Winner homes -- and not -- of the weekend

We were all over the place this weekend.  I won't give the address of the "winner" house since my clients are interested in it, but it is in Toluca Lake and has very fanciful decorating.  The bathroom picture is above.

The second pleasant surprise was at 543 Stocker in Glendale.  This is a typical 80's townhouse.  I have a bit of a prejudice against these as they're usually in neighborhoods that are way over-built by now, but was clean and nice and has 2 decent-sized bedrooms.  The living room is a little small, but for $299k...

And then there's 4276 Kling in the Burbank portion of Toluca Lake, which is a short sale.  Everybody, including me, loves this complex.  I could probably sell five townhomes there today alone if the price was low enough.  Alas, it just wasn't for my buyers. 

And now for the losers:  The first is a 1960's condo in Glendale.  The neighborhood is okay, and the place was clean, but it looks like the complex your grandmother lived in during the 1960's.  Just very apartment-y.  And there's no laundry in the unit.  And the home owners association dues are $429, but that includes all utilities.  This poor little unit just had nothing about it to love.

Then there's the condo on Oxnard in Valley Glen.  My clients and I have tried to see this twice.  The first time we were told it couldn't be shown because the bed wasn't made.  This time, we had an appointment and somebody was going to meet us there to wrangle the large dog.  But we were stood up.  My clients were very good-humored about it, but I felt really badly that their time had been wasted.  I think that just might be it for condos in Valley Glen, but you never know.

Property showings in Valley Glen, Toluca Woods and Burbank. And the nicest house is...

I showed a client homes for sale in Burbank, Valley Glen and Toluca Woods today.  We encountered no drunken neighbors today (see post from April) but I think that may have been a temporary Burbank phenomenon.  The nicest home, at 1311 Naomi in Burbank, is pictured above.  It's small, but cute, clean and updated.  It also has a permitted bonus room that could be used as a guest room. 

The runner up is 2707 Wyoming, Burbank and could have been a contender until we realized the upstairs has no bathroom.  And it has almost no yard.  For $490k. 

I continue to be impressed with the housing stock in Valley Glen that's between $400k and $500k. However, nothing ranked today, not even the flip that didn't have air conditioning. 

The only nice thing I can say about the other homes is...one had a nice Wedgewood stove and cute pig statuary.  My very patient client and I couldn't get out of a couple other homes fast enough.  And by the way, brokers and sellers, it would be nice if you could try to eradicate the cat urine smell before you put a house up for sale.

Greg and Ally give me a great testimonial!

Today's property showings featuring special guest stars: drunken neighbors

My clients saw lots of nice stuff today in Valley Glen, Toluca Lake and Burbank.  The first home we saw, in Valley Glen, is a gorgeous 4+2 for $440k.  It will be on the mls Tuesday, and I won't print the address because my clients may want to buy it.  It's a flip, and I have seen the contractor's work before.  The second, at 6633 Murietta in Valley Glen, (above) is listed at $375,000 and is updated.  Unfortunately, it backs up to apartments, but the house has a lot to offer and the neighborhood is really charming.  Once you get off the major streets, there are lots of really, really nice -- yes, suburban -- residential pockets all throughout the SFV.  Trust me on this.

Maybe it was the beautiful weather that brought out the inebriated hillbillies when we went east.  We saw a townhome in Burbank/Toluca Lake.  The listing agent hadn't warned us about the obnoxious security alarm. Or the obnoxious drunk neighbor who accosted us about the alarm noise and repeatedly exclaimed, "Nancy doesn't know a thing about this!" Um, who is Nancy? 

But anyway, on to a sweet house on Chandler in Burbank.  Again, no address here because my clients are also considering making an offer on this one.

Next, we saw 316 Ontario in Burbank.  It features a teeny knotty-pine kitchen that's too small for a full-size refrigerator, and a place for a washer/dryer in the dining room.  The home was billed as having two guest rooms, which is accurate if you count a partitioned garage with gold pile carpet.  We were watched by two hillbillies from the porch across the street. (Would those be Bur-billies?)  One staggered towards us, but I locked up and we scampered back to the car before he could intercept us.

Our final interaction with drunks was at a gorgeous condo in an older building in west Burbank.  At least, it looks gorgeous in the pictures -- we couldn't tell much as the electricity is off.  We could tell that it is huge and that the kitchen has been totally redone. We could also tell that we didn't want to live there when we were button-holed by the final drunk neighbor of the day, who demanded to know what we were doing there, and if the condo board had approved us.  No, and I don't think they'd approve of you either, mister.

In spite of the "local color," it was a fun and productive day for my clients.