Consumer confidence had been very low for the last six months and consumers’ attitudes about the nation’s economy and their own personal financial concerns rose greatly into positive numbers this past month.

The national consumer confidence index soared up 14 points to its highest level in almost nine months just in the past 30 days alone. That jump is incredibly important for the future of home buying and selling. With this change hopefully people will no longer be staying on the sidelines and will finally decide that now is the perfect time to buy.

The second indicator for the improved consumer confidence came from the National Association of Realtors’ monthly home sales report which showed that sales of single family homes including townhomes, condos, and Co-op’s rose close to three percent this past April.

New home building permits and starts are also on the upswing after many months in negative territory. California’s new home starts increased by almost 22 percent in April over the previous month which was the largest jump since October of last year.

With the monthly increases in sales, builders are beginning to clear out inventories that have been sitting stagnant for quite some time and are now building again.

Old beliefs about marketing:

Most people think of marketing as aversive and painful. They make comments like, “Why can’t I just do my work and have the clients come to me? I hate marketing.” This is because most people have old beliefs about marketing. Some of these are:

- Marketing is phony

- Marketing is begging

- Marketing is pushy

- Marketing is drudgery

New beliefs about marketing

Since our beliefs create our reality, it makes sense for us to reprogram any beliefs that would interfere with our success.

Here’s some way to think of marketing that will actually make you feel passionate about marketing.

- Marketing is an authentic expression of who you are. If you are doing what you love, then expressing what you do with others is authentic.

- Marketing is actually the opposite of begging. It’s a gift. If you give a presentation to a group, write an article or take a prospect to lunch, you are giving.

- Effective marketing is not based on being pushy. It is based on the Law of Attraction. Imagine yourself as a magnet, drawing appreciative clients for your services.

- Marketing is not drudgery. In fact, it is a great way to meet new people, an adventure into new friendships, and connections.

–

Maya Bailey, Ph.D.,author of, Law of Attraction for Real Estate
Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and
12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of
Attraction. Her powerful work creates a success formula for real
estate professionals ready to double and triple their incomes. Get Dr.
Maya’s free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days,
by visiting www.90DaystoMoreClients.com.

Consumer confidence had been very low for the last six months and consumers’ attitudes about the nation’s economy and their own personal financial concerns rose greatly into positive numbers this past month.

The national consumer confidence index soared up 14 points to its highest level in almost nine months just in the past 30 days alone. That jump is incredibly important for the future of home buying and selling. With this change hopefully people will no longer be staying on the sidelines and will finally decide that now is the perfect time to buy.

The second indicator for the improved consumer confidence came from the National Association of Realtors’ monthly home sales report which showed that sales of single family homes including townhomes, condos, and Co-op’s rose close to three percent this past April.

New home building permits and starts are also on the upswing after many months in negative territory. California’s new home starts increased by almost 22 percent in April over the previous month which was the largest jump since October of last year.

With the monthly increases in sales, builders are beginning to clear out inventories that have been sitting stagnant for quite some time and are now building again.

A tear-streaked Tracy Orr sat in the back row of a foreclosure auction watching bidders in the front row vie for her 4-bedroom home in Pottsboro, Texas at a much-reduced rate from when she bought it back in 2004. Orr, who lost her job only months after the purchase, has struggled to keep her beloved home ever since, finally losing her grip after having sold some land to satisfy arrears. Her last-ditch effort was to make the 80-mile drive into Dallas for the auction with an investor friend, who cancelled the plans at the last minute, so Orr sat at the back of the auction with her family, her home in the catalog without even a photograph in the listing, fighting back her tears.

That is when Marilyn Mock sat down beside her, asking Orr if she was there to buy a home. At this point, Tracy Orr lost her battle with tears that now flowed freely as she explained: “That’s my house.” On the blind, Marilyn Mock jumped into the bidding action and bought the home that was once bought by the Orr family at $80,000 for the bargain of $30,000. Mock, a business owner who deals in flagstone and other rocks in Rockwall, Texas, decided to guarantee the sale with one of her dump trucks as collateral. She had come to the auction with her 27-year-old son to purchase his first home and once finished, stumbled upon Tracy Orr.

Marilyn Mock is one who loves people, never giving up the opportunity to speak with others around her. She claims that you can always find out interesting things when you are open to people, and in striking up a conversation with Tracy Orr, she felt she HAD to do something to help. As for payment for the house, Mock is willing to see how much Tracy Orr can pay for the house so she can have it back with a comfortable payment arrangement. When Mock went home and told her husband that she just bought a house for a complete stranger, her husband did not flinch. He is used to her Good Samaritan nature. She cannot walk past a homeless person on the street without offering at least something.

Tracy Orr was in shock at the turn of her luck in several seconds’ time. Her restored faith in life and humanity has given her the strength to keep going and hold her head up high. Her house is located near a popular Texas fishing spot and Mock’s passion for fishing is satisfied for life, for she has a lifetime friend with a home to stay in on all future angling trips.

The virtual tour sparked interest a few years back but lost traction during the real estate boom when properties seldom stayed on the market long enough to warrant creating the tour and posting it on the web. However, lately some agents have revisited the use of virtual tours in hopes of standing out in a sea of listings.

Approximately 80 percent of home buying begins on the internet, and information about a home, including the virtual tour, helps prospective buyers to become better prepared in the event that they make an offer. According to the most popular real estate website, www.realtor.com, listings that provide a virtual tour generally receive 150% more visitors than the listings that do not. But just how effective is the virtual tour as a boiler-plate resource? What about the case of a downtrodden fixer-upper whose appeal lies more in its affordability and potential than in its current aesthetic? The agent and seller’s discretion should determine whether or not a virtual tour would enhance the listing for a particular house.

One should consider that the image quality and lighting in a virtual tour will make or break the practical use for the tour itself. Case in point: if the lighting is blown out or too yellow, chances are that the virtual tour is not accentuating the details and positive attributes of a property, thus defeating the purpose. In short, if the tour is not well-produced, perhaps it is unwise to expose something that does not show well in this format. Specialized software that includes music, text, and even voiceover capability is available for a monthly fee to agents at www.visualtour.com. Additionally, there are professional virtual tour production companies whose sole purpose is to produce the most seamless and attractive tour possible, and they tend to be reasonably-priced. For the higher-ticket listings, it may be worth your while to employ one of these companies that guarantees their work and will deliver a tour that only enhances the listing to a polished perfection.

These homes have the kind of stuff you thought of as a kid. Like movie theaters and secret trap doors that lead to them. The other stuff is super-modern and adult friendly. Simple, computer protocols operate self-heating pools, walkway lighting and security systems. You can listen to satellite radio while you shave or shower and get weather and news updates on screens stationed throughout the house.

Of course at this point the average Joe or Jill must continue dreaming. However, luxury homes like these are great testing grounds for the inevitable day when some really cool and convenient modern concepts and technologies will be affordable and commonplace for the everyday citizen’s home. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll be able to take a shower while JAMES, the home computer system, keeps an eye on the pot roast and the lawn mows itself.

Perhaps inspired by such television shows as “Date My House” and “Sleep On It,” home sleepovers are becoming a real-world phenomenon in the modern real estate transaction. It makes sense if you consider that most buyers visit a home upwards of four times before making an offer. In the case of a sleepover, a buyer is seeing the house from all angles and at all times of day. He can even experience just how quietly the house settles in at night, what neighborhood activity there might be, and all pros and cons of the house from the point of view of actual inhabitance.

Not all sellers and agents are amenable to this sort of arrangement, however, citing that in spite of a prospective buyer being able to take in all the positive attributes, there is the chance that negative aspects could reveal themselves as well. And of course, even if the buyer falls madly in love with the house after the overnight, there is still a chance that it isn’t enough to make the sale. Whether or not this unconventional means of home selling is for you or your client, it is advised that, as always, some sort of written agreement is in place before engaging in an overnight stay arrangement. Both insurance broker and legal counsel should always be consulted to help create or just reinforce the infrastructure of such an agreement.

Since almost the beginning of 2009 many people in their 20’s are now making offers on properties. With record low interest rates along with the available money from not only the federal government, but the state as well, agents have been working overtime processing offers for this Generation Y group.

President Obama’s tax credit, part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is available to those who buy their first home in 2009 provided the purchase is completed by Dec. 1st of this year.

Many people are making offers now rather than later because this large influx of young buyers has created a one to two month lag time between the initial offer and the closing of escrow.

The current tax incentive is designed so that the money does not have to re-paid as long as the homeowner stays in the house for a minimum of 3 years which was not the case for the $7,500 tax credit that came out in 2008.

Last Tuesday the National Association of Realtors released a report that stated pending home sales in April were up nearly 7% from March which was the largest monthly increase since October 2001.

It’s expected that real estate activity will increase in the months ahead now that economists are seeing encouraging signs that the demand for housing is coming back. It should be noted that mortgage rates are beginning to rise which will begin to make homes less affordable for many young borrowers if they don’t jump in soon.

At the beginning of this week the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was at 5.3% compared to last week when it was at 5%.

With the U.S. housing market just one key factor in the economy, as sales begin to recover, prices may take longer to stabilize because of a large inventory of unsold new homes. One thing that is in the favor of today’s young buyer is that prices will most likely not increase until foreclosures begin to decline which most likely won’t happen until the end of 2010.

Recent loan activity has indicated that close to 50% of today’s mortgages are for first-time buyers which can be credited to the latest government tax incentive.

Offered at $244,900

Bank Owned REO in need of a fair amount of work. FHA 203K program would be ideal. When complete, it could be a very desirable home in an area near schools and close freeway access. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs. Down stairs are the main public rooms to include a family room, dining room and living room with fireplace, in addition to a bedroom and half bathroom,  and two car garage.

4 plex with 50% vacancy in great condition with 4 car garage and storage. 2 story building located on corner lot, with large sq footage of approximately 5136sq ft, with a lot of 6882sq ft. each unit is two bedroom, one bathroom, living & dining rooms, high ceilings, each with laundry hook-ups. The vacant units have hardwood floors and original tiled bathrooms. The occupied units have long time renters under rent control. The rents are actual at $850 & $859. Four car garage. Located near the intersection of Pico & Fairfax. Needs some TLC. Great opportunity.

Beautiful built 2006 Newer home in well maintained gated development near golf course and other newer communities. Features inlcude: two story home, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, open kitchen with center island  to family room, with front and back yard, approximately 1974 sq.ft. HOA dues are low at apprx. $108. Attached two car garage. This home has been well maintained. Great opportunity.

Charming Traditional Style house on corner lot features three bedrooms, one full bathroom updated with pedestal sink & tile, refreshed kitchen, with gated backyard and two car detached garage. Nice curb appeal and interior is in good condition. Great opportunity!

REO townhouse on second level 3 bed/2.5 bath,apprx 1220 sq ft, Pool, spa and clubhouse. Has mountain views and high ceilings in living room as well as a small deck off off master bedroom. This home just needs some imagination & paint. Great opportunity to own your own home in a great area!

http://guests.themls.com/profile_page.cfm?mls=08-333805&tab=search

Four-plex with potential. Front house features two bedrooms, one bathroom, large living area, eat-in kitchen and seperate fenced in front yard.. Three seperate stucture homes sit behind main house. Each with living, kitchen, bath & bedroom. Needs TLC. Only one unit occuppied. Main house and two rear units vacant. Great opportunity.

Spacious home on cul-de-sac featutres 4 bedrooms, two baths, open living and dining area with vaulted ceilings, eat-in kitchen, den with fireplace, two car attached garage, fenced and gated. Needs TLC.

REO Vacant Triplex in fair condition 1738 is 1bd/1ba, 1738½ is 3bd/1ba and 1740 is 1bd/1ba. near corner of Western and 82nd. Great opportunity, live in one or rent out all three. These tri-plex is all vacant. Good curb appeal. The interiors need some TLC. Long driveway and cement pad to park several vehicles. This property is on a good street with other well maintained homes.

http://guests.themls.com/profile_page.cfm?mls=09-337533&tab=search

$799,000.

Executive  large condo in exceptionally equiped complex with luxury ammenities, including club house, lap pool, pool & spa, excercise room. End Unit is spacious, great condition, ready for move in. Cook’s Kitchen with stainlees steelapliances, granite counters-center island, washer/dryer in unit, travertine & carpet floors, 3 patios/1 balcony with French doors. Baths have dual vanity. 3 firplaces. MAster suite has seperate tub and shower, two walk-in closets, two vanities, seperate water closet.2 parking spaces. 3rd Bedroom used as office/den. Unit has been completely painted. Looks updatd and clean.

http://guests.themls.com/profile_page.cfm?mls=09-346875&tab=search

Two story home features 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, open living room with fireplace, eat-in kitchen, lots of windows, spacious backyard, den area, two car attached garage, large rear yard, fenced and gated.

Large corner lot of approximately 2.2 acres with traditional style home. Home features 3 bedrooms, 1.75 baths, living with fireplace,eat-in kitchen, bonus den area, two car attached garage. Needs TLC. Lots of potential.

Bank Owned REO Traditional style home has 3 Bedrooms and 2 Baths, with a pool. Large living with fireplace opens to covered patio with views of pool. Large open eat-in kitchen. There are some upgrades and some that need to be finished. There is a  detached two car garage.

 Bank Owned in good condition with bonus rooms. Agents Call for lockbox combo. Read Private remarks for other instructions. This is a home that is larger than the tax records reflect. Main home is 2BR/1BA, laundry area, large kitchen, and recent uprdates. Also has a bonus room, garage, carport, storage room and many citrus trees and yard

Bank Owned REO in fair condition fixer with potential with 3 BR, 1 BA and Bonus rooms and basement. No garage, long driveway, front and back yard. Central location near Sunset Blvd/Junction.

BANK OWNED REO, Fresh NEW paint inside each unit. DUPLEX, Front unit is a 1BR, 1BA wall, a/c, and carpet. Side unit is 2BR, 1BA with tiled floors and one BR is extended. HAS ONE CAR GARAGE. Laundry room by garage. Both units vacant. Great potential.

Bank Owned REO Duplex. 1 BR/1BA each side with two 1 car garages and yard. Additional off street parking. Both units have laundry rooms and there is a small basement for storage. Units are large in size and have separate living rooms and dining rooms. Lots of original detail. Near Mid-Wilshire.

Bank Owned REO Hollywood Duplex in fair condition. Craftsman style. Front house is a 2BR, 1BA unit with hardwood floors and front yard. Back unit is a 1BR/1BA with basement. It has wood floors and in fair condition. Two car garage in fair condition. Tenant occupied.

Bank Owned REO in newer development built in 2006. Large home with two stories, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, apprx 2833 sq ft, and loft office area with built-ins. This home is in great condition with large rooms and large three car garage.

Bank Owned REO in good condition. Spanish Duplex Located in central area with fruit trees and gated. Both units are one bedroom one bath each. One unit has laundry hookups. Vacant and ready for occupancy. Sold As-Is.

BANK OWNED 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom in move in condition with newer paint and carpet. Has stove and repaired windows. Bathroom has been updated. Kitchen has dining area. Laundry area located outside. Property does not have any parking off street. Only home that sits on small lot, no yard. Great rental property. Located near Coliseum

We’re here to assist you in Buying or Selling a Home for the Best Price, Staying Current on Market Conditions, and Identifying Investment Opportunities in a time when Real Estate is again the “THING” to do.

Please browse through our site to familiarize yourself with the inventory on the market as well as current events in your target area. You can also enroll in our Priority List to receive notifications on our latest listings—including many Foreclosures—and pocket listings.

We will continue to provide you with information which we hope You will find valuable and interesting. If at any point you are interested in discussing your real estate ires, please feel free to contact us. Even if it is just curiosity about the market place that drives you to our site.  We always welcome it!

When you’re ready to put the best team in Beverly Hills Real Estate to work for you, contact us by phone or email and we will use the best care we are capable of is working with you.

Just remember that your choices are many, your possibilities are endless, yet your decision matters.

All the best,

Lucio & Richard

Councilman Frank Fenton will also be installed as Vice Mayor. Although installation ceremonies are usually held under a tent at Crescent Drive outside of City Hall, thousands of dollars were saved on the tent rental and street closures this year by locating the event at the high school.

Brucker is expected to address the City’s General Plan, environmental sustainability, and fiscal accountability during his speech. For more information on the organizational meeting, which is open to the public, call 310-285-2400, or go to www.beverlyhills.org.

(Source: Beverly Hills Courier)

The project was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission on February 28, thus forwarding it to the 5-member City Council.

"We look forward to going to the City Council to demonstrate the tremendous amount of community support we have received," said Ted Kahan, President of Oasis West Realty, LLC.

Once the remodel of the Beverly Hilton is complete, it is expected to generate $11.5 million in hotel and bed tax revenue annually, an increase of over $5 million from current revenue. The current plans were first unveiled to the public in January of last year.

(Source: Beverly Hills Courier)

Unable to afford the $22 million Cahuenga Peak, PETA is in negotiations to rent the site until it’s sold. Why? Since the 138-acre mountaintop sits just west of the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign known all over the world, PETA would like to place 45-foot high letters spelling "GO VEG" next to the sign to spell out "GO VEG HOLLYWOOD."

"We want to…urge the good people of Los Angeles to switch to a healthy, humane vegetarian diet," Lisa Lange, Senior Vice President of PETA, wrote to the listing office of Cahuenga Peak. "Millions of people would see [the sign] and hopefully be inspired to make positive changes in their lives."

The pairing of Hollywood and vegetarianism isn’t far-fetched. Many celebrities have worked with the animal rights group, including Pamela Anderson, Moby, Russell Simmons, and Alicia Silverstone.

Will the plan fly? Keep looking up to the Hollywood Hills over the coming months to find the answer.

(Source: Canyon News)

Safety concerns and the literal shadow the proposal will create over the high school have also been brought to the Council’s attention. "We want to make sure we know exactly what it is and how it affects our city," Mayor Jimmy Delshad has said of the project.

Given the existing traffic at Moreno Drive during the end of school days, many are afraid that the entrance to the new development on the same street will prove disastrous for traffic. The proposed addition of 177 new large residences could bring flow around the area to a halt.

L.A. Councilmember Jack Weiss’ office could not comment on specific measures regarding the proposal but noted that, because the building will be centrally located, it will encourage pedestrian traffic instead of auto traffic. At the very least, it may encourage people to take public transportation.

"If you’re familiar with Century City, you know that getting around as a pedestrian, particularly from the Beverly Hills side, is very challenging," Lisa Hansen from Weiss’s office said. "The vision, developed in conjunction with the property owners and Bob Hale [the architect] involves improving streetscape, making it more accessible for pedestrians…so ideally fewer people will need to drive to Century City."

SunCal’s entitlement application is being reviewed over the next several months, and they will be meeting with the City’s leaders to discuss the future of the development.

(Source: Beverly Hills Weekly)

Unveiling a new menu, new decor, and a new home for L.A.’s Upright Cabaret, the yearlong celebration of its 20th anniversary benefits not only the restaurant but The Trevor Project, the nation’s only 24-hour crisis counseling line for gay and questioning youth.

The landmark at 861 North La Cienaga Boulevard has earned its reputation as a wonderful local dining spot thanks to its delicious menu, elegant interior design, and always beautiful staff. With its recently completed facelift, dinners at Mark’s should be more exciting than ever, thanks to a huge 100-inch video set, updated lighting, carpeting, booths, theater-style marquee, and semi-private dining areas.

The anniversary party on the 28th will be closed to the public, but otherwise, we’ll be seeing you at Mark’s!

A luxury condominium on the 38th floor in Century City recently sold for a record $15 million. But even that price won’t get you the top view. For that privilege, you’d have to double that purchase price… to an astounding $30 million.

The penthouse on the 42nd floor is still available, and the developer of the Century City development has already received an offer to pay $2,700 per square foot for a unit that will sit on half of the 38th floor. The previous record for a Los Angeles condo was $1,700 per square foot for a unit near Doheny and Sunset in West Hollywood.

What is it about the Westside that continues to prosper despite the hardships faced elsewhere? Perhaps, the homeowners in the communities of Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, Brentwood, and Century City weren’t as drawn as other owners to the subprime mortgages being offered just a short while ago. Or maybe it’s simply that with so much wealth already concentrated in these areas, Westside owners have been able to absorb the increased payments more easily than others.

Whatever the reason, here’s to the continued strength of the real estate market in the Westside.

According to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Trader Joe’s is about to open a third location near the former Virgin Megastore building at Sunset and Crescent Heights.

When the third store opens, just about everyone in West Hollywood will have a TJ’s within walking distance, yet another reason to love living there.

• Alexander McQueen
• Ports 1961
• Vera Wang

As if that weren’t enough, Catherine Malandrino is soon to open a 6,000 square foot space a short distance across the street on La Cienaga.

West Hollywood on Melrose has definitely been experiencing a gentrification for some time now. Being so close to Beverly Hills’ tony Robertson shops, is it any wonder that the stardust is drifting west?

Open between 8AM and 10PM daily, clients can easily get same- or next-day appointments for many massage types: trigger point therapy, Swedish, deep tissue, sports, reflexology, and cranial sacral. But what sets the company apart is its customized body work.

"We find out what’s going on with your body. We keep records of what you asked for and what was recommended. Then, anytime you come back, whether you have the same therapist or not, we can log into the computer and find out your information," say co-owner Marcus Lansden.

One of our clients, a busy K/1 teacher in Santa Monica with a hectic schedule, is a regular massage client and attests to its benefits. "I was a swimmer in college, and massage was a regular part of our training. I’ve continued using it to this day to keep my body in balance."

Massage has also been proven to relieve stress, promote relaxation, manage pain, improve flexibility, reduce headaches, and lower blood pressure… all  things  real estate buyers in this challenging market  can appreciate!

• 36 properties in pre-foreclosure
• 13 properties to be auctioned
• 14 properties are bank-owned
• 3 are for-sale-by-owner properties
• 2 are resale homes

To learn more about these properties and other REOs in the Los Angeles area, contact Richard Burt.

The former Howard Hughes "sweetheart" property sitting above the famous Hollywood Sign hit the market today. Acquired in 1940 by Hughes, the majestic property remained in the late business man’s estate until 2002. It is the last privately-owned promontory in the City of Los Angeles.

The property consists of five adjacent parcels of land with the freedom to develop a single family residence and guest house on each, or a single compound composed of the entire 138 acres.

This Hollywood gem is the stuff of silver screen legends. It’s highest point, Cahuenga Peak, towers over 1800 feet above Los Angeles. It’s sure to be one of the most sought-after properties in Los Angeles in quite some time.

• Enhance the health of kids
• Improve air quality and the environment
• Create safer routes for walking and bicycling.

According to the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, obesity rates among children have more than doubled in the past twenty years. Walking or cycling to school is an ideal way to counter that statistic since only 10% of kids nationwide walk to school regularly. Even among those kids living within a mile of school, only 25% are regular walkers.

As more students walk to school, more opportunities to promote bicycle and walking safety emerge. Drivers are also reminded to watch for others, not just pedestrians and cyclists, while using the road.

And particularly important to Los Angeles residents, walking and bicycling help to improve our air quality. When children lace up their sneakers to walk or strap on their helmets to bike to school, they reduce the amount of air pollutants from cars.

Over 40 countries and millions of kids participate in the program. Congratulations to Beverly Hills for their continuing participation in this important program.

A small mudslide in the late evening caused minor damage in the Hills earlier this month. Luckily, a home adjacent to the slide was unharmed, but with weather conditions being affected by rain and recent wildfire damage, it’s important local residents stay on guard.

The ground in some areas are becoming heavily saturated due to the heavy rainfall all of Los Angeles has been receiving lately. Even after the storms subside, the water saturation could still contribute to a mudslide.

While many of us immediately think of homes and roadways being endangered, mudslides also pose a potentially life-threatening threat because of boulders which may be displaced.

Already this year, a portion of Pacific Coast Highway west of Trancas has been closed because of a collapse beneath the roadway shoulder. A lane has been closed for repairs which may take several months to complete.

To stay safe, visit the Los Angeles County website  for information on protecting property from storm-related weather. The site has detailed information on the use of sandbags to mitigate damage.

Stay Safe!

Even Councilmember Jeffrey Prang seemed uneasy with the act. "While I like the project," he said. "In approving it, we opened up about 49 other properties to increased height of 62 feet. We didn’t increase zoning, per se, but we expanded density potential with no independent review, debate, or public process."

Consequently, those properties have an unfair advantage over other applications which must still conform to the original 45 foot limit. This could have been avoided if taller height districts had been implemented instead, but this would have required more time and local input.

The pair bringing the suit have hired John B. Murdock to represent them. Murdock was also involved in Playa Vista and the Lincoln Place (Santa Monica) land use suits.

Sampras and his wife Bridgette Wilson have placed their Beverly Hills home on the market for $25 million. The 11,000 square foot, English Tudor-style home built in 1993 has been recently remodeled and expanded. Walled and gated, the private estate has five bedrooms, and 12 bathrooms, including his-and-her bathrooms in the master suite.

The home also features a detached guesthose, gym, theater, children’s play yard, pool, putting, green, and the requisite tennis court. The house sits on more than an acre of landscaped ground with a circular drive.

The City submitted a grant application for mortgage assitance funds for 35 units in September of 2007 on 339 West Doran Street. 24 of those 35 units were slated for low-to-moderate-income households.

Then, in October, city housing officials were authorized to negotiate an agreement with the developer of the project to include the parcel on 331 West Doran Street that the City had purchased earlier.

As the terms of the development agreement are finalized with the developer, Community Development Housing officials are expected to go before the State Housing Authority to request an additional $390,000 in mortgage assistance funds to cover the extra 16 units included in the expanded Doran Gardens Project.

The State Building Equity in Neighborhoods Program provides down payment assistance loans of $30,000 per affordable housing unit. If ownership of a unit changes hands, the money would be paid back ot the city and placed into an account for reuse as mortgage assistance for other low-to-moderate-income first-time home buyers. After 45 years, the affordability period of the unit sunsets, and the loan is forgiven.

The project has received favorable attention from the development community for its groundbreaking use of federal New Market Tax Credits. Glendale and Pasadena pooled approximately $7.5 million to purchase tax credits which were subsquently sold to Washington Mutual Bank for a 39% reutrn of $3miliion. This money provided the development capital for the project.

Applications for the Doran Gardens Project will be available starting January of 2009 according to the Community Development and Housing Department.

The newly constructed compound has six en suite bedrooms, including a master bedroom with a sitting room, balcony, and two bathrooms. The MLS listing of the home noted that it sits on one of Brentwood’s most prestigious streets and includes:

• a screening room
• 1,500-bottle wine room
• a paneled library with a bar
• a 60-foot veranda
• a pool
• a spa
• a fire-placed pavilion
• public bathrooms
• 10-foot ceilings
• six fireplaces

O’Brien was announced as the successor to Jay Leno in 2004.

Incorporating earth-friendly practices into every-day workplace activities, the bureau’s initiative aligns with its new slogan of "Living Forward" while helping to preserve the environment.

Among the new measure the Visitors Bureau has implemented to be more earth-friendly are:

• Partnering with Cultivate Communications, only one of two printers in the Greater Los Angles Area to hold both Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative certifications, to print on eco-friendly paper the official 2008 West Hollywood Visitors Guide as well as all further collateral material
• Implementing the use of USB flash drives to supplement the use of full, printed press kits
• Creation of a company-wide recycling program

The Bureau also plans on offering recommendations to local hotels and businesses on how to make their working environment more green.

Congratulations to the West Hollywood Visitors Bureau for contributing to a greener environment that we’ll all benefit from.

Citing increasing costs, steep rent, and decreasing music sales coupled with an increase in online music purchasing, officials at Virgin announced that the media outlet would have to be closed. "We’re trying to reposition the business, and a lot of our stores are too big for the future." said Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Megastore North America.

Similar market forces have also led to the closure of the New York Times Square Virgin Megastore.

The upside of the closure is that everything in the store has been marked down to clear all inventory by the end of the month. Not one to miss out on a bargain, even Britney Spears took advantage of the low prices by buying a basket of discounted merchandise.

So if you’re in the area, take the time to shop one last time at this iconic location and grab yourself some bargains at the same time.

Mortgage Rates

By long term trends, 2007 interest rates were extremely low. The Federal Reserve Board lowered rates an aggressive half-point in September to 4.75% "to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth." The pool of home buyers is smaller but more qualified to make good on their loans.

Housing Demand

While 2007 didn’t match 2005 and 2006 in housing sales volume, it was still the fifth best housing sales market in history. Houses were being bought and sold while solid mortgage loans were being made throughout the year.

The Economy

Unemployment held low and steady at 4.6% for the previous two years. To put that fact in context, that’s better than all but three years in the last 30. U.S. personal income held steady in 2007.

There were definitely great things happening in the real estate market in 2007. Here’s to an even brighter 2008.

The Committee’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program received a First Place Award. It also received the Distinguished Service Citation for being a leader in community beautification programs nationwide. Last, but not least, Glendale also qualified for the President’s Circle Award by conducting an annual Litter Index and engaging volunteers to take greater responsibility for their community environment.

When your home is losing value and your family is under financial stress, the last thing you need is… higher taxes. So I’m working… to pass a bill that will protect homeowners from having to pay taxes on cancelled mortgage debt."

President George W. Bush, September 1, 2007

The President took steps to make good on that promise yesterday by signing H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. The act helps Americans avoid foreclosure by protecting families from higher taxes when they refinance their home mortgages.

Under current leislation, if the value of a property declines and the lender forgives a portion of the mortgage, the forgiven portion is taxable. This can lead to higher taxes, and for many families already feeling the financial strain of a subprime mortgage, this tax makes a difficult situation even worse.

The bill crates a three-year window for homeowners to refinance their mortgage without having to worry about paying taxes on any mortgage debt that is forgiven. This allows families to seek lower mortgage payments through refinancing without having to worry about increased taxes.

This is an excellent first step to address the challenges in the housing market, and now Congress has to do its part by doing the following:

1. Congress must enact responsible legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). This bill will give the FHA the flexibility to help hundreds of thousands of families qualify for prime-rate financing.
2. Congress must pass legislation allowing State and local governments to help troubled borrowers by issuing tax-exempt bonds for refinancing existing home loans.
3. Congress must pass legislation to reform Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The Administration has moved forward with the actions announced in August by the President to assist homeowners:

1. The Administration has launched a new initiative called FHASecure which expands the FHA’s ability to offer refinancing by giving it the flexibility to work with homeowners who have good credit histories but cannot afford their current payment programs.
2. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson have assembled the private-sector HOPE NOW alliance to help subprime borrowers who can afford the current, starter rate on a subprime loan but would not be able to make the higher payments once the interest rate increases.

This is an important first step in addressing the subprime mortgage crisis, and we hope that the many families out there feeling the pinch this Christmas season because of their mortgage woes can take comfort in knowing that things are turning the corner.

In the fourth part of our series on the subprime crisis, we focus on the new opportunities surfacing and how to take advantage of them. Need to read the previous installments? Check out The Subprime Crisis: A Beginner’s Guide, Subprime Crisis Effects in Los Angeles, and Subprime Crisis Challenges.

The subprime crisis presents unique opportunities for those willing to take advantage of the new real estate landscape emerging from the ashes of the old. There are proven strategies for real estate success in any market condition, and the changing environment brought about by the subprime crisis presents the perfect opportunity to explore them.

We’ll first look at a successful strategy used at the height of the unprecedented seller’s market we experienced in Southern California until the onset of the subprime crisis. Then we’ll look at a strategy for dealing with a depreciating market should the subprime crisis sink its teeth in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.

These strategies share the following characteristics:

1. Identifying market conditions
2. Tailoring the strategy to one’s own risk profile
3. Formulating an exit plan for both the best- and worst-case scenarios.

Seller’s / Appreciating Markets

The unprecedented boom market we’ve been experiencing until recently was a fantastic opportunity many savvy homebuyers took advantage of to participate in the American Dream of being a homeowner, and, subsequently, into becoming a real estate investor. Historically low interest rates made owning a home far more affordable, and many buyers used the opportunity to turn homeownership into not only an escape from renting but a bona fide financial investment.

Selling Strategy

For sellers in an appreciating market, the general strategy outlined below will help maximize your sale price:

• Set the asking price to maximize offers. This may mean pricing your home below what you and your real estate agent feel comparable properties would allow. This will position your home as a "bargain" and attract more potential buyers to bid on the property, and, hopefully, bring about a sale price above asking. In less aggressive markets, this may mean pricing the home at what you feel is its true value.
•  Know your bottom line. What’s the lowest offer you would accept for your home? What will you need to use as a down payment for your next property or to retire debt?
• Be aware of your risk profile. Even in an appreciating market, a seller who’s asking for more than the market will bear risks having his home on the MLS for a long time. Buyers and their agents are aware of properties which aren’t selling and, like anything in nature, inertia can take over. The property may develop a reputation for being difficult and see fewer and fewer offers being made over time. Are you willing to take this risk by rejecting an offer that’s $10,000 below your ideal? $5,000 below?

Buying Strategy

The general buying strategy to use in an appreciating market is as follows:

• Make an offer quickly. In boom markets, good properties usually move quickly. Be decisive and act accordingly. Have a pre-approval letter ready. Pre-approval letters show the seller that you’re prepared and serious about doing business. In cases of multiple offers, pre-approval letters can make the difference between having your offer accepted or being a "backup."
• Consider using your home’s equity to finance additional properties. Owning additional properties may be an excellent opportunity to profit from a rapidly appreciating market. Real estate is an excellent long-term investment for many people, so if being a landlord is within your risk tolerance, consider this option strongly.
• Understand your event horizon. Most people will not live in their first property for more than five years. Knowing this, would you like to keep it as a part of your investment portfolio or would you like to sell it outright so as not to worry about landlording? If you know that this property will be part of a larger real estate portfolio, would taking a 30-year mortgage be your best choice?
• Choose a mortgage based on your event horizon. If you know you’ll be leaving or selling the home in five years, would taking an adjustable mortgage instead of a 30-year mortgage be a better choice? Which of your choices fits with your risk tolerance?
• Have a plan if the market suddenly turns against your expectations. If you have an adjustable mortgage, will you be able to make the payments? Will you be able to sell your home at a profit? Loss? Break-even?

One of our clients exemplifies the general strategy to use in a booming market. He began his journey into homeownership in the mid-90s as a 26-year-old with excellent credit but very little money to use as a down payment. Undeterred, we helped him scrape his way into his first property: a 2-bedroom, bank-owned property in the heart of West Hollywood.

In the next four years, using the money he made from the sale of that first property, he was not only able to retire all of his debt, he was able to acquire 3 additional properties with a combined worth of over $1.2 million. He subsequently sold those properties when he sensed the market was about to change and now lives in a $1 million property in the heart of Hollywood.

Buyer’s / Depreciating Markets

Nationwide, it’s now a buyer’s market, but the local real estate market is still holding strong. This has created an interesting phenomenon in the Westside: a Non-Depreciating Buyer’s Market.

In previous downturn cycles in real estate, when market advantage shifted from sellers to buyers, a concommitant depreciation in prices was seen. Buyers facilitated a depreciation in home prices by making low-ball offers. Seller’s did their part by accepting them.

So far in Los Angeles, this hasn’t been the case. Buyers have been leery of making offers below asking. This has created an interesting phenomenon in which instead of seeing a depreciation in prices, we see a lengthening of days on the market. Sellers are supporting this phenomenon by holding to their original asking price. Eventually, a buyer who is comfortable with the asking price submits a suitable offer and the transaction is closed.

Another significant divergence from previous downturns is the fact that usually, higher interest rates accompany a decline in home prices. The scenario presented by the subprime crisis is different: interest rates have been lowered by the Fed to help bolster the real estate market and the American economy, so the normal lowering of prices seen in buyer’s markets has not been seen so far in the Los Angeles buyer’s market.

Will this unusual trend continue? As we mentioned in a previous post in this series, Los Angeles and the Westside have bucked the national trend of depreciation. If the tide should change, what shifts in strategy should buyers and sellers employ?

Selling Strategy

The following tactics can help maximize your sale price, even in a depreciating market:

• Hire a seasoned Realtor ®. Especially in sophisticated, competitive market such as Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Glendale, and Hollywood, hiring an established professional is the best decision you can make when putting your home on the market. A true professional will be able to market your property far more successfully than you can alone. A Realtor has access to industry-specific information and services that the general public is unaware of. Many buyers will arm themselves with their own Realtor, so why put yourself at a disdvantage by going it alone? As with any professional you hire, make sure the relationship is built on trust and open communication. They’re investing time, money and resources into marketing your property. You’re investing patience, energy, and a commission. Make sure you’re all getting a great return on the investment.
• Have a team me
  ntality. Hiring a realtor means forming a team, and being a part of a team means letting other people do their work. The seller’s function is to make decisions based on the market picture the realtor compiles using his professional resources. If you’ve chosen your agent wisely, respect the information they give you. Keep the flow of communication open and be clear from the very beginning about your expectations in terms of price, mrketing strategy, days on the market, and number of showings.
• Price according to the market. The biggest mistake sellers can make is not recognizing that we’re now in a buyer’s market. Pricing your home using the same market mentality as when you purchased is a costly mistake. Your home will sit on the market, and buyers will easily dismiss a home and look elsewhere, possibly without offering, if your price is too far out of line with reality. Make sure you listen to your real estate agent about what price the market will bear. If you don’t like what you hear, ask other agents (but be cautious of agents who’ll tell you anything just to get your listing). If agents you trust and respect send the same message, act accordingly.
• Stay calm and optimistic. You’ve established a plan with your agent. Stay on course. A mistake many sellers make is wavering from their original purpose. For many it’s because it was never clear or accurate to begin with which is why it’s imperative you establish these expectations in the very beginning of your relationship.
• Expect longer days on the market. This means having the home in open house/ immaculate order longer than in seller’s markets.
• Be willing to look at lower offers. Don’t be insulted by low-priced offers. You can bargain them up.
• Be ready for picky buyers. In depreciating markets, it’s the seller’s responsibility to woo the buyer, not the other way around. Buyers will be pickier than in appreciating markets so adopt the right mindset in dealing with them.
• Offer incentives. That beautiful flat-screen tv you’ve mounted on the living room wall is beautiful. Why not offer it as an incentive?
• Understand and be open to creative financing. If your financial situation doesn’t require a large sum of cash at close, why not entertain creative financing strategies in buyer offers.

Buying Strategy

The general buying strategy to use in an depreciating market is as follows:

• Make a Market-Based Offer. Regardless of asking price, make an offer based on what you and your real estate professional believe is the true value of the property given current local market conditions. Enlist the listing agent’s support in having your offer accepted. Sellers who price their properties above what the market supports are doing themselves, and their listing agents, no favors. Give them a necessary reality check if appropriate. In the end, everyone wins.
• Look for Hidden Gems. In appreciating markets, there can be such a buying frenzy that even poorly maintained properties with poor photographs can be snapped up. In depreciating markets, the typical buyer expects to be catered to by sellers, leaving them open to dismissing hidden gems—properties which may not shine but which will with a little extra TLC. Don’t let this be you!
• Keep a detailed property log. Keep a record of all the properties you see in case you need to go back to one. In a seller’s market, you usually didn’t have the opportunity to research and mull over an offer. In a buyer’s market, having more time can work in your favor, but you still need to stay organized to stay ahead of other savvy buyers. Take pictures and notes of the properties you see, so when you do finally make a decision, you’ll be ready to pounce.
• Use the internet. In a fast-moving appreciating market, listings found on the internet could quickly become outdated. Many buyers didn’t put a lot of of faith in the accuracy of internet listings because of this. Now that extended days on the market are being seen in the marketplace, the information is likely to be more current. Use this medium to your advantage.

Regardless of which way the market progresses, smart home buyers and sellers are prepared to utilize the right strategy to maximize their dollar. These were just a few ideas to help you formulate a strategy for your unique financial situation. We’d be happy to discuss additional ways to help you profit from the Los Angeles Real Estate Market, however the subprime crisis plays out.

In the third part of our series on the subprime crisis, we focus on the challenges presented to homebuyers. Need to read the previous installments? Check out The Subprime Crisis: A Beginner’s Guide and Subprime Crisis Effects in Los Angeles.

The subprime crisis affects everyone. "But I have excellent credit," you might be thinking. "Why would I be affected?"

Regardless of your credit score, the subprime crisis touches your financial outlook in some way. Because financial institutions have suffered, many banks and mortgage companies have increased their scrutiny of mortgage applications and tightened their lending criteria. Even those with excellent credit scores may face a longer approval time for loans as lenders, still reeling from their lax lending practices in days past, tighten their monetary belts.

Fewer borrowers may be approved than before which may result in a chilling effect on the real estate market. Fewer qualified borrowers result in fewer home sales. Fewer home sales decrease liquidity in the market, forcing sellers to become more competitive with each other. It will also result in longer days on the market for the average propety.

Fewer homebuyers will also result in fewer opportunities to trade up to a larger property. Many homeowners contemplating moving to a larger home would rather sell their current property than act as landlord of it. If those owners can’t sell, they won’t buy up either.

Even now, as the effects of the crisis are just beginning to be seen, wary buyers and sellers are playing a cat–and-mouse game. Sellers still remember the rapid appreciation in value properties saw until recently, and many are afraid of pricing their homes too low. On the other hand, buyers, wondering if the beating the real estate market is suffering on the national level will soon be felt in the the local market, are staying on the sidelines, afraid to make an offer that’s too high. This is resulting in homes staying far longer on the market than they would have just several months ago, even in areas where foreclosures have seen little to no increase during the crisis thus far.

The current climate creates new opportunities for buyers and sellers willing to change gears and come up with new strategies to profit from real estate. Like the stock market, there’s always a way to make money in real estate, regardless of whether the market is going up or down.

In the next installment of our series, we’ll explore some of those real estate strategies.

In the second part of our series on the subprime crisis, we focus on how Los Angeles has been affected. Need to read the first installment explaining the crisis? Read The Subprime Crisis: A Beginner’s Guide.

The City of Los Angeles has avoided the effects of the subprime rampage many parts of the country have seen. While major media sources including The Los Angeles Times have been quick to correctly point to Southern California as an epicenter of the subprime debacle, those same news sources have been slow to point out that Los Angeles and its Westside neighbors have been spared from the foreclosures seen in other parts of the Southland.

Yes, areas of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, and many areas of the Inland Empire—San Bernardino County and Riverside County—have been hit hard by the subprime situation, but the real estate market in the City of Los Angeles and other parts of the Westside area has remained strong.

The local media has been criticized in recent weeks by many real estate professionals for failing to report on the distinction between the Southland as a whole and Los Angeles in particular. The difference is stark and deserves to be identified.

They could just as easily have included facts—even just a sentence or two—about the strength of the real estate market in the Westside instead of their uniformly ‘doom-and-gloom’ outlook.

"I understand that the [Los Angeles] Times needs to make a buck, just like everybody else, and sensationalistic headlines certainly sell papers," says one colleague who’s definitely taken umbrage with the one-sided reporting on the subprime situation.

"But they could just as easily have included facts—even just a sentence or two—about the strength of the real estate market in the Westside instead of their uniformly ‘doom-and-gloom’ outlook. That would have given their readers a more complete picture of local conditions."

This juxtaposition of fortunes may be due to the fact that as home prices increased in the popular Westside area, many homebuyers were forced out of the market and bought homes in the Inland Empire instead. Many of these same buyers used subprime loans to finance their purchase and are now seeing their mortgage payments grow beyond their ability to pay.

According to RETRAN data, there were only 8 total foreclosures for the third quarter of 2007 for the following areas of the Westside:

• Brentwood
• Bel Air
• Beverly Hills
• Malibu
• Marina Del Rey
• Pacific Palisades
• Santa Monica
• West Hollywood
• Westwood (90024)
• West Los Angeles (90025).

In fact, according to DataQuick, of the 13,583 total Notices of Default issued (this is before foreclosure actually begins) for either single-family residences or condominiums in the Los Angeles area for Q3 of 2007, less than one-half of one percent were from the Westside.

Given that affluent and not-so-affluent areas of the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and the Westside are still experiencing brisk sales activity, especially on well-priced homes, the broad strokes painted by The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets have given many potential homebuyers a false impression of current market conditions.

2007 has been kind to the Los Angeles real estate market. Buyers who are waiting for a potential glut of foreclosures to flood the market may be better-advised to set their sights on areas other than the resilient Westside of Los Angeles.

Will this resilience continue in 2008? We’re about to find out.

But do you really know what subprime means? What effect has it had in Los Angeles? What challenges does it present, even to those with excellent credit? What opportunities does it reveal?

To answer these questions, let’s start at the beginning…

Understanding Mortgage Lending

Traditionally, mortgages were financed by banks. This meant that a bank was limited in its lending based on the deposits they received from their customers.

Recent changes to this model, however, paved the way for the current situation to arise. Banks moved to a new lending model in which the mortgages they held were sold to the bond markets. This freed banks from lending based solely on their customer deposits.

The boon to this new model was that more money was available to help people buy homes. The downside, unfortunately, was that banks no longer had as much pressure to verify that the mortgages they issued were solid. Knowing that the mortgages they created would eventually be sold, banks took on riskier loans than would have been prudent in the more traditional lending era.

The Mortgage Bond Market

Until recently, the mortgage bond market was heavily dominated by government-sponsored agencies such as Freddie Mac. Since 2002, however, the private sector asserted itself in this market with a vengeance.

With new mortgage vehicles such as jumbo loans, and sub-prime loans to borrowers with poor credit histories and/or weak documentation of income who were rejected by prime lenders like Freddie Mac, the private sector significantly increased its role in the mortgage bond market.

The rise of private sector participation catapulted the mortgage bond market to a worth of $6 trillion, making it the largest part of the $27 trillion bond market. The mortgage bond market is now even bigger than the Treasury bond market.

Foreclosures Emerge

Many homeowners were lured by brokers selling subprime mortgages who explained that the equity in homes could be turned into cash by refinancing. What brokers failed to explain in many cases was that the mortgage interest rates would double after 2 years.

A wave of foreclosures began appearing, first in inner-city areas, then across the entire country, starting in 2005.

By that point, 20% of all mortgages were subprime. They were especially popular among recent immigrants in the competitive housing markets in New York City, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, D.C. suburbs, and Southern California.

Consequences

Foreclosures are predicted to rise over the next two years as many sub-prime mortgages fall outside of their initial 2-year period, causing interest rates to become variable and, in many cases, double. It is estimated that as many as 2.4 million homeowners are in danger of foreclosure because of subprime loans.

The dramatic rise in foreclosures has had such a strong impact on the price of homes that we now see the first national decline in housing prices since the 1930s. A glut of 4 million unsold homes is depressing prices, forcing builders to lower prices to rid themselves of remaining inventory.

The building industry, comprising 15% of the economy, is expected to halve its output, causing a loss of over one million jobs. Related industries such as manufacturers of durable goods, e.g. washing machines, home improvement stores, furniture makers, may also take a hit.

Banks and the bond market are also feeling the crunch. Banks have already lost $60 billion, and bondholders (such as pension funds) who have bought subprime mortgage bonds have seen a sharp fall in value of those instruments. Estimates of the total financial loss for these institutions run as high as $450 billion.

Since lenders have suffered badly, they are more stringent with any new loans they make, resulting in a tightening credit supply for consumers. Mortgages, especially non-traditional ones such as subprime and jumbo loans, are now more difficult to obtain.

Now that the basics are covered, in subsequent posts, let’s answer the questions we originally asked:

• What effect has it had in Los Angeles?
• What challenges does it present, even to those with excellent credit?
• What opportunities does it reveal?

To read more about the subprime situation, check out the following links:

• The Subprime Crisis In Graphics
• Subprime Crisis Timeline
• Wikipedia’s Page on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

From October 26 through November 11, the Greystone Mansion will host the American Society of Interior Designers event presented by the STYLE Network, and its grounds will be transformed into "green" and sustainable works of art for the first time. The sponsors/conributors this year include Smith and Hawken and The Garden Gallery in Beverly Hills.

This year’s theme was inspired by the growing world environmental crisis. The event will inspire us to reduce the use of non-renewable resources and add fuel to the growing green design concept. Exterior Designers have been challenged to use their creativity to harmonize beauty with sustainability.

The renowned Exterior Designers included in this year’s event are:

• James Alexander, Alexander Exterior Design
• Kristi Blicharski, Flora Bella Garden
• CJ Forray, Cottage Garden Design
• Yu-Chien Liao
• Paula Henson
• Maria Kane Garden Design
• Brent Green
• Joan Grabel, Park Slope Design
• Paul Langh Garden Design
• Alfonseo Melior, Melior Creative Gardening
• Jay Rodriguez
• Pacific Outdoor Living.

For more information on this event, please go to the Beverly Hills Garden and Design website.