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The 87th Academy Awards will be held this February 22nd,2015 at the Dolby Theater.
The 87th Academy Awards will be held this February 22nd, 2015 at the Dolby Theater. The Proper name is “The Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”. Most people know it as the “Oscars”. Every year Hollywood gets together and there is fierce campaigning in the background by actors, directors and all involved. The votes are already in and the predictions are hot and heavy. Some make a living of the guessing as to who shall win which award. It reminds me of the political elections, hard aggressive campaigning does not always guarantee that the right person got the award or in politics the position. Just like in politics people vote without doing their research as well as their homework. Just on a side note, over the years I have been in a few homes of the Members of the Academy who are actually voters and saw many a DVD in plastic still unopened and the voting has been completed. Actually very similar when I have been to “Oscar parties” and we were using the ballots that you can get off the internet and in the old days out of the News Papers, we “guessed” or should I say “voted” and the winner at the end of the party won a price which the host provided. Not one person at the party has seen all the categories, clearly there was still a “winner” or should I say “best guesser”, but I digress. 2014 Academy Awards Ceremony By now the directions are clear, since the Golden Globes were already held, there are clearly some front runners and some unexpected surprises as it always happen at the Oscars, year after year. Keep in mind this is big business not just for the” Hollywood Who is Who”, but for the clothing designers, the jewelry designers as well. After all, the whole world or at least that is how it is perceived, will tune in and watch the show. Bette Midler at the 2014 Academy Awards Ceremony There will be a lot of glitz and glamour as one would expect from the entertainment industry. The gossip industry will be making hay as well. There is so much that goes into this choreographed awards ceremony that most people are not even aware. The seating arrangement is politics as well, i.e.: who sits where, who is sitting next to, behind or in front of the people. There will be quite a few losers, since only one person or entity wins the coveted award in each category. Some losers will be gracious others not so and if you watch it you will get to see the reactions, because the cameras will be zooming in mercilessly on the winners as well as the losers. So clearly you can see why the gossip industry will have fun with this. I remember growing up as a kid watching the “Oscars” and my parents complaining who won and discussing who should have one. Nothing has changed over the years, these same discussion will be going on the night of February 22nd, 2015 as well as after it. The only thing will change are the names and faces, but the drama will be the same. A far as I am concerned the best part is, just as the Golden...
read moreShould I get a 100amp service or a 200amp service Electric Panel?
The question is, should I get 100 amps or 200 amps for my Electric Panel? This question often arises when a Home Owner is considering upgrading the Electrical System. My take is the more is the better. The world is getting more and more technologically oriented, hence I would suggest if you are upgrading a system go for the 200amps. Being a Greater Los Angeles Realtor, I see homes that have even 300 to 400 amps now days. Keep in mind, I grew up with “fuse boxes” I remember when my mother was drying her hair and she would “blow a fuse”, then my father had to get the flashlight and go in the basement and replace the “blown fuse”. Now clearly the house where we lived was on a 60 amps system. Keep in mind that was in the early 1960’s, because of this advice you will not have childhood memories like I just described. Some people are Engineers and they do Electrical Calculations to determine what you need. My take is different, first if you have more now, then you do not need to worry down the road if you have enough. I find that as time goes by we keep adding more and more electronic equipment, it is just our nature. So with that said, my advice is for the small price difference today get the bigger amps. The labor costs are virtually identical so chances are if you did not do it now, it will cost you a lot more if you have to do it in a few years down the road. Also my advice is to use a licensed and bonded electrician and have him pull the permits. First the odds will be in your favor that it will be done correctly, second if you ever decide to sell your home at least you can be assured that it will be a positive vs. a negative when the home inspector identifies that the electrical update was done correctly and with proper permits. Since I am a Greater Los Angeles Realtor, I often watch the reaction of the buyer’s faces when the home inspector announces that the Electrical Panel looks like it was recently updated, the reaction is smiles and reassuring. On the other hand when the opposite is announced there is a nervous concern and you can see the buyers are calculating what additional costs they will be incurring. Trust me they think it is twice as expensive as it really is, hence it adds another layer of doubt into the purchase process. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations ...
read moreIs there such a thing as being “dog tired”?
Is there such a thing as being “dog tired” I have often heard people commenting that they were “dog tired”. I have never used the expression, since I am a believer what you put out to the universe you get back. Hence I do not want this feeling of being tired. After all we have all the same 24 hrs. as everyone else and I do not want to waste it by complaining about being tired. I never cared listening to people who always complain and say that they are tired. I always prefer hanging out with people who have energy and spend time being internally motivated. So I did a bit of Google searching and found this definition on the internet of where the phrase of being “dog tired” came from. Hence I thought I would share with you: Dog tired is an old English phrase usually hyphenated to dog-tired. An adjectival phrase meaning to be physically exhausted, it derives from an old tale of Alfred the Great who used to send his sons out with his extensive kennels of hunting dogs. Whichever of his sons, be it Athelbrod or Edwin, were able to catch more of the hounds would gain their father’s right hand side at the dinner table that evening. These chases would leave them ‘dog-tired’ yet merry at their victory. The tradition was continued for a few generations but is not noted in literature after Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. So with that said I must admit I found this interesting. Since there were times I was exhausted from various activities. Sometimes it was from driving Relocation Clients all day and doing it three days in a row, because they were only in town for three days. Needless to say there were times when I was exhausted from being at a seven hour home inspection. I considered these as the unusual and not ordinary day to day activity, hence I would not complain or grouse about it too much. Quite frankly I am tired of hearing misinformation about Real Estate in the Media. Furthermore I am tired of Charlatan Motivation Gurus pushing their product to Realtors. Just to site an example: work four hours a day three days a week and make $X00,000 + a year. I do not know about you, but I work very hard seven days a week for every dollar I make. This made me wonder some more, being a Realtor what makes you “dog tired”? Hopefully showing property, writing offers and negotiating offers do not fall into this category for you. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreThe 37th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival will be held this June 13th & 14th at the Hollywood Bowl
The 37th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival will be held this June 13th & 14th at the Hollywood Bowl The 37th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival will be held this June 13th & 14th. This is one of those re-occurring events that we look forward to every year. It is also a sign of that it is the middle of the year. Generally speaking it is always around the 13-15 of June depending what day Saturday or Sunday falls in the middle of June. Diane and I have probably been to it eight or nine times in the past seventeen years. Some years we could not go due to other commitments and other times it was just a question of do we want to drive to the Hollywood Bowl?? Keep in mind when we lived in Century City we were about 30 minutes from the Hollywood Bowl. Then we moved to Marina Del Rey and everything became a project. Clearly we were very comfortable where we lived and did not want to venture out once we got home. On the other hand there are many people from the San Fernando Valley who take busses specifically to go to the Hollywood Bowl. Then again there are people from all over the country who make it as a once in a life time opportunity to go to the Hollywood Bowl and spend an evening at the Playboy Jazz Festival. On the other hand here we are and we choose to turn down the opportunity out of sheer comfort i.e.: stay at home or drive one way 45 minutes and keep in mind at the end of the night drive home another 45 minutes. We have seen many fantastic world famous Jazz performers to many to name, but always worth the drive. So why don’t we do it every year? The answer is varied, too many other opportunities that we are surrounded with that might be closer and more convenient is the short answer. So here we are in January and what made me think of the Playboy Jazz Festival in June. BTW this year it will be June 13th & 14th. So getting back to my rhetorical question why now think about the Playboy Jazz Festival. Well part of it is Bill Cosby has been the MC for as far as I can remember and with all the controversy surrounding him I was wondering, will Playboy Stand by his man? Well as it turned out, it shows I have not been at the Hollywood Bowl in the past three or four years, otherwise I would have known the answer. Bill Cosby had his last MC Job at the 34th Playboy Jazz Festival. Everyone said good bye to him. To give you a little history the First Playboy Jazz Festival was held in Chicago Stadium in 1959. Keep in mind in those days Playboy Headquarters was in Chicago. The Second Playboy Jazz Festival did not happen until 1979. (So on a side note even Hugh Heffner had other obligations and commitments for twenty years, hence I do not feel so bad skipping a few of them). Then he settled down and Playboy Enterprises moved this event to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and ever since then it has been here every year. The...
read moreThe Malibu Single Family Under Contract Properties have seen a huge increase!
The Malibu Single Family Under Contract Properties have seen a huge increase! The Malibu Single Family Residential market is moving along just fine, in spite of what you hear on the news or what is taking place throughout the rest of the United States there is a comfortable Real Estate Activity. As most of you who read my blog posts, know I just wrote about the time on the market has been shortening for Single Family Residence in Malibu. So I thought it would be appropriate to see how the under contract Properties are doing. In my opinion that is the true tell tale of what the market will be like in the next 45-90 days. Not surprisingly there has been a 100% increase in the Under Contract Properties. To be specific in December 2013 there were 11 properties in Escrow. In December 2014 there were 22 properties that is double the amount i.e.: a 100% increase. Clearly this is an indication of things to come for 2015. Generally December is one of the slower months for Real Estate Activity in Malibu. The biggest reason is the demographics of Malibu is the “super affluent” hence they generally are away on vacations hence sales generally slow down. Needless to say technology has helped closing this gap, because thanks to the internet and technology like DocuSign you do not have to be local to list, negotiate and close on a Real Estate Transaction. In addition to it are all the holidays which also slow down the Real Estate Sales Activity in Malibu. So now with that said, if you are considering buying or selling do not wait until the rest of all the buyers enter the market take advantage of the serious sellers as well as the serious buyers in Malibu. That will guarantee you a purchase or a sale. Now if you would like more information about the Malibu Real Estate Market please reach out to me directly. There are very expensive as well as relatively inexpensive homes in Malibu, it all depends what your likes, wants and needs are. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue...
read moreThe Malibu SFR (Single Family Residence) Average Days on Market has dropped 12%
The Malibu SFR (Single Family Residence) Average Days on Market has dropped 12% Malibu California has a lot to offer, there are quite a few Billionaires who call Malibu their home. Carbon Beach has been nicknamed Billionaire’s Beach. Anyway you get the idea. In spite of this phenomenon, there are still reasonably priced homes that you can find on the Beach Side as well as the Land Side of the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Malibu has a lot to offer including 21 miles of scenic beaches. There was a time when the more expensive homes were the ones that were closer to Los Angeles i.e.: Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. This is slowly changing as the new buyers realize that there are enough grocery stores and restaurants at the other end of Malibu to service their needs. Now on the border of Ventura County i.e.: the other end of Malibu, land as well as homes can be found selling for $5-$20+ million. Clearly there is a value given to being able to rub elbows with the rich and famous. To be able to stop in at the Malibu Inn or Nobu just to name a few places to see and be seen. If you do not believe me you should just see how many tourists come to Malibu for this specific reason only. Those who can afford to buy a home in Malibu have been quite busy, the clear indication of this is that the average days on market had dropped 12% from December 2013 vs. December 2014. So take a deep breath and look at these figures. December 2013 it took 179 days to sell a home in December 2014 it only took 157 days that is a change of 22 days and a reduction of 12%. Quiet impressive for a very specific market. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations ...
read moreClassic Dutch Cooking: counter point to a previous article
I was inspired to write about the foods of Holland from a list that I recently read. Some of you know what I am referring to, for those who do not, I have include my previous blog about this subject at the bottom of this post. Needless to say before we write or read about the food of Holland, we need to get a clear grasp of the facts that, when we say Netherlands, Holland and Dutch Cooking we are talking about one in the same. Now with that said most people need to understand the geographic location of the Netherlands. Once they do, then they start to get an idea of the type of food they can expect. On the North and on the West sides Holland is bordered by the North Sea. On the South it is bordered by Belgium and on the East by Germany. So anticipate seafood from the north and meat recipes from the east. Keep in mind, when I traveled to Holland the first town I wanted to stop in was Gouda, (yes the one famous for its cheese), naïve me asked the locals how can I get to the Cheese Factory, they laughed at me and then they explained to naïve me, that they do not make the cheese here anymore. At the same time they educated me of the varieties of Gouda Cheese BTW it is pronounced as “How-Da” but if you said that to most cheese mongers in the US, they would not know what you are talking about so Gouda it remains. http://www.cheese.com/gouda. Since I was not a big fan of Limburger Cheese hence I was in no rush to get to Limburg also a town in Holland. Good thing, because I have learned years later that most Limburger Cheese is actually produced in Germany hence I would have received the same answer when I got there. So armed with this knowledge I was heading to Amsterdam. If you read my previous blog posts you will understand, that I am a believer to go to the big cities, where you can learn about the culture faster and taste the food of the various countries and get a good idea of what they represent. This was truly a fantastic experience to be spending time in Amsterdam, I am not just referring to the Red light District, the Diamond District as well as the College District. They all left a fantastic impression on me, but I am referring more so about the Gastronomic Experience I enjoyed. I equally enjoyed visiting all the great Museums, including the Van Gogh and the Impressionistic museums. In addition yes including Ann Frank’s house, walking over the Canals and taking the mandatory tourist ride of the canals, they are all still fresh in my mind. The food was out of this world! Now let’s talk about the Restaurants, they are truly out of this world, when it comes to gastronomical experience. Hard to believe, but when I was there I cannot recall how many Michelin Rated Restaurants existed. All I can tell you is, that I had some fantastic cheese tarts, great Cheese soup and mussel soup to name a few of the top of my head. Mostly I remember eating a great deal of fish...
read moreBeverly Hills Berkshire Hathaway Contest Reception at the EVO
The Beverly Hills Berkshire Hathaway office had a listing contest during the summer. The Winners of our 2014 Summer Listing Contest were treated to a Reception. My manager did this in our honor at the 1155 S Grand Ave, LA CA 90015. Keep in mind that there were cocktails, hors-d’ oeuvres and a Private DJ. The best part was there were some spectacular Views and most importantly we were able to mingle with our peers at this event. The EVO is a hip cool downtown high rise building. If you have not been downtown in many years you would not recognize it. Boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants are sprinkled all over. The unit was a North West facing Penthouse of approximately 3900 square feet. The last of the units that are still available. Once this one is gone the building will be sold out. So to all those doubters and nay Sayers that this was a bad concept to put the units on the market in 2008. Sorry to disappoint you but it was a brilliant idea. In case you are wondering there is a concierge at the entrance parking, is self-parking and the good news is the Home Owner Dues are only $850 per month virtually unheard for this type of building. Check out the enclosed link to get a better feel for this fantastic Penthouse Unit. On a side note the link still shows two available, not the case the smaller one is in Escrow. http://www.evo-south.com/ if you are wondering the asking price is only $3.4million truly a good value for downtown Penthouses. Now clearly eight or nine years ago people did not realize what a vibrant downtown it would turn out to be. I remember seventeen years ago I went to a commercial breakfast for Realtors and Tim Leiweke of AEG said they were going to build the Staples Center and totally revamp downtown Los Angeles. There were a lot of skeptics in the room. Just to give you an idea the land in those days was selling for around $1 per square foot and very few people considered “downtown” as safe or an option to buy not alone live there. Now you cannot even find a 600 sq. foot one bedroom or single Condominium under $350,000. In those days they were selling one to two bedroom Condominiums for $50,000 to $75,000. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations. ...
read moreWhat is the connection between a Westchester Realtor, a Westchester home owner, a squirrel and a dog?
What is the connection between a Westchester Realtor, a Westchester home owner, a squirrel and a dog? Before I go into all that, let me digress a bit. Squirrels are interesting creatures, some people love them others hate them, I find them very smart and innovative. My fascination goes back to my childhood as my parents always considered them as their pets. I remember living or should I say visiting Waterbury, CT on Bunker Hill where my parents had a home, because by this time I was in College and I would only drop in during school breaks and I could see the love and affection they had for these little animals. My mother and father would name each one based on their characteristics, or should I say the names were based on either by their behavior or their physical appearances. Ironically one time, the Squirrels broke into my parent’s home, because they observed where my parents kept the food. Needless to say the squirrels cut the screen door open with their sharp claws and had a great meal. Although it cost my father close to $75 to rescreen the door, they were not mad at them. Instead my parents forgave them and started feeding them larger quantities of food. Clearly the word got out in Squirrel Nation and not wanting to exaggerate at one point my parents were feeding close to 15+/- squirrels daily. Every time they drove home and if on a nearby busy street they saw one that was hit, they would watch to see which one of the squirrels stopped coming by and they would mourn the little creatures since they knew them by name. Anyways enough reminiscing about the “good old days”. Being a home owner, we have a couple of our “own squirrels” who keep visiting our back yard and steal the oranges right off the trees. I have written a post about them previously, when I saw them in action. Not only do they eat oranges, but they also raid one of the bird feeders. One time I saw one perched right in the middle of the feeding tray. Needless to say I was so engrossed in watching the little guy I could not get to my camera in time. I was wondering how he could jump from the fence into the tray. Well later I had the opportunity to observe, he actually climbed up on to the tray via the Shepherd’s Hook. On a side note we have three bird feeders, not counting the Ron Marshall artwork which is perched on one of our outdoor tables as decoration to the back yard. So the other day I was in the back yard with Chachi our dog and needless to say as I am checking my emails, I see him running and barking. (This is very unusual because he seldom barks) My first reaction was poor Wiley (our outdoor kitty) but then I realized that he was chasing one of the Squirrels. So my thought is “why can’t we get along”? It is interesting to see how the animal kingdom interacts with one another. I have also included a few photos of earlier misdeeds by Squirrels when we lived in Marina Del Rey, CA. Clearly they are very innovative and know how...
read moreOfficial Wiley Update about our back yard kitty
Due to numerous private inquiries here is the Official Wiley Update. Wiley our back yard kitty has settled in quite well. He is eating well as you can see from the pictures. He gets breakfast around seven thirty am, (in case you are wondering no I do not serve breakfast, that is Diane’s routine). She gets woken up by the three indoor kitties around 6am. Wiley sleeps until the sun rises, she does not hear Wiley yelling, demanding his breakfast. Once all the kitties have been fed than Chachi her dog gets her undivided attention for breakfast. Now on the other hand I handle the dinner routine. Of course it is done in reverse, Wiley starts yelling: “where is my dinner” and this starts the dinner routine. We are at the point where he demands affection. He wants to be petted before, after and during his meals. Now keep in mind in spite of the fact that his back yard is not completely his anymore he still loves us. There are times he has to share with Chachi our dog. They are working things out, when Chachi is in the back yard, then Wiley jumps on the fence and if it looks like it will take more than what he would consider acceptable time then reluctantly he goes to the neighbor’s yard. Somehow he always manages to forgive us for disrupting his routine and returns for dinner. Thanks to being an Internet Celebrity, Wiley has many far away as well as local friends who have been sending him toys. Those of you who sent Wiley toys, he wanted to thank you personally and let you know he truly loves playing with them. If you do not believe me check out these pictures. Well now that you had the latest update, Chachi is calling me that it is time to disrupt Wiley’s back yard routine. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com. I am a pet friendly realtor and I contribute a portion of my commissions to local animal rescue organizations. ...
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