Woodland Hills Was Created by a Devious Genius
March 3rd, 2008 Categories: In The Hood - Neighborhoods, In The News Calabasas
Developer Victor Girard did his part to improve the appearance of the Far West Valley of Los Angeles and his legacy remains on the winding streets south of Ventura 
Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Girard’s subdivision in the barren west end of the Valley needed to be dressed up, so he planted 120,000 shade trees and shrubs including seven varieties of eucalyptus, five kinds of acacia, Arizona elms, and Monterey pines. On the corner of what today are Ventura and Topanga Canyon boulevards, he built false storefronts and garish Turkish-style mosque towers to make the community look more established. Folklore has it that he spent time in jail for this “false city”.
The town of Girard was born on February 4, 1923, on 2,886 hilly acres purchased from the Brant dairy. The young real estate developer, Victor Girard Kleinberger, came to Los Angeles from Louisville about the turn of the century as an ambitious 18 year old that would develop towns all over the county. He was called a “devious genius, a natural dreamer and big spender”. His dream for the west Valley was a little crazy. There was no streetcar access to Girard, as there was to other Valley towns. Girard expected motorists to negotiate Cahuenga Pass plus miles of twisty Ventura Boulevard and pass countless new real estate ventures to reach the 6,000 lots that Girard hoped to sell.
To lure prospects, Girard ran ads emphasizing that his town was closer to the beach than any place in the Valley, since there was a winding road through Topanga Canyon. He also published the Girard News, built stables and a riding club, and opened the Girard Country Club and golf course with a championship size pool and tennis courts. Today the golf course is known as the Woodland Hills Country Club. “Sucker buses’ brought potential buyers out to the far end of the Valley, where teams of sales agents put on the pressure.
In 1941, the community was renamed Woodland Hills, an appropriate name because of all the trees that Girard had planted years earlier. There are still a few “Girard” homes in Woodland Hills today. One of them is 21339 Castillo Street, off of Canoga Avenue which is currently for sale. This home was built in 1925 as a two bedroom, one bath cottage. It has been lovingly restored from the bottom up and includes new beams, copper plumbing, and all new electrical wiring.
Dont miss this rare opportunity to own a piece of San Fernando Valley history. We will be hosting an open house this Sunday March 9, 2008 from 2:00-4:00 PM. Please join us for a tour of this wonderful home with guest house.
21339 Castillo Street, Woodland Hills Ca
Offered at $749,000
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What Are You Waiting For?
January 25th, 2008 Categories: In The News Calabasas
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2007 Year End Number of Homes Sold Report for Calabasas, CA
January 24th, 2008 Categories: Calabasas RE Statistics, In The News Calabasas
Total number of home sales down 13% in 2007.
There were a total of 293 homes sold in Calabasas, CA during 2007, down 44 (13%) from the 2006 total of 337. Take a good look at the chart above, you can see that home sales were in line with 2006 figures until September. The time from escrow opened to actual close is usually 30-45 days, we can assume that the slow down in sales was actually two months earlier or July and coincides with the mortgage melt down. September, October, November and December were significantly lower in number of sales.
Its a Buyers market - with 9 months of Calabasas homes inventory.
As I write this post there are 172 active properties on the market in Calabasas. The absorption rate (average number of sales per month) is approximately 19* sales per month. This means that we have a nine month supply of homes on the market right now. Six months of inventory is considered a neutral market. Nine months would be considered a buyers market.
January and February will experience similar closed sales (approximately 20)
There are 15 Calabasas homes in escrow right now. These transactions would most likely close within the next 30 to 60 days. It appears that January and February will experience a similar number of home sales (approximately 19 or 20 each month).
The Outlook is for a moderate Spring and Summer 2008.
Move Up Buyers should start planning their move.
Home sales usually increase during the Spring and Summer and 2008 should be no different. Interest rates are lower than ever and buyers that are in solid financial shape will have no problem obtaining a mortgage. Smart move up buyers should seize this opportunity to sell their homes and move up to a larger and more luxurious home this Spring and Summer. This is the time to act if you are moving within Calabasas and are selling a lesser price home to move up. Whatever price concession you make on your current smaller home will be gained plus more on a bigger more expensive home.
First time home buyers with solid resources are encouraged to buy now.
First time home buyers that were priced out of the market before can now afford Calabasas. There are several condos listed in the $350,000 to $600,000 range and single family homes in the $650,000 and up range. There are a few bank owned properties and short pays that make this the perfect time if youve been trying to move in to Calabasas but thought the prices were too high.
If you would like more information on Calabasas and the market conditions or how these numbers will effect you and your home purchase or sale, please call Tracey Thomas at (818) 652-2937.
*The absorption rate was calculated by taking the total number of sales for July through December (116) and dividing by 6 months. (Six months = July, August, September, October, November and December)
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“Sellers Choice” - Beware, these words could mean something you didn’t expect.
January 21st, 2008 Categories: In The News Calabasas
Even in this “buyers market” I received multiple offers on one of my listings last week. As I was reviewing the purchase agreements I couldn’t believe how many agents are still writing in ”sellers choice” for title, escrow, home warranty company and natural zone disclosure company.
Did you know that if you write “sellers choice” for natural zone disclosure and the other agent doesn’t pick a company in the counter offer, you’ll end up with a company called Seller’s Choice Disclosures? That’s right, there is actually a company called Seller’s Choice Disclosure. This is great if that is who you wanted, but not so great if you didn’t. Also, if you just write NHD in the box then escrow will pick the
company. There is no company called NHD. NHD are just the initials for Natural Hazard Disclosure.
The same goes for escrow, title and home warranty company. I Googled “sellers choice escrow” and came up with 65,400 results. I didn’t see any escrow companies in CA with this name, but why take a chance? Just write what you want in the blank so there is no confusion.
And this brings me to another very important point regarding preparing a purchase agreement for a buyer. It’s important to always specify who you want for NHD, home warranty, title and escrow companies. Many times the listing agent won’t have a preference and you’ll get the company that you want.
I’ve learned in negotiations that you usually have to give up something to get something. If you don’t specify these items initially, then you can’t even use them in your negotiations. To me it’s important start your negotiations from a position of power and this means preparing a well thought out purchase agreement with all of the blanks filled in.
If you are purchasing a home in Calabasas CA and you’d like your California Residential Purchase Agreement prepared and negotiated by a professional who understands the nuances of this very important contract please call Tracey Thomas at (818) 652-2937.
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Texas Hold’em - Just Because I Make It Look Easy Doesn’t Mean It Is
January 17th, 2008 Categories: In The News Calabasas
This is such a great story, I couldn’t wait until the transaction closed to write this post. Mr. and Mrs. Buyer contacted me via email. They said they had seen my my blog and were relocating to Los Angeles from out of State and needed to find a home that suited their needs in one weekend. They had been to the San Fernando Valley one other time on a house hunting trip but didn’t find what they were looking for. Both, Mr. and Mrs. Buyer were very tech savvy with Mr. Buyer relocating for a position that he had accepted with an online gaming company. “Tracey — I am concerned about making a counter-offer on this property without an understanding concerning the end game. If it takes going above $1.81, I would be willing, however, I do not think it at all unreasonable to have participation from the Realtors in assisting us in going above this price. At this stage I would like to have your commitment to share in the overage above 1.81 on a 25% basis … meaning if we do settle at 1.85 that would be a $10k rebate ($40k * 25%) of your commission … which is well under the commitment from Discount Realtor (which would be $11.6k rebate). I believe this is quite fair Tracey … Mrs. Buyer found this house … WE Settled on it prior to flying … WE went around shopping ONCE with you … WE are the best buyers a Realtor could ever ask for … and WE are closing on this very quickly.
Please provide your commitment here so we can finalize the counter-offer, which I would like to make $1.81 … and find our way to a final price, which is in both our interests to keep low.”
“Hi Mr. and Mrs Buyer,
Thanks for being for being open about your concerns. I fully understand your thought process. Many people feel the same way when dealing with Realtors. The lure of discount brokerages is not new and certainly can be enticing.
In hiring a full service Realtor, such as myself, you are hiring an individual with expertise in many different areas, not just in Calabasas. However; I live, work and play in Calabasas. My child goes to school here. I have seen all houses of interest on the market inside and out. I have also built solid relationships with many of the agents that work in Calabasas. Even if I don’t know them directly, they know of me. In fact I am not just a real estate agent, I’m a licensed CA Real Estate Broker. I have also have received the GRI and SRES designation. The GRI is a year long real estate designation that less than 10% of agents have nationwide. The SRES designation means that I am an expert in helping Seniors find housing. The education is helpful, but my main motivation when I obtained the extra license and designations was that it helps me when negotiating for my clients. Let me explain.
When a (good) listing agent receives an offer, one of the first things they will do is see which agent wrote the offer. If it’s an unknown agent from out of the area or a discount broker they know that they have the upper hand. We go so far as to Google other agents to see what type of negotiator and how much experience they have. When someone Googles me, it’s becomes crystal clear that I know my stuff.
The letter that I sent over to the other agent with your XXXX Street offer did not say much, but the conversation that I had with the listing agent on the phone is what facilitated the sellers dropping the price $111,900 (nearly 6%) in the opening round of negotiations. He tried to use the list of comparable sales that he had and we literally went through his 20 comparables one by one. I had them thrown out for one reason or another. Primarily because I had seen the house and knew that it was not a similar property because of amenities, area, year built, etc. This is my area of expertise, I know the houses, I know what they sold for, I even know the back story on many. I know if it was divorce, or another problem. I have that information because this is my business. The discount broker or an outside agent does not have access to this information.
When you hire an attorney, you have a choice to hire an inexperienced lawyer for $150 hour or a seasoned veteran who knows all the tricks and the players. For this you will pay much more. Many times you pay $600 an hour or more. But for your money you get knowledge and power. You can do things with a high powered attorney that you could never do with a new discount lawyer. The amount per hour is so much less than the time or money that the experienced lawyer saves you.
This is the same in real estate. If you would have used Discount Broker to submit this offer and negotiate this transaction, you would be almost acting alone. They just write the number you tell them to and send it over. Then when the counter comes back, you tell them what to write next. They will prepare a comparable market analysis, but it would have been exactly like the one that the listing agent from ABC Company provided. They wouldn’t have been able to get a counter this low.
I educated the listing agent on the phone on the other properties. I told him what to tell his sellers. I gave him the ammunition to get the price reduction. It’s all about market knowledge and understanding people. I am the best at this and this is why I do well.
Again, I understand your feelings, but in the long run I will protect your money and investment as if it were my own.
And just so you understand, once an offer is accepted and goes in to escrow there are more negotiations to come. The home inspection usually brings around more items that need to be negotiated. My Rolodex is full of experts that will help me to help you get accurate information on repairs and negotiate these repairs etc.
This business is not just what you know, but whom you know also.
In closing, life is like Texas hold ‘em, we are dealt cards, but how we play them is based on our skill level. It may look easy, but until you sit across from Phil Hellmuth you don’t know what a real poker player is all about.
I hope you will reconsider now that you have all of the information. Please let me know how you’d like to proceed as the counter offer expires today at 5:00PM. “
” Life is like Texas Hold’em … you not only play the game extremely well … you are certainly one of the pro players I would back in my business!!
Thank you for taking the time to answer. Your answer is not only appreciated but it is accepted.
With that … please provide our counter-offer at $1.81 million. “
” Tracey –Thanks so much. I simply cannot thank you enough for all your assistance. Mrs Buyer talked to many different people on the phone when we were looking for a Realtor for California … and it was only after talking with you that she could finally say “I found the right person” … and that was from a single conversation. “The right person” for us was someone who would care for our interests as if they were theirs … would take Mrs. Buyer’s picky tastes, which she is quite good at communicating over the phone, and convert that into the less than 1% of homes that actually qualify to meet those tastes … would take us soup to nutz through the closing procedures in California, and never let us miss a deadline with a friendly nudging approach … and would deal with my craziness in all regards, including my penny-pinching way of looking at life.No one could ever be expected to excel in any of these areas … and I still scratch my head at how you scored more than 100% in ALL of them for certain. We have never met anyone like you …When we are ready for the step up to a $10+ Million mansion (give me a few years to make my millions first) … I don’t care where it will be located … or where you are located … you simply must be the person to find it for us! I would be elated to be a reference to anyone that wants to use Tracey Thomas as their expert in finding a home … and you can believe I will be a walking billboard to anyone I come across that is looking. “
Mr. and Mrs. Buyer moved in to their new home last weekend. I was there on moving day with my favorite cake and some gorgeous flowers for their patio. It all felt so good. Did I say how much I love Calabasas Relocations!! If you are relocating to Calabasas, I would love to help make your move a smooth, pleasant experience. Please call Tracey Thomas at (818) 652-2937.
The names, numbers and identifying information have been changed to protect the privacy of my clients but this story is very true. I did mention to my clients that I’d be blogging about their experience and they were all for it. They have given me permission to tell this story.
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