Joanne Louise Stevens, REALTOR® Serving Brentwood and Surrounding Cities

Good morning:

I am hosting an open house at 2050 Rhoda Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 on Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. This home is located near Pierce College, north of the 101 FW, in a quiet residential area. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, with 2,814 square feet (according to the tax assessor), built in 1961, current list price $449,000. This is a short pay. Come on buy. I will be serving refreshments. The weather forecast for Saturday is rain, so drive carefully. A mapquest map is included below.

Greetings Active Rain:

For those of you who are in the Los Angeles area and searching for a holiday service, I would like to invite you to come to Shepherd on the Hills in Porter Ranch, California. Our church is located at 19700 Rinaldi Street, Porter Ranch, California 91326. If you can't make it, then listen to the service Saturday at 5:00 pm live on 99.5 KKLA. On Christmas Day watch our 1-hour special on KTLA beginning at 12:00 pm, Pacific Standard Time. Please note the following dates and times for the Candlelight Christmas Eve Services.

Friday, December 23, 2011: 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm

Saturday, December 24, 2011: 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 9:00 pm and 11:00 pm.

There is also a live link where you can watch online: http://live.sothc.com. I hope to see you at one of our services.

We have plenty of parking. Tram shuttle service available from the parking structure to the church. For more information, please contact our church at 818 831-9333.

On Saturday, December 17, 2011, I hosted an open house on 21812 Lopez Street, Woodland Hills, California 91364. It was a single family detached residential, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home, 1,843 square feet (per tax assessor's data), situated on a hill in a quiet cul-de-sac area, listed at $409,000, a few blocks west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, MLS number F11155191. I would like to thank the listing agent for allowing me to do the open house.

Although it's the holiday season, buyers are including house hunting in their schedule. After strategically placing my signs on the streets, I decided to stop in at the Starbucks Cafe located at Dumetz and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. It's situated in a small strip mall, with a few mom and pop shops. When I walked in the store, I saw that many folks were sitting, talking, computer surfing, relaxing and sipping their favorite brew. The cafe had a nice community feel to it. I would have stayed, but it was nearing 1:00 pm and I did not want to be late opening up.

As I was driving up the hill towards the cul-de-sac, I noticed two gentlemen getting out of a car at the bottom of the hill. I parked near the home, retrieved my backpack and walked towards the entrance. I pulled out my key and unlocked the door. I turned and saw both men walking towards the home. I yelled towards them and invited them to view the home. They were driving in the neighborhood and saw my signs. One was looking to buy home in that area. Both toured the home and expressed an interest. Although I was opened from 1-4 pm, I had 14 visitors. Buyers know that there is less competition during the holiday season. In addition to mall shopping and event hopping, house hunting is on the list of things-to-do. Holiday house hunting is alive and well in Woodland Hills, California.

Take care and thank you for commenting.

Good morning Active Rainers, Buyers and Sellers:

It's a beautiful day in Woodland Hills, California. It's another sunny day for all of us to enjoy! To those who read my blog, I would like to say, Welcome! It's always a pleasure to have you stop by.

With the trickling of bank owned properties coming to the market, some REO agents are very busy. Many of their listings are located in areas that are not within easy driving distance. To help showcase this wonderful opportunity to live in Woodland Hills, a community where I live and love, I contacted the Santa Clarita agent and offered my services to showcase his listing. Please stop by and view the following property:

Address: 5043 Serrania Avenue, Woodland Hills, California 91364.

3 Bedroom 2 Bathroom; 1,395 sqft according to the (Assessor's Data); Single Family Home.

Listed at $369,900!

MLS #F11126554

Open Time Today: 1:00pm-5:00pm

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my area, we are located in the San Fernando Valley. To the east is the city of Tarzana and to the west is Calabasas. I love this area! To live in these communities, you are close to shopping, restaurants, places of worship, parks and much more. The property that I'm hosting is only a few blocks from the Woodland Hills Country Club. Kaiser Permanente Hospital is about one mile away. You have easy freeway access. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. For all you interested buyers and investors, contact me. It's a wonderful time to buy and sell in our valley.

Directions: The home is located south of Ventura Boulevard. From the 101FW, exit De Soto Avenue, turn south onto De Soto, cross over Ventura Boulevard, which turns into Serrania, drive about 3 blocks. The property is located on the right. Park on the street. Look for my signs on Ventura Boulevard. Drive safely and have a splendid day.

I received a "come list me" frantic call from my sphere of influence a few days ago. She rarely calls, but we've known each other for almost 11 years. I always try to call her once a month to catch up on the happenings and, of course, ask for a referral. Every conversation she talked about moving out of the Antelope Valley-Lancaster, California area, which is about 75 miles due north of the city of Los Angeles. For 5 years, she fantasized about moving closer to the City of Los Angeles or Ventura near the beach areas. Because of her job, she planned to stick it out until retirement, which was about 6 more years. So I was surprised when I got the call. Her motivation was to transfer from her current job position to another agency that was closer to the city of Los Angeles or Ventura County. She wanted to downsize from a single family detached home to a condominium. The change had arrived. It was time to make that dream a reality.

After the usual phone greeting, she yelled, "I Want You To Short Sale My House!" I could feel the tension through the phone! Whoa!!! What makes you think that you are in a short sale position, I asked. Because of the declining market in the Antelope Valley, selling the home for what she paid for about 10 years ago was not possible. I asked how much did she owe on the home. She only had one loan and it was under $80,000.

I hung up the phone and did the comparable for her area, which was not an area that I serviced. The listing, pending and sold prices were all over the place. I even called an agent who obviously listed a short sale property well above the selling price for the area. I asked him how did he determine his listing price. Dryly he said he used the comparables for the area. Hmm. His listing had been on the market for over 200 days. I'm no expert in the Antelope Valley, but he was way too high. I looked at the traditional and REO sales. Her home was near the community college, shopping and other services. The location was good. Inside I knew that her home was in good condition.

After one hour of studying the comparable, I determined that a range of $124K-129K would be a competitive listing price. I was familiar with her home, but not with her selling area. I called another broker in the Antelope Valley and we discussed the price and I was on target. He had lived in the same neighborhood and knew the layout of the homes.

The good news was that she is not in a short sale position and will receive proceeds from the sale. The bad news was that she will sell at a loss because she bought the home above what it's worth in today's market. She is OK with that. Since I'm not the Antelope Valley expert, I referred it. To give support, I plan to be at the listing appointment on Thursday with my friend and the realtor.