"Practice Being Like a Child" by Jim Rohn

Remember the master teacher once said 2,000 years ago, “Unless you can become like little children, your chances are zero, you haven’t got a prayer.” A major consideration for adults.

Be like children and remember there are four ways to be more like a child no matter how old you get :

Curiosity

Be curious. Childish curiosity. Learn to be curious like a child. What will kids do if they want to know something bad enough? You’re right. They will bug you. Kids can ask a million questions. You think they’re through. They’ve got another million. They will keep plaguing you. They can drive you right to the brink.

Also kids use their curiosity to learn. Have you ever noticed that while adults are stepping on ants, children are studying them? A child’s curiosity is what helps them to reach, learn and grow.

Excitement

Learn to get excited like a child. There is nothing that has more magic than childish excitement. So excited you hate to go to bed at night. Can’t wait to get up in the morning. So excited that you’re about to explode. How can anyone resist that kind of childish magic? Now, once in a while I meet someone who says, “Well, I’m a little too mature for all that childish excitement.” Isn’t that pitiful? You’ve got to weep for these kinds of people. All I’ve got to say is, “If you’re too old to get excited, you’re old.” Don’t get that old.

Faith

Faith like a child. Faith is childish. How else would you describe it? Some people say, “Let’s be adult about it.” Oh no. No. Adults too often have a tendency to be overly skeptical. Some adults even have a tendency to be cynical. Adults say, “Yeah. I’ve heard that old positive line before. It will be a long day in June before I fall for that positive line. You’ve got to prove to me it’s any good.” See, that’s adult, but kids aren’t that way. Kids think you can get anything. They are really funny. You tell kids, “We’re going to have three swimming pools.” And they say, “Yeah. Three. One each. Stay out of my swimming pool.” See, they start dividing them up right away, but adults are not like that. Adults say, “Three swimming pools? You’re out of your mind. Most people don’t even have one swimming pool. You’ll be lucky to get a tub in the back yard.” You notice the difference? No wonder the master teacher said, “Unless you can become like little children, your chances, they’re skinny.”

Trust

Trust is a childish virtue, but it has great merit. Have you heard the expression “sleep like a baby”? That’s it. Childish trust. After you’ve gotten an A+ for the day, leave it in somebody else’s hands.

Curiosity, excitement, faith and trust. Wow, what a powerful combination to bring (back) into our lives.

New Listing: Hamptons-Style Home with Ocean Views

Just completed! Five large bedroom suites, formal living and dining rooms, library/office, plus family room off chef's dream kitchen and breakfast area. Beautiful sun room opens to spacious, private grass yard. Fabulous rooftop deck includes BBQ area with wine refrigerator, plus fireplace and TV area...all with beautiful, panoramic views of the ocean and mountains!

17050 Livorno Dr., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Offered at $3,199,000

For pictures and information of this and other wonderful properties

please go to Michael Edlen's Featured Homes webpage

New Listing: Cape Cod Charmer in the Palisades

Charming and romantic 3-bedroom, 2-bath with office and den. Wonderful indoor/outdoor flow. Just three blocks from Palisades Village.

15001 Bestor Boulevard, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Offered at $1,825,000

For pictures and information of this and other wonderful properties

please go to Michael Edlen's Featured Homes webpage.

Inspirational Thought

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience
can never go back to its old dimensions." 

- Oliver Wendell Holmes 

American writer and professor at Harvard, 1809-1894

New Listing: Beautiful Home at the top of Pacific View Estates

Four bedroom, 2.5 bath + den/office on over half an acre at the top of Pacific View Estates. Large, private yard, plus views of mountains and ocean. Near hiking trails. 

 467 Surfview Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Offered at $2,175,000

For pictures and information of this and other wonderful properties 

please go to Michael Edlen's Featured Homes webpage

New Listing: Panroamic Mountain and Ocean Views in the Palisades

Panoramic mountain and ocean views from light, open and airy 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath single-level home

950 Glenhaven Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

 Offered at $2,000,000

For pictures and information of this and other wonderful properties 

please go to Michael Edlen's Featured Homes webpage

“Wait-and-See” Buyers May Lose Out

By Michael Edlen, Real Estate Consultant

Published in Palisadian-Post and Santa Monica Mirror

Real estate agents have seen increasing numbers of prospective buyers repeating what has become a familiar pattern.  In the current slower market, many buyers hesitate to make a purchase decision even when their search criteria have almost all been met by a property they have viewed. However, many prospective buyers may look back with regret if they are not prepared to make offers when a home meets their needs.

Of course this reluctance has served well from one point of view. Clearly prices have been in a downward trend for quite a while even in relatively stronger market areas such as the Westside of Los Angeles. 


However, it has long been noticed in real estate as well as other financial arenas that no one “rings a bell” at the bottom of the market. In some neighborhoods the bottom may already be occurring, despite the overall general news and market statistics. In fact, it is not uncommon for there to be multiple offers in some of the more desirable areas when a home is priced very competitively. In recent months we have had multiple offers on two of our listings north of Montana, both of them sold for more than the list price.

Another example occurred in the Palisades with a new home that had been on the market for several months. The seller finally decided to adjust the asking price by approximately 10% with the intent to make it extremely attractive to buyers so that at least one of the prospective buyers with a “wait-and-see” attitude might be incentivized to present an offer. Within a few days three buyers wrote offers, and within the week it was sold at a higher price than the reduced price point. One of the unsuccessful buyers was very sorry they lost out because they waited too long to decide. This put them in the middle of a bidding war that they lost in the end. During the two-week contingency period they even offered to increase the price.

Many buyers seem to feel that nothing is well-priced today, and eventually can be purchased for lower prices. While this may be true of some listings, those which are well-priced to begin with are sold rather quickly even in this slower market. Moreover, decisive buyers usually do not regret negotiating the best terms on purchasing a home that meets most of their criteria. A client of ours recently thanked us for encouraging them to move forward rather than continuing on the sidelines in the hopes that an even better opportunity might show up. They also benefited from their timely decision because of the historically low cost loans still available.

No one has an infallible crystal ball to know when the best timing for a purchase will be. However, unless someone intends on selling within a few years, odds are that they will look back and feel good about having bought sooner rather than later.

For more articles about the home buying and selling process and current real estate trends see MichaelEdlen.com

Palisades Housing Market Update 10/20/10

As of today there are 149 homes for sale in the general Palisades market area, which is slightly lower then last year at the same time.  At the current rate of sales per month, there is now approximately seven-month inventory of homes for sale, which reflects the market which is almost in balance between buyers and sellers.

There are 38 homes in escrow, with a median list price of $2,200,000 and there have been approx 200 sales so far this year with a median price of $1,950,000. (Which is about 5% lower then last year at this time)

There have been several cases of multiple offers in the past month.  For example, about seven of the current escrows involve multiple offers! (Which is close to 20% of those in escrow)

The Palisades’ areas with the greatest number of sales so far this year are the Highlands, El Medio to Marquez area, and the Alphabet Streets.  Prices have ranged this year so far from $635,000 to $26,000,000!

The above summary verifies that the Pacific Palisades remains robust in homes sales, and decidedly is a market that could be moving up at any time in the near future. 

Inspirational Thought

"It is better to try to light a candle than to curse the dark."

                                            -ancient Chinese proverb

Now There is Help in Remembering Song Lyrics

Every once in while most of us have three or four words running through our heads - a little snippet that pops up from song from the past. And sometimes it drives us batty wondering what the name of that song was!

At Lyreach all you need to do is enter the words you are hearing - and Shazam - the program will give you all of the possibilities that contain that phrase (from their collection of more than 470000 song lyrics).

Just click on the song you want more lyrics from and you're in business. And, of course, this neat service is on the house!