Today, there were 26 homes on the Palos Verdes Real Estate Broker’s Tour.  We currently have 275 active single family homes fo sale in Palos Verdes ranging in price from $799,000 in Rancho Palos Verdes ($619,000 in Eastview) to $18,900,000 in Rolling Hills.  There are 55 townhomes for sale priced between $279,900 and $2,000,000.  My favorites today are:

Kitty and Rick Edler’s 209 Rocky Point Road, Palos Verdes Estates, (above left) is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2,720 square foot home for $3,750,000.  This Lunada Bay bluff home sits at the ocean’s edge overlooking Lunada Bay, has a pool, circular driveway and is on a 14,588 square foot lot.  Dana Graham’s 1616 Via Margarita, Palos Verdes Estates, (above right) is a 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 4,000 square foot home for $2,950,000.  This one-level Monte Malaga Spanish Colonial home has vaulted open beam ceilings, pool/spa/waterfall and is on a 14,630 square foot lot.

Robin DeBraal and Cheryl Rau’s 2568 Via Sanchez, Palos Verdes Estates, (above left) is a 5 bedroom, 4 bath, 3,988 square foot home for $1,825,000.  This Upper Lunada Bay home has panoramic ocean views, a small sound studio and two hillside viewing decks.  Kathy and Rachel Tyndall’s 27811 Hawthorne Boulevard, Rancho Palos Verdes, (above right) is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,816 square foot home for $888,000.  This Silver Spur home has been upgraded, has a well landscaped yard with mature fruit trees and is on an access road (not directly on Hawthorne).

Lucia Fan’s 26563 Hawkhurst Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, (above left) is a 4 bedroom, 2 3/4 bath, 2,784 square foot home for $1,450,000.  This Peninsula Center home may have seller financing, could be a 5 bedroom, has central air and Anderson windows.

 Some photos courtesy of MRMLS

Environmental Home & Garden
4704 Paseo de las Tortugas

     Hollywood Riviera’s Garden Club is hosting “Beyond the Garden Gate” a Garden Tour of 8 Hollywood Riviera homes’ gardens!  It’s Saturday, October 18th from 10-4 and is a self-guided tour ending w/ a hospitality house where there will be refreshments, education booths and demonstrations such as “lasagna gardening.”   Kelly & Laura are proud sponsors!  Tickets are $25 presale/$30 day of the tour and can be purchased at Villa Hermosa in South Torrance, Bristol Farms in Redondo Beach, through the Riviera Garden Club’s webiste via PayPal, or by calling Kelly & Laura.
     This environmentally friendly garden has been landscaped to reflect a water-wise style.  Landscape designer Gina Bush completely removed the lawn and worked carefully with Shelby and David to develop a drought resistant garden that correlates beautifully with the contemporary ranch architecture of their home.  Trees, shrubs, ground covers and ornamental grasses show how foliage textures and colors can combine for beautiful effects.  In the front garden, Crape Myrtle and Olive Trees serve as visual anchor points for the ground cover areas of Gazania, prostrate Myoporum, Rosemary, Ajuga, Dymondia and Ceonothus.  Agave, Phormium and Cordyline contribute structure and dramatic form.  The backyard invites entertaining with a large patio.  Gina Bush will be available to speak to on the day of the tour at this, house #7!

30-year fixed interest rates are down today compared to the beginning of the month.    Jumbo loans actually went down 1/2% today (30-year fixed).   The remainder of the loan products quoted above are up one-eighth of a percent since the beginning of the month.

There are many changes in the wind for mortgages.  The word is that by December jumbo conforming loans will be gone.  No income verification loans are forecasted to be obsolete any day making it harder for self-employed borrowers to get loans.  There will also be less choices in loan programs as the current financial chaos settles.  For example, negative amortization loans and interest only loans are currently illegal in some states.

It is more important now than ever to get the counsel of a knowledgable, well-connected loan officer who can get you the loan.

Above loan information is provided by Jim Kurata, Peninsula Mortgage/Chase.

Doing “something” about the financial situation is needed. Now that more news is out there they are saying they will fine tune areas. It makes sense. The story of Chrysler Corporation and that they already paid back the loan they received within one year made sense to me.

Cooler heads and calmer minds are working in the midst of a media flurry that tears down the ideas before the bud even opens. Several points bear note. Think of this as a fire wall, and by putting it up now will restore the ability of recovery of homes in this market.

Really Really and truly….the forclosures are worse than Katrina, worse than 911 and we need to recognize the numbers of families in America losing their homes! Bail out, wall street are just the wrong words. Somebody needs to get in there and do something. To jockey in politics and posturing is not right but it is going along. Each party trying to get their “Man” in. The fact is that the American people have been harmed on many fronts. I won’t list the harm because we already know.

The lobbying has got to stop paying and playing with leaders. The leader that does that will make a difference. McCain is right to go to Washington and Obama should go to. They were invited. They will be involved in the future of leadership and should be there.

The media is becoming so loud that many of us are just turning it off.

Job losses are followed by home losses are followed by more losses. The time is now to act. Sure last week would be good, week before that better but all we have is now. Lets start by calling it what it should be. Government working for the people to assure a calm, an anchor, a firewall, a group of leaders with a true desire for the good of all mankind.

  Important Facts About the Two Bond Measures on the November 4th, 2008 Ballots1. Measure Y - $265 million to be used for specific classroom and core academic facility renovations. The tax rate for this bond would be $35 per $100,000 of ASSESSED property value (not market value.)2. Measure Z - $90 million to be used for special school facility projects that will protect and enhance student safety and wellness, and provide specialized programs.  The tax rate for this bond would be $13 per $100,000 of ASSESSED property value (not market value.)3. What is incredibly important to note here is that Voters estimated tax rates are based on the
ASSESSED VALUE of taxable property on the County’s official tax rolls, not on the property’s market value. Property owners should consult their own property tax bills and tax advisors to determine their property’s assessed value.

4. For instance - if your home’s ASSESSED Value (which is based on the amount you bought the home for as well as some other factors) is  $100,000 than your annual cost for voting YES on Measures Y & Z would be $48.

5.   Measures Y & Z require an “Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee” and mandatory indepent annual audits to ensure funds are spent properly.

6.  It is so important to our children & current property values to keep our schools in good condition.  
Please Vote YES on Measures Y & Z on November 4th!

House 6  -  Deck & Dry Stream

4721 Paseo de las Tortugas
Dry Stream Garden

Mix a charming shingled ranch home with serene yet striking Asian landscape elements and you have the sublime combination that inspired the Smith family.  Step across the bold river rock aggregate driveway, softened by colorful, sinewy borders, and through the half moon gate to a stunning rear yard featuring an elegant brick herringbone patio with a sophisticated entertaining pavilion complete with matching cushions and drapes that can be drawn for privacy and/or warmth.  The subtle harmony of this landscape incorporates an inviting viewing area with a simple bubbling fountain and benches for relaxing.  Certainly the most distinctive feature is a rhythmic dry stream bed, snaking along the entire yard and beautifully laid with granite boulders and Chinese mica.  This unique and highly aesthetic element also serves a practical function by carrying rainwater from sky and roof out to the street.  Muted colors, texture and form are important considerations for the choice of plantings, which includes Juniper procumbens “Nana”, Japanese maples, & poodle cut Eugenias

Trying to figure out what the “bailout means” in regular terms? The power struggle in Washington gives us a clue: differing point of views. Here are the bullet points to review

“The Senate plan, led by Dodd, calls for five key provisions to be added to the Treasury proposal. They would:

• Give the government an equity stake in the companies it helps
• Change the bankruptcy law so that judges can modify the mortgages of filers’ primary residence
• Curb executive compensation on the companies participating in the bailout
• Impose oversight of the Treasury program
• Require the government to promote sustainable homeownership through loan modifications and use of the new HOPE for Homeowners Program on the mortgages underlying the assets it buys in the bailout.

The House version, drafted by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., includes only the last three provisions.”

I like Dodds view. He is protecting the homeowner, being a watchdog of CEO take home

pay. (they pay for the lobbiest). Finally saying if the Government is paying for all this they should get a share. If they get a share there- and if it becomes profitable they could make some money and use it to help our country.

Over simplified it looks like the government is Daddy-and the teens went out charged up the credit cards and wrecked the car and want a new credit card and a new car. Dad is just saying he owns the car.  

Remember the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008?  That was not put in place forever - only for 2008 (as the title would suggest.)  Congress authorized temporary increases to the conforming loan limit ($417,000)  in high cost regions - like ours - mortgages as large as $729,750 are considered “conforming.”  This has been welcomed news to buyers in our area.  While I hate to look a “gift horse in the mouth,” it’s still not a lot of money.  If you look at it this way…many homes in our South Bay neighborhoods are $1 million.  If an average buyer (honestly not average buyer when they are buying a million dollar house - I’d personally call this above-average) has 20% to put down ($200,000) they still need an $800,00 loan - this still exceeds the $729,750 loan limit for what would be considered “conforming.”   It’s still not enough.  The buyers today need to come in with more down, up to 30% to make a lot of deals work.   The sad news is that like I said above, this is the loan limit for 2008 - that means that it ends Dec 31st, 2008.   Starting January 1st, 2009 the conforming loan limits for our high cost areas will be capped at $625,500.  That is not good news if you ask me.  If you are a buyer right now with the where-with-all to qualify and obtain a loan…..then you better hurry!  Now is the time!

Lenders have been cautioning us for months to make sure our clients pull out cash from their home-equity line of credit if they are going to use it to purchase a home (without selling their existing home and avoid a bridge loan).  Many buyers are also using their home-equity line of credit to purchase second homes or income property.   The caution has been to have buyers immediately get that cash and put it in a separate account before they actually need it because many buyers have written checks to escrow to complete a purchase and found that their bank had closed or reduced their credit line.

Lew Sichelman in yesterday’s LA Times states that “Lenders need a valid reason to reduce, suspend or terminate such borrowing.”   His article goes on to explain that under Regulation Z there are 3 reasons a bank can pull your line of credit: (1) misrepresentation when applying for the loan (2) not making loan payments or (3) “when actions adversely affect the property pledged as collateral or the creditor’s security interest in the property”.

The Federal Reserve Board has interpreted Regulation Z’s definition of Item (3) above to mean that equity in said property has been reduced by 50% since opening the line of credit.  Sichelman states, “The 50% rule is not as wide as it seems, however.  Values don’t have to plunge 50% for your equity line to be shut down.  Rather, it’s only the amount of unencumbered equity that needs to fall by half.” Let’s assume your house was appraised at $100,000, with a first mortgage of $50,000 and the bank gave you a $30,000 equity line.  According to the Federal Reserve Board, the difference between your credit limit and available equity is $20,000 (50% of that is $10,000) and if your house decreases in value from $100,000 to $90,000, the bank can close your home-equity line.  Ouch!

If you have a home-equity line of credit,  the entire article linked above is worth a read. 

House 5  - Waterfall & Gazebo

356 Via Colusa

New Orleans/French Quarter Home & Waterfall Garden

Elegant wrought iron details immediately evoke