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Snakeskins🐍-TBG Update 10/24

I’m super excited for our two new listings!  We’re showing both houses today from 2-5!

160 N Vista is a 4000 square foot spacious non-contributing house in the Miracle Mile HPOZ.  Vista is quiet because there are no traffic lights at Beverly or Third and there’s no Second Street on Vista so cars don’t go down that street.  The house has nice curb appeal and a true center hallway.  The floor plan is easy and everything is in just the right spot.  At the front of the house is the living room (with a fireplace) on one side and the dining room on the other.  Behind the dining room is butler’s pantry and then a large kitchen with center island and so much countertop and storage space.  Next to the kitchen is a huge family room with floor to ceiling glass doors that open to the quiet private yard.  There’s a bedroom suite downstairs and a breakfast room off the kitchen.  Upstairs is 4 beds + an office!  The master facing the backyard is spacious with a sitting area, private porch, dressing area, walk-in closet, and large en-suite bath with a Mr. Steam shower and separate tub!  In the whole Miracle Mile HPOZ pocket, which is Formosa, Alta Vista, Poinsettia, Fuller, Martel, Vista, Gardner from Beverly to Third, I think there are fewer than 10 houses that are 4000 square feet or larger.  With the HPOZ and anti mansionization laws it’s hard to build a house this size from the ground up.  An offering like this one doesn’t come up often.

729 S Orange is a single story brick exterior English Tudor in pristine condition.  The house is bathed in sunshine; in every room there are deep windows that let so much light in. It has a manicured lawn and a large brick front patio with a fountain.  There’s a formal foyer that opens to a grand living room with a high barrel ceiling and a Bachelder fireplace.  The kitchen is remodeled and has 3 sinks, 2 ovens, a built-in microwave, and so much countertop and storage space.  There are 3 beds and 1 bath downstairs and 1 bed and 1 bath upstairs.  The backyard has grass, and hardscape with a pergola, and there’s both driveway and garage parking.  The house is a great combination of Old World character and charm and modern amenities and upgrades.

At listing appointments this week every seller wondered if now is a good time to sell or better to wait for summer. The only subset of buyer/seller who would predictably want to buy/sell during the summer is families with kids in school who want to move their kids to a different school when they move, and then it makes sense to move between the end of one school year and the start of another. We don’t find that buyers are predominantly families with children looking to move in summer when school is out for the year.  We see buyers who are single, engaged, empty nesting, partners.  We see people with kids staying in the same school moving locally to a bigger house over winter holiday break.  Sellers are wise to decide if their house is actually right for a buyer who falls into the category of moving their kids to a new school and therefore targeting a summer move, and if it’s worth waiting to sell until that particular subset of buyers would be looking to buy.  Even if a seller decides to appeal to that specific buyer, if the house might need some work done before move-in, and move-in happens during the summer, it might be smart to sell before the target move-in date to allow for prep time too.  Tracking our sales in particular and sales across the MLS in our area in general, we don’t find that summer is the busiest time of year when most houses get sold.  Because we have temperate climate in Southern California and because so many homebuyers do not run their house buying by school calendars, most sellers do not wait for summer to sell their homes. We actually find that we sell the most houses about now.

On my mind this week is teaching and growing.

Our weather has been spectacular and I’m enjoying playing tennis early in the morning.  I started out with a coach who kept admonishing me to play better but she couldn’t articulate or break down for me what to do to improve my game.  During Covid I switched teachers and with a coach who is better able to teach me, I’m slowly and steadily making progress. I’m inspired by my tennis experience to work on myself to be a better teacher who is a catalyst for progress to my agents. 

I’m proud of our young agent, Berel, who joined our office one year ago.  Berel shows up to the office every morning with a bright-eyed eagerness to do good work.  He puts in the hours, is open both to opportunity for business and for growth, and he’s a true team player with the admin staff and the agents in the office.  I’m so proud that by year’s end he will double his production from last year.  It’s awesome to see good people succeed and it’s an honor to be a part of the growth.

My baby started high school.  Somehow, as with each of my kids, the transition from elementary school to high school feels like a leap toward adulthood and my baby all of a sudden feels so grown up.  It’s cool to see her recalibrating and leveling up to manage the new high school workload and the social calendar.  She doesn’t feel like my baby so much any more…

My older daughter is eagerly working at her first job as a seventh grade Jewish studies school teacher.  She’s also putting in very long hours and it’s sweet to see her smile as she grades her students’ papers and she sees success as she marks 50/50 right.  It made her day (and mine!) when a young student bought her a cupcake from the bake sale with a note about how much she and her class enjoys having her as their teacher.

I have a child navigating the awesome work and very new specialness of a fresh marriage.  And a child working to figure out how to best take care of her new baby.  It’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many fresh-eyed people in new stages pushing through the challenging parts to expand their breadth and to grow through the change!

A wise coach once told me that snakes are unique among wildlife for many reasons, and one of those reasons is their ability to shed their skin in its entirety. Snakes shed their skin because it doesn’t fit anymore. When snakes grow, their skin does not, so they outgrow it. When this happens, they shed their outer layer of skin.  And then they develop new skin until they grow again and they leave that skin behind.

It’s energizing to be surrounded by people who are pushing themselves and growing.  And that’s my favorite lesson and message to myself and everyone around me too.  Always be climbing.

Have an awesome weekend!

Xoxoxoo,

Sheri

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