Linda Kay's Blog: California: La Verne

La Verne State of The City and School District

Okay, so I was reading an article about the State of the City and School District in the City of La Verne.

Mayor Don Kendrick along with Bonita Unified Superintendent of Schools (which covers both San Dimas and La Verne) Gary Rapkin made a joint presentation to share how things are going along.

The City of La Verne portion stated that there are major budget cuts coming due to the fact that the federal government has dissolved all of the Redevelopment Agencies.  This will lower the budget for this year by $4M and then $2M in the following years.

The Bonita Unified School District is reported to be ready to tackle a loss of $5M for the next year if the voters do not approve the state's proposed tax increases on the November ballot.  (Right here I'm inserting a private rant.)

But Superintendent Rapkin said in spite of all of these cuts, "our schools are not surviving, but thriving!"  The district's 2011 Academic Performance Index rose for the ninth consecutive year to an all-time high of 854.  Rapkin said it's not simply about the test scores, though, it's also about arts, athletics and activities.  Coming from me, a parent in this district, I'd have to agree - it has been a well-rounded program up to this point in spite of losing $13,000,000 from their budget since the 2007-2008 school year.

So if you want to buy or sell real estate in the La Verne area, 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!

HIGHS AND LOWS - La Verne, CA - January 20, 2012

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

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     229,900

Highest Priced Home   $  3,500,000

Average   $     419,000

Active Listings   121

Sold This Week  3

New Listings This Week  7

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the LA VERNE 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 LA VERNE this week is $419,000 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 121 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 121 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case 3, 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 40 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 7 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 40 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   $    75,000

Highest   $ 344,300

Average   $ 154,000

Active Listings   8

Condos Sold This Week  0

New Listings This Week  0

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take at least 8 weeks to sell your condo or townhome and probably more.  It is more difficult to tell because of the lack of sales this week. And a buyer has 8 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 LA VERNE 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.  Since I happen to live in LA VERNE I am pretty on top of things here.

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!

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch - January 6-12, 2012

Market Watch

New Listing (12)
Price Change (5)
Back On Market (3)
Backup Offer (1)
Expired (1)
Pending (6)
Sold (4)

 

Okay, so once again we are starting a new year.  Happy New Year once again to all of you.  Here is this week's La Verne Real Estate Market Watch - and we're off and running!

This week there are 12 new listings which is a good sign that people are getting more and more confident in the real estate market.  Four sold and 6 went into escrow.  That's 4 homes that have new owners and 6 that will hopefully in a few weeks.  So home sales are happening in La Verne.

There are 3 that went back on the market and 1 that has gone into backup status.  Usually the homes that go back on the market are homes where the buyer has backed out for some reason and the seller has to start all over again.  Most recently the reason most buyers back out is because of the time it has been taking for the lenders to approve short sales.  To be fair, the lenders are working on it, but it hasn't helped much to this point.

You know, I try to be positive about the amount of price changes and this week I can.  It's not that many this week ion La Verne with only 5.  Again, the banks change their minds on pricing sometimes and with only 5, I believe that's what has happened here.

I try to stay on top of my communities and be a local expert for all of them.  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!

 

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Highs and Lows - La Verne, CA, December 13, 2011

Okay, so here we go with the statistics in LA VERNE, CA.  I think for this month we will skip a lot of the explaination as it has been in all of the other past months and you can always call me with any questions. Short and to the point is not something I usually am, but let's pretend for now, shall we?

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

HIGHEST LISTING$  3,500,000

LOWEST LISTING$     229,900

AVERAGE PRICE$     399,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS 128

SOLD THIS WEEK                           8

NEW THIS WEEK                           9

Short summary:  If you compare this months highs and lows to last month, you will learn that the average price has dropped from $449,000 to approximately $399,000.  And last month there were only 3 sold during the week where we have risen to 8 for this week.  The listings coming into the LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET PLACE are  5 new last month during this week and 9 during this past week.

CONDOS

HIGHEST LISTING        $    344,300

LOWEST LISTING$      75,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     220,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS               2

SOLD THIS WEEK                0

NEW LISTINGS THIS WEEK               1

What this shows compared to last month is that there were no sales of condos during this week in either month.  This week there is 1 new listings compared to last months none.  And the average price has gone up from $155,000 to approximately $220,000.

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!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

 

Market Watch

New Listing (10)
Price Change (12)
Back On Market (4)
Backup Offer (4)
Expired (3)
Pending (11)
Sold (8)

 

Okay, so here we go with the last week's LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH.  It has the statistics and explainations from the last seven days activity in real estate.

 

It seems that the confidence of home sellers is coming back to the real estate marketplace.  This is shown by the 10 new listings that are new to the City of La Verne.  This coupled with the fact that 8 homes were sold would tell one that the housing market in La Verne is starting to pick up!

 

 

Since there are 12 price changes I have to write yet another paragraph on pricing. I know it's tough in today's market, but 12 price changes is quite a lot.  To be fair, banks are doing some of the price changes, raising and lowering prices according to the BPO's they receive or the investor input.  However, I am still seeing agents making mistakes on the pricing from the very beginning.  It matters from the start because it has been shown in a study I saw that a house will sell within the first ten days.  So you can see, if you lose those first ten days with a 'trial' price, you lose out on a good chunk of what will undoubtedly be the highest and best offer you will receive on your home.

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!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

 

Singing Carols!

Okay, so about a week ago my friend SHARON who is a member of San Dimas/La Verne Soroptimists called me.  I can't remember the exact reason for her call, but she told me the group was going to sing carols for the senior citizens over at La Verne Manor.  Me, being the crazy blonde that I am, invited myself.

So today, a grpup of about 11 women headed over to the manor.  I didn't know what to expect other than I remember singing to seniors when I was a little girl in church.  The Soroptimist group is amazing.  Not only did they bring song sheets for all of the residents, they made a Christmas bag full of things like lotion, socks and chocolates for each person there.

When we began to sing, every wonderful resident joined in or listened.  And one lady in particular caught my attention.  She just had this look of pure enjoyment on her face.  So afterward I headed over to her wheelchair and spoke with her.  I told her I thought she loved music very much.  And come to find out, she had been a piano player/singer/dancer in her younger years.  She told me that music will always be a part of her life and that she sings her way through her days.  Wow, what an attitude!  I truly want to be that kind of person when I am older and maybe can't get around so well anymore.  She is joyful and happy.

So, not only did we make everyone's day, I learned an important lesson.  Keep singing and life won't feel so bad.

And the World Will Live As One

Okay, so can you IMAGINE?  An art exhibit dedicated to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace activites - and it's on exhibit here in LA VERNE!  READ ABOUT IT HERE.

The name of the exhibit is "IMAGINE PEACE" and will be on exhibit through December 15, 2011.  The admission is free. It is located at the University of La Verne in the Harris Art Gallery, the only stop for this traveling art exhibit on the West Coast.

The Gallery hours are from 11am to 4PM Monday through Thursday by appointment only.  Make your appointment early so you won't miss this traveling piece of Rock N Roll/War History!

HIGHS AND LOWS - LA VERNE, CA - November 14, 2011

Okay, so here is today's report for the La Verne, CA real estate market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     189,000

Highest Priced Home   $  3,500,000

Average   $     449,000

Active Listings   136

Sold This Week  3

New Listings This Week  5

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the LA VERNE 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 last blog had the average price in LA VERNE at $465,000 and this week that average has dropped to $449,000.

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 136 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 136 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case three, 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 45 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 five 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 45 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.  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   $   73,000

Highest   $ 339,950

Average   $ 155,000

Active Listings   14

Condos Sold This Week  2

New Listings This Week  0

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 7 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer only has only 7 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.

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!

HIGHS AND LOWS - LA VERNE, CA - OCTOBER 10, 2011

Okay, so here is today's report for the La Verne, CA real estate market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home$     189,000

Highest Priced Home$  3,500,000

Average$     465,000

Active Listings141

Sold This Week  8

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happeing with the LA VERNE 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 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 141 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 141 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case eight, 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  17 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...

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 17 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.  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 bigger selection to choose from and you have a better chance right now of getting an offer accepted.  And in the past month or so, the inventory is increasing in size, so the statement that you have more choices is getting bigger by the week.     

CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES

Lowest$   73,000

Highest$ 349,900

Average$ 155,000

Active Listings18

Condos Sold This Week 0

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 18 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer only has 18 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.

And, as always, if you have real estate questions or need to buy or sell a home, please feel free to call me, a local expert.  I will be honored to assist you.

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

LA VERNE LIVING!

LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH, SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2011 

  And just a reminder,  this weekend (October 1 and 2) is the annual SAN DIMAS RODEO AND WESTERN DAYS.  You can read about it here.  SAN DIMAS is the next-door neighbor of LA VERNE.  Remember this while you're out looking for something to do this weekend.

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!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

LA VERNE LIVING!