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Ann Rice in conversation with Christopher Rice: on of the best interviews I heard
Ann Rice in conversation with Christopher Rice, one of the best interviews I have heard in years! Ann Rice is one of the most gracious authors I have ever met in the past 30+ years. She really gets it: without her fan base, without her readers, without her loyal follower she would not be so successful. There are authors who write a great many books and are successful on paper, but they are not like Ann Rice, she gives back to her fans. If you come to see her she will sign all your books, forget what the publishers say, and forget what the handlers say: Ann Rice will sign all your items. She is very gracious and kind. This was the third time Diane and I saw her and when I heard what a grueling schedule she had I could hardly believe my ears. Look at this schedule: Here is a current list of her appearances: Harvard Book Store, Boston, MA (11/4) Writers On A New England Stage, Portsmouth, NH (11/4) The Strand, New York (11/7) Copperfield’s Books, Northern CA (11/11) Books, Inc. in Opera Plaza, San Francisco (11/12) Books & Books, Miami, FL (11/17) Half-Price Books, Dallas, TX (11/18) Live Talks Los Angeles (11/19) Now clearly this is an Author who is giving back to her fans base. OK keep in mind she is not 20 something. She was here in Los Angeles signing her books and anything her fans wanted…we were close to the end of the line and it was almost 10:45pm and she was flying out in the morning to Arizona. Diane and I were so impressed you can see her smiling it was a picture I took of Diane and her about ten years ago when she was at Vromans in Pasadena. Diane and she were joking that they look better now the both of themJ i.e.: better hair and makeup… If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations....
read moreRoy Choi’s POT: The Restaurant in Korea Town (Los Angeles that is)
As most of you know I have recently written about one of Los Angeles’s own sons: Roy Choi the Chef who is on the fast track to Stratospheric Levels. Since my last writing I heard he is teaming up with another international Chef to create a Gourmet Fast Food Restaurant in Europe in 2015. (Clearly a blog post for the future) So some of you have reached out to me and asked if I have been to his Restaurants and which ones? Well with that said, let me tell you tonight about POT. One of his latest creations, relatively speaking. He opened it around March 2014 and I could hardly wait to go there. Having seen him in person at the Los Angeles Festival of Books Cooking Stage in April of this year, he spent a few minutes telling us how difficult it was to get his parents to come in or even speak the name of the Restaurant. Keep in mind Roy Choi is about 44 or 45 years old. The food is a modern interpretation of Korean Food and basically he opened the Restaurant virtually walking distance to one of the most respected “old school Korean Restaurants” where they serve fantastic traditional Korean food. I love Roy Choi’s hutzpah, keep in mind he is second generation Korean and he considers himself an Angelino first rather than of Korean descent first. The Koreans are a very conservative and closed society in my experience and for Roy Choi to be a “radical in his interpretation” of traditional Korean cooking has intrigued me. On top to open up the Restaurant in the middle of Korea Town is not only risky but shows some bold aggressive moves on his part. So needless to say I could hardly wait to go and eat there. Lucky for me, Diane wanted to go as well, so we made a day time date to visit i.e.: lunch and then we figured we will be back. BTW the food was out of this world. The menu was clearly nontraditional just as I expected. Instead of linen table cloths you are greeted with a plain table and the staff brings you what looks like a newspaper but in reality it is the menu. It needs explaining and the staff is great at doing that. Diane and I ordered different “hot pot” both were fully of yummy items to many to name here. Mine was not only hot from the oven like Diane’s but mine was on fire from the spices as well. As I write this post Roy Choi’s Pot is in the running for best new Restaurant in LA, he has some tough competition, needless to say I am hoping he will win! His passion for feeding the masses comes through his food. On a side note the clientele consisted of young second and third generation Koreans, even first generation and there was a great business crowd as well. So if you are not afraid of the HEAT make it a destination place for lunch or dinner. Just on a side note there are some milder dishes too. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los...
read moreThe Confidnential or should I say Secret Sales Price is not so Secret!
The other day, I received a question from a potential buyer who was very concerned about the fact that there is too much information available to everyone on the Internet. Not wanting to be a wisenheimer, I tried explaining that there are many pros and cons about this subject and we do not have that much time to debate this subject. I asked and was wondering what brought this up? The buyer wanted to keep his sales price private once the transaction closed. He did not want everyone to see his purchase price. Needless to say I had to explain that there are no secrets any more. In the “old days” you could pay $250 extra and the Sales Price would be held confidential in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as well as in the County Assessor’s Office. Well those days are gone. Some people think that by cancelling the listing in the MLS prior to close that will prevent the information to get out. I explained to the buyer, that yes there was a loophole before and that consisted of some buyers requesting to circumvent the Multiple Listing Requirement of publishing the sales price. They would asking the listing agent to cancel the listing and then it would not show up in the MLS what the sales price was. This loophole has been closed by the County Assessor’s Office or should I say by the California Attorney General. Even if the Documentary Transfer Tax (DDT) was filed separately expecting it to be confidential it is not the case. This was achieve by Section 11932 of the Revenue and Taxation Code which allowed the taxpayers to request the Documentary Transfer Tax to be shown on a separate page. This seemed to work for a while, then the Office of the Attorney General was addressing the issue of whether the DTT amount paid is open to public inspection or not. They determined in Opinion 68-12 that “The separate tax statement is subject to public inspection”. Therefore what happened was, that the Assessor now posts the sales prices derived from the DTT found in documents filed separately and stamped “Not for Public Record”. Simply said someone at the Assessor’s Office has the job to convert the tax amount which is nothing more than simple algebra and there you have the Sales Price Appears on the Assessor’s website. So with that said do not pay extra in Escrow to keep your Sales Price confidential because it will be public information anyway. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreRoy Choi: The Godfather of Los Angeles Chefs!
Roy Choi has become synonymous with being known as the godfather of Los Angeles Chefs. He is considered now, the darling of all the foodies, food critics and ‘the who is who’ of Los Angeles. His overnight fame was long in the making. He graduated first in his class at the CIA also known as the Culinary Institute of America in New York. To those readers, who are not familiar with the CIA, if you graduate from it the best comparison is to being a graduate of Yale or Harvard in the Food World. Needless to say life takes turns and some succeed immediately others struggle, but those who have a strong perseverance or should I say stick to it, mentality end up succeeding. Roy Choi is the perfect example of this never give up mentality. Even though he went off the fast track to becoming a super star chef, he did not give up. He worked in Lake Tahoe at one of the large Hotels mass producing quality meals. Then he returned to Los Angeles his home town and he is best known for being the Godfather of the Food Truck Revolution. He started the Kogi Truck and the rest is history. Well in case you have not followed his meteoric rise since the Food Truck Revolution took off let me summarize it here for you. He has to my last count about eleven eating establishments that I know of: 3 Worlds in Couth Los Angeles on Central ave where they serve coffees, lattes and smoothies and of course the Double Dole Whip Smoothie. Appropriately named since he is being largely supported by the Dole Corporation on this venture ( will write a post about this later) The ALIBI ROOM in Culver City perfect Drunk Friendly FoodJ The Sunny Spot in Marina Del Rey a Carribean Style eatery The A-Frame another Culver City eatery Chego also a Culver City eatery Let me not forget the Kogi BB Trucks I believe there are about eight or more traveling in LA and Orange Counties feeding the massesJ Pot in the heart of Korea Town 3515 Wilshire Blvd. LA, CA. 90010 I originally intended on writing a post about this great restaurant needless to say now I will have to write a post about this one as well.J The Commissary in the same building which happens to be the Line Hotel The Pot Lobby Bar CaFe also in the same building Now I hear he is opening another POT in Redondo Beach at the Pier (my favorite place go to buy fish when I have time and want a change of pace from Santa Monica) Needless to say in addition to running all the Food Trucks, Restaurants in his spare time he has written an autobiographical book/cook book “ LA Son: My Life, My City, My Food” and in addition to doing book signings he has done many interviews with Radio, Television and Media personalities. Oh and let me not forget he just finished not too long ago being the technical advisor to the movie which is loosely based on his meteoric rise in the culinary world “Chef”. He is my hero, for showing me that Perseverance, Stubborn Dedication and a Passion will lead you to success sooner or laterJ. He is...
read moreBeverly Hills Board of Realtors aka BH/GLAAR Recognition of Veteran Military Members
The Beverly Hills/ Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors have opened up their arms and hearts by: “Embracing Our Warriors” Clearly I remember a time when we as a nation looked down on those who served. Protecting our Freedom and Service to our Country has returned quite some time ago. President Ronald Reagan has restored Pride in our Country and Pride in those who served. I was honored with this Certificate. Due to a heavy client commitments I was unable to attend the Recognition Luncheon, so you can imagine my surprise when a few weeks later I received this in the mail with a very touching cover letter.I was grateful to have received it. I have and will continue to proudly support other Military Veterans who are looking to buy a home. They can be assured that the service they will receive will be over the top. This is clearly my way of thanking them for their service to our Country. As Veteran’s Day is approaching please remember those who are serving and those who served to protect this great Nation. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreWhat is the most challenging part of an Escrow?
What is the most Challenging par of an Escrow? Observations by a Los Angeles Realtor, Endre Barath,Jr. There is so much discussion that it is finding the right home is one of the hardest things to do. My answer is always that is the easiest part of the Transaction. If you ask the right questions, most buyers will tell you what they want… The more challenging part is getting the offer accepted where both buyers and sellers feel like it is a “good deal” for both of them. It is particularly challenging when it is a Seller’s Market and you happen to represent the buyer. On the other hand it is challenging when it is a buyer’s market and you represent the seller. The hardest part is when the seller thinks it is a seller’s market, but the market has cooled or changed to a buyer’s market. The harder part in my opinion is managing the expectations of the buyers and sellers. The better you manage the expectation levels the smoother the transaction will go. I am a firm believer the continuation of moving the documents is key. It is a clear indication that both parties are operating in good faith. So getting back to the original question: what is the most Challenging Part of an Escrow? In my opinion is negotiating the request for repair. This is where buyers need to be realistic and sellers need to be reasonable too. Clearly it makes a difference if there is a back up offer on the table or if there is not. That will determine the stance the seller will take. Once the Request for Repair is negotiated. Then it is clearly just waiting for the Loan Documents and the buyer’s signing them. Ultimately then one just waits for the Loan to Fund. Let me know what your thoughts are about this question. If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreObservations about Technology and our lives, by Endre Barath, Beverly Hills Realtor
As I am learning about how to use my New Lenovo Yoga PC Windows 8.1, at the same time I am also learning how to use my WordPress Website https://www.endrebarath.com, and at the same time I am learning on how to use my new Lexus RX 350. The technology is amazing but very overwhealming. While this technology learning curve is taking place in my life, the everyday occurances must be handled as well. The Inspection of the Roof by the buyer in my Escrow and let us not forget the Sewer Inspection, the Fireplace Inspection, the General Inspection, the Foundataion inspection….anyway I could go on and on. At the same time negotiating with another seller and their neighbor (not in the mls) trying to buy their home to enlarge the estate. All good but challenging. Then at home adding a sewer clean out to the sewer line. Then socializing a feral kitty who decided to move in to our back yard, clearly keeps me jugling a lot of events. What I found amazing is in all this is, that my laptop would communicate with my HP Printer and work it out without me getting involved. Wow truly amazing. Then my Samsung Galixy S-5 started communicating with my Lexus RX 350 and amazingly I can now answer my phone in my car. Wow,truly increadible. The technology is just so much smarter than the operators, well at least this operator. The printer communicates with the laptop, the phone communicates with the car. The printer communicates with Hewlett Packard home office, they in turn email me that my toner is low by different colors. I replace the black they tell me that the Magenta is not new, but a bootleg copy. I reach out to Staples that I was sold a fake toner. They are investigating…. Anyway I could go on and on and talk about my ATT U-Verse Internet, TV and Phone System, but you would be worn out or be exhausted. So I will stop and let you know I am so lucky to be living today that I do not need to do much but observe as all these machines are talking to each other. I am hoping that they are not conspiring against me as I used to see in some science fiction movies that the Computers have taken over…. Please tell me that I am foolishly concerned for no reason. Nothing to worry the technology is here to help me not eliminate me:) If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreMonday evening musings from your Beverly Hills Realtor Endre Barath,Jr.
Sometimes there are Technical Glitches and a post does not leave the draft stage in a timely manner. Sadly this post falls into that category, did not leave the draft stage. Then we follow a busy day and next thing you know it is almost Tuesday and the Speechless post becomes a not so speechless post. Anyway it becomes a Monday Evening Musings. All day I was showing properties and in the mean time trying to keep my Escrow together. Needless to say next I will need to follow up on many unanswered emails:))) If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue...
read moreCustomer Service: The first step is Timely response to inquiries!
Customer Service: The first step is Timely response to questions, I pride myself in quick response to questions how about you?? I have always prided myself in providing quick and accurate responses to questions. It did not matter to me if it was Voice Mail, Text or Email. When I got out of my meetings or showings, I would get back to the person who sent me an inquiry. Just to be clear, I did not discriminate if it was a potential buyer, potential seller or an agent. Where I would prioritize would be is in the price of the listing or sales inquiry. I would place the highest priced in the highest order, clearly my fiduciary responsibility. Needless to say, if you called or emailed or texted me you would get a response relatively quickly. This has always been my’… Motus Operendi…” Buyers, Sellers and Agents all expect a quick answer back. Now with today’s technology of smart phones, emails etc. there is no real excuse not to get back to someone within 24 hours. I always try to get back to everyone within three to four hours… I generally have eleven to fifteen listings, depending when you reach out and my goal is to sell them fast for the most amount of money and not just to keep them in my inventory! The only way I found it to sell the listings is if I made myself available to answer questions quickly and not delay the response… Nothing annoys me more is when you raise a question and you do not get a response. I find that is the worst customer service. Hence I do not like that feeling and I would not want the people who reach out to me experience the same negative sensation. So if you are looking for a knowledgeable, quick to respond to your questions and needs Realtor, in the Greater Los Angeles area you found him. So please reach out to me directly. Ironically there are many agents, buyers and sellers who do not follow this credo….clearly we would not be a good fit. I have clients in Europe and Asia and they do not want 24 hours later response to their questions, hence I am up late and up early responding to their questions and need. Not all agents were made equal…test me out I look forward to your next communication. In addition to timely response, there has to be courtesy to all. I find that attitude can be a deal killer… If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations....
read moreKuleto Winery: a must visit destination in Napa, CA
Kuleto Winery: a must visit destination in Napa, CA Often we look for excuses to make time to visit friends and places, because we are so caught up with our day to day activities and often we forgo these visits due to our dedication to our work. On the other hand being a Greater Los Angeles Realtor has its benefits. One of those benefits immediately comes to my mind. You get to know your clients and sometimes a relationship blossoms and friendships develop. Well this is what happened here. For years we have been invited by our friends to visit their home. You would think with them living in Wine Country should be a no brainer for us to visit immediately. Needless to say, because I am a workaholic it was hard to break away and at the same time family issues that came up unexpectedly, prevented this from taking place sooner. Needless to say we finally went for a quick trip to visit our friends. The short trip consisted of a visit from Thursday to Saturday. Keep in mind our next visit I will stretch it by a couple more days! At their suggestion we went to Kuleto Winery in St. Helena, CA. 94574. I must admit I have never heard of this Winery,( shame on me). Kuleto Winery is not just a great Winery it is an experience one must add to the “Bucket List”. Those of you who read my Blog Posts know I love good wine and Kuleto Estates is more than that. Besides tasting some world class wines, it is an experience unmatched that I have ever experienced in wine tasting. The Staff does not rush you, instead they pour ample amounts of wine and pair them with a great cheese assortment which enhances the experience. Needless to say you do not need to go to three to four Wineries as some people think you should. My advice is to you is, to visit one outstanding winery and forgo the mediocre ones. After all you can always buy those at home! Also after visiting one, trust me on this one, if you are not spitting out the wines you will not know how good or bad the next winery will be. (This is the voice of experience talking) Kuleto Winery is high up above the Silverado Trail and the slow drive up is worth every minute. The property covers about 850+ acres of land with hills and valleys and two manmade lakes. Keep in mind without water there is no winery. Please check out the enclose link and take my word, that there was not one bad wine that I tasted, just some were better than others. http://www.kuletoestate.com/ If you are wondering if they ship to your State, rest assured that they ship to most States. Therefore you have no excuse not to buy and taste them. From what I understand after January some of the States that were on the “not allowed to ship” list will be allowed to receive wine. As far as I am concerned I can hardly wait for our shipment to arrive. We have ordered a few bottles of wine that we really loved, just to name a few: The Chardonnay, The Syrah, The Cabernet Sauvignon and a...
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