During the week of April 22nd – 28th, there were a total of 27 closed escrows for the areas of West Hills, Woodland Hills and Calabasas. This was an improvement of only 9 total escrows closed for the week earlier of April 15th – 21st, 2012.

These homes were sold by various agents for this week.

Dave4homes serves the san fernando valley, and the areas of west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, tarzana, encino, northridge, reseda, sherman oaks, studio city, just to name a few.

During the week of April 15th – 21 st, there were a total of 9 single family residences sold. This was a drop from the 22 homes sold during the week of April 1st – 7th for the same areas.

These homes were sold by various agents for this week.

Dave4homes serves the san fernando valley, and the areas of west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, tarzana, encino, northridge, reseda, sherman oaks, studio city, just to name a few.

As a local Realtor in West Hills, Ca, I have seen fires race across the areas of our local hills and Castle Peak.

We are very lucky to have the best fire department in the World, yes I said the World, to prevent and fight these fires when they erupt. Fires can take over an area very quickly and if you are not prepared, you can get trapped in an area even if you think you are safe.

The Fire Department will initiate an inspection of properties in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones beginning May 1st, each year.

We have to take these dates that L.A. City is telling us to comply with very seriously. These great men and women that work in the fire department put their lives on the line for us and the least we can do is comply with their time frame.

I have found some great info to share with you on how to be prepared from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The first step is to determine if you live in one of these fire areas so you can start the brush clearance away from your homes.

Here is a link to find out- http://assessormap.lacountyassessor.com/mapping/viewer.asp

Follow these directions:

1) Type in your address or 10 digit Assessor ID # — Then Click Submit

2) Click on Assessor ID # (also known as your APN #)

3) A new window will appear on the right — Click on View Assessor”s map

BRUSH CLEARING SAFETY TIPS

Remember that when clearing your brush, safety is very important.  In recent years many brush fires have started by homeowners attempting to clear their brush.  Many times, the sparks produced from metal blades on motorized equipment has started fires.

The following are simple guidelines for homeowners to follow to clear their brush safely:

Always have a water source readily available.  A water extinguisher, garden hose or a few buckets of water.

Avoid clearing brush during the peak temperatures of the day, between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm and on days when a Red Flag Alert* has been declared by the Fire Department.

Only use properly maintained motorized equipment and have a spark arrester when required.

Do not refuel motorized equipment while motor is running.  Use approved fuel-dispensing containers only.

Always make sure the hot exhaust on any motorized equipment is clear of any vegetation. (grasses, weeds, shrubs)

Do not use metal blades on weed whackers/whips.  Use nylon line or plastic blades instead.

Always wear safety glasses and gloves.  Hard hats and dust masks are recommended.

Here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions on the time frames and the instructions on what to do.

Many parts of this article courtesy of LAFD.

CLICK HERE FOR APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER

There were a total of 22 closed escrows this week in these areas as compared to the 32 that were closed in the prior week.

These homes were sold by various agents -

Dave4homes would be happy to help you with any of your homes needs. He serves west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, encino, tarzana, sherman oaks, reseda, northridge, just to name a few.

5801 Lockhurst Drive, Woodland Hills- Completely Remodeled !

$675,000

This Woodlands West one story model located at an end of a cul-de-sac has been completely redone and highly upgraded from top to bottom with no expense spared. The open floor plan with vaulted ceilings spans on appx. 2405 sq. ft. and offers an amazing eat-in kitchen with lots of counter space and stainless steel appliances. The family room and living room both with large sliding doors leading to the entertainer’s back yard. A great master suite with a beautiful master bath, a large walk in closet and an access to the pool area. Two secondary bedrooms with a joining bathroom and an additional powder room which is what this floor plan was missing. A large lot of an appx. 12,513 with a sparkling pool perfect for entertaining your family and friends.

Contact Dave Markowicz for a private showing – at 818-438-4150

Dave serves the san fernando valley, and west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, encino, tarzana, northridge, sherman oaks, studio city, reseda, chatsworth just to name a few.

5801 LOCKHURST DRIVE

Come see this completely remodeled home today in Woodland Hills- Walking distance to Hale and El Camino.

Nothing was spared here , great floor plan and entertaining home !

You can also call me for a private showing !

Dave Markowicz – dave4homes 818-438-4150

There were a total of 32 closed escrows for this week as compared to 20 closed the prior week.

These homes were sold by various agents -

Dave4homes would be happy to help you with any of your homes needs. He serves west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, encino, tarzana, sherman oaks, reseda, northridge, just to name a few.

I think many of you have asked this question to yourself in the past ? When is the time right to buy ? Over thinking , procrastinating, delay, postpone, drag your feet, put off or anything else that wont allow you to join the upcoming party that has started.

Well then, you know the famous saying ” YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THE BOAT !

missing the boat

Well my friends, the boat has started its engines and it’s time to get on board! I don’t want to hear in 5 years from now, If I only got it when the market was at bottom and was starting to take off, I could have bought this house, rented that house, bought that home for my kids to get them into the market, etc.

Many of you may be saying, “What the #%&@# is Dave talking about “ , all I hear on the news is that the housing market is soft, not moving, getting worse, etc. Yes if you follow the Media, they do tell of Doom and Gloom around the country, but on a Local level here in Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley, THAT IS NOT THE CASE !

Now don’t get me wrong, everything is not peachy keen. Yes we are still troubled  by high unemployment, big debt, political in-fighting, but please people, take things with a grain of salt.

What separates us here in Southern California is we are in our own Micro- Climate for real estate. It has been and always will be like that, as long as we have the great weather, beach, mountains, desert and Hollywood. It’s what always helps our recovery in the real estate market as we have all seen the cycles before, and we are onto the next one starting to take place.

Lets first start on the National level, and see where we are heading. According to Lawrence Yun, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research, “The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year,” he said. “If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years. Based on all of the factors in the current market, that’s what we’re expecting with sales rising 7 to 10 percent in 2012.”

He is talking about contract offers or Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, offering solid information on future changes in the direction of the market.  A sale is listed as pending after a seller has accepted a sales contract on a property.  The majority of pending home sales usually becomes closed sales transactions one to two months later.

An article today in The Washington Post with Bloomberg reported that despite dismal data, they feel very optimistic. It  might seem surprising that experts such as Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi are increasingly optimistic.

“I feel as confident as I have since the crash began that it’s now coming to an end,” Zandi said. “With a little luck, I think we’re going to be feeling better about housing six months from now and certainly a year from now. . . . All the fundamentals for housing are much, much better today than at any time since the crash.”

Now lets focus on our local area.

What I am finding as a local agent in the San Fernando Valley, serving such cities as West Hills, Woodland Hills and Calabasas are that the  inventories are very low.  Many investors are gobbling up the REO’s and short sales. First time home buyers in the entry level market are competing with the ALL CASH investors, which is making it a little more difficult for them to find a home of choice. However, this is great for the market as the beaten down areas are now being cleaned up with remodeled homes and being sold  at a brisk pace. REO’s and short sales were still being held back by the banks, but now after the ROBO -signing debacle, the banks are going to release at a faster pace. Again this is all part of the healing process.

Now this is the part you should all listen too !

I am finding homes that are priced right for their areas are selling with multiple offers and many above asking price ! You might want to read that sentence again. We have not seen this for many years during the recession. Some of the reasons are people are worried that interest rates will be going up, AND THEY WILL ! Also, banks have started to ease up a little on the credit hold back so all these little things have started to make this recovery work.

According to the California Association of Realtors, Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* rose from a revised 102.3 in January to 127.8 in February, based on signed contracts.  The index also was up from the 111.8 index recorded in February 2011, marking the tenth consecutive month that pending sales were higher than the previous year.  Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.

Distressed housing market data:

“A lack of inventory in the bank-owned (REO) and short sale market was a contributing factor to the decline in share of distressed sales in February,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold.  “In fact, REO inventory declined 24 percent in February from the previous year, while short sale inventory dropped 17 percent during the same period.”

• After declining for two straight months, equity sales increased in February, making up 51.1 percent of home sales in February.  Equity sales made up 49.9 and 44.8 percent of all sales in January 2012 and February 2011, respectively.

Feb 2012 distressed to total sales

I hope you all got a little better understanding of where the market is, and is heading.

So remember, DON’T MISS THE BOAT !

Below you will find the report that shows all the single family residences that sold in West Hills, Woodland Hills and Calabasas for the week of March 18-24, 2012. There were  a total of 20 closed escrows during the week, as compared to a total of 14 closed in the same areas for the prior week.

These homes were sold by various agents -

Dave4homes would be happy to help you with any of your homes needs. He serves west hills, woodland hills, calabasas, encino, tarzana, sherman oaks, reseda, northridge, just to name a few.