Compared to the surrounding areas, Calabasas Real Estate has survived quite well.  Although there have been some monthly variances, overall the median home price has decreased only 10% from January 2007 to January 2009.  Our neighbors right next door in Agoura haven't been so lucky.  They have experienced a 22% drop in the median price while Woodland Hills (South of the boulevard, 91364) home prices dropped 37% since January 2007.

The excellent Las Virgenes School district plus the low percentage of foreclosures in Calabasas has helped Calabasas homeowners to hold on to their equity.

To get monthly Calabasas Real Estate reports sent to you please call me at (818) 652-2937 or email me at tracey@traceyrealtor.com.

Lately, it's been a little more difficult to keep transactions together.  If it's not a low appraisal, then it's a problem with a property inspection.  But we've learned how to nip those problems in the bud.  My biggest issue recently has been clients who decide to secure their own mortgage financing and find some unknown mortgage broker or worse an online mortgage. 

I always say, actually I plead, that my clients use a mortgage company that I know and trust.  My famous last words are "if it sounds too good to be true, then it most definitely is, especially when it comes to your mortgage financing".  Unfortunately, I've had some buyer's who were lured by unusually low rates lately and boy oh boy has it been a ride trying to get funding.

One of my clients recently purchased a Calabasas REO.  It's was a fantastic price and the property was in excellent condition.  She was putting down more than 30%, had Fico scores close to 790 and was full income, full asset check.  She could have probably obtained a mortgage from anywhere.  She insisted on using a mortgage broker that I didn't know because the rate and closing costs were less.  I explained that the costs one by one and told her that the mortgage broker that she chose was probably not disclosing something.  My client insisted on the unknown broker.  She locked her rate, and of course had no problem getting an approval.  When it was time to close there were problems with the title.  Then we find out that her rate was going to expire before the actual closing date in the contract.  We couldn't close early because of the title issues.

Of course the rates had gone up and there was no way her mortgage broker would budge on the rate or a rate lock extension.  After several (more than several) phone calls to the mortgage broker, the mortgage brokerage management, the title company, the escrow company and the listing agent, plus many tears shed by my client, we got the issue resolved with the title.  We were able to get a rate lock extension for two days, but it was like pulling teeth.

In the end it all turned out OK, but it could have been very bad if the title issue had taken any more time to resolve. 

The next situation happened to a couple that purchased a gorgeous, almost new Calabasas view home.  They had their own out of state mortgage person who was promising to give them a 90%, stated income, jumbo loan at a fixed rate.  When I heard this I became alarmed and called the out of state mortgage broker.  He wasn't the nicest mortgage person that I ever spoke with but he assured me that he had this mortgage product and my clients qualified with their stellar credit history.  Again, I begged my clients to put in an application with a local lender that I trust.  They felt that their mortgage person was the best.  Every other mortgage broker they spoke with (including mine) told them that they'd have to put down 20% to go stated income.  I gritted my teeth and went through the motions.  I had my mortgage person on stand by.

When my clients got to the closing table, they noticed that there were two sets of loan docs.  An 80% first at the agreed rate and term AND a 10% hard money second due in six months.  My client got up and walked away from the table.  They frantically shopped for a mortgage while I begged the listing agent for an extension.  Panic sets in as my client realizes that his down payment is at stake.  After calling everyone we know, he realizes he cannot secure a 90% financing, stated income, jumbo loan.  He ended up signing the loan documents with a verbal agreement that he can extend the hard money second for more than six months.  Yikes!

And story three is still in the process.  I have a great young couple who purchased an amazing pool home with a view.  They have perfect credit, more than 30% down and need a full income check jumbo loan.  Again, I urged them to use a lender that I trust, but they found a better deal online.  I'm very skittish because of these other two transactions so I have advised them to put in an application with my lender also.  They have agreed to do this and hopefully we won't need to use this back up, but my guess is we will.  The rate lock that they received just seems way too good to be true. 

Normally, my client's use a lender that I suggest and trust and we never have lender based problems.  It seems that the more business that I get from blogging, the more my clients want to use an online resource for lending.  Since they have chosen me from reading my blog, you'd think that they'd choose a lender from a blog, or better yet, trust me to recommend a lender that will actually deliver what is promised. 

Price is not the only reason to choose a mortgage lender.  High credit scores and great income, don't guarantee that the lender will be fair and honest.  It seems that the bait and switch is alive and well in the A+ credit crowd.

I have to give you a little background so you'll understand my comments on this video.  I have mentored Todd Coleman since December 2007.  It has been a rocky road to say the least.  During my career I've had the opportunity to mentor many different agents, some have made it, some haven't, but most of them have been pretty compliant.  Not Todd, no matter what we discussed or what I told him to do, he's had a comment, a different method, or a zillion questions on why I was doing it "that way".  Often times, I wondered why I was mentoring him in the first place, since he had his own ideas about how things should be done.  At one point, I became so frustrated that I changed my cell phone ring tone for him to Gnarls Barkley's song Crazy.  But there is always hope with persistence.  The short story is, somewhere half way into the second transaction together we came to an understanding, maybe we wouldn't be friends in real life, but we could certainly work with each other.

So I read about the video contest on Activerain and emailed Todd a copy of Bob Stewart's blog announcing the contest and the prize, a trip to New York to join in Seth Godin's educational event.  Since Todd has a film background, I asked if he could help me make a really great video.  Now I've been making videos for real estate for a few years so I got busy planning.  Right about this time my Mac G5 dies.  I use Final Cut Pro to edit video (which only runs on a Mac), so I let the video contest drift in to the background while I got busy with work. 

Then my phone rings the other day, and it's the "Crazy" ring tone.  It's Todd saying that he filmed some videos for the contest and he doesn't know how to upload them or how to get them on Activerain.  I'm thinking to myself, "while I'm lugging the G5 to the Genius Bar, this guy is making videos."  OK, so no problem, I tell him to send me the videos and I'll upload them to Birghtcove and send him the code for Activerain.

So he emails me the first video and I push back in my chair thinking "this is gonna be good" (rolling my eyes).  Well I was blown away.  This guy put together some of the most amazing real estate videos that I've ever seen.  They are everything that a real estate video blog should be.  They are transparent, and edgy and provocative with no cheese factor.  He shoots them in one take (no edits) which makes them "not perfect" and real.  There is no background music, few graphics, no special effects, just real live Todd talking just like he does in real life.  It's entertaining, it's informative and it draws you in.  It creates trust, the audience can relate, they can relate to his flaws.  It's actually brilliant.

Marc Davidson of 100Wattblog wrote a blog called Real Estate's Demons.  He explains that real estate agents are one of the least trusted professionals (only 7% of consumers trust us completely according to the Harris poll).  Marc wrote a list of what untrustworthy agents do and what trustworthy agents do.  The list is spot on, so much so that I took his blog and made it into an office meeting a few weeks ago.  Marc and Todd both have a marketing background.  They both understand what the consumer wants.  They both understand it's about the viewer, buyer, seller, reader, listener.  It's not about us.  1000Wattblog even made a video about this very thing called, I'm not a lead.  If you haven't seen it you really need to.  The video says so much about our profession.

I think video blogging is the next rage, I actually think the rage is here.  We're on the cutting edge with this AR video contest.  I learned more from watching each of the videos submitted than I could have ever imagined.  Save your special effects and silly themes for Youtube and MySpace.  If you really want to video blog, connect with the viewer.  Be you.  Just like in real life, not everyone watching will relate to your video blog, but that's OK.  You're looking for real connection and trust.  The cheese factor in real estate video scares me.  It makes me wonder if we continue with the silly, hokey real estate videos that the next Harris poll will rate our profession even lower. Video blogging is no different than written blogging, it doesn't work if you can't find your voice.

So I don't know if Todd's video will win the contest, but it doesn't matter.  Todd is really the big winner here.  He has found his niche.  He now knows that he can use his video background to generate real estate leads.  He can learn the technical  aspects of selling real estate along the way.  Todd is a marketer first and he understands his market better than most veterans.  My guess is that if Todd continues to video blog like this he'll be swamped with leads.

Please watch Todd's contest entry here and let me know what you think.

Several of my clients called me on Friday about the new, mysterious house for sale in The Oaks at Calabasas with the dramatically low price and no picture on MLS.  I have all of my buyers set up with automatic MLS listings so they are emailed immediately when a home comes on the market that meets their criteria.  The system is so great that every once and awhile my clients will know before me about a new listing.  It just so happens that I was out with buyers on Friday and although I did see the notice of the new listing on my phone, I was busy and didn't read the details.  It didn't matter, if news is important enough you'll hear it from more than one source and I certainly did.

So yes, there is a bank owned property on the market in The Oaks (REO's we lovingly call them).  The house was built in 2006 and has five bedrooms and six baths.  The lot is 12,050 square feet and the house itself is 5,353 square feet.  Since there are no pictures on the Multiple Listing Service I grabbed my camera and took photos when I was there.  

Public records show this home was purchased in March of 2006.  The buyers originally borrowed $1,461,292, four months later they refinanced their first mortgage and took out a second mortgage for a total of $2,210,000 (an additional $750k).  A year later the house was listed for $2,900,000 (6/15/07) just a few weeks before the July mortgage meltdown.  Still not landscaped this house just sat on the market.  Even a price reduction to $2,500,000 in August didn't help.

Unfortunately the house was foreclosed on just six months later.  One wonders if there ever was a payment made on those new mortgages since the process of foreclosure takes just about six months.  The house is now on the market again for $2,100,000.  This is the lowest price per square foot in The Calabasas Oaks at only $392.30.  But is it worth it?  Now that's another question entirely.  Following are my viewing notes (kind of like wine tasting notes).  I don't usually publish my viewing notes publicly (I send them to my clients only) because as a Realtor we're not supposed to advertise another Realtors listing.  But I'm making an exception in this case since they're so juicy.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN TRUNCATED FROM ITS ORIGINAL LOCATION, AND THE REMAINDER OF IT CAN BE FOUND BY SIMPLY CLICKING BELOW: 

Foreclosure in The Oaks at Calabasas

I was so excited Thursday morning to be heading off to the 4realzEd seminar on Internet marketing.  I'm a huge fan of Rain City Guide and Dustin Luther.  I live in Calabasas, less than 20 miles from the Skirball Center so my decision to attend was a no brainer.  As I inched my way to the Freeway, I was glad that I left my house early, but the traffic seemed much heavier than usual.  I quickly checked the traffic on my iPhone and every single road heading South was RED!  Then my phone rings and its Siobhan from my office, she travels to Beverly Hills a few days a week and wanted to warn me that there was a Sigalert plus a landslide on Sepulvada Blvd.  Oh Brother, no alternative routes and the cars were just inching a long.  I could probably walk faster than I was driving.

There I sat on the 101 just watching the clock.  So I did what any other geek heading to an Internet conference would do, I grab my phone and start checking my email.  I clean out my morning inbox and actually send a couple of quick emails as I inch along.  When I finally do make it to the Skirball Center they are just getting started so luckily I didn't miss anything.

The seminar was interesting and informative, with lots of visuals and plenty of cutting edge information.  Everything that I learned about blogging and Internet marketing in the past year was crammed in to this one day seminar, plus some.  I wish I would have taken this seminar last year, it would have saved me a lot of time.  Dustin is a knowledgeable and a very likable guy, (in person he is exactly what he sounds like in his blogs).  He oozes with enthusiasm, so much so that he should be the poster boy for sharing insider real estate information on the Internet.  Jim Marks is a little more corporate, but still a very engaging and warm speaker.  I'd love to sit and pick this guys brain for a day or two.  My big Ah-Ha from the day was from Jim's end of the day wrap.  He spoke about how important it is to track your results and dollars spent.  He shared many ideas on how to know where to spend your marketing dollars to get the most ROI.  And really isn't this what it's all about?

I left the seminar with some great ideas and some major tweaks for my Internet marketing campaign.  In addition to meeting these two very giving speakers I also had the pleasure to meet some of my Activerain buddies, Marlene Bridges and Irina Netchaev.  Marlene is delightful and a sweet gal with the best smile you've ever seen, and Irina is my Keller Williams family from Pasadena.  I felt like I already knew Irina since we have spoken on the phone before.  It was so great to put the blogs with the real people.  Both of these gals are exactly like their blogs.  Harley Ramsey from my office was also there and we had an opportunity to catch up during lunch which was great.

Here is a picture of us, from left to right, Harley Ramsey, Me, Marlene Bridges, Irina Netchaev.

There were thirteen closed escrows in Calabasas during February 2008 with an average sale price of $1,745,692.  Currently there are 174 homes on the market and an additional 28 with open escrows.  If you take a good look at this chart you'll see that the upper end is moving rather well.

This brisk movement in the upper end is an indication that the rich are getting richer because they are seizing the buyers market opportunity.  I have had more buyers in the $2,000,000 and up range contact me since the beginning of the year than I did all of last year.  This is any indication that the smart money is on buy now and don't wait until its to late.

There are several spectacular homes for sale in Mountain View, Mountain Park and The Oaks right now.  I have been showing several buyers homes in these neighborhoods and the inventory is gorgeous and prices unbelievable.  I have seen homes in both Mountain View and Mountain Park for significantly less than $400 a square foot that are updated with pools and views last month.  Just a year ago, if you did find a home in one of these neighborhoods for this price it would have needed major work.  Homes in The Oaks are selling well with most listed for significantly over $550 a square foot. 

Please call me at (818) 652-2937 and I will be happy to share my viewing notes with you.  I also track home prices by neighborhood and find that this helps clients make accurate decisions when buying or selling a home in Calabasas.  If you would like more detailed information on selling your Calabasas home and moving up please call me for a detailed report.

Developer Victor Girard did his part to improve the appearance of the Far West Valley of Los Angeles and his legacy remains on the winding streets south of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.  Girard's subdivision in the barren west end of the Valley needed to be dressed up, so he planted 120,000 shade trees and shrubs including seven varieties of eucalyptus, five kinds of acacia, Arizona elms, and Monterey pines. On the corner of what today are Ventura and Topanga Canyon boulevards, he built false storefronts and garish Turkish-style mosque towers to make the community look more established. Folklore has it that he spent time in jail for this "false city".

The town of Girard was born on February 4, 1923, on 2,886 hilly acres purchased from the Brant dairy.  The young real estate developer, Victor Girard Kleinberger, came to Los Angeles from Louisville about the turn of the century as an ambitious 18 year old that would develop towns all over the county. He was called a "devious genius, a natural dreamer and big spender".  His dream for the west Valley was a little crazy.  There was no streetcar access to Girard, as there was to other Valley towns.  Girard expected motorists to negotiate Cahuenga Pass plus miles of twisty Ventura Boulevard and pass countless new real estate ventures to reach the 6,000 lots that Girard hoped to sell.

To lure prospects, Girard ran ads emphasizing that his town was closer to the beach than any place in the Valley, since there was a winding road through Topanga Canyon. He also published the Girard News, built stables and a riding club, and opened the Girard Country Club and golf course with a championship size pool and tennis courts.  Today the golf course is known as the Woodland Hills Country Club.  "Sucker buses' brought potential buyers out to the far end of the Valley, where teams of sales agents put on the pressure.

In 1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills, an appropriate name because of all the trees that Girard had planted years earlier.  There are still a few "Girard" homes in Woodland Hills today.  One of them is 21339 Castillo Street, off of Canoga Avenue which is currently for sale.  This home was built in 1925 as a two bedroom, one bath cottage.  It has been lovingly restored from the bottom up and includes new beams, copper plumbing, and all new electrical wiring. 

Don't miss this rare opportunity to own a piece of San Fernando Valley history.  We will be hosting an open house this Sunday March 9, 2008 from 2:00-4:00 PM.  Please join us for a tour of this wonderful home and guest house.

21339 Castillo Street, Woodland Hills CA - Offered at $749,000 

I wrote a blog the other day about thriving or surviving in this changing real estate market.  You can read the blog here:  Survive or Thrive - Carpe Diem.

In response to that blog, I received the following email:

Right, right, I hear you loud and clear new agent, and my answer isn't pretty.

A few weeks ago I went to seminar at one of our sister offices in another town, on how to get price reductions.  It was very informative and interesting with some great perspectives from top producing agents on what they were doing right now in this market to get their seller's to be more realistic.  But my big Ah-ha from this discussion wasn't from the presenter; it was from "Gnat" an agent in the audience.

About three quarters of the way through the seminar I could see that "Gnat" was getting agitated.  He started interjecting his thoughts more and more.  Eventually he stood up and started shouting and pointing his fingers at the group (I'd say about 50 agents).  He said, "Listen you guys, you're never going to work these deals like you should, why don't you just give them to someone who will?"  I have to admit, I was surprised by this little outburst.  I rolled my eyes at the guy sitting next to me.  As the seminar went on, and more ideas were being shared, "Gnat" stood up again.  This time he was boiling and waving his hands all around, he again said, "If you can't do your job, then let me do it!"  He started shouting "2.5% of zero is zero, if you just let me work your deals, I can sell them, I can close them, I'll even give you a referral fee!"  Now I look at the guy next to me and really roll my eyes.  "You're just not working the deals, give them to me!" Gnat shouts.  

Ok, ok, so this little town breads some serious hostility I'm thinking.  I better get back to my valley before this crazy guy really goes off.  So after reading this email from new agent, "Gnat's" rant came to mind.  Ya know, "Gnat" is right, you gotta work these transactions.  This is not 2006 where you can put an overpriced listing on the market and it will sell anyway.  Today you have to know your hyper local market and you have to be able to communicate the market data to your seller consistently and in a form that he'll understand.  It takes hard work and a commitment to the process to make a seller understand.  Our job is so much more than just real estate.  It's also about understanding people and how they need the information delivered.  Some people are very visual and need charts and graphs, others only need the numbers.  Some are emotional and need time to digest, others are very bottom line and just want the straight story.

So new agent, here is the answer to your question.  Don't take an overpriced listing in the first place unless you are prepared to go the distance.  And if you do decide to take the overpriced listing then you better gauge your seller's motivation before they sign on the dotted line.

If you wouldn't bet the farm on your CMA and you don't know how to compute absorption rates then please partner with someone who does.  "Gnat" is right, 2.5% of zero is a big fat ZERO!  You are doing a huge disservice to your clients if you take listings that are overpriced and you don't know how to get a price reduction.  And even worse than this, you're messing up the market with all of this stupid overpriced inventory sitting out there.

What happened to the days when new agents had to partner with a seasoned agent for the first several transactions?  Why don't we do that anymore?  And if you're not experienced in this market then you're new.  You cannot learn this market from a book or training class.  This market takes dedication and a through understanding of the numbers. 

When I look at the MLS and see listings grossly overpriced for months on end it makes me want to bang on the seller's door and ask them why?  What does your agent say Mr. Seller?  Does he give you the market data?  Don't you know that only the top10% of the listings in your neighborhood are selling?  Is your agent providing you with weekly updates on showings and feedback?  Do you know how many houses are in escrow?

So new agent, the answer to your question is, "Just say NO."  Don't take the grossly overpriced listing and if you do decide to take a listing that is overpriced, make sure the seller knows your marketing plan before hand.  Have a strategy for price reductions and use the numbers to tell the story, not emotion. 

2.5% or even 3% of zero is still ZERO no matter how you look at it, so if you're having problems getting correct pricing on a listing, please ask someone for help.  It's better to take a referral fee and get the house sold than to make yourself and the seller miserable.  Don't spend money on advertising and carry a huge inventory of houses that will never sell, it just doesn't make sense!

Before I hit the little publish button here, I have two thoughts. 

1. Anyone that reads my blog or knows me personally understands that I am the first to jump in and help any agent, so this post comes from a place of smacking some sense in to those agents walking around complaining about their seller's.  This is tough love guys, your seller isn't the problem.  Just think about who took the listing in the first place.

2. And yes, of course I have some overpriced listings, but I'm working them every single day and you bet that my seller's have the most up to date market data that I can find.  They get it delivered to them in emails, in charts, in stories, and in blogs.  I am in constant communication with my sellers and like "Gnat" my data just swarms around their heads while they try to swat it away.  Eventually I'll get through, I won't stop until I do.

For the first time in five years, the total number of real estate licensees in California dropped slightly in December!

The total number of CA real estate licensees dropped from 549,244 in November 2007 to 548,959 in December, a 0.1 percent decline. It was the first monthly decline since March 2002.  Using the U.S. Census Bureau's population estimate for California of 36.6 million as of July 1, 2007, about 1.5 percent of California's population had a real estate license in December.

There is always a silver lining in that rain cloud, and here it is.  Many Realtors are returning to their old careers because the easy money days are gone.  Now is the time to carve out your market share.  When the market was booming and houses were appreciating faster than a rocket, it wasn't so easy to build a solid relationship with buyers or sellers.  Sometimes I felt more like an order taker than a real estate professional.  This is certainly not the case now.  If you're in the real estate business long term, this is the time to make a name for yourself and to build a good solid client base.  If you take the time to do this you'll be reaping the rewards for years. 

Our business has changed from everybody and their brother selling real estate for the quick buck to the serious real estate agent only.  If you obtained your license in the last five years, your real estate experience has not been ordinary in any way.  What you just experienced was an anomaly that probably won't be repeated for a very long time.  Double digit appreciation can not be sustained forever and lenders have been burned badly with their lax lending policies.  It will be quite sometime, if ever before lenders loosen their requirements to the 2000/2006 loan programs that gave money to anyone who could fog a mirror. 

I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but this market is where you can make or break your career.  Seller's need a real estate agent with great marketing skills and excellent market knowledge.  Your ability to take a listing at the correct price and to creatively market it will gain you the respect for long term referrals.  Seller's used to brag about how much they made when selling their house, now they brag about how long it took their Broker to sell the house and what she did to market the home.

I went to a party at one of my clients homes the other night.  Her and her husband built a gorgeous new home,  I currently have their old home listed.  She was so excited to introduce me to her friends and say "This is my Broker, you should see what she's doing to market my home!"  Just two years ago, I wouldn't have even been invited to this party, she would have been bragging about how much she made on the home that she sold not the job I was doing.

For those of us that have a growing inventory of listings, it's an opportunity.  I know, it's tough, with slow sales, it means slow income and somehow those bills just keep coming at the same speed.  Believe me, I get that.  But you have to look past all of that and seize this time to get your sellers on your team.  You have the opportunity to really shine and do a great job.  This is the time to gain respect and to make a client for life.  These are the seller's that will talk about you.  In that old booming market, the talk was about how much they made on the sale, not the Broker.

Open, honest and constant communication is the only way to keep the relationship good.  It's an emotional issue with sellers and we need to understand that.  Many are in tough situations, but as a professional it's important to get that market data and put it in an easy, concise form so that your seller's understand their market.  It takes patience and great listening skills, but this our job.  We are the experts, and we need to provide this information consistently.  Ignoring market data will not make the problem go away and avoiding your seller phone calls is listing death.

Only the strong will survive this real estate market, but the smart and creative, we will thrive!