PASADENA CITY FLEA MARKET FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH! - GREAT SALES & BARGAINS!        Held the first Sunday of every month at Pasadena City College is the Pasadena City Flea Market. A three story parking garage full of antiques, clothing and...let's just say EVERYTHING you could imagine. It's a great place to hang out with the family, search for collectables and grab a bite to eat. Lots of people bring their dogs to run around with them while they browse. If you collect records the whole top floor of the garage is full of vinyl records. You must check this out if you live in the area. Free admission - parking structure $2. Google Map directions.       The campus is just beautiful   Thai Chicken $2 - YUMMY     It's a swap meet setting, very casual and relaxed, with booths spread out al... 01/03/2010

Real Estate Market Report West San Gabriel Valley                                      November, 2009 Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, and San Marino Looking at the last few 12 months it appears that the area peaked in June and has been on a slow decline back to where we were in May. The Market Activity Index dropped 8 points, the a fairly significant decrease, returning the area to it's trendline.   Some other areas have spiked UP due to buyers taking advantage of the First Time Home Buyer Income Tax Credit, however this area has not. The good news for buyers is that the downward shift in the Market Activity Index is resulting in lower prices.   Market Index   - 0.43, down 8 points   The Market Index fell 8 points to 0.43, down from last month's 0.51.  Last year the index was 0.21. ... 12/28/2009

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works. Wright promoted organic architecture and was a leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture. He also developed the concept of the Usonian home, exemplified by the Millard House (also called La Miniatura) which is currently listed for sale in Pasadena, California. La Miniatura contains block patterns inspired by pre-Columbian motifs, and sand from the site was added to cement to create a building that is well-integrated with its natural surrounds. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is 4,230 square feet and contains four bedrooms. The home is situated on nearly one ... 12/18/2009

I’m not sure it’s really smart to post videos where I show up with morning face and bedhead, but I’ve never been one to have a keen sense of propriety. It’s just that this is one of my favorite rituals of the whole year . . . and the timing’s great.  I’m sure Santa will be good to me, but Mother Nature always beats him to it. Have any of you read Catherine Ponder?  It was kind of funny . . . I re-remembered her after talking to a real estate agent in Palm Springs that was trying to put a deal together for Ms. Ponder’s son. In 1983 she published a book entitled, “Open Your Mind to Receive.”  On page 2, she recounts: “A businesswoman was once despondent over financial conditions.  Her affairs continued to be out of order so she went to the beach and sat there all day and most of the night... 12/09/2009

[Also included below as a random tangent and not related to business at all (except I did make it here to write this post): Bare to Bear - a True Tale of Grim Survival and Wobbly Knees] . . . A title holding (land) trust is a great way to hold title to property, and personally, I will never again hold title to any piece of property in my own name, or even in an LLC or Corporation. First, it'll go into a land trust, and my entity of choice (LLC vs. S Corp) will be the beneficiary. When the trustee is deeded the property, the trustee is said to hold bare legal title.  The trustee holds legal and equitable title, but does NOT have the power of direction . . . that resides only with the beneficiaries. The trustee does not have the ability to take any action with regards to the property or r... 11/04/2009

Fellow Active Rainers: You are invited                                                                                          When? Sunday Oct 25, 2009 from Noon-4pm Where? 3035 E Foothill Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 91107 Why? To meet me and my wife. OK-To Network too ;-) The Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services is having a  Charity Gospel Lunch on Sunday Oct 25, 2009 from Noon-4pm. There will be great people, music, and some great soul food. Join me and celebrate this great cause and great people. Give me a call and I can save you a spot at my table. I would love to meet some of my fellow Active Rainers in person! Cost is $17 per person. Click here to see: Mark's Home Site: If you know of clients who may need some help in the So California, feel free to send them to my site: www.SanGabrie... 10/23/2009

832 Manzanita Ave Pasadena CA 91103 2 beds, 1.0 baths, 983 sq ft just listed!! $274,000!!! http://tinyurl.com/mk92rb 10/19/2009

37 Yale St Pasadena CA 91103 4 beds, 3.0 baths, 1,968 sq ft now pending!!! $279,900!! http://tinyurl.com/ns5t49 10/12/2009

286 Redwood Dr Pasadena CA 91105 3 beds, 2.0 baths, 1,827 sq ft now pending!! $646,900!!! http://tinyurl.com/n8hm25 09/23/2009

“We just don’t want our property any more . . . it’s too much stress.  We’re tired of being soaked by the bank, and we’re not going to send them another dime.” This frustrated woman and her husband bought a penthouse condo in Pasadena just above Cal Tech for $510,000 2-3 years ago.  It’s in a great location and has beautiful views of the San Gabriel mountains, but the mortgage payments are draining the life out of them. In fact, they’re in the process of getting a divorce. They bought because their broker promised them that it would be a good investment and definitely be worth over $600K in no time at all. Whoops . . . that crystal ball thing can be kinda tricky. In today’s market, it’s probably worth somewhere between $425K - $450K, and they owe about $470,000. The $408,000 first is a... 08/22/2009

Real Estate Market Report West San Gabriel Valley           July, 2009 Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, and San Marino    Market Index   - .0.46, down 3 points A market index of above 1.20 is a seller's market, between 0.80 to 1.20 is a balanced market, and below 0.80 is a buyer's market. Index is at 0.46 down from last months .49  Last year the index was 0.28. The first decline in five months.   New Listings - 203 new listings, up from last month's 177.  Last year there were 124.    Pending Listings - 123 listings opened escrow, compared to 112 last month, versus 124 last year.                                      Pending Ratio - 0.61, down from 0.63 last month, up from last year's 0.88 pending ratio.   Listing Inventory - 698 active listings, up from 616 last month.  Last year we h... 08/10/2009

New Listings: 22Average Listing Price: $ 598,231Listings Under Contract: 10Average Listing Price: $ 470,980 Listings Sold: 10Average Selling Price: $ 380,920 %Difence Between Listing Price versus Selling Price: 97.24 %%Sales Price Versus Old Listing Price: 87.88 %Average Days on The Market: 70 http://www.stoppayingrentinla.com Alberto Pacheco, Granada Hills Homes For Sale, Remax Olson, Fha 08/04/2009

New Listings: 20Average Listing Price: $ 513,685Listings Under Contract: 7Average Listing Price: $ 353,505Listings Sold: 15Average Selling Price: $ 423,066 %Difence Between Listing Price versus Selling Price: 99.60 %%Sales Price Versus Old Listing Price: 96.23 %Average Days on The Market: 34 http://www.sfvalleyhotproperties.com Alberto Pacheco, Granada Hills Homes For Sale, Remax Olson, Fha 08/04/2009

New Listings: 20Average Listing Price: $ 496,094Listings Under Contract: 11Average Listing Price: $ 373,881Listings Sold: 9Average Selling Price: $ 321,377 %Difence Between Listing Price versus Selling Price: 100.98 %%Sales Price Versus Old Listing Price: 90.23 %Average Days on The Market: 85 http://www.losangelescountyrealestate.blogspot.com Alberto Pacheco, Granada Hills Homes For Sale, Remax Olson, Fha 08/04/2009

Check out this video, I'd been showing a client these great Lofts for Auction and thought you would like to check it out. So I put it the model homes on YouTube. Give me a call if you'd like to see them in person. Jared Tafua Prudential California Realty Direct Line 626 408-2382 or 714 501-8514 Be sure to visit my YouTube page. http://www.youtube.com/jaredtafua Thanks, Jared 07/30/2009

Real Estate Market Report West San Gabriel Valley           June, 2009 Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, and San Marino    Market Index   - .0.49, up 4 points A market index of above 1.20 is a seller's market, between 0.80 to 1.20 is a balanced market, and below 0.80 is a buyer's market. This is the 4th consecutive monthly increase.  Last year the index was 0.28.   New Listings - 177 new listings, down from last month's 204.  Last year there were 234.    Pending Listings - 112 listings opened escrow, compared to 151 last month, versus 107 last year.                                                              Pending Ratio - 0.63, down from 0.74 last month, up from last year's 0.46 pending ratio.   Listing Inventory - 616 active listings, down from 694 last month.  Last year we had 88... 07/09/2009

I’ve been working on developing an ezine (’Seller Financing on Steroids’) as well as a simple decision making guide for people to use.  I finally got the first draft up, and I’d really appreciate any feedback, especially on how I can improve the Decision Making Guide. The reason I started developing it was because I was spending a lot of time communicating with people by phone or email.  I finally realized that most of them would have 75% of their questions answered before they ever got to me if they just had a simple tool to help them filter out all the possibilities and narrow it down to a few tools that would probably help them with their specific real estate situation. Sign up for ‘Seller Financing on Steroids’ and the ‘Seller Financing Decision Making Guide’.  It will answer many ... 07/08/2009

Today's Real Estate market in the Pasadena area, as well as all over the country, is so frustrating to both buyers and sellers.  We need to educate our clients so they can understand the frustrations of pricing homes, going after shortsales and REOs, and the loan challenges currently facing all buyers.  My objective is to put all these issues on the table, before we start to negotiate 07/07/2009

It’s hard to keep covered against the chill winds of the market sometimes.  Perhaps it’s possible to get a nice, thick sheepskin warming the front half of your body, but investors, builders and developers are increasingly finding their backsides completely exposed to the elements . . . brrrr! If you’re a real estate investor, investing in shorts sales and REO’s, how can you keep clothes on both sides of your body simultaneously?  Is there a way around the seasoning issues that hang these deals up? What in the heck am I talking about? Here’s a typical scenario: Investor buys REO bank foreclosure for 50 cents on the dollar or less.  They get a great price (that’s the sheepskin in the front), but they’ve used hard money at 12% with a 1 year balloon, so they need a quick exit strategy. That... 07/03/2009

I recently received this email: “Dear Dawn, I saw your recommendations in the Tribune article on waiting for Recovery. My question to you is should we sell our home now or next year? We bought this home 7/2007 for $950,000.  We have spent $150,000 plus. The last project is to have the outside of the house painted, which is scheduled for July. We have been told that we could probably sell for $950,000. The lot is about ¾ acre, the house is about 2500 sq feet. We realize we are losing money and our proposition 60 taxes.  But the lot has proven too much for us.  We would expect to buy a replacement home for about $850,000. Our property taxes will increase ($6,000 to about $11,000 a year).  We will look for the same size house, but a smaller piece of property in the same city. If we wait, r... 06/24/2009