Dana Graham

3701 Via Cardelina, PVE

This classic Valmonte home sits on a lovely, quiet corner on one and a half lots.  The house is a 2 bedroom 2 bath, well-maintained original 1947 home on only its second owner.  Asking $995,000, it sold in under 30 days. 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!

2110 Lincoln, Torrance

January, 2012:  This lovely condo in Old Torrance sold in less than a week.  I barely had time to get it on this site before it sold.  Why did it sell so fast?  The seller took my recommendations, it was realistically priced, the owner had it in immaculate condition (see pictures), and it was not a short sale or foreclosure.  2 bedrooms, 2 baths, high ceilings, private 2-car garage + storage room, laundry inside the unit, and convenient to schools, shopping, commuting. ...Continue Reading!

A Look Back at Hindsight

As an amateur historian, it has always amazed me how often other historians, let alone non-historians, engage in hindsight when assessing past actions and events.  This is so pervasive that I have decided that the various forms of this need to be categorized and named.  I have modestly christened this the Graham Hindsight Scale, which currently runs from 1 to 4, tho I reserve the right to modify or expand it as I discover examples of other types of hindsight. ...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!

Just Listed: Fully Remodeled Old Torrance Condo

Tired of sharing the laundry with 20 other people?  Tired of parking in that dingy subterranean garage?  Sick of having no storage space?  Frustrated with making offers on short sales that never happen? This is like a breath of fresh air!  Just listed is this really lovely 2 bedroom 2 full bath top level condo a short walk from picturesque Old Torrance.  Especially nice and unusual features of this unit, apart from its being completely remodeled and in move-in condition, are...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!