Recently in Real Estate Category

3+2. This West Hills home has been beautifully updated and has a spectacular city and mountain view. Ideal for entertaining, the open floor encompasses a living room and a spacious great room with a fireplace. The gourmet cook will appreciate the stainless appliances and granite countertops. Other features: newer paint inside and out, crown moldings, recessed lighting plus beautifully remodeled bathrooms. The large, flat backyard has a covered patio, grass, mature trees, and of course, that great view. Located within the El Camino High School boundaries.* Contact Shelly Slovin at 818.887.3107 or go to for more pictures and information. *Buyer to verify school boundaries.

**IN ESCROW** 3BD, 1.75 BA. This beautifully updated three bedroom cottage in Tarzana offers an open floor plan and a resort-like backyard.

In the living room, just some of the special details include hardwood floors, French doors, smooth ceilings, and a brick fireplace. The master bath has an oversized remodeled shower with glass tile accents.

Step out from the French doors in the living room to the pergola-covered patio and the inviting pool and spa. The large backyard has grassy areas and abundant fruit trees. The updated second bath has access to the pool. Offered at $389,000.

More photos: www.ValleyCottage.LA.

IN ESCROW. For those looking to live the green, urban walk-to-everything lifestyle, this 2+2.5 Encino townhome offers coffeehouses, shops and cafes a short walk away. It's freshly painted and carpeted. Inside, with the green branches of a tall redwood outside the living room and and master bedroom windows, the world seems far away. Just some of the features: a fireplace, a balcony, a spa tub and a window seat in the master bedroom suite. The vaulted ceiling and architectural windows in the master add drama. There's an attached garage. It's offered $275,000. More photos at www.encinohome.com.

Blink and you missed it. The LA Times Hot Property blog notes that the famed director's Colonial-style home in the Sunset Strip area sold within two weeks. Gated, with a pool and guest house, it seems like a steal at $1,285,000. The agent was Sharona Alperin, of "My Sharona," by the Knack" fame.

Located South of Ventura Bl. 4bd, 3ba in over 3,000 sf per owner. Offered at $825,000. Spacious and bright, it features skylights and walls of windows that look over trees and hills. The backyard has patios, covered decks, terraced gardens, tropical plantings, a ceramic glass soaking pool and waterfalls. Other amenities include a dramatic fireplace in the living room, a formal dining room and a media room. The eat-in kitchen has granite counters, stainless appliances, maple cabinets and marble floors.
On garage level are two finished rooms that could be exercise or meditation spaces or offices. Over 3,000 sf per seller. More photos at www.WoodlandHillsHome.la. Contact Shelly SlovinWoodlandHillsHome.com.

SOLD. New on the market. Restored 5BD mid-century Modern on one level with open floor plan, resort-like backyard with saltwater pool, patio, lawns. 5th BD is separate structure with bath and same finishes as home. Offered at $759,000. Won't last. See more photos at WoodlandHillsHome.net, or call Shelly at 818.887.3107.

Offered at $495,000. 3BD, 2BA. Wood floors, fireplace, recessed lighting, dual pane windows, smooth ceilings in an open floor plan, custom paint.Stainless steel appliances, antique white cabinets, granite counters in the kitchen. The big family room opens to the the gorgeous backyard with covered patio. Contact Shelly at 818.887.3107. More photos at www.WestValleyHome.com.

SOLD. $449,000. 2bd, 2ba + office/studio in detached converted garage. Fabulous kitchen with cherry cabinets, wood floor, granite, stainless. Living room has gleaming wood floors, fireplace, soaring beamed ceilings and French doors. A tiled sunroom provides additional space. Don't miss this one. It will go fast. More info, photos at www.ValleyGlenHome.com.

More info at WoodlandHillsHome.net.
See more Woodland Hills homes for sale at www.woodlandhillshome.com.
Contact Shelly direct at 818.887.3107 or email shelly@woodlandhillshome.com.

SOLD! Enjoy your own backyard retreat on over 1/3 acre flat lot with pool. Room for play areas, gardens, badminton or ? Gated entry, office/family room, four bedrooms plus large bonus room. Spacious home with lots of light. Dual pane windows, enclosed atrium. Charming, bright kitchen. Updated master bath with beautiful soaking tub, gorgeous shower, towel warmer and more. Offered at $619,000. More information at www.WoodlandHillsHome.la or WoodlandHillsHome.com. Call Shelly Slovin direct at 818.887.3017.

The first finished home is listed at $17 million. Lots range from $4 million to $9 million and include one-acre and two-acre lots, plus a 57-acre lot. The lots all feature dramatic ocean views. MariSol at Malibu.

Take a look at this apartment for rent at a French Chateau in West Hollywood. CurbedLA says that the 1 bedroom townhouse rents for $2250 a month. Love the arches and that gorgeous staircase.

This beautiful, elegant Calabasas townhome has a hideaway location at the end of a cul-de-sac. The small community brings together the intimate ambience of a Mediterranean hill town with the Southern Californian tradition of indoor-outdoor living. The light-filled home has high ceilings, gleaming wide-plank wood floors, a fireplace, a formal dining room plus a kitchen eating area. Granite counters, recessed lighting, custom built-ins.
Enjoy the inviting patio, plus a gorgeous pool area with mountain vistas. Two car garage with laundry, inside access. Las Virgenes School District. Close to schools, Gelsons Village. 20 minutes to the beach. Offered at $449,000. For more information about Calabasas real estate, contact Shelly Slovin at 818.887.3107.

A Changing Landscape - Crucial Factors to Keep in Mind before You Decide to Refinance
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
September 18, 2010--(MCT)--The lowest mortgage interest rates in decades have sent thousands of homeowners eager to refinance their home loans scurrying into lenders' offices. Many leave empty-handed and upset. A multipronged whammy of lower home values, new appraisal guidelines and tighter lending requirements frequently derail consumers from snaring loans at lower interest rates. Lenders say they are closing 60-70% of refinancings.

"It's a blow to a borrower's ego," said Todd Gosden, a loan originator at Avenue Mortgage in Naperville, Ill. "The guy who makes $250,000 a year, managing 150 people, who says, 'I want to take advantage of this,' and I have to say, 'You can't.' The reaction is, 'Are you kidding me?'" Read the rest of the article here.

The data show a strong buyers market in Woodland Hills, CA. The median Woodland Hills home price is $627,000.
Data by by Altos Research LLC.

Listing price $1,649,0900. Gorgeous contemporary.
818.887.3107

Woodland Hills Real Estate Information

It's got a big backyard and updated kitchen and bath. 1020 square feet, per assessor. It won't go into the MLS for another day or so. Investment potential.Give me a call at 818.887.3107 if you're interested. - Shelly

SOLD ←$639,000. More information at

Call Shelly at 818.887.3107 or just stop by.

In the market for a new home? Your first home? Good news from Congress--the first home buyers credit has been extended and the a new credit for non-first-time buyers has been created. An article in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday helps clarify who is can take advantage, and how. http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-fi-harney15-2009nov15,0,7738021.story

Contact Shelly Slovin at 818-887-3107 or go to .

Note from Shelly: Calabasas is known for large lots and for guard-gated communities, however these two things are not often found in the same property. Lot size is usually sacrificed in the gated communities, and Calabasas homes with large lots are mostly found out in the "country" and custom built with varying degrees of skill and taste. This home has it all! Located in the prestigious Mont Calabasas guard-gated community, this incredible lot has a beautiful spa and pool, spacious lawns, a barbecue center, patio, and a shaded pool-side retreat. Must see.

Today's mail brought another official-looking letter from an entity called Homeowners Property Tax Board. The letter tells me it's likely that I can save over $1000/annually on property taxes if I send them $189.

It bears repeating: Never pay to have your property tax assessment reviewed.

• These companies are not the local tax assessor.
• Although the letter looks like property tax bills, the senders are not affililiated with or approved by any government agency (read the fine print).
• The county tax assessor will reassess value at no charge to you.

Go to the LA tax assesor's site to find out:

• if you qualify (we don't),
• if the city has already reviewed your property for a reduction, and,
• ahow to apply for a review if you think you do qualify.

SOLD
3 bedrooms, 3 baths, plus two offices in almost 3000 square feet (per assessor).
Call Shelly at 818.887.3107 for more information. Or go to www.WoodlandHillsLife.com for more details. Click here to view the Woodland Hills MLS listing. Free, no registration.

SOLD

Southern California home sales inch up; median price steady

October 13, 2009. Dataquick reported today that Southland home sales inched higher in September, boosted by late-closing summer sales, low mortgage rates and buyers hoping to get the federal tax credit that expires next month. The region's median sale price are lower than in September 2008 but, for the first time in years, several counties logged year-over-year gains in the median price paid for resale houses.

Last month 21,539 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties. That was up 0.2 percent from 21,502 in August and up 5.1 percent from 20,497 a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

September marked the 15th moninth in a row with a year-over-year sales gain, although last month's was the smallest of those increases. Sales for the month of September have averaged 24,873, ranging from a low of 12,455 in September 2007 to a high of 37,771 in 2003, based on DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month's sales were the highest for a September since 2006, when 24,195 sold.

From Dataquick

Kathy Kristof, a financial writer, wrote a clear, concise article for first time homebuyers in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, With the credit expiring at the end of November, interested buyers have no time to lose.

First-time buyers, it's time to take advantage of housing tax credit -- latimes.com

The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) Save the Dream Tour has will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center from now through Sept 28th with representatives from banks and lenders on hand to restructure loans.

NACA, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, has legally binding agreements with most banks and lenders, and are helping eligible homeowners reduce their interest rates to 4%, 3% and 2%. The services are free.

The first step is to go to NACA.com web site to register for the event. The site has information about what paperwork to bring with you.

Wedesday's Los Angeles Times had an article about the tour.

Median Prices from August 2008-August 2009

Woodland Hills 91364 28 $ 570 -3.8%
Woodland Hills 91367 32 $ 593 5.9%
Calabasas 91302 15 $1,796 55.5%

Calabasas's odd number may be because of the low number of homes sold combined with an atypical listing throes off the stats.

Don't miss this beautifully remodeled four bedroom home in West Hills. See more photos at WestValleyHome.com.

22550 Vose St
Woodland Hills
September 20th, 2-5pm
Call 818.887.3107 for more information.

Located on a knoll South of Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills
Time:2:00PM Sunday, September 20th
Location:22930 Crespi St, Woodland Hills
WoodlandHillsHome.net.

According to UCLA's quarterly regional forecast, there are signs that things are turning arround, the Los Angeles Times reported today. However, housing and unemployment woes may slow down recovery. Read the Times article here.

I've blurred the agent's name out of mercy.

According to Bloomberg.com, sales of existing U.S. homes jumped more than forecast in July to the highest level in almost two years, signaling the housing crisis that crippled the world's largest economy is easing.

Purchases climbed 7.2 percent to a 5.24 million annual rate, the most since August 2007, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The gain was the biggest since records began in 1999. The median price fell 15 percent.

Some the Southland's February housing market indicators are the same as January's, according to Dataquick's March 17th release. Median prices stayed about the same, as did the number of homes sold.

However, John Walsh, the president of MDA DataQuick, says that, "The market is so tilted away from normal mainstream activity that it's impossible to generalize or predict based on the atypical patterns we're seeing. That means that normal demand and supply is building up. The floodgates could open once mortgage credit starts to open up."

According to Dataquick's report, the lower end of the market accounts for majority of sales, with the higher end market languishing.

SOLD.
But I have more. Call me at 818.887.3107.
This transaction goes to show that homes are selling rapidly when priced well to gather interest. This home went in multiple offers for over asking price. If you are selling your home, find out what we can do for your home.

An incredible opportunity for a savvy, qualified buyer to get a one story, three bedroom home on a cul-de-sac. The home is 2530 sq ft, apx, per assessor and the lot size is over 12,000 sq ft with a grassy backyard, a pool, patio and built-in BBQ. Call Shelly ASAP at 818.887.3107 to view.

According to the 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 87 percent of home buyers used the Internet to search for homes in the past year. What does that mean for a home seller? It means that it's vital for you to know the IQ (Internet Quotient) of your listing agent.

How to find a high IQ agent? Start with an Internet search. Don't search for an agent's name. Think like a home buyer might. Say a buyer is looking for Woodland Hills Real Estate. Try entering that phrase in Google. Skip the giant home search sites and find a local agent. Take a look a the site. Do you get a feel for the agent, or is it a "canned" site identical to many others, purchased from a Real Estate Web Site provider? Look at what the site offers. Does it highlight homes in the area your prospective buyer may be interested in? Does it offer a MLS search to visitors? Does it have separate, individual sites for each listing with lots of photographs and information about the house? Is the URL of the property site easy to remember and search engine friendly (e.g. "WoodlandHillsHome.LA" or "WoodlandHillsLife.LA" instead of "www.39493westanywhereavet.com")? Does the site offer community information. If so, this might be a good Realtor to entrust with your listing.

Next time, we'll take a closer look at the importance of photography in marketing your home. It is amazing how many homes are marketed with dark, clutttered photographs. Or starkly-lit and uninviting flash shots.

The Southland Regional Association of REALTORS offers a home ownership grant to low- and moderate-income individuals and families who purchase a home in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley. The amount of the grant will be $4,000. The funds are paid after the close of escrow and there are no repayment requirements. Get details and requirements here.

Although home sales increased 17.5 percent in June in California compared with the same period a year ago, the median price of an existing home fell 37.7 percent, the California Association of Realtors® reported recently.

"Statewide home sales remained above the 400,000 level for the said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. "Following a 30-month string of year-to-year percentage decreases that began in October 2005, sales during June also posted their third consecutive year-to-year gain.

"Sales were driven in part by large shares of deeply discounted distressed sales in many parts of the state," he said. "With lower prices and favorable interest rates, affordability also has improved significantly in recent months, paving the way for many buyers to purchase their first home," Brown continued.

The data are out for May for home prices and sales. Here are the stats for Calabasas and Woodland Hills real estate:
91302: Calabasas Real Estate
Median sale price

• May 2007: $1,337,000


• May 2008: $1,205,000


• Change: -9%

• May 2007: 20


• May 2008: 11


• Change: -45.0%

• May 2007: $820,000


• May 2008: $630,000


• Change: -23.2%

• May 2007: 30


• May 2008: 25


• Change: -16.7%

• May 2007: $756,000


• May 2008: $689,500


• Change: -8.8%

• May 2007: 40


• May 2008: 27


• Change: -32.5%

Source: Dataquick Information Systems

Southern California's housing market took another beating last month as median prices fell an average of 27% from a year ago -- the sharpest drop in at least 20 years. The median home sale price in six Southern California counties was $370,000, down from $505,000 a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems. DataQuick said that was the biggest annual decline it has recorded since it began tracking prices in 1988.

The last time the median was lower was in March 2004, when it was $364,000.

The dramatic price drop was attributed largely to sluggish high-end sales, more sellers dropping their asking prices and lenders selling off more of their aggressively priced, repossessed homes, according to real estate data provider DataQuick Information Systems.

original article by Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, 10:56 AM PDT, June 16, 2008

RISMEDIA, June 10, 2008-At a time when most news in the real estate sections of newspapers is of the floundering real estate market, it is great to tell an uplifting real estate story. Let's put aside the gloom and doom.
Toni Motte, a sales partner with Dilbeck Realtors GMAC, listed a home in Temple City, CA, recently. Now, this was not a million dollar mansion and it wasn't a fixer-upper, it was in fact a lovely little 3 bedroom, 2 bath traditional home on a quiet street in Temple City.
Motte took the listing and put it into the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) that same week; then she pitched it at a local Board of Realtors caravan meeting. Immediately, the phone started ringing-everyone wanted to see this little home-and then almost as immediate-the offers started rolling in.
Realizing that when the phone didn't stop ringing, she had a special property, Motte suggested to her client that a deadline be set that all offers had to be in by. The date arrived and Motte sat with 89 offers on her desk. It brought back memories of the "good old days"-when just a few years ago, agent%

If you are having trouble meeting your mortgage payments, attend this free workshop. Credit counselors, loan servicers and lenders will offer on-site assistance and information on options available to help keep you in your home. Bring loan documents and other relevant financial information to the event.

Please call (818) 901-5588 for questions. More information at: www.yourhome.ca.gov. En Espanol: Cómo evitar la ejecución hipotecaria.

Sponsored by State and Consumer Services Agency
Business, Transportation & Housing Agency
Senator Alex Padilla
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes
Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services
City of San Fernando

Today, The National Association of Realtors reported on January's home sale statistics. Regional markets varied widely. In the West, existing-home sales went down 2.1 percent from December 2007. Compared to January 2007, sales declined 28.5, and the median home price was down 6.7%.

Here it is! For a buyer wanting to get into the real estate market, this $399K charming Lake Balboa cottage features fresh paint inside and out, gleaming expanses of wood floors, and a large backyard with a covered patio and fruit trees. Click to see more photos of this Lake Balboa home for under $400,000. Contact Shelly Slovin at 818-887-3107 to take a look.

Savvy buyers looking for a tremendous opportunity in Woodland Hills should submit offers for this remodeled 3 bedroom, 2 bath (per owner) home in the highly desirable, woodsy neighborhood of Walnut Acres. The seller is proposing a short sale of $625,000. It's up to the bank. All terms and conditions are subject to the lender's approval. If the bank agrees, it's a chance to get into Walnut Acres at a price that hasn't been seen for a while. The lot boasts a circular drive, spacious lawns, plus pool and spa. You can see more photos at www.walnutacreshome.com.

Calabasas Realtor Shelly Slovin's Castle listing was featured in the LA Times Hot Property section on November 4th. This amazing property, oringinally listed at $2,949,000 and owned by Disturbed lead singer, David Draiman, was showcased with full color photos in the Times Sunday Real Estate Section. Slovin, who specializes in Calabasas Real Estate, says that the property is currently in escrow and scheduled to close this week.

In September, sales of single family homes in the San Fernando Valley reached the lowest point ever, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. This fact, coupled with increasing inventory of available homes to buy, confirms that the region has entered a buyer's market.

362 homes closed escrow last month, down 55% from the same month a year before.

Looking for the perfect home at an affordable price? Don't want to live in a condominium with no backyard? Take a look at this freshly redone two bedroom home in Lake Balboa, now available for only $449,000. The large backyard has a large lawn, fruit trees, with a covered patio.