The weather has been more humid than normal for July in the Desert, and it has been extremely uncomfortable.

In mid-July, we had a freak thunderstorm that hit the valley. The thunder was loud & ominous and there were a few instances of lightning. The next morning, over 1″ of rain fell in one hour on Palm Springs, which caused some major flooding in the city.

The following week, there was a 5.4 earthquake that hit the Chino Hills area of Southern California, and the shaking was felt in Palm Springs.

And top of this is the constant buzzing of the locust, or cicadas, that have inundated the town. With all of these occurrences happening, one would think that the “plagues of Egypt” have fallen upon us here in Palm Springs.

Even if the other “plagues” did show up here, it wouldn’t have stopped the real estate market during the month of July.

Here’s a breakdown on the Real Estate activity during month of July:

* 98 homes & condos sold, with a median price of $402,849
* 180 new listings on the market
* Average days on market was 163 days
* Average % of List Price to Sales Price was 94.7%

The number of pending sales was up once again for the month of July. Pending sale are properties that are currently in escrow, where all of the contractual contingencies have been removed and the sale of these homes are likely to go through. Currently, there are 64 pending sales for the month of July, which is up from the June 2008 total of 40 homes.

According to the Desert Area MLS, there are currently 1255 homes & condos on the market in the city of Palm Springs. Of the 1255 homes available, 194 of them are currently in escrow.

What does all of these statistics mean? It means that there is a 13 month supply of homes available for buyers to purchase in Palm Springs, and prices will continue to adjust as home sellers are realizing they need to aggresively price their homes in order to sell, which is reflected in a higher average percentage of list price to sales price.

In a nutshell, it’s a great time to buy a home in Palm Springs.

See you next month for the August 2008 Palm Springs Real Estate Market Report, and watch out for the locust!!!

Photo courtesy of Flickr

The shaking of the ground & the sound of breaking glass awoke me to my nightmare. Bottles & dishes flying out of the cabinets, water pipes bursting, and furniture that was not secured was toppling over. I thought it was the end of the world. The shaking only lasted less than 10 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.

I tried turning on the lights, but the electricity was not working. I had to adjust my eyes to the darkness, and tried to make my way to the front door. As I walked across the floor, my feet were getting cut from the broken glass. The pain was excruciating, but I made it the open atrium courtyard of my building. My neighbors were gathering in the courtyard, and we did a head count to make sure everyone got out of their homes safely. This was a day I won’t forget.

Why am I reliving the worst day of my life? Yesterday, a 5.4 earthquake hit the Chino Hills area, and the trembling was felt in Palm Springs and throughout Southern California. The San Andreas Fault runs right through the Desert, and is long overdue for a major earthquake. With all the recent news about floods, tornadoes and the deadly earthquake in China a few months, it made me think of how prepared I am when the Big One hits Palm Springs. You would think that after what I had experienced 13 years ago, I would be the most disaster prepared person on the planet. Sadly though, the only thing that I still do every night is to make sure that I have a pair of slippers by my bedside.

Since we all know that we cannot rely on local or federal government agencies to help us in a time of natural disasters, it is up to all of us to help ourselves & our neighbors. Here are some the things you can do to prepare:

Water- Have 1 gallon of water per person to last you 2 weeks
Food- Get plenty of canned tuna, vegetables, baby formula, and anything non-perishable. Make sure you have a 2 week supply per person and a can opener.
First Aid Kit- Have a well-stocked first aid kit, along with any medications you are taking. Also, it might not be a bad idea to get CPR & first aid training. You may have to take care of the injured, and the training could save someone’s life.
Money- Keep a supply of money for purchasing items. The ATM’s will not work, and you have pay for items you may not have. Beware of unscrupulous price gougers.
Meeting Place- Make sure you have a designated meeting place in case you & your family get separated. Cell phones will most likely not work during a disaster.
Tents & Sleeping Bags- Have tents & sleeping bags available in the event that your home is uninhabitable.
Your Car- Have similar items in your car in case you are stranded away from home.

These are just some of things you can do to prepare for any disaster. For more information on disaster preparedness, you can contact the Red Cross or go their website at http://www.redcross.org/

Last summer, I wrote a blog post called “What’s in Your Backyard”. It was a story about how many places in Palm Springs I have not visited since moving here nearly 9 1/2 years ago. My goal for the upcoming year is to visit as many places in Palm Springs, and to write about my experiences.

I’ve been living in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs for nearly 2 years. Every day when I go to work, I drive by the Welwood Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery is named after Dr. Welwood Murray, the man who built the first hotel in Palm Springs, The Palm Springs Hotel, in 1886. The cemetery is about a 2 acre parcel of land, adjacent to the O’Donnell Golf Course, right below the Matzner hillside estate.

As the first cemetery for non-Indian settlers in Palm Springs, this is the final resting place for many Palm Springs pioneers and visionaries. Deeded to the Palm Springs cemetery district by Welwood Murray’s heirs, it is named in his honor. Erksine Murray, son of Elizabeth and George Murray, was the first buried here in 1894.

It was not until today that I decided to take a look who resides here. It’s not that I have a morbid fascination for cemeteries, it is just that I didn’t realize who was buried here and the stories these people could tell. I go down the walkways, looking at the plaques in the ground. It’s a beautiful afternoon, the sun glistens in the clear blue skies above and a slight breeze rustles the palm trees. I was having a peaceful moment of reflection, reminding myself to live each day to the fullest. Here are the plaques that caught my attention:

Welwood Erskine Murray, died in 1894. He was the first person buried in the Welwood Memorial Cemetery.

Albert Frey, one of the most prolific modernist architects of the 20th century, died in 1998. To learn more about his life, click here.

Charles Farrell, film actor of the ’20’s & ’30’s, died in 1990. Mr Farrell also built the Palm Springs Racquet Club, along with fellow actor, Ralph Bellamy. To learn more about his life, click here.

E. Stewart Williams, the architect who built the Frank Sinatra House in 1946, died in 2005. Mr. Williams designed many of the buildings that still stand today in Palm Springs. Click here for more info.

Nellie Coffman and her husband, Dr. Harry Coffman, opened the Desert Inn Sanitorium in 1909. In 1914, Nellie converted the sanitorium in a hotel, much to the dismay of her husband. They soon divorced after this. Nellie Coffman died in 1950. To learn more about Nellie’s life, click here.

Out of all the plaques and tombstones in the cemetery, these are the ones that touched me most. These two people were not famous people, but they were someone’s wife, daughter, sister. These women mattered to someone. I didn’t know who they were, but for that brief moment I was there, they spoke to me:

I was sad when I came across this plaque. It was a stone that said “Mexican Woman”. No name, no information. Who was this woman? When did she die? How old was she? Where did she come from? I hope she didn’t die alone. I cannot fathom that no one knew this woman. This cemetery was not a Potter’s Field. Everybody matters in this world, and people should not be forgotten.

Alvah Hicks died in 1944. She is buried next to her husband. What impressed me about this stone was the saying that was written on it:

“For the breath of life is in the sunlight, and the hand of life is in the wind”

How prophetic, way to go Alvah!!

The next time you are visiting Palm Springs, make a point to visit the Welwood Memorial Cemetery. This small piece of Palm Springs history is worth looking at. To get here, go west on Alejo Rd. from Downtown Palm Springs, head west towards the mountain. You can’t miss it.

But when I meet someone new and they find out that I am a REALTOR, then the barrage of questions comes flooding in. Some of them go like this:

1. “What is the difference between a short sale and a foreclosure?”
2. “Do you think the Palm Springs Real Market has hit the bottom?”
3. “What is happening with Port Lawrence?”
4. “Do you think it’s good time to buy?”

I will usually answer these questions this way:

1. How much time do you have for an explanation?
2. The answer is yes.
3. Check out my blog, Blog of the Desert, and read my article on Port Lawrence.
4. The answer is absolutely!!

The number one question that I get asked by everyone is: “What homes are selling in Palm Springs?”

As you can see on the chart, there have been 292 single family homes sold YTD in the city of Palm Springs, with an average days on market of 109 days.

To answer everyone’s question, “What is selling in Palm Springs?”, here it is: Homes in the $250,000 to under $300,000 have been the top sellers in the real estate market in Palm Springs. In the last 6 months, there have been 42 homes in this price range that have sold, with average time on the market of 93 days. A very close second place has been the $350,000 to under $400,000 price range, in which 39 homes have been sold.

Many of these homes represent the short-sale (pre-foreclosure) and foreclosed homes that have been flooding the real estate market. Savvy buyers have been purchasing these homes at bargain basement prices, and will reap the benefits as long as they keep the home for a minimum of 5 years.

So what do these number mean to the potential Palm Springs home buyers and sellers?

Let’s take another look at the chart. Say you are selling your home in Palm Springs, and it is priced at $649,500. According to the data, homes in the price range of $600,000-$649,999 have an average time on the market of 159 days and 11 homes have sold in the 6 month time frame.

During the same time frame, 16 homes sold in the $549,000-$599,999 price range and were only on the market for an average of 85 days. As a seller, you need to really look at the numbers and price your home according to the current market data or it will just sit on the market.

For you buyers, I have some pearls of wisdom that you need to share with you as well. The chart to the left represents the total condo sales in Palm Springs for the last 6 months. There were a total of 362 condos that have sold, with an average time on the market of 144 days.

The $200,000-$249,999 price range did very well YTD, with a total of 77 condos sold.

Many people think that the days of multiple offers are a thing of the past. This is simply not true. If homes and condos are priced aggressively, the onslaught of multiple offers will occur.

For instance, my client wanted to place an offer on a mid-century modern home that was priced at $285,000. I knew that this home would sell quickly, so I informed my client that they needed to be aggressive with their offer. We made an offer of $295,000, $10k over the asking price, with a closing in 30 days. To our surprise, we were turned down. It turns out the winning offer was $285,000 cash, and a close of escrow in 10 days.

The moral of the story: Homes are selling in Palm Springs, News at 11. For the buyers, now is the time to take advantage of some of the lowest home prices that the Coachella Valley has seen in a very long time. If you wait for “the bottom to hit”, you are already too late. For the Palm Springs home sellers, the numbers don’t lie. Home prices have gone down. If you want your home to sell, you need to price your home aggressively.

Our biggest fundraisers this year have been the Valentine’s Day cake auction and the Easter Basket auction. The money we raise goes to some our favorite charities, which include the Mizell Senior Center & Shoes That Fit. YTD, we have raised nearly $17,000 for our charities.

One of the other chairities that we help raise money for is the Well in the Desert. This wonderful organization helps feed the homeless & less fortunate people of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. Yesterday, the Palm Springs Association of Realtors launched its summer food drive called “Friends Feeding Friends”.

Every week through Labor Day, donations of non-perishable food can be brought to the Mizell Senior Center for distribution to the Well in the Desert.

These can everyday items that you would find in your pantry: beans, canned tuna, soup, canned fruit, cereal, oatmeal, granola bars, flour, etc.

This week, the generosity of the realtors of Palm Springs brought in over 200 items of food and about $179 in cash. The committee will be keeping an inventory of everything that is donated, and we will be matching dollar for dollar & can for can that is collected through the summer.

The food will be picked up by volunteers of the Well on a weekly basis & taken to their distribution center.

The Well in the Desert provides meals to the homeless, veterans of war, families in need, and school children whose lunch programs are eliminated for the summer, and this may be the only meal they get during the day.

If you want to know more about the Well in the Desert, go to their website: Well in the Desert.org

I will keep you informed of our progress throughout the summer. Have a great day!!!

But the highlight of the evening was the auction of Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. I had never been to a live auction before, so watching the live video stream was the next best thing. There were 57 lots (items) that were up for auction, and the Kaufmann House was Lot 42. The opening bid for this architectually significant home started at $9 million. The bidding was fast & furious, but the winning bid for this came in by telephone for $15 million. This is now the most expensive piece of real estate sold in the city of Palm Springs.

Richard Neutra, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed his modern “masterpiece” for Pittsburg department store tycoon, Edgar Kauffman Sr., in 1946. The home was designed as a desert retreat from the harsh winters of the East Coast.

The Kaufmann House is one of top 5 homes in the United States, and now has a new owner. Stay tuned for more info.

Update on this story: The sale of the Kaufmann House did not go through. The winner of the auction did not follow some of the contractual guidelines of the sale.

Every city across America has a neighborhood that everyone says it is the most charming neighborhood they have ever seen. Palm Springs is no different in that respect.

One the most established and sought-after neighborhoods in the city of Palm Springs is Old Las Palmas.

The line from the TV show, “Beverly Hillbillies” comes to mind when I drive through this neighborhood everyday: “Swimming Pools, Movie Stars”

Movie directors and entertainers have been making Old Las Palmas their home since the 1940’s. It is an eclectic mix of the Old Hollywood Estates of yesteryear, to the more modern Mid-Century designs. This was and still is, the place to live.

The Old Las Palmas neighborhood is bordered by Alejo Rd to the north, Stevens Rd. to the south, east of Via Monte Vista, and west of N. Palm Canyon Dr. It is in close proximity to Uptown & Downtown Palm Springs.

The neighborhood was home to such celebrities as Liberace, George Hamilton, Donna Reed, Kirk Douglas, to name a few.

Recently, the office of Scott Lyle Realtors acquired the listing of one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen:

The Elizabeth Taylor Estate- $7.8 Million

Originally built in the 1930’s and now completely renovated, this Spanish Estate features 7 bedrooms, nine and a half baths, impeccable finishes, and over 10,000 square feet of living space.

This magnificent home sits on over one and half acres of lushly landscaped grounds featuring mature palm trees, lavish fountains, a spectacular open-air entertainment pavillion, a breathtaking reflecting pool, and one the very finest pools in Southern California.

The Master Suite has approximately 2000 square feet of luxurious space, the 4 room suite features an original 2-sided fireplace with a Carrera marble hearth, and vaulted ceilings of up to 14′6″.

The Grand Master Bathroom is a sight to behold. A solid honed Carerra marble tub sits majestically under a multi-tiered candelabra chandelier with tear drop crystals.

Exquisite features include an oversized shower with body sprays, rain shower and steam. A crystalline framed fireplace sets the stage for complete and total opulence. The oversized French doors lead to a private patio with a beautiful 9′7″ x 5′ 7″ in-laid tiled spa.

So expansive, yet so private, you will find the property well-suited for grand parties or quiet weekends, formal or family retreats. Whatever you seek in a Palm Springs home, one look and you’ll agree: There is no other home like it.

For more information or to arrange a private showing, contact my broker, Scott Lyle at 760-327-4312. To view more pictures of this stunning home, go to 417WestHermosaPlace.com

Every Wednesday morning, the Palm Springs Association of Realtors has its weekly Board meeting at the Mizell Senior Center at 8am.

I always get to the meeting about 15 minutes early to get a good seat.  When I got there this morning, the meeting room was packed.  There was a TV news crew setting up in the corner, and was wandering what all the hoopla was all about. 

Were were having a special guest speaker?  Who was it?  The Mayor?   The Governator?  My curiosity had piqued.  It turns our speaker was Larry Ward, the Riverside County Tax Assessor.  Now I thinking to myself “Why all the fuss?  Death & Taxes are the only things certain in life.”

I know that sounds a little pessimistic so early in the morning, but I did not have my morning cup of coffee yet.  The topic that Mr. Ward was covering today was on Proposition 8, the amendment clause in California’s Prop. 13 law to reduce property taxes when homes have decreased in value.

Proposition 8, passed in November 1978, amended Proposition 13 to reflect declines in property values. As a result, Revenue and Taxation Code Section 51 requires the County Assessor to annually enroll either a property’s factored Proposition 13 base year value or its Market Value as of January 1 (lien date), taking into account any factors causing a decline in value, whichever is less.

Mr. Ward went on to explain that in Riverside County, 15,000 Notice of Defaults on homes have been issued in the first 3 months of this year and that foreclosures are up 171% over last year.  With property values down and the current state of the economy, the County Assessors office wants to be proactive in order to help homeowners relieve some of their financial burden.

How will this help the homeowners of Palm Springs & rest of California?  The County Assessor is focusing on people who purchased their homes from January 1, 2004 to the present.   This timeframe represents the height of the Real Estate boom and all of the buying frenzy that ensued.  Take a look at the chart to illustrate how Prop. 8 would work.

If you purchased your home for $400,000 in 2004 (Year 1),  Prop. 13  allows for for a maximum of 2% a year increase in your tax basis .  

In year 2, your property value increased to $455,000, but your Prop. 13 basis is only $408,000.

But in years 3 & 4, the property values plummet but you are still paying the higher basis.

 By filing a Decline in Value Reassessment application, you can petition the County Assessors Office to reassess the value of your home.  If you look at Year 3 Prop. 13 Market Values, the basis is $416,000, which represents $5200 per year in property tax.  By filing a Prop 8 reassessment and bring your basis down to $365,000, the new property tax would only be $4563.  This represents a savings of nearly $700 per year!!!

Prop. 8 allows an annual reassessment increases (or decreases) based on current market data.  You need to realize that Proposition 8 reductions are temporary and recognizes the fact that the current market value of your home has fallen below its Proposition 13 base year value.

If and when the market value of the previously reduced assessment (Proposition 8) increases above its Proposition 13 factored base year value, the Assessor will once again enroll its Proposition 13 factored base year value. Proposition 8 values can change from year to year as the real estate market fluctuates up and down.

Any property that has received a Proposition 8 reduction in the prior year will be automatically reviewed the next year to determine whether that year’s lien date value should be maintained, decreased, or increased. Unless there is a change in ownership or new construction, your assessment can never increase above the factored Proposition 13 base year value.

The due date to file the Decline in Value Reassessment application is September 1, 2008.  For more information on Riverside County Proposition 8 data, log on to http://www.RiversideACR.com

In these tough economic times, any money saving ideas can help us all.

This situation happened to me a few month’s ago:

I was driving across town to preview a home in Palm Springs for client, and I was in a hurry to make my appointment. I came to the intersection, but did not make a complete stop. I did what is called a “California stop”, looking both ways to make sure there weren’t any cars and kept driving. I didn’t see the Palm Springs Police car sitting on the side of the road, and he proceeded to pull me over and issue me a citation.

After a expressing a few expletives inside my head, I was thinking to myself:

Doesn’t the Palm Springs Police Dept. have anything else better to do?

I have been living in the city of Palm Springs for the last 9 years, but I really did not know anything about the Police Dept., including the name of our Police Chief. So I decided to do some research, and that’s when I learned about the Palm Springs Citizens Police Academy.

The Citizen’s Police Academy was started by the Palm Springs Police Dept. 15 years ago, in an effort to get the community more involved with the Police. The class is held 3 times a year, and each class lasts for about 12 weeks. The course is designed to teach citizens of Palm Springs about what police work is all about. The emphasis is to portray the reality of what the men & women of the police force encounter day & night, not what you see on TV.

The topic this past week: Crime Scene Investigation & Evidence Collection.

Shows like CSI and Law & Order make you believe that the police collect evidence at a crime scene, send it off to a lab, and all the answers who committed the crime are solved in 60 minutes.

This scenario is fantasy and not reality. The truth is that many police departments across do not have their own crime labs, and that the blood & trace evidence that is collected at a crime scene is sent to the DOJ (Department of Justice).

This process can take weeks, if not months to get the results back.

Officer Troy Castillo was our instructor for this week’s class. We were able to study the actual crime scene photos from a murder that took place in Palm Springs in 1997.

The crime was brutal & the photos were graphic.  This class was not for the squeamish.

Based on the evidence, we were given the opportunity to figure out what had happened to this 59 year old woman. Through an hour of discussion, we learned that this crime was committed by someone she knew and this person died before he was sent to prison. I was impressed how the police worked the clues and was able to solve the case.

This class has been an enlightening and eye-opening experience on what the Palm Springs Police Dept. experience on a daily basis.  They do so much more than giving out traffic tickets.

Stayed tuned for part 2 of CSI: Palm Springs

Photos courtesy of Flickr

Yesterday, the city of Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Modern Committee, and the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation 

designated the Kaufmann House as a Class One historical site. 

The home was designed by Richard Neutrain 1946, but the home came into prominence due to the photography of Julius Shulman.

Julius Shulman is a American architectural photographer whose works captured the California mid-century modernism movement and introduced it to the world.

Starting today, the works of Julius Shulman will be on exhibition at the Palm Springs Art Museum, in conjunction with Modernism Week. 

Modernism Week is the annual collaboration between the Modernism Show, Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, Palm Springs Historical Society, Palm Springs Modern Committee, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Palm Springs Art Museum focusing on design and architecture events and programs in Palm Springs California from Thursday, February 15 through Saturday, February 24 2008.

The exhibition will consist of approximately 150 photographs, in black & white and color, of the many architectural buildings Julius Shulman photographed during his career.  Some of the architects highlighted include Richard Neutra, Donald Wexler, John Lautner, Albert Frey, Palmer & Krisel, and many others.

In addition to the photographs (some that have not been seen in years), there will be a display of the magazine covers that show Shulman’s work.

The exhibition of the works of Julius Shulman will be featured at the Palm Springs Art Museum from February 15th through May 4th 2008.