What makes a craftsman bungalow so special? I was just reading Petrea Burchard's post about a Pasadena bungalow that she photographed and was reflecting on the fascination that many of us have over these beautiful bungalows that make Pasadena so special. What draws us to these homes?  Is it because they were so affordable and yet so beautiful?  Most of the homes in the Bungalow Heaven historic landmark district literally came out of the box.  In the early 1900s, you could buy a bungalow kit from Sears Roebuck if you lived on the East coast or on the West coast from The Ready Cut Bungalow Company.  These bungalow kit homes were priced from as little as $650.  Of course, the owners needed to throw in an extra $150 towards plumbing fixtures and a lot of sweat labor. Or, is it because a lot... 09/01/2008

Join leaders of the Pasadena area environmental groups in an informal setting and learn about their activities and programs. All are welcome! On Saturday, September 13th prepare to gather at 4:30pm and listen to informal presentations at 5pm. Then at 6pm you can have a potluck picnic under the oak trees south of the Nature Center at Eaton Canyon Park, 1750 N. Altadena Drive in Pasadena.  Bring a dish that serves 6 to 8 people. Beverages, plates and utensils will be provided. For information and to RSVP, contact coordinator Ginny Heringer at 626-793-4727 or ginnyh@ix.netcom.com Directions to Eaton Canyon Park: from the 210 freeway in Pasadena, take Altadena Drive north about 1.5 miles; about 500 feet after crossing New York Drive, turn right into the park. 09/01/2008

HISTORIC HIGHLANDS   In late 2007, city of Pasadena has unanimously approved Historic Highlands as a Landmark Distirct.  It's about time since this area has some of the most beautiful craftsman homes in Pasadena. Historic Highlands Neighborhood website has this to share about the Historic Highlands history: What is known today as the Historic Highlands encompasses the estates and land holdings of two prominent Pasadena pioneers:  David MacPherson, former Santa Fe Railroad design engineer of the famed Mt. Lowe railroad; Ezra Dane, an orchardist who settled here in 1883.Ezra Dane crossed the plains from Massachusetts sometime between 1849 and 1852 and settled in Sonora County in Northern California where he became a prosperous farmer.  Driven from the area by an out break of malaria in th... 09/01/2008

In the previous post, Sell Your Pasadena Home in 30 Days or Less, we discussed the basic formula for selling your home.  There are three parts to your selling success: Preparing your Pasadena home for sale. Determining a price for your home. Deciding how to market your Pasadena home. Today, I wanted to go into a bit more detail on the type of marketing and advertisement methods that are available in today's Pasadena real estate market. We talked about the importance of bringing "eye balls" to see your home.  Exposure is of utmost importance in getting the highest possible price for your home and selling it in record time.  The more people that see your home, the more opportunity you have in selling it well. To fully market your home today, it is imperative that you put the power of the ... 08/25/2008

There's really no secret to selling your Pasadena home.  Experienced Pasadena real estate agents will tell you that it's all about following a specific series of steps or a proven formula that is absolutely proven to be successful. Here are your "Selling Your Home" formula ingredients Prepare your Pasadena Home for sale: Before you consider advertising or marketing your Pasadena home, you need to make sure that it's in market ready condition.  That involves several steps: Go through each room of your house and be honest with yourself about the items that need to be repaired or replaced.  Come on... you know what I mean... Order a pre-inspection by a California licensed real estate home inspector.  You can get a list of Inspectors from CREIA , California Real Estate Inspection Associatio... 08/06/2008

This Friday and every Friday through the end of August, make your way over to Pasadena's Colorado Paseo.  Join the fun with Dancing Under the Stars.  It's FREE and it's FUN!!! Aug 30, 2008 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM Paseo Colorado 280 East Colorado BoulevardPasadena,CA,91101 FREE   Friday 07/11/08 to Friday 08/29/08 Where: Paseo Colorado280 East Colorado BoulevardPasadena,CA,91101 Price: FREE Repeats Weekly on Friday FREE DANCE LESSONS ARE PROVIDED!!!!  What else can you be waiting for!!! If summer park concerts are more your style, then click on the link below! HAVE FUN!!! CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF ALL LOCAL SUMMER CONCERT SERIES Posted By: Irina Netchaev - Pasadena California Real Estate Agent - Irina Netchaev & Associates.  Irina and her Team of Real Estate experts work in the beautiful Keller... 07/31/2008

Summer is about being outdoors, enjoying activities with friends and family and of course, heading over to your favorite park for a concert.  If that concert is free, well... that's even better. PASADENA, CA Location:  Levitt Pavillion, 87 North Raymond Avenue #250, Pasadena Call                     626-683-3230              August 1 8 pm Celtic Spirit (World Rhythms) August 2 8 pm Rolando Morales (Musica Latina) August 3 7 pm Billy Mitchell (Jazz Night) August 6 Circus Night (Children's Entertainment) August 7 7:30 pm Lisa Haley (American Music) August 8 Smader  Levi (World Rhythm) August 9 8 pm Nocy (Musica Latina) August 13  7 pm Steve Songs (Children's Entertainment) August 14  7:30 pm Stone Honey (American Music)  August 15  8 pm Tidawt (World Rhythms)  August 16  8 pm Los Pinguos ... 07/30/2008

Constant readers know I am the King of Eagle Rock, but my real estate license is good in the state of California, and I have sold a lot of real estate all over Northeast Los Angeles and the western end of the San Gabriel Valley including Altadena and Pasadena in my 18 years as a Realtor. Last week, I co-listed a terrific property at 3150 San Pasqual Street, Pasadena, for $1,875,000. We priced this to sell, not to market. We had 121 Realtors attend the Broker's Caravan last Thursday and 112 people attended the public open house last Sunday. We were given a good offer after the Realtor caravan and after a bit of negotiation came to a mutually acceptable agreement by the end of the open house. Wow, this sounds like the activity of the good old days, doesn't it? Here's the deal: we had sell... 07/25/2008

One of the most important trends in the current real estate market is creative financing.  Creative financing involves borrowing money from sources other than institutional lenders and banks.  Buyers have used it in past market downturns when bank financing became less desirable.  The most common form of creative financing is seller financing, in which the seller lends some or all of the money to the buyer.  And then because most home sellers don't want to be lenders, they sell the loan to an investor who does want to lend money and actually receive payments. Here's how it might work... Joe is selling a home for $500,000, but isn't finding many buyers.  Mike is interested in Joe's home, but doesn't have the 20% down he needs for a down payment, which he's required to have because his jo... 07/24/2008

If you are living in Pasadena California or are thinking about relocating to Pasadena, you've come to the right place.  This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for Pasadena California.  Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how Pasadena homes, condos and townhomes are faring in today's real estate market. If you are already a Pasadena homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your Pasadena home, please click here and order your real estate monthly market report.  You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list. If you a... 07/24/2008

The Pasadena housing market continues to hobble on one leg. While this strategy seems to work well for Tiger Woods, and the manner in which he won the US Open It does not bode well if you are a property owner attempting to sell a house. June home sales continue to confirm what we have seen year to date with (1) fewer home's being sold (2) a continuing decline in the median sales price. June's median price was $700,000, compared to $790,000 last year, a decline of 11.3%. Compared to Pasadena's median home price last month of $760,000, prices declined 7.9%. June is normally a strong month for housing as evidenced by last years median price of $790,000 for May and June. The fact that we experienced further declines this past month  is a good indicator the housiing market continues to softe... 07/16/2008

Perhaps you saw the recent headlines about property values being on the rise in Pasadena in the Pasadena Star News, and wondered what it meant for your prospects of buying or selling your home.  If you're like me, newsstand headlines are an important source of Pasadena news.  But what is the real story on the headline, "Property values on rise; Pasadena, San Gabriel show big increases"? What the story reports is that the total value of the property in these cities has increased from the perspective of tax assessments.  There are two reasons for this:  first is the new building projects around Pasadena in the last year such as Archstone Pasadena at the Del Mar Metro station.  When developers turn land into high-rise luxury apartments Los Angeles County significantly increases the assesse... 07/15/2008

Foreclosures and Fixer-Uppers Looking for a good deal and don't mind doing a little work for it?  You may be interested in buying a "fixer-upper" to save money.  There are more fixers for sale than in other periods because of the prevalence of foreclosures in the Pasadena area.  When foreclosures happen, it means the homeowners are in serious financial trouble, which usually leads to not making repairs or doing necessary maintenance to save money.  On top of the financial difficulties, the homeowners expect that the house will be taken away from them, and they are not happy about that.  Homeowners in foreclosure may even damage the house out of resentment toward the lender who is foreclosing on them.  And once the foreclosure process is complete and the homeowner is evicted, the house c... 07/14/2008

Do you love to dance?  Then go to Paseo Colorado on Friday nights and join Dancing Under the Stars - Swinging Summer. Every Friday until end of August, you can enjoy music and learn to dance.  Free dance lessons provided by the Pasadena Ballroom Association. Paseo Colorado is at 280 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena.   Shop, Eat, Listen to Music and Dance.  Pasadena is Happening in the Summer! 07/10/2008

The Pasadena Foothill Association of Realtors will be hosting its Third Annual Jazz Night at the Paseo Colorado.  July 23, 2008 WEDNESDAY Location:  Pasadena Jazz Institute (260 East Colorado Blvd. Suite 206, Pasadena) Time:  Doors will open at 6:00PM and music will begin at 7:00PM - 10:00PM. Join the music and fun on July 23, Wednesday for live jazz, food, and raffles.  All of the proceeds would go to support local charities and scholarships.  Food provided by Paseo Cantina with a no-host bar. Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased through the Pasadena Foothill Association of Realtors at (626) 795-2455.  (1070 E. Green St.  Suite 100, Pasadena)   07/10/2008

Home Buyers...FHA Is Here So Get Off Your Duff And Buy A House!!!  Yes I know that sounds drastic, but I submit the following for your consideration. If you have been thinking about buying a house but you are "on the fence", let me recommend that you jump off the fence.  FHA (Federal Housing Administration) has raised the limits of their Federally Insured Loans to $729,750 in high cost metropolitan areas such as Pasadena, Eagle Rock, South Pasadena, Altadena, Highland Park and their surrounding communities.  Previously, FHA's loan limits were at $362,790.  The change in loan limits will help provide economic stability and give 240,000 additional homebuyers a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative.    Why should you consider an FHA loan?   An FHA insured loan makes lenders more will... 07/09/2008

When it comes time to interview agents, you may want to be weary of the agent that is telling you that they can get you a higher price than the other agents are quoting you.  Many times an agent will mislead a home seller by telling them that they can get a higher price for them, only to ask for a price reduction in the future because the property is NOT SELLING.  If that agent is so convinced that they can get you a higher price, then ask them to put a clause in the listing contract that will allow to cancel the moment they ask you for a price reduction.  That is a reasonable request, right? You bet it is!! Review the comparable sales carefully.  Pricing your property at market value is key to getting offers, and thus getting it sold.  Hire an agent based on experience, marketing plan,... 07/08/2008

Do I Want To Sell? OR Do I Need To Sell? These 2 questions will probably determine whether your home will sell or not.  All too often people that want to sell price their property above market value, this is a grand mistake because you will be competing with sellers who "need to sell" and have priced their property at (or below) market value.  I am not recommending that sellers give their property away by pricing it too low, but I do recommend that they price their property at market value.  Buyers determine home values by comparison shopping.  They look at the price of your home based on its features and benefits, then compare it with the features and benfits of similar homes that have recently sold or currently on the market.  I am actually seeing properties in Pasadena receive multip... 07/08/2008

Why should a home buyer hire a "buyer's agent"?   1.  A buyer's agent can help you find most properties for sale in your price range and city of choice.  An experience agent can tailor a search just for you.  2.  A buyer's agent can handle all the details involved in buying a home. 3.  A buyer's agent will answer any and all of your real estate questions. 4.  An experienced agent has the skills to negotiate in "your best interest" at all times to get you the best deal possible 5.  A buyer's agent will be in frequent communications with you, keeping you informed throughout the home buying process 6.  A buyer's agents fee is FREE! You pay ZERO! NADA!  You will not have to pay a buyer's agent to find you a home, negotiate on your behalf, manage all the details, keep you informed and answer... 07/08/2008

What to demand (from your real estate agent) when selling your home... What's the biggest fear when a home owner lists their property with a real estate agent?  It's simple.  They worry about being stuck with an incompetent agent that makes them sign a lengthy listing contract.  That's why you should demand your agent to to place a clause in the listing contract that will allow you to cancel the listing at anytime, for any reason, providing that you supply a written notice (to the agent) requesting the cancellation. Any experienced, confident and competent agent should have no problem with you cancelling the listing if you are unhappy with the way they are marketing the property.   Please feel feel to contact me if you have any real estate questions or concerns. Steven Galindo Keller Wi... 07/08/2008