Question and Answer (for The Neighbors of Playa Vista, February 2024

I have been inspired by other expert contributors and thought having a question and answer session would be the sincerest form of flattery and a fun way for people to get to know a little more about me and my real estate business. I have received some good questions recently …

Kaplan Family Joins 21st Century with Smart Home Upgrades

While I have often been early to leverage technologies to help grow my business, I have not been what you would call an early adopter in my personal life. I generally figure “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. This mindset began in my childhood as my parents refused to …

If The FED Tells You Something, You Should Believe It

  The most notable change over the past two years in the economy, which has dramatically shifted the real estate market, has been the rapid rise in interest rates. Elevated inflation, which was the result of massive stimulus and supply chain disruption during the pandemic, was the catalyst for the …

2023 – A Year of Learning

The time to reflect on 2023 is upon us. The year didn’t really give us too much to work with. Rain dominated the first half and interest rates didn’t make for a great year in real estate. In terms of world affairs, wars, gas prices, the health of the planet, …

Playa Vista Condo Buyers Should Prepare for the Next Buying Opportunity

One of the most common questions a real estate agent gets is “is now a good time to buy?”. This is a tough question to respond to, as the answer is most often based on the potential buyer’s personal circumstances. In terms of pricing, historically speaking, now is a better …

Late Summer Real Estate Market Update

It’s hard to believe we’re two thirds of the way through summer and kids are already back to school! As of this writing, the Playa Vista market has been sleepy over the past three months ending August 16th with 28 total sales vs. 44 in the same three months last …

What Does the Debt Downgrade Mean for the Economy and Real Estate?

Yesterday, the credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, cut their rating on United States long-term debt from AAA (the highest rating) to AA+. This implies that the United States now has a slightly higher risk of default on issued long-term debt than in the past and a higher risk of default …

Cooler CPI Report Signals the End of “Good News is Bad News”

Today’s CPI report for March 2023 showed a .1% increase in prices from February, a considerably slowed pace of inflation. This was a reduction to a 5.0% increase year over year, which is down from a high of 9.1% last summer, but still well above the FED’s target of 2%. …

Changes California Can Make to Increase Housing Inventory

Since the pandemic began three years ago, our market and real estate markets nationwide have experienced unprecedentedly low levels of for sale and for rent inventory. Even with much-reduced demand due to interest rates doubling in less than a year, supply in most areas remains well below pre-pandemic levels. The …

A Couple of Bank Failures and a Near Miss

Wow! What a week! After I laid out the case last week for higher or lower interest rates ahead of upcoming scheduled data, little did I know that this would become irrelevant quickly. One day after my post, in a rapid turn of events, fearing imminent illiquidity, Silicon Valley Bank …

Older Posts »

Compare