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Sheri’s Palm Springs Area Blog

Whether it be real estate updates, restaurant reviews, events, or highlights of unique homes in Palm Springs, follow Sheri as she covers all that Palm Springs and the surrounding area has to offer.

Desert Home Prices Continue Upward Trend

Community Pool At PGA West, La Quinta

The Desert Area MLS® reports that as the number of short sales, REOs (bank owned properties) and regular sales continue to decline due to shrinking inventory levels, home prices in the Palm Springs area are maintaining their upward trajectory.

The average price of a single-family home sold through the Desert Area MLS rose twenty four percent (24%) in May 2013 compared with May of 2012. The average price of a condo rose ten percent (10%) year-over-year during that same time period.

Home & Condo Inventory Still Shrinking

Available homes and condos offered for sale (called active inventory) on the Desert Area MLS continued to decline from month to month in the Coachella Valley during the last four months.

May 2013: Homes 2,181 / Condos 1,029
April 2013: Homes 2,390 / Condos 1,116
March 2013: Homes 2,515 / Condos 1,157
February 2013: Homes 2,671 / Condos 1,212

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Real Estate Market Updates

Opportunity Knocks At The Palms Golf Club, La Quinta

This highly upgraded golf course home at The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta just came back on the market this week and at a newly reduced price. This is likely the most upgraded plan-2 home within The Palms private community. There are only 101 homes in this unique community, all located on the outside perimeter of the golf course (no homes are located up and down the fairways).

81914 Couples Court, La Quinta
Private Palms Golf Course Location With Terrific Sweeping Views!
2,883 SQ. FT. / 3 BR - 3 BA / Attached Casita Suite
Reduced To $849,900

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Featured Properties

Selling Your Home: When A Discount Isn’t Really A Discount

Point Happy Estates, La Quinta

I received a call from a potential home seller a few months ago. “Joe” interviewed me about professionally marketing and selling his La Quinta home. The next month I noticed that Joe’s home was listed on the MLS with another local agent, so I called Joe to get his feedback on why he didn’t list his home with me. Joe told me that he choose agent “x” because that agent offered him a discount on his service fee.

“How’s that working out for you Joe?” I asked. Well it turns out Joe was not happy with how his home was being marketed and he had already decided to cancel his listing the next day. Joe has now agreed to list his home with me when he returns to the desert this fall. But what went wrong with the discount agent?

Finding Qualified Buyers

Not every Palm Springs area real estate agent offers equal client services or experience. The average agent invests just $1500 annually in marketing and only completes seven transactions per year. That likely translates into them investing about $100 in marketing each sellers home that they place on the MLS.

On the flip side, top-rated realtors usually complete dozens of transactions per year and typically invest thousands of dollars in marketing each home that they sell. For most top agents, to discount their services they would likely need to reduce their investment in the marketing of your home. Does that make sense?

The Big Question For Sellers

If a prospective agent can’t successfully negotiate their own service fee with a prospective seller, how good are they going to be at negotiating with potential buyers in getting you the highest price possible?

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Selling - Info For Sellers

New Home Construction At Stonefield Estates

Three new luxury homes are currently under construction at Stonefield Estates at Santa Rosa in Southwest Indio. Each of these La Quinta adjacent homes are being customized to the tastes of the soon to be new owners, who have reserved these homes. Completion of these three homes is scheduled for August.

Three additional homes in phase-two will start construction soon including an Adobe Ranch Plan-1, a Spanish Colonial Plan-3 and an Andalusian Plan-3 home. Prices and plans for the additional new homes in phase-3 will be announced soon.

Our onsite showcase model home is open Saturday and Sunday 11 AM to 3 PM and by appointment.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Real Estate Market Updates

Dining Around The Desert: Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar, Palm Desert

The Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar is Wolfgang’s first Pizza Bar on the West Coast and offers another good dining option on El Paseo. Just opened this year, this new restaurant features a patio out front, an attractive bar area and two inside dining rooms. All of these features allow it to accommodate the full spectrum of guests, including sports fans, who can take advantage of four large screen TVs behind the bar.

Back In The Day, I Worked For Wolf

My husband, Bill, and I recently visited Wolfgang’s for dinner and drinks at the bar. I was especially interested because, back in the day, I worked for Wolf at his original Spago Restaurant in West Hollywood. Wolf’s Pizza Bar is of course considered casual dining compared to the fine dining offered at Spago.

I ordered the spinach and smoked mozzarella salad with red onions, crispy potatoes, and a warm pancetta vinaigrette dressing. It was excellent! Bill and I shared Wolfgang’s classic smoked salmon pizza with dill cream, salmon roe, red onions and chives. This pizza, while a bit different at Spago, was always one of my favorites and I was not disappointed on this visit.

A Variety Of App's, Salads, Entrees And Of Course, Pizza

Even if you're a picky eater, the menu at Wolfgang’s features enough variety for you to find something you can love. It includes an array of appetizers, salads, pastas, and entrees including chicken paillard, steak, salmon, hand-rubbed roasted pork and Ahi tuna. Fifteen individual pizzas also offered quite a variety to choose from; gluten-free and vegetarian dining options are also available.

As far as beverages are concerned, Wolfgang’s offers an interesting list of specialty cocktails, including my personal favorite, the Gin Basil, which is made with gin, fresh basil, cucumber, lemongrass and grapefruit juice. I changed it to vodka instead of gin and it was just as good as the original. Bill enjoyed a glass of New Harbour Sauvignon Blanc wine from New Zealand, which was featured on Wolfgang’s varied wine list.

Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar offers a Happy Hour from 3PM to 6PM daily, along with their new Bar Bites menu. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and is located at 73-130 El Paseo in Palm Desert. (760) 568-2700

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Dining Around The Desert

Let The Sun Shine, Please Let The Sun Shine!

Andalusia Model Home, La Quinta

If you’re like me you likely appreciate our mostly year-round sunshine here in the desert. On a regular basis I’m told by dozens of clients that they just want to be warm and dry. Being able to get up almost every day and choose your choice of outdoor pursuits is a good thing.

These thoughts hit home for my husband Bill and I as we took a working-vacation road trip to the Pacific Northwest recently. Bill was actually looking forward to experiencing some rain, which might seem odd unless you live full time in the desert.

A Change Of Scenery And Weather

Bill certainly got his wish for a change of weather! Once we hit Northern California and Southern Oregon we drove in rain while seeing snow falling on the nearby mountains in late June!

After five days of on and off again rain in the Pacific Northwest, and with temps a full 50 degrees cooler than they are back home in the desert right now, Bill joins me in looking forward to our eventual return to our warm desert environment.

Trips like this reinforce many of the reasons why we chose to live and work in the Palm Springs area. While it’s always nice to get away for a while, it’s also good to return home to warm sunny skies.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers

What Do We All Have In Common?

Golf Home At PGA West, La Quinta

Some of you reading this may already be enjoying ownership of a home or luxury condo here in the desert. Some of you have been considering it, or even dreaming about for a number of years. Some of you may just be starting out considering a vacation home, or even a full time residence here in the desert.

But I know that there’s something you, me, and every other person reading this post likely has in common: We enjoy many of the resort lifestyle opportunities that the Palm Springs area offers us.

Year-Round Outdoor Activities

My husband Bill takes a brisk two-mile walk most mornings. During the warmer summer months Bill walks earlier in the day before jumping into our pool. During the winter months Bill sometimes chooses to walk later in the day. But the important thing is Bill can take advantage of walking year-round, and ninety percent of the time he’s in shorts. That’s part of the resort lifestyle here.

For me, tennis is my game once or twice a week. My group usually plays around 9AM in the winter months. During the summer we usually play at 8AM to take advantage of the cooler morning hours, then I’ll usually hit the gym later in the day.

Golf, Hiking, Biking & More...

Golfers, hikers, bikers and others can enjoy our resort lifestyle living year-round by simply making similar adjustments to their schedules. But the cool thing is we have options. The hardest part of desert living for some people is actually deciding what activity to enjoy next. And yes, just chilling by the pool is a popular option too.

As I show property to prospective buyers this week, there’s one thing we’ll all have in common. We will all be appreciating the opportunity to live, play and enjoy the Palm Springs area.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers

Not Exactly The Right Price

Trulia's® Estimate

People that know me know that I complete a lot of real estate transactions. Not bragging here, just the way it is. So I’m kind of like a doctor at a cocktail party. People usually have questions about real estate and I do my best to respond to them on a regular basis.

Recently a local homeowner mentioned that he had just looked up his Palm Springs area home value as posted on Zillow®. Oh-boy I thought, this should be interesting. Anyway, he asked for my opinion so let's take a look together shall we?

$515,000 Or $999,540 - What's The Correct Price?

Zillow's® Estimate For The Same Home

Trulia® estimated that his desert home is worth $515,000. But rival mega real estate site Zillow came in with their Zestamite® of $999,540! So which site is right? It turns out neither one.

Now I happen to have sold the majority of homes in his neighborhood over the last couple of years, so I have a pretty good handle on values. Regardless I ran the numbers and I would set the value of his home at $825,000. And if I were buying or selling this home for myself I’d be right around that number.

Too Many Variables For A Robot

So how did Trulia® and Zillow® go so wrong in their estimates? Many times a computer program can’t ‘see’ the difference between one neighborhood and another. In the case of Trulia, it looks like they compared values for a luxury-gated community to those in a nearby but entirely separate non-gated entry-level community where homes were selling at around $200,000. Zillow appears to have been looking at nearby new construction homes, which typically are valued by banks and mortgage companies at a ten to fifteen percent premium over resale homes.

Now for anyone who believed in Zillow’s $996,571 price for this home, the website conveniently displayed three “expert real estate agents” that you could contact to help you buy it. Keep this thought in mind when browsing national real estate sites; Their main purpose is to sell advertising, and mostly to agents who need clients.

I’ll keep a print out of these estimated values in my office should should you like to view them. And I have many more where these came from.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers, Real Estate Market Updates, Selling - Info For Sellers

A Little Advice Before You Hire Any Agent (Including Me)

If you plan on buying or selling real estate in the future, not just here in the Palm Springs area but almost anywhere, this information could very well benefit you. First some background.

Last month I was interviewed during a one-hour segment on the local Bloomberg financial news radio outlet. The host, Ron Siegel and I talked about our local real estate market and the fact that my team and I are busy enough that we don’t have to depend on the next transaction in order to make ends meet.

Looking Out For Your Best Interests

“If a real estate agent, or any financial professional for that matter, is not busy and successful they just might need to convince a client to buy or sell with them when in fact they should really be telling you to wait.” Ron said.

Now let me say right now that I believe that most agents are looking out for the better good of their clients. But what Ron said on the show made sense; “What if an agent’s mortgage payment is coming due and they haven’t sold a property in a while? What if they really need your sale to make ends meet this month?” Ron said.

This got me to thinking about all the times that I’ve been able to advise clients not to buy or sell a property at a particular time because it really wasn’t in their best interest to act then. And I’m certainly blessed to be able to do that.

Here's How You Can Benefit

So here’s the information that I promised to share earlier that could benefit you in buying or selling your next home. It’s quite simple really. Be sure to check out each prospective agent’s references and their recent sales transactions. Ask them for a list of their sales transaction over the last twelve months.

Here in the desert, 24% of local agents did not complete a single sales transaction last year. And in the U.S., the average agent completes just seven sales transactions per year. In my opinion, it’s hard to stay on top of the Palm Springs area real estate market if you only work at it part-time. You wouldn’t be as familiar with as many communities and properties, and you certainly wouldn’t have much experience negotiating transactions on behalf of your clients.

So before you walk into that open house and buy a home from the nice agent sitting behind the desk, or list your home with an agent who is a friend of a friend, please consider doing your homework. Past results don’t guarantee future success, but what else do you have to go on?

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers, Info For Sellers

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