Malibu - Kayak Time!

Finally as of August 14, 2010, summer has finally arrived in Malibu, CA.  The weather has been unusually cold out here – the residents have wondered “are we really in summer or is this the late May weather” that we are experiencing.  Our mornings have been foggy but it clears by mid-afternoon and we are able to enjoy the sunshine until 7:30 at night.

Malibu is 27 miles long and the weather varies depending on where one is located on the same day. It is possible for West Malibu to experience the sun in the afternoon where temperatures are a cool 72 degree as compared to the Point Dume area where fog clings along the coast and the temperatures linger around 65 degree.  Then the central Malibu brightens again with some sun and the temperature becomes 72 degree and the east Malibu again has some fog for the temperatures to linger around 65 degree.  I just want to show my guests that Malibu has the bluest water and drop dead gorgeous ocean views but it has been challenging when summer dragged her feet.  Of course I have neglected to mention that we are still 20 degrees cooler than the Valley areas so really no complaints.

I am happy to report that finally the summer sunshine will bask in her glory throughout all Malibu from mid August – absolutely gorgeous!  I have seen the coastline in along California but there is nothing like our Malibu coastline and calling it home!

So now is the time to come out and enjoy all the water sports and just lie on the beach and bask in the beauty.  It is even better if you call Malibu, My Home.

Malibu Pier

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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394 foot Yacht coasts along the Malibu Pier in Malibu, CA

Rear view of 394 foot Yacht floating off the Malibu Pier in Malibu, CA

This past Wednesday – August 11, 2010 – Malibu, CA experienced a new visitor off the coastline.  The town was buzzed with rumors of whose white yacht was floating off the Malibu Pier – anyone driving into Malibu was mesmerized by this unusual sight in the water.

It was the 394 foot yacht as owned by the Russian Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko.  I was able to take the photo from Carbon Beach as well as the Malibu Pier to obtain both the side view as well as the rear view.

Wall Street Journal had reported on this $300 million Philippe Starck designer creation back on April 23, 2010.  Some of the highlights noted include a fingerprint security system [it feels as though the cartoon series “Jetson's” has become a reality] and “it has 44 security cameras and more than a dozen exterior cameras fitted with motion-detection systems and a night-vision infrared system” [Hello James Bond!].

It further reports that it takes about 35 to 37 crew members which includes “stewards, stewardesses, mechanical engineers, security staff, housekeepers, deck hands, galley crew and chefs as well as specialists for surfing, jet skiing, water skiing and cycling.”  “The boat costs over $20 million a year to maintain; filling the gas tank costs more than $500,000.”

Andrey Melnichenko’s yacht is nice for a short novelty but it belongs in different waters – I am thinking that the waters in either Tahiti or Bali or Fiji are more suitable for this work of art.  I am looking forward to the beauty of the Malibu coast returning without this unusual art in the waters.  Undoubtedly the sea creatures would agree unanimously.

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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If you are relocating to Malibu,CA or Calabasas, CA, chances are that one of the biggest questions looming in your mind is whether you should buy or rent a home. Of course only you can make that decision but there are some important factors to weigh. How permanent do you feel this relocation is? Do you have to sell a home before you buy a new home? Are home prices in the area that you are relocating to stable?

There is no doubt about it that buying a home today is more affordable than ever. Low mortgage rates, higher than normal inventory levels and low home values combine to make an ideal buyers market when it comes to real estate. If you already own a home maybe renting it out until the market stabilizes or improves makes sense. If you can hold on to your current home, cover its mortgage, and qualify to buy a new home, you could be in an ideal situation.

Examine the affordability levels of your new location. Is it less expensive to rent, or would a monthly mortgage payment be the same or less than paying rent? Find a Realtor that comes highly recommended and pick his brain. Get to know your new area and weigh the pros and cons of renting vs. buying heavily, after-all, buying real estate is a big investment.

Click here to read a recent article from Bankrate regarding selling vs. renting a home when relocating.

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

When it comes to real estate price matters. Most real estate professionals will aim to price your home at fair market value at the onset and some sellers are on board, others are not. It has been a rough realization for many to acknowledge that it is a buyers market out there. It has been an unknown in recent months as to whether home values will continue to drop, stabilize or improve and every market is different. Regardless of what is going on, if your home isn’t selling then you may want to reduce its price.  This is especially true when one is dealing with sophisticated buyers who are doing their homework ahead of time on the real-time internet – such as those searching in Malibu,CA or Calabasas,CA or Pacific Palisades, CA or Santa Monica, CA or anywhere else.

Whether your home is seeing a lot of potential home buyers or very few, if you haven’t had an offer there could be a few factors. What is your home lacking? Can you fix what your home is lacking? Chances are that if your home is on the market for sale, you are ready to sell it and you are not going to make any large changes to it. The one change you can make is lowering the price. Money matters, more today than ever. If someone sees a home for sale at what they see as a bargain price then they are much more likely to make an offer.  Currently the well priced homes are actually entertaining multiple offers – sellers, it is nice to have a demand on your home as generated by multiple offers.  Today is a good example where I showed a beautiful home to my buyers and learned it is now starting to receive offers when it sat on the market for over 8 months with no offers at the higher price.

Can you afford to hold on to your home until prices start appreciating again? If so keep your price where it is. If you need to sell then lowering the price could be the key to selling it now.

Click here to read an article from House Logic on reasons to lower the price of your home.

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

I just read about the “cash-in refinancing ” or also known as “cash-in refi” is becoming popular per the Los Angeles Times article on July 11, 2010.

Homeowners can take advantage of locking in the low rates by “bringing some money to the table to take advantage of today’s record-low interest rate.” This concept has become quite popular within the past six to nine months as noted by “Frank Nothaft, chief economist at mortgage giant Freddie Mac, the government-charted enterprise that purchases mortgages from lenders.”

This concept differs from the past trend where refinance meant people were taking cash out of the home’s equity.  In today’s economy, the homeowner owes so much on their mortgages; it is creating a better return on your money rather than leaving it in the bank.

The article notes in an example for a couple who wanted to refinance their second homes.  Their loan officer states that “loans on vacation properties are difficult to find and expensive these days” so she recommended this couple do “a cash-out refi on their principal residence and use that money to do a cash-in refi on their second home”. The result was the homeowner had two loans “at absolute rock-bottom rates” and “they rebalanced their debt for an overall savings north of $1,200 a month.”

It is always good to stop paying PMI so try to avoid paying the private mortgage insurance.  Keep your loan balance at 80% or less.  The cash-in refi works for anyone, not just for homes in the Malibu,CA or Calabasas, CA.

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Back Yard is Your Beach!

Here are some quick stats on available leases as of June 7, 2010 for the Malibu beach front single family home on an annual lease.  All of these homes have a minimum of 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and require a lease term of 1 year minimum.  All of these homes would also consider a pet — will need to submit to the landlord for approval.

There are 21 homes being offered – 17 of them are fully furnished – price range from $10,000 per month to $87,000 per month.

4 of these homes include a private pool too.  7 of these homes offer one or no covered parking spaces; otherwise it is just available street parking.

After all these stats – one of the prettiest home is on  Broad Beach in the sandy dune location and easy walking distance to the How’s Market, Starbucks coffee shop and nearby restaurants.  All the bedrooms are upstairs – all with ocean views – 2 are located in the main house and 1 is located above the garage.  A gorgeous custom home with a pool and grassy courtyard – shown by appointment only and good credit is a requirement.  Imagine having the beach as your backyard and still have a pool, a rose garden and a grassy yard.  Yes, it is all possible at this home — ask me about it!

If you are interested in leasing,  purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Malibu Times reports in April 21, 2010 that the two local elementary schools – Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School and Webster Elementary School are recognized as California Distinguished Schools in 2010.

The Malibu Times notes “the Distinguished School Award is in its 24^th year. Schools were identified for eligibility on the basis of their Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress results, which are the state and federal accountability models. The applicants were also identified by their successes in narrowing the achievement gap between higher-performing and lower-performing students.”

Both schools gave credit to the large collaborative efforts by the “community of teachers, staff, students, parents and community members.” Both schools aimed to make learning fun and challenging by creating different programs to enforce and connecting the students to the real world today.

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Reporter, Bill Koeneker for the Malibu Surfside News reports on page 3 in April 15, 2010 edition that he noticed a growing trend.  He has noticed that “many new purchasers nowadays are tearing down the existing homes and replacing the older structure with usually larger residences.”

He cites several examples such as a Broad Beach owner who received planning commission approval to “demolish three adjacent houses totaling 10,356 square feet, merging the three contiguous properties in order to build an 11,210 square foot single family home with attached garage and greenhouse, 249 square feet of covered porches, paddle tennis court, swimming pool and spa.”

Another Broad Beach owner wants to tear down his existing home built over 3 lots and instead build a “new, two-story, 28-foot tall, 11,315-square-foot residence including an attached three car garage, 2,284 square feet of covered porches and decks.”

Another homeowner who lives along the 27000 area of Pacific Coast Highway seeks approval “for a demolition permit and construct a new, two-story, 28 –foot-tall, 8704-square-foot single family home with attached garage and 898-square-foot basement, a swimming pool and a sports court.”

There are benefits to the environment by “replacing or eliminating aging or possibly failing septic systems with state-of-the-art, mini-water-water packages.” It also reduces car trips per day by having fewer residences and increases water conservation landscaping and utilization of newer landscape irrigation system.

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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If you are considering remodeling your home in Malibu-CA or Calabasas-CA, don’t forget about your outdoor living space. The exterior of your home contains valuable outdoor space and making certain changes or additions can help add value and appeal to your real estate investment.

Improvements to the exterior of your home can involve something as simple as new patio furniture and a fire pit, adding a patio or deck, installing a new barbeque or installing an outdoor pizza oven. An attractive and usable outdoor area appeals to family living as well as entertaining.

Landscaping additions can involve making an area more green by the addition of low maintenance plants that use less moisture. Landscape architects are more and more adept at making more sustainable environments.

Other appealing elements can include fountains, swimming pools, solar lights, tennis courts and the like. Realize that much of what you put into the space that surrounds your home will enhance its value and catch the eye of a potential buyer. Often an investment to the outside living space gives a better return than interior improvements to your home.  Some creative use outdoors may include an outdoor screening area – where friends and family can view a movie screening under the open stars — recommended for areas where there is plenty of privacy and allowable space in Malibu, CA or Calabasas, CA.

Click here to read a recent article in the Boston Globe about the best way to spend your money on landscaping.

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

Beach Toys

Fannie Mae is initiating a new requirement effective June 1, 2010 as part of its “loan quality initiative”. Los Angeles Times reports on May 16, 2010 that it “requires lenders not only to pull two credit reports for each mortgage transaction but to perform additional verifications of borrower occupancy plans for the property, Social Security numbers and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, among other changes.”

In a quick summary – the borrower should practice self restraint and resist any compulsive shopping for the new home until the loan has funded and closed.  This would include the urge to open new credit lines at a furniture store, department stores, car purchase, a line of credit, etc.

This applies to any home purchases with a loan anywhere in the United States – not limited to just Malibu, CA or Calabasas, CA or Pacific Palisades, CA.

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 her online contact form on her website.

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