Timely Real Estate News…………………………………………..3 September, 2007
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It’s all about looking at your home through the right end of the telescope……….
My home is more than an address at the title company or a square on a plot map at the City of Los Angeles. This home is my ‘castle’….it is where I have built so many memories and experienced both good and bad times. My life is wrapped up within these four walls so to speak. Here, I celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, the memorial service receptions for both my Grandmother and Dad, holidays and too-many-to-count family dinners. Even the memory of a dear friend who survived a heart attack resonate within these walls. No, my home is not a legal description. I add up all the values of what this home means to me…and I realize how difficult it is for many clients of mine who are faced with one day sitting down and sticking a ‘price’ on their home. How do we separate the reality of the “bricks and mortar” from the “home” factor…. That is the real battle.
This situation reminds me of the Antique Road Show….you see sons and daughters, moms and dads….appearing with an heirloom from their grandmother’s attic…”been in the family for generations.” An antique expert tells them all about where this ‘antique’ came from, and then how much it is worth…and if they’re pleasantly surprised, a broad grin crosses their face. “Well, of course, we wouldn’t part with it.” In many ways, your home becomes a part of the family….
My home is sorta like that….I read that this home might fetch a couple of million, but I really am not interested in selling or moving from my lovely neighborhood.
Some times, I feel we get mixed up about all this real estate news — doom and gloom. My clients always have good, solid reasons to move or buy a new home. That’s not the challenge we face — it’s more about agonizing over falling or rising home prices, and we place ourselves in situations where, in fact, we’re not really having to deal with — we’re not selling, or we’re not buying. But if you are in either situation, living here in our communities of Bel Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills — it ain’t so bad.
For every sale, there is a buyer. We focus too much, it seems, on the ‘median sales price’…and frankly, I’m guilty of that, because every month, I’m touting the price appreciation in our communities. But looking through the other end of the real estate telescope, the confidence shown in our communities is really exhibited by the buyers — who purchase these homes….and they are out there. They have FAITH in our communities…they put their money where their dreams are.
For example, buyers have plunked down more than $1.321 billion on homes (from January to August 2007) for the privilege of living in the neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Brentwood, just $68,000 short of what buyers did in 2006 for the same period. In these three markets, median sales prices have remained almost constant in this ‘down’ market for this year, where we have seen an increase in inventory and days-on-market for homes not priced correctly.
The overall median sales price for Bel Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills is only down $3,000 (total) for this August compared to a year ago, and this includes a wild swing in Beverly Hills which saw sales volume decrease by nearly $60 million in August 2007 (compared to August 2006). Bottom line: Compared to the doom-and-gloom reports about the residential real estate market in the Southland and around the Nation, we’re holding our values — a solid indicator of what home buyers think of our ‘castles’.
So, next time you walk into your home, take a deep breath and realize that you’re really in a very, very special place. It’s, indeed, a privilege to live here.
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Sepulveda Pass Hearing at Skirball
The public hearing for the expansion of the 405 was held at the Skirball Cultural Center on the evening of August 22nd. The three revised proposals for the work that would be done were presented along with any public comments. Basically there are three different alternatives for the proposed work to be done, one of which is to have nothing done, and then the other two have a basic theme and then there are variations on those themes. Rather than my taking the time to explain them in detail, I suggest you to go to the website… www.dot.ca.gove/dist07/travel/projecta/move405. This will enable you to see in great detail exactly what is being proposed. I also recommend that you send in any written comments you may have regarding this project. The deadline for the receipt of your comments is 1 October 2007, and they should be sent to… Mr. .Ron Kosinski, Deputy District Director, Division of Environmental Planning (405 HOV) DOT, 100 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, Ca. 90012
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Here we come….Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target…Morgan starts USC
Like so many other kids, my niece Morgan, started college last week. The thousands you pay to a University, however, doesn’t cover bedding, computers, digital HDTV, school supplies, meal plans, eating and cooking stuff, hangars, trash can, chairs, plants (her first orchid, whom she named Esmeralda), shoe bags, storage containers, and bedside tables. Well, my sister, mother and I met the challenge along with all of the other relatives of college students doing the same thing. We had sooo much fun spending my sister’s money on all the stuff Morgan needed to outfit her new dorm. Now is the time for the home sickness to set in and the reality of understanding her “new life” to begin. Stay tuned.
