April? It’s April? Holy cow! Well, March was madness! Of course, being sick for 2/3rds of the month, rupturing my eardrum and losing my hearing in one ear did not help. I had a whole bunch of speaking engagements and when I spoke, I felt I was listening to my own echo in a large … Read more
CONSEQUENCES, CONSEQUENCES, CONSEQUENCES The big news in NYC was, of course, the decision by Amazon not to pursue building their HQ2 there. Those of us who do not live in that area are probably mildly interested, but for those developers and property owners who had their eye out for a potential real estate boom and … Read more
Happy Chinese New Year! And This Little Piggy Went To Work….. February 5th is Chinese New Year and if you were born in these years – 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, then you are a Pig (in a good meaning of the word). The chubby cheeks and big ears epitomize the Chinese symbol … Read more
Happy New Year! If this is 2019 then it must be the year that I step up to the responsibility of being the president of the California Escrow Association. Truthfully, I have been working on familiarizing myself with this position for the last half year but now I guess it is time to ramp it … Read more
It should be time for some good news, being TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, so here we go HO! HO! HO! PROPERTY APPRECIATION NEWS Hoping that your property will appreciate in the next year? There is a forecast out on the appreciation of residential market values over 358 metropolitan areas. The top 10 and … Read more
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! MAKE A DIFFERENCE! BE HEARD! GRIM TALES FROM THE ESCROW DESK – Yes, fraud happens and close to home! A couple of Fridays ago, right before the Columbus Day long weekend, a Fraudster tried to get their hands on … Read more
OH, THE PERKS OF LIVING HIGH! When you buy high, expect more! Besides the expected bedrooms (10) and accompanying baths (11), when you buy this penthouse you get other “unusual” perks that may make the sale price of $85 million worth the while and much easier to shell out. For instance, a yacht, 2 Rolls … Read more
REAL ESTATE? HOW ABOUT UNREAL ESTATE! I thought I would make this edition all about the sale of land and dirt that can get pretty “unreal.” PRICIEST PIECE OF UNDEVELOPED REAL ESTATE IN LA High up in the mountains above Beverly Hills, in the famed 90210 zip code, lies a 157 acre undeveloped lot that … Read more
Oh, These Dog Days of Summer! Why “dog” days? Why not “cat” days? Even “bear” days seem more appropriate… I googled it… and apparently, the Greeks and Romans looked on these hot summer days as the rising of the star known as Sirius – the Dog star. Well, Sirius, it is about 101° outside our … Read more
Dante, my friends, is this baby >2.0 ounce little tortoise that my nieces and nephew adopted as their own baby, hereby making me a grandma-in-law. They are not sure if it is male or female, but having christened it with such a mighty Ninja Turtle name, this little thing will, for sure, go far. Dante … Read more