Selling Celebrity

The Sanborn Team was recently the listing agent for a celebrity property in the gated community known as The Summit. A property under conservatorship, the listing and sale were managed much like a probate and subject to court confirmation.

Not surprisingly, celebrity-owned properties, wherever they are and whomever the star, attract abundant interest — from the media, the public and even from other real estate agents. Everyone wants a look inside. People want to know the star’s secrets.

But, as listing agents, our job is not only to get the property sold, but also to protect the privacy of the owner. In this case, that meant assisting the conservator to make the most of the property, carefully monitoring access to the residence, marketing it aggressively and representing the conservator and conservatee in court.

It was a strategy that worked. The property was placed on the market for $2.995 million and sold for $4.2 million.

For publicity, celebrities have publicists; for real estate sales through probate, trust, conservatorship or standard transaction, they have The Sanborn Team.

Visit The Sanborn Team website and call us for more information: 310-777-2858.

Six Good-News Reports

Fires, floods, earthquakes and unrest crowd the airwaves. But guess what? There’s good news out there, too. Here are six examples:

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its first NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) yesterday. The IMI lists “metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in three key economic areas—housing permits, employment and housing prices.” Okay, none of the 12 metro areas listed are in California, but improvement is encouraging!

On a similar note, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reports this week that “August now ranks as this year’s best month for both pending and closed sales around Washington state.” While prices are still down, “Last month’s volume of pending sales was the highest number of mutually accepted offers since April 2010 when the homebuyer tax incentive expired,” the NWMLS reports.

In its August 2011 Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), released yesterday, ISM reports that “Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in August for the 21st consecutive month.”

In case you missed it, last week Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 771, which prevents excess document fees for home buyers in a common interest development, such as a condominium or townhome.

In his press briefing Tuesday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Thomas R. Frieden, said, “we have good news, which is that there are fewer Americans smoking today than in the past.” There were three million fewer smokers in 2010; additionally, heavy smokers are now smoking less.

Finally, The Sanborn Team is hard at work selling homes in Southern California. Probate properties continue to sell at very attractive prices, even when those prices are above asking! Our attentive service and decades of work with heirs, conservators, trustees and probate attorneys gives our clients the solid footing they need to make great decisions.

The Sanborn Team knows how to deliver good news! Browse our website or contact us now at 310-277-2858.