What are some of the requirements to getting your home SOLD in today’s market?
Lights, Camera, Staged - SOLD!

Lights - a seller always wants to make a home feel light and bright.  Open all blinds and turn on all lights during all showings.  Part of this includes cleaning out those dust and bug filled light fixtures.  Light makes everything shine.  Another important showing aspect would be to add music…something soft.  Think about going shopping at Nordstrom’s -the lights are on and often strategically placed and there is always nice music.  Create the right atmosphere!

Camera - Digital Photography is a big part of today’s home sales.  A big part.    We use a great ”real estate camera” the Kodak v570 which has a nice wide angle lens and takes great real estate pictures.  Rooms can look quite a bit larger on film than a regular camera and it doesn’t make that weird “fish eye look.”   We’ve come up with some great Panoramic shots with it as a matter of fact!   Sometimes hiring a professional photographer can be the best thing to do, but whatever it takes - get great photos!  MLS, marketing brochures, & virtual tours are based on these still photos, and any other good marketing pieces.  Over 80% of people begin their search online and many savvy buyers use the internet to base their choices on what homes to go see.

Staged - It is critical today to be the house on the market that shows the best.  You’ve got to stand out in the crowd today.  Not only price, but Look Great!  90% of buyers don’t have the imaginatin to see past clutter or unstylish furnishings.  Nor do they have the ability to see how they would place their furniture in a vacant home, especially if there is a room that may be a bit awkward.   Prospective buyers make a decision on your home within the first few minutes of walking through the front door.  Staging creates a series of good first impressions that will make potential buyers want to linger and move in not move on.

It’s a combination of marketing efforts of course, but we’ve found that Lights, Camera, Staged usually lead to SOLD!

Enjoy “A Taste of Lake Forest” and try your luck at “Casino Night”, Saturday, April 5.  The event will be at the Sun & Sail Club (corner of Lake Forest and Toledo) from 6PM to 10PM.  You will have an opportunity to win many great prizes while you taste delicious food provided by our local restaurants.  This is the annual fundraiser for Soroptimist International of Lake Forest, a women’s service organization supporting the community since 1973.  Tickets are $45 and include $200 in chips, 2 drink tickets and your “Taste of Lake Forest”. For reservations and more information, you can call me or email: SoroptimistsLakeForest@yahoo.com .

Click, Click on through in the world of “Blogging” there sure are some great spots to visit.  Of course, depending on your passions, this list can be quite different.  I’ve found a few here that have interest to me.  I am a South Bay real estate agent and finding anything related to the South Bay is of high importance.  There is a local title rep, Christian Steffereud, who works for Orange Coast Title with his business partner, Debbie Rodriguez.  They have come up with a cool blogging site entitled South Bay Marketplace.  First of all, I like the name a lot!  Second of all - they have some pretty cool articles and “sound bites” that would be interesting to most everyone.  Third of all, there is a list of South Bay City links that are quite useful….here they are:

South Bay City Links
Carson
El Segundo
Hawthorne
Hermosa Beach
Inglewood
Lawndale
Lomita
Manhattan Beach
Palos Verdes Estates
Rancho Palos Verdes
Redondo Beach
Rolling Hills
Rolling Hills Estates
San Pedro
Torrance

Next, I love Sunset Magazine - today I was checking out a new blog they mentioned entitled: “HouseMartin -Inspired House & Floral” .    So, I had to click on and see what interesting things I could find.  They sure have some gorgeous inspirational floral pics…..check this one out…  Helleborus - I’ve never heard of that flower before, but I’ll remember it from now on.  This is in a pot on her porch mixed with some other “most likely ordinary” but don’t look ordinary anymore plants.  When visitng her blog of course, one click leads to another….and I’m off to a Daily Wedding Inspiration blog (where was this when I was planning all that?) with the cutest name Snippet & Ink.   Talk about some gorgeous photos…wow!  She comes up with these gorgeous “Inspiration Boards” for brides to peruse and get ideas - they are works of art in and of themselves…

Well - one could spend hours just clicking through “blog sites” and there are so many out there.  My prediction though is that we will see many more to come!

Rancho Palos Verdes was the last city on the Peninsula to incorporate in 1973.  The city has 7.5 miles of coastline and 12.3 square miles of land.  Rancho Palos Verdes is the largest city on the Peninsula.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population in the year 2003 was 42,265. 

Current real estate prices for single family residences are between $619,000 (for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 853 square foot home) and $6,890,000 (for a 5 bedroom, 8 bath, 7,220 square foot home) with 127 active listings.  The least expensive townhome of the 35 active listings is $299,900 (for a studio, 1 bath, 431 square foot townhome).  Rancho Palos Verdes has properties that are zoned equestrian.

Rancho Palos Verdes has several landmarks and points of interest such as the Wayfarers Chapel (also known as the Glass Church), Point Vicente Lighthouse - top photo -(operated by the Coast Guard with tours the 2nd Saturday of each month, 310-541-0334), Palos Verdes Art Center, Marymount College (private 2-year college), Trump National Golf Course, the new Terranea Resort which is currently under construction scheduled to open Summer 2009 (see my At Last! We Have Our Very Own post dated 3-9-08), Los Verdes Golf Course (a public course), Whale Watching (December thru April)  and “Whale of A Day” at Point Vicente Interpretive Center, Abalone Cove Beach and Shoreline Park (with extensive hiking trails),   - photo above -  and the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve (1200 acres purchased by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy).  One of the most renowned landslides in the country can be found in the Portuguese Bend and Abalone Cove area (click here for current evaluation from the city).

Rancho Palos Verdes has shopping/commerce centers at Golden Cove, Crest/Hawthorne, Miraleste Plaza and along Western Avenue in the Eastview area.  Every Fourth of July an all-day celebration is held at the Point Vicente Park/Civic Center.  Shakespeare by the Sea is performed at Hesse Park (click here for 2008 Summer schedule for entire South Bay).

I came across a good blog written by one of our real estate colleagues, Elaine Carlson, also of RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty.  She mentions in her article about Palos Verdes Estateshow Frank Vanderlip Sr. and partners bought the entire Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1913 for $1,500,000.  Can you imagine?  In today’s dollars you’d get one house for that price - here’s one for example - 1305 Via Zumaya - listed for $1,495,000 - it’s been on the market for 17 days so far and sadly there is only one photo of the ocean view.  (this is one of my pet peeves - a listing with no photos of the house - leads one to believe that this house is a “fixer upper.”)  Here’s the ocean view photo…. So in today’s dollar this is the view you can get along with a house that needs some work.  The question is - how much was $1,500,000 worth in today’s dollars?   According to http://www.MeasuringWorth.com it is worth $31,500,000 using the Consumer Price Index.  That’s a lot of money Frank Vanderlip Sr and his partners ponied up!

From Toni Kimball’s column in The Floral Park Newsletter March 2008
(Toni Kimball is the owner of Fur & Feathers Pet Sitting Service, www.fur2feathers.com.)
First Aid Products That May Come In Handy

• Maalox -in case pet ingests over-the-counter drugs. Note: If pet ingested drugs less than 1-2 hours ago, induce vomiting. If more than 1-2 hours ago and pet seems fine, give Maalox.
• Neosporin Antibiotic Ointment - for small wounds
• Sterile Saline Solution - use as an eyewash, cleanser or soak gauze in it to place over open or draining wounds.
• Hydrogen Peroxide - for cleaning and inducing vomiting *
• Scissors - for cutting bandages
• Tweezers - for ticks and splinters
• Sterile Gauze Pads - for bandages and to apply direct pressure to stop bleeding
• Gauze Bandage Material - for binding wounds, pressure bandages for bleeding, and to use as a muzzle
• Cotton Swabs - for cleaning small areas
• Large Towel and/or Blanket - for lifting injured pets
• Washcloth - for cleaning and as a compress (cold for burns; warm for puncture wounds
• Olive Oil and Dawn Dishwashing Detergent - if pet gets into gasoline, kerosene, or pesticides, bathe with Dawn and give olive oil* to coat stomach.
• Pet Piller - to get past teeth when giving pills
• Collapsible Cardboard Pet Carrier
• Cortisone Cream, Desenex or Baby Powder - for hot spots
  *1 teaspoon for cats and small dogs, 2 teaspoons for large dogs

If you surf, you get the best ride and the most speed from perfectly timing the wave you wish to ride. If you are a stock investor, you want to buy low and sell high. As a shopper, you look for bargains. Does this all sound familiar? So if you are a real estate investor, how do you know when to buy? The size of the decision and its long-term consequences can be paralyzing and then there is the issue of financing and affordability

We may have reached a time in the real estate market in Orange County where a potent combination of excellent interest rates, newly available financing (FHA and Conforming loan limit increases), greater selection and lowered sale prices serve up a huge opportunity. Waiting for prices to fall further is an imperfect strategy because we will never correctly time that “lowest price” moment and while we are waiting, rates may rise as they have been doing recently. My suggestion is to MAKE AN OFFER if you want to buy and see what the seller’s response is. It can’t hurt to ask!

Well, finally, for all of us pet lovers who know that our pets ARE members of our families, we have a great place to go for brunch on Saturday or Sunday.  While I was having Easter Brunch — and it was great — at the Wyndham Hotel at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, my good friend, Tom Smalley (also the General Manager) told me that starting April 5th they will be featuring “Paws & Claws Breakfast Buffet” on their lakeside terrace.  The champagne fountain would be enough to get me there, but being able to bring Bacci, my Lhaso, makes it a great family event and a good outing for us all.

 For more information, contact:

Thomas Smalley, General Manager,
Wyndham Hotel - Orange County 
Email: tsmalley@wyndham.com  
Phone:  714.442.8600, 
Cell: 714.721.6562,  
Fax:  714.751.2704

Check it out and I will look forward to seeing you there!!

Ed’s daughter is going to have a baby in May and I can feel the energy building!! There are so many unknowns at this time.  Thank goodness we know it is a boy, so that helps a great deal.  But there is also the question of will he have red hair (a family trait) and what will his name be?

 We already have a collection of stuff at our house so we will have a “warm and friendly” place for him as well as Mom and Dad — and I am trying to stay calm — but the excitement is building!!

As most of you know, I was never able to have my own children, so this is such a gift to be able to share in this joyous event!! I am so very thankful for this wonderful opportunity!!  And also grateful, I must say, that he has scheduled his arrival AFTER the Home Tour!!  That way I will have lots of time to share and be there!

 So often my mind wanders to the things that we would like to do and all the adventures and excitement which lies ahead.

What a wonderful time of joy and how very blessed I am to be in the middle of it all!!

Recently I had a friend do me a “major favor” and organize my pantry.  Now if you had asked me if it would make a difference in my life to have my pantry organized, I would say you were nuts.  But I am here to tell you that, oh my God, it does!! Just being able to walk into my pantry — and I am so grateful to have a walk in pantry — and see the items I want to use is incredible. 

 I thought people were crazy when they had everything in line and orderly, but it is incredible!  I just went in there last night and spent 30 minutes moving stuff around so it would be “perfect” again, and it felt great!!

It is amazing that once you get something done the way you like it, it is a lot easier to keep it that way! Sort of like a lot of things — nothing gets done by thinking about it — you have to take action!!