About Rancho Palos Verdes' Palos Verdes Dr South

AA tradition is dying this year, when the Palos Verdes Marathon will be no more. This marathon is the second oldest in the United States and had been run for 45 straight years.

This year, a half-marathon and 5K run and walk set for May 19 will replace the 26.2-mile endurance test.

That will change the focus from an elite event for serious runners, including many attempting to post a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon - the nation's oldest - into a community-oriented fundraiser.

I will personally miss the excitement of the Marathon , as the marathon had finished at Palos Verdes High School for most of the years that it ran, and the finishers ran past my house with just 1 block left in the race.

For the entire article from the Daily Breeze, go to Daily Breeze report.

For information about this years race, go to http://palosverdeshalfmarathon.org/

WHALE OF A DAY CELEBRATION at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center This Saturday



T

he Rancho Palos Verdes annual Whale of a Day celebration is co-sponsored by the City and the docents of Los Serenos de Point Vicente. The celebration is held on the first Saturday of March each year. The next celebration will be on Saturday, March 3, 2012



"Whale of a Day" is a festival celebrating the migration of the Pacific Gray Whale from its summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chuchki Seas in Alaska to the winter breeding and calving grounds in Baja California. Migration viewing takes place December through April along the California South Bay coastline.


Whale of a Day is held annually on the first Saturday of March from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and next year's celebration will take place on Saturday, March 3, 2012. The event is free to the public. The celebration is sponsored jointly by members of Los Serenos de Point Vicente and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The event will be held on the main grounds of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center at 31501 Palos Verdes Drive West. [MAP] Free parking is available at the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. with a free shuttle bus service to PVIC. [MAP].

There are activities for children ~ face painting, children's crafts, chalk drawing, story telling, small children's games ~ all at no charge. There are also exhibits, craft and food vendors and a raffle drawing.

Some of the past participants have included The Aquarium of the Pacific with its Aquarium on Wheels, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, George F Canyon Nature Center, Save the Manatee, National Marine Fisheries, Heal the Bay, American Cetacean Society, Whale Watch, Marine Mammal Care Center, South Bay Wildlife Rehab with their rescued hawks and other raptors, PVP Land Conservancy, California Native Plant Society, Don Gales and Las Candalistas.


Tours of the Point Vicente Lighthouse are given on a first come, first served basis for ages 7 and older

If you have any questions or need additional information, please call (310) 544-5260.

Palos Verdes Drive South neighborhood real estate and home sales report for Rancho Palos Verdes, CA in January 2012.

Homes for sale: 21 Homes are listed for sale in the PV Drive South neighborhood priced from $825,000 to $10,000,000.

Pending sales: 5 Houses are in escrow priced from $600,000 to $1,399,000.

January sales: No homes sold in Jan. 2012.

PV Drive South area homes for sale right now.

The Palos Verdes Dr. South area of Rancho Palos Verdes (area 169 in map below )had the following real estate market activity for single family residences during the 4th Quarter of 2011 :

Properties Sold: 11

Address Price Bd Bth Sq ft $/Sq Yr. Blt. MLS# Date of Sale Days on Market

4128 Admirable DR $815,000 3 3.00 1,843 $442.21 1959 S11080174 10/18/11 49

3535 Heroic DR $843,500 4 2.00 2,000 $421.75 1963 S673899 12/29/11 80

32452 Searaven DR $847,000 4 2.00 2,037 $415.81 1963 V11044339 11/22/11 225

2 Barkentine RD $910,000 3 2.00 2,215 $410.84 1954 K11146415 12/29/11 35

6520 Via Baron $1,000,001 5 5.00 4,632 $215.89 1984 V11016166 12/30/11 317

4031 S Palos Verdes DR $1,238,000 5 5.00 4,451 $278.14 1959 S11037179 11/29/11 219

104 Spindrift DR $1,250,000 4 3.00 1,293 $966.74 1956 V11149567 11/15/11 33

39 Nuvola CT $1,578,000 4 4.00 3,470 $454.76 1998 V11049212 11/28/11 211

16 Nuvola CT $1,600,000 3 4.00 3,956 $404.45 1998 S11116409 10/20/11 12

40 Sea Cove DR $2,830,000 2 3.00 2,580 $1,096.90 1954 S11110633 10/07/11 39

32045 Isthmus View DR $7,150,000 5 9.00 11,000 $650.00 2010 S10066341 10/19/11 462

Average Sales Price of homes sold during 4th quarter: $ 1.8 million

Properties for Sale as of 12/31/11: 17

Average List Price at 12/31/11: $ 2.5 million

Average Price per Sq. Ft. for Properties Sold during 4th Qtr: $ 523 per sq. ft.

Properties sold at an average of 86% of List Price

As consciousness returns to my being after a restful night's sleep, I savor those first few moments of wakefulness by focusing on where my passion will be aimed during the coming day. Today, as most days, its energy and power will be centered on moving my current Palos Verdes and South Bay clients' real estate dreams closer to the realm of reality. Some days this task can feel like a hike up Mt. Everest.- leaving one breathless but exhilarated.

Yes, Bank of America, I'm talking to you. For the love of Pete, isn't four months long enough to decide whether you are going to approve a short sale or not? The natives, that would be my clients, are getting restless and pretty fed up with the wait. Last week they had me preview another property for them. I'll share this information with you--there's a backup in their mind, so get your big bank head together and give us an answer before it's too late.

Next on my list (almost called it a hit list due to pent up steam from the previous paragraph but that seems a bit severe) is a looming deadline for contingency removal and we're not quite ready. We're waiting for FHA to bless the deal or at least tell us what must be fixed before escrow can close. My first time home buyers are so close to receiving the keys to their dream home they can almost taste it. After two years of searching, a few losses of homes that were not meant to be, I'm fortunate to be a part of their joy.

There are listings to assess and evaluate, and new buyers to add to the database and other typical daily real estate stuff. After all, without sellers and buyers my business would not exist. However, when I pull one file from the masses and place it front and center on my desk, my entire focus is on the individual buyer or seller that enlisted Norma Toering & Team to help them achieve their real estate goal.

I have a passion for your success.