Hoover High School's 51 st Annual Tour of Homes is Saturday, December 13th from 10am-5pm. The Tour is a fundraiser that benefits Hoover students. This year the Tour is showcasing four very distinctive homes each featuring is a special feature. The award winning Hoover Jazz Ensemble will be performing at 1661 Valley View Rd., The Hoover Chorale will be performing at 863 E. Mountain St., there will be a Country Kitchen selling wonderful sweet treats at 319 E. Randolph St., and at 1415 Royal Blvd. there will be a Complementary Tea with area dignitaries serving. Advance purchase tickets are available for $20 and will be $25 the day of the Tour at any one of the four homes on the Tour. For more information go to HooverTOH@yahoo.com to request tickets. 12/01/2008

Keith Sorem | Keller Williams Realty | keith@beautifulglendalehomes.com | 818-230-8049 730 West Doran Street #209, Glendale, CA Sleek modern open floor plan, create your own layout. Stained concrete floors, sisal carpet, limestone baths. Large 444 sq ft balcony 1BR/1.5BA Townhouse offered at $559,000 Year Built 2007 Sq Footage 1,341 Bedrooms 1 Bathrooms 1 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size Unspecified HOA/Maint $267 per month DESCRIPTION Centrally located to Dreamworks, Disney, the studios, ABC and downtown. Oversized windows offer pleasant natural light, polished concete counter tops in kitchen with brand name stainless steel appliances. Baths feature limestone tile, unit has stained concrete floors and sisal carpet. Large corner unit. Now is the time to buy. Artic... 11/21/2008

Glendale, CA  September , 2008 Market Index  - A market index of above 1.20 is a seller's market, between 0.80 to 1.20 is a balanced market, and below 0.80 is a buyer's market. Our up and down market continues, 0.30 for September after 0.33 in August.   New Listings - One hundred seventy two new listings, compared to 134 last September.  It is unusual for the new listings to increase, probably due to more forced sales. Pending Ratio -That big jump in new listings affected the Pending Ratio, only 47 homes opened escrow giving us a ratio of 0.27, about half of the 0.55 we experienced in August. Interestingly 0.27 is the same ratio we had a year ago. Listing Inventory - Three hundred forty five homes this month, up eleven from August. Last year we had 490, so we can see that although new l... 11/06/2008

Glendale Buyers often ask me, "How long has this house been on the market?", and I always ask back, "What will that information tell you?" The truth is, the buyer often has no idea beyond the concept that the longer it's on the market, the more motivated the seller must be. While that is often true, there is so much more you can learn! There are two "Days on Market" numbers in the MLS. The first is the number of days the listing has been with this particular listing contract. There is no real explanation needed, here. 9 times out of ten, if you ask your Realtor how long the home has been on the market, they will give you this number. The real juice, however, is in the second number, the "Cumulative Days on Market"(CDOM) and the "Listing History". The CDOM is the number of days the home ... 10/21/2008

There is some seriously good hiking in the hills behind Brand Park. Regular hikers know that there are two trail heads in Brand Park: the fire road that starts at the Doctor's House and the "Ridge" that starts at the Miss American Green Cross. Today I want to talk about the "Ridge". The statue at the trail head is one of the most unusual I've seen. Here is what the Glendale City Website has to say about this statue: The statue of Miss American Green Cross was created in 1928 as a tribute to an early 20th Century tree society and a symbol of the deforestation that was taking place across the country at that time. After a car crashed into the statue, it was dumped behind Brand's Castle, and laid abandoned for 30 years. Hikers discovered it in an overgrown canyon in the mid-50's reporting ... 10/18/2008

Farmers' Market Information for Glendale     Day: Thursday Hours: 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM Location: Brand Boulevard, between East Wilson Ave & East Broadway City: Glendale County: Los Angeles Manager: Christopher Nyerges Office Address: P.O. Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 Phone: 818-548-3155     Make sure to visit the Glendale Farmers' Market any time you visit the Valley or the Los Angeles area. A street map to get to the Glendale Farmers' Market is attached for your convenience.         So, you're probably wondering, what's Fresh Right Now! This is a great time for fresh veggies if you like Spinach, Avocados, Winter Squash, Brussel Sprouts, Mushrooms, Green Beans, Beets or Chinese Broccoli.  For fresh fruit check out the Pomegranates, Tangerines, Limes, Persimmons, Asian Pears, Mandarin O... 10/14/2008

Today's video answer addresses the question, " The Glendale home I want to buy has an unpermitted addition. What should I do?" Now, I apologize in advance. This answer got a bit windy - nearly 5 minutes of wind. You might not want to sit through the whole darn thing. After the video I have a short summary of points written out. No, the owner is not going to get you permits. They are perfectly fine with the home as it is. Every buyer asks the same questions: will I have problems while I own it and will I have problems when I sell? In order to assess this you need to look at the following: How important is the space? How big? Any plumbing? Is the added space a key area like a bathroom or bedroom suite? How does it look? Does it look like it is quality workmanship or just slapped together?... 10/08/2008

There are 17 homes on the sold list for last week! This is more than double the homes reported sold in last few weeks, so the trend continues in a positive direction. Below are the ones that caught my eye. Address City Bd Bth SqFt LotSz List Price Sale Price 1125 Shirlyjean St Sparr Hts 3 3 1,817 7732sf 629,000 607,000 2050 Rangeview Dr Northwest 3 2 1,404 8251sf 617,000 622,000 4555 Indiana Ave La Canada 2 1 1,034 10754sf 725,000 695,000 3129 Buck... 10/07/2008

Market Index A market index of above 1.20 is a seller’s market, between 0.80 to 1.20 is a balanced market, and below 0.80 is a buyer’s market. Our up and down market continues, 0.30 for September after 0.33 in August.   New Listings One hundred seventy two new listings, compared to 134 last September.  It is unusual for the new listings to increase, probably due to more forced sales.   Pending Ratio That big jump in new listings affected the Pending Ratio, only 47 homes opened escrow giving us a ratio of 0.27, about half of the 0.55 we experienced in August. Interestingly 0.27 is the same ratio we had a year ago.   Listing Inventory Three hundred forty five homes this month, up eleven from August. Last year we had 490, so we can see that although new listings has increased, total invent... 10/03/2008

Yes, the financial markets are scary. No, Congress did not pass a bail out bill. Yes, my clients, both buyers and sellers, are factoring in the current crisis when making their decisions to buy or sell. I had many in depth discussions about the news of the day. But in every case, yesterday (4 decisions in all), the buyers decided that the decision to buy real estate is a sound long term decision and went forward with their purchases. Why? Here's what I heard from these buyers: I plan to stay here 10 or 15 years. I know the value will go up in that time. The best deals are had when everyone else is scared. This investment suits my needs I love this house I am not going to give you some Pollyanna drivel that the housing market is just fine. We are in a very troubled market and some people... 09/30/2008

This is the sum total of sold homes this week in Glendale and Above the 134. The average escrow is 30 days long, so these are homes that opened escrow toward the end of August. Before we get started, though, I have a little bidness to take care of. (Never mind the dangling participle. It's not hurting anyone). I finally updated my Glendale sales numbers to include 3rd quarter. I was shocked - shocked, I tell you!- to find that the average sales price in Glendale has only dropped by 11%! The number of homes sold has dropped by nearly 30% and the number of homes available has dropped by 12%. The LA Times reporter who asked me to do these numbers asked the reasonable question, "why?". He was especially incredulous because his Dataquick numbers (this is a data crunching service that looks a... 09/23/2008

I read this post from fellow blogger Irina Netchaev and nearly fell over from laughter. She had this video of a cliche of a Realtor and, sadly, I know many of you have met this type of agent. t Really, what makes a great Realtor? What makes a great Glendale Realtor? Irina has some really great points and I agree with each and every one of them. Here, though, are my additional ideas. A Great Glendale Realtor Knows: How to negotiate Negotiations begin with the very first question. A great Realtor never gives their client's money away How to manage expectations We can't control other people, but experience can help us prepare you for what might happen How to manage the process Great systems and great resources make the process much smoother That long term success is way more important than... 09/22/2008

Sorry for the late morning-ness of this post, gentle readers! It has already been a very eventful day. Today is "New and Notable" Thursday and below is the list of the new homes I find interesting. We had another bumper crop week in Glendale and Above the 134 - with 21 mostly new listings. I say "mostly" because a few are just re-listed with another agent.  Address City Bd Bth SqFt LotSz List Price 307 San Juan Way La Canada 3 1 1,236 7800sf 599,995 1245 Oak Circle Dr Sparr Hts 2 2 1,274 6630sf 669,000 1447 Norton Northwest 3 2 1,611 12296sf 719,000 1522 Val Verde Pl. Sparr Hts ... 09/22/2008

This is one of a series of articles designed to help you, my little chitlins, engage wisely in the game of Real Estate. Today we tackle the all time buyer question, how low should I write the offer? After all, the mass media outlets (our "Chicken Little" friends at the LA Times, cable news and others) would lead you to believe that buying any more than 27% or more off the "market" price is stupid. I know you guys read the paper, because I get calls all day long from buyers offering to buy my listings for really low prices and asking questions like, "how flexible is the price?" and "is this a foreclosure sale?". If you are purely an investor, these are meaningful questions. What kind of a deal can be done on this house? However, nearly all of the people asking the questions are looking f... 09/22/2008

Do you love to watch HGTV? There are so many shows that deal with the process of buying and selling homes. This means, as a nation, we find this drama compelling - and it is high drama, make no mistake. I have a front row seat, each and every day. Last night I saw "Buy Me". It was like watching a slow motion train wreck. Awful and horrifying, but I couldn't look away. This episode dealt with a young man who needed to sell his bachelor pad in a very dodgy neighborhood before his adjustable loan zoomed higher than his monthly paycheck. Here are some of the "train wreck moments" Admits on camera that he is trying to "fool" the next buyer The young man talks about how he bought this home in winter when the streets were quiet. When spring came along, the bums and gangs and undesirables came ... 09/11/2008

Lautner House for Sale in Glendale Yes, a John Lautner house is for sale!!! Since this posting, I’ve been asked if there a Lautner house currently available for sale. YES!!! The photo below is of The Schaffer Residence, which is currently on the market in Glendale. If you are interested in this particular home, email me or call me (310-285-7515) and I will set up an appointment for you to see this unique listing. To read the original article, click here, Lautner House for Sale in Glendale 08/06/2008

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit." - Vince Lombardi To be a leader you have to have a vision.  Vince Lombardi was a great football coach because he not only knew what he wanted from his players, he knew what he expected from himself, which was commitment, enthusiasm and fire.  Not just some of the time, all of the time. At American Trust Escrow we have Mr. Lombardi's words framed on our wall as a constant reminder of what excellence is.  I am a grateful leader of a team that doesn't know the work quit and who will not sacrifice quality for our clients. When people ask me, "What makes your company stand out?"  I am proud to tell them th... 06/30/2008

There has been a lot of discussion about family portraits or pictures being around when your home is on the market for sale.  One school of thought is that it brings happy thoughts to the buyer; of the happy times that might have been had in the house. The other school of thought is buyers will consider the house someone else's home and it gets difficult to vision themselves living there.  My school of thought: spend 10 minutes in any open house with family pictures and another 10 minutes in an open house without family pictures.  More often than not people looking around the house will spend a lot of time looking at the photos.  Pictures show the buyer some one else lived here and this is their home, it does not put a positive thought in their mind.  If you take away the pictures and p... 06/02/2008

Glendale, like most markets in Southern California, has seen a shift from a seller's market to a strong buyer's market.  Fueled by the mortgage meltdown in August and September of 2007, the number of buyers qualified to purchase homes has been severely decreased due to more restrictive lending guidelines.  Homeowners who purchased property with Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) found themselves facing adjusting interest rates that in some cases forced them to either sell their home or even face foreclosure.  Many homes are on the market not because the owners wanted to sell, but because they had to sell.  The shrinking pool of buyers, coupled with the increase in inventory, has caused a drop in home prices.  For many home buyers this is the first opportunity they will had to purchase an ... 05/12/2008

The key to understanding the market is looking at the market trends.  We use a Market Index to put the market into a number that we can compare and track trends.  Above 1.20 is a seller's market, between 1.20 and 0.80 is a neutral market, and below 0.80 is a buyer's market.  So looking at Glendale's Market Index from August (prior to the mortgage industry shift), and December, we see a curious trend.  From 0.31 in August, down to 0.16 in November, up to 0.25 in December. Now, December, 2006 had a market index of 0.38, so in numerical terms the market shifted downward, but not perhaps as much as the press would have us believe.Glendale Market Summary        December, 2007AugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberVarianceChangeNew Active Listings For June1471491398149-98-66.7%Pending in the m... 01/26/2008