Palos Verdes Real Estate

Things You Always Wondered About Palos Verdes

I wrote this in 2007, but to make it easier to find, I've moved it to the top of the heap: A lot of things have happened in Palos Verdes during my 77-year residency some of which, distressingly, are now ancient history. I see a lot of misinformation on websites by realtors attempting to portray themselves as Palos Verdes experts, but I am here to say that I witnessed most of the following myself and this is how it was.  I am...Continue Reading!

May 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: I know I’ve discussed this before, but it bears repeating:  succinctly, the Number One agent may not be the best agent to sell your house; in fact, the odds are against it.  Speaking as someone in the business, some things are more obvious to me than they may be from the outside, and this is one of them.  The biggest agents, generally those who sell the most houses and who do all the advertising, more often than not, are...Continue Reading!

A Valmonte Landmark — Sold in 10 Days

You have probably admired this house if you walk or drive around Valmonte. That's no surprise as the architect was the famous Walter Swindell Davis, who also designed La Venta Inn and the former General Store (now Yellow Vase) in the Plaza, plus other notable Palos Verdes landmarks. Now is your chance to own a piece of Palos Verdes history. You could look a long time before you found another like this. With really impressive curb presence, this lovingly maintained...Continue Reading!

March 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: As we say in the business “inventory is up”.  I’ve always disliked the term “inventory” because it makes houses sound like just a commodity, which they never are to me.  Each house is filled with decades of precious memories. Generally prices are at or near their all-time highs, prior predictions of doom notwithstanding.  As I discussed at the time, when Covid hit, pretty much everyone predicted that the market would tank.  What actually happened was that Covid restrictions and anxiety...Continue Reading!

The Battle of New Orleans

OK, I know this has nothing to do with real estate (except possibly to those in New Orleans or the Louisiana Purchase generally) but, as you may know, I am a military historian by training and am fascinated by battles where the underdog won.  The Battle of New Orleans, where a relatively rag-tag army of backwoodsmen, pirates, and whoever else Andrew Jackson could scrape up, in addition to about 1500 US Regular troops, defeated 8500 British Regulars who had just...Continue Reading!