Live life on vacation - New ocean view listing in the Portuguese Bend Club - 08/30/09 11:57 PM
Just listed, priced to sell, and will be open for brokers on Tuesday September 1st from 11-1.
… (1 comments)

Hope to hear from you soon....tales of a million dollar FSBO - 08/30/09 04:16 PM
I just received an email this morning from a potential client that had contacted me earlier in the year about the value of his home and he wanted to let me know he had decided to sell it himself.  He asked if I knew of any real estate companies that served only to put the home on the MLS and functioned to help FSBOs. 

While I normally have a sinking feeling when I hear that a listing has gone to another company or realtor.....I just didn't have that feeling this time.  Why?  While I wish him the best, I'm fairly confident that I'll be hearing from them … (2 comments)

Update to my "MLS updated daily - don't call for availability" Post - 08/23/09 09:57 AM
I often write about things that I really just don't understand or things that realtors do that often don't make sense.  I recently posted a blog "Why when the listing status says don't call for status it's usually wrong?" and I just ran into another classic example of this. 
I have a client that's interested in viewing a Torrance home and the listing notes state "MLS updated daily - don't call for availability. Offers due via EMAIL by Wed., Aug 19, 5pm."
...That's fantastic so I won't bother you, but the problem is I'm pulling this up on August 24th so … (6 comments)

Manhattan Beach CA Foreclosure Update for August 2009 - 08/21/09 10:40 AM
While most of the current active "distressed" listings in Manhattan Beach have been on the market a while, there are some new properties on the market since July.  There are currently 11 properties on the market with the lowest priced home at $649,000 and the highest price at just under $3,350,000 with the average price around $1,250,000.  10 of the homes are single family residences with the newest listing a townhome.  Of the 11 properties 4 are located in the Manhattan Beach tree section, 5 in East Manhattan Beach, and two located in the Hill Section.  For more information on Manhattan Beach … (0 comments)

Zillow Zestimate Has Major Flawz - 08/14/09 07:34 PM
As I often do, I typed in an address of a property I'll be selling on Google today and one of the higher ranked results was that of Zillow and their Zestimate.  I'm often asked about Zillow and unlike most realtors I think that Zillow has a place in the world and try to use them as a tool instead of seeing them as the enemy as so many realtors do. 
Unfortunately one of the key features of Zillow is their Zestimate which gives buyers and sellers an estimate of the value of homes.  While this might work in neighborhoods in which every … (0 comments)

Victoria Knolls Torrance - Nice Homes, Great Neighborhood - 08/11/09 06:09 PM
I recently sold a home in the Victoria Knolls neighborhood of Torrance and was very surprised at just how few South Bay residents even knew it existed.  Victoria Knolls is actually in the Walteria area of Torrance but has a very different feel due to the fact that it's so isolated and it's actually up on the hills of the Palos Verdes peninsula (see Victoria Knolls Map).  The only way in and out is on a street named Crest, off of Crenshaw, which certainly gives it a sense of privacy and security.    It's a fantastic area with a real neighborhood feel and might be an … (1 comments)

Why is it that when a listing says "don't call for status"....it's usually wrong? - 08/04/09 04:58 PM
From the pet peeve department......One thing that drives me crazy is when I see a listing that states...."if it shows active, it is.  Please do not call for update or status".  Now I have a number of listings and do often struggle to keep up with the volume of calls that I receive asking if the home is still for sale so I do sympathize, especially for those doing REOs or bulk short sales with more listings then they can keep track of.  But here's the problem....If you're going to put in the listing "don't call, listing status continually updated" then continually update it.  In my … (6 comments)