybe you can get some ideas for your own home.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid2647830001/bctid2649597001
Investigating the Hollywood Riviera real estate market? Here’s an update for you.
As of September 1, 2008, there have been 21 homes sold. That is much higher than this time last year when 15 homes sold during that same period. That’s a nice little 28% increase in the number of homes sold! Good news at last! Homes that are priced well are seeming to go into escrow quickly still. For example one on Via Monte D’Oro recently went on the market for $1,199,000 (under $1.2K seems to get a lot more attention these days) and sold in 9 days for $1,150,000. That was super quick – I heard they actually had multiple offers – 3 of them. The average price of the solds last year was $1,051,547 and the average this year is $990,183 – a near 6% drop in the average price. So seems we have more homes selling but at a reduced rate this time over last year.
As far as what is currently for sale – there are 26 homes available for purchase as of today. They range in price from $625,000 (a short sale) to $2,395,000 for brand new construction w/ nice views. We have seen a few Short Sales and Bank Owned properties selling here recently – not a lot however. The average price of the homes currently for sale is $1,199,800. Some of the homes for sale have been on the market for a long time – there is a direct correlation between price and how long a property stays on the market. Buyers want to get a deal in today’s market – if they sense it is overpriced there are not even offers being submitted.
Bottomline, people still need to buy and sell and this is typically a great time of year for buyers to score on a good deal. The Hollywood Riviera is the kind of place people love to call home. The schools are great, the beaches are gorgeous and so close, shopping abounds, the weather is very close to perfect most of the time, and the people are super nice here.
Do you know what it is like moving to a completely new area and not knowing which area you want to live? Where the good schools are? Where to get your hair cut? Best restaurants, movie theatres etc..? I do, when I moved to Connecticut in 1995, I still remember walking in to what I thought was a clothing store, only to find out it was a grocery store. I was so frustrated I broke into tears, OK it was a bad day! We love this area and are so proud to help new people who want to move to the area find the perfect home and start to integrate themselves into the community!
Kelly & I have a lot of experience working with the big three corporate relocation companies in working with both buyers and sellers. It isn’t too different than a standard sale, but there are very specific forms to use and market analysis forms the companies want filled out just so. In this blog, I want to focus on what it is like to work with a relocation buyer.
First off it is usually under a tight time constraint. Buyers will be flying in and have maybe a few days to look at and possibly to purchase a houses. I like to find out as much about the people as possible such as, first-time buyer or not, do they have children, what are their hobbies, do they want to be near the beach or more of a rambling lot such as in PV or Seaside Ranchos… etc.. Then I find out if their children will be coming along to go house hunting so I can plan more breaks, provide appropriate snacks and entertainment for the car ride. Then there can be upwards of 10 homes to look at in the different areas of the South Bay. It can be hard to determine a couple’s tastes until you start looking at a few homes, so you can quickly cross some off the list (as well as add homes to see) after the first few showings. I always have a digital camera in hand so I can email them photos later that day. During their area tour, I drive them by the area schools if they have children and give them the most recent API scores. Once they have found their dream home and move in, I give them all kinds of information about the community so they can hopefully not walk into Ralphs thinking they sell clothes!
The Riviera Village will ring in their annual Holiday Stroll on Thursday evening, December 4th, 2008. Festivities begin around 5pm and run til 9pm. Meet Santa, ride a horse-drawn carriage, watch the little dancers from Dance Forever perform as well as other street entertainment, carolers stroll along the streets, business owners graciously open their stores and often offer hot apple cider and other sweet treats. Strolling along Catalina Ave under twinkling lites is a wonderful community event not to be missed!
A large part of the Holllywood Riviera is located in the Torrance Hillside Overlay, an ordinance adopted in 1977 which restricts building in these areas to preserve view, light, air and privacy. However, these same residences have no limitations on tree and vegetation size so that some residents can and do loose their view, light and air (trees don’t infringe upon privacy). This can be a source of extreme tension among neighbors who try to deal with neighbors who for whatever reason will not trim trees to restore their neighbors precious views and light. In our immediate vicinity, there are a few cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula that do have tree ordinances. Rancho Palos Verdes has a very specific tree ordiance that is designed to balance each homeowner’s views with another neighbor’s right to have trees grow unchecked. It would be an interesting poll to see what our residents think about adopting a tree ordinance. A good friend of ours just recently had two very large trees cut down by neighbors who lived below them (at their expense). You can see the before and after shots to see how their view was openend up. Their neighbor said he had not seen the view in 40 years since these trees took his view away! Here are the photos:
Before
After
What a difference! And what a view!!!
So you are moving – here are just a few helpful places to visit on the internet!
If you’re moving soon, you will need to change your address. You can now do this quickly and easily online through the USPS website. Visit https://moversguide.usps.com/?referral=USPS. Also, you may be planning on some home improvements. Planning on doing it yourself? Check this site for assistance with all of your repairs and improvements http://www.doityourself.com/.Don’t forget that when you move you will probably have a lot of clothes and other items that you will be giving away. You can visit http://locator.goodwill.org to find your nearest Goodwill Donation Center.
As we move closer to the “Holidays” the market usually slows down a bit – this happens in all real estate cycles. There are a couple more weeks of get it now and move in by Christmas! In todays specific economic climate and “mortgage” climate, we have only a couple more weeks until the $729,750 is available via the FHA here in Los Angeles County, then it’s down to $625,000 (which is still great compared to the $417,00 conforming loan amount which doesn’t buy much in the South Bay.) As it is, $625,000 won’t make much of a dent in our higher end South Bay real estate market. Seems like we’ve had a slight run up of sales in the $700,00 – 800,000 price range lately – people out taking advantage of this $729,750 conforming jumbo mortgage.
In light of that, we have quite a few homes in escrow here in the Hollywood Riviera and have had quite a few closings this month. There are 10 single family homes pending sale and 1 townhouse pending sale right now. Those range in price from $545K (a bank owned home that apparently got tons of offers on it….be curious to see what it closes for) and on the high end $1,595K. As far as recent sales go – Since October 1st, 2008 – 10 properties have closed escrow – that’s not bad! One was a condo which sold for $495K (was listed for $529K and backed up to PV Blvd and was a bit dark) to $1,486,000 – a beautiful home w/ great queen’s necklace views and a short jaunt into the Riviera Village & Beach.
We shall see what the holiday season holds for 2008 – maybe it will defy normality and be super busy – wouldn’t that be nice. Weirder things have happened.
Yes, it’s true! We have ice skating at the beach now – Redondo Beach – Seaside Lagoon of all places! How cool – outdoor ice skating rink right next to the ocean – this is so exciting. This could rival Central Park’s Ice Skating Rink.
The Seaside Lagoon, located in the heart of Redondo Beach King Harbor at 200 Portofino Way, will be the site of the South Bay€™s first outdoor ice skating experience, Seaside Ice, with skating available November 18, 2008 through January 11, 2009, from 11:00a.m. €“ 9:30p.m. weekdays and from 10:00a.m. €“ 10:00p.m. weekends.
Seaside Ice will be the first winter holiday event held at the Seaside Lagoon. The eight-week event will feature a 60×120-foot ice rink constructed on the Seaside Lagoon€™s sand in a picturesque position next to the east walkway.
The event, which will include holiday decorations and music, will feature a calendar of special appearances, skating exhibitions, themed nights, games, pictures with Santa, and a giant outdoor movie screen showing family movies and entertainment. Seaside Ice was created by Tom Kearney and Scott Williams, through Seaside Ice, LLC, in partnership with the City of Redondo Beach. Bringing together the community of Redondo Beach, this duo is proud to spearhead a family event activity presented by the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.
South Redondo Beach has plenty of townhomes for sale – everything from a low of $579,000 for a 2 bedroom off of Prospect to a $4,990,000 townhouse on the Esplanade with ocean views (better have some great views for that price!) There is a new townhome coming for sale this week that has 4 bedrooms + an office for only $749,000! It resides in South Redondo Beach at 1800 PCH – a 98 unit gated development that was built in 2000 just south of Palos Verdes Blvd. The development is known for its great location – just a half mile walk into the Riviera Village. Go a bit further and reach Redondo Beaches! Bristol Farms, Corner Bakery, Ortega 120, Longs Drugs – all so close. Location, location, location! For more info go to http://1800PCH29.KellyandLaura.com
| Featured Listings | ||||||
|
||||||
