Hello Everyone!

I am definitely feeling the summer lull in the market! As expected the sellers are starting to list their homes towards the higher end of the pricing scale which means there will be fewer buyers that can compete so now the good houses are getting more like 3 to 5 offers rather than the 15-20 offers that we were getting in the spring. Which means that the lack of frenzy will tamper down the pricing a bit from the peak of the spring on some of the homes.

In fact there is one house in particular that I kept an eye on and happened to speak with the listing agent. Nice ranch near X-mas tree lane that was 1700 sq.ft for $1,295,000. I thought she would get $1.6 for sure, but she only got 4 offers and I am guessing it will go for less than $1.5. Like I said…..if you are a buyer this is the time to get your 2nd wind!!

Let´s get on with my favorites for this week!

This week I headed out to La Canada & La Crescenta to see 2 homes that specifically caught my eye! The first one is on Earl in La Canada and it welcomes you into a lushly landscaped courtyard and then leads you towards the striking front door under the vaulted breezeway! The formal entry is there merely for you to pause and appreciate the architectural beauty of the living room! Every room communicates with the outdoor spaces which makes for a great floor plan. It is always very tricky to remodel such an architectural home, but I have to say I don´t like the finishes in the kitchen or the master bathroom. The main bathroom feels better to me…..but I would have done a few things differently. I am much more into earthy finishes with a post & beam home like this that was designed to be one with nature. Still those are just my preferences …not everyone´s preference and this is a beautiful home to be sure!

Homes like this don´t come up to often in Altadena. We just don´t have very many craftsman, but the craftsman we do have are pretty magnificent and this is one of them! This family has only owned it a few years, but their circumstances have changed and they need a one story home….so now is your chance to scoop of this gem. I love all the original woodwork and that brick fireplace makes a perfect focal point for the living room. That built-in bench calls to you to curl up by the fire with a good book! The dining room is a beautiful space as well with a unique built-in hutch that is reminiscent of a mid-century design because it appears to float. There is a library off the living room and a guest bedroom downstairs. Upstairs you will find 4 bedrooms and 1 bath, so you will have to convert one of the bedrooms into a bath and closet to create a proper primary suite. The kitchen and baths are in nice condition, but a period remodel will be needed at some point. The backyard is huge, but not very landscaped so there is another project for the next homeowner!

This beautiful home in La Crescenta is rare indeed. I love the area of La Crescenta, but to be honest a lot of the housing inventory is not that great….probably why it is about the same price as Pasadena/Altadena despite its great schools. This home is truly beautiful! To tell you the truth, the pictures don´t capture the wonderful feel of this home. It was built in the 80s, but I can promise you it is not your typical cheap 80´s construction. This home was custom built and you can tell. The finishes they chose were very high quality for the time and honestly I would keep most of the finishes because changing it would change the vibe of the home…..which I love. Especially how it fits in with that amazing landscaping! Now those pictures do a good job of capturing that beauty!

The El Miradero near Brand Park is probably the most coveted neighborhood in Glendale and this one seems well priced especially for a character Spanish style home. I love that the woodwork and doors have not been painted. The windows bring in so much light and the living and dining room spaces appear to be quite large! I especially appreciate the built-in hutch in the dining room…..not something you see too often in a Spanish. I have mixed feelings about the finishes in the kitchen…..maybe it is just the back splash that feels over the top…..still I am sure that there is a way to tweak it without starting over. The bathrooms on the other hand I think need to be redone. Still it is a lovely looking Spanish and definitely worth a peek!

This home has a lot of charm! What I love about the Fox Ridge estates area is all of its Oak trees and this one is graced with a beautiful specimen in the front! It looks like it has been painted recently and I really like the colors they chose for the exterior! The living room is a charming space with the original hardwood flooring and French doors that flow out to the covered patio which is a perfect spot to hang out. The kitchen seems like it has been remodeled recently and quite tastefully. Now I know it says 2 bedrooms but the den is a very large space and can easily be used as the 3rd bedroom! The thing I don´t like about Fox Ridge estates is that the lots tend to be very wide and very shallow, making the backyards feel quite small. This one I think you can capture some more space by hedging off the side yard and then putting a door in the kitchen that leads out to the yard. The main issue with this home is that it is right on the corner of Altadena drive so you do get quite a bit of noise even though you are behind the hedges planted on that part of the street.

So this one can actually be quite a wonderful home…..but it definitely needs someone with vision and cash to bring it to its full potential! I love the pitched beamed ceiling in the living room. The formal dining room is a nice space and then the galley kitchen faces another room that is also being used as a dining room. Most people don´t need 2 dining rooms so I would open the kitchen up better to the dining room on the side and make the front dining room into more like a TV/family room. The yard is all on the side and I like how the living room and side dining room flow out to that space. Then you have an extraordinarily wide hallway with doors all along that open out to the yard on one side and open to the different bedrooms on the other side. It definitely needs work and not only is it on septic….but the septic is not working and it is only working off a cesspool. It is best if you just bite the bullet and spend the money to connect to the sewer line in the street. At best I think it is worth $1.75 once it is all fixed up so I wouldn´t spend much more than $1.3 cause I am guessing you will need every bit of that $400 to get it up to snuff!

It´s so funny how nothing has sold on this street for a while and within a month 2 houses have sold and a 3rd is now on the market. This one sits at the end of the lane and my favorite thing about it is the front courtyard with a sitting area and pond in the background….so serene! The house has a very straight forward floor plan which is not always the case on Marguerita Lane. I was told that the owners of 30 years were tile setters for Mission West tile and that is why there is so much tile work throughout the house. It is a little too much for me….but maybe not for you. Either way it is nothing that can´t be fixed. They also converted the garage into a little office/guest room with a bathroom and laundry facilities. If you want in on the lane, it will probably be your last chance for a while!

When you go west of Lake there are different pockets I prefer. I love the X-mas tree lane neighborhood in Altadena as well as the neighborhoods north of Altadena Drive but east of Fair Oaks. I also love the Washington square pocket in Pasadena and this pocket closer to Woodbury & El Molino! This cute little Spanish sits in this last pocket and definitely worth seeing! The living room has coved ceilings, original wood frame windows and a darling plastered fireplace. The kitchen has been tastefully updated and it has a very straight forward floor plan with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath off the main hallway. Because the garage is in the front, the backyard is actually quite ample despite the smaller lot size.

This darling looking craftsman has been nicely remodeled and seems nicely priced for North Monrovia! And now I see why…. it is being sold as a TIC. This is a tenants in common. This has been a popular thing in Northern California and some parts of LA, but we will see if it flies in Monrovia. A TIC is where you take one property with multiple dwellings and sell each one off separately and set up a very loosey goosey HOA. If it´s more like a fourplex all in one building then they are more like a condo. In this situation it is 3 individual houses on one huge lot and they did do a nice job of separating everything so this home feels like a regular home. The idea of a TIC is that you can get one for a lot cheaper than a regular house, but in this case I can get something quite similar for a similar price in Monrovia and not deal with an HOA. So I am curious how they do