It appears that the Patterico family will soon be moving from our Marina del Rey condo into a house on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. (Specifically, Rancho Palos Verdes.) Good schools, a yard, and a nice view of the ocean and Catalina. We sign the counteroffer today. Wish us luck.
Pronounced "Patter-EE-koh"
E-mail: Just use my moniker Patterico, followed by the @ symbol, followed by gmail.com
Disclaimer: Simpsons avatar may resemble a younger Patterico...
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Congratulations, PVP is good. Hope the deal comes together for you.
But, some advise from an old mortgage lender: don’t read the fine print too closely, there’s a lot of scary boilerplate in the disclosures. You can ignore most of it, but the remainder can bite you in the rear end. Most folks don’t even read it anyway, but since you’re a lawyer the temptation may be too much to resist.
Now, buyers, sellers, and RE Agents have deep interests in seeing the deal through, but other interests are also involved and are in position to claim a vast array of fees and expenses. You will be astonished at their greed and creativity.
Usually, it all works out, and the gouging isn’t a deal breaker, but if you aren’t willing to walk away, and buy another day, or at least convincingly give that impression, way too many hands will find their way into your pocket. Also, it isn’t personal, it’s the way RE transactions are conducted. Caveat emptor. Best of Luck.
Black Jack (ee9fe2) — 11/5/2005 @ 11:13 amCongratulations, Patterico. What a great area, very safe and excellent for families. Wishing you all much happiness in your new home.
Times Hater (43086c) — 11/5/2005 @ 11:14 amBest of luck to you. Don’t burn it down.
Spoons (68d828) — 11/5/2005 @ 11:35 amCongrats, I can think of worse places to live than PV.
Xrlq (428dfd) — 11/5/2005 @ 11:46 amThanks. We’re specifically going to be in RPV, which is my favorite part of the Peninsula, from what I’ve seen. Good freeway access and good weather. And the neighborhood is absolutely quiet and beautiful, on a hill looking down on the ocean.
Patterico (4e4b70) — 11/5/2005 @ 11:53 amI graduated from PV High in 1972, and my parents recently sold their home next to Hess Park off Hawthorne Blvd. Wonderful view of Malibu to Catalina. I hope you and your family will build as many great memories as my family did.
Heather Chambers (6f6d10) — 11/5/2005 @ 12:07 pmCongratulations!
Pejman Yousefzadeh (c33e98) — 11/5/2005 @ 1:42 pmPatterico:
Congratulations! And envy!
Sachi and I are going to be moving sometime in the next six months; this place is too small. We’d like to get an actual house — Sachi has never lived in a house, only apartments and this condo — but we also want to stay in Glendale.
Alas, a minimal house around here, say 1250 sq.ft., runs over $500,000. That would be very hard for us to swing. So we’ll probably have to settle for a somewhat bigger condo, or maybe a townhouse.
Sigh. Someday…!
Dafydd
Dafydd (f8a7be) — 11/5/2005 @ 2:56 pmYou guys managed that as DAs? There’s hope for me yet.
Angry Clam (a7c6b1) — 11/5/2005 @ 6:58 pmDafydd, a “minimal house around here (Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania), say 1250 sq.ft.,” runs less than $100,000!
That’s why I commuted 66.3 miles, each way, to the Philly burbs, until I found a job locally that pays just as much. You’re a writer; you can write from anywhere.
So, come on up, we can find you a great Victorian house, in a county where we’ve had one murder this century, for a price you can easily afford.
Dana R. Pico (a9eb8b) — 11/5/2005 @ 7:14 pmBest of luck to you and your family in your new home.
Stu707 (7c4f65) — 11/5/2005 @ 9:34 pmAs a regular reader and PV resident I was happy to read about your possible move. Congratulation, hope all works out. We moved to RPV about 2 years ago from Simi Valley (closer to the job in El Segundo) and love it. The people are great, the schools are incredible and it’s probably one of the most beautiful locations in Southern California. Nice to drive along the ocean each morning going to work.
The neighborhood you described sounds like you might be near our location. We are on the South side up the hill from Trump’s golf course. You looking in that area?
Jeff (92aad1) — 11/5/2005 @ 10:37 pmCongrats, P. Life is good to the good.
ras (f9de13) — 11/6/2005 @ 1:17 amThe neighborhood you described sounds like you might be near our location. We are on the South side up the hill from Trump’s golf course. You looking in that area?
That’s where the house we bought is.
Patterico (4e4b70) — 11/6/2005 @ 2:14 amI’ve gotta ask: you have a supposedly full-time professional career, you have a wife and kids, you’ve been looking for a new house, and you’ve managed to keep up a Playful Primate blog, writing every day, something I don’t always manage to find time to do, respond to a lot of reader comments, occasionally beat on the Disgruntled Mollusc, read Powerline and Sister Toldjah and Big Lizards and The Los Angeles Times and comment on them.
It has been a long time since I lived in California; we moved to Maine when I was only 6½ years old, so my memory might be faulty on this. Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, the days are only 24 hours long; is there a chance that the days are about 37 hours long on the Left Coast?
Dana R. Pico (a9eb8b) — 11/6/2005 @ 6:02 amAh yes, my misspent youth was spent on the hill. Lived in Rancho PV (it was unincorporated then) during my high school days, RHHS (now Penninsula HS or something along those lines) class of ’70. Loved it there, I am sure that you will too.
Marv (e5f76b) — 11/6/2005 @ 6:53 amI am envious. Best of luck.
Dana-
The days aren’t any longer, there just 75% more useful (better weather, and more efficient personal production ;-))
Congrats very much Patterico. I’m sure this is quite the thrill for your family.
Re-Dafyyd’s comment, I feel your pain…I don’t know if it’s worse or better up here in NorCal, but our house is a good 1.5hrs-2 hrs from SJ and SF (in Tracy) during rush hour, only 1500 sq. ft. and they’re selling for half a million. Yikes!
Joel B. (568776) — 11/6/2005 @ 7:46 amNice news! I hate to move so I don’t envy you the work you’re about to inherit though.
Dayna (37c317) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:06 amMarv:
What part of RPV did you live in?
Same question for Jeff: where do you live? As you drive west along PV Drive South from Western, do you take the first right at PV Drive East (that’s what we’ll do), or the second main one towards Ladera Linda park (that’s where a good friend lives)?
Patterico (4e4b70) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:11 amI lived near the top of the hill off of Highridge at 29124 Indian Valley Road. I used to skateboard down our street to Hawthorne Blvd.
Marv (e5f76b) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:49 amAt that time the land behind our home was a very large open field where an amature radio operator had an antenna array covering many acres. There were many open fields up there at that time.
I have fond memories of PV, it is a wonderful, beautiful, romantic place.
Hey Patterico, sounds like we will be neighbors. Our tract is called Mediterrania and its the first left as you come up PV Drive East from PV Drive South. The entrance is a street called Ganado right at the top of the switchbacks.
You guys are going to love it here. My wife and I drove to the peninsula every weekend for a year checking out different neighborhoods before we finally made the move from Simi. I think our area is the best on the peninsula. I’m amazed how often the South side is sunny and clear when PVE and the Hawthorne Blvd area are fogged in. Yet we still get the the ocean breezes unlike the North and East side of the hill which tend to get pretty warm in the Summer. Lots tend to be big (10-15K sq feet) so you get some elbow room between your neighbors. The people are great. The peninsula has a reputation for being snobby and I’m sure that’s true in some areas. Not so where we live. Im an electrical engineer and my neighbors are a retired school administrator, a longshoreman, a structural engineer, a GP doctor and a small business owner. Hardly country-club blue bloods, just people who work hard.
I follow local real estate pretty close as a hobby. I probably know the house you bought as we check out most of the local open houses. Email me if you want more info on the neighborhood or just to say hi.
BTW, thanks for all your hard work on helping to derail the Harriet Miers nomination. Funny how the liberals and the MSM are now talking about how conservatives might be “disapointed” with Judge Alito as he has a reputation for strictly interpreting the law instead a political bent. Talk about clueless.
Jeff (428193) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:10 pmE-mail sent. Sounds like we will be close neighbors.
Patterico (4e4b70) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:30 pmCongrats Patrick. My brother in-law just moved there last year and he loves it. He works for Raytheon near LAX and he loves his drive into work along the ocean he tells me.
Allan Bartlett (0d8de1) — 11/6/2005 @ 8:57 pmCongrats!
The wife and I just got back from a house-hunting trip to Louisville, KY where we made an offer on a really nice home out there.
We should hear if they accepted our (counter)offer by today at 5pm.
Christopher Cross (8bd01f) — 11/7/2005 @ 11:36 amChristoper Cross: Just curious, what would $500K buy in Louiseville?
Old Coot (2f7b84) — 11/7/2005 @ 12:08 pmPatterico: Congrats…those photos make the area look awesome. And yeah, where do you find the time…or are there 3-4 of you.
Chris:
My brother-in-law has a 4500 square foot house in Lexington, which he bought for under $500K.
Good luck. I hope it works out for you.
Patterico (2f35da) — 11/7/2005 @ 12:48 pmPVP is the home turf for the notorious “Dirty Underwear Gang” (DUGs), surf punks given to harsh territorial retribution who are tacitly supported by the Palos Verdes Police Department. Predominant around Malaga Cove, Haggerty’s and PV Point, this gang is a long-standing history of intimidating newcomers with violence and vandalism. Frequent victims include residents of Torrance, Redondo Beach and San Pedro who venture into the gangs home turf.
See recent reports in the Daily Breeze (www.dailybreeze.com) for more details.
Jim D. (de1259) — 11/7/2005 @ 1:43 pmOld Coot:
Well, to give an idea, we got 3600 sq ft (counting the finished walkout basement) for $278K
That’s just outside Louisville.
$500K can get you a hell of a lot in KY.
Christopher Cross (8bd01f) — 11/7/2005 @ 3:06 pmWith all of this enthusiasm abounding, when will you be ready for guests? 🙂
MD in Philly (798da1) — 11/7/2005 @ 4:42 pmAwesome place to live! I wish I could pick-up a place down there 🙂
Nick @ HBR (5e5993) — 11/7/2005 @ 10:03 pmCongrats Patterico 🙂
Yi Ling & hubby
Yi Ling (f0ff8a) — 11/8/2005 @ 2:14 amNapa, CA
Welcome to RPV! We’re on the harbor view side. We love this town too. The schools are terrific and there is space to move around. We lived in Mar Vista before and we were stunned when we started going out to restaurants in RPV and DIDN’T have to wait 30 minutes to an hour for a table. Parking spaces are also easier to find in these parts. You will like it here.
Gina (41ce95) — 11/8/2005 @ 2:24 amWelcome to RPV. From your description, your kids will go to Mira Catalina elementary, which is a great school. We live in Portuguese Bend Beach Club.
TomHynes (672604) — 11/8/2005 @ 11:19 amSob….
Will miss my soon to be ex-quasi-nieghbor.
Justin Levine (f341b1) — 11/8/2005 @ 9:26 pmWelcome to Palos Verdes!!!!!
Bruce Megowan (454a4a) — 3/15/2006 @ 9:30 pmMy wife and 3 boys have lived here for 21 years in Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes Estates. My wife is a realtor and I have developed a great website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com or http://www.pvagent.com with a whole bunch of useful information about the Palos Verdes Peninsula (Sports, Parks and Recreation, Churchs, Schools, Arts & Culture, Golf, and much more) and we also have some great information on the History of Palos Verdes (and all of the South Bay Cities) with lots of historical photos) . I think you will find it extremely useful in learning about your new community.
Again, welcome to the neighborhood!
Bruce
Quite true, what an awesome place to live in…I’m jealous!
Golf in Malaga (46241b) — 2/19/2008 @ 9:09 am