Santa Monica Village, Ocean Avenue South   The Village is the first major development on Ocean Avenue in two decades, linking downtown Santa Monica and the Civic Center with affordable housing and LEED Silver Certified design. The Village offers modern amenities and breathtaking views of the world-famous SoCal coastlines just steps from the beach and within walking distance to the Promenade, Main Street and all the amenities Downtown Santa Monica has to offer. The Village will have luxury condos and affordable rental apartments paired with twenty thousand square feet of retail and restaurants all situated on three acres of beautiful walkable sustainably landscaped gardens. Steps from the beach, Ocean Avenue South is an urban mix of 318 luxury condominiums and affordable rental apartment... 03/03/2013

Silicon Beach, TechJobsLA’s Spring 2013 Job Fair & Free Mobile Workshops Start:  March 9, 2013 12:00 pmEnd: March 9, 2013 4:00 pmVenue:  Cross CampusAddress:  820 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, United StatesRSVP for the Tech Job Fair, early bird tickets free, regular tickets $6.12.Great location and company for entrepenuers at Cross Campus, to find a job, learn something new and netowork. TechJobsLA is created for the tech community by our SoCal tech community. Silcon Beach LA’s and OC's leading user and meetup groups have joined together to design this event as a way to help members on their career path. LA's largest Meetup groups like LA PHP,LA UX (IA-55), LAdobe, OC UX, HTML5 LA, SoCal WordPress, and more have joined forces for this job fair!Top companies like Amazon, Artisan Cre... 03/02/2013

What is Silicon Beach? Silicon Beach is Los Angeles' growing tech community. With Google, YouTube, Microsoft, and Facebook setting up camp in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Playa Vista a new market is emerging. A market providing thousands of jobs and a buzz for local communities and business.  The Los Angeles Times is calling Silicon Beach "L.A.'s future" "Los Angeles' tech awakening is unfolding in a slice of territory — dubbed "Silicon Beach," which initially referred to Venice and Santa Monica and then expanded to Hollywood and downtown — where established giants such as Google and Apple have opened offices and where some 500 newcomer ventures have taken root. Silicon Beach culture, unlike Silicon Valley's, is more consumer-oriented, drawing on art, entertainment and commerce to ex... 03/01/2013

Santa Monica Real Estate, North of Wilshire, Winning at Multiple Offers: The $10,000 Difference Buying a home in Santa Monica? Spring has come early in Santa Monica real estate. Over the past week, 3 condos have come on the market North of Wilshire and all three had multiple offers and are currently in escrow. With a shortage of inventory, low interest rates, and buyer demand; multiple offers are becoming a common obstacle to overcome. With the right agent, preparation, and flexibility you can win at getting your offer accepted. Understanding what an increase of $10,000 on your offer, could be the difference you need to get your offer accepted on a home purchase in Santa Monica. Have you ever painted a room or a house? If so, you know 80% of getting the job done well is preparation. The... 02/28/2013

by Jodi Summers 2013 was the best January for Southern California home sales in six years. Fabulously low interest rates have generated a growing pool of buyers chasing a shrinking supply of homes. Buyers are highly motivated. Prices are skyrocketing. Just look at these incredible Santa Monica home price statistics when you compare January 2011 to January 2013: · The median price of sold price is up 66%. · The median price of for sale properties is up 33%. · The number of For Sale properties is down -46%. · The number of New properties is down -12%. · The average days on market is down -21%. · The average months supply of inventory is down -64%. · The number of Sold properties is down -24%. "Buyer traffic is 40 percent above a year ago, so there is plenty of demand but insufficient inve... 02/27/2013

Santa Monica Condo Sales, Comparing 2011 & 2012 You hear the news saying the market is upturning, Spring has come early for Santa Monica Real Estate. Looking at Santa Monica Home Sales, and comparing 2011 to 2012 below, home values in Santa Monica appear to be improving. A few of the highlights are: Days on market have decreased and average sales price has increased for condo sales North of Wilshire. Condos North of Montana have saw an increase in numbers across the board, with an exception of a decrease in average days on market.  Ocean Park, and Sunset Park also saw an increase in condos sold, price, and decrease in days on market. What does this mean? Seller's are seeing prices go up, and are motivated to sell. The problem we are currently having is their are more buyer's than seller... 02/26/2013

Let’s see the trend for Santa Monica homes for sale over the past year.  Inventory is low, that we know, but how is the median price, how low is the inventory, where was the peak? Single family homes 13 homes sold in January, up 2 over the January 2012.  This was the most sales per month in a year. There were 22 properties under contract in January, up 2 over the previous January.   The highest month was October. Number of homes for sale in January was 64, a 40% drop from the previous January, December and January having the lowest inventory for the year. The numer of new homes on the market in January was pretty much the average for the year at 30.  Not surprisingly, December was the low with 9. The median sold price, $2,300,000, was up 26% and the median for sale price was up 13%. Ove... 02/22/2013

Chocolate Opulence In Santa Monica CA at Santa Monica Place! Who does not love Chocolate? I guess I cannot comprehend who that would beJ One or two Truffles would fill my chocolate fixJ Never the less this place caught my attention because of the French Macaroons. If you love Macaroons and if you love French Macaroons this is the place to go to and enjoy your fix. It is not my imagination it is my new destination place for my bakery needsJ       Business Hours Mon-Sun 11am-8pm 395 Santa Monica Place #335 Santa Monica, CA 90401 TEL: 310.395.1707 Email: info@chocolateopulence.com http://www.chocolateopulence.com Diane wondered in here while I was in the kitchen store…needless to say I meandered over and had to share. FYI thanks to this visit I just received a Valentine’s Day Gift a book ... 02/18/2013

Venokado@   Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica,  has a Kitchen store too! As most of you who read my blogs and know me are aware, that I am an avid cook and am always scouring the neighborhoods for cooking equipment, utensils and cook book, and let’s not forget  recipes from all over the world.  Now with that said, the other day we went to Venokado and we discovered a great wine & last minute gift store combined. Well after we bought a few odds and ends we proceeded to move on in this part of the Santa Monica Place. (Check out my blog in case you missed it http://actvra.in/QCf ) Long and short Diane was distracted and went into a Pastry store (will blog about it soon) I on the other hand found this great kitchen supply store. So we were both having a grand time. The person who handles ... 02/15/2013

I constantly get calls from buyers looking for Santa Monica homes for sale, particularly the beach front properties. Santa Monica homes for sale are down 40% from January 2012 to a total of 64 and the median sold price is up 25% to $2,283,750.   Santa Monica condos for sale are down 46% over the previous January.  Overall the median price for condos was down to its lowest in a year. For Santa Monica ocean front condos only 1 sold in January compared with 6 in January 2013 and 7 are under contract.  There are 10 units for sale and 5 of those at 201 Ocean Ave., a coop building, which leaves only 5 standard condos for sale along Ocean Avenue.st level over the year, 33%at $447,000, but the for sale median price is presently at its highest, $696,000.  Hopefully, with the shortage of inventor... 02/13/2013

Venokado  @ Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica CA, 90401 This weekend I went to Santa Monica Place and I was thrilled to discover this great Store. Venokado is the ideal please to go if you have someone whom you would like to buy a last minute gift and you had no idea what you want to get. They have Different bottles of Wine for you wino – friends. Or if you want wine accessories they have them from under ten dollars to above $100. They have baskets from $75 to $155. Now keep in mind these are not cookies. They are wine basketsJ They have clutch gifts again they are wine & chocolate to name a few! As far as I am concerned I know where I have to go when I need something fast. Now if you are the type who does not need to touch the gifts you can have it delivered to your recipient by makin... 02/11/2013

First Annual Valentine’s Day YWCA Charity Fashion Show/Fundraiser The purpose of this great event was to help At Risk Young Girls. The way they were generating funds was by an entrance fee as well as hors devours, cocktails and handmade chocolates.     Check out the website     http://www.smywca.org  for more details. As you know I am all for good causes to help those in need. This was a great cause the goal was to raise $100,000.00 I would be interested to find out what the final tally was. Here is a little bit of history:       The YWCA of Santa Monica was incorporated in 1929 and shared a facility with the YMCA on 6ths Street in Santa Monica until the late 1960’s. Great move on part of the Board of Directors in 1972 the purchased the building they are currently located. From a Realto... 02/10/2013

Santa Monica,CA is the home of the Museum of Flying!  Come and visit this great Museum! The Museum of Flying has a very interesting and colorful history. It has been affected just like us by the Trials and Tribulations of the Economy. Good news is just as the economy is improving so is the Museum. The Museum was originally founded in 1974 by Donald Douglas, Jr. of the heir to the DC3-DC10 fame and was called the Douglas Museum. The museum prospered and managed to collect lots of airplanes and reached an inventory of 50 planes. Some were still in flying condition! Fast forward to April of 1989 and the Museum of Flying opened and the Douglas Museum closed. The New and improved Museum started collecting artifacts and kept growing, and then the museum started hosting special events. The mos... 02/05/2013

A month of the new year has already gone.  How is the Santa Monica real estate market doing?  Let’s compare January statistics to December’s.  Are sales looking up?  How are the prices?   Single Family Homes   Zip Code Sold +/- Dec. Price Range Median +/- Dec TotalActive Median Price Range NewJan. Pending 90401 0 =  N/A N/A N/A  2 $4,235,000 2  0 90402 4 -16  $2,359.650 to $3,970,000 $3,250,000 +22.55% 14 $6,172,500 4 7 90403 3 = $1,500,000 to $3,650,000 $2,300,000 -5.15% 4 $2,985,000 1  4 90404 3 -10 $267,000 to $420,000 $330,000 -34% 8 $662,000 6 10 90405 3 -8 $260,000 to $565,000 $459,000 +-3.34% 12 $637,000 4 8  Leaving aside zip code 90401, a commercial neighborhood in the City, Santa Monica continues to be a sellers’ market.  Sales are down significantly over December,  with only ... 02/02/2013

Stuffed Pepper with a  lighterTwist! I am sure we all had parents and grandparents who made stuffed peppers; usually the recipe had sausage or ground beef, rice and tomatoes sauce! There were always some small minor variations of this traditional dish depending on the ethnic background of the maker of this recipe. Long story short, I have had this craving for months to make stuffed peppers with some minor variations one. I was looking for a lighter and a vegetarian version of this great dish. So the other day I made a great Vegetarian Pasta Sauce which consisted of the traditional Pasta Sauce: Garlic, Onions, Basil, and Tomatoes slowly cooked with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. To make it sweeter I added Carrots, chicken stock and basically let it reduce for about four hours and yes I added He... 01/26/2013

Santa Monica Home Sales, Comparing 2011 & 2012 You hear the news saying the market is upturning. Looking at Santa Monica Home Sales, and comparing 2011 to 2012 below, home values in Santa Monica appear to be improving. A few of the highlights are: Days on market for homes North of Wilshire, Ocean Park, and the Pico Neighborhood have decreased. The average selling price has increased in every neighborhood of Santa Monica, except for Mid-City with the largest increase in the Pico Neighborhood. 01/17/2013

North of Wilshire, Santa Monica Home Sales, Comparing 2011 & 2012   Santa Monica Home Sales Prepared by Kim & Kristine   Neigbhorhood   YTD 2011 YTD 2012 (+/-) North of Wilshire Total Homes Sold 35 33 -5.71%   Average Asking Price  $1,676,911  $1,786,209 6.52%   Average Selling  Price  $1,612,624  $1,791,383 11.08%   Sales Price as a % of Asking Price 96.17 100.29 4.28%   Average # of Days on the Market 90 72 -20.00%             Average # of Days on the Market 22 216 881.82% Source: CLAW MLS, Inc.           01/16/2013

by Jodi Summers 2013 is going to be a good year. It’s going to be a good year for housing, among other things. Now all of us @ the beach realize that our market has long been back on track, thanks to low housing inventory and low interest rates. Kudos go out to the Federal Reserve's aggressive bond-buying program, which has pushed mortgage interest rates down to unprecedented lows. As our economy corrects itself, it’s all about housing. By many accounts, the housing-market “bottom” was one of the biggest business stories of 2012, and a key to our economic turnaround. After years of falling home values, the data clearly showed that the bleeding stopped somewhere in the first part of 2012 and has been slowly rising during the latter part of the year. The most recent Case-Shiller home-pric... 01/07/2013

Let’s check on on Santa Monica real estate and see how 2012 sales compare to the previous year.  Since each of the Santa Monica zip codes differs in pricing and demographics from the others, the numbers are broken down that way. 90401 - this is primarily a business district so you will see little or no activity here. Sold +/- 2011 Median +/- 2011 Active Median Pending 2  +1  $3,537,500 N/A 2 $1,847,500 0  90402 - which includes the areas of Santa Monica Canyon, North of San Vicente,  and North of Montana and the northern part of Ocean Avenue (which includes the luxury condo buildings). Sold +/- 2011 Median +/- 2011 Active Median Pending 119  +19 $2,775,000 +21.34% 12 $3,476,450 4   90403  – North of Wilshire, parts of Ocean Avenue (also including some of the luxury condo complexes), Sol... 01/03/2013

It is not just the moderately-priced homes for sale in Los Angeles that encourage multiple offers and over-asking sale prices. There is a home which just sold in Santa Monica.  It is in a prime, desirable area, but a 40s house in original condition, just over 2,000 sq. ft. on a just under 9,000 sq. ft. lot. Listed at $2.275M On the market for 20 days Sold for $3,000.000 $750,000 OVER ASKING! 13 sold over asking with an average sales vs list price of 106%, excluding the property above. Average days on the market 22.Over the past month there have been 30 single family homes sold in Santa Monica. The rest sold with an average sales vs list price of 94.98% with average days on the market 81. All 30 show a sales vs list price of 100.37% and an average of 54 days on the market. There are pres... 12/27/2012