Dana Graham

Real Estate General Info Category

The Top Ten Reasons Escrows Fall Out

When I got into this business 35 years ago, my office couldn't help but notice that my escrows almost never fell out.  They were so impressed that they had me give a series of classes on the subject to the newer agents.  500+ escrows later, my escrows still almost never fall out.  What follows are the Cliff Notes on why that is, without giving away all my trade secrets. First, by way of general explanation, every contract provides a buyer contingency period...Continue Reading!

Is It A Good Time to Buy? A Good Time To Sell?

I get these questions all the time.  This is one of those times when I can honestly say that it's a good time for either.  I know what you're thinking, but hear me out: If you're buying:  Interest rates have not been this low since the Earth cooled.  4%?  Are you kidding?  They've been low for a while now (tho not this low), and we've sort of gotten used to them.  When I got into this business in 1984 the best 30-year fixed rate loan was...Continue Reading!

Listings I’ve Sold Recently

In no particular order, here is a sample of listings I've had that have recently sold.  I'm transferring these over from my old site, so if you want to see them all in the meantime, go to DanaGraham4re.com/properties/my listings.  This is a new site and I'm having some formatting issues, so please bear with me: 2233 Via Acalones, Palos Verdes Est.  About 2700 square feet on a street-to-street lot. It needed a little updating and sold for $1.8 million.                                1533 Addison Road,...Continue Reading!

January, 2012

In 2011 Palos Verdes sales continued at about the same pace as last year, aided by a continuance of historically low interest rates in the 4%’s.  However, the average sale price in Valmonte , for example, dropped from $1,482,438 to $1,209,634, and the average sale price in dollars-per-square-foot (if you’re into that sort of thing – I’m not – see below) dropped from $632 to $506.  A cursory look might lead one to conclude that prices in Valmonte had dropped...Continue Reading!

It’s Not Rocket Science

I'm talking about real estate.  The basic process of buying and selling a home is not rocket science, brain surgery, or astrophysics.  It doesn't even involve knowledge of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion.  So why does the realtor you choose matter?  Heck, why not do it yourself?  See how tense Kepler looks in this picture?  He was probably in the middle of an escrow, had figured he was smart enough to handle it, and had just listed with someone who left...Continue Reading!

Everyone Walks on Water

If you've ever interviewed realtors, you know that all of them leap tall buildings, walk on water, and heal the sick. The vast majority of realtors are competent which, for what you pay in commission, you have a right to expect.  I would suggest, however, that you ought to get more than "competent".  When I got into this business 28 years ago, not having been happy with my realtor, I began with a clean slate:  if I were the client (which...Continue Reading!

November, 2011

I’ve been doing this a long time, and one of the things I am noticing in the current market is that quite a few unsold listings are coming up cancelled, withdrawn, or expired, only to be re-listed shortly thereafter by another Realtor.  While I’m sure there are occasionally other reasons, I suspect the majority are due to the notion that another Realtor might be able to sell the house where the first one didn’t. There is a fundamental misconception behind this...Continue Reading!

September, 2011

I’ve been in this business since the early 1980’s.  Never in that time have I seen a market where the agent you have makes a bigger potential difference in the outcome.  The world is in seeming turmoil with the Arabs rioting, the national debt rising, money markets in a constant state of flux, buyers aren’t sure they should be buying, sellers aren’t getting the prices they imagined their homes were worth a few years ago, the gnomes in Sacramento gleefully...Continue Reading!

July, 2011

While prices in Palos Verdes have held up reasonably well throughout the current financial "crisis", sales since the first of the year have slowed compared to the same period last year.  In Valmonte, whereas we had 25 sales between January and July 2010, this year we have had 16.  On the entire Peninsula there were 241 sales first half of 2010, with 196 during the first half of 2011.  By "sales" I mean properties going into escrow, not those that...Continue Reading!

All Is Not What It Seems

Apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan.  Real estate price declines have been all over the news during the past few months, with stomach-churning numbers up to 41% decline fairly common. There is no doubt that, overall, prices have declined from their 2007 peaks, but there is an interesting phenomenon afoot below the surface that is fooling those coming up with these numbers: The lower end of the market (under about $750,000) is currently hotter than a 1951 Crosley with a bad thermostat.  One...Continue Reading!