8249 Lookout Mountain Avenue – Old Hollywood Glamour in the Famous Hollywood Hills

Romantic & beautifully renovated Art Deco Spanish exudes the dramatic ambiance of old Hollywood Glamour while offering all the conveniences of modern living. Set off the street and gated, this property provides privacy and ample parking for 5 cars. The attention to detail throughout embraces a true respect for this gracious home’s original architecture. Grand public rooms, perfect for entertaining, are accented by Mahogany stained windows & doors, towering 2 story vaulted wood paneled cathedral ceilings in the living room with marble heath wood burning fireplace & mezzanine, exquisite stained glass, classic Art Deco light fixtures & new oak floors. Gourmet Chef’s kitchen boasts limestone counters, imported Italian subway tile & top of line stainless steel appliances complete with wine refrigerator. Master suite features a sitting area, Carrera marble & Waterworks fixtures in the master bath with walk-in rain shower and free standing cast iron soaking tub. Step back into time and experience the elegance of this special storybook home.

7960 Fareholm Drive, Sunset Strip, CA

The Josef Kun house is one of the few Neutra properties in Los Angeles featuring a spectacular city and ocean view. With walls of glass, this iconic historical residence has been carefully restored with attention to detail and quality.  Features include a rooftop deck at the entry foyer, formal living and dining rooms with large wrap around deck. Lower level includes two elegant guest suites, two bathrooms and a maid’s quarters with a separate side entrance.  Professionally terraced yard with exotic trees and tranquil gardens incorporate the best of Southern California living.

Richard Neutra was born in Vienna in 1892. He graduated in 1917 from the Technische Hochschule, Vienna, where he had been taught by Adolf Loos, and was influenced by Otto Wagner. He worked for Erich Mendelsohn in 1921-22 and in 1923 emigrated to the U.S. where he worked on several projects with Rudolf N. Schindler before establishing his own practice. He adamantly believed that modern architecture must act as a social force in the betterment of mankind.

Neutra created a modern regionalism for Southern California which combined a light metal frame with a stucco finish to create a light effortless appearance. He specialized in extending architectural space into a carefully arranged landscape. The dramatic images of flat-surfaced, industrialized residential buildings contrasted against nature were popularized by the photography of Julius Shulman, one of the most recognized architectural photographers in history.

Shulman’s relationship with architect Richard Neutra was the most important of his professional life. His snapshots of Neutra’s in-progress Kun House so impressed the architect that he engaged the young novice to record more of his projects. By introducing Shulman to Soriano, Gregory, Ain, Rudolph Schindler and other based modernists, Neutra effectively handed Shulman a career.

Do You Have to Lower Selling Standards?

If you’re selling a home in the Hollywood Hills, you have to think about lowering your asking price – or at least entertaining the idea.  This, of course, depends on your situation.  If you can afford to wait a year or more, then keeping a home listed should not be a problem.  However, this isn’t the case for most home sellers, so you need the ability to adapt to the market.

People hear about homes staying on the market for a year or more and become worried.  What you have to realize is that there are homes that sell in six months or less. So while the market is indeed  difficult, it is not insurmountable.  Certainly lowering your price will bring in more takers, as home buyers are assuming that sellers are lowering prices right now.  Plainly, buyers are in the driver’s seat.

Because of this your real estate agent is supremely important.  A real estate agent needs to be especially savvy in this market to get the best possible price for a home.  This means having access to buyers who will be able to afford a higher asking price.  It also means an agent that doesn’t whither during the bargaining process and show signs of desperation, no matter how desperate a homeowner might be to sell.

But you need to meet the agent halfway and realize that lowering an asking price is common in this climate.  Even if a home buyer can afford the higher asking price, they are entering the market under the assumption that these are poor market conditions for sellers.  Additionally, there are fewer buyers overall, whether they can afford it or not.  So if you’re most interested in selling a home quickly, flexibility with a home price is key.

About Susan Andrews:

Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.

Cutting Prices in a Down Market

Right now is either a great time to buy a home or a terrible time, depending on who you are.  It’s great for home buyers because prices are dropping.  It’s not a great time for sellers because they have to lower prices to meet a lowering demand.  For example, fashion designer, Yael Aflalo, recently lowered the asking price for her Hollywood Hills home by over a million dollars. The old Hollywood estate, which formerly belonged to Hollywood legend John Barrymore, has been reduced from $4.95 million to $3.95 million since the home was first listed.

You would think that the low prices would bring in new buyers, but people are being continually drummed with the idea that the housing market is disastrous, so buyers are understandably timid.  Of course, worry about the market isn’t the only problem, as people are facing tough economic times and may not be able to afford a home in the Hollywood Hills, even with the lower asking price.  Though interest rates are low, the down payment may have to be higher as a form of insurance against default not covered by interest.

However, if you’re in reasonable financial shape there’s no reason to feel timidity about the market.  Nor should you think that prices are going to drop and drop forever.  The Southern California market was hit harder and faster than other parts of the country.  So when you hear about housing markets going through difficulty in other parts of the country, it’s that they haven’t yet hit California levels.  But because California dropped first, it will also be the first to ascend – and there are signs that the housing crisis is abating in Southern California, as sales trickle upward.

In short, don’t be afraid of market conditions in other parts of the country and don’t expect prices to drop indefinitely.  If you are interested in buying a Hollywood Hills home, now is actually a very good time.

About Susan Andrews:

Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.

Slash Sues His Hollywood Hills Real Estate Agent

We’ve tried to convey here that Hollywood Hills real estate is not just for partiers and the glitterati.  It’s comprised of quiet neighborhoods, with school systems, parks, and everything else you’d expect from a family-centered neighborhood.

And then comes a story that flies in the face of that depiction – but it has to be mentioned because it’s amusing story coming out of the Hollywood Hills real estate community, even if it’s not totally amusing to the two parties involved.  Slash, venerable guitarist for Guns and Roses, is suing his Sotheby’s real estate agent because the house was sold it was not “party worthy.”  The lawsuit seems like something drummed up by The Onion, but it’s real.

Slash’s main complaint is that the house is “smaller than advertised” with parking restrictions – two thing which make the home antithetical to all-night partying.  We’re pretty sure his neighbors are happy with this development.  We don’t know the full terms of the initial deal, and if false advertising was involved.  The chances are this is the case because most conclude that Slash is going to win the case.  But it does suggest that he saw the house sight-unseen.  Not knowing about parking restrictions is one thing, but not know the size of the house is quite another.

I don’t want to give the impression that real estate agents are not to be trusted, but it does show that home buyers need to take a good, long tour of the house before making a purchase and make sure of any possible zoning restrictions.  It also shows that you need to have a good working relationship with your agent, and be able to trust the agent implicitly.  What happened here is rare – it appears that Slash let the agent do everything and perhaps the agent took advantage of the guitarist being less-than-involved in the process.  So most home buyers will not be this hands-off.  But you should be as comfortable as possible with your agent and check homes thoroughly before signing on the dotted line.

About Susan Andrews:

Susan Andrews is a top producing real estate agent at prestigious Beverly Hills real estate firm, Hilton & Hyland. She specializes in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood and Los Feliz real estate. Susan can be contacted at 323.829.8811 or by e-mail regarding her properties.

« Previous Page