Buyer Resources

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...

Recently, I answered a question on Trulia Voices regarding property taxes for Palos Verdes real estate and thought it was worth a mention here also. When a property is purchased, it is reassessed by the Los Angels County Tax Assessor using the sales price as the base. The new property tax will be 1% of the purchase price plus any local bonds and assessments (usually averages another .0025 of the...

Today, there were 19 homes on the Palos Verdes Real Estate Broker's Tour. We currently have 276 active single family homes for sale in Palos Verdes ranging in price from $825,000 in Rancho Palos Verdes ($619,000 in Eastview) to $23,000,000 in Rolling Hills. There are 56 townhome for sale priced between $279,900 and $2,000,000. My favorites today are: Gary Myer's 505 Via Almar, Palos Verdes...

Statistics for the month of August for Palos Verdes Real Estate are now available. There were 29 closed escrows, 26 pending sales in August and 51 closed escrows and 26 pending sales in July. The number of closed escrows are down compared to the last 5 months. Average price for homes that closed escrow in August was nearly the same at $1,480,000 compared to July at $1,496,000. Average days on...

Interest rates were moving downward today. A 30 year fixed conforming jumbo loan (maximum loan amount of $729,750) was 6.125 percent with ZERO points. A minimum of 10% down payment is required and with a 20% down payment, there is no PMI (private mortgage insurance). Today's rates are down 1/2% from a month ago which increases affordability 5% and should bring more buyers to the market. In the...

Today, there were 15 homes on the Palos Verdes Real Estate Broker's Tour including several interesting and unusual properties. We currently have 261 active single family homes for sale in Palos Verdes ranging in price from $875,000 in Rancho Palos Verdes ($579,000 in Eastview) to $23,000,000 in Rolling Hills. There are 48 townhomes for sale priced between $372,000 and $2,000,000. My favorites today...

The Lunada Bay neighborhood is located in Palos Verdes Estates. My favorite things about this neighborhood are the ocean views and the coastline bluff trails for walking. My son would say it was when the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie was being filmed (photo above) two summers ago and the cliffs were lined with people (including us) with binoculars watching. The Lunada Bay area is .7 square...

Yesterday, there were 25 homes on the Palos Verdes Real Estate Broker's Tour. I have selected both high and low priced homes. We currently have 281 active single family homes for sale in Palos Verdes ranging in price from $849,000 in Rancho Palos Verdes ($579,000 in Eastview) to $23,000,000 in Rolling Hills. There are 50 townhomes for sale priced between $305,000 and $2,288,000. Cheryle...

Chris Ayres loves his house. In his refreshing and thoughtful opinion piece in the LA Times, he challenges us to remember why we should love ours too. He actually purchased his home one year ago and instead of bemoaning the fact that his home may be worth less today, he tells us why he is lucky. First, the price - Ayres concludes a $1,200,000 purchase price, a loan of $1,000,000 at a fixed rate of...

Statistics for the month of July for Palos Verdes Real Estate are available and the results were mixed again for July - more closed escrows and less pending sales. There were 38 closed escrows and 45 pending sales in June vs. 48 closed escrows and 21 pending sales in July. The days on market for sold properties in July was only 52 days compared to 67 days in June. Average price for homes that closed...