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 Welcome to the first ever e-Newsletter of South Bay real estate happenings. I hope you find this version of my newsletter a useful, quick, cafeteria-style read. It will begin with a brief real estate market rundown. I will then feature new premier service providers I have discovered. And lastly, a number of links to relevant, light, but fun local news you most likely missed in your routine reading. Please enjoy!
Low interest rates and declining inventory have been the spotlight of this last month’s real estate market at the beach. Price is still king, and well-priced homes moved in the better than average winter weather. January is always a slow month, but the factors above have resulted in better than average sales volumes. Prices have firmed a bit with declining inventory. Coming into the post superbowl selling season, expect activity to pick up. I am not predicting crazy appreciation any time in the next year, but I suspect more competition than we had last year for well-located, value-priced homes.
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 The referral section of my snail-mail newsletter continues to be most people's favorite part of the rag. In light of this, I am updating my website RobertWoodie.com with a "Service Provider" section. These will all be people I have done business with and/or can vouch for based on our relationship. The only cost for using this list is that you PLEASE report back to me with your experience. I intend to maintain this list as the best in town! And if you know someone who should be on here, please don't keep him or her a secret! Read More
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 Late in the afternoon one recent winter day, Palos Verdes Estates resident Katy Penland looked out to sea and saw the telltale misty-white puffs of a whale blow several miles off the Redondo Beach Esplanade.
As a longtime naturalist, Penland knew that migrating Pacific gray whales were a common sight between December and May, so she assumed she was experiencing her first whale sighting of the season.
But there was nothing common about what Penland spied on that Dec. 5 afternoon. Read More
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 The idea for Vistamar School, a private college-prep academy in El Segundo, began five years ago with an innocuous question posed by a Manhattan Beach mother to a friend over lunch: Where will your daughter go to high school when she grows up?
The friends didn't wonder long. Dissatisfied with the options then available, they collected a group of like-minded parents and set to work. They researched the area's demographics, began fundraising and recruiting a headmaster, searched for a building and developed an educational philosophy. All of which led to Vistamar, which opened in 2005 as one of the newest private schools in the Los Angeles area. Read More
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 Everything about Bob Meistrell's life reads like a fascinating - yet farfetched - story.
Meistrell is one of four men credited with creating the modern-day neoprene wetsuit. The Missouri native also joined the first group in the world to become certified to teach scuba diving. He even owns a boat originally purchased from the sale of a Jackson Pollack painting. Meistrell also helped salvage $10 million in gold coins from the Civil War-era side-wheeler Brother Jonathon. He's hosted a number of celebrities, including Magic Johnson, John Wayne, Mickey Rooney, Gary Cooper and Rod Stewart, on his boat … and, he owns a submarine. Read More |
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 After a difficult 2006, a new year and a new home mark a new beginning for L.A. Lakers forward Lamar Odom.
In June, Odom, 27, lost his son, Jayden, to sudden infant death syndrome. Shortly after that, Odom was mugged at gunpoint by a teenager in New York. Then while playing basketball, he injured his right knee.
Now, after more than a year of hunting, Odom has found a house and purchased it for $2.7 million.
The property, in nearby Manhattan Beach, appealed to him because of its location, open floor plan and custom features. Read More |
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 The Manhattan Beach Planning Commission has spiked a proposal to allow the owners of the Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament to charge every spectator an entrance fee, saying it didn't have enough information to approve the change.
"I need to have the argument fleshed out a little bit," Commissioner David Lesser said. "I wasn't clear why we needed to do this now." Read More |
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"I love what I do. Give me a chance to show you!" |
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