Dana Graham

September 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor:

In my last letter I briefly discussed the change in the market that began in Spring with a boatload of new listings hitting the market – far in excess of any I can recall in the last 40 years.  As a result of that and other factors, and after a few years of what is commonly referred to as a “buyer’s market”, the things have settled back into balance.  If you’re a seller, you can no longer put your house up for sale at any price and expect action.  As has historically been the case, you now have to be in the 25% or so of the listings that offer the best value – and I know this is subjective and includes a lot of variables.  You should rely on your agent’s recommendation on price.

On that subject, among the sellers I have interviewed in the last 5 or so months were two inheritors of their family homes, both of which needed work.  They did not take my recommendation (to do minimal fix-up get the house on the market while it was hot), but rather fell for the pitch of spending lots of money and months fixing it up.  Meanwhile, of course, the market has gotten softer, which is what I was concerned about.  Neither has sold and they are unlikely to come out as well, after deducting what they spent, as they would have had they just followed my advice.  Just sayin’.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the designations that Realtors attach to their names – Senior Specialist, Residential Specialist, Probate, Trust, or this, that, or the other “Specialist”.  Selling a house for a “senior”, “trust”, or most of the rest of them is not enough different from a standard sale for you to make that a factor in your selection of an agent.  A Probate is a little different, but an experienced agent (the kind you want) should be prepared for that, and choose wisely.

The designation that bugs me the most is “Palos Verdes Specialist”.  In order to acquire this label, the agent must attend a 3-day class on Palos Verdes history, geography, etc.  3 DAYS!  I’m sorry, but to those of us who have lived and worked  here for decades this is, to say the least, inadequate.  This came about around 15 years ago when the PV Multiple Listing Service merged with others in the South Bay, to give those agents who actually needed a map to find their way around in PV, easy access to your home.  This was clearly a mistake, as I pointed out at the time, and we were inundated with outside agents, map in hand.  To give these agents the veneer of Palos Verdes credibility, this designation was offered.  I’m sorry, but unless an agent has this (or anywhere) as his primary area of focus, no 3 day class is going to help.

I’ve got a new one coming up at 5118 Willow Wood in Rolling Hills Estates – 3062 square foot 5 bedroom 3 bath home on a 13,508 square foot mostly usable lot, and a lovely view, being sold by the long-time owner.  If you’re looking for a home with good bones to remodel to your taste, don’t miss this one.  Priced at only $1,895,000, so don’t wait.

Thank you again for your loyalty over the last 40 years.  Feel free to call or text me at 310 613-1076, email at [email protected], and visit my website (www.DanaGraham.com) for first-hand Palos Verdes history, real estate article I’ve written, and my latest listings.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2025 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Buyers, Everything I've Written, Newsletters, Palos Verdes Information, Real Estate General Info, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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