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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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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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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If you are thinking about buying real estate there are three things to remember, location, location, and location–especially in Calabasas, CA or Malibu, CA. Location is a key factor in the value of your new home and how easy it will be to sell when the time comes to do so. Whether you are in a city, suburb, or country area, location really does matter. Every area has its desirable locations within it, and a more desirable location will always sell more quickly than a less desirable one.

Want to know what to look for? The most desirable neighborhoods have good schools, an attractive appearance, convenient accessibility and a variety of amenities. When looking at real estate in an ideal neighborhood you will choose a home with a nice location within it. If you choose a home that backs up to commercial space know that it will not appreciate as much as a home at the end of a quiet street.

If you don’t have children and don’t plan on having children a good school district is still key. Schools matter to most people who are looking for homes and the better the school district, typically the more stable the home values will remain.  Calabasas, CA boasts as being one the best – consistently ranking in the high “10″ in the “greatschools.org” website.  Calabasas is in the Las Virgenes School District.  Malibu, CA also boasts as being highly ranked in the “school-ratings.com” website.  Malibu is in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Buying a home is one of the biggest investments a person can make, so do your research. Everyone is looking for different things from a home but we all want our home to retain its value. Look around at the areas that never dropped, or rebounded faster, and you will probably learn something about your local real estate market.

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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Questions arise when people are considering leaping into real estate and one which arises is buying an affordable home versus saving up for a dream home, especially in Malibu, CA. It can be a daunting process when shopping for a first home, realizing what you can afford as opposed to what you would like to afford. The questions ultimately arises whether it is a smart move to buy a home that you don’t want to live in forever.  The old adage — “location, location, location” – is an important factor too.  Home prices in Malibu, CA have come down to levels not seen since 2004 so it is a great time to buy.

Home ownership offers some benefits that are not available with renting. Two main benefits of homeownership are building equity and having the ability to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from federal and state income taxes. It is possible to buy a “starter home” and move up in time. Rarely due people purchase a first home and stay in it for a lifetime.

Buying a first home allows a homeowner to build equity, with the ability to sell the first home for a greater value down the road. If you wait until you have saved enough money it is hard to say what the affordability will be. Will waiting make buying your dream home possible 2 years from now, 5 years from now, 15 years from now? In that time how much money in rent will you have spent.

There hasn’t been a better time to buy a home in a very long time, if ever. Home prices are most likely at bottom, mortgage rates have been hovering at historical lows and tax incentives make buying a home feasible for many. If it makes sense for you financially it could be an ideal time to buy a first home, paving the way for purchasing your dream home later.  Find out what you can afford by getting a pre-approval with a good mortgage broker then give Judy Kunisaki a call to find out what is available in that price range.

If you are seriously interested in purchasing or leasing and want an “over the top” experience 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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We are blessed here in Malibu and Westside LA to have a ton of high end neighborhoods and a great concentration of desirable addresses.

However there is nothing like the area between Beverly Hills and Malibu according to the LA Times - This Westside area boasts one of the world’s great concentrations of premier residential estates. The highest-price home transaction ever in California took place in this territory: the 2000 sale of an 8-acre Bellagio Road estate in Bel-Air by Dole Food Co.’s billionaire owner, David Murdock, to financial executive Gary Winnick in a $95-million deal.

However what are other streets which make the list of “Desirable addresses?”

Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu: The cluster of homes on this highway range from the desirable through to the megarich “billionaires beach” – Carbon Beach. This line of oceanfront properties hardly ever has homes come up for sale so it is insulated from the normal market forces.

La Mesa Drive, Santa Monica. This street is also known for its homes of similar value and size — some less than 5,000 square feet. Large trees, with roots that stretch a good foot or more above ground, help provide privacy.

Maple Drive, Beverly Hills. There are the flats of Beverly Hills, an area with relatively small lots and commercial buildings. This isn’t it. Maple north of Santa Monica Boulevard boasts the largest lots among Beverly Hills’ flatland areas, and the homes have a continuity of design and landscaping. The street is quiet and traffic is light because a center divider prevents left turns onto Sunset.

Napoli Drive, Pacific Palisades. Properties on the south side of Napoli are prized for their views overlooking the Riviera Country Club.

Amalfi Drive, Pacific Palisades. North Amalfi has canyon views to Will Rogers State Historic Park, while some homes on the south end have ocean and Riviera views. Over the years it has been popular with such entertainers as actor Cary Grant, comedian Jerry Lewis and singer Bobby Vinton.

Malibu Road, Malibu. This coastal street is shielded from busy PCH to the east, offering ocean views and a relatively quiet neighborhood.

Malibu Colony Drive, Malibu. Gated with 24-hour security and views of the Pacific make the street desirable.

So there you  have it! A list of the real estate glitterati of Malibu and Westside!

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades 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 or via her online contact form on her website.

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One of the fundamental questions that always starts a persons real estate journey – Should I rent or buy?!

At the moment, mortgage rates and prices are lower than before meaning that the math may well favor buying for you! Meaning that a mortgage payment may be less than what you would pay for rent!

Here in Malibu California we have a great selection of homes available (including condos on the coast!) and with mortgage rates in the low 5% range at the moment buyers have the best market conditions for years!

Think about it – at the end of a lease you have paid thousands of dollars and have nothing to show for it. Yes it may be quicker to sign a lease than save for a downpayment, shop for a home, apply for a mortgage etc. But in the long run if you own the property and make your mortgage payments in an stable or appreciating market you build a nice amount of equity! Which, in turn is the downpayment for the next property etc. etc.

Of course the old saying is true – location, location, location! But the question of where to start is often a thought – a house or a condo?

Well, condominiums are a great starting point – if the units are high rise it is suggested to consider buying a unit on the “best” floors with the “best” views as this will help resale.

New development or old? A new development can in an appreciating market make you money – buy at the early stages of a development and by the end of construction when you move in and the unit could be worth more than you paid for it. Or buy a used unit – one that needs some light cosmetic renovation and you could make money on resale by renovating the property down the line.

Monthly maintenance fees are a factor to consider – and can effect mortgage qualification. Also, if the development is already being lived in, talk with existing owners about the building, management company etc.

With the tax credit deadlines looming – now really is the best time for switching from a renter to a buyer!

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades 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 or via her online contact form on her website.

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Mortgage rates are low and applications and prices are up! – More excitingly here in the Southern California Mortgage Market is the great news that the number of Mortgage Defaults in California has dropped 24.3% over the last quarter!

The number of homes which enter the first state of foreclosure (defaulting on their mortgage) fell in the forth quarter. In 2009, 190,360 California homes were lost to foreclosure, down 19.42% from 2008, when foreclosures topped 236,000.  The decline in the default number is significant because any new wave of foreclosures, which could swamp the housing market’s recovery, would be preceded by a surge in defaults.The Obama administration’s $75-billion program to help troubled borrowers hold on to their homes appears to be keeping more California families out of foreclosure as thousands of California borrowers have had their mortgages modified through the “Making Home Affordable” program.

However there is a concern about those homeowners who are “underwater” – that is, owe more on their home than it is worth.Banks have been negotiating with distressed borrowers to keep them in their homes and increasingly turning to “short sales”.

Watch this space over the next few months and we will report back on what is occurring!

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades 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 or via her online contact form on her website.

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There is a flood of development and permitting going on in Malibu at the moment! Christmas may be right around the corner, but the media is full of growth for Malibu!

 U2′s Guitarist has developed a Web site promoting the five-home development for above Malibu’s Serra Retreat as environmentally friendly - The project calls for five homes in unincorporated county land just outside Malibu city limits, and has received international media attention because one of the partners in the ownership is David Evans, known to music fans as U2 guitarist The Edge. A proposed 1,600-foot long private road that will connect the City of Malibu to the development is not up for Coastal Commission consideration. The Malibu City Council in January chose to delay a vote on that road until the Coastal Commission rules on the homes.

As described on the Web site, the project consists of five LEED-certified homes that will sit on a Sweetwater Mesa ridgeline. They will be made of “sustainable building materials,” and feature “passive design techniques to minimize energy use.” – although whether the homes and their design will satisfy environmentalists remains to be seen, what is for sure is that this is a great development in a beautiful area.

In addition to this there is also a meeting by the city council earlier this month voting on whether to approve a coastal development permit and various zoning amendments for a proposed project located at 30732 Pacific Coast Highway. The project consists of three components: a development standard for beach front lot width to conform to the certified Local Coastal Program and Local Implementation Plan; development standards for the proposed four-lot subdivision to conform to the certified LCP; and the four-lot subdivision in conformance with the certified LCP. No physical development is proposed at this time and subsequent development of each lot will require a CDP from the city.

Also the city is deciding whether to approve a reconstruction contract for Malibu Canyon Road improvements. The project consists of resurfacing Malibu Canyon Road from Pacific Coast Highway to the city limits with an asphalt-rubber overlay. This project will improve the quality of the roadway and reduce road maintenance.

Malibu is also discussing an alternative wastewater treatment plan for the broader Civic Center area, after its assessment that septic systems are the major cause of pollution in Malibu’s watershed. More on this as it develops.

In short, you can see there is alot of action in Malibu at present and with green living and green homes being high on the agenda for most people it is no wonder that the development  championed by U2′s guitarist is making headlines!

If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades 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 or via her online contact form on her website.

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Judy Kunisaki – CA DRE license 00963582