By Mia Trudeau - Estates Director
Dear Clients,
Welcome new and loyal clients as well as all of you curious real estate conesouirs! I am writing this blog to keep you up to date on the new articles of interest that may effect your next purchase or sale of luxury real estate. My areas of specialty are listed above. Here you will find tips on buying selling, lending, moving, hot properties, up-to-date information about what to do and perhaps not do in Los Angeles.
Enjoy!
Post November 27th, 2009
Thank God for the end of year Real Estate rush. There are Buyers galore out there. Most of them have been waiting to jump in the game at these prices. Time to shop Buyers!
Post November 26th, 2009
For Mia, each open house has a routine. She drives around the neighborhood placing signs, brings in fresh flowers, stocks the refrigerator with bottled water and sets out a sign-in sheet.
Similar scenes play out across Southern California every weekend, with one expensive exception. The contemporary style home she is "sitting," to use the industry term, is listed at $15.9 million. And anyone is welcome to see it. All 8,600 square feet of it.
Whether spurred by the down housing market, the opportunity to promote themselves or a determination to make a sale, a select group of area real estate agents has raised the bar on public open houses above $10 million -- to $12.9 million in Beverly Hills, Malibu and Brentwood Park, $18.9 million in Pacific Palisades and even higher in the "bird streets" area of the Sunset Strip.
Post November 25th, 2009
The average drop in sale price within the past 6 months, from list price to sale price, is close to 33%. This was taken from the 14 sales above 10 million dollars in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, BHPO, Sunset Plaza and Malibu Beach.
Post November 24rd 2009
Sources tell me the famous Nick Cage estate in the exclusive lower Bel-Air neighborhood just lost it’s Buyer due to lack of financing. The property was put on the market with a 2 week window to “see and submit offers”. Listing office received multiple offers and upped the price from $9,995,000 to $17,500,000 with the auction type scenario. This 6 bedroom, 9 bathroom home is 11,817 sq. ft. on 43, 170 sq. ft. lot. Gated and gorgeous!
If you are interested in this property and have the cash to close quickly call me.
Post July 30, 2009
Ennis
perches on the hills of its Los Feliz, Calif., neighborhood like a
Mayan temple. "One hundred years from now, people will make pilgrimages
to this structure," Wright once predicted. Tim Street-Porter/Courtesy of Christie's
Ennis
perches on the hills of its Los Feliz, Calif., neighborhood like a
Mayan temple. "One hundred years from now, people will make pilgrimages
to this structure," Wright once predicted.Tim Street-Porter/Courtesy of Christie's
If
you're house-hunting and have an extra $15 million to spare, there's a
place with your name on it in Los Angeles. Known as the Ennis House,
it's an architectural masterpiece designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd
Wright. But, like a lot of old houses, it needs some work.
Drive
past the grime and glitz of Hollywood toward the hills of Griffith Park
and suddenly, there it is: a Mayan temple perched above the city. Ennis
House is one of Wright's most famous creations ? and not only to
architecture buffs.
The
juxtaposition of natural elements ? in this case, trees and fire ? is a
Wright custom. This glass-mosaic fireplace is one of only three ever
made, and the last intact example. Tim Street-Porter/Courtesy of Christie's
The
juxtaposition of natural elements ? in this case, trees and fire ? is a
Wright custom. This glass-mosaic fireplace is one of only three ever
made, and the last intact example.Tim Street-Porter/Courtesy of Christie's
A Damaged Beauty
The house has starred in several movies, from 1950s horror flicks to thrillers like Day of the Locust in the '70s. The house featured prominently in the '80s cult film Blade Runner, which is set in 2019 Los Angeles. Ennis House was the darkly elegant residence of the head of Tokyo's "yakuza," or mob, in Black Rain, starring Michael Douglas.
And, actually, it was rain that did extensive damage to the house's distinctive cast concrete-block exterior.
"When
the rains of 2004 and 2005 came, there was substantial damage from the
motor court, so it looked like the house was falling down the hill,
because the blocks had totally tumbled," says Linda Dishman, executive
director of the Los Angeles Conservancy and an Ennis House Foundation
board member.
So the house that starred in movies got what a lot
of movie stars get: a facelift. A few years and several million dollars
later, it's been partially restored.
High Maintenance
And now it's for sale. The three nonprofit agencies that oversee the house agree that maintaining it is a financial challenge.
Dishman believes the house needs a buyer with deep pockets and a passion to own an architectural gem.
Ennis House, shown from the motor court looking toward the front door. John Vincenti/Courtesy of Christie's
"What
this house offers, really, it's a trophy property," Dishman says. "Some
people have trophy wives ? this is a trophy house."
The deep
pockets have already been calling, says Aaron Kirman, a Beverly Hills
real estate agent who deals in pricey, architecturally significant
properties.
"It seems that the majority of the people that are
looking are people that have multiple homes, in different cities, more
or less all over the world," he says.
The house has only been on the market for a short while, but Kirman says they'll wait to find exactly the right buyer.
Breathtaking Interior
It's
easy to understand all the avid interest if you visit Ennis House. The
outside, with its high walls and sharp edges, is definitely dramatic,
but it's the inside that takes visitors' breath away.
Enter the
low, dim foyer and take a short flight of steps up to the living room,
and all of a sudden you're in an explosion of space and light: the
ceilings soar several stories. Beautiful windows with stained glass
flourishes give a panoramic view of the city. The oak floors glow deep
russet; the brass lighting fixtures gleam. The large windows bring the
outdoors in ? a Wright signature ? but also provide something Wright
houses are not famous for.
"That's one of the primary
distinguishing features of the Ennis House," says Jim DeMeo, Ennis
House Foundation's president. "When people come in they're just really
floored by the amount of light, and it just really captures the
beautiful Southern California sunlight at different parts of the day."
Throughout
the house, there are the constant little visual surprises that Wright
loved ? variations in height, a window placed where one normally
wouldn't be, the luxury of scarlet bathroom walls as a counterpoint to
the sober elegance of wood and stone.
'Temple On A Hill'
All this has held up for more than 80 years. DeMeo says the architect predicted this just after he finished Ennis House in 1924.
"He
said, 'You know, 100 years from now, people are going to remember this
house as being literally the temple on the hill, and they'll make
pilgrimages to this structure,' and it's very much true today," DeMeo
says.
Recently, some of the pilgrims also have been prospective buyers, and one may add a new chapter to Ennis House's long history.
Going legally broke has made a big comeback - especially in the Los
Angeles, California, area - despite a mid-decade revision to the U.S. Bankruptcy
Code intended to curb filings.
The number of Southern Californians seeking bankruptcy protection
nearly doubled in 2008 from 2007 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's
seven-county California Central District, by far the biggest increase
in the nation.
Bankruptcy is still booming. Personal filings from January through
April, the most recent month available, rose 75% in the Central
District compared with the year-earlier period.
Bankruptcy experts attribute the growth mainly to the mortgage
meltdown, which hit the region's adventuresome borrowers particularly
hard. Add soaring credit card debt and medical expenses, and people who
never thought they'd see a bankruptcy courtroom are lining up with
petitions in hand.
"California has been one of the biggest climbers in the filing rate in
the last few years," said Robert Lawless, a law professor at the
University of Illinois and contributor to the Consumer Bankruptcy
Project, which examined how the 2005 bankruptcy overhaul affected
filers. "I attribute a lot of that to the foreclosure problem."
The scene plays out weekdays in the downtown Los Angeles bankruptcy filing office.
In 2006 and 2007, with bankruptcy filings in the doldrums, official
statistics indicate this room was less than bustling. But on a recent
morning, nearly 20 people were waiting in the hallway before the doors
opened, many looking for a way out of their mortgage troubles.
Kim Smock raced in to ask a clerk: "Do you think I can make an 11:30 sale?"
It was 10:45 a.m. and Smock had only 45 minutes to stop the foreclosure sale of his home.
In short order, Gerri Colwark arrived for a similar reason - the bank
was ready to sell her father's foreclosed home that morning. A
bankruptcy filing stops a foreclosure sale, at least temporarily, even
if the paperwork is stamped only a minute before the sale is to take
place.
"I rushed over here," she said, a bit out of breath.
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was
designed to keep people who had the ability to pay debts from enjoying
the benefits of bankruptcy. At the heart of the changes is a complex
"means test" to analyze a person's ability to pay debts before being
allowed to seek Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which along with
Chapter 13 are the types most often used by individuals.
"Too many people have abused the bankruptcy laws," President George W.
Bush said as he signed the measure into law. "They've walked away from
debts even when they had the ability to repay them."
Lawless, citing studies, said the revisions mainly confused legitimate filers and led to higher attorney fees.
"The effect was that people are arriving in Bankruptcy Court in worse financial shape," he said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Maureen Tighe, based in the Woodland Hills
division, said the more complex rules ultimately stopped few
bankruptcies.
"The changes just made it more expensive for people to file," she said.
The 2005 revamp immediately cooled the bankruptcy frenzy.
In 2004, about 60,300 people sought Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy in the
district, which covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,
Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. In 2006, the first
full year under the new rules, about 17,600 people filed, down 71% from
two years earlier.
Nationwide, filings fell less dramatically, 61%, to 612,000 in 2006 from 1.6 million in 2004.
Before long, filing rates were rising again as more and more people
were resorting to bankruptcy. Last year, about 65,000 Southern
Californians filed, sailing past the 2004 level.
The typical consumer bankruptcy filer isn't a scofflaw, said Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren.
"They have decent educations and they once had good jobs," said Warren,
whose public profile has soared recently as chairwoman of the
congressional panel monitoring the Treasury Department's distribution
of bailout money through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
"Nearly all of them are shocked that play-by-the-rules people like themselves have ended up in bankruptcy," Warren said.
The reason most turn to bankruptcy strikes close to home.
"It's real estate," said Encino bankruptcy attorney David S. Hagen, who
conducts free seminars for homeowners organized by the nonprofit
Neighborhood Legal Services.
"People got sold a bill of goods on some kind of nontraditional
mortgage and thought they could change it when the worth of their house
went up. But the worth went down and the payments went up," he said.
"They start to live off of their credit cards."
By the time Norris Daniels of Sherman Oaks made it to the self-help
desk staffed by Neighborhood Legal Services at the Woodland Hills
Bankruptcy Court division, he had racked up $47,000 in credit card debt.
His house troubles consisted mostly of storm damage repairs that
spiraled out of control. The house eventually sold, but then came a
divorce and support for his mother when she was ill.
According to a recent study by Harvard researchers, doctor and hospital
bills plus other costs because of illness contribute to about 60% of
bankruptcies.
"I was a person with a good credit score - 750 - when I bought my
house," said Daniels, 42, a salesman at a Beverly Hills clothing store.
"I'm a regular guy."
An attorney wanted to charge Daniels about $3,000, which he couldn't
afford on top of the $299 court filing fee. So, like approximately 25%
of local Chapter 7 filers, he'll represent himself. (Those who file for
Chapter 13 bankruptcy usually need a lawyer's help.)
The complications of the 2005 revisions caused attorney fees to
increase to about $1,200 and higher for a Chapter 7 filing. Before
that, lawyers charged about $800, said Tighe. Lawless estimated that
attorney fees had risen about 50% nationwide.
Chanese Cole, a medical administrative assistant, was one of the people
sitting quietly at the downtown Los Angeles filing room, waiting for
her turn to be called.
"I can't afford a lawyer," Cole said. Instead, she paid $200 to a
bankruptcy petition preparer - a job title for which no certification
or license is needed - to help her fill out the paperwork.
She had a $23,000 judgment against her because of an auto accident more
than 10 years ago. If Cole did nothing, her wages would be garnisheed
for a long time to come.
"I never thought I would experience something like this," she said. "It's kind of nerve shattering."
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy normally doesn't reduce secured debt, such as a
mortgage. So, even though it stops foreclosure proceedings, that's only
temporary; many who file end up losing their homes. Other debts a
bankruptcy usually can't wipe out include alimony, child support and
student loans.
And the person filing probably won't obtain credit for a long time. A bankruptcy stays on a credit report for 10 years.
That doesn't matter to Daniels. He wants a fresh start.
"There was no way I was ever going to be able to pay off $47,000," he said.
If his filing is successful, Daniels said he'd like to go to a low-cost college to get an MBA.
"I'm going to reinvent myself," he said. "And stay away from credit cards."
Posted in June 25th, 2009
by Bob Bredel in 2009 San Carlos Market Preview
?A lengthy document with a bunch of fill-in-the-blanks and legal jargon.? This is how one San Carlos home buyer described the contract. In a sense, she is right. However, too often buyers do not truly understand the numerous pitfalls that exist in the contract. I remember when we were buying our first home in San Carlos. At the time, I still had my law practice and I remember the realtor going through the contract with us. The amount of items that were glossed over with an ?initial here? and ?this is standard? and outright incorrect explanations over the legal meaning of certain terms, was alarming. I remember sitting at that conference room table distinctly thinking that I now understood why real estate litigation was so prosperous.
There are many different types of purchase contracts. The one that is commonly used in San Carlos is called PRDS Real Estate Purchase Contract. Another form that is commonly used is the CAR Real Estate Purchase Contract. If you have your choice, I would have you tell your agent to use the PRDS form. It my opinion the PRDS form is better written and has fewer gray areas.
This week I will be highlighting two areas that deserve more consideration and explanation in the PRDS contract:
(1) Liquidated Damages. Section 5 of the PRDS form talks about Liquidated Damages. By initialing next Section 5, you are asking the seller to include that particular clause in the contract. Here is how I would explain Liquidated Damages: It may surprise most people to learn that while civil litigators care about whether they can prove the ?more likely than not? burden that is required in California for a judgment in their favor, they care equally about proving damages. Many times an attorney will advise a client that the probability of a favorable outcome of their case is high, however, if you can?t prove damages, you just paid a lot of money simply to give an I-told-you-so to the defendant. Liquidated Damages takes that ?proving damages? out of the equation. Basically, when both parties initial the Liquidated Damages section of the contract they are agreeing ahead of time that, if there is a breach of the contract by the purchaser, the damages will be X. In most instances, X, is 3% of the purchase price.
>>> How Liquidated Damages affects buyers and sellers: It?s good for buyers because they know that if they have to breach the contract for an unforeseen reason, they will never be liable for more than 3% of the purchase price in damages. Items such as consequential damages, loss of economic advantage and other costly causes of action that the seller may have are taken off the table. It?s good for sellers because they have the assurance of knowing that if something goes wrong and the buyer breaches the contract the seller will usually end up keeping the buyer?s deposit of 3%. The seller can pocket the money and put the property right back on the market.
(2) Arbitration. Sections 7 A & B of the PRDS contract bind arbitration on the buyer and seller if the buyer and seller initial next to this particular section. Buyers are normally very confused on whether to include this clause in their offer. First, an explanation of arbitration: Arbitration is much like a court proceeding but it is done informally. There is not a court room, just a conference room. There is not a judge, just an arbitrator (normally a retired judge or very experienced attorney). The plaintiff and defendant make their arguments to the arbitrator and the arbitrator then issues a ruling which is binding on all parties.
>>> Why buyers and sellers like arbitration: Arbitration is far less formal and less intimidating than an actual courtroom, discovery rules are somewhat relaxed, and the process is usually far cheaper than taking a case through the verdict stage in a courtroom.
>>> Why buyers and sellers do not like arbitration: The arbitrators ruling is binding. Appeals are not allowed, except for highly unusual circumstances. Depending on the arbitrator, you risk a decision that is not exactly grounded in the most logical legal sense. Many attorneys will tell you horror stories of cases that would have gone one way in an actual courtroom and far differently in front of an arbitrator.
>>> What I recommend for my clients: For me, the answer depends on the behavior of the party on the other side of the transaction. I am generally in favor of arbitration because I believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. However, if you have reason to believe that something is a little shady on the other side or the property is one that could be fraught with issues which may not be disclosed, I would recommend not initialing this clause and leave the door open for a courtroom action.
>>> Here?s why: The issues the buyer will encounter are usually obvious and should have been disclosed by the sellers. While arbitration is usually less costly and less formal than a courtroom action, obtaining a summary judgment is usually cheaper and the buyer or seller would most likely never set foot in a courtroom. Additionally, the buyer can usually get a much faster result than with arbitration. When my firm was conducting summary judgments they usually ran about $5,000. $5,000 would probably be the fee just to hire the arbitrator?.so it?s an easy decision under those circumstances. The one item to keep in mind here is that the breach on behalf of the seller would need to be obvious in order to make it through summary judgment.
Upcoming blog posts will further expand on other sections of the PRDS contract. Please note the totality of all cirucumstances should be used in making determinations in the PRDS contract. Therefore, these determinations should only be made with an experienced realtor or legal counsel. Please remember that none of the posts on the San Carlos Blog should be considered legal advice.
June 25th, 2009 Post (2 articles)
America's Most Expensive Homes
Matthew Woolsey, 06.25.09, 06:00 AM EDT
There's been a lot of denial among luxury homeowners. In 2006, it was thought that the luxury market wouldn't suffer the same fate as the broader market. A year later, high-end home buyers were thought to have endless, deep pockets, further insulating the top-tier from the cratering economy. As the nation's markets in 2008 went from bad to worse, some in the industry claimed that the dearth of trophy properties outstripped supply.
This year, reality set in. No one is buying $100 million homes. Few are buying $30 million homes. Properties in that range are either being reduced by amounts similar to the national debts of small countries--Dunellen Hall, reduced by $50 million from $125 million to $75 million, and BootJack Ranch to $68 million, a reduction of $20 million from last year's asking--or are being pulled from the market entirely. It's been a bad year for America's Most Expensive Homes, our annual list of the nation's priciest oceanfront mansions, urban townhouses, monumental ski lodges and country estates. Mainstays like the $125 million Fleur de Lys in Beverly Hills, a 45,000-square-foot re-creation of Louis XIV's palace at Versailles, and the $100 million Tranquility, a Lake Tahoe 20,000-square-foot mountain home on 210 acres, are still at the top of our list, two and three years after they came on the market, respectively.
In 2008, it took a $75 million price tag to make our list. Now there are four homes priced below that: the $68 million BootJack Ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colo., with its 77,000 square feet of cabin space, including a 13,800-square- foot main house, a $65 million Brentwood, Calif., ranch designed by Robert Byrd, a $60 million Beverly Hills mansion built in 1919 by silent-film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and a $60 million Upper East Side apartment with a mind-boggling 10,000-square-feet of space.
To compile our list, we spoke with brokers and consulted listing agents and real estate appraisers and scoured real estate listings. We didn't include private listings, also called pocket listings, because they're quietly shopped around among elite buyers, nor did we measure land sales. The so-called Spelling Mansion, a 123-room Holmby Hills spread, which has reportedly been on and off the market at $150 million is currently not publicly listed and therefore was not included. The penthouse of the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan is also officially off the market.
When did the high end of the market truly fall apart? When the financial crisis set in, particularly after Lehman Brothers ( LEHMQ - news - people ) failed Sept. 15 and Freddie Mac ( FRE - news - people ) and Fannie Mae ( FNM - news - people ) went into government conservatorship on Sept. 7. In New York, and the Hamptons, that completely shut off the sales spigot. "There are only two closed sales above $30 million that I know of," says Jonathan Miller, principal of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan-based appraisal firm. "There were a few additional sales that closed in September, but they went to contract before the party ended. "It's the same story on the West Coast, almost 3,000 miles from Wall Street.
"I'm calling peak June, July of 2008, that was the end of it," says Mauricio Umansky, a broker with Hilton and Hyland in Beverly Hills, who despite the downturn has sold two $30 million homes since the financial crisis set in. "When September 15 hit, that was the boom lowering."
For Those with Money: "You Won't Find a Better Time to Be a Buyer"
Cash Will (Again) Be King as Slower Than Expected Recovery Will Create its Own Set of Opportunities, According to Commercial Real Estate Professionals
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By
Mark Heschmeyer
June 24, 2009
Although the future of commercial real estate remains murky, current operating conditions are crystal clear: There is very limited capital, extremely tighter underwriting, shrinking net operating incomes, shrinking space demand and declining property values. For companies today, that means leaner and more efficient operations and more focus on tenant retention rather than tenant attraction.
The bigger question may be how long will these current conditions remain in effect. And while they are far different than what conditions were just three years ago, the smart money is starting to act as if it expects the current operating environment will be in effect for some time and is starting to look for opportunities that match the times.
This is the assessment of a wide variety of CoStar Group customers and readers we contacted about what they expect the flip side of the current recession will look like. Last week in Part I of this news story, readers said that, despite some signs of overall economic stability, commercial real estate is still reeling from the effects of the credit crunch while trying to avoid the recession's knockout punches. At the same time, they know the cycle will eventually turn will eventually come to an end.
"We probably have already experienced the worst, but our economy is still falling, albeit at a slower pace. Several leading indicators suggest that we will likely bottom out before the end of this year," said Tim Wang, Ph.D. and senior investment strategist for ING Clarion in New York. "Nonetheless, investors should keep in mind that the economy declining at a slower rate is a lot different from actually beginning to expand. The recovery process could be less robust and take longer than expected."
SEE RELATED STORY: "Pricewaterhouse Survey Sees No Turnaround 'til 2011.".
"We believe that there will be more distressed assets coming to the market over the next 12 to 18 months," Wang said. "Investors with cash can cherry pick the best assets in the most desirable markets. Preferred equity, mezz debt, super senior CMBS and 'loan-to-own' are also attractive investments during this period."
Paul J. Ruff, president of Triumph Real Estate Corp. in Englewood, CO, agreed that there are very early indications that an end of the recession may be in sight -- somewhere in the next several months.
"That doesn't mean the end is next month, but it might mean a continuation of reductions in job losses through the next two or three quarters, which will offer some hope but won't put a lot of money back in consumer's hands," Ruff said. "A return to growth is another story, because inflation and rising interest rates resulting from the stimulus is a real threat, and that will hold down spending and hiring. So the economy could very well flat-line or grow anemically for quite some time after the 'end' of the recession."
"That all being said, we will be seeking and making worthwhile real estate investments, with an emphasis on low cost basis, low or no leverage, and a lot of patience," Ruff said. "It would not be prudent to expect any quick turnarounds in value in the commercial markets, so conservative underwriting and forecasting will drive deals. We will buy office, industrial, retail or multifamily properties or whole loans backed by those types, and are anticipating the need to close quickly with cash."
"What does all of this mean going forward?" asked Joe Farr, Asset Manager for BGK Group in Santa Fe, NM; a question he then answered. "In my opinion, there will be a continuation of what everyone in the business now recognizes as the norm. First, lenders want more equity in the deals (whether it's a new loan or a refi). Second, prices have already dropped in most markets to the point where a lot of properties are under water or close to it, which will continue that downward pressure on prices because lenders will be taking back more properties and selling them at a discount to get them off their books and owners will be selling them at a discount to avoid going back to investors to raise additional capital for a ref,"
"We'll get through it, but it's going to take some time," Farr added. "I personally think it's too early to start any buying on a large scale, and you're going to need a lot of cash to make anything happen. The disconnect between what sellers want and what buyers are willing to pay is clearly pointed out by looking at sales volumes around the country-anemic compared to any "normal" year. I don't see anything that's likely to change that any time soon."
Because of the pricing disconnect between buyers and sellers, many in the industry are mining the books of lenders looking for nonperforming loans, foreclosed properties and pending loan maturities as a place to extract current opportunities.
Tax Credit Nears End Posted June 23, 2009
New home buyers planning to apply for a $10,000 state tax credit with their purchase have little time remaining to do so.
New home buyers planning to apply for a $10,000 state tax credit with their purchase have little time remaining to do so.
As of Wednesday, the Franchise Tax Board had received 9,848 applications. It began accepting them March 1. Those applications would eat up $94.7 million of the $100 million allocated for tax credits, but many of them are duplicates or invalid, state officials said.
To make sure enough valid applications are received, the tax board is accepting a total of 12,000.
The tax credit was introduced in California as an incentive for buyers to consider newly constructed homes in a market dominated by foreclosures. The credit is good for $3,333 a year for three years.
Home builders have taken advantage, heavily advertising the credit, which can be coupled with an $8,000 federal credit to total $18,000 for a home buyer.
The credit is available for qualified buyers who on or after March 1 and before March 1, 2010, purchased a home that will be their principal residence and has never been occupied.
The state Franchise Tax Board will update its Web site, www.ftb.ca.gov, weekly until it reaches 11,000 applications. It will update the site daily thereafter
Malibu California Post 6-21
By
LOUISE TUTELIAN
Published: June 21, 2009
LOCALS call it ?the Bu? ? a laid-back, celebrity-filled beach town that sparkles in the collective consciousness as a sun-drenched state of mind. With the busy Pacific Coast Highway running through and no discernible center of town, some of the best of this small city, with around 13,000 residents, can disappear in a drive-by. The staggering natural beauty of the sea and mountains is obvious, but pull off the road and stay awhile, and you?ll find more: a world-class art museum, local
wines, top-notch restaurants and chic shops.
DiCaprio sells Malibu home
Published Saturday June 20th, 2009
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has sold a bluff-top contemporary in Malibu that had been listed at $7,999,000 (U.S.)
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Leonardo DiCaprio
The main house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,374 square feet. Walls of glass frame ocean views in the living room. A guesthouse has two one-bedroom suites, and a stairway leads to the beach.
DiCaprio, 34, put the property on the market in mid-November. He purchased it for $6.35 million in 2007, according to public records.
The three-time Oscar nominee has the lead in the upcoming thriller Shutter Island, scheduled for October release. Last year, he starred in Body of Lies and Revolutionary Road and was ranked as the fifth-highest-paid actor in Hollywood by Forbes magazine. Among his acting credits are Blood Diamond (2006), Catch Me if You Can (2002) and Titanic (1997).
He is a producer of Greensburg, a series in its second season on Planet Green about a community in the Midwest rebuilding after a 2007 tornado. The actor-environmentalist-producer-writer-L.A. Lakers fan wears many hats - literally. After studying photos of DiCaprio courtside at Staples Center since 2004, Canada's National Post observed last month that it looks like he never wears the same baseball cap twice.
*****
Former talent manager Sandy Gallin has put his 42nd residential project - a more than 12,000-square-foot remodel and expansion in L.A.'s Bel-Air neighbourhood - on the market at $32 million.
The late-'30s Paul Williams-designed traditional was home to Father Knows Best actress Jane Wyatt until her death. Gallin purchased the house in 2007 for $7 million, with the intention of tearing it down and building a two-story contemporary.
"I bought it for the land and the view, and five days after I closed escrow, I heard from the landmark conservation board that I couldn't tear it down," he said. "I was ready to have a heart attack."
But the result is a seven-bedroom, 12-bathroom home that blends Williams' traditional style with the contemporary architecture of Scott Mitchell, who has worked with Gallin on about half a dozen houses. Among the signature Williams design elements is a two-story circular entryway with a sweeping staircase.
Gallin wanted to replace Wyatt's terraced gardens with more flat yard space and built three sets of retaining walls, one of which serves as a wall along the new 140-foot infinity pool. He estimates he spent more than $7 million on hardscape, trees and other landscaping.
To make the interior contiguous, he chose reclaimed white oak for floors throughout the house and wood for the ceilings and walls of many rooms, spending more than $3 million on the wood and labor. Gallin, whose extensive credits have included TV and film production and managing the musical talents of Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton, has reinvented himself by rebuilding and flipping expensive houses. Frank Sinatra, "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett and sax player Kenny G all purchased Gallin properties.
Although he had thought this would be his last project, this latest home is "too big for one person," Gallin said. "I need to definitely build another."
*****
Britney Spears' Beverly Hills Post Office-area villa is back on the market at $6,499,000, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
The pop star most recently listed the house in September at $7.9 million and reduced the price to $7,195,000 before letting the listing expire in March.
The Italian Renaissance-inspired home, built in 2001 in a gated community, has six bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in about 7,500 square feet. There are marble, hardwood and mosaic tile floors and carved millwork. The master bedroom has a fireplace and his-and-her bathrooms. The landscaped grounds include a swimming pool and a gated motor court.Spears, 27, launched her comeback Circus tour in New Orleans in March. Named after her sixth studio album, which debuted late last year in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, the tour is in London through mid-June before moving on to other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe.
Hot Property by Lauren Beale of the Los Angeles Times features the hottest celebrity real estate deals.
