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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)
My latest version of a corn chowder with clams... I have been a huge fan of fresh corn and other ingredients to make the Chowder. This time I decided instead of the canned minced clams why not go with the Wild For clam meat version.All I can say is once you switch to this you will never go back to the canned minced clams.You can actually taste the clams, and it was a hit. Tonight's easy dinner, since I had a really challenging day. Some day I might post about it. In the mean time enjoy the Clam/Corn Chowder. 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 pe...
Comments 34
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...
Comments 32
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 ...
Comments 27
By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Just for fun: I do not mind sharing our oranges with the Squirrels what I mind is if they are wasting the oranges.Well, see for yourself.I make fresh squeezed orange juice every other day and Diane I love drinking it. Now days here to get a quart like I squeeze can cost anywhere from $5.99 to $8.99 and for me it is 20 minutes, worth of work. I hate waste, I guess I grew up with parents who were born before or during the depression and I learned to be frugal about certain things.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 Realto...
Comments 19
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Contrary to what one would think would be common sense, the less you put down on a house, the less your interest rate is going to be.  Why? In their infinite wisdom Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. the underwriting gurus of most of the nation's loans, have determined that down-payments of 20-25% which are not insured by Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) are high risk. Down-payments of over 25% receive lower interest rates. Loans covered by PMI remove the foreclosure risk to lenders. As an example, in late August a buyer putting down $80,000 on a $400,000 house could have qualified for a 4.875 rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage. This rate was offered to borrowers only putting 5% down. Those who put down 25% got an even higher rate, 5.375%.  Those putting down less have more in their pockets to t...
Comments 2
By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
A Wells Fargo Malibu Foreclosure - Outrageous details about what went down .... When I heard this story on the news I couldn't believe what I was hearing ..... It concerns a property that is estimated to be worth $12.5 Million $21.5 Million and could lease for $65,000 per month. A Wells Fargo executive moved into a $12 million $21.5 Million Malibu beach house shortly after it was handed back to the bank, the Associated Press reported. Apparently an owner of a house in the Malibu Colony (one of the most exclusive enclaves of homes in the greater Los Angeles area) had lost a fortune through the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme. As a result he surrendered his Malibu home to the mortgage holder, Wells Fargo Bank. Since the Malibu Colony has strict access control and most residents know who lives ...
Comments 6
By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
The dilemma: Should I sell now or next year? Many sellers are asking themselves this question. As a trusted advisor you have to give good advice. I am constantly asked this question as I sit in front of my prospective clients. To me the answer is very clear. There are many reasons to sell now rather then wait until next year.  Even though the economic recovery is appearing to be improving, the economy remains very fragile. As long it is fragile, that means consumer confidence is still lacking. As long as consumer confidence is weak, prices are vulnerable to new shock waves that can be seen on the news outlets daily.  Add to this the unemployment figures. As long as the job market remains weak the answer is clear. There will be a great deal more economic mess, due to the banking sector r...
Comments 20
By COMPASS PALM SPRINGS | Stewart Penn, COMPASS Palm Springs - Broker Associate
(COMPASS)
     In July of this year I blogged about the massive price reduction on Nicolas Cage's Bel Air mansion at 363 Copa De Oro Road in Bel Air (Los Angeles). After being on and off the market for almost three years, the List Price for the property was reduced from $35 Million all the way down to $17.5 Million. Well, even at 50% off there were no takers for the property. Today on the MLS there has been a whopping change in price .... The property is now listed at $9,950,000. The property will be subject to a "sealed bid sale" with the minimum bid of $9,950,000. In my previous blog I said that whatever the property eventually sells for will still yield Cage a substantial profit since he paid $6.5 Million in 1998. That may not now be the case with this new greatly discounted price. Moreover, l...
Comments 15
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Especially applicable to Los Angeles, a recent study conducted by "CEOs for Cities", found that neighborhoods with the most walkable areas, with shopping, restaurants, entertainment, command higher prices. This can be broken down to a range of between $4,000 to $34,000 over houses with just an average attraction level and the scale was measured from 0 to 100 - car dependent to most walkable. Amazingly, the study did not include Los Angeles which would have been interesting to see. The full report can be found at Walking the Walk.    
Comments 2
By Johnny Burke
(Keller Williams Realty)
From David Streitfeld at the NY Times: The House Trap An analysis for The New York Times by the real estate information company First American CoreLogic shows there are 2.8 million active interest-only home loans worth a combined total of $908 billion. The interest-only periods, which put off the principal payments for five, seven or 10 years, are now beginning to expire. In the next 12 months, $71 billion of interest-only loans will reset. The year after, another $100 billion will reset. After mid-2011, another $400 billion will reset. There are a several fascinating anecdotes in the article, including a professor who teaches real estate finance. Here is one: "I understand I took a risk," said [Dean Janis, a Southern California lawyer who bought a $950,000 home in 2004] "But I did not ...
Comments 0
By Paul Argueta
(REOheaven.com)
  Before I begin my rant--let me begin by stating that I HAVE NO INTENTION of OFFENDING ANYONE professionally or personally.  That being said, let's begin.  There are agents that either USE or ARE field representatives that are commonly referred to as GOPHERS or ROAD RUNNERS.  These people (amongst many of the services they offer) scour the field, the for sale ads, the internet, and the MLS in search of good deals for themselves or for their investors. There is nothing wrong with this.  Here's my pet peeve.  When the gophers or road runners present offers for buyers WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE PROPERTY.  ESPECIALLY the ALL CASH OFFERS.  Naturally, in this market where there is an escrow fallout rate as high as 30% in some markets due to financing fallouts, sellers often prefer ALL CASH OFFERS...
Comments 2
By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Did you know that in Korea 'dog' is still served as a Meal in Restaurants? I was catching up on my LA Times reading today and I was so shocked at what  I read in the September 4th Issue of the LA Times  written by John Glionna & Ju-Min Park of Seoul, South Korea, I had to post this. Some of you might not want to read this, others of you might want to take action and others of you might just want to spread the word.  The Hero of the story is Lee Won-Bok, he is a 45 year old animal rights activist. Every Saturday he places very graphic pictures (I opted not to post pictures) at a busy mall depicting images of dogs in cages, to different stages of the process all the way to the Restaurant table. (I will not describe the graphic parts you get the idea) He is a one man warrior. He says he ha...
Comments 6
By Endre Barath, Jr., Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002
(Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties)
Appraisals Delays and the Cause and Effect of these delays to all involved is just amazing.More often then I would like to know, Appraisals have been consistently reaching Lenders late. There have been a number of discussions about Appraisals by Realtors and Mortgage Brokers and the delays that this has caused in obtaining loans for the Buyers.  As the Real Estate market continues to move slower then we would like, Sellers, Buyers, Realtors and Mortgage Lenders all remain uncertain. We are looking at these trends and first thing we need to do is to adjust our way of doing business.  Gone are the days of 17 days Loan Contingency Removal and 30 day Escrow periods when it comes getting a loan? In the heyday of our market Mortgage Brokers could assure Realtors that they could remove the loa...
Comments 6
By Dom Naidoo, Malibu to the Marina Real Estate
(Westside Properties)
Thank you for choosing   Westside Properties   (310) 459-8191 office (310) 494-0169 fax   www.WestsideHomeFinder.com    SATURDAY OPEN HOUSES: PACIFIC PALISADES, SANTA MONICA, BRENTWOOD, MARINA DEL REY & VENICE Last Run: 09/05/2009 at 8:35:21 AM   Openhouse: Yes Openhouse Type: New, Review Openhouse Date: 9/5/2009 to 9/5/2009 Property Type: SFR, CC, INC Status: Active Areas: (15) Pacific Palisades -- (14) Santa Monica -- (6) Brentwood -- (12) Marina Del Rey -- (11) Venice Active   PTYPE S ADDRESS LP BR BA #U SF LSZ YB DOM LD ST DATE   1 SFR   519 STASSI LN $3,599,000 5 4.00   3,800 9,888   135 04/23/09 04/23/09     2 SFR     464 21ST PL $4,995,000 5 6.50   0 9,000 2009 93 06/04/09 06/04/09     3 SFR     515 MUSKINGUM AVE $2,599,000 5 4.00   4,100 8,276   66 07/01/09 07/01/09     4 C/C  ...
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By Dom Naidoo, Malibu to the Marina Real Estate
(Westside Properties)
Latest News from the Frontlines of Animal WelfareSeptember 4, 2009  1. Labor Day Pet Dangers to AvoidCelebrate the final days of summer with fun in the sun-just remember to play it safe! By following these simple precautions, you can rest assured your pets will avoid danger and enjoy their holiday, too! Read the precautions...    2. ASPCA Happy Tails: A Nose AheadAfter spending way too long in the shelter, this sweet Pit Bull's fortune changed. His sniffer's now used to help another species-hint: he's having a whale of a time!    3. Pet Poison Alert: Accidental Ingestion of Wood Glue on the RiseThis year's D-I-Y trend is a great asset for the thrifty, but poses one life-threatening danger-polyurethane glue is highly toxic to pets!     www.westsidehomefinder.com To preview the finest rea...
Comments 2
USC Season Opener Tomorrow, Saturday September 5 Wait a minute!  How did it get to be September, already??   Gotta learn some new faces, too:  Barkley... McKnight.  This will be an interesting season.      
Comments 1
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Staging/Interior Design: Wanna McMahon & Associates Contact:  Wanna McMahon Innovative, hard-working and reliable Mortgage Broker Karl MillerMortgage Capital Partners12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900Los Angeles, CA 90025Office: 310-295-6235Cell: 310-991-3991 Provided excellent service on an FHA loan, which usually leads to an escrow being delayed.  Karl managed to close it in under 30 days - a miracle.      
Comments 2
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Los Angeles is a mess right now. I decided to go play golf in The Valley (San Fernando Valley), which is a basin, not far from the fires.  And boy, was it ugly. 102 degrees, with about 90 humidity, and horrendous smokey air.  I must be nuts, but then I am a golfer.... Driving back along the freeway you can see a few of the fires burning.  But, one good thing, the sunsets are magnificent.  Now if my eyes would just stop burning, and I could stop coughing....  
Comments 2
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
These are people with whom I feel very comfortable and would not hesitate to recommend.  Of course these are subjective recommendations.  However, I am not easily impressed..... Escrow: Escrow Exchange West Contact:  Ron Lissell Ron is fun to work with, great sense of humor, easy going, and very reachable.  I have had no problems and, again, I like working with him. Title: Stewart Title of California Contact:  Heidi Gottlieb - 310-995-4173 Cell There are going to be problems with any company, as I read in one post here, but if you deal directly with Heidi she is going to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.  It all depends with whom you are dealing. Home Inspector: Advanced Building Inspections Contact: Tom DeSpain Very reliable.  Very thorough. Retrofitting: Metro Retrofitting. ...
Comments 6
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Los Angeles is burning in more ways than one - the fires with the resultant bad (sorry, even worse) air quality, and the blistering heat are making it pretty unbearable. This is a photo from the roof of my building with Century City in the background, and that is the smoke layer behind it in the distance. Hopefully the poor firefighters and those whose homes are endangered will get a break soon. By the way, the tall white building on the right is brand new and is where Candy Spelling bought the penthouse for $47 Million - and she was downsizing!        
Comments 4
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
If anyone is looking for residential property in the Los Angeles area and having trouble finding it, maybe I can help. My strengths are in cold calling to source listings.  However, it is easier if there is a particular buyer in the background because I can focus my calls better, and hopefully fill two needs - yours and mine :)  
Comments 0
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
Understand that I am not a big sports fan.  But I do love baseball, especially when there is a team to follow. The Dodgers have outdone themselves this season and seem to have a lot of heart.  There are so many great stories about many of the players this year, and it is a pleasure to watch each one of them excel in their own way. I am hoping that they don't fall apart in the playoffs after such an incredible season.
Comments 2
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
I have started a golf group called "Southern California Golf". Hopefully, this will be of interest to the hackers, serious golfers, and everyone interested in the game.  I started about 11 years ago, and absolutely love it.  You get out on some of the most magnificently beautiful courses in the world and hope that you can do them justice.  In any event, if you don't, you had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery. Imagine playing on a course in Florida - Biscayne Bay - surrounded by huge iguanas, racoons, all forms of bird-life and Mr. Crocodile - not alligator - Crocodile. I am making this short, as I am sure I will be posting a lot on golf in the coming weeks.  I don't want to give everything away now. If anyone in the Los Angeles area would like to play, or help arrange a tournament, ...
Comments 0
By Jane Peters, Los Angeles real estate concierge services
(Home Jane Realty)
This is my second outing to this restaurant.  If you love Indian food, and I do, this is a must-visit: India's Tandoori5468 Wilshire Blvd.Los Angeles, 90036Phone: 323-936-2050 Northern Indian cuisine.  Very different and yummy.  
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