Hidden Valley: Southern California’s Secret Celebrity Enclave

Interview and post by : Deidre Woollard & Candice Cerro, REALTOR.com

Reality television shows may have given people the impression that celebrities in Los Angeles spend all their time in Beverly Hills or lunching at The Ivy but some of the biggest celebs actually make their home in quieter places far from the throngs of paparazzi.

We enlisted two local real estate experts, Nicki LaPorta and Karen Crystal, who have each been selling real estate in the area for over a decade, to give us the inside scoop of the world of Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is a small community located north of Los Angeles in the mountains outside Thousand Oaks, California. Here you’ll find only around 40 homes each with at least 20 acres of property. The area has attracted celebs including Jamie Foxx, Tom Selleck and Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi. Hidden Valley is no trendy newcomer either; for years Sophia Loren owned a ranch with the tranquil name of La Concordia, Robert Wagner ruled the roost at the more prosaically titled RJ Farms and actor William Powell also had a ranch here. The area’s roots actually stretch back further still, into the reaches of old Hollywood when Lake Sherwood was used for the filming of the first Robin Hood movie in the early 1920s.

The area is also attractive to billionaires, none more famously than David H. Murdock, the chairman of Dole Foods, who first began buying land in the area back in the 1980s. Nicki and Karen tell us that they’ve taken some very big spenders on tours through the area. The same things that appeal to their famous clients also appeal to those without name recognition: good schools, private space, scenic beauty and lovely weather. The local private high school Oaks Christian has been attended by children of Wayne Gretzky, Will Smith and Joe Montana and has earned the nickname “Celebrity High.”

(image of Oaks Christian via Oaks Christian Facebook Page)

Those who worry about spending hours in L.A. traffic can also choose to fly in to the nearby Camarillo airport, a perk for those who count this as one of several homes in a luxury portfolio. Some properties are working farms with stables and extensive equestrian facilities while others feature just a few pampered family steeds. Homes tend to be customized to the specific owner’s wants and needs and therefore can stay on the market for a while until the right purchaser is found. Prices start in the $5-to-$6 million range, a price point that weeds out many potential buyers. But as Nicki and Karen tell their clients, you aren’t just buying a home but a lifestyle.

A trip to see a home in Hidden Valley is not a casual in-and-out jaunt. There are no open houses. Nicki and Karen scrupulously screen clients before doors are ever opened and protect the privacy of both buyers and sellers. The pair usually opt to show a home together, giving the potential buyer not just a look at the home and grounds but also at the Hidden Valley lifestyle, a place where the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles doesn’t seem like it exists only an hour away. Nicki and Karen are protective of this part of town, instructing clients that “you can’t get this anywhere else in L.A.” They say that being in Hidden Valley is an emotional connection and that nearly everyone they have helped buy a home here has chosen to stay in the area.

Should you want to make Hidden Valley your home, you might want to take a page from Meryl Streep’s book. If you sighed over Streep’s lovely camera-ready home in “It’s Complicated” you can make the manse your own. The 56-acre ranch is listed for $12 million. The classic Spanish hacienda has a pool house, patio with a terracotta fountain, six-stall horse barn, greenhouse and more.

Southern California Luxury real estate market – the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: Lending is alive and well for Southern California real estate.

Banks have money to lend and are anxious to approve well-qualified buyers purchasing homes priced at fair market value. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still the primary investors for loan amounts up to $729,750 in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, according to Brownie Stanisch of Fieldstone Financial.

Southern California Real Estate Luxury Market Specifically.

Still, many banks are financing loan amounts well above that limit and are placing those loans into their own portfolio until Wall Street secondary markets start to open up again. In fact, we have one client right now qualifying for 1.5 million dollar loan, stated income with 40 percent down.

The message:

if you can qualify, you will have some of the best programs and rates ever seen in lending.

The bad: The way lenders define well-qualified and fair market value has changed.

The definition of well-qualified is being driven by the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and their ever tightening risk standards. The GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) are constantly re-evaluating their default portfolio and if they see a trend in the borrower characteristics of defaulted loans, they will tighten their guidelines for future loans. A recent example is Fannie Mae’s directive to re-evaluate borrower’s credit immediately before funding to determine if there has been any new debt.

The message

Right now the “new normal” in underwriting is “validate all data and re-validate at closing.”

The definition of “fair market value” is unfortunately still being driven by the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).  HVCC requires appraisers to be independent from lenders. In order to comply with the required independence, most lenders have contracted the services of an Appraisal Management Company (AMC) who has the task of randomly assigning appraisers to each appraisal order.  The problem is that the AMC receives typically ¼ to ⅓ of the appraisal fee, leaving much less for the appraiser.

To compensate for the lost income, appraisers take more orders than they can comfortably handle and accept orders that are beyond their expertise.

Such appraisals may therefore be of questionable quality. It is the questionable appraisals that usually warrant a dreaded review appraisal. Luckily, we have not encountered many instances where a review appraisal was warranted, but we have encountered instances where the original appraisal did not support the purchase price. In those instances, there has usually been a compromise between the buyer and seller; the seller lowers his price a little and the buyer comes in with more money – splitting the difference that was “short.”  However, if the appraisal is lower by more than 10%, most buyers would “walk.”

The ugly: Southern California luxury real estate could get worse before it gets better, as each new group of defaults may cause lenders to re-evaluate their underwriting standards.

What is the current market? Diminishing inventory.

Although there are many buyers who would like to purchase homes, they are finding small inventory from which to choose from.

“While a large part of the market consists of distress sales, many sellers are coming back into the market…at least in our market area, and the average sales price is rising from last year”

according to John Mallett of Mainstreet Mortgage. If a seller prices aggressively, he is likely to get multiple offers bidding the value of the property up dramatically. There was a recent story of a San Fernando Valley home priced well under market at $700,000 where the realtor received 35 offers and sold the property at over $1,000,000.  In the first-time homebuyer price range of $250,000-$450,000 some REO banks have also taken to that list low-sell high strategy and it appears to be working. Unfortunately, such a bidding frenzy is making it very hard for first-time buyers to get into the southern California luxury real estate market.

We have been in two multiple offers at the 2.6 million range in the last two weeks. Once the sellers reduced the asking price very close to the realistic selling price,the offers came in, and were also realistic. Even at the “über-luxury” level, buyers want a deal. A recent buyer looked at all of our top end listings—including White Stallion—and guess what? The buyer wanted a “deal.” He ended up buying a 19,000 square foot home on a few acres in an exclusive gated community That property was listed for 19 million. The offer was 13 million—”take it or leave it.”

The seller took it, and it was a good deal.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and real estate

Q After much searching I found my dream condo, so I made an offer on this short sale and the seller accepted. I opened escrow with $1,000, but then found out that the seller filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. My REALTOR® advised that this property cannot be sold until the bankruptcy case is settled, and gave me an Addendum to Purchase Agreement to sign which will cancel the agreement and allow me to get back my escrow money. But I don’t want to cancel the agreement. I want to enforce it!  What are my options?
~ Duane

A: First, while you may want this property, you may not get it.

World Bankruptcy?

To put all your hopes on one property is not wise.

Second, you made an offer on a short sale. This requires that each lender that made a loan on the property approve the short sale – which the lenders are not required to do.

Third, the bankruptcy may have been filed by the seller to stop the lender(s) from foreclosing. If so, the lender(s) may ask the bankruptcy court for permission to proceed with foreclosure.

Fourth, even if you do not cancel the transaction, if the lenders do not agree to the short sale you will not be able to purchase it from the seller.

Fifth, if the lenders do proceed with foreclosure, you may be able to purchase the property at the trustee’s sale (if you can meet the financial terms of the lender), or if the lender ends up owning the property, you may be able to purchase the property from the lender.

You should ask your Realtor about the above and you should seek legal advice as there are a number of legal issues facing the seller and you as a buyer with regard to your deposit and with regard to your desire to purchase this property.

A look through the eyes of the luxury buyer reveals an emotional core.

By: Karen Crystal

Whether it’s a polite conversation, or a heated discussion, luxury real estate brokers are committed to the value of staging, and sometimes our view of this important marketing strategy may clash with that of our client.

The $ million question: is staging worth the investment?

By staging your home, you are visually inviting buyers to become emotionally attached, thereby enabling them to imagine the lifestyle they’ll soon be enjoying.

Visually inviting

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million, right? So, why are visual images worth so much more than the spoken word? I believe it is because visual images are actually emotional triggers. In fact, studies have shown that at least 65% of us are visual learners, much of which comes from “our minds eye”. Our “Visual memory”.
For example, when luxury buyers describe what they desire in their dream homes and the lifestyle they want to achieve, they tend to use phrases like this.

Here’s how I’d like it to look….

This is my vision…

Let me show you how I am picturing it…..

I can see my family relaxing together…

Here is another important point to remember, not everyone possesses a vivid imagination.

Emotional attachment

Whether you want to admit it or not, we are all emotional beings. Many of our thoughts, and most of our important decisions are charged with emotion.

My observation as a luxury agent, having spent thousands of hours with luxury home buyers, is that they act very differently when buying stocks and bonds, or even buying a company, then they do a home. Luxury buyers may not discuss how they feel regarding their business decisions, but they definitely talk about how they feel when it comes to their home buying decisions.

Those of you who are scientific thinkers, may not believe this is true.

To demonstrate my point, visit the staged model of a brand new luxury home development. I don’t know about you, but the minute I walk through the door, my visual senses awaken. I immediately begin to feel and imagine the lifestyle of the staged model home. Life seems a little better, and I imagine moving in with only my toothbrush. It can be a vivid and emotional experience.

What about you? I’ve watched my own buyers “fall in love” with a home, feeling it in their emotional core. They imagine their children’s birthday party in the backyard, and they picture their family eating at the beautiful dining room table already set for holiday dinner.

Lifestyle

The luxury home buyer is looking for a home where everyday living and the luxury lifestyle are inseparable. The home overlooking the 6th hole of the golf course, with the outdoor living room equipped with a flat screen TV over the fireplace, and a bar for entertaining your family and friends. This is the life….the lifestyle we are selling… and the lifestyle they are buying.

So, when my sellers say (and this is an actual quote),

” If they can’t imagine their stuff in my house just because it is empty, then they are too stupid to afford this house anyway”…

I remind them that we are not selling their 13,000 sq ft house with 12 inch crown moldings, we are selling a home with a lifestyle. We need to market visually to buyer’s emotional needs, as well as their rational minds.

I recommend you ask your seller who is resisting staging this question.” Would you prefer getting a massage at the physical therapists office or the Four Seasons Resort Spa“? The answer is obvious. Then I ask them why they like the spa more than the therapist’s office? They usually say they like the atmosphere in the spa better because it feels more relaxing. ” Is it worth paying more for the massage in the beautiful spa then the cold therapist’s office”? I think most of us would agree the answer is an emphatic, yes.

I believe the luxury home buyer will pay a premium for a staged home that creates a lifestyle image that resonates in their emotional core…and they may just buy all the furniture with it!

Magical Malibu tour

Malibu is a city on the Southeastern coast of Los Angeles, California. The Chumash Indians, the city’s earliest settlers gave the city its nomenclature. Originally, “humaliwo,” translated to “the surf sounds loudly.” For most, Malibu conjures images of the über-wealthy and über-luxury real estate—rightly so—but, it’s also a place of divine beauty and natural beauty. It is home to the stars because of this beauty as well as its proximity to Los Angeles. This, along with many other things (read on…), makes the town home to some of the most sought after beachfront property in the world.

Location, location location. Isn’t that what has always been said about real estate? Not as much for luxury real estate, but Malibu Beach is a one of the Earth’s most extraordinary locations. It’s only about a half an hour from Hollywood and just another 5 minutes down the road to the heart of Los Angeles. So the commute to work is pretty close. Isn’t that much the same as living in the suburbs of…say… Omaha, right?

Andrea Bullo's Moonshadows

Malibu has to be created divinely. The landscape is literally mind-blowing. The cliffs, the surf, the blue Pacific, the sand, the bungalows, the mansions… All make up part of Malibu’s charm and eclecticism. There really is no other place on earth like it, except maybe Santorini. But, then again, you can’t very well hop in your Lamborghini, or have the limo take you to LAX for a flight to LaGuardia for a scene to shoot in Jamaica, Queens for the next blockbuster film.

Malibu is a beach paradise. Much as the French Riviera or the idyllic Greek Isles. Most alluring is its location and its natural beauty.

Ephemeral Malibu moments

Not to be forgotten are these fascinating celebrity movie and popular music tidbits.

Interesting to note, Cat Stevens almost drowned in the ocean off the coast of Malibu thus leading to his name change and beliefs…

…But in 1975 while swimming off the coast of Malibu, Calif., another brush with death revealed his true destiny.

“I decided to go for a swim. Of course nobody told me that that wasn’t a good time to go swimming,” Islam said. “So there I was, you know, out there, and I’m thinking, ‘Ah, great, hmm, OK, let’s go back now.’ And then I … tried to swim back to shore. And suddenly I felt ‘I can’t do this’ — the tide was going the other way. I wasn’t getting any closer.

“Suddenly I was petrified. I thought: ‘This might be it.’ I said: ‘God, if you save me, I’ll work for you.’ It was without hesitation that I knew that, instinctively, there was a power that could help me. And then a little wave, you know, came behind me — a little wave, it wasn’t very big. But it was that miraculous moment when suddenly the tide was going in my favor. I had my energy, I could swim back. I was on land. I was alive. Wow, what next?”

He wouldn’t touch a guitar again for more than 20 years. [sic]-By Judy Faber

Charlton Heston filmed the famed scene of the end of the cult classic, Planet of the Apes, on the beach there… the prop of the Statue of Liberty sat on the beach for months as they were filming it…

Charlton Heston | Planet of the Apes

from IMDB, (The Internet Movie Database):

The filming location of the classic final scene has been erroneously thought to be Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but is in fact Malibu, California. For die-hard fans who want to visit the true location, it is a secluded cove on the far eastern end of Westward Beach, between Zuma Beach and Point Dume. Ignore the wide curving beach by the car park and clamber over the rocks to the east until you get to the quiet, often deserted, little beach surrounded by cliffs. (The Statue of Liberty was an optical effect skillfully achieved with a matte painting blended into a still existing rock structure.)

Funny the way it is… the beginning of that epic film starts with George (or Taylor as he’s known throughout the movie… never George… don’t think even once…):

“…And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. We’re now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers…”

I guess that has virtually nothing to do with luxury real estate… (hmm… pun intended, I guess…) … or does it? How many memorable moments are in the IMDB about Omaha?

Westlake Village, California | Certainly a village… though its beauty might surprise you…

The City of Westlake Village, set between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains in Western Los Angeles County, combines the beauty of the Southern California countryside with choice luxury real estate. This master planned ‘City in the Country’ enjoys the distinction of being home to thriving businesses, well executed residential and commercial development, and high quality schools, making it a fantastic place to live, work and raise a family.

malibu canyon

Acclaimed as one of the nation’s most successful suburbs and some the most beautiful luxury real estate Westlake Village (91361) has a population of 8,858, occupying 5.4 square miles in Conejo Valley. Only nine miles from the Pacific, at an elevation of 900 feet above sea level, Westlake Village is only 38 miles from Los Angeles.

Westlake Village is the hub of Ventura Freeway’s (US 101) Technology Corridor, and because of the City’s business friendly environment, it has become a center of growth for technology, research and development in Southern California. Future plans for restaurant, office and commercial development along the corridor, and a high quality work force make Westlake Village the ideal spot to start or expand your business.

The City has many Youth and Senior programs available through Parks & Recreation, as well as five city parks and over 100 miles of hiking trails to explore and enjoy. Restaurants, convenient shopping and a public library are also a vital part of the Westlake Village community.

In addition to its commitment to business development and controlled growth, Westlake Village is also committed to preservation and protection of natural settings and resources.

The City of Westlake Village is working to help keep the natural environment of Southern California pristine for future generations to enjoy for years to come.

Our tactics for marketing properties on the web

Marketing of luxury real estate is increasingly more complex with the digital landscape. Largely, this is because of social media. It’s not something we are afraid of. We can’t afford to ignore it. It is increasingly becoming part of our daily routine and marketing.

Of course, the digital age (for us) started with our handheld computers (i.e., blackberrys, iphones, palms) and are changing the way we connect with our clients. Our potential buyers and coveted clients are equipped with information that have forced us to change our traditional advertising thinking. We, as agents, are still “specialists,” but even more so now. Now we must be specialists not only in our local areas, but we must be armed with the knowledge and information that our potential buyers and sellers are able to glean from the internet.

Real Estate agents owe this to our clients

In the book, “Who Moved My Cheese?“, Dr. Spencer Johnson tells a story with 4 characters—Sniff and Scurry and Hem and Haw—the story is about “change” and how we are going through it. It applies to many industries. The story is important because we must adapt to the changes if we want to best serve our clients in their real estate transactions.

Agents of change

Try as we might, print advertising is increasingly less effective. This is not to say print is obsolete. It certainly has its place, especially with our luxury listings. Our affluent buyers and sellers still read the Robb Report, Wall Street Journal and Sotheby’s, so it is important to have a presence. However, the attention to these printed publications is narrowing because of change. Attention is not as much on the printed page as it used to. In other words, the “Big Shift” is happening now. It hasn’t fully “shifted.”

Real estate reality

The reality for many agents is that there are fewer buyers (as of today) and more competition. What this means is we (as REALTORS®) must be part of the change to digital. Since we began our careers in real estate, marketing was a fundamental in order to acquire listings, to broadcast listings and ultimately, to serve the market. It is our prediction that there is a new crop of REALTORS® that will set the pace. These agents will develop a new playing field. It isn’t going to be done at a conference or through a think tank. It is already happening. Visit Trulia, Realtor.com or Zillow.com. The consumer is there. The consumer is doing their own sort of comps, and collecting their own database through their savvy internet skills. The younger buyers are going to turn into younger sellers.

Keeping up means developing our own platform

We must develop our own voice. Whether you leverage your brand, as we do, with Sotheby’s, or you are forging your own. Use of these technologies and platforms becomes more and more essential. But, we must be careful how we use them. These tools are powerful and allow your brand to become extremely transparent. Transparent, however, is a sort of catch-22. If we all read Gary Vee’s book, Crush It, we know that he is a huge advocate of using video for social networking. Gary Vee also points out how Ian Watt uses the flip phone. If you’ve seen Ian Watt or Gary Vee, they are extremely effective and good at using this medium. They have a keen awareness of the media impact of using video and distributing it on the internet. Again, this is not for everyone. Neither is a podcast. Nor is a blog—especially if you are blogging for market share.

Simply put. A social media strategy for your real estate marketing must be authenticated by you. It is different for everyone. If you don’t have the discipline to write, or you are shy about writing, maybe facebook and twitter are your best tactics. But rest assured, there is a tremendous amount of attention and eyeballs on these platforms. But you must be yourself and be authentic. Otherwise, it’s the equivalent of a 3 line classified ad in the Detroit Times for the Sherwood Country Club…

… with that said… tomorrow we are starting a 4 part series on Sherwood Country Club… hope to see you there!!!

Forbes estimates he is the 183rd richest person in the world, with a net worth of 3.3 billion US Dollars, and he lives right here in Thousand Oaks, California.  His name is David H. Murdock, and he is a property developer (among many other things).

I have been watching Mr. Murdock carefully with regards to his new phase of real estate development in Sherwood Country Club, and waiting patiently to see what this highly successful man will do.  And  perhaps even more importantly…when he will do it.  You might say that this Billionaire is my own personal “economic indicator” for this geographical area.

Why?  Because David Murdock only builds property that he believes will sell, and he does so, only when he is confident that the marketplace has the ability and the desire to buy.

Well……our Billionaire is building, and with the interest rates still at an historic low, it is definitely time to buy!
There are currently 3 homes under construction with completion dates at the end of June 2010, with 3 more already breaking ground.  The pricing is very competitive: all under $2.5 million, and the sq. footage is a bit smaller than a typical Sherwood home : approx. 4,500 sq ft. on average.

Here are some photos I took the other day, along with a rendering of a very rare Single Level new home called “Amalfi”.

sherwood luxury construction

Read it…..unless you are afraid of truths….then just don’t read it.

By : Karen Crystal

linchpin

I Just finished reading Seth Godin‘s latest book Linchpin, and one engrained thought keeps popping forward from my past.

KISS (not the band), but the acronym : “keep it simple stupid”.

My USC Business School education was filled with acronyms.  I still remember some of them, and I admit KISS has proven useful at times and still seems to work.

The MOST memorable acromyn though was Radio Station WIIFM.  You know, the station that we were all told to tune it to…What’s In It For Me?

Well, if you haven’t changed the station yet, don’t bother.

WIIFM already altered it’s local programming to include a global satellite feed, and is now airing as WIIFM…What’s In It FROM me?

So here’s my thought for you on Linchpin.

Read it.  Unless you are afraid of truths….then just don’t read it.

One truth is that Linchpins are obvious.  They stand out from the crowd.  In fact a Linchpin gave me this book to read, Alex Beattie from duPont Registry.  Alex is a linchpin.  He is connecting luxury marketers and luxury consumers with the duPont brand on a human level through his “gifts”……and it’s working.

I now utilize duPont as a luxury property marketing vehicle, and my luxury clients are clicking on duPont for the latest and greatest in all things luxury.

Why?  The human connector….the linchpin.

Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley  is one of those places where you suck in your breath, let out a low whistle and think, “So this is how the other half lives.”

Tucked in the away in the northern Santa Monica mountains, Thousand Oaks’ Hidden Valley may be considered the millionaires’ bargain club. Right next store to Lake Sherwood, this community, although it enjoys it’s amenities, largely prides itself on it’s less stodgy, ranch style homes. With roughly 60 homes, residents range from horse enthusiasts to boutique winemakers and of course, leaders of industry.

Possibly the most well known resident is David Murdock, owner of Dole Food Co and one of world’s wealthiest people. But years before Murdock came to play the area was used in the filming of “Robin Hood,” starring Douglas Fairbanks in 1921. Jamie Foxx bought here a couple years back to join Tom Selleck and former Major League Baseball player Todd Zeile and his wife, 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Julianne McNamara. Sophia Loren owned a ranch here for many years but has since sold La Concordia; Sylvester Stallone was one of the original Hidden Valley owners as well.

Hidden Valley’s demographics (according to Wikipedia) are:

population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 20.9% from 25 to 44, 31.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $200,000, as is the median income for a family. Males had a median income of over $100,000 and females $41,667. The per capita income for the city was $94,096. About 1.8% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 2.7% of those age 65 or over.

Many enjoy the comfort of being separated from a busting city and finding $10 million homes at 1/4th the cost of Bel-Air. Hidden Valley attracts a highly specific personality and taste.