Dana Graham

Everything I’ve Written Category

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

The High Price of Greed

This is more important with regard to real estate than ever, so listen up:  Understandably, I have seen more than the usual number of new listings lately come out at unrealistically high prices.  It's understandable because a) every seller wants to get the highest possible price for his house, b) feels his house is special (that's why he bought it), c) may have gotten used to shortcomings in location, lot size, floor plan, etc, d) and, in a slower market, is...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

The Thing About Loans

I'm sure anyone who has tried to get a real estate loan during the past 6 months knows this, but for the rest, it's a lot like going to see your proctologist and about as pleasant. All the old rules are out and the primary hiring criterion for underwriters appears to be that they must have been diagnosed with a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Want a second opinion? OK, they don't get out much either. To be fair, the...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

World War II Detention Camps

While the commonly held public view of the Government "relocation" of those of Japanese ancestry in the early months of WW 2 is that it was a "disgrace" and "a stain on our national history", there is another side to this that most Americans don't know: While classified information for 50 years following the end of WW 2, it is now commonly known that, in the months leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, US cryptanalysts had been working feverishly on...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Around and Around We Go

Do you remember the old carnival ride where you climbed into a big 30 foot diameter cylinder and stood against the wall?  The thing began rotating, pressing you against the wall, and then some nutcase removed the floor from beneath your feet.  However, you were held in place by centrifugal force, which was clear when you looked across the cylinder at the other riders stuck to the wall.  What would have happened if someone had tripped over the cord and...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Stuff You Won’t Hear From the Media

I could write a book, but here's what's pertinent to real estate at the moment:  we've all heard the constant reports in the media that the "median price" of real estate is down 36% or some other dire number, right?  You might think that prices are headed south faster than Lee after Gettysburg, but it's not true.  This stuff makes me crazy, but I'm sufficiently medicated to get thru this. There has been an interesting dichotomy in the market for the...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

January 2009 Update

This is my periodic newsletter to my mailing list. This is January, 2009's: I tried to write this as an explanation of why we're in the economic mess we're in, but somewhere on the 6th page I reconsidered.  Suffice to say (and I'm sure you've gotten explanations from all directions), this is the accumulation of 70+ years of government meddling.  Beginning during the Great Depression, people increasingly began to look to the Federal Government to make their lives better, and the host...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Websites, Websites

and more websites. Seems like everyone's got one, you can get one for almost nothing, which is what some are worth. On the subject at hand (that would be real estate), there are websites whose ostensible purpose is to give you the value of your house on-line. Neat, huh? The most prominent are Zillow and Truila, but I'm sure others have jumped on the bandwagon. Zillow and Truila, if you're reading this, you know what I'm about to say is...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Elvis, Kennedy, and Pearl Harbor

After Elvis, the Kennedy assassination, and the Pearl Harbor attack, real estate has got to be next on the list for containing the most myths and misinformation.  Even in a hot market like we’ve been having, there are still some fundamental truths, prominent among them being that somewhere out there is a buyer who will pay the most for your home which, all else being equal, is the buyer you want.  The way to find him is NOT to a)...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Dana Graham’s Palos Verdes Sales

HOMES SOLD BY DANA GRAHAM PRUDENTIAL CALIFORNIA REALTY PALOS VERDES PENINSULA ONLY ZIP CODES 90274 & 90275                     Not necessarily in chronological order           Properties listed more than once were sold more than once 1812 DALTON RD, PVE                                                                                5627 SEASIDE HTS DR, RPV 5331 MANITOWAC DR, RPV                                                                     25918 CHALMETTE LN, RHE 66 SILVER SADDLE LN, RHE                                                                    2316 VIA ACALONES, PVE 28604 COVECREST DR, RPV                                                                     4024 VIA PICAPOSTE, PVE 26712 HAWKHURST DR, RPV                                                                  26842 EASTVALE DR, PVP 27916 ALVAREZ DR, RPV                                                                         10 PEARTREE LN, RHE 27902 ALVAREZ DR, RPV                                                                         3400 P V DRIVE...Continue Reading!

All articles I’ve written on real estate for the last 10 or so years. Earlier than that, I’ll have to mail them to you

Fannie and Freddie

September 9, 2008 By the time you read this, the crisis with Fannie and Freddie will be at least a few weeks old but, since we taxpayers are now the guarantors of last resort for a whole bunch of questionable loans, it is important to understand the situation. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two quasi-governmental agencies that buy real estate loans that meet certain criteria, on what is known as the "secondary market".  Your lender makes you a loan to buy a house...Continue Reading!