Listing of the Week: 24690 W Saddle Peak Rd

Property of the Week: 24960 W Saddle Peak Rd 

This 6 bedroom 6 bathroom house on Saddle Peak Road is very fairly priced at $2,195,000!  On 5 acres, it has 3 ponds, a lagoon pool, room for horses--and best of all, total privacy!
MLS # 11-549359  For more info, contact info@AreteEstates.com and we will take you down to see it!

Malibu in the news: Chocolate milk, a big issue.

The LA Times article about this chocolate milk ban details this whole apparently epic saga of whether or not chocolate milk ought to be banned in the Santa Monica-Malibu school district.  Following much presumably heated debate, Wednesday night it was decided that chocolate milk will not be banned, but parents can request that their children not receive this sugar-laden beverage.  The argument to keep chocolate milk is essentially that if there were no chocolate milk, some kids might not drink milk period.    So, I guess we can call this a victory for all chocolate milk lovers in the Santa Monica-Malibu school system.

This Weekend in Malibu: Malipalooza 2011

Malipalooza 2011

Don't miss this, tomorrow in Malibu!  They show movies outside at the park and this weekend its Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I don't care what your interests are, french cinema, horror, what have you--there's no way you don't have an appreciation for Raiders of the Lost Ark.  

Saturday, August 27th

Malibu Bluffs Park: 24250 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, CA 90265

4:00 PM

Island Rhythms, Ote for President, Impakt & Kenon

...And it's free- so why not!?

Property of the Week: 23356 Malibu Colony Rd #107

23556 Malibu Colony Rd #107: MLS #11-547823

This property of the week JUST became active today!  For Malibu Colony, the $11,750,000 price-tag is actually very reasonable.  This house has been rented out for anywhere from 16,000-32,000 a month since 1999,  alternately being listed as "107 Malibu Colony Road" and "23356 Malibu Colony Road #107," because houses in the Malibu Colony are all assigned a number to accompany their standard 5 digit address.

It has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms on two stories, with 3,786 square feet.

It is also available for lease for $32,000.

Brad Pitt lists Malibu home!

A new thirteen dollar listing in Malibu--and it's Brad Pitt's!  I like so many things about that sentence, it's hard to know where to start.  At 32316 Pacific Coast Highway, this is a 4 bedroom, 4 bath house that currently is a single story home, but has plans for a second story designed by Chis Sorenson.  The Real Estalker has all the details, but here's the property description that is in theMLS:
"ONE OF MALIBU'S MOST EXTRAORDINARY COASTLINE VIEWS AWAITS YOU FROM THIS ARCHITECTURAL MID-CENTURY HOME ON APPROXIMATELY 1.26 ACRES SITUATED ON THE ENCINAL BLUFFS. ENTER THE PRIVATE GATES AND VENTURE DOWN A TREE-LINED DRIVE, PAST THE TENNIS COURT AND LAP POOL TO THIS AMAZING BLUFF-TOP HOME. THIS HOME WAS COMPLETELY RENOVATED SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND FEATURES: WALLS OF GLASS THAT OPEN TO SWEEPING COASTLINE VIEWS, DARK BAMBOO FLOORING THROUGHOUT, A MODERN STAINLESS KITCHEN WITH WALK-IN REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER & TOP OF THE LINE APPLIANCES, BREAKFAST AREA, FAMILY ROOM, DINING AREA, A SPECTACULAR MASTER BEDROOM SUITE AND 3 ADDITIONAL BEDROOM SUITES (TWO BEING USED AS OFFICES). PLANNING AND COASTAL APPROVAL FOR ADDITIONAL 2ND STORY DESIGNED BY CHRIS SORENSON. ADDITIONAL AMENITIES INCLUDE: STAIRS AND PATH ACCESS TO A SANDY BEACH COVE, 3 FIREPLACES, SECURITY SYSTEM, SOUND SYSTEM AND VIEWS! VIEWS! VIEWS!"


There is only one photo of the house in the MLS, which is disappointing for us, but it was just listed today so we'll just have to be patient!

Point Dume Bluffs

So this is an excerpt from Areté Estate's agent Katie Bentzen's book "Buy the Beach," which details a lot about Malibu real estate and areas.  This week we will be focusing on the Pointe Dume Bluffs:
"
Point Dume Bluffs dramatically juts into Pacific.  Within this beachfront section there is Pointe Dume and Little Dume.  I'll explain the features of both in the paragraphs that follow.  Many homes on Pointe Dume Bluffs have direct access to the beach through private or shared entrances.  In addition, Cliffside, Grayfox, Zumirez, and Birdview Drives dead end at private gated paths that lead to the beaches below.  Birdview is one of the main streets that runs along the bluff.  Throughout Point Dume, residents treasure their beaches and maintain the beauty of the pathways themselves.  Several years ago, along some streets on the Pointe, the beach rights were sold to the state; the beach below is now a public beach and is called Westward Beach.  The parcels of land can be an acre or more, and many of the larger homes have pools, tennis courts, and beautiful gardens.  Properties here are usually gated.  There are no sidewalks, so you'll often see residents taking their dogs for walks along the roads, riding horses and bikes, and enjoying magnificent sunsets.

The most striking feature of Big Dume is the whale watching point.  The military flattened the top of this hill years ago, and today it's an ideal place to catch views of the California Coast.

Little Dume has many cul-de-sac streets.  At the end of the streets are private beaches.  Many of the homes were built in the 1960's.  Therefore you may still see ranch-style homes, which were popular to build at the time.  Today, some of those homes still exist, but many have been torn down and rebuilt.  It is rare to find a vacant parcel of land here, but a few are still available.
"

RealtorMag's Top 8 Places to Live

So here is an article from RealtorMag listing the top 8 places to live,  arguing via unemployment rate, average list price, and population as factors for making this list.  The top city on the list is "Louisville, Colorado.  Population: 18,400 Unemployment: 6.3% Average list price (July 2011): $383,569."

First of all, I take issue with the fact that absolutely NO California, or even West Coast, cities are listed on here.  What happened to the West Coast is the best coast?

I argue for the inclusion of Malibu on this list, I was just curious and pulled up the statistics on Malibu and it would appear that I am extremely justified in arguing for Malibu to be perhaps #1 on this list:

Malibu
Unemployment rate: 3.58%
Population: 19,614
Average List Price (July 2011): $5,529,928

Even if I didn't live in Malibu, those statistics would be looking pretty appetizing to me, especially with the state of the economy at the moment (Look at that unemployment rate!  That average list price!)  I don't know, Realtormag, I think you guys need to step up your game and add Malibu to that list!

Malibu Real Estate News!

So over the weekend, three new properties were listed in Malibu.  Exciting enough, one of them is a listing from an agent over here at Areté Estates!  Here's a little bit about each of them:
1. 31602 Broad Beach Road

 

31602 Broad Beach Road is listed with Tony Mark of Prudential Malibu Realty.  It is a tri-level home that has 4 bedrooms and 5.5 bathroom, is adjacent to Broad Beach and (as is evidenced by the above picture) has spectacular views! Listed at $3,750,000.

2.  20152 Pacific Coast Highway

20152 Pacific Coast Highway was just listed with Jeffrey Chertow of Pritchett Rapf and has 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, and is listed for $2,695,000 which is definitely a fair price considering location and size!

3.  7064 Fernhill Dr.

7064 Fernhill Dr.

This is a unique house with three separate houses on a beautifully landscaped acre!  For 4,800,000 to live in Pt. Dume in 5 spread out bedrooms.  The interiors are newly updated, modern--and more importantly, breathtaking!  This is listed with Areté Estates' very own Kathryn Bentzen.

Photo Friday!

Photo Friday: 21804 Pacific Coast Highway

21804  Pacific Coast Highway is a magnificent property listed with Malibu's omnipresent luxury real estate agent Chris Cortazzo that is being auctioned on September 18th with a measly starting bid of $22 million.  With the original asking price of $65 million, this is a bargain!  I guess.  MSNBC did a story on this, saying it may be the priciest home ever sold on auction.  It is part of an increasing trend of homes being sold for auction, which almost guarantees a sale.  Look at that pool!

Areas in Malibu

Areas in Malibu:  Las Tunas Beach

Las Tunas Beach is one of the more affordable areas in Malibu and is the southernmost beach in Malibu.  The beach is popular with fishermen and scuba divers more so than regular beach-goers.  The residences on Las Tunas beach are located directly on Pacific Coast Highway, which can be hazardous in terms of  and the bluffs located on it have been known to slide in wet weather.  The beach here is wet and rocky and does not have much sand.

Illustrated Market Update

*on the pie charts, blue: active, green: in escrow, yellow: sold

Bel Air

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills Post Office

Malibu

Hollywood Hills

Malibu in the news!

Los Angeles Times detailed 11 places in Santa Monica, Malibu, and Venice with mini articles including a picture and short description of the attraction.  Included are the Venice Boardwalk, the Santa Monica Pier, 3rd Street Promenade (duh!), a hostel in Santa Monica for thrifty travelers, the Getty Villa and the Malibu Quartet.  The Malibu quartet is basically all the hotspots in Malibu they think you should hit--the Malibu Pier, the Malibu lagoon, the Malibu Beach Inn for overnight accommodations, and the Carbon Beach Club restaurant.  All in all, its a pretty good article, especially if you're from out of town. 

Photo Friday!

So I cheated, it's many photos!  But here is the flyer on our new listing that we are having an open house for on Sunday.  Come check it out, it's an incredible property!

Places in Malibu: Topanga State Beach

Areas in Malibu: Topanga State Beach

Zuma is a great beach, don't get me wrong.  But sometimes you need a beach away from all the tourists, a more secluded getaway.  Short of a private beach, there is Topanga State Beach, located off Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon.  It's a great beach for surfing, swimming, and fishing, with surprisingly warm water on some days!  It is very rocky, so don't try to walk around barefoot too much.  Overall very nice beach, public restrooms available, and parking is $10. 

Illustrated Market Update

Here we go guys... Illustrated market update for the week.  Again these are the data based on active, pending (in escrow), and sold listings in the Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, and Malibu in the past week.

Malibu

Bel Air

Hollywood Hills

Beverly Hills Post Office

Beverly Hills

6 Reasons to Google your Address- Trulia

Trulia sent out a great list today, that can be downloaded here called "6 Reasons to Google Your Address."

In summary, it says the following should be reason to Google your address when selling your home:
1. Megan's Law:  This is pretty self-explanatory.  For the safety of yourself and your children, and your potential buyer's family and children, go to the Megan's Law website and put your address in.
2.  Crime Reports: Nobody is going to want to live in a house plagued by crime, so you should know what you're dealing with in terms of crime that has happened around your property.  Find out how long ago crimes happened, what types of crime, etc.
3. Scammers:  You want to know if anyone else is trying to scam people by saying your house is for sale by them.  This sounds near paranoid but it is a very real danger--it happened to one of our family members over here!  The house was put up for sale by some random person on Craigslist--that's an effective way to scare a potential buyer away huh?
4. Comparables: You want to find out what your neighbor's houses sold for so you can properly value your house!  And though Trulia has an excellent point with this advice, Google searches for property values can be inaccurate so call us at 424-235-0143 for a better valuation free!  We take into account things that are not necessarily considered on property valuation calculators.
5.  Public Records:  You want to make sure your public records are up to date!  You probably have upgraded and done additions to your home since you bought it, so you want the public records to reflect that--because that all makes a huge difference in value.  After all, your buyer is going to Google your home as well, so you want all your t-s crossed and i-s dotted.
6. Google Street View:  I mean first of all, it's just interesting to see what your house looks like in an aerial view!  Whose car was parked in the driveway, etc. Also, you want the Google Street View to accurately portray your home--because, again, your buyer will Google your address as well.

The biggest takeaway for me, from this, was "Google your address because your buyer will too!"