Michael Greenwald's Real Estate News: October/November

In my last newsletter, I spoke about the Westside having the hottest weather on recent record, and how that matched one of the hottest markets in memory. Both have since cooled down. We are now enjoying wonderful mid-70's fall weather, and the real estate market has turned a bit topsy-turvy. With the slight lift in interest rates and the rumors of a global and nationwide recession, buyers have taken a wait-and-see attitude as to how all this will affect the Californian economy. This stands in contrast to the feeding frenzy we experienced the first 6 months of this year.

We have entered the second busiest time of year (the first being spring), and we should be in an active market through Thanksgiving. We have, in fact, doubled the number of listings in the last month. However, we do not have as many showings since buyers have temporarily suspended buying as they wait to see where interest rates and property values are going. Nobody here sees this as a long-term arrangement, but rather as a wait-and-see attitude.

If you check out my school sites http://www.michaelgreenwald.com/schools, you'll see that for the local schools we now have current 1998/99 calendars, and are still waiting for calendars from the remaining schools. We will continue to update school information as they forward it to us.

Though my primary service area still remains that from Bel Air to the ocean, I have been marketing listings in the San Fernando, Encino and Sherman Oaks areas more and more http://www.michaelgreenwald.com/sanfernando.html. After recently taking up residence in the hills of Encino, I am now working with the Lanai Road Elementary School to turn it around from a 70% bussing school to a 70 - 80% community school. We are following the models of two schools that have charted a similar course, one in the Beverlywood area of Los Angeles and the other in the Carzana area of the San Fernando Valley. For further information on how we're working with this community, look for a forthcoming Web site addition online soon.

Westside Real Estate Market Overview: October/November 98

Fall is an active time for the Brentwood community, from Oktoberfest, to The Taste of Brentwood, to numerous arts and crafts shows. For a local tour, see my Brentwood page at www.michaelgreenwald.com/brentwood/. Here you will find links ranging from antique stores www.antiqueinfo.com, to the J. Paul Getty Museum artscenecal.com/GettyMsm.html, to the prestigious Buckley School www.buckley.pvt.k12.ca.us/.

Westwood: Work has been partially completed to turn Westwood Village into a walking promenade and return it to its glory days of the 1960's and 70's. At present, most of the walking areas and parking facilities have been completed, yet controversy abounds regarding what to do with the theaters and retail areas of Westwood. To date, no complete resolve has been made. Overall, this is a project that will certainly affect the Westwood homeowner in a positive way. In keeping with the updates at Westwood Village, you can link through my site to Westwood movies, restaurants, retailers, and the UCLA site at www.westwoodonline.com/.

Care to find out more of the things that make Westwood tick? The campus of UCLA http://www.ucla.edu/ and the Armand Hammer Museum http://www.arts.ucla.edu/hammer at the center of Westwood Village are both area attractions.

Bel Air: With properties almost 100% residential, Bel Air is a unique community in the Westside of L.A. It is an incredibly valuable area with prices broadly ranging from the low 500's up to 10 million. We are currently seeing a trend for the more affordable homes here to rise rapidly in market value. Don't forget to enter my 1998 third quarter contest to win a two-day stay at the Hotel Bel Air www.michaelgreenwald.com/contest/. From lodging at Hotel Bel Air, to the exclusive Bel Air Country Club www.golfcourse.com/search/, my Bel Air page www.michaelgreenwald.com/belair/ will help you get a feel for this Westside area.

Pacific Palisades: Pacific Palisades is probably the best value on the Westside right now. Prices have remained stable, yet have begun to depreciate ever so slightly. If you've had your eye on homes in Pacific Palisades, this makes it a good time to buy. Areas that are seeing activity in particular are the "Alphabet Streets" and the "Pacific Palisades Highlands."

A great resource on my site is the Pacific Palisades page www.michaelgreenwald.com/palisades/, which includes community, school and business links throughout the Palisades. In particular, you can access information forwarded to me by Pacific Palisades schools, including Marquez Charter Elementary School www.michaelgreenwald.com/schools/marquez/, Palisades Charter High School www.michaelgreenwald.com/schools/palisades/, and Paul Revere Charter Middle School www.michaelgreenwald.com/schools/revere/.

Santa Monica: You can link to my updated Santa Monica page--one of my most extensive community pages--which features a myriad of resources, including schools, arts and entertainment, parks, city groups, local events and activities, and businesses online www.michaelgreenwald.com/santamonica/.

Single family homes north of Montana Avenue--especially in the Gilette areas--are appreciating close to double digits for the first time in the last six years. If you haven't driven down Montana Avenue http://www.montanaave.com/ recently, you've missed some of the best restaurants and retail shopping boutiques in all of the Westside. Also, check out the Third Street Promenade, which has its own Web site at www.thirdst.com.

For getting around, one of the best bus systems in Southern California is considered to be the Santa Monica transportation system. For a system map, routes, schedules and other information, see Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus Home Page at www.ci.santa-monica.ca.us/bus/.

For local schools, you may link to Santa Monica High School's own Web site at http://www.samohi.org/.

Helpful Sites for Those on the Move

As we move further into fall, school is already underway, some of you may be settling into new homes after a summer move, and many of you may be considering or planning a move in the near future.

We've highlighted a few sites for up-to-date real estate news, school information, and home remodeling and landscaping.

Inman News Features
One of the best real estate news sources available online, Inman provides feature articles on such subjects as current national interest rate averages, regional developments, the advance of technology and its effect on real estate transactions.
World Wide Web: http://www.inman.com

American School Directory
The American School Directory gives information for "all 106,000 K-12 Schools" around the entire United States. You'll find office phone numbers and addresses, principals' names and local maps, among other bits of information.
World Wide Web: http://www.asd.com/asd/asdhome.htm

HouseNet
This site features articles and ideas on topics such as Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden and Home Decoratin. It even has a Shopping Center to help get you going. Of particular value are the site's calculators--paint calculator, wallpaper calculator and drywall calculator. Just plug in your room's dimensions and it will tell you how much to buy.
World Wide Web: http://www.housenet.com/

Past Newsletters Second Half 2001 First Half 2001 Second Half 2000 First Half 2000 November/December, 1999 July/August, 1999 January/February, 1999 October/November, 1998 August/September, 1998 June/July, 1998 April/May, 1998 January/February, 1998 November/December, 1997 September/October, 1997 July/August, 1997