Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House in Los Feliz has been listed For Sale with a record breaking $15 Million Price Tag. (Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors have the joint listing). The significance of this unique listing is that in 1991 Frank Lloyd Wright was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time." The original house (measuring 10,000 sq ft) and chauffeur's house/garage were damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and were red-tagged. In 2006 a FEMA grant was issued and together with a $4.5 Million bank loan, initial restoration efforts commenced and were completed in 2007. However, the Foundation that currently owns the property estimates that an additional $5-$7 Million is needed to fully restore the property. The Ennis hou... 06/22/2009

President Obama will sign into law a new "Cash for Clunkers" program which the Senate approved this week. Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a Republican effort to kill the plan. The plan provides for new car buyers to receive incentives of up to $4500 to replace their old clunkers in favor of a new fuel-efficient vehicle and is expected to help struggling car dealers and automakers by encouraging consumers to purchase new cars. The $4 Billion price tag is currently proposed to come from Energy Department funding included in the already enacted $787 billion economic stimulus package. The program would work as follows: The government would send up to $4,500 to the selling dealer on your behalf, if you Trade-in a car that has been registered and in use ofr at least a year and has a federa... 06/20/2009

Reuters featured an interesting article on "Which Cities have the most Aggressive Drivers?" NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - New York has overtaken Miami to be voted the U.S. city with the angriest and most aggressive drivers, according to a survey on road rage released on Tuesday. "New Yorkers were most likely to wave their fists or arms. They were most likely to lay on the horn and they were most likely to make some sort of obscene gesture," said Michael Bush, of the marketing and consulting company Affinion Group, which commissioned the survey. The "Most Aggressive" list goes as follows: New York; Dallas/Fort Worth; Detroit; Atlanta; Minneapolis/St.Paul; Miami. Apparently the "Most Pleasant" drivers can be found in Baltimore, Sacramento and Pittsburgh. The "Most Courteous and Considerate" ... 06/18/2009

JetBlue has announced the launch of two daily non-stop flights from LAX to Boston and New York (JFK). The New York based no-frills airline offers consistently good service at highly competitive prices. LAX joins JetBlue's two other L.A. Basin airports, Burbank and Long Beach, to offer more options and more value to coast-to-coast jetters. "JetBlue Airways is dedicated to bringing humanity back to air travel. We strive to make every part of your experience as simple and as pleasant as possible." "Even in these tough economic times, JetBlue is demonstrating that the path to recovery flies through Los Angeles," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "We are thrilled that JetBlue will be offering quality airline service from LAX, one of America's premier airports." 06/18/2009

Barry Manilow's Malibu home has been reduced from $12,600,000 to $10,900,000. The property has been on the market for 131 days, according to the CLAW MLS. Originally purchased in 1999 for $3,000,000, the 3500 sq ft property has expansive coastline views. The 6969 sq ft compound is situated on one of the most sought-after and expensive roads in Malibu - Malibu Road. It's not unheard of for homes on this stretch of beach to change hands between $10 million - $27 million. The main house features 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths, a two-story living room, media room and has a large courtyard garden with a "water wall". The property also has a separate guest house. Malibu is an incorporated City (separate from Los Angeles) and is home to many celebrities. The Listing Agent is Brett Lawyer from Sotheby'... 06/17/2009

Pizza - From Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles Copyright © 2009 Penn Properties.  All Rights Reserved. 06/16/2009

Bing is the new search engine launched by Microsoft touted as the replacement to "Live Search". Bing will therefore become Microsoft's default search. I use Google and find it quite efficient, so I was curious to see search results on Bing. At this stage my overall conclusion is that Bing is not superior to Google, except when doing an image serach. (Although when I googled - or binged, as the case may be - images using my own name, Bing returned some totally unrelated images.) Have you binged yourself yet? 06/16/2009

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways, which reported a record annual loss last month, said on Tuesday it had asked its staff to work for free as part of the company's battle for "survival" in tough market conditions. The appeal to its British-based employees, which featured in the company's staff magazine, asks workers to volunteer for between a week and a month in unpaid leave or in unpaid work. British Airways made a record £401 million ($658 million) loss in 2008 amid surging fuel prices and a collapse in premium-fare passengers. It's interesting how everything in life goes full circle ..... When Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic was given rights to land at London's Heathrow International Airport in the early 1990's, British Airways embarked on a "dirty tricks" campaign, aimed at ... 06/16/2009

There's a brilliant short book called "One Minute For Yourself" written by Spencer Johnson M.D.. Spencer Johnson, M.D. is an internationally bestselling author whose writings about simple truths facilitate healthier, simpler and less-stressful lives. The author suggests some simple and basic behavior that we can adopt to become happier and more successful, not only in our work, but in our personal relationships as well. It's all about how we treat ourselves. It's about being good to ones self ... Nurturing oneself .... Taking good care of oneself. "When I take good care of myself, I am less angry and happier - with myself and others." Another great concept suggested in the book is: "In one minute you can change your attitude - and in that minute you can change your entire day."  Try it ... 06/15/2009

In July last year I posted a Blog about Zillow's Zestimates. Since then I've kept my eye on The Zillow website and despite my reservations about their "Zestimates", I have to admit that the site does get significant traffic. So about 6 weeks ago when I was contacted by a sales rep from Zillow, I listened to what he had to say. He explained the advantages of being a paying advertiser on Zillow. He  went on to explain how I could have a featured showcase ad when a visitor to Zillow's site searched the 90069 zip code (a major part of my farm area). Based on the availability of advertising space for the 90069 zip code, I could buy 25% of the advertising for this area. (Advertising rates vary according to visitor traffic). I am actively incresing my online presence and decided to make a 12-m... 06/15/2009

CNN Money recently featured an article about the $10,000 tax credit available to California residents. The article stated that "The state set aside $100 Million to help home buyers purchasing newly built homes, hoping to jump start the moribund residential-construction market. But only about 20% of the pot is left." According to CA.Gov, the California Franchise Tax Board website, the number of applications received is significantly higher than the number of certificates for tax credits actually issued. So in effect there is almost $70 Million of the $100 Million still available to be allocated. CNN's article assumes that all applications (processed and unprocessed) totalling $88 Million, will be approved. Also, the article claims that "Unlike the federal first-time home-buyers tax credi... 06/14/2009

I'm a huge fan of Comedian Bill Maher. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bill Maher is one of the smartest, wittiest and on-the-mark comedians around. He says it like it is and diesn't mince his words. Last Friday was no exception when he compared President Obama to Lindsay Lohan: "in the papers a lot but not doing very much." "This is not what I voted for," Maher said, arguing that Obama has maintained his personal popularity but failed to make real progress on health care, banks, or climate change. 06/14/2009

The Ultimate Eco-Friendly Mercedes Benz Seen in Santa Monica, California (Taken with an iPhone) Copyright © 2009 Penn Properties.  All Rights Reserved. 06/14/2009

Neverland Ranch, the 2600 acre estate and former home of Michael Jackson, is undergoing a major makeover by it's current owners. In May 2008, Colony Capital LLC - a Los Angeles based investment firm run by billionaire Tom Barrack - purchased the loan secured by the estate. At that time it was reported that Jackson was in default of the $24.5 Million owed on the property. In November 2008 a deal was struck whereby Michael Jackson transferred title of Neverland Ranch to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, a joint venture between Jackson and an affiliate of Colony Capital LLC. The Santa Barbara County Assessor's Office stated Jackson sold the property for $35 million. What's interesting is that in 2004 the ranch was estimated to be worth well over $100 Million. At that time the Santa Barbar... 06/13/2009

As I had mentioned in a post earlier this week, I have noticed that there has been a lack of slick, well priced condos/single family homes for under $700,000 in the West Hollywood area over the last couple of weeks. Although this is the case, there are definitely still some cool properties to check out! WARNING - This Sunday is Gay Pride, so I would avoid Santa Monica Blvd between Doheny and Crescent Heights all together if you can. As always, summer open house hours are from 2pm-5pm. New Developments (I've included a few from last weeks open house guide for those who missed them):  The Expo- 2400 Corinth Avenue, West Los Angeles - 2br/2ba from $529,000-$649,000 - Famed Kanner Architects designed these bright, open floor plan, loft like homes in central West LA. 123 Kings Boutique Resid... 06/13/2009

"Redfin is the industry's first on-line brokerage for buying and selling homes, half Century 21 and half E-Trade. This means we know when you want to use the web and when you want to talk to a real person. Our goal is to change the real estate game in consumers' favor by offering you more data, better-performing agents, and a significant commission refund" This is the bold statement on Redfin's website. This week I received a call from an out-of-town buyer who wants to buy a condo in Los Angeles. He found me through my on-line marketing and was impressed by the testimonials he read. After a 15 minute chat he asked if I would match the "Redfin deal" of refunding $10,000 - $12,000 of my commission back to him. I paused, and asked if I could call him back so that I could take a quick look... 06/12/2009

A word-of-mouth referral is one of the best ways to grow one's Real Estate Business. Testimonials and recommendations are so important to enhance credibility and to ensure referrals from past clients. These are the best leads a Realtor can hope to receive. There's a great site called InsiderPages.com which allows business owners to request feedback and a rating from clients. It also allows you to rate other businesses, which in turn increases your online exposure. In this new age of maintaining a strong internet presence, InsiderPages.com is a great resource. 06/12/2009

Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition that was passed in the November 2008 general election which restricted "marriage" to couples of the opposite sex, effectively banning same-sex couples' right to marry. The California Constitution was changed to eliminate equal rights among all Californians. The validity of Prop 8 was challenged in the Supreme Court but the Court upheld Proposition 8 in a May 2009 ruling. As an American Citizen, Californian Taxpayer who happens to be a gay man, I believe Prop 8 is inheritenly wrong as it goes against the fundamental rights and freedoms upon which this country was founded. As much as I disagreed with the passing of Prop 8, I agreed that the Supreme Court was not the correct forum to invalidate the Proposition. Instead, the way to restore ... 06/12/2009

Since Thursday is the new Friday to go out, I thought I would add some spice to this dreary LA morning with a guide to going out for my gay readers. I've personally reviewed each of the following and written my own little critique for your enjoyment!  When you're gay rich kid in LA, there are no shortage of options when going out. Whether you're into bears, twinks, owls, muscle, leather, butch, femme, or simply the boy/girl next door, there is something for everyone here! This guide will show you where to get a stiff, wet drink while you are waiting for a something else stiff or wet to come along! The Abbey692 North Robertson Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 310-289-8410The Abbey is definitely a West Hollywood staple. On any given night you will find a mixture of gays and their girls sipp... 06/11/2009

Caramel Copetta with Marshmallow Sauce & Spanish Salted Peanuts Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles - Another Pic using my iPhone Copyright © 2009 Penn Properties.  All Rights Reserved. 06/10/2009