Jose Martinez RE

Your Friendly Neighborhood Realtor

Jose Martinez RE - Your Friendly Neighborhood Realtor

Monthly Archives: September 2011

Conversation Pieces

Welcome back to Conversation Pieces!  This week brand new homes and at great piece from Agentgenius.com.

 

How do you feel about fountains?  I think it comes down to one word. Placement, or to put it in Real Estate terms, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!  Fountains can add ambiance to a space, making it calming, open, sophisticated.  At the same time when placed at the entrance of home it can give a grand sensation, you notice it in front of old world castle and modern high end hotels.  The rest of the home followed suit with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a guest house.  Kept of very nicely I still feel its a little high at nearly $1.2 Million but still a great house.

 

 

 

 

Here’s a picture of the guest house and pool in the back.  This  guest house offers a  great rental opportunity, or just a nice place for your family and friends to stay.

 

Moving on lets take a look at this home over in the Duarte Mesa (located in the hills above Duarte).  This area is a hot bed of high end homes with amazing views.  Lets take a look at one of those views now.

Views sell homes, thats a fact.  I have had clients (as have most Realtors) who only want to see homes with views.  They are so important that its one of the search filters on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).  Now I know this picture dosent do the view justice (it was very foggy that day) but you can get a sense of the view from here.   At $650,000 this is a pretty good deal but the house is in need of some updating.  Some of you may wonder what it means when people say a house is dated.  Let me give you an example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now there is nothing wrong with these rooms, the styling just comes off as a little old fashioned.  This is what we mean when we say a home is dated.  Wallpaper and Shag carpeting were popular in the (Add date here) but are now, well, Dated.  A little updating and you could have a modern home with a great view and some lovely neighbors.

 

 

 

 

Deer love shade.

Before I leave you guys I wanted to mention this blog post I came across.  As it turns out the American Dream of owning a house is not dead!  We get hit with a lot of doom and glom when we watch the news but remember this, human beings are highly adaptable, and rather than give up on the idea of owning a home people have just shifted the idea of what home is.  Have a great week!

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood REALTOR

Jose Martinez

 

 

Conversation Pieces

So we have come to another week and I have decided to switch up the format of these caravan blogs.  I really didn’t like the cold nature of the old ones, too many numbers and not enough conversation.  My plan from this point on is to make this more about the things that make a home interesting.  You will still get prices and cities but it wont look like a spread sheet.  This is going to be more about what makes a home interesting.  Now just bare in mind that these are the homes that are on caravan in the Arcadia Association of Realtors weekly meeting so I cant take pictures of everything.  This is just a little taste of what we see when we are in the field, if you want more information about a home or have questions about something you see, you can always click the contact me button at the top.

Pools are a big Part of Southern California living, and like houses they come in all shapes and sizes.  This northern Monrovia home featured a pool with stone affects all around and a waterfall for added atmosphere.  The home was in a great location and had an excellent floor plan and a giant walkin closet.  Priced right at $799,000 considering everything you got.

 

 

 

 

Now if you are looking for something a little bigger this Sierra Madre home had a hot tub/pool that was HUGE!  Located East of Santa Anita this $6.6 Million dollar home featured a library, 2 theaters (one was used as a game room) and tennis courts. I’ll be honest, even with all these things, I feel this house is overpriced but still a great home for someone looking for a palatial estate.  Remember there is always room for negotiation.

 

 

 

Now lets say you are in the market for something a little more on the modest side.  Sometimes the best part of a house is its potential.  This Duarte home is located south of Duarte road and is in need of some TLC.  This hot tub looks like it could be something you would make wine in, but if the right buyer gets a hold of it this could come out great.  Remember there are all types of buyers out there.  I can’t tell you how many calls we get from people looking for homes they can fix up.  These are either investors or people looking to make a home truly theres. At around $200,000 investors and home buyers alike have a great opportunity with some interesting conversation pieces.

 

So lets step away from the pool area and head inside.  Southern California is also known for some of its more eccentric personalities.  Perhaps you or someone you know likes new age living.

 

This is a Japanese style meditation room, complete with sliding doors and raised floor.  Perfect for when you want to come home and get away from it all and reflect within.  Located in the hills above Arcadia this house also featured a huge library and an elevator.  On top of that you have your back to the foothills and the front has a great peaceful view.  Check out the picture below to see the view.  For $2.6 Million this house is kind of hard to price.  Its unique and as much as I love this room I’m not sure if everyone else will.  What do you think?

 

 

Here is the view from the bedroom.

I think I might see a deer.

 

 

 

 

 

So what did you guys think of some of these houes?  Love it? Hate it?  Please leave your comments below.  Of course if you are interested in seeing any of these homes in person just click the Contact Me button at the top of the page.  I leave you guys this week with the first Motorized Mail box I have ever seen.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood REALTOR.

Jose Martinez

Caravan 8/31/2011

Alright it’s time yet again, for a new Caravan blog.  Let’s begin with my Apologies for the lack of updates last week.  I am currently brain storming and trying to come up with new ways to present this information so as not to seem formulaic and boring, which brings me to today’s blog post.  In the past several weeks I have been giving you Caravan blogs that are basically just numbers and cities.  It got a point across but was’nt all that interesting.  So this week let’s try something new.  I am going to pick 3 houses that were on Caravan and give a short explanation on them.  So without further adieu here are 3 homes that were on caravan this week with the Arcadia Association of REALTORS.

822 N Olive in Alhambra 

This 3 Bedroom Bungalow is right off Atlantic Blvd.  It’s a great little craftsmen style home below Huntington Blvd.  I don’t see very many homes from Alhambra on our Arcadia Caravan so this one kinda stuck out for me.  I love Craftsmen style homes and this one has character is spades.  Check out the link above to get some info or just drop me a line.  Currently Listed at $525,000.

886 Fallen Leaf Road in Arcadia

Coming in on the high end for this weeks caravan, Fallen Leaf is a giant property with the home coming in at over 5,000 square feet and the lot itself coming in at over 34,000 square feet!  Complete with Pool and Tennis Courts, this 4 Bedroom house is just waiting for the right buyer.  Located in North Arcadia this home is currently listed at $2,498,000.

53 North Oak Ave #6 in Pasadena 

Ending this weeks Caravan with a Condo, 53 North Oak is a 3 Bedroom 3 Bath condo with style.  Looking like something you would see in an episode of Entourage, this  1,600 square foot home is perfect for working professionals who want to live the high life.  With a rooftop terrace and Tuscan garden out front it would be hard to not love this place.

 

There you have it.  If you would like a complete run down of this weeks caravan, email at Jose@JoseMartinezRE.com or click the Contact Me button at the top of the page.

Ohh and one last thing, let me know how you like the new format.  Your input is always welcome!!!

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood REALTOR

Jose Martinez