Stewart Penn - Los Angeles Real Estate

Who is Sarah Palin and what does she stand for?

This morning the news broke that John McCain has picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. The 44-year old Governor of Alaska is not a well know public figure - so America needs to learn what her qualifications are to be Vice President - the person to step into the role of President of the United States of America should anything happen to the 72-year old Republican Presidential nominee.

My first reaction was this was a ploy to get the Hillary Clinton supporters - a move to get the female vote. But researching online it became clear that Sarah Palin is a Christian Conservative who does not support a woman's right to choose and blongs to Feminists for Life, and that in itself must alienate most of the Clinton supporters. She also supported Alaska's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Her relative inexperience in International Politics is another important consideration that the Republicans need to address since this is one of the most relevant considerations for the position.

Disclosures are extremely important in Real Estate. So as a Selling Agent in a deal where the Listing Agent fails to provide the required Disclosures one is placed in an awkward situtaion, which could have legal repercussions later on.

I'm representing a client in a REO transaction and the Agent represetning the bank sent me all the standard Disclosure documents provided by C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors), but wherever the Seller's signature should be is a bold rubber stamp claiming "Seller Exempt".This is not necessarily true.

In terms of the REO ADVISORY Disclosure that C.A.R. has prepared, the Seller in not exempt from the following: Natural Hazard Zone Disclosure; Smoke Detector Disclosure; Water Heater Strapping Disclosure; Lead Based Paint Disclosure; Tax Withholding Disclosure; and Agency Disclosure.

I checked with an attorney from the C.A.R. Legal Desk who advised that even without these Disclosures an escrow can close - but recommended that I confirm in writing to both the Buyer and the Listing Agent that notwithstanding the requirement, the Seller failed to provide these Disclosures.

By agreeing to close escrow without these Disclosures the buyer does not waive his rights to recourse against the Seller should he discover and be able to prove that the Seller should have made disclosures in terms of the required Disclosure documents.

Agents need to go the extra mile to protect their clients as well as themselves against potential problems that may surface after the deal closes.

Sprinkles Cupcakes - If you have a sweet tooth, then you'll love Sprinkles - located at 9635 Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, 90210 (Adjacent to West Hollywood).

These are fantastically delicious cupcakes freshly baked throughout the day and made with sweet cream butter.

Adults, teenagers and children can be seen lining up on the sidewalk outside the small store in Beverly Hills, waiting to get their "fix" of this extremely indulgent treat. They have a great selection of flavors, including chocolate, ginger lemon, mocha, chai latte, orange, pumpkin and red velvet. At $3.25 each ($36 for a dozen) they're not cheap - but they are definitely delicious and I highly recommend them!

I took a box of these goodies to a sit down dinner party(something different), and they were the hit of the evening.

They have stores in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix and are planning on opening additional stores in Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Washington and various other cities.

There's a new Frozen Yogurt sensation that began in a small shop in West Hollywood and has now grown to be an overwhelming success throughout Los Angeles - it's called Pinkberry.

Pinkberry is a simple yet extremely delicious product: basic frozen yogurt served with toppings of your choice. At first they only served the "original" flavor, a natural slightly sour yogurt and green tea, but have recently coffee as well.

The choice of toppings include fruits like strawberry, pineapple, and kiwi fruit, and other toppings include chocolate chips, shaved almonds, granola and coco pebbles.

The yogurt is made with with skim milk and non-fat yogurt with active and live cultures (that may not sound appealing but apparently it's healthy for you).

Pinkberry is a great concept and there's often lines outside their stores, yet there are already a number of copy-cat stores that have opened and closed without success. It seems like the business plan is to go National and the franchise has now progressed to New York - so it will be interesting to see how the product takes off there. Could this be the next Starbucks?

While watching TV this evening I saw a commercial that really grabbed my attention - A new car that only emits water vapor into the air that we breathe.

This sounded like some futuristic car so I went online and discovered that Honda has already started leasing this new vehicle, the Honda FXC Clarity - and a few owners have even taken delivery of their cars.

Vehicles that use hydrogen with fuel cell technology are the cleanest around because they emit only water vapor into the air we breathe. These cars simply do not pollute. They can also use hydrogen from domestic energy sources, reducing our dependence on oil. And driving fuel cell vehicles significantly reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, helping to slow the increase in greenhouse gases - Honda Website

How does it work?

A hydrogen fuel cell produces electricity for the vehicle. The fuel cell combines hydrogen, which is stored in a fuel tank onboard the vehicle, with oxygen from the air, to make electricity. The electricity then powers the electric motor, which in turn drives the front wheels. Water vapor and heat are the only byproducts.

The FCX Clarity is reported to have a top speed of 100 mph and is capable of traveling about 280 miles before refueling. Since refueling is the biggest hurdle to overcome and because there are still only a limited number of hydrogen refuelling stations in Southern California, sales of the vehicle is currently limited to Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine areas.

California residents who meet certain qualifying requirements can lease a vehicle for 3 years at a cost of $600 per month, and this includes all service and maintenance for the duration of the lease. Eventually, Home Energy Stations which generates hydrogen from natural gas, is designed to provide heat and electricity for the home through fuel cell cogeneration and to supply fuel for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle.