Hello Everyone,

One of the big perks about going on Caravan is getting to talk to other agents to get a better pulse on what’s going on with the market in real time. The consensus is that the over $2 million range is definitely slower, but even under $2 million if you’re not a really good house for the price it is hit and miss! The uncertainty in the economy never helps when it comes to home sales. But still there are good houses out there worth buying if you are looking!

This house is such a beautiful Spanish home on a beautiful block! The curb appeal is made even more striking with all that landscaping. I love the beams and the fireplace in the living room and how it flows into the family room and out to a splendidly designed backyard. The overall design of the outdoor spaces has such an emotional pull. The interior has been tastefully remodeled throughout to stay in keeping with the period feel. Its biggest drawback is that there are 3 bedrooms upstairs but only 1 bathroom. The 2nd bathroom is off the small bedroom downstairs. Darn…..almost perfect!

This other Craftsman in South Pasadena is not a fixer! It has been all fixed up for you. It’s harder to add on and create an open flow when you have a narrow lot because you can only add back. I like how they dealt with that in this house. I am guessing that the formal living used to be the front bedroom and I like how they installed the built-ins on either side of the space to give it a more period look. You have to walk past 2 bedrooms to get to the kitchen and family room space, but the hallway is wide enough where it all works! Then they added on the primary suite off the family room space. Overall they did a great job turning a small 3bd & 1 ba craftsman into a sizable family home!

At $1000 per square foot this home is no bargain, but very nicely done and that’s the price you pay to be able to just move-in and enjoy. I like that they added siding to the front of the house and garage to give the house a little more depth than a completely stucco exterior. Of course I love the big open spaces in the living room that flow out to the spacious backyard! The bedroom layout is comfortable but ideally all 3 bedrooms would be off the same hallway. In this remodel, they added on the primary suite on the other side…..still nice. It seems like they used high quality finishes…I just wished they were a little more creative and used more color with wood cabinetry and some colorful tile work. It is all pretty white on white.

This fixer Craftsman in South Pasadena has some interesting potential. It has a lot of original detailing that can be restored during the remodel. Ideally all three bedrooms would be on the same level, but here you have two bedrooms down and a primary upstairs. That’s not a bad compromise, except I don’t like that you have to climb up a steep & narrow staircase to get there. The big surprise is the backyard. At first you assume the fence is the property line, but when you look beyond the fence you find a huuuge space where you could build another property and even have it accessible from the other street!

So this house was on my favorites a few months back and it went into escrow, so I was curious to see what happened. Turns out that they had multiple offers, but the buyers wanted the bonus room that wasn’t permitted in the backyard to be rebuilt with permits. The owner wasn’t going to do that, so instead they tore down the bonus room and are now back on the market. I actually like it better without the bonus room because now you have a decent sized backyard! The house is plenty big so I don’t miss the bonus room honestly. Here’s your second chance to make this home yours!

This Spanish style home just hit the market, but I would go out of my way to see it based on the pictures. Who doesn’t love a pitched beamed ceiling!! I also like that the dining room opens up to the back yard….I just wished they opened up the kitchen to the dining area to create an even more open feel. The pictures are a bit confusing when it comes to the bedroom layout and I don’t see a floor plan, so I’ll go to the next Caravan for sure to see how those spaces flow.

This home is an adorable Janes Cottage that has been beautifully restored. The hardwood flooring isn’t original, but it is beautiful engineered wood with wide planks. The primary suite addition is a little funky. First someone enclosed the porch off the dining room and then they added the primary suite behind there but not at the same level so you have to go down 4 steps to get to it…which isn’t great. Still once you get there it is a wonderful space with a huge bath that was done sooo nicely! The backyard was definitely professionally designed and they made the most of all that space. If you need to park in your garage, that won’t work in this house because they ripped up the driveway to create a big side yard which is very pretty. It is in a great neighborhood so I’m sure there will be no shortage of interest, despite its quirks.

This mid-century ranch has been stylishly updated throughout! They did a good job adding on to the back to extend the living area and opened up the kitchen to create a very spacious great room! The bedroom layout is the original comfortable flow with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths off the same hallway. The bathrooms of the primary suites in the Upper Hastings homes are too small, but it’s nice that they have primary suites!