DAVE SINGERY Friendly Hills Homes, Whittier Ca

The Downtown Fullerton has gone through a tremendous renaissance in the past 5 years. It has become a MUST visit area for us when hosting out of town friends. The options range from a nice quiet evening at the Twisted Vine to kicking it up at the Slide Bar to some awesome live Jazz.

I have to tell you, downtown Fullerton has not always been this nice. I spent the early part of my career working in downtown Fullerton and back then it was a scary place! I mean it was not the place to be particularly at night. The train station doubled as a place for some pretty sketchy people to hang out at. Most of the buildings on Harbor were vacant and their former grandeur while evident was sorely in need of some serious TLC. The Fox Theater built in 1925 was long closed with the roof caving in and scheduled for the wrecking ball. I think the only thing holding up some of these buildings was the termites holding hands!

Fast forward 30 years and WOW is all I can say! Those old buildings have character and wonderful architecture and now that they have been restored to their earlier grandeur it's like stepping back 90+ years. The Fox Theater was within weeks of demolition and it took some serious effort from the “Save the Fox Theater” group and some last minute donations to get it done. I have included an additional link here All about Fullerton for things to do in the city. I hope the next time you are at Disneyland you take some time and go visit downtown Fullerton. It’s on the same street as Disneyland maybe 2-3 miles north. Come check it out, you won’t be disappointed!

It's interesting in this market that I still actually hear agents say they don't do Short Sales! I am in Southern Calfifornia on the boarder of Los Angeles and Orange County. I guess you could say I go both ways!

So the latest figures tell us that 48% of all Orange County sales are distressed properties. the short sale piece of that is 24% and the other half would be REO's. In LA county it is ove 50% and short sales account for 28% of the sales.

So 1 out of 4 in Orange County and 1 out 3 in LA county are short sales. That is alot of business to ignore! Yes they do take along time to close but that time period is getting better as the lenders improve their process's. For me it is a timing issue. If I know that it is going to take 90+ days average to close a short sale then I better have alot of them going. Then it is just a matter of guiding them through the process not unlike a regular equity sale.

I will say that when my client wants to look at short sale properties I always quiz the listing agent on their own experience with short sales. It makes ALL the difference in the world!

So if you are not doing short sales I would like to thank you in advance as that just leaves more for me. If you have a buyer interested in looking at short sales and you don't do them, please do not hesitate to refer them to me. I do pay a referral fee and actually enjoy the challenge of getting a short sale done.

I will take very good care of our client!

click here "Team Singery"

Not much to say onther than Happy New Year to all of you Rainers out there. May the new year bring you some of what you desire and all of what you need!

Why build a residential condominium complex there?

The newest residential addition to the city of Whittier is The Gables of Whittier. This development was built by the HDS group LLC out of Pasadena California. The property is situated on 5.5 acres of Whittier blvd frontage in a predominantly commercial area on property formerly home to an automobile dealership.

There are 96 condominiums ranging from the smallest 1 bedroom, 1 bath 637 sq ft of living area to the largest unit a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath with 1716 sq ft of living space. The base asking price for the smallest unit is currently $249,000 and the largest, the 3 bd, 2.5 bth is currently being offered at $429,000.

When completed the property will have a small tot lot park area that unfortunately abuts to the backside carports of an apartment building and a carwash that also fronts Whittier blvd. Additionally there will be some green belts running throughout the complex. No other amenities offered.

Previewing the units I started with the 3 bd, 2.5 bth. The entrance to this model is up a short flight of stairs into the main part of the house. The living room is surprisingly small for a house that boasts 1716 sq ft. As a matter of fact all the rooms appear smaller than they need be. The unit has a lot of stairs (there is a flight that takes you down to the garage and the bed rooms are all upstairs. There is a small family room adjacent to the kitchen that probably seats three comfortably. The stairwells to the one and two bd rm units are quite narrow and will be difficult for moving in furniture. The one bd rm unit actually boasts a larger living room area than the larger units!

The larger units come with garages and depending on the bed room count vary from a single car to a two car garage. However, the smallest units will have a single assigned carport as opposed to a garage.

Did I mention that the choice of views is limited to a carwash on one side, Lens Crafters on the other, the backside of a residential neighborhood behind and a fabric store directly in front!

The conplex is within walking distance (1/4 mile) of the Whitwood town center mall. While the center is not known as a hot bed of entertainment there are at least some restaurants, a grocery store and two major retail stores mixed in with various other shops.