The Enchanted Hills in Beverly Hills 90210, a Private Invitation Only PreviewMost of you who read my Blog Posts are very familiar with the fact, that I list and sell a great many Vacant Parcels of Land in the Los Angeles area. Just to be clear, I list and sell vacant land from the low end to the Ultra Luxury Price points in the greater Los Angeles area.  I was honored to receive an INVITATION ONLY email from the Listing Team. No confirmation needed, just be there. No phone follow-up: are you coming? Clearly, they knew, I would be there.This very special parcel of land consists of 120 acres with some fantastic views of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City and the possibilities are virtually limitless. There are five pads that have been graded and all the utilities are in place. This of cou... 08/18/2018

Skimming Active Rain Market Reports might not be a good idea if you are trying to write your own sensationalized article. My advice is, it is better to read the explanations and the interpretations, rather than just skim them, since they are written by Local Realtors, who know what their local markets are like. (I get it, Market Reports can be a bit dry, never the less, it might help understanding the Real Estate Market)Most of my readers know, that I try to address bad information no matter who the source is and try to correct it. Recently, I have written a few market reports and indicated, that it is not as wild as it was a year ago when it comes to finding properties. Now let’s be clear, instead of 20 -30 offers on the properties now we are seeing one to three offers on the well-pric... 08/16/2018

I have been a Beverly Hills Realtor for over 22+ years and have sold many properties, from Ultra Luxury homes to modest homes. I have also sold modest condominiums to Ultra Luxury Condominiums in the greater Los Angeles area. Then to boot I have sold very inexpensive vacant lots to super expensive vacant lots in the Greater Los Angeles area. The real common denominator was always, that we had happy sellers and we had happy buyers.I have received many awards from the companies I worked for, so  it is clear that I have been successful year after year. now the amazing part of this journey has been that not everyone sent me a Thank You Note or a Thank You Card. The ones that did are very special in my heart.Not everyone wrote a Review on the Z platform... not everyone wrote a private messag... 08/11/2018

What comes to your mind when someone says: Pick a Niche that will make you Rich?Well not wanting to overthink the question “Rich” has many meanings to me and not all of it is financially connected. In fairness to disclosure this post is submitted for an Active Rain Challenge.To summarize the requirements:  You get to keep all your present skills, education and experience, but you must start your real estate business completely over today. You have no database, no leads, no prior sales; it's ground zero, day one!I have had three Niche specialties for the past 22+ years but I can only pick one for this challenge. Hence, I chose the Greater Los Angeles Land Specialist as my Niche again😊. Since I have been the ‘go to’ person for the past 22+ years from Malibu to Mount Washington in the Grea... 07/30/2018

As I mentioned in my title Events can happen and that in turn cause changes on a moment’s notice. Some of these changes in turn could be life changing for a short period or a long period of time. Then again, some life changing events can create permanent changes. So, the real issue is how do you handle the changes?I try to live my life and treat other people in a good way as if it was the last time I will have the opportunity to deal with them either because of me or because of their own life changing events. Keeping in mind it does not always work. There are times I revert to my less kind and less forgiving and less tolerant person that I can be.There is an old and time-tested saying, that the key is not what happens to you, it is how you react to what happened to you. In other words, ... 07/29/2018

Three Ways to Get a Great Jumbo Loan for Under $20  I think I've made it clear before that I find no shame in talking about how hard we work for our clients.  My assistant, Debbie, and I see a good number of mortgage applications come across our desks every week and in 2018, 60% of them have been for jumbo home loans, which means that our borrowers must demonstrate strong credit depth by way of an adequate number of tradelines on their credit report.  Gone are the days when one could just have a decent FICO score in order to cross credit concerns off of the loan approval list.   When we talk about credit tradelines and credit depth, most of the prominent jumbo mortgage banks like to see recent credit activity (that is, use of credit and timely payment) to consider any account active.  A... 07/29/2018

How will the decreased value of Facebook effect your Real Estate Marketing?             Facebook   In my opinion marketing is often considered one of the important ways Realtors generate new clients to augment their repeat client base as well as their referral client base.In fairness to disclosure, I have never been a fan of Facebook, and it started way back to its inception. There were people playing games which I do not even know what they were called, I thought were a total time waster. I looked at it as mediocre entertainment, that would just take away my valuable time from other activities. I also did not like the way the platform was acquired from the original inventors.Yes, I have a personal page that is mostly inactive, except for me pushing out my Active Rain Blog Posts. In add... 07/27/2018

How to make healthier Potato Leek SoupBy popular request here is my version of a healthier potato leek soup. First in fairness to disclosure, I modified the Kettle & Fire’s recipe to better suite our tastes.The key reason this soup is healthier, because I do not use butter, nor heavy cream and also do not use heavy starched potatoes to make this soup. I have always added Cauliflower to lighten the soup. Most people cannot tell that there is cauliflower in the soup and that is the main ingredient that makes it lighter and healthier. Now this time I learned something else to add to the soup and I loved it.So, with that said let’s look at the ingredients:         Two large leeks white and green parts separated and chopped into ½ inch pieces         About three tablespoons or so, cold press... 07/20/2018

Do you know the difference between Broth, Stock and Bone Broth? Well I know some people might say no and who cares? Others might say no please tell me😊!I was inspired to share the answer to the question by one of our friend’s comments on one of my recent post.: What the real difference between Bone Broth and Stock and Broth is. As most of you know, I have been cooking for a while now and I remember learning 40+ years ago, that broth was just plain broth. None called it bone broth, because it was not! In those days we made broth from meat and vegetables and simmered it in water. That is how my mother cooked soup. The more flavorful way to cook soup in those days was, by making Stock. Stock was made by roasting the bones and vegetables and there might have even had some meat on it.Over th... 07/19/2018

In remembrance of Bastille Day: a back-yard celebration moved to the dining room...Diane came back from walking dogs all day at the Lange Foundation, she was ready for wine and an appetizer. So quickly I opened a nice French Rose and made some appetizers. The idea was to focus on the Red-White and Blue. Clearly Cheese represented the White and the Baby San Marzano Tomatoes the red and clearly the Blueberries the Blue, easy to make and great with a nice Rose’.   Then we graduated to the Dining room and I made a Sole Meuniere with red baby potatoes and French string beans. Instead of Sole I substituted Pacific Cod since I find it is more flavorful. That was followed by some French Macaroons and a few other pastries since Diane loves Creampuffs and I love Chocolate Cake we had the best of ... 07/14/2018

It is always nice to be appreciated and thanked for a job well done!I have said this before and I will say it again: I provide the same client service to everyone of my clients. I give 100% of what I have. I heard often people say I give 110% and now the hip cool and trendy thing to say is I gave 150%. The reality is not everyone appreciates it, or shows appreciation, but the real story is every one gets 100% from me! YOU CAN NOT GIVE MORE THA 100 PER CENT!!!Let me go back to the ultimate coach John Wooden, he said it better than anyone I have ever heard so please let me share it here:The Goal is 100 per cent!!!!“…I was also honest in saying that I expected them to give everything they had in trying to reach perfection. That’s what we worked toward. Let’s see how close we can get. We wo... 07/14/2018

I remember going to cocktail parties, social gatherings in the early 2000's and people would constantly ask me " So How is the Real Estate Market?" I would laugh and would tell them: " do not look at Real Estate as the stock market... it is a long term proposition" , they of course would not listen and just wanted statistics. So I would just simply tell them it was Hot... because when I asked about what area they are interested in? Then when I asked them what type of properties they were asking about? Is this about Investment Properties in Los Angeles? Or is this about luxury homes in Beverly Hills? Or is this about vacant lots in the Hollywood Hills? They did not want to engage and the ones that did got the right answers.Anyway my point is we are heading in the same direction, people a... 07/12/2018

I find it frustarating when I hear fellow agents grousing that the market is this, or the market is that. The reality is fewer agents are making money so they are blaming everyone and every thing. The market has slowed, things are not happening etc. I get annoyed and at times tell them to go somewhere else and spew their negative information. So with that said I was inspired to write this Market Trends Report and you will agree with me that the Market is hot. Well see for yourself:Lets be realistinc when there are only 39 Condominiums on the Market for Sale there will be a lot of Agents Groussing!!!When the Median Days on market is 10 you know it is a Hot and Fast Market. If you are a buyer you better be ready to jump on the property. If you are a seller you better be packed ready to mo... 07/08/2018

“Alibi”, by Joseph Kanon a book review by Endre Barath,Jr. a Beverly Hills RealtorI have been so busy with day to day activities, that I have not had a chance to write a book review in a while. As most of you who know me well, also know that I love to read. I have finished this book a few weeks ago and meant to write about it…My first book that I read by Joseph Kanon was “Leaving Berlin”, clearly, I became a fan, hence I started trying to find other ones by him. Lucky for me he did write a few. Ironically now I will always use “Leaving Berlin” as the bench mark.Anyway, his style is a bit like Le Carre’ where you are in a specific time in history and he has, this uncanny ability to mix historical facts with suspense and human drama. Just on a side note his prose is wonderful too.For me t... 07/01/2018

Many Real Estate Practitioners, REALTORS®, and Buyers have been frustrated over the years that they were never sure if the offers were ever presented to the seller. I personally have experienced this on numerous occasions… Well the latest legal update is as follows:  Presentation of Offers: Change to Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 1-7 The C.A.R. (California Association of REALTORS®), Legal Hotline often receives calls from members, especially in busy markets, expressing frustration that they are not sure that their buyers’ offers were ever presented to the seller.  For some time, the RPA (Residential Purchase Agreement) has had a section for seller to initial rejection of the offer or for the listing agent to initial that they presented the offer to the seller.  However, those wer... 06/30/2018

Real Estate Marketing in Beverly Hills or for that matter anywhere: Is there a secret sauce?Well, initially I was reluctant to participate in this Challenge for many reasons, our friend  Marte Cliff   talked me into it.Did you ever wonder why is it that, when you go to a Michelin rated Restaurant or if  you just ate a superb meal at one of your favorite Restaurants and then you go home and try to recreate it and it does not turn out the same?This reminded me of real estate marketing. Why is it that you use the same Marketing Post Cards, the same letters to potential sellers as the super successful agent in your market place and the results are not the same.Let me give a little background before I answer the question. Depending on which statistic you read there is a consensus that somewh... 06/24/2018

Letting people know what you are doing for a profession can make or break your business. I find it is critical that we as Realtors get the word out to the public and let them know what we do for a living. At the same time, I find it important to project a professional image in the marketing. I am a bit reserved and a bit traditional to do some what others might consider “out of the box self-marketing”.A few weeks ago, I saw a car with the Real Estate Practitioner’s name, contact number and what he charges for commission plastered all over his modest car parked in a drive way. This inspired me to take the trouble and at different times on different days to drive by the same house. Interestingly I saw the same car in the driveway. Every time I happened to drive by it was in virtually the ... 06/20/2018

 Do you like Dates: The fruit that is? Did you know where the United States ranks in the Date Palm Growing Regions of the Globe? Have you considered growing them?Well if you did not know the answers to the questions, do not feel bad, let me assure you neither did I.Having had to do some of the research I discovered that Egypt is the number one Country when it comes to Date Palm Productions. They are so far ahead in production in Metric Tons compared to the rest of the Globe it is hard to fathom. Let me just say, they produce about 19% of the Worlds Dates. Iran and Saudi Arabia come in second and third respectively. These three countries produce about 47% of the Globe’s Date Production. Truly amazing.The United States comes in with a mere 0.23% production of the world’s dates. Hence afte... 06/19/2018

Observations about various subjects by a Beverly Hills Realtor: Endre Barath, Jr.Since Father’s Day is about to close for 2018, I thought I would share some observations. In fairness to disclosure from early childhood on my views and thoughts were always considered more serious than other kids of the same age. My father used to joke and give me nicknames “the Oldman”, “old boy”, and” the dignified one” to name a few. I was always focused and serious until I graduated from High School. Then things changed I became more carefree and the list goes on and on, but that is for another post.As a Beverly Hills Realtor, I am entrusted with serious responsibilities to my clients. Our property price points go from the low end to the Ultra High End. Keep in mind buyers and seller in all price point... 06/17/2018

As most of you who have been reading my posts know, that it has been a while since I had an Assistant. Quietly and unassumingly Jack has taken over the Duties.He spends the better part of the morning, afternoon and evenings in my office. He is a dedicated companion. Funny part is he takes breaks without me being interrupted. The only time he comes back and complains is when the food bowl is empty.I am amazed how intuitive he is. He comes over periodically just to break my chain of thoughts, if he thinks I am  not heading in the right direction. Just an FYI I am part of a very challenging Escrow, the Buyer is in Asia, the Sellers are in Nevada and the Property is about a 150 miles from Los Angeles. Normally I would not represent a buyer that far away, but I was asked to get involved when... 06/17/2018