Linda Kay's Blog: California: Glendora

GLENDORA REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH - May 13-19, 2012

Okay, so this is another exciting week for real estate in Glendora.  Let me stress it, NINETEEN new listings and four sold.  As you can tell, the homes are getting sold and the inventory is shrinking.  So if you are thinking of buying a home, it's time before they all get gobbled up.  There have been quite a few articles recently about low amounts of homes for sale in certain areas.  And even more articles about bidding wars being back.  So if you are thinking of selling your home, well the laws of supply and demand come into play.  Lower supply, larger demand raises those home prices just a bit for you.  It seems this is a little backwards in Glendora, but like I always say, "real estate is local."

Twelve homes went into escrow this week.  That means that in approximately 30-45 days these should become sold houses as well.  Congrats to  those families and good luck in your new home!  Twelve more homes have gone into back up status  in Glendora which, as I have explained before means that an offer has gone to the bank and they are taking more offers in case the buyer drops out.  Hopefully they will all go into escrow and become sold as well.  Congratulations to all those agents with the sales, escrows and backups!  Go get 'em.

Pricing.  I personally think I have been complaining about pricing for almost a year and a half.  Apparently my rants aren't getting through as this week in Glendora there were thirteen price changes!  That's so many, but I'm not in a ranting mood right now.  (Lucky you!)

I try to stay on top of the communities I serve and be a local expert for all of them, real estate and otherwise.  So if you are interested in buying or selling a home, or if you simply have real estate questions, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

 A Glendora Icon Has Passed - RIP Mark in the Park

Okay, so growing up in Glendora, CA was such a HUGE blessing.  I can't even tell you what a difference a community makes in people's lives.  In fact it's taken me about a week to write this post and I'm still very emotional about it.

Sometime in my elementary school days, you know, about the time you start to REALLY remember things, I met a guy around town named Mark.  He was everywhere and knew everyone.  He knew your parents, he knew your kids, and I don't believe Mark ever knew a stranger. and if he didn't want to know you, he wanted to.

Some people didn't know how to take Mark exactly.  He would just come up and stand there looking at you and waiting for you to say something.  You see, Mark had suffered some brain damage from oxygen deprivation.  But he was awesome and lovable and almost angelic.

Mark was everywhere, he rode his bike.  He had many bikes over the course of the years and sometimes they were even stolen.  His response, "Oh well, they needed my bike more than me". He was in the local Ralphs while it was still there, then it was Vons and Starbucks.  And the people of Glendora took care of Mark.  They would buy him lunch at Maria's, they would give him free breakfast in their restaurants.  In fact at his funeral, his sister laughed and reminded everyone that he DID have a refridgerator!) And all throughout his service, people kept telling stories and saying he was well taken care of.

But for me, it was Mark who took care of us.  He was there to listen, he was there to talk and he was there to remind you that what you were doing wasn't quite right, even if only by his presence.  He was such an example of unconditional love to everyone he came in contact with.  And I, for one, already miss him dearly.

This was shown on the people who came from far and wide to his funeral.  There were people who had long ago moved out of Glendora who showed up and shared their stories.  And out of the nearly 200 people who attended the Monday evening service, I think almost 1/2 shared a tidbit about how Mark touched their lives.  The priest even commented on how he usually didn't have very many people sharing and it was usually like pulling teeth.

Anyway, coming back to the people of Glendora... I know that Mark flourished because of the people.  Because of their acceptance of someone who was a little bit different.  Because the people of Glendora are accepting and caring and family oriented.  There is no better place to raise your kids or to be a kid than the City of Glendora.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT MARK HERE.

HIGHS AND LOWS - Glendora, CA - March 5, 2012

Okay, so here is today's report for the GLENDORA, CA Real Estate Market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     210,000

Highest Priced Home   $  4,188,000

Average   $     399,900

Active Listings   141

Sold This Week  9

New Listings This Week  13

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the GLENDORA REAL ESTATE MARKET so you can make an informed decision on whether this city is right for you and if the prices fit into your budget.  The average price in GLENDORA this week is $399,900 which is lower than before.  Prices have fallen just a little bit, but it looks like they are starting to stabilize in this area.

The other thing you can learn from this information is the saturation rate of the existing active real estate listings.  The saturation rate is determined by the amount of sales in a week and the number of listings available for sale.  So in this case, there are 190 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 190 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case 9, you have your saturation rate.  This means that if you placed your home on the market to sell you can expect it to take a little over 21 weeks to complete the sale of your home.  That is if no other listings come into the real estate marketplace during that time.  And we all know how likely that is, now don't we...  In fact this past week there were 13 new listings.

HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU:  If your price is competitive and your home is in relatively decent shape you can have it sold in as little as one day or as much or more than the 21 weeks.  It also depends on the agent you are using.  The more aggressive your agent's marketing plan is for your home, the more exposure your home gets and you can see that would have a great impact.  It truly helps to have an agent that has an existing web presence since most people start their home search online.  On the other hand, if you use someone who merely puts your home on the MLS and does nothing more, it will most likely take a little more time to sell.  

If you are a buyer, this means you have a large selection to choose from and you have a better chance right now of getting an offer accepted.  Not to mention that the average home price has dropped in the last month making you as they buyer able to afford a better home.

CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES

Lowest   $   199,000

Highest   $ 429,000

Average   $ 300,000

Active Listings   17

Condos Sold This Week  3

New Listings This Week  1

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 5 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer has 17 to choose from right now.  It seems that during these trying economic times, people are really not doing much in the way of buying or selling condos.

Since I am local to the area, I work hard to be a local expert in GLENDORA Real Estate.  The prices, the inventory and the trends so I can be a better agent for you.  However, it is not only real estate information that makes one a local expert.  There must also be knowledge of local events, schools and neighborhoods.

So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you. Call me for your free home market analysis!

Glendora Real Estate Market Watch - February 7-13, 2012

 World Famous Donut Man, Located in Glendora, CA

Okay, so when I was younger, I used to have a friend who loved Donut Man in Glendora where I grew up.  We would sneak out of the house in the middle of the night (she lived around the corner) since they were open 24/7 and grab a donut or two... a lady never tells how many!  My Momma (who is wonderful) always brings me one on my birthday, it's become a tradition.

Since that time, Donut Man has been featured on The Food Network, The Huffington Post and been written up in the LA Times just to mention a few.  Their strawberry and (my favorite) peach donuts are simply to die for!

So I've taken the liberty of posting the (HOW TO) make Peach Donutsfrom YouTube and Huell Howser's visit to the Donut Man for your enjoyment.  Simply click on these links.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures for you to savor!

HIGHS AND LOWS - Glendora, CA - January 18, 2012

Okay, so here is today's report for the GLENDORA, CA Real Estate Market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     210,000

Highest Priced Home   $  4,750,000

Average   $     399,000

Active Listings   165

Sold This Week  7

New Listings This Week  8

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the GLENDORA REAL ESTATE MARKET so you can make an informed decision on whether this city is right for you and if the prices fit into your budget.  The average price in GLENDORA this week is $399,000 which is lower than before.  Prices have fallen just a little bit, but it looks like they are starting to stabilize in this area.

The other thing you can learn from this information is the saturation rate of the existing active real estate listings.  The saturation rate is determined by the amount of sales in a week and the number of listings available for sale.  So in this case, there are 165 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 165 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case 7, you have your saturation rate.  This means that if you placed your home on the market to sell you can expect it to take a little over 23 weeks to complete the sale of your home.  That is if no other listings come into the real estate marketplace during that time.  And we all know how likely that is, now don't we...  In fact this past week there were 8 new listings.

HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU:  If your price is competitive and your home is in relatively decent shape you can have it sold in as little as one day or as much or more than the 23 weeks.  It also depends on the agent you are using.  The more aggressive your agent's marketing plan is for your home, the more exposure your home gets and you can see that would have a great impact.  It truly helps to have an agent that has an existing web presence since most people start their home search online.  On the other hand, if you use someone who merely puts your home on the MLS and does nothing more, it will most likely take a little more time to sell.  

If you are a buyer, this means you have a large selection to choose from and you have a better chance right now of getting an offer accepted.  Not to mention that the average home price has dropped in the last month making you as they buyer able to afford a better home.

CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES

Lowest   $   199,900

Highest   $ 400,000

Average   $ 320,000

Active Listings   22

Condos Sold This Week  0

New Listings This Week  2

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 11 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer has 22 to choose from right now.  It seems that during these trying economic times, people are really not doing much in the way of buying or selling condos however the number of listings has picked up a bit.

Since I am local to the area, I work hard to be a local expert in GLENDORA Real Estate.  The prices, the inventory and the trends so I can be a better agent for you.  However, it is not only real estate information that makes one a local expert.  There must also be knowledge of local events, schools and neighborhoods.  And since I grew up in GLENDORA and still live less than ten minutes away, I'm pretty Glendora-Savvy.

So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you. Call me for your free home market analysis!

 2011 Glendora Christmas Parade

Okay, so when I was growing up in Glendora, it was a small, tigh-knit community of like 25,000 people or so.  And the town would have these great events in "The Village" like the Flasback to the 50's sock hop and carnival, the Christmas Stroll and Christmas Parade, the Homecoming Parade, etc. You get the Idea.  Almost the entire town turned out for these fun events and you were guaranteed to see friends and neighbors and school mates.

Today, I'm so glad to say, it's still the same.  The population has more than doubled in size coming really close to 50,000 residents. There are people from every church, school, neighborhood, etc that come out and really make this town a community of friends and family even with the increase in size. 

Over the years, the parade route has been extended to accomodate the increase in population and so there's a good area to meet after the parade.  Now the route extends down Glendora Avenue from Bennett to Foothill, takes a right turn on Foothill a right on Grand and ends up over at La Fetra and Sandburg Middle School.  But it still starts with the ever popular Glendora High Marching Tartan Band complete with bagpipes playing Scotland the Brave and ends with, you guessed it, Santa himself!

So if you're in the area this Saturday, December 10th, you should definitely attend the 2011 Glendora Christmas Parade.  This year's theme is "An Old Fashioned Christmas" and the Motto of the parade itself is "All About Kids!"

WHAT: GLENDORA HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS PARADE

WHEN:SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 2011

TIME:9:00 AM

Okay, so my first job in high school was working for Baskin Robbins, or 31 Flavors as my family has always called it.  I got the job the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, and as you can imagine it was really busy.  It's actually one of the busiest 31 Flavors stores that I know.  I loved driving myself to work in my father's old Toyota pick up that was a stick and didn't have power steering.  Yep, I always believe if I could drive that, I could drive anything.

Anyway, the Baskin Robbins is on the corner of Elwood and Route 66.  The all glass front is right on the street corner.  And, yes, you guessed it, there was a car accident about six months ago (drunk driver of course) which anhilated the front of the store.  It's been closed and lost, I'm sure quite a bit of business during these summer months.  

But, FINALLY, the store has reopened.  The manager says that they had to rebuild the store "from the ground up".  You can read about it HERE.  

So again I say, IT'S TIME FOR BASKIN ROBBINS!

GLENDORA LIVING!