I’m compelled to write a blog about the life of a “Renter” from my personal experience…especially after the conversations I’ve had over the past several months with homeowners that are mentally challenged about moving from homeownership to being a renter.  After reading the latest from Diana Olick, CNN Housing Reporter today I’m more convinced that now is the time to start typing! As a Real Estate Agent, my views and opinions are probably not going to go over well with all of my comrades. Things have changed for most Americans, especially those who had achieved the proverbial American Dream of Home Ownership.  Our economy is/has tanked and it’s not looking like sunny days are scheduled for years to come. It’s no secret that my husband and I lost our home to foreclosure in the early wav... 04/26/2011

Beverly Hills, Home of World-Class Shopping Visitors love Rodeo Drive & other famous shopping nearby If shopping in Beverly Hills seems a bit nostalgic...well, it should! The Beverly Hills shopping district was developed many years ago, before malls were "invented." Shopping on Main Streets throughout the country was just "what people did."   A lot of "yesterday" remains in the Beverly Hills shopping district today...which adds to the charm of the area. Do you remember what it was like before malls and superstores came along, extending shopping hours until 9 pm...or even later? Stores used to close in the late afternoon...which is still the practice in many Beverly Hills stores, which close around 5 to 7 pm.   Do you remember when saving change to feed parking meters was something that... 04/19/2011

The Importance of using a Reputable, Respected & Trusted Title & Escrow Company The Importance of using a Reputable Respected & Trusted Title & Escrow Company has become more important than ever. It made me think how critical a Trustworthy Escrow & Title Co. is in our everyday transactions. As I was reading The FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investigation's) Baltimore press- release dated April 08, 2011. I was just floored by the headline:  "Title Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Connection with Mortgage Scheme Involving Losses of Over $2.2 Million Was a Fugitive for Almost a Year". Wow now that is a headline which says it all.  Daniel E. Fink, Jr. age 44 operated Homemaxx Title & Escrow LLC (Homemaxx) in the Middle River and Parkville Maryland area. Fink was defrauding lenders du... 04/15/2011

Beverly Hills Condos - Market Report for March 2011: () February 2011 Number of Units Sold: 9 (6) Average Days on the Market: 131 (131) Median Price: $830,000 ($717,000) Average List Price: $1,747,000 ($810,000) Average Selling Price: $1,577,000 ($774,000) Lowest Price Condo Sold: $472,000 ($450,000) Highest Price Condo Sold: $6,600,000 ($1,335,000) Total Sold in Dollars: $14,197,000 ($4,644,000) Stewart Penn - Realtor for homes, condos & lofts in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hiils, the Sunset Strip and throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Now also selling Mid-Century Modern homes in Palm Springs. Stewart Penn - (310) 844-6515 | (310) 866-1818 Realtor | Broker  - Los Angeles Condo Specialist Penn Properties - "An Independent Real Estate Brokerage" Informati... 04/08/2011

I've often told friends that part of what makes me love real estate is the Los Angeles real estate market.  There's nothing else like it.  You never know what kind of house you're going to see, who's house you're going see, or what you're going to find in a house once you're there.  Just yesterday on caravan, we saw a listing in a fairly non-descript house, but the owner obviously had led sooooome kinda life, because there were framed photograph's of him with everyone who has been anyone during the past 30 years.  He and Liz Taylor, he and Al Pacino, he and Matt Damon, he and Cher, and many dozens more.  The walls were covered with them, many of them autographed to him.  I love going into homes and just being able to feel old Hollywood.  So yesterday the hot new listing on everyone's a... 03/30/2011

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well-tried before you give them your confidence." George Washington   03/28/2011

Beverly Hills Housing Market Report – February 2011 Are you thinking of buying or selling a Beverly Hills home, check out how the market is doing.  Overview of Beverly Hills single family home sales over past year to February 2011 The statistics to take note of are, in this case February 2010 vs February 2011 as these take seasonality out of the equation: February 2010 had one 18 – February 2011 had 11.  December 2010 had the highest number of sales – 30 Average days on the market of  Beverly Hills homes sold is down from 86 to 74 The median list price is up 15% from $2,995,000 to $3,450,000.  The median sold price is down 47% from $3,200,000 to $1,685,000.  This indicates that sellers’ and buyers’ expectations are way out of balance. Number of  Beverly Hills homes for sale in any give... 03/21/2011

Do you know what a QR Code is? Do you know what a QR Code is? The "QR" is an abbreviation for "Quick Response". Are you familiar with its history? The odds are that you have heard of it. If you are like me, more than likely you have seen it and did not think much of it. Well let me give you the history of it here:  1991 the Swiss Magazine Antrazit publishes an article about a new invention which will simplify putting your website onto Mobile Phones. They claim this can be done in less than five minutes. It is like child's play and the best part is that it is free. They claim that the Time is ripe for the mobile Internet. 1994 a two -dimensional bar code is created by a Japanese corporation (Denso Wave) for the logistical purpose of marking and tracking various building parts such as aut... 03/19/2011

Aw Snap!  Just when there was so much good info coming from Obama.  So Cal is getting slapped with the harsh reality that home buyer consumers are educating themselves to the fact that with increased inventory…more choices…the next in line is banks lowering their price expectations for their grossly obese number of homes in their inventory. So what? We’re located in LA and we saw the drop in interest…our listings were sitting with little to no activity from December to Early March. Activity has picked up since the harsh  ”rainy season” ( LOL) has subsided…Mid March…we’re dropping prices of our inventory every 3 to 5 days to spur interest… *****This is the secret in todays market…Sellers…your home must be the lowest priced home on the market (Look a Likes, sold comparisons) to get the a... 03/18/2011

Christina Aguilera Puts Beverly Hills Home on Market for $13.5 Million Source: IMDb More Photos   Christina Aguilera has been a trending name for headlines in the first few months of 2011, but not for the Grammy-winning voice that made her a star. A lyrical twist of the national anthem at the Super Bowl, tumble at the Grammys, highly publicized divorce, and a public intoxication arrestis the unfortunate string of events Aguilera has encountered, all of which have gone anything but unnoticed by tabloids. Her real estate portfolio hasn’t been a source of good luck either. Aguilera’s Hollywood Hills home is still on the market, taking two price cuts since it was originally listed at $7,995,000 in April 2008. It was re-listed in January 2010 and currently holds an asking price of $5,995,00... 03/18/2011

Mid-Century Home with Pool in Trousdale Estates 470 Castle Place, Beverly Hills 90210 $3,125,000 I love Trousdale Estates.  It's an under appreciated part of Beverly Hills, I think.  There are many Mid-Century Homes in the area, and most have really great views.  This home is on over half an acre and has 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths in 3158 square feet of living space.  It was originally built by Walter Lantz, who created the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. Not many homes come up for sale in this tony neighborhood, and it's rare to find one that has not been altered significantly.  The owners of this home had it for many years and it's remained unchanged and retains its original character.  If you're looking for a home to restore or remodel in a gentle way, this place is ideal. The 1962... 03/13/2011

Thanks to Kerrie and ActiveRain for inspiring me to do this.  Jane Peters, from Los Angeles, CA is a dear friend and has managed to capture international attention through her ActiveRain blog.  You just never know who's reading your blogs! Jane Peters, Los Angeles REALTOR® appears on local NBC affiliate news.     Jane Peters is a Los Angeles real estate agent who specializes in helping absentee owners, out-of-town buyers, and those needing extra assistance with their most personal of transactions. Beginning her real estate career with Keller Williams, Jane is now, and has been for the past 3 years, an independent agent, providing her own brand of service to her clients.  This brand is to treat her clients as she would like to be treated and to make sure that all of their needs are cover... 03/13/2011

Beverly Hills - Market Report - February 2011: Number of Units Sold: 6 Average Days on the Market: 131 Median Price: $717,000 Average List Price: $810,000 Average Selling Price: $774,000 Lowest Price Condo Sold: $450,000 Highest Price Condo Sold: $1,335,000 Total Sold in Dollars: $4,644,000 Stewart Penn - Realtor for homes, condos & lofts in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hiils, the Sunset Strip and throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Now also selling Mid-Century Modern homes in Palm Springs. Stewart Penn - (310) 844-6515 | (310) 866-1818 Realtor | Broker  - Los Angeles Condo Specialist Penn Properties - "An Independent Real Estate Brokerage" Information obtained from The MLS is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Figures rounded for ease of comparison. 03/12/2011

You want to buy a home in Beverly Hills but you don't want to spend millions of dollars. Unfortunately you will not be buying a single family home in Beverly Hills under $1 million. You can, however, find 40 condo units available right now for under $1 million. Prices for these Beverly Hills condos range from $319,000 for a 1 bed, 1 bath, 606 sq. ft. unit to $985,000 for a 2 bed, 2.5 bath, 1,767 sq. ft. unit. Search condos for sale in Beverly Hills under $1 million Now, if you can stretch your budget to $1.5 million, you will find 5 Beverly Hills single family homes for sale. These range from a 2 bed, 1 bath, 1,157 sq. ft. house for $1.195 million to a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2,326 sq. ft. house for $1.449 million. Search single family homes for sale in Beverly Hills under $1.5 million Are you ... 03/06/2011

    So you need a quiet serene place to escape to from everyday life, why not spend the day at the Virginia Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills, California! The Virginia Robinson Gardens is the first luxury estate that was built in Beverly Hills in 1911. The Virginia Robinson Gardens was owned by the retail giants of the Robinsons Department Stores, Virginia and Harry Robinson. This exquisite place is a wonderful historic estate as well as a jewel that lets the tourist step back into time and witness the birthplace of Beverly Hills, California. Tours are available for this magnificent national historic place of serenity, peace and history! For more information regarding the Virginia Robinson Gardens please visit the link below: http://www.robinsongardens.org/ What a fantastic place to in... 02/25/2011

Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The area's "Platinum Triangle" of affluent neighborhoods is formed by Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills. The population was 33,784 as of the 2000 census. Beverly Hills is one of the most affluent cities in the world, and is home to Hollywood celebrities, many corporate executives and numerous other wealthy individuals and families. Beverly Hills is bordered on the north west by Bel-Air and the Santa Monica Mountains, on the east by West Hollywood, the Carthay neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, and on the south by the Beve... 02/19/2011

While my clients from NYC seemed to have brought the inclimate east coast winter weather with them (just kidding, guys), the rain didn't dampen another Rich Kids closing celebration yesterday! As I have mentioned before, a RK closing isn't just your average every day "your deed has just been recorded with the county, congrats!" type of scenario. It is always a call for a true celebration tailored to each particular clients' interests, always involving a bottle or two of the closing beverage of choice, Vueve, which is a RK tradition (well, until we meet somebody who doesn't drink in which case a Vueve label might be slapped on a bottle on sparkling cider - luckily that hasn't happened yet). We had a huge closing celebration at Katusya where no topic of conversation was off limits, follow... 02/19/2011

I remember when I first came to Los Angeles many years ago, going to the Friars Club in Beverly Hills and seeing the likes of Milton Berle, Suzanne Pleshette, and numerous other personalities wandering around. The buffet at the Friars Club was amazing. More food than you could ever think of eating. It was old Hollywood personified. This piece of Beverly Hills real estate is no more. The Friars Club Beverly Hills, a branch of the famed New York establishment of the same name opened in 1947. In 2007, after losing a lawsuit to its New York namesake, it changed its name to Club 9900 and closed shortly after. The Friars Club has lost another battle waged by the Los Angeles Conservancy Group to include its 1960's modernist design in the California Register of Historical Resources. The archit... 01/31/2011

I have been saying this alot, but 2011 is looking quite promising both personally and professionally for everyone that I have spoken to. It's been a while since my last blog. My tradition for the last two years has been to spend the holidays in my other favorite city, London. It was an amazing time and I can tell you that my new year certainly did start out with a bang in every sense of the term! I hope everyone had as a good a holiday season! Just Sold - 7320 Hawthorn Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046 - 1br/1ba, 760 sq ft: List $335,000, Sale: $325,000, Appraised Amount: Roughly $367,000. This was probably one of the smoothest short sales I have ever dealt with. Just to give you an overview, the Hollywood Regis is located just steps away from Runyan Canyon at 7320 Hawthorn Blvd. The buildin... 01/24/2011

Weekly Beverly Hills Market Watch -- 1/21/2011     The following listings are "new to the market" within the last 7 days: 917 N Crescent Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 1141 Shadow Hill Way Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 628 N Alta Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 1060 Woodland Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 700 North Arden Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 510 Palm Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 630 Foothill Rd. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 221 S La Peer Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90211 3037 Franklin Canyon Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 2011 Benedict Canyon Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90210 467 S Peck Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90212 344 S Clark Dr. Beverly Hills, CA. 90211 Here is a snapshot of the current Beverly Hills market: 199 Active SFR. (Single Family Residence) listings. 72 Condo/Co-op listings. 11 Income Properties. 2... 01/21/2011