I’m so excited for the first open house at our new listing at 244 N Rossmore from 1:00-4:00 today! The property is almost half an acre; the lot is 21,767 sq ft! The house is 6437 sq ft and it includes 6 beds + 6 baths, a remodeled kitchen that opens to the family room, 3 handsome marble fireplaces in the living + family + primary, and an incredible state-of-the-art new plush movie theater with 3 rows of tiered seating! The yard has mature swaying palm trees, a swimmer’s pool + spa, and a newly surfaced tennis court! The house wraps around the corner of Rossmore & Beverly and it’s built so that almost every room looks out to and/or has balconies to the yard with pool + tennis court! It is entirely gated + secure, and there are 3 garages + uncovered off street parking for 5 more cars. The house is filled with sunshine and it’s in move-in ready condition! It’s a short stroll to Larchmont Village and diagonally across the street from The Wilshire Country Club (Golf Course). This estate is built for the owner primed to live his/her best life in Hancock Park, just like the awesome owner who lives there right now!
I’m over-the-moon excited that 409 N June closed this week for just under 6M! We loved working with Carrie Berkman Lewis as cooperating agent on the sale! It was so fun to come home last night to the most gigantic all-around arrangement of exquisite artsy flowers from Larchmont Village Florist + a huge shopping bag stuffed with tissue paper and tequila, brandy, vodka and all the mixed drinks toppings – every item certified kosher – with a mushy note from Emily, the seller. I feel loved!!!! Emily and I signed a listing agreement, committing to work together, in May of 2019. The house went on the market this year July 8, 2022. We had higher offers than the sales price right when the house was listed + multiple offers by the time it sold; fascinating how psychology and timing (and interest rates + market conditions!) play into each sale! I’m excited for the new owner to celebrate the holidays in his new home!
We sold the most beautiful duplex last week at 339-341 N Orange. The building is over 5000 square feet and it has 3 beds + 3 baths both upstairs and down. My favorite duplexes have beautiful curb appeal, ornate character molding + millwork + arches throughout, very high ceilings with beams in the living rooms, large scale well proportioned rooms, and the perfect floor plan. This duplex definitely fit into my favorites category, and so did the people – both buyers and seller. The buyers are repeat clients and longtime family friends. The seller lived at the property for over 30 years and she used to sell life insurance before she retired. It was so caring and sweet the way Kirsten, the seller, arranged for Lucy, our escrow manager, a term life insurance policy before the close of escrow, to reciprocate and take care of Lucy the way Lucy took care of her throughout her transaction.
There’s such limited inventory for sale because sellers are sitting tight and holding on to their properties! There are buyers wanting to buy, especially since interest rates fell for the last 3 weeks! This week my lender at Citi wrote to me that the 30 yr fixed is at 5.125%, 10 year ARM is at 4.875% and then there are relationship discounts up to .5% lower than each rate. Sellers are afraid to put their houses on the market because of the shift, but there’s so little competition because so few sellers are selling right now and so houses that are positioned correctly are selling. There is some opportunity to sell now given the limited supply and buyer demand at this moment.
My mom passed away 10 years ago on 12/12/12 and the fifth night of Chanukah. I especially missed my mom one night this week and so I decided to bake Hungarian Dobos Torta, my Mom’s signature dessert. I don’t remember the last time I made the cake, but I spent my childhood watching my mom and it was fascinating how every step of the process was second nature ingrained in my brain from the time I was a young child, including the recipe. Dobos Torte is 15 paper thin layers of vanilla cake with a paper thin spread of Swiss chocolate cream in between each layer. The top layer is a hard brittle sugar, like a sheet of glass, cut into slices right before the sugar sets and gets too hard to evenly slice. The secret is mostly in the technique and I felt incredibly connected to my mom as I did each step of the 2.5 hour process exactly the way my mom did it. When we love people fiercely it’s so hard to miss them fiercely when they’re gone. Then again, when we love people so fiercely, in some ways they’re never really gone. It was definitely the connection to my mom that made the cake come out shockingly perfect, just the way my mom liked everything she touched. Mom’s Dobos Torta is all ready (in the freezer) for when Baby Nechama (named after my mom) arrives for the holiday next week!
Wishing everyone a magical holiday season and so much fun preparing for all the festivities!
Xoxoxo,
Sheri
