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This wonderful Rancho Palos Verdes Condo with an incredible view has now been reduced to the unbelievable price of $425,000. Great Ocean View Condo6542 Ocean Crest Dr. #D201 Rancho Palos Verdes$425,000 - MLS # V10097805 NEW REDUCED PRICE FOR A RARE PANORAMIC OCEAN VIEW END UNIT !! SELLER HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED AND MUST MOVE. . View must be seen to be believed !! This 2 BR 2 BA 1,091 sq. ft. view condo was recently upgraded, light and bright end unit features a sunny living room, adjacent dining area, and spacious [...]

On the morning of August 6, 1846, Juan and Jose Sepulveda were at the Port of San Pedro and spotted an American Warship and sent word to the local Mexican army. This ship, commanded by Commodore Robert Stockton, had been sent to San Pedro by President Polk, to seize California in the name of the United States, after hostilities had begun with Mexico on April 25, 1846. On August 11th, Stockton began to march his troops from San Pedro to the pueblo Los Angeles. The local Mexican soldiers, unprepared to defend [...]

Behind the Villetta, also called Villa Narcissa or simply "The Vanderlip Mansion" in Portuguese Bend is a beautiful stairway of 268 steps, lined by cypress trees,soaring to a spectacular lookout point where a white marble temple semicircle of Doric Columns . Views of the Temple Photos by Guy Nelson Four Doric columns in a semicircle are reached by the path that defines the garden ´s central axis. The pergola was designed by the Olmsted Brothers around 1924. Aerial View showing Vanderlip Mansion estate on left, with staircase with Cypress trees in [...]

I just had the buyer remove all contingencies on a very quick sale of my recent listing of a beautifully updated home in Rolling Hills Estates. This home sold very quickly, under contract about a week after listing the property, and it sold due to the willingness of the seller to update the home with new carpet, new kitchen appliances, new ceiling light fixtures, new door hardware, new bathroom vanities, counter tops and mirrors, new landscaping and the great staging job that Wendy Wharton did. Beautifully Updated Family Home 27622 Saddle [...]

The other day when I held a Portuguese Bend neighbors only special open house for my new listing of the Vanderlip Cottage in Portguese Bend, my husband and I had the pleasure of spending some time speaking to Lee Jester, son of Academy Award nominee Ralph Jester. He was nominated for an Academy Award for best costume design for two Cecil B. DeMille films: The Ten Commandments (1956), and again for The Buccaneer (1958), losing out to Gigi and The King and I He worked for many years with Edith Head. [...]

Gasoline prices are dropping quickly in the Palos Verdes area and are poised to go under $4.00 per gallon. In fact, there is one location that is selling gas for $3.95 if you pay cash. The stations currently selling the cheapest gas in the Palos Verdes area are listed below. Local prices are according to GasBuddy.com and reflect prices reported within the last 24 hours. Chevron, 27774 Hawthorne Blvd. and Highridge Road Regular: $3.95 (Add 10 cents for credit/debit card) Premium: $4.15 (Add 10 cents for credit/debit card) ARCO, 27301 Hawthorne [...]

The new computerized rules used by FNMA to determine if a borrower is qualified for a mortgage is ridiculous as they do not take into consideration the borrowers other liquid assets and only look at their income to debt payment ratio. I have a client who is right on the border of FNMA's requirement of no more than a 45% debt payment to income ratio. They pay off their credit cards every month, and have over $500,000 in liquid assets. When their mortgage broker ran their credit check, even though they [...]

Thru 5/20/11, 13 homes out of 34 listed for sale as of 3/31/11 were sold in The Lunada Bay area of Palos Verdes Estates ( area 160 in map below) , compared to 17 homes sold in the first quarter of 2011, which was also a very active quarter for sales in this area. Properties Sold: 13 Address Sales Price BR BA Sq.ft. $/Sq.ft Date Built MLS # Closing Date Days on Market 1015 Via Palestra $812,000 3 2.00 2,034 $399.21 1958 S11038703 4/14/11 12 2872 Via De La Guerra $859,000 [...]

Interest rates have gone down a bit over the last week, and mortgage rates for Jumbo loans are particularly attractive, down to the low 5% level.The following are some excerpts from this week's newsletter on interest rates from HSH Associates : "Mortgage rates remain at the most favorable levels of the year, not that buyers are exactly flocking to snap up cut-price homes. Given the wide differential in interest rates ( between shorter term mortgages and 30 year mortgages ), at least some borrowers should be considering hybrid 5/1 ARMs; whose [...]

I have had a number of clients ask me if a tankless water heater system is a good idea. They have heard that it saves money on utilities and provides an endless stream of hot water. The following, however, is an article by Consumer Reports with the conclusion that it does not make economic sense: Tank or a Tankless System ??? Tankless water heaters They're efficient but not necessarily economical"Heating water accounts for up to 30 percent of the average home's energy budget. Some makers of gas-fired tankless water heaters claim [...]

The Rolling Hills Estates City Council at their meeting on Tuesday votedto delaya vote on approvingthe Proposed Chandler Ranch Project until their next meeting on June 14th. Their was no public input heard at the meeting, but public comments will be heard at the June meeting. The Chandlers are proposing the 228-acre development in conjunction with the neighboring Rolling Hills Country Club, which would get a longer, Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and new facilities. For more information about Palos Verdes and South Bay Real Estate and buying and sellinga homeon the [...]