The Malibu Real Estate Blog

If you need a $30 piece of plywood in Malibu, you are going to have to travel to Santa Monica or The Valley. If you need  a pair of  Distressed Leather Reva Ballerina Flats for $195, then you are in luck because the new shopping center at the corner of Cross Creek and PCH will have them at Tory Burch. 

Starting in the beginning of March, Malibu will have a new destination shopping center with multiple high-end tenants. Currently signed up (but subject to change) are Intermix, James Perse flagship, Maxfield, Tory Burch, Theory, Alice + Olivia, J Crew at the beach, Kitson Men’s, Planet Blue Kids, Ever, Crumbs Bake Shop, two restaurants, an ice cream/yogurt store, second level locals, and other retail stores. If that’s not enough to wear out the magnetic stripe on your credit crisis card then you always  can head to the other retailers that are changing the look of Malibu like Planet Blue, James Perse, Madison, Ralph Lauren, RRL, Ron Herman, Chrome Hearts, L’Occitane, Henry Beguelin, Shabby Chic, Juicy Couture, John Varvatos, Ernest Sewn, Seven for all mankind, M Frederic, and Sigerson Morris.

All that shopping will likely create an appetite so rest assured you’ll survive the ride home by fueling up on  some high-digit calories from restaurants such as Nobu, Taverna Tony, Tra Di  Noi, Marmalade, John’s Garden, Howdy’s Traqueria, Coffee Bean, Starbucks, and Malibu Kitchen & Gourmet Country.

Retail leases are running between $18-$23 per square foot  so don’t expect to find too many half-price sales like the ones I saw last night at the Third Street Promenade. Given the current economic conditions, it will be interesting to see which retailers can afford to spend $20k-$40k per month just to be in Malibu. I’m still convinced some of the retailers run these Malibu outposts as loss leaders because it might be cheaper than magazine adds and there is a likely chance the paparazzi will snap a pic of a celebrity in their store. Can you put a price tag on a picture……How much do you think the PR is worth when a picture of someone famous is  caught walking around with a bag full of goodies from Ralph Lauren and get’s 100,000 hits on X17?

It just might be worth the rent.

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It appears someone’s spec project has hit the skids in the hills of Malibu. What’s unusual about this one is that it’s a large, nice, ocean view project in a neighborhood of homes in the $4-$7 million dollar range. The partially framed project came on the market last month at $3,950,000 and got a whopper of a price slash this week to $2,900,000 with an MLS description saying “will consider all serious offers.”  

I personally like the price cut (that’s one motivated seller!) and it may very well be worth a look if you’d like to avoid most of the headaches involved with building a house in Malibu. Maybe one of the execs over at Toll Brothers needs something to do!
Call for a showing 310 699 8428 .
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Here is the MLS description.

EXCELLENT PROJECT, PARTIALLY FRAMED WITH STEEL BEAMS. 6000+ SQ. FT. PLANS FOR A SLEEK MODERN RESIDENCE WITH/AN INFINITY POOL. SWEEPING OCEAN, QUEENS NECKLACE AND LITTLE DUME VIEWS. THE DESIGN CAN BE WARMED UP TO SUIT THE BUYER’S PERSONAL STYLE. GREAT OPPURTUNITY FOR A DEVELOPER OR SOMEONE LOOKING TO FINISH A CUSTOM HOME. WILL CONSIDER ALL SERIOUS OFFERS.

Listed with  Anthony Barsocchini/ WEA

Another record asking price home has hit the Malibu market this week on Point Dume. The original condition, super-sized ranch house compound sits on little over an acre above a private beach and has endless views of the Santa Monica bay.

From the MLS below.
LIMITLESS COASTLINE VISTAS SEEM THE EXCLUSIVE POSSESSION OF THIS BREATHTAKING 1.1+/- ACRE BLUFF ESTATE CONSIDERED THE RAREST JEWEL IN THE COVETED CROWN OF MALIBU’S PRESTIGIOUS PT. DUME ENCLAVE, COMMANDING 220° VIEWS OF BUCOLIC PARADISE CODE.A CELEBRITY-STUDDED ENVIRONMENT OFFERING TOTAL PRIVACY, EXPANSIVE TERRACES AND POETIC GARDENS, FULL-SIZE TENNIS COURT, AND A UNIQUE ARCHITECTURAL RESIDENCE, QUIETLY ENSURES A CAPTIVATING AND TREASURED LIFESTYLE.DEEDED BEACH ACCESS BY PRIVATE, KEY CODED TRAIL.

Listed with Chris Cortazzo/Coldwell Banker

My favorite new tool is from a company called Whammobile.They offer text messaging services for real estate agents. You know the plexi-glass box on the for sale sign that is always empty? Well, they’ve replaced it with an option that doesn’t let it’s contents blow away or requires a driver to get out of their car. They give you a sign rider with a sms text number. The prospective home buyer pulls up to the front, sees the sign, pushes a few buttons on their PDA or cell, and gets all the information about the property sent instantly to their phone! The price, sq.ft, website, and your contact info. Best of all you capture their cell phone number! That means you can call them up and see how you can be of service to them! Without the sign the phone call might have gone to a floor agent that can’t “sell” the house because they haven’t even seen it!
Best case scenario…….you make an appointment for a showing. Worst case scenario (which is really good)…. is they say it’s not in their price range…..BUT WAIT…..you are now the agent on the phone with them that can offer to show or email listings that are! It’s all about using technology to get to the client first!

Click Here to use it at your listing. At minimum bookmark it because texting is the future and you’ll be using it soon when a home seller says to you…”What are you going to do differently to get my house sold?”

WHAMmobile

Try it now!

Long version for first timers to Text Messaging.

Dial 555999 on your phone but don’t push the normal call button. Find the option to send SMS TEXT and push it. You should now have a screen that let’s you write something. Write Realtor1 and then send or maybe dial. You should get 2 messages back instantly about a sample property.

Short version for people with sore thumbs (pro SMS’rs)

Text Realtor1 to 555999

Watch this video to better understand it. Skip to 1:30 to get the quick gist of it.

I decided to sign up for twitter today to see if I like using it as a real estate tool.  The plan is to post instant news updates the second I hear about it. Every Monday my brokerage has it’s office meetings and lot’s of valuable information comes out of it. We discuss what the best deals on the market are, what amazing new listings are on the market, and what houses can be had at considerable discount. The Twitter app will allow me to post it to this blog and subscribers the the second it happens! I’m also going to do several live twitter posts as I roam from house to house on Thursday’s Caravan. 

I should have the plug-in installed later today so please check it out this week and let me know what you think!

Update! 9:30 pm….. I installed the Twitter app and can now post to the plugin on the right directly from my Blackberry! Check out the blog every Thursday while I post updates about homes seen on caravan and what I consider good buys in Malibu.

Every day I take a look at what key words the public is sticking in to the search engines and how they arrive at my site. Many of you are typing in the above keywords along with “Malibu” hoping to find some info. I can make it much simpler for you!
First you should subscribe to this blog (see below for details on how). Where else are you going to learn about agents posing in Playgirl or houses with 12 price reductions? Second, if you send me an email or call me, I give you the low down on where the deals are at. If you email just send a request with what you are interested in and I’ll get it to you.

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Looks like another real estate brokerage is going to attempt to set up shop in Malibu. Engel and Volkers started in Germany and quickly spread throughout Europe before heading to the states. The PR release this morning describes them as a  ”a high-class property shop” and their first office was planted in Beverly Hills this year. 15 more shops are planned to open by the end of 2009 including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Malibu, San Diego, Newport Beach and Santa Barbara.

Good Luck!

Some of the challenges they are going to face include securing a reasonably priced lease ($21 sq.ft.), and competing with offices, like Prudential Malibu Realty, that are locally owned and operated.

The image on their website showing the Beverly Hills Office is very interesting in that it looks like it could be a Chanel or Prada store if it weren’t for the window display full of home flyers. It will be interesting to see if an “expensive looking boutique” brokerage can compete in Malibu’s  competitive real estate marketplace and with turbulent market conditions.

The press release can be found here.

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A few weeks ago my wife and I headed down to region in Nayarit, Mexico called Punta De Mita to photograph two houses for a real estate agent who needed new images and websites built so he could market them for sale and lease. We had never been South of Cabo so getting down to the mainland was exciting as we heard it wasn’t anything like the dry deserts on the Baja Peninsula. We flew into Puerto Vallarta and took an easy 30 minute ride up the coast towards Punta De Mita. Note-If you are hungry make sure you stop at Taco De Marlin for the most incredible smoked marlin burritos in the world.

We stayed at an incredible home which had a surf break directly below the infinity edge pool, and  was surrounded by lush tropical jungle. Both homes are located in guard gated developments where

multimillion dollar homes sit directly above the beach, a bit like Point Dume in Malibu but with each home having direct beach access. This area is very well known for the Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort which was located just a few miles north of us and the well known town of Sayulita was an easy 20 minute drive.  The first home can be viewed here www.lacasaaguasvivas.com and the second one here www.lacasarinconpacific.com . Both are available for sale or lease and you can call me for any information about staying at either of these great homes.  A second website for Rincon Pacific can be seen here with larger photos Rincon Pacific

Rincon Pacifc

Prices have come down in the condo market in Malibu, especially at the Malibu Gardens Complex. With too many units on the market and nothing really selling prices are finally coming back down to earth. For under $400k you can now get a condo at the Malibu Gardens complex near Kanan and PCH. You’ll get two bedrooms with 1056 sq.ft and can walk to Zuma Beach in 15 minutes! At these prices it might even make sense for a parent to make a purchase if their kids will be attending Pepperdine and can save on 4 years of rent. For $499,000 in the same complex you can purchase a 3 bedroom remodeled unit with ocean views!

Malibu Gardens Condo

Listed with Eytan Levin

3 Bedroom Condo View

Listed with Terry Lucoff

5941 Kanan Dume Road will be open today. If you’ve ever wanted an amazing Tuscan style home with ocean views, and a vineyard, then stop by the open house today.

www.MalibuWineVilla.com