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'Under the Tuscan Sun' Villa goes on the Market

International Listings: Cortona, Italy 

Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills Agent, Michele Blackmon holds one of the most sought after properties of Italian Real Estate, featured in the film, Under the Tuscan Sun. Newly renovated and furnished impeccably, this gated and walled compound is a perfect reflection of the romance and historical beauty and energy of Italian living. The beautiful yellow Villa with the infamous authentic green door and shutters are still present and take you back to the memories of Diane Lane’s walk up the Cortona hillside with a suitcase in hand, ready for her life changing adventure.   
The Villa and Farmhouse dates back to the 16th Century and has been restored to maintain its original integrity, however has been updated for comfort with modern amenities, offering air conditioning, WIFI, exquisite use of travertine and marble throughout, a Hollywood style swimming pool, accents of antique lighting, antiques from around the world, some of which include porcelain painted Capo di Monte fixtures from Sicily and a beautiful Baccarat crystal chandelier. Situated in one of Italy’s oldest Medieval cities, Cortona, a place where every pebble has a history and excavations reveal layer after layer of deeply entrenched Roman and Etruscan life unfolding before your eyes.

The Villa and Farmhouse offers 10 bedrooms, 9.5 baths each room meticulously restored with no expense spared.  The main house presents a beautiful private chapel, formal living and dining room for memorable entertaining.  The gourmet kitchen is wonderfully appointed with top of the line appliances and fixtures. The beautifully situated property features a Medici garden, private lake and bocce court.  The property is approximately 10,000 square feet and well positioned between Rome and Florence. Also, in close proximity to Tuscany’s most beautiful winery’s which boasts to be some of the finest vineyards  in the world, makes this property a dream home for any wine lover. This property is listed for sale at 9.5 million euro and is also available for lease. 

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International Real Estate: "Think Globally, Buy and Sell Locally"

 Greg Moesser talks about going International 

Beverly Hills Agent, Greg Moesser is interviewed regarding buying and selling residential real estate in Los Angeles with international buyer and sellers. Check out his video.

Greg Moesser will also be a guest speaker for 3rd Prestige MLS Luxury Real Estate Congress 2012 in Venice, Italy April 12-13, 2012
This Congress brings together Luxury Real Estate Professionals from leading companies.
This two-day event dedicated to Conferences with major international speakers, hot topics, Workshops, Business Dating and Networking is an unequalled opportunity to make connections and generate new business. 

Speakers include :
– Greg Moesser, “Attracting European Buyers and Foreign investors”
– Jean-Michel Billaut, “Futur 2.0”
– Matthew Ferrara, “Real Estate Marketing and Social Media”
– Francesca Zirnstein, “Women in Luxury Real Estate Industry, Reasons and Tendencies”
Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the 3rd edition of Prestige MLS Luxury Real Estate Congress, the most important event in Luxury Real Estate Community! 
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Philanthropy: Desiree Zuckerman partners with Hartman House

Desiree Zuckerman from DZ Homes of Rodeo Realty Calabasas has partnered with Hartman House to launch Project H.O.M.E.  A campaign launched to refurbish, rebuild and revamp homes for those in need.  Hartman Project and Rodeo Realty support families facing hardships and charitable organizations giving back to the local community.
 
Zuckerman is helping Hartman House to improve the lives of children and families throughout the world who suffer from poverty and hopelessness by building homes and providing food, education, and spiritual growth. 
The first project will be to fully refurbish the home of one family in Los Angeles.  If you know of a family who could use a helping hand, please submit them via the following website:

www.hartmanhouse.org/projects/buildinghomes.html

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Prestige MLS is pleased to welcome Rodeo Realty, a Los Angeles Real Estate Powerhouse, in the Business Club!

Rodeo Realty is proud to announce that we are expanding our international presence and have now partnered with Prestige MLS, Europe’s exclusive international luxury real estate organization to increase our global presence.

With Prestige MLS, property listings can be translated into 13 different languages and be viewed all around the world.  

Visit http://www.prestige-mls.com/ for more information about luxury real estate listings in Europe and around the world and read Rodeo’s latest post on their website. 

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Rodeo Realty Increasing International Presence

 Rodeo Realty Increasing International Presence
Local Expertise. Global Presence.

Beverly Hills, CA, February 20, 2012- Rodeo Realty has maintained a dominate position in residential real estate in Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 25 years. With much expansion and growth, Rodeo Realty is rolling out a whole new approach to international marketing; after most recently being selected to become a member of the exclusive Business Club at Prestige MLS, a prestigious community of the industry’s most reputable and experienced professionals in all facets of the luxury real estate market. This exclusive community is dedicated to luxury real estate in Europe and throughout the world.  Rodeo Realty is very proud to announce their new partnership with Prestige MLS.
Rodeo Realty represents clients across the world and individually tailors global marketing campaigns and strategies for buyers, sellers and developers internationally. Syd Leibovitch, states “Nobody has what we have.” This new powerful force of international marketing will bring Rodeo Realty to a whole new level.  
Rodeo Realty has repositioned itself for global expansion and increased global exposure. Leibovitch states, “Our increased global exposure will provide clients access to international networks of real estate professionals in more than 80 countries representing the finest real estate and property brokerages in the world.”   Already a proven leader in Southern California, Rodeo Realty is poised for significant growth and expansion in the California market and internationally.  
Rodeo Realty, Inc. was founded in 1986 by president, Syd Leibovitch. Today it is one of the largest single-owned residential real estate company in California. It has 10 branch offices throughout the greater Los Angeles area, and more than 1000 agents. Affiliate companies include: Encore Escrow, L.A. Mortgage, Inc., and Progressive Title.
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Attorney's General Settlement with Mortgage Servicers

Mortgage settlement: How the negotiations unfolded

Yesterday’s settlement with 5 major loan servicers Bank of America, Wells, Chase, Citi, and Ally (GMAC) will provide 26 Billion in mortgage relief.

There is  5 billion to paid directly to states and the federal government split proportionally to their number of foreclosures. Some of which will be used to pay back expenses caused by foreclosures.  

 The breakdown of how the remaining money will be distributed are as follows:

1. 1.5 billion to approximately 750,000  homeowners that have already been foreclosed on where proper documentation and procedures were not followed. These people can receive up to $2.000.


2. 17 billion  To modify loans for people that are in foreclosure of which 60 percent must be used to write down loan amounts on people who owe more than their home is worth. These write downs will average $20,000.

3.  3 Billion    For non FNMA, FMAC ( which is covered by the HARP 2 program) there will be money set aside to refinance owners current on their mortgage that owe more than the home is worth.


How will people know they are qualified to get paid, modified or refinanced?

For now they say the servicers will notify those qualified. This happened in the CountryWide settlement in 2008. We did see cases in which CountryWide modified clients that really had no need for modification with ARM’s with lots of equity modified to fixed rates to meet their number of loan mods required under that settlement. Those clients were contacted by CountryWide.


My opinion is that while 26 Billion sounds like a lot of money I would break it down as follows: 


1. Some, a small percentage of people that lost their home to foreclosure will be contacted and paid up to $2,000.

2. Some people, a small fraction of people in foreclosure will be offered a reduction in loan principle  of up to $20,000.  There will probably be terms that if they default the loan amount will go back up. Traditionally most loan modifications end up back in foreclosure so this 17 billion will probably cost next to nothing. I don’t see a $20,000 reduction stopping many people from losing their home, especially since many are way behind on their payments as well.  This 17 billion has already been lost by the banks so its really not an expense due to this settlement!


3. 3 billion to refinance people that are current and owe more on their homes than they are worth is really a small fraction a percent of people under water.  Its unfortunate that so little help has been given to people that have been responsible, made their payments and just can’t take advantage of lower rates due to lack of equity. I guess that lenders thing that if they were going to stop paying they would have already stopped paying so why lose money by lowering their rate!


In my view this is largely political in which lawmakers can claim a victory over evil wall street to save main street. It won’t cost the banks anywhere near 26 billion. Its real cost is probably 9 billion to banks. It will free up banks to foreclose more quickly with less litigation which will be good for inventory levels which are really to
o low in our area for the demand. Obviously, some of your clients will wait a little while hoping to get notified. It will be like waiting for the Publisher’s Clearing House to notify them that they won. It won’t be long before its obvious that help is not on the way!

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Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills H.O.M.E. Project

Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills- H.O.M.E. (Helping Others Means Everything) Project consists of a group of agents from Rodeo Realty’s Beverly Hills office who are working together to build a strong philanthropic presence in the Beverly Hills community and beyond. The group organizes and leads charitable activities to benefit local non-profit organizations.

In December, Beverly Hills  H.O.M.E. members donated food, prepared and served dinner for approximately 25 transitional homeless at PATH’s Westside center. The past project completed with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), where Rodeo Agents collected and donated clothing and toys for the homeless. Their next monthly service project will be held on February 17th at the Sunrise Living Complex at 3:30 with a one-hour long musical benefit show for the elderly. The event will be held at 201 North Crescent Drive Sunrise Home. The committee meets every Thursday at the Beverly Hills office and partakes in coordinating and implementing one service project per month.
 
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Syd Leibovitch's 2012 Housing Predictions

 Housing Price Forecast for 2012
      from Rodeo Realty President, Syd Leibovitch

I feel that 2012 represents the best year ever to buy a home. Prices are down and interest rates are at historic lows!

I predict that 2012 will be the year we begin to see year over year increases in the median price on both a local and a National level. I’d forecast a modest 5 percent increase in median home prices.

Interest rate forecast:

The reason that this year will present a unique opportunity is more interest rate related than price. Rates at 4 percent won’t be available for long. I would forecast mid 5’s by year end. While mid 5’s are great historic rates its a 25 percent increase from 4 percent. Most buyers look at their monthly payment as a big factor so remember even if homes stayed the same the payment would rise significantly as rates rise.
My basis for these forecasts stem from an increase in consumer confidence. Nearly every survey and gage of consumer confidence nationally suggests that we are headed for better times. Corporate profits are up and things are looking generally better. We have seen a rebound on the desire of buyers to buy. There is always people that think prices are so high they can’t go higher. I’ve heard that for 30 years yet they, over time continue to rise. The percentage of people that think its a good time to buy and those thinking its a bad time fluctuates. in 2005 it seemed like just about everyone thought it was a good time to buy. In 2008 it seemed like just about everyone thought it was a bad time to buy. Over the last year I’ve seen a building sense of optimism and more serious buyers.

When it comes to home buyers here is how I’d break it down:
First time buyers. With prices down 30 percent from their highs and rates down a 600,000 loan has a 1100 per month lower payment than it would have had in 2006. A 1,000,000 home in 2006 would now be 700,000. So basically a buyer could buy a home that was 1,000,000 for 700,000 and pay 2500 less a month had they bought that same home 5 years ago! FHA financing also allows buyers to buy a home with a 3 1/2 percent down payment. In many cases for not much more than first month rent and a 2 month security, and with today’s low interest rates the payment is usually similar to the rent! There has never been a better time to buy.
Investors. If you consider how many of the wealthiest people made their fortune in Real Estate it only makes sense to be a long term Real Estate investor. With prices about 30 percent off their highs and low interest rates there has never been a better time to invest.
Move up buyers. Once I went to get my car serviced. The leasing salesperson met me when I picked up the car. He told me he could get me out of my current lease and lease me the new, better, current model with the same payment. He said “all you need to do is switch keys”. I did it! With lower interest rates and lower prices we have people that can buy homes they could have never afforded before. Consider the above scenario with the 1,000.000 home now being 700,000. We have had clients that wouldn’t have been able to afford the million dollar home in 2006. It was their dream home but they could only afford 700,000. Now that million dollar home is 700,000 and the lower interest rates makes the payment $1100 per month less than the 700,000 home they bought 6 years ago. Sure they have to take a loss on that home, but save on the new purchase. At the end of the day many people have found that they can sell their home and buy a better one for about the same monthly payment!

Rent your home and buy a new one:
This is what I just did and I’m encouraging all my friends to do the same. The goal should be buy low sell high! If you could afford to buy a new home and rent your current home I don’t think you will ever be sorry. Your home will undoubted be worth more down the line, but when its worth more so will the one you would be buying. Ever thought about being a Real Estate investor. Why not start now with a property you know?

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Local Real Estate Market Reports Are Now Posted!

Check out the most recent real estate market reports for your area!

At Rodeo Realty, we believe education is the key to helping clients make the best possible decisions about buying and selling homes. Our comprehensive reports provide in depth analyses of real estate trends in specific communities. These analyses demonstrate the changes in market conditions varying from city to city in San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles.

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