The neighborhood is a buzz with the kids out of school, beach days all around, and the Valmonte gardens all in bloom. But almost as great as the anticipation for Christmas is the joys of freedom as the 4th of July weekend draws near. On my evening walk lately I passed neighbors decorating their house with bunting for the holiday, flags were flying in the afternoon sun, and I must have passed nearly a dozen...

Things aren't showing any signs of slowing down here in the Valmonte real estate market. In just the last few weeks we've seen most new listings go into escrow with multiple offers.  The sweet spot seems to be move-in ready homes under $1.6 million. Houses in need of significant repairs or updates seem to be lingering around longer until there is a notable price drop. In the last week we saw 3908 Via...

I'm starting to notice a pretty awesome movement underway.  For lack of a better description, I'll call it refarming our cities.  Yesterday, Del Aire Park in unincorporated LA County, just reopened after a $4 million renovation.  Sure, the gym, community center, and general park facilities were all updated and improved, which is great.  But two other great things took place during this renovation -...

It's not too often that you can look through the MLS and find a 3 Bedroom/3 Bathroom Home in Valmonte on an 11,460 foot lot priced at $1.1 million (that's $411/foot!) and see it around for more than a few days before it has an offer.  Well, somehow this one has slipped through the cracks.  This mid-century open and bright home listed by Heather Chamberlain of RE/MAX PV is still waiting for its new...

I can't help starting this new year off filled with gratitude. Sure, we here in Valmonte get to live in beautiful homes, in a beautiful neighborhood, with good jobs, and cute kids - all things to be grateful for every day. But what I'm talking about is the gratitude for the people that make up the neighborhood of Valmonte in Palos Verdes Estates.  The story started like this . . . As many in our...

I've been struggling with how to digest the recent events in Connecticut.  After our own little taste of violence with the police chase that ended in our neighborhood, I gave some serious thought to finally buying a firearm to protect my little slice of heaven.  Needless to say I was stopped in my tracks when I learned of the tragedy of the 26 innocent lives lost as the result of a lunatic with his...

If you gage the real estate market by walking around a neighborhood, you would certainly call Valmonte sleepy based on the general absence of for sale signs in the front yards.  This reality can be seen a few ways.  Maybe you can call it the Holiday calm; who wants to have people touring your home while you're trying to enjoy the special time that is the holiday season?  It could be that everyone loves...

Christmastime has arrived in Valmonte.  If you ventured out in between the rainstorms this weekend, you certainly saw the flurry of activity as lights were being hung from nearly every roof line, tree branch, and picket fence.  Of course if you passed by my house, you may have noticed we finally managed to hang a few pictures on the walls - no lights yet.  Regardless of my own decorating guilt, it's...