Broker’s Open House - what is it?
Broker’s Open House is one of the most important open houses a listing agent/seller can hold. They are held during the week and during specific hours that are set by the local board of realtors. For instance, in Redondo Beach, Hollywood Riviera and Torrance, Thursdays from 12-2 is the traditional time for broker’s to host their broker’s opens. In Palos Verdes areas - Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes and Palos Verdes Estates - broker’s host their listings open on Tuesdays from 11-1. The other main South Bay broker’s open house day is Friday and that is for the Hermosa & Manhattan Beach areas….that is also usually from 12-2. It’s nice when the broker’s make it from 12-2:30 (or 1:30 in PV area) as sometimes their is a lot of area to cover in a short amount of time. That extra half an hour can make a big difference.
Real estate agents advertise their broker’s opens lots of ways…but the most economical (free) and the easiest way for agents to find out what houses are open is right through our Multiple Listing Service. We can easily load the open house times into the MLS and it’s easy to check that morning for the Open House List. Of course, there are other means of advertising that work and many of us employ all the ways in order to attract as many agents as possible to the new listings. The Easy Reader has a free open house listing for agents…you have to know what your plan is though by Tuesday at noon. (PV agents never use any other way of advertising their Broker’s Opens though besides the MLS. That makes life so easy, I’ll tell ya. Wish the Beach Cities would jump on that boat.) Professional Flyer Service hands out flyers that they drop off for free at the different brokerages - seems like a waste of paper (and trees) to me. Their is a fee for advertising w/ PFS. Some of the title reps have a service they provide (also gratisse) to help in earning their client’s business….Jim McFarland w/ Southland Title does a great job of this. And lastly, the Beach Reporter has a popular open house guide, especially for the Hermosa & Manhattan Beach properties. I find it highly disorganized and hard to read though. And I believe they used to offer this service of listing broker’s open houses for free and now they only will do it if you advertise in their publication.
Agents typically provide lunch or snacks for the hungry agents that drive around from house to house checking out the new inventory. Good agents do this on a regular basis to keep up with the new inventory. Agents who specialize in certain areas typically just go on certain days. You do tend to see the same agents over and over and these are typically the ones that are doing business….this is why they are doing business. They are out working. It is also a great way to network with other agents and discuss what may be coming on the market or how to improve listings or pricing strategies. It is very important to get good feedback from the realtors that you work with. You never know when they are going to be the agent you are working with to make a deal come together and it helps to get along.
I came across a good blog written by one of our real estate colleagues, Elaine Carlson, also of RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty. She mentions in her article about Palos Verdes Estateshow Frank Vanderlip Sr. and partners bought the entire Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1913 for $1,500,000. Can you imagine? In today’s dollars you’d get one house for that price - here’s one for example - 1305 Via Zumaya - listed for $1,495,000 - it’s been on the market for 17 days so far and sadly there is only one photo of the ocean view. (this is one of my pet peeves - a listing with no photos of the house - leads one to believe that this house is a “fixer upper.”) Here’s the ocean view photo….
So in today’s dollar this is the view you can get along with a house that needs some work. The question is - how much was $1,500,000 worth in today’s dollars? According to http://www.MeasuringWorth.com it is worth $31,500,000 using the Consumer Price Index. That’s a lot of money Frank Vanderlip Sr and his partners ponied up!
As you can only imagine, we see a lot of great property descriptions in our business. There are the typical ones, charming, cozy, all original, etc….
But now I’ve heard it all when I read this the other day - actually I was thinking “now there’s a good one that I am going to file away for future use!” (hee, hee..) Here it is…..“unhampered by customizations that you may not want.” I love it! Now we went to go see this house that was “unhampered” and I’ll tell you, it was not bad. Great pool in sunny front courtyard on a nice quiet street in Rolling Hills Estates (90274 - get your kids in the PV school system!) and yes, the house needs some work, but for $1,049,000 what do you want! Here’s the picture of “unhampered.”
You want some luxury real estate? Check out Palos Verdes Estates - a beautiful part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula mainly occupying the west and north end of the peninsula. Valmonte, Malaga Cove, Monte Malaga and Lunada Bay are the players here. Currently there are a total of 51 homes for sale in PVE. Let’s look at each small section and see what’s looking hot.
Valmonte - the northern-most neighborhood (sometimes referred to as the Grove because of all the eucalyptus trees there.) There is also an “exclusive to PVE residents” golf and tennis country club - the PV Country Club….the clubhouse was just re-built and is gorgeous. Valmonte borders the South Torrance Beaches and is the closest PVE neighborhood to the Beach Cities. Currently there are all of 9 homes for sale there - the inventory is dramatically low. That neighborhood experienced a 4% increase in its average sales price - 2007 vs 2006…not bad for a “bad year.” The lowest priced home right now is listed for $999,999 
(a “diamond in the rough” the listing starts off…although it doesn’t look too bad from the photo) and the most expensive home lists for $2.550 million 
(new construction - something we don’t see too much of and nicely staged inside.)
Next we’re off to Malaga Cove - one of the more expensive and beautiful parts of the Peninsula. The ”Beach Club” is located in Malaga Cove. Currently there are 6 homes for sale to chose from in this gorgeous bluffside neighborhood. The least expensive home is $1,695,000
and is a fixer upper with quite a smashing view. Something you can “make your own.” Or - you could go to the high end of the list and spend $4.2 million on a “build your dream home later” 1-1/4 acre panoramic ocean view lot. 
Next we head up the hill - to Monte Malaga - there are some serious views of the Queen’s Necklace from up here. As of today - there are 18 homes for sale here (the highest amount of inventory is in this neighborhood of PVE.) The least expensive home is listed for $1,449,00 right now and is located on Granvira Altimira
- a main road that runs through PVE and takes you into Rancho Palos Verdes. It is also a “fantastic opportunity” to build your dream house later….it does offer some views and a pool. So what’s the most expensive house in PVE - it’s in Monte Malaga and its list price is $12,990,000…strangely there is only one picture in the MLS for this one. Guess when you’re thinking of spending $12.9 million dollars one picture is enough??? Here’s the picture that’s going to sell you a $12.9 million dollar house - ready?!
Don’t know if that picture is knocking my socks off.
The last and most southerly bluff-side neighborhood of Palos Verdes Estates is the ever lovely, Lunada Bay. Noted for it’s gorgeous fountain right in the middle of the Drive (Palos Verdes Drive West.) Inventory in Lunada Bay is more plentiful and you have 18 homes to chose from starting at an “affordable” $1,049,000
- and this is a brand new listing - first showings will be Tuesday from 11-1 for the brokers…..it’s pretty much all original with wood paneling. The upper end of Lunada Bay is not too bad - $3.495 affords you amazing ocean & Catalina Island views including romantic sunset views as evidenced by our MLS lead photo for the property 
This home offers over 6200 sq ft in two remodeled floors including a beautiful kitchen…seems like a lot of house to me.
Palos Verdes Estates is a wonderful place to call home. They tout their wonderful school system - Palos Verdes Unified School District - some of the best around - as well as many acres of parkland. Wouldn’t be be a bad place to end up if you ask me!
