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Los Angeles, CA Real Estate News

By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Wordless Wednesdays: Citrus Tree pruning in the back yard... Diane decided to prune the trees. Needless to say, she has been coordinating with our Gardner to do this. Hence, I was stuck dealing with them.They showed up in the afternoon while I was in the middle of keeping one deal together and negotiating two other deal.Next thing I know is they are putting cut branches into the "trash" barrel after they filled the "Green Barrel."  after they left, I was trying to salvage many of the oranges. Clearly you know for future Orange Juice.... Needless to say, managed to save some but what you see here was probably 50% the rest were lost!    Wishing you a safe and healthy life and I look forward to your comments. If you are looking for a knowledgeable, focused and goal-oriented Realtor in the ...
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By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Diane and I have been going to the Festival of Books for the past 24+ years. If memory serves me correctly, we only missed the first two... Now with that said this year we did not get a new coffee mug. Usually, we get one every year commemorating our visit to the Festival of Books. This year was a total disappointment.The marketing was too vague and too discouraging. In the old days if you wanted to see an author you did not have to pay to enter. This year the message was mistakenly focused on, that you cannot get to see a panel or an author unless you pay for a ticket. Really??? False messaging. Sadly, many bought into this message including us.I told Diane it was just poor English and not clear messaging... we disagreed... on a side note I was right.So, with that said, let me tell you...
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By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Lemon, Avocado, Bucatini & Shrimp pasta dinner... this dinner was inspired, because Diane wanted a break from " Red Sauce so with that said I reached into my cookbooks and found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks: "Pasta Modern." Those of you who read my posts know I would end up modifying the recipe to make it my own.Well, I did the short recipe, lemon, lemon zest, shrimp, avocado and lemon juice.My additions, fresh parsley, clam juice, little bit of heavy cream and a lot more wine:). I also added little bit of heavy cream and substituted red onions with sweet onions as well as added some baby spinach,  Wishing you a safe and healthy life and I look forward to your comments. If you are looking for a knowledgeable, focused and goal-oriented Realtor in the Beverly Hills area who...
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By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Friday Funday: I thought how about a fun dinner.... I always cruise the Internet, and I saw someone post a recipe for baked cabbage. Loved the idea and it so happened I had cabbage in the fridge as well as I always have olive oil.Now I thought this would go well with bake Argentinian Red Shrimp.Then I figured how about some great Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Bisquists to accompany the dinner Wishing you a safe and healthy life and I look forward to your comments. If you are looking for a knowledgeable, focused and goal-oriented Realtor in the Beverly Hills area who will help you achieve your Real Estate goals, please reach out to me directly! If you are looking for a pet friendly Beverly Hills Realtor who can handle and sell the most difficult properties that no one else could, please reach ...
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Real Estate is an industry thought by many to be highly lucrative and high-paying. But have you ever wondered HOW exactly your agent will be paid? You are often approached by agents trying to convince you to list your home with them, or allow them to show you some nice homes to buy. Read more to find out how your agent will be compensated and from where. As a prospective homebuyer, it would be in your best interest to understand this compensation process. The standard compensation structure for Real Estate Agents is that he/she will be paid commission, based on the selling price of the property you are interested in. While commission rates are not standardized, the process in which they are disbursed is consistent. When a seller signs a listing agreement, that contract is with a brokera...
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By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Back from Hibernation, the story of my new unwelcomed Dell Studio 15 Some of you noticed I have been away for two weeks or so. It was not planned. No, I did not go to a deserted Island without internet access. I had some Laptop Issues. Change is good when you do it willingly on your own. Change is debilitating when it is done to you. So with that, I want to share with you the following experience. I had a Dell Inspiron 8200 Laptop for seven short years. Then two weeks ago the dreaded blue screen came, two three hour sessions with Dell from midnight to three am and now, I am the proud owner of a Dell Studio 15 Laptop. Wow, going from Windows XP to Windows 7 what a day and night difference. I love it. Now I am glad my old laptop wanted to rest. The speed, the colors, the many new features...
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By Andrew Jones, LA Beach Cities Homes 310-399-3740
(Horizon Pacific Realty )
I hear this question again and again from potential clients in today's market. A lot of home buyers are confused by all of the recent foreclosure generated chaos in the housing market. When you combine this with the explosion of information available on the internet, it's no surprise that most people don't know where to start. Here are three common misconceptions that buyers have these days about making sure that they're finding the "best deals." 1) Many people are simply confused by all of the conflicting information that they hear about all of the great deals that they're missing out on (mostly from pitchmen selling a service.) Aside from courthouse auctions and ‘for sale by owner' properties (FSBOs,) there are no special "deals' or sources for homes for sale that you have to ‘find.' ...
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By Jefferson Hendrick, Homes By Hendrick
(Keller Williams - Hollywood Hills)
Hidden Los Angeles has discovered on YouTube an original documentary narrated by James Fitzpatrick from his "James Fitzpatrick Traveltalks" series  of documentaries that were produced by MGM from 1930 to 1954 and ran in movie theaters before the main feature.  This particular one was produced in 1935 and once refers to Los Angeles by what is formerly it's OFFICIAL name, "The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the river of Porziuncola." It's a very cool look at a much less insane, over populated Los Angeles.  Plus you get to hear Fitzpatrick say "Los Angle-leez" and "Wil-sheer Boulevard" Check it out HERE.
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By Jenny Durling, For Los Angeles real estate help 213-215-4758
(L.A. Property Solutions)
Echo Park Condos - The Sunset Five condos in Echo Park still up for grabs We haven't seen many newly constructed Echo Park Condos so the developers of the Sunset Five condo complex probably expected them to fly off the shelf.  You many have read my post about the Sunset Five condos in Echo Park.  I thought the units were over priced when they first came on the market, and 4 months later my opinion has not changed. Below is a chart of the Sunset Five Echo Park Condos showing their relative size and price changes since they came on the market in October of 2009. As you can see from the last column, the price reductions have not been significant. These units were originally listed with Furstenberg Realty.  From what I can see, there was nothing wrong with the agent or his marketing.  Like ...
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By Michelle Minch, Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
(Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA)
On Thursday, the LA Times Food section had an article titled Want To Dine For Less? Say The Word about a website called BlackboardEats.com. BlackboardEats offers Los Angeles and New York diners discounts to some of LA's & NY's finest and trendiest Restaurants.  Here's how it works: Go to the website and enter your email address to sign up You'll be asked for your name, your email address and your zip code Twice per week you'll receive an email newsletter offering an exclusive dining deal at NY or LA restaurants You have 24 hours to respond to the email, at which time they'll send you a special code You have 30 days during which the code will be valid, to go to the restaurant The past deals looked pretty awesome, and I'm really sorry I missed them. I would have loved to get 30% off at Mo...
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
$50 Million Listing in Bel Air - 10664 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles, CA 90077 I enjoy seeing outrageously expensive property listings ... so the most recent mega-million listing in Los Angeles really intrigued me. According to the MLS, this 20,000 sq ft mansion with 8-Beds and 16-Baths boasts a 2000 sq ft master suite, fabulous movie/screening room, resort-like indoor spa & gym, and a car collector's subterranean garage. What really interested me was the listing history of this property: Listed at $30 Million in 2005, the property was eventually sold for $27.5 Million. Now, 5 years later, it's "widowed owner" is asking $50 Million. I can't imagine what was done to the property to substantiate almost doubling the price in just 5 years. This will be interesting to watch .... Listed by Coldw...
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By Dorene Slavitz, Experienced. Ethical. Outstanding Results!
(Residential & Commercial Real Estate)
5 Homebuyer Mistakes 1. Not keeping your emotions in check   While a home purchase can have it's shares of up's and down's for all concerned, you will be in a better negotiating possition of you think of your purchase, as a future investment. Evaluate it based upon that fact..and you will make a better decision. 2.Not using a Realtor   Why would you not want to be represented by a professional during this process? It's well worth every penny you might spend, and it will help you make a better decision and save money in the long run. 3.Not taking your Realtors advice   We have been trained to see "red flags" and we are a neutral third party. If we see things that look suspect, take it seriously. A home with major flaws can become a money pit. 4.Unrealistic expectations   No home is perfe...
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
The biggest and most expensive Real Estate purchase for 2010 in Los Angeles, so far, has been concluded by Tom Hanks. The Los Angeles Times reports that Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have purchasd a contemporary 4-Bed 5-Bath Pacific Palisades home for just over $26 Million. The 14,500 sq ft home was built in 1996 and designed by architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates.
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By Stewart Penn - BRE# 01339266, Stewart Penn - Associate Broker
(Windermere Real Estate - Palm Springs)
Search The MLS for properties in and around Los Angeles Search The MLS: Stewart Penn - Realtor for homes, condos & lofts in Los Angeles - Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Homby Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Century City, Westwood, Beverly Center, Miracle Mils, West Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills,  Hancock Park, Sherman Oaks, Studio City and throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
Search MLS for properties in and around Los Angeles Search The MLS: Stewart Penn - Realtor for homes, condos & lofts in Los Angeles - Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Homby Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Century City, Westwood, Beverly Center, Miracle Mils, West Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Hancock Park, Sherman Oaks, Studio City and throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
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By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
  The statistics below cover home sales in  the Westwood - Century City area.  They are taken directly from the MLS and are for single family homes only.  They don't take into consideration condos, income property and private sales. January was an extremely slow month with only 4 homes sold as opposed to December '09 with 16 sold.  The highest price sold was $2,869,000 in Holmby Hills and the lowest $817,000 in the flats near Century City. The median sold price was $1,182,000, down from $1,250,000 in December '09. Sales price received vs. listing price was $98%, up from $97.1% in December. Average days on the market was 24, basically the same as in December. Below is a breakdown of last month's activity in the Westwood area real estate market.          
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
I recently blogged about Donald Trump's over simplistic statement disputing Global Warming (aka Climate Change). Trump's reference to the coldest winter on record and the recent heavy snowstorms has to do with the weather, not the climate. NASA explains the difference between weather and climate as follows: "Weather" is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short periof of time. "Climate"is how the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time. "When we talk about climate change, we talk about changes in long-term averages of daily weather" - NASA I would have thought a "sophisticate" like Trump would have known better ....
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By Andrew Jones, LA Beach Cities Homes 310-399-3740
(Horizon Pacific Realty )
There's strong interest in high-end properties in Los Angeles right now if the number of visits that I've been getting on the L.A. Estates & Luxury Homes page of my website are any indicator. This second in a series of articles is an overview of where you can find the finest homes for sale in Los Angeles. Most of Los Angeles' great estates are found in or near the Hollywood Hills, from Griffith Park to the ocean, an area which includes Beverly Hills, Bel Air and many grand old Hollywood estates. However, the coastal hills of Malibu and Santa Monica Mountains at the north end of Santa Monica Bay have become home to a new brand of rural estates, sprawling sea ranches, and dramatic shoreline mansions in the last thirty years. Malibu alone now has more celebrities per square foot than the C...
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
Glenn Beck does some crazy and bizarre things on his show. He's cried fake tears .... scribbled wildly on a white-board .... and he's even played with dolls. This week he confirmed that he's quite insane .... barking like a mad dog on the air! Politics aside, Glenn Beck appears on a leading "News Network" (if one can seriously refer to Fox News as a news network). How infantile does he think his audience is? How stupid is his audience to stay tuned to his show? What about the children of his audience that may be exposed to his outrageous behavior? Is this what parents want their kids to see while watching a supposedly serious news program? .... I think not!
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By Andrew Jones, LA Beach Cities Homes 310-399-3740
(Horizon Pacific Realty )
There seems to be growing international interest in Los Angeles' luxury real estate market right now if the number of visits to the L.A. Estates & Luxury Homes page of my website are any indicator. This isn't surprising since asking prices have declined significantly since last year and many prospective buyers may have only heard of the famous communities like Hollywood, Beverly Hills, or Malibu that they're considering making their new home. This first in a series of articles is an overview of where you can find the finest homes for sale in Los Angeles. When it comes to finding estates and luxury homes in Los Angeles, the old real estate cliche in the title holds true. While you'll certainly find extraordinary luxury homes in all of the areas that will be discussed here, you can also f...
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By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
The statistics below cover home sales in the Palms and Mar Vista areas of Los Angeles, are taken directly from the MLS and are for single family homes. They do not take into consideration condos, income property and private sales. There were 10 sales in the month of January, against 21 in December '09.  The highest price sold was $1,340,000 in Palms and the lowest $535,000 in Mar Vista. January is usually a slow month for home sales, thus the drop. The median sales price was $787,988, an increase over $750,000 in December. Average days was 70, an increase over 34 in December, again not an alarming figure due to typically slow sales in January. Below is a breakdown of last month's housing activity in Palms and Mar Vista.
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By Lupe Soto-Realtor, Listing, Selling Burbank, San Fernando Valley LA
(Premier Realty Assoc)
If you are a Bank of America BofA homeowner struggling to make your mortgage payments, please contact Bank of America and ask for help, be aware of foreclosure rescue scams help is FREE!  posted by Lupe Soto, Short Sale Agent in Burbank, CA, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California (HABLO ESPANOL) If you are a spanish speaking homeowner and need help, I will guide you to FREE bilingual resources. SI USTED ES UNA DUENO DE CASA Y TIENE DIFICULTADES PARA HACER SU PAGOS DE CASA, llame o envieme un email CONTACT LUPE para mas ayuda. La ayuda es GRATIS More than 12,700 Bank of America customers now have a permanent loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to the bank's monthly report to the Department of the Treasury. Up from 3,200 completed modif...
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By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
  The statistics below cover home sales in the major Echo Park area (90026), are taken directly from the MLS and are for single family homes.  They also don't take into consideration condos, income property and private sales.   There were 13 sales in the month of January '10, 1 more than in December '09. The most expensive home sold was $712,000 and the least expensive $100,000. The median sales price was $325,000, no real change from December '09. Average days on the market for sold properties was 95, up from 37 in December. There were 41 active listings, 6 in escrow.  There were 4 expired listings. December '09 also had 41 active listings, none in escrow and 10 expireds. Below is a breakdown of last month's activity in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles:  
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By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
In 2009 Architectural Digest and Maserati held a competition for the finest architectural garages. The winner of the competition for the Best Existing Garage was Holger Schubert who lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles. According to Schubert: "This garage was designed with two main objectives in mind: to create a pure and restrained minimalist environment that allows one to focus on the car as a piece of art and to create the ultimate experience for the driver to arrive at home". Schubert has been parking his 1984 Ferrari 512BBi in his living room. But City Planners have recently withdrawn permission for the proud car-owner to use a bridge that he had constructed connecting his living room to the street.  The homeowner believes that neighbors complained to the City about his "bridge" becaus...
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