Palos Verdes Real Estate

May 2022 Newsletter

Out here in the trenches it’s fairly clear to me that the real estate market is slowly cooling off – rising prices and rising interest rates are having the predictable effect.  Whereas a couple of weeks ago there were only 40 properties for sale of all types and prices, today there are 72.  May not seem like many but, as I’ve observed before, these things always sneak up on you while the media reports, dealing with sales made 60-90 days ago, are giving as current the market status 60-90 days ago.  I know I keep saying it, but if you’re planning to sell in the next year or two, do it now.

I’m sure you’ve been holding your breath about this:  the results from 2021 came in, and your humble correspondent ended up in the top 1% of all agents nationwide.  This is gratifying to me since my goals are not centered around doing the most business, but rather around being the best agent I can possibly be for those who have entrusted the sale of their house to me.  Unlike the vast majority of other agents in this top 1% category, I refuse to hire an assistant, secretary, transaction coordinator, or anything like that – I believe if you hire me, you should get me and 37 years of accrued expertise applied to your transaction, and not be assigned to an assistant while I am off in Bora Bora or out trolling for new business.  This is why my transactions tend to be very smooth – I can foresee at the outset what landmines might be lurking out there, landmines an assistant might miss, and I will have a plan to avoid them.  Thank you to all my past clients for your trust in me.  I am truly honored.  And thank you in advance to my future ones.

Did you know that there was a system of light rail transportation originally planned for Palos Verdes Estates.  The tracks were never put in, so it’s hard to know exactly what was envisioned, but there were what amounted to streetcar tracks planned, the easements for which run throughout the City.  The barn and repair facilities for them were to be located on what is now Cataluna Place, which goes up into a little draw and was at the ragged edge of civilization at the time.  You can still see evidence of the track routes; for example, the easement behind the houses on the east side of Granvia Altamira going downhill from Cataluna place is one of them.  It then crosses Granvia at about 1200, goes off into that little valley on the west side, and proceeds down to Montemalaga Park near the stop sign.  Those “parks”, also scattered throughout the City, were originally supposed to be little shopping centers.  Of course the stock market crash and resulting Depression in late 1929 ran all that off the rails, so to speak.  The one mystery that no one has been able to explain is how the streetcars were supposed to negotiate the different elevations in PVE – for instance, the difference in elevation between Montemalaga and Malaga Cove is pretty dramatic.   Visit my website:  www.DanaGraham.com.

Speaking of history, as most of you probably know, La Venta Inn was the first structure built in 1923 by the Palos Verdes Project on the Hill (as the original real estate office for sale of lots in Palos Verdes) and has been a popular wedding and special event venue since the 1960’s.  The Covid shutdown the last 2 years has been very hard on the owners, who are not the wealthy people many assume.  If you’d like the latest on La Venta’s efforts to re-open, visit their website:  www.WeLoveLaVenta.com, or email me ([email protected]) or call me (310 613-1076).  The owners have become friends of mine.

Thank you again for your ongoing support, and I hope to hear from you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2022 at 9:07 am and is filed under Buyers, Everything I've Written, History & Current Events, Newsletters, Real Estate General Info, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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