Finding the perfect home typically starts with pinpointing a neighborhood. 





Listing book offers my clients (and voyeurs too) comprehensive demographics including, education stats, school rankings, cost of living comparisons and crime stats.   Sign up for your free listing book account today and start searching the MLS just like Realtors do. 

Related Posts:    Search the MLS like a Realtor   What do Realtors check in the MLS?

I thought one of the smartest moves the Americana made was to award one free year of valet parking. Because of that I visit once a month… movie, lunch, shopping;  my outings always involve money spent at a shop, movie or restaurant.  But, each time I go, I am amazed at how the Americana encourages traffic – people to come and enjoy the day without spending money.  There is the water “show”, the train that rides to nowhere… The Americana is a very interesting business model. 

Last Saturday, I went to the Americana - Farmer’s Market and we lunched at Amici’s, which serves excellent Italian food.  I was pleased to find that the restaurant was fairly full and only an outside table was available for our group of five.  I have dined at Amici’s previously, but never on their patio.  The patio overlooks the children’s play yard. I imagine that the play area was thought to be a perk for the residents but as a business person, I think it should be gated and kept solely for the residents.  I don’t believe a park like atmosphere is conducive to dining or high end shopping.

The Farmer’s Market was full, but again not as many buyers as lookers.  I don’t know why the Americana feels the need to have a band playing while people are shopping for produce.  It’s just one more excuse for people to linger and not spend money… businesses require people spending money in order to survive.



I also observed people with outside food… Mac Donald’s, In and Out, etc.  They sit at the Americana’s outdoor tables and eat.  I have no idea how much the restaurants are paying for rent, but I imagine it is substantial and this doesn’t seem fair to them. 

On Saturday they even had a petting zoo… I just don’t know how the restaurants and especially the shops benefit from these activities.  In order for retail to survive, they need to encourage people to spend money.   

Related Posts: Eating your way through Glendale’s Americana

Bar 107 (213) 625-7382
107 W. 4th St, Los Angeles
6:00 AM - 2:00 AM
$3.00 Guinness. $4.00 Jameson

Barney's Ltd (626) 577-2739 
93 W. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
Guinness and Green Beer
Corned Beef and Cabbage, Lamb Stew, Irish Chili and Green Potato Salad

Beckham Grill (626) 796-3399
77 W. Walnut Street, Pasadena
Irish Coffee $5.00, Guinness Stout, Newcastle Brown Ale, & Green Beer, Corned beef and cabbage with red potatoes, carrots, soup or salad $16.95

Bottega Louie (213) 803-1470  
700 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles
$22 per person meal, which will be served all day, includes traditional corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes.
Jameson whiskey tasting event at 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Brit's Pasadena (626) 578-1301 1770 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Food and Drink Specials

Burbank Bar & Grill (818) 848-9611 
112 N. San Fernando Blvd, Burbank
Irish Car Bombs $5.00, Jameson shots $5.00, Green beer $2.75

Casey's Irish Bar & Grille (213) 629-2353 
613 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles
6:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Green beer and Guinness for $5.00

Chaya Downtown (213) 236-9577 
525 S. Flower St, Los Angeles
St. Patrick's Day Goblet $13.00, Irish Kiss Martini $13.00

Clancy's Crab Broiler (818) 242-CRAB 
219 N. Central Ave, Glendale
$5 Irish Carbombs & pints of Guinness, Free corned beef sandwiches

Crumbs Bake Shop (818) 502-0050
779 Americana Wy, Glendale
Pack of 12 mini St. Patrick's Day-themed cupcakes for $24.00

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar (213) 745-9911 
800 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles
Jameson Irish Whiskey Sour and Bushmills Irish Coffee $6 each

Green Street Tavern (626) 229-9961 
69 W. Green St, Pasadena
Lamb and Boxty with Dunker Warsteiner or Iornstone 2008 Vintage Cabernet $19.00
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Katsuya (818) 244-5900702 Americana Way, Glendale
Pounds and Pitchers special for $20.00
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM & 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Lucky Baldwins (626) 795-0652 
17 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena
8:00 AM - 1:30 AM

Lucky Strike Lanes -Rockstar Bowl Goes Green (323) 467-7776
800 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles
noon - 9:00 PM
Drink specials, $25.00 for each bowler donated to charity

Nick & Stef's (213) 680-0330
330 S. Hope St, Los Angeles
Special lunch and dinner menu featuring items such as an Irish cheese board, corned beef with bacon-braised cabbage and Guinness bread pudding with caramel sauce, Irish coffee and Guinness stout. $5 beer and drink specials March 17

Seven Bar Lounge (213) 223-0777
555 W. Seventh St, Los Angeles
11:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Offer green beer, a DJ and live music, possibly including bagpipers. Happy hour food specials will include $4 chicken and beef skewers and mini burgers

Seven Grand (213) 614-0737
515 W. Seventh St, Los Angeles
More than 200 premium whiskeys, ryes and small-batch bourbons they serve

St. Patrick's Day Festival at LA Live
800 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Live music, beer garden, Irish food

St. Patrick's Day Wine & Song Series (626) 799-4638
Sponsored By Donati Family Vineyards
1007 Mission St, South Pasadena
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

The Buchanan Arms (818) 845-0692
2013 W. Burbank Ave, Burbank
Corned beef & cabbage and Irish stew

The Broadway Bar (213) 614-9909 
830 S. Broadway, Los Angeles
Will serve well drinks for $4 and a DJ will spin Irish tunes throughout the day

The Edison (213) 613-0000
108 W. 2nd St, Los Angeles
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Murphy Red Irish Beer & an Edison Reuben sandwich $10.00, Player's choice potato vodka drink $10.00, Murphy's Red Irish Beer $5.00 per glass, The featured drink is your choice of any mixer with Irish Potato Vodka, one per customer for only $1.00

The York (323) 255-9675
5018 York Blvd, Highland Park
Will open at noon and service Irish car bombs & Guinness

Trader Vic's (213) 785-3330 
800 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles
11:00 AM - midnight
Green bottle beers $4.00 all day, Green Mai Tai $7.00 all day, Bacon & potato soup $6.00, BBQ corned beef & cabbage $16.00
Smoked Reuben sandwich $11.00, Chocolate orange Guinness cake $7.00

Weiland's Brewery (213) 680-2881 400 E. First St, Los Angeles
Weiland Brewery’s house beer, the Honey Blonde, will turn Ireland’s favorite color for $2.50 a glass

Distress sales in La Crescenta are down from January’s numbers. Although the number of February homes sold declined the price per square foot increased, days on market decreased, percentage of selling price to list price increased.  Inventory remains tight in La Crescenta.  La Crescenta home buyers  continue to be frustrated by multiple offers and bidding wars.

Related Posts:   La Crescenta by the Numbers, 2009 YTD Stats     Pasadena 2009 YTD housing Stats
2010 La Canada Real Estate Statistics good news, bad news        2010 Glendale Home Sales Statistics 

On Thursday, a client inquired about a Burbank home which had been on the market for nearly two months, but just reduced.  We were going to look at it on Saturday but it was sold by Friday.  As daylight hours lengthen it is more important than ever, to quickly look at homes which catch your interest.  My mantra: "Well priced homes continue to sell quickly and often for over asking price."

Your real estate agent's primary function is to secure your dream home.  One of the dilemmas of  being a Realtor is that it can be very difficult to schedule a life. I certainly don’t want to show property for hours, on a child or husband’s birthday or perhaps I scheduled a lunch with friends a month ago, or maybe my mother is coming to visit. I am fortunate that I have two excellent experienced buyer’s agents, and that 95% of the time, one of the Harb & Co. team is available to accommodate our client’s preferred time. 

The real estate fact is that buying your dream home is not a part time job.  If you are serious about buying a home, you and your Realtor need to be available to view homes even if it is not always convenient. The unfortunate truth is that inventory is still tight and many well priced homes sell within the first week. Fortunately for me, Natalie and Lisa, each of us can take a vacation or an afternoon off and our clients will still be in capable hands.

On Tuesday, a friend and I went to Roy’s for their Aloha hour.   Their happy hour pricing is extremely reasonable and I loved my Hawaiian Martini.  What was most impressive was the friendly service.  The wait staff made us feel welcome and appreciated.



Our Los Angeles neighborhoods offer so many unique opportunities to try something different. Last Saturday, I took George’s aunt to a cooking class at Roy’s.   The two hour class is  $45 per person.  We learned how to prepare four items, and after enjoyed the lunch we prepared (actually a feast). The class is in their kitchen, and was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The classes are sold out quickly and a different menu is featured each month.

You might also like: Glendale’s Brand Park, a Great Hike     Living and Loving LA 
The Viking Showroom Lunch     A morning at the Getty 
Los Angeles Spas     Farmer’s Markets – Foothills and Northeast Los Angeles

In April 2008, I conducted a poll on Los Angeles Real Estate Blog regarding the Americana’s initial pricing. I and the majority of my readers felt the initial asking prices were very ambitious for the market.   Unfortunately, the Americana chased the market, each time they adjusted their pricing, it was unfortunately too little too late. Several days ago, Natalie received this email:



Related posts: 3/2008: Glendale’s Americana, Grand Opening May 2008?
4/2008:  Condo Sales to Begin at Americana in Glendale
4/2008: Glendale Americana Countdown to Grand Opening
6/2008: Americana – Are The Lease Prices Being Reduced?
7/2008: Glendale Area Realtors Crowd the Americana Brokers Open House
8/2008: Americana Condos, How Can Caruso Sell Them? 
10/2008: Glendale Americana Condos, Going, Going, Gone? 
4/2009: Serious Price Reduction at Glendale’s Americana
6/2009: Americana’s Pricing and Incentives Continue to Attract Attention
9/2009: Americana Buzz
10/2009: Americana Condo Sales Update 
10/2009: Another Look at the Americana’s Asking Prices

The number of Pasadena homes sold in February remains constant but days on market increased from January. Average selling price and price per sq ft decreased from January.  Distress sales (REO’s and short sales) are up by one.  

Related Posts:     Pasadena 2009 YTD housing Stats     
2010 La Canada Real Estate Statistics good news, bad news
2010 Glendale Home Sales Statistics

I love what I do! Some days more than others but I do love what I do. It is especially rewarding when I can help some deserving soul.

One evening, as things were winding down for the day, Judy called me. Judy was 78 years old and had been referred to me by one of my best clients. Judy had worked long and hard all her life. She was a widow now. She had always paid her bills, had stayed out of debt and had accumulated a couple of million dollars and several nice pieces of real estate. She explained to me that she wanted to buy a condo at the beach, one with beautiful views and spacious rooms but she had run into a problem.

Judy had gone to her Big Name Bank, where she had a long term relationship with her private banker. They had helped her in the past but now that things were “difficult” they told her she did not qualify to purchase her dream condo, even with 50% down! It just didn’t make sense to her, or to me either. We dug in, got the tax returns and other paperwork we needed and with a lot of hard work and a little luck and know how, we helped Judy close escrow about 30 days later. That felt good!

A short time later Jack called me. Jack and his wife wanted to purchase their first home and they too were running into trouble. They had gone to their credit union and their Big Name Bank and had been turned down because he worked for four different school districts as a substitute teacher while he was completing his Masters Degree. They didn’t like the instability of him working four jobs. I thought it showed tenacity and he explained that by having four different school districts available he worked as much or as little as his schedule allowed him. He had a two year history of doing just that so we documented everything and got them approved. They moved in recently to their new home!

Mortgage Brokering can be a very challenging enterprise in today’s world. Heck, anything Real Estate related can be an adventure. But that is just how we look at it, an adventure, one to be embraced with problems and challenges to be solved!



I think if you’re going to do home loans in today’s environment, being a Mortgage Broker has a lot of advantages. For example;

·         A Mortgage Broker has several lenders to choose from

·         A Mortgage Broker can switch from one lender to another if problems arise

·         A Mortgage Broker can compare rates and underwriting guidelines at several different lenders to find the right fit for each borrower

·         A Mortgage Broker often has years of experience (many times having honed their skills at a bank or other direct lender) and can use those experiences to solve problems.

If I can help you, or anyone you know, with a mortgage related question or challenge, please let me know. I have been a Mortgage Broker for 25 years and as I said, I love what I do!

You can reach me at my office at 818-952-2726 or by e-mail at Floyd@bwaMortgage.com
BWA Mortgage

Floyd Walters

January vs. February Glendale home sales comparison:  

Distress (short sale and REO) sales have dropped from 16 to 10; days on market (DOM) have shortened by 3 days.  The number of standard (not REO or short sale) has increased slightly.  Unfortunately the average price per square foot continues its constant descent from October 2009 

Related Posts:   2010 La Canada real estate statistics, good news, bad news     2009 – How much are Glendale homes selling for?
DOM and CDOM