In reading a few great articles this week regarding "loving your house again," I find myself smiling.  Let me share:  Chris Ayres of the LA Times wrote this greatopinion piece about "forgetting the doom and gloom about the tanking market.  You made a smart investment."   He makes so many great points for the many of us that bought houses in the last few years during the "real estate boom."  We find ourselves stuck reading so much doom and gloom lately, but here's someone who has taken the time to break things down and make it all not seem so bad.  I'm always looking for some good news in the media...(check my blog from August 6th)  He makes great points about what a great investment time period it was - the interest rates most people got during those times are amazing!  A good interest ... 08/20/2008

Hollywood Riviera is a terrific community in the heart of South Torrance....a lot of it has a Redondo Beach P.O. Box address, but it is all part of South Torrance.  It butts up to the bottom of the hills of Palos Verdes and sits just south of Redondo Beach.  Many of the homes have some of the most magnificent views to be found anywhere...views of the ocean, city, mountains - truly stunning on a clear day.  The Hollywood Riviera has a neat little shopping district called the Riviera Village.  It is abundant with cute boutiques, salons, coffee shops, Trader Joes, Jamba Juice, etc...  As of today, August 12, 2008, there are only 29 single family homes for sale - they range from $689,000 for a small house on the Torrance side of the Riviera on the Pacific Coast Hwy service street to a newly... 08/12/2008

Currently there are six newly built homes for sale on the Esplanade. Le Beau homes built two of them. 1724 #a and #b.   1724 #A is 1790 square feet with three bedrooms three full baths and one half bath $2,100,000 1724 #B is 1953 square feet  with three bedrooms three full baths and one half as well $2,200,000 The other homes are brand New Construction. Oceanfront Townhomes built by Saradakis Construction on the Esplanade. Featuring 4 beds + den, 4 1/2 baths. 707 #A $3,599,900 707 #B $3,599,900 707 #C $4,990,000 705 #A $3,790,000 For more details please contact Rachel your South Redondo Beach Realtor   rachelmtyndall@gmail.com 08/08/2008

Welcome to one of my real estate sites! My job is to inform you about today's real estate market sotogether we can find you the perfect home or investment. As of today there are 41 condos for sale in South Redondo. The prices range from $339,900 to $1,775,000. Averaging a list price of $733,227. The current market time for these listings is 92 days before going into escrow. There are 12 condos on the market in Brookside Village which consists of 385 condos located on the corner of Camino Real and Prospect. There are 8 condos for sale in the Village complex located along Catalina and the beach. 11 conods are for sale along the Esplanade. 5 are for sale on Cataliana and 1 on Opal, 1 on Camino De la costa and two in the development on Beryl. The lowest priced condo as of today is a ocean v... 08/07/2008

The 13th annual Lobster Festival is coming on September 26-28. Located at the Seaside Lagoon (200 Portofino way) Redondo Beach. Enjoy delicious lobster, live music, and more. http://www.lobsterfestival.com/   Your South Bay Realtor Rachelmtyndall@gmail.com   08/07/2008

Redondo Pier Featured In The upcoming Redondo Pier Chalk Art Festival was featured in The New York Times Travel section this week. Here's what the article had to say... REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA In the movie - and now Broadway musical -"Xanadu," Sonny, a struggling artist/entrepreneur, inspires a Greek muse to visit him through his chalk mural on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Imagine what a group effort could bring. The Sixth Annual Chalk Art Festival and Live Music is scheduled to take place on Aug. 23 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Redondo Beach Pier. Free chalk will be given to the first 150 registrants, but whoever wants to participate can do so, including children. The awards ceremony, at which the $500 grand prize will be awarded, will feature live drumming and blues music. The theme f... 08/07/2008

  Come bring your friends and family and enjoy the rest of summer while it is still here. FREE Summer of Music @ Redondo Pier The FREE bi-weekly concerts on the Redondo Beach Pier are for all ages. Every show will bring new vibes to the pier as concertgoers enjoy music from the 50's, Big Band, Blues, Country, Drum Circles, Island, Latin, Pop, Classic Rock and Surf. Bring your own beach chair for better enjoyment of the concerts. The Redondo Beach Pier offers a wide array of dining, shopping & fun for the entire family. Free To Be Me :: Thursday, August 7th - 6-8 PM August 7th 6:00 - 8:00 PM Free To Be Me August 9th 6:00 - 8:00 PM Zola Moon August 14th 6:00 - 8:00 PM Panjive August 16th 6:00 - 8:00 PM Boomer McLennan, The Rhythm Rangers August 21st 6:00 - 8:00 PM Flight August 23rd 6:00 ... 08/07/2008

This prestigious area of South Redondo Beach known as "The Avenues" is named for its "alphabet" streets, for example, Avenue A, Avenue B, Avenue C, etc. These avenues are filled with both classic, restored beach homes as well as completely rebuilt mutli-storied view homes. Each avenue ends at the Pacific Ocean, so real estate here is valuable, boasting gorgeous sunset views and walking distance to the beach. Close proximity to trendy Riviera Village and great Redondo Beach schools are added attractions. Call me for a detailed property search. Mary Walker, The Real Estate Group (310) 508-8507 08/04/2008

South Redondo Beach is arguably the finest place to live in the entire Southbay. With it's beautiful Pacific Ocean beaches, mild climate, and abundance of beautiful homes, life doesn't get much better than this. The schools are superlative, and the adjacent Riviera Village is a wonderful bonus with its charming shops and restaurants. Call me for a detailed property search. Mary Walker, The Real Estate Group (310) 508-8507   08/04/2008

  Date 4/07 5/07 6/07 7/07 8/07 9/07 10/07 11/07 12/07 1/08 2/08 3/08 4/08 5/08 6/08 For Sale 26 30 34 32 28 27 33 30 22 24 24 21 28 33 34 Sold 11 9 8 12 12 8 3 3 4 7 4 3 5 6 4 Pended 10 3 13 9 8 2 3 6 5 4 3 9 4 5 5 Months of Inventory based on Closed Sales 2.4 3.3 4.3 2.7 2.3 3.4 11.0 10.0 5.5 3.4 6.0 7.0 5.6 5.5 8.5 Months of Inventory based on Pended Sales 2.6 10.0 2.6 3.6 3.5 13.5 11.0 5.0 4.4 6.0 8.0 2.3 7.0 6.6 6.8 Avg. Active Price 1314 1330 1245 1429 1327 1323 1414 1393 1308 1270 1213 1293 1250 1334 1301 Avg. Sld Price 1228 1112 1071 1275 1131 1124 1000 983 1134 1134 1128 1286 1221 1216 952 Avg. Sq. Ft. Price 565 531 587 577 579 719 614 553 563 548 615 613 576 577 540 Sold/List Diff. % 99 97 98 100 99 98 98 96 95 97 98 94 94 99 98 Days on Market 19 48 43 19 28 25 110 74 88 54 2... 07/25/2008

Google your listings agents! Todays blog by Jeff Dowler set me on a google flurry. This is newer in a mixture of homes mostly older with one newer than this listing. There is an amazing Historic home on Broadway. I have showed it and wish my buyer was ready to buy but didn't. There is a new townhome on Broadway and the prices range from 1.7M to 785K...That one is mine. Eight are for sale.  Want to live in a million dollar neighborhood?  Check it out! ML# S Type St# St Name City Area TG# L/S Price Br/Ba YrBlt Sqft LSqft DOM/CDOM V P SOC Date Z08028083 A SFR/A 429 N Broadway REDO 156 762H4 $1,050,000 3/4.00 1981 1,463 3,079 140/140 Y N 3.000 02/25/08 ****S08092303A TWNHS/A 515 S Broadway #B REDO 157 762J6 $785,000 2/3.00 1981 1,630 2,147 19/19 N N 3.000 06/25/08 V956810 A TWNHS/A 704 S B... 07/14/2008

"The size of the loan package may be 300 Billion" Here we have the government doing what most Americans have done and that is go get a HELOC! "Each company now has a $2.25 billion credit line, set nearly 40 years ago by Congress. At the time, Fannie had only about $15 billion in outstanding debt. It now has total debt of about $800 billion, while Freddie has about $740 billion. Today the two companies also hold or guarantee loans valued at more than $5 trillion, about half the nation's mortgages."  full article in nytimes is http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/washington/14fannie.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 The Bush administration was alarmed. What alams me here is the underlying fact that says we are the ones picking up the tab. Well, where else will they get the money? There is a circle and ... 07/14/2008

to.daniel.rothamel@inman.com this fellow is the realestatezebra. Everyone already knows this zebra for his stripes are all about learning and sharing. That's some Zebra! His natural instinct for this is showing up ahead of Inman, so we can all find each other...easier. His idea is to make a youtube video of yourself saying who you are what you do where you do it and whatyou are going to look forward to at Inman. Its simple as the black and white stripes that distinguish one zebra from another. I'm going to do it this weekend. Right after 3 open houses. Redondo Beach and Torrance- my listings at www.teamatthebeach.com check it out. I learned about the flip video from active rain member Mara Hawks! 07/12/2008

  Short sales have been a hard long road for the Realtor. We were innocent, novices trying to roller skate on ice. The lenders may have it worse but who is really for sure. No money to lend and no way to buy homes! something has to happen....and it just did for Indymac.  Imagine a game board that keeps changing the rules with every throw of the dice. Be the Buyer and need to buy to get in the game Be the seller and have to sell your home. Be the Bank...and you just got sold. The Feds took it over rather than spend anymore green stuff they'll spend enough trying to get the arms around yet another wild card! Its likely out of the league..is homeland security an oxymoron? Be the Federal Government. Is it a grey -haired- big tummy old santa?  A short tale of a short sale! You don't know you... 07/11/2008

The ultimate question "What is my home worth in today's real estate market?"  I hear it all the time and the short answer that is always true is that "Your home is worth the dollar amount equal to what someone is willing to pay for it and what you are willing to sell it for."  That number is very hard to arrive at sometimes. Here in the South Bay we have seen a softening of the real estate market...properties taking longer to sell, prices needing to be reduced, homes needing to be staged and then kept in "showing" condition for the duration of the "marketing period."  This is no easy task.  The hardest part of this softening market is finding a price that will attract a buyer.  Sellers that are looking back at what homes sold for a few months ago are looking the wrong direction.  Seller... 07/07/2008

There are 38 homes for sale as of this morning, July 5th, 2008.  That's the highest number of homes we've had for sale in a while.  22 of those homes have reduced their list price at least once so far as well, giving buyers have a lot ot chose from right now.  There are 15 single family homes under the $1 million mark which makes for some great opportunities to get into this idyllic Hollywood Riviera neighborhood.      As yesterday was the 4th of July, one drives around the Hollywood Riviera to find themselves getting stuck in many places because so many streets were closed to thru traffic due to all the "4th of July Neighborhood Block Parties."  It's truly a wonderful neighborhood...BBQ's, jumpers and waterslides for the kids (and some adults too), sno-cones and cotton candy machines, ... 07/07/2008

I have a builder friend.  He built on gates and is selling for 699k over 2100 sq ft.. So here is the thing. People are crazy to buy a REO a short sale and     missing the boat on regular houses...and builders homes..They often have several out there and need to sell them all. He is a realtor. We stick together...we need to shout it out to the worlllllld!!! here is the deal   contact me and I will help you negotiate until " sold " and your offer accepted. win win for all.   read and believe....... sooner or later   also see my blog at www.teamatthebeach.com  and see the other deals I have for sale....   email me for the photos and mls for the gates property  200K off original price! later... love lynne 07/01/2008

Los Angeles Townhome Receives 7 Offers at Initial Open House How do you get your home sold fast in today’s market without risking a price reduction? You hire a professional team to market your home. A professional team like real estate expert, Rae Lord, from Coldwell Banker and home staging expert, Terri Lucas, president of Exclusive Home Staging. Together we work with the home seller to help them fully understand what it takes in today’s market to set their home apart and attract the most potential buyers. We both believe Price and Condition is the Key. Home Seller’s need to ask “Is my home ready to sell”? Discerning buyers want a “turn key home”, that is in model home condition and they want it at a fair price. Home Seller’s need to work with an experienced realtor and home stager tha... 06/28/2008

Update:  Picture of Staged Home.  It Sold above asking price.  Yeah!   So, you feel your home is ready to market? You’ve de-cluttered, repaired and cleaned but are you really sure your home is showing to its fullest potential? Then perhaps you need the opinion of a professional home stager. Exclusive Home Staging was recently hired to do just that for a Los Angeles condo. I arrived before the MLS pictures were scheduled to be shot. The home was clean, updated, and had beautiful furnishings. It just needed that special “WOW” factor to make it stand out. It included re-positioning furnishings, staging the kitchen counters, staging the fireplace, positioning accessories into groupings, fluffing pillows, staging the bathrooms, removing a rug over carpeting, editing personal items, remaking ... 06/23/2008

Top news for Redondo Beach School kids, parents, and Real Estate, it is ahead of all the other South Bay Schools for having the most 10/10 schools. Jefferson, Madison, and Beryl Heights elementary. Let it be said for Manhattan Beach that they scored 966 out of one thousand points. All said it means a gread deal for the entire South Bay. Torrance has a section called Hollywood Riveria which along with Hermosa, and Palos Verdes schools continue to make our Real Estate prices kept high in reach. Families just want to know they are getting the best for the home purchase in the local schools.   06/07/2008