WalletPop Blog http://www.walletpop.com/blog WalletPop Blog http://www.walletpop.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif WalletPop Blog http://www.walletpop.com/blog en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/It takes the million dollar cakehttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/25/it-takes-the-million-dollar-cake/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/25/it-takes-the-million-dollar-cake/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/25/it-takes-the-million-dollar-cake/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The million-dollar question being asked among the faithful followers of Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing" show is this: Where is Chad getting those cakes from?

Chad Rogers, one of the three Realtors whose antics are followed each week, let the frosting out of the bag. In an interview with WalletPop, he revealed that he gets the one-of-a-kind cakes at the Brentwood bakery, Susie's Cakes.

Rogers uses them to make his open houses memorable (the $700 cake was decorated with an image of Cake Chad wearing identical clothes to Real Chad, standing in front of an exact replica of the house with a talk bubble saying "It's always a wonderful day in my neighborhood." In the show, Real Chad waits for the end of the open house and then eats Cake Chad's hair.

Continue reading It takes the million dollar cake

It takes the million dollar cake originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>cakeMillion Dollar ListingMillionDollarListingAnn BrenoffWed, 25 Nov 2009 17:30:00 ESTA Black Friday real estate deal, of sortshttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/24/a-black-friday-real-estate-deal-of-sorts/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/24/a-black-friday-real-estate-deal-of-sorts/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/24/a-black-friday-real-estate-deal-of-sorts/#commentsFiled under: ,

Not to be left out of the Black Friday hype, Beazer Homes is offering special Black Friday deals at five of its Orlando-area communities.

What's being given away is up to $2,000 in "free" appliances for contracts signed on Friday. But before you give up your place in the Wal-Mart line at 4 a.m., just know that in today's buyers-rule-and-developers-drool market, you can likely mosey on in any old day of the week and let the good folks at Beazer know which dishwasher you want them to throw in for free before you'll sign on the dotted line. Just saying ...

Beazer Homes USA, according to its Web site, "builds for the middle-class buyer who's ready to make the move into the white-picket-fence scene." They build homes with an average price of about $248,700 and courts the entry-level, move-up, and active adult markets.

As for Orlando-area buyers who want to be able to gloat about how they got their house in a Black Friday special, here's the skinny: The special one-day incentive is being offered at Heritage Commons in Winter Springs, The Legacy in Orlando, The Enclave at Moss Park, Sawgrass, also in southeast Orlando, and at Victoria Park Trails in DeLand.

The Federal Tax Credit for qualified new home buyers at $8,000 and $6,500 for existing home buyers is still available.

A Black Friday real estate deal, of sorts originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>homeorlandoreal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffTue, 24 Nov 2009 15:30:00 ESTMy (public) debut as a bargain shopperhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/19/my-public-debut-as-a-bargain-shopper/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/19/my-public-debut-as-a-bargain-shopper/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/19/my-public-debut-as-a-bargain-shopper/#commentsFiled under: , ,

I am a self-professed recreational shopper. Always have been. Some people play sports competitively. Me, I shop competitively.

The thrill is in the bargain. Hunting it down, getting it in my sights and then moving in for the kill. I sharpened my elbows as a child in Daffy Dan's in New Jersey (mob aside, a reasonable state with no sales tax on clothing; are you listening California?) but have since refined my methods.

My current weapon of choice: coupons I find online. My trophy purchase mounted on the wall of my closet: a 100% cashmere sweater with the Sak's label still in it that I got for $5 at a thrift store in Malibu.

It was only a matter of time before my prowess reached the TV networks. I was asked by CNBC to take a camera crew along while I shopped. My terms: They don't get in my way.



Continue reading My (public) debut as a bargain shopper

My (public) debut as a bargain shopper originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>bargainbargainsshoppingAnn BrenoffThu, 19 Nov 2009 14:30:00 ESTThe season for gift-giving, real estate stylehttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/17/the-season-for-gift-giving-real-estate-style/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/17/the-season-for-gift-giving-real-estate-style/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/17/the-season-for-gift-giving-real-estate-style/#commentsFiled under: ,

The occasion for closing on a house deal is frequently marked by a real estate agent giving the new owner a gift. An odd custom, at best, and one that seems to run counter to the philosophy that you gift those who provide you with a service: teachers, waiters, the gardener at the holidays, maybe even the latte maker at Starbucks who automatically starts up the little machine when he sees you walk in the door each morning.

So why do real estate agents spend an average of $51.80 come closing time on a buyer?

According to a 2009 Realtor Magazine reader profile study, it's a way of saying "thank you." Although in this economy, many clients might be more appreciative if their agent would cut their commission or spend more on marketing so the home didn't linger so long on the market.

Continue reading The season for gift-giving, real estate style

The season for gift-giving, real estate style originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>giftgiftsreal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffTue, 17 Nov 2009 18:00:00 ESTWhen a picture is worth .... the asking price: Why pro photos will pay off when selling your homehttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/10/when-a-picture-is-worth-the-asking-price-why-pro-photos-wi/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/10/when-a-picture-is-worth-the-asking-price-why-pro-photos-wi/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/10/when-a-picture-is-worth-the-asking-price-why-pro-photos-wi/#commentsFiled under: ,

It's been long established that curb appeal has moved to your computer screen. For at least two years now, the National Association of Realtors has been saying that at least 85% of all home buyers first saw the house they wound up buying on the Internet. We can't think of a better reason to get the best possible photos taken and posted online. Yet the realty industry's reaction has been slow and curious: Agents continue to shoot listing photos with their cell phone cameras.

OK, that's a slight exaggeration to make a point. Sometimes, Realtors actually invest in a digital camera and shoot the photos themselves. But as professional photographers like to say, "Buying a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer; it makes you a Nikon owner."

Continue reading When a picture is worth .... the asking price: Why pro photos will pay off when selling your home

When a picture is worth .... the asking price: Why pro photos will pay off when selling your home originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>MLS photosMlsPhotosphotographyreal estateRealEstateselling your houseSellingYourHouseworst MLS photosWorstMlsPhotosAnn BrenoffTue, 10 Nov 2009 17:30:00 ESTReady to gamble that your home value will tumble more?http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/09/ready-to-gamble-that-your-home-value-will-tumble-more/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/09/ready-to-gamble-that-your-home-value-will-tumble-more/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/09/ready-to-gamble-that-your-home-value-will-tumble-more/#commentsFiled under: ,

Queasy-stomached home owners who can't bear to watch the equity in their homes continue to dwindle have an option: Equity protection policies. These policies, will, for a fee that generally ranges from 1% to 3% of your home's equity, guarantee against further losses when it comes time to sell.

Most of the policies work like this: At the time the contract is purchased, the company takes a snapshot of the average home price in the customer's ZIP code. If, at the time of sale the ZIP Code property value has declined, the company would make up the difference -- in most cases, less a 10% "deductible."

Continue reading Ready to gamble that your home value will tumble more?

Ready to gamble that your home value will tumble more? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>house price insurancehouse price protectionhouse value protectionHousePriceInsuranceHousePriceProtectionHouseValueProtectionhousing markethousing pricesHousingMarketHousingPricesAnn BrenoffMon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 ESTRecession tales: Funemployment is here to stayhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/03/recession-tales-funemployment-is-here-to-stay/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/03/recession-tales-funemployment-is-here-to-stay/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/03/recession-tales-funemployment-is-here-to-stay/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Perhaps Janis Joplin said it best: Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. While there have always been people who, when handed a pile of lemons find a way to make lemonade, this recession is proving that we may indeed be a nation of lemonade-makers.

The unspoken motto: Make unemployment, funemployment.

Some use the time off to travel the world, visit friends in faraway places or just chill. But others see the break from the daily grind as a chance to chase a long-deferred dream, take a gamble with starting up their own business and test the limits of their creativity.

Continue reading Recession tales: Funemployment is here to stay

Recession tales: Funemployment is here to stay originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>funemploymentrecessionunemploymentAnn BrenoffTue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 ESTRecession tales: Forget housing as an ATMhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/02/recession-tales-forget-housing-as-an-atm/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/02/recession-tales-forget-housing-as-an-atm/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/02/recession-tales-forget-housing-as-an-atm/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Will the American Dream of home ownership go the way of the myth that our streets were paved in gold?

Home ownership has long been a milestone rung on the ladder of success. Much as we use birthdays to measure our personal progress toward life goals, buying a home of your own has been the way we announce to the world that we have arrived.

Throwing in tax incentives like mortgage interest and property tax deductions just sweetened the pot. If you wanted to keep up with the Joneses, you added a bigger deck whether you needed one or not.

Continue reading Recession tales: Forget housing as an ATM

Recession tales: Forget housing as an ATM originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>homehousinghousing marketHousingMarketrecessionAnn BrenoffMon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTHong Kong trying to slow high-end housing saleshttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/30/hong-kong-trying-to-slow-high-end-housing-sales/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/30/hong-kong-trying-to-slow-high-end-housing-sales/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/30/hong-kong-trying-to-slow-high-end-housing-sales/#commentsFiled under: ,

Authorities in Hong Kong have moved in to dampen demand at the highest end of that city's real estate market.

Coming on the heels of a developer there last week setting a world price record for the sale of an apartment -- $9,200 U.S. per square foot -- the Hong Kong Monetary Authority increased the amount of the down payment required from 30% to 40% of the purchase price to buy property valued at U.S. $2.8 million or more.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority functions as a central bank.

Continue reading Hong Kong trying to slow high-end housing sales

Hong Kong trying to slow high-end housing sales originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Hong KongHongKonghousingHousing Bubblehousing markethousing priceshousing sectorHousingBubbleHousingMarketHousingPricesHousingSectorreal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffFri, 30 Oct 2009 18:30:00 ESTStay West, young man: Fewer moving out of Californiahttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/29/stay-west-young-man-fewer-moving-out-of-california/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/29/stay-west-young-man-fewer-moving-out-of-california/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/29/stay-west-young-man-fewer-moving-out-of-california/#commentsFiled under:

As recently as 2005, for every two people who moved to California, three left the Golden State. The high cost of housing was no doubt part of the migration for two reasons: Many were folks cashing out of their homes and buying in less expensive locales; and others were renters who realized they'd never be able to buy here.

The official number, according to Relocation.com, is that 60.7% of all relocation activity in California was to head for the exits. And while Oregonians never quite sent out the welcome wagon for their southern neighbors, Oregon did ultimately benefit from an increased tax base and what I suspect was a lot of highway construction projects.

But all that is changing, albeit slowly. That outbound number has been slowly decreasing every year, from 58.6% in 2006 to 54.99% in 2009 year to date.

Is this because Californians can no longer sell their homes for the big-profits they could back in 2005? Or is it because they can't sell their homes at all anymore?

Relocation.com also looked at the data for all moves in the city of Los Angeles and found that the percentage of people moving within the city was 25.2% in 2008 and rose to 32.33% in 2009. Downsizing perhaps?

Stay West, young man: Fewer moving out of California originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Californialeaving CaliforniaLeavingCaliforniamovingreal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffThu, 29 Oct 2009 15:30:00 ESTSending Stockton our sympathieshttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/14/sending-stockton-our-sympathies/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/14/sending-stockton-our-sympathies/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/14/sending-stockton-our-sympathies/#commentsFiled under: ,

Poor Stockton California just can't get a break. The community of 300,000, located between Modesto and Sacramento, recently earned the dubious distinction of being home to the cheapest house on the market in California.

The cost? $25,000. (Although the house in the photo to the right is appropriately rustic, it is not the house in question.)

While we prefer to avoid superlatives, and have to believe that there is a mobile home lurking somewhere out in the bleakest corner of the Mojave Desert that must be listed for less, reports say that the 600-square-foot two-bedroom home was cited as "the least expensive single-family home in the seven-county area served by the Metrolist multiple listing service that doesn't involve a bank-owned or short sale transaction."

Them's fighting words. Especially piled on top of reports that called Stockton "Ground Zero" for the housing meltdown (although many communities may be in contention for that honor) and a recent Forbes' report which put it at the top of the "Most Miserable Cities" list.

Stockton led the country in foreclosures in 2007, with one out of every 30 homes posted for foreclosure. Ouch. In 2009, Forbes also called Stockton "America's fifth most dangerous city" because of its crime rate. Need more? Charles Manson family member, "Squeaky Fromme," called Stockton home for awhile. But then, even she moved on.

If real estate is all about location, location, location, is $25,000 too much to pay for a home in a town that some have referred to as "the armpit" of California? Ask an investor buying property in Detroit what they think.

Sending Stockton our sympathies originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>CACheapest house in CaliforniaCheapestHouseInCaliforniafeaturedinvestingReal estateRealEstateStocktonAnn BrenoffWed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:00 ESTIs real estate profession wearing 'For sale' sign?http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/13/is-real-estate-profession-wearing-for-sale-sign-aaron-working/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/13/is-real-estate-profession-wearing-for-sale-sign-aaron-working/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/10/13/is-real-estate-profession-wearing-for-sale-sign-aaron-working/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Don't be surprised if the greeter at Wal-Mart is the guy who sold you your house. The housing market's decline has sent once-successful realty agents scrambling for second jobs or dumping the profession altogether.

According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, Realtors, brokers and builders whose incomes rely on sales commissions, all took a beating these past few years as the housing market imploded.

The National Association of Realtors reports that the median income for Realtors and brokers fell to $36,700 last year from a high of $49,300 in 2004. Membership in the group dropped from 1.35 million to 1.14 million from September 2008 to September 2009.

Where have all the agents gone? Traditionally when the sales market slowed down, real estate agents would fall back on the related fields of doing appraisals or selling title insurance. But this recession has been so lingering and so deep, those options have been impacted as well and are less available.

Some agents, handy with a camera, have set up shop as real estate photographers -- shooting MLS photos for their colleagues with listings. Others, with an eye toward interior design, now provide home staging services. More than a few have jumped on the speeding train and become certified foreclosure agents.

One enterprising agent, Riverside Georgia's Cassandra Black, began Foreclosure Cleanup in 2008, a service cleaning out foreclosed homes for banks. She's also a leading seller of ebooks on how to do what she did -- or open any business in a down economy.

As for the rest of the displaced agents? A few who socked away their nuts for the winter -- make that nuclear winter -- may just be sunning themselves on a cheap beach in Mexico. Or filing out their application for Starbucks.

Is real estate profession wearing 'For sale' sign? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>real estateRealEstaterealtorrealtorsAnn BrenoffTue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:00 ESTIf you've got the vacation house to rent, we've got the Facebook apphttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/22/if-youve-got-the-vacation-house-to-rent-weve-got-the-facebook/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/22/if-youve-got-the-vacation-house-to-rent-weve-got-the-facebook/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/22/if-youve-got-the-vacation-house-to-rent-weve-got-the-facebook/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Finally, a Facebook application that makes sense. A new online travel portal is trying to alleviate the biggest obstacle people have in renting out their second homes: their fear of renting to strangers.

Portland-based SecondPorch.com has launched a Facebook app called "Rent & Trade Vacation Homes," which, it says, is the first "socially enabled" vacation home site that allows vacationers and vacation home owners to connect.

The site integrates with Facebook's wall stream messaging and allows "friends" to discover who on their Facebook account has a home they are willing to rent out. Vacation home rentals is the fastest-growing segment of the lodging industry -- a $50 billion a year industry at that.

Second Porch users can search for homes based on budget, location, amenities, recommendations and -- most importantly -- relationship to the owner.

In what is clearly a sign of the economic times, 45% of the Second Porch home owners have opted in for trading their homes with others. The site's founder, Brent Hieggelke, knows first-hand about rental horror stories. His father rented out his vacation home to a group that used it to host a bachelor party. Damage tally: $4,000.

If you've got the vacation house to rent, we've got the Facebook app originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Facebookfeaturedreal estateRealEstatesecond homesSecondHomesSecondporch.comsocial mediaSocialMediatravelAnn BrenoffTue, 22 Sep 2009 10:00:00 ESTRacing for a Rooooffffhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/19/racing-for-a-rooooffff/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/19/racing-for-a-rooooffff/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/19/racing-for-a-rooooffff/#commentsFiled under: ,

There are four-legged victims of the real estate foreclosure crisis too. Animal shelters report that owner turn-ins have reached an all-time high as families lose their homes and are forced to move -- often to rentals that don't accept Fido and Fluffy.

But the pets who wind up at shelters are sometimes the luckier ones, says Realtor Sandy Zalagens, a Keller Williams agent based in Los Angeles who says she is sickened by all the dogs she finds tied up in backyards, just left behind often without so much as a bowl of food or water. "Realtors are on the front lines," she said, "The owners move out and we find them."

Zalagans is the force behind the Keller Williams team that is participating in the Race for the Rescues on Oct. 4 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. The 5K race organized by The Rescue Train hopes to raise as much money as possible.

Zalagans' office alone has set its target on raising $1 million. Zalagans has long been known as the dog-rescuing Realtor in Los Angeles. She offers a free rescue dog to each buyer of a home she sells (they must qualify for not only the mortgage, but for dog ownership as well -- often much tougher standards to meet). For those who can't take the dog, she sponsors it in the name of the buyer out of her sales commission until a home is found.

For details on the race, click here.

Racing for a Rooooffff originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>abandoned petsAbandonedPetsfeaturedForeclosurespetsRace for the RescueRaceForTheRescueReal estateRealEstateRealtorsSandy ZalagensSandyZalagensAnn BrenoffSat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:00 ESTToilet overflowing? Just send a text.http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/01/toilet-overflowing-just-send-a-text/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/01/toilet-overflowing-just-send-a-text/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/01/toilet-overflowing-just-send-a-text/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Taking online banking a step further, tenants who use PayYourRent.com now can not only pay their rent and apartment utilities online, they can also file a request for maintenance on the same site. And since their e-mail goes directly to Joe Toolbelt's Blackberry -- in theory anyway -- there is the presumption that their leaky faucets will get fixed faster.

There is also the presumption that property managers won't have to listen to long messages from irate tenants.

The service is free for property managers to establish; each apartment unit is registered with an individual account. A fee of $3.95 per month is charged to tenants. Property managers may absorb the fee, which is discounted for volume.

The one-stop online rental portal idea was Kevin Eberly's entrepreneurship class project while he was getting his master's degree at USC's Marshall School of Business. The business model worked so well that Eberly beta-tested it on the 4,000 apartment units his family manages. The site, which debuted nationally, has 25,000 units signed up.

As for Joe Toolbelt, nobody says he has to keep his cell phone turned on.

Toilet overflowing? Just send a text. originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>pay your rent dot compayyourrent.comPayYourRentDotComreal estateRealEstatetechnologyAnn BrenoffTue, 01 Sep 2009 09:00:00 ESTWeird things people leave behindhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/26/weird-things-people-leave-behind/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/26/weird-things-people-leave-behind/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/26/weird-things-people-leave-behind/#commentsFiled under:

Some pretty strange things have been left behind when people move out of their homes. In the Pacific Palisades, Amalfi Estates agent Anthony Marguleas once needed to call a seller who had just moved out to ask her how she wanted him to dispose of the ashes -- yes, those kind of ashes -- left behind in an urn in the attic.

Turns out the ashes were those of a long-lost pet, and the celebrity seller said to just toss them. So much for sentimentality.

On another occasion, a family selling their home in Venice bequeathed their cat to the new buyers, who had a dog. At first, the cat rejected the arrangement and lived outside. Eventually, the new owners passed the catnip test and Miss Kitty deemed them worthy of her companionship.

Bigger Pockets recently queried its readers -- mostly real estate investors -- about what they've found left behind by tenants. Seems a lot of sex toys and porn magazines never make it into the moving box. But weirdest among the weird: a gold tooth, a pregnancy tester and a loaded gun -- not all found in the same place.

Weird things people leave behind originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>real estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffWed, 26 Aug 2009 11:30:00 ESTTaking the pulse on Malibu's summer lease seasonhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/04/taking-the-pulse-on-malibus-summer-lease-season/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/04/taking-the-pulse-on-malibus-summer-lease-season/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/04/taking-the-pulse-on-malibus-summer-lease-season/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Mega music producer-manager Peter Asher's beachfront house in California leased out for the summer at what may be a record-breaking price for Malibu Colony this recessionary season.

The MLS says it leased for $110,000 a month, still a bit anemic compared to previous seasons where Malibu beach homes went for $150,000 a month.

Asher's six-bedroom, 4.5 bathroom furnished property in the exclusive guard-gated Colony includes a detached guesthouse with a full kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. But it is so much more than that: The Colony is where people go to see and be seen. The listing agent was Chad Rogers of Hilton & Hyland in Beverly Hills, one of the stars of Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing" show.

Continue reading Taking the pulse on Malibu's summer lease season

Taking the pulse on Malibu's summer lease season originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>homemalibureal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffTue, 04 Aug 2009 17:00:00 ESTMalibu mobile home sale blows the tires offhttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/28/malibu-mobile-home-sale-blows-the-tires-off/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/28/malibu-mobile-home-sale-blows-the-tires-off/http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/28/malibu-mobile-home-sale-blows-the-tires-off/#commentsFiled under: ,

If the hoopla over Michael Jackson's death wasn't enough to convince you that the world has gone mad, perhaps this will: A double-wide in Malibu just closed escrow at $2,275,000.

Yes, it was a pretty spectacular mobile home, with a cliff-side deck overlooking a glorious stretch of the Pacific and surrounded by stick-built houses valued at 10 times its price.


The home-on-wheels has three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,300 square feet and sits in the Paradise Cove Mobile Home park, a beachfront location just a spit away from some of the finest surfing Malibu has to offer. Many of the homes are used as second residences for the Beverly Hills and Bel-Air set who want a place at the beach.

David Carter, the Pritchett-Rapf agent who handled both sides of the deal and is generally considered the top mobile home guy in the 'bu, doesn't even bat an eyelash. In the peak of the market, he sold one for $2.5 million. Carter, who has lived in the park himself for almost 30 years, says that while this one may be gone, he still has a few listed at $1.25 million to $1.4 million that might interest you. Thanks to Malibu real estate blog for the tip.
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The Smaller the Better
If the hoopla over Michael Jackson's death wasn't enough to convince you that the world has gone mad, perhaps this will: A doublewide in Malibu just closed escrow at $2,275,000. The recession has popularized the "mobile home". Click through this gallery to find out more.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Malibu mobile home sale blows the tires off originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>luxury real estateLuxuryRealEstateMalibumobile homesMobileHomesreal estateRealEstateAnn BrenoffTue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST