Want to learn about Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. -- Let the Manions be your guide (VIDEO)

(Editor's note: Who knows more about Rancho Santa Fe living than the Manions, longtime residents involved in all aspects of Ranch life since the word Go...Here's a video from their real estate company that, in the words of the cognoscenti such as nguyen chelinh: "Now, that's what I call a good video!" Enjoy.)

Living large with multimillion dollar real estate

Got $28 million?

Then, Shelly Curtis has got the estate for you.

That would be the mega-estate known as Montagna De La Paloma in Fairbanks Ranch encompassing 12 acres and previously owned by the late Joan Kroc.

"I'm one of the buyers' agents for the Joan Kroc House," Curtis said. "People buy the agent before they buy the house. To get the listing takes a little bit of luck, being at the right place at the right time and your being knowledgeable about the area."

The 92067 ZIP code area in Rancho Santa Fe has a mother lode of expensive properties in its flat-out high-end market. As of this month, 73 properties listed at more than $5 million. Forbes.com ranked 92067 as second most expensive ZIP code real estate market in the nation for 2005 with a median sales price of $2.45 million. This was just behind Sagaponack in Suffolk County, N.Y., at $2.79 million and ahead of Newport Beach at $2.39 million.

Topping the local price list was a modest little place at 16337 Los Arboles in the covenant referred to in its marketing campaign as The Ultimate Estate. The $40 million, nine-acre property even has its own Web site, www.theultimateestate.co

Next in line was an estate at 15651 Puerta del Sol, also in the covenant, listing for $36.5 million. The Joan Kroc estate at 17897 Cira Oriente was being offered at $28 million. Rounding out the Top 8 list, all with asking prices greater than $10 million were an El Montevideo estate at $21.5 million, the former C. Arnholt Smith estate on Calzada del Bosque at $18 million, a $14 million estate on Ladys Secret Drive in Del Rayo Estates, a $13 million property on El Camino del Nort.

With Sterling Properties, Curtis noted, as did other agents representing the most upscale homes and estates around town, the high-end homes practically sell themselves although hard work always is required in the end.

"It's harder for me to sell that $350,000 condo to a first-time home buyer than it is to sell a $10 million property," Curtis said. "The high-end buyers come in knowing more what they want."

CACHET DOESN'T FADE

While the highest end homes are caught up somewhat in a general real estate market slowdown, they also have a certain cache that never seems to fade. The $40 million estate at Los Arboles features a 12,889-square-foot main house with six bedrooms, seven full and three half-baths, a nine-car garage, horse training centers — two — as well as catering kitchen, separate two-story guest suite, caretaker house, orchid greenhouse and 50-foot pool.

Financing can be complicated, but owning "The Ultimate Estate" probably comes along with $204,371 in monthly mortgage payments, according to real estate analysts.

Michael Taylor, Andrea Dougherty and K. Ann Brizolis of Rancho Santa Fe are listing agents working out of their boutique estate division for Prudential California Realty based at Del Rayo Plaza. Prudential Orange County estate agents Nancy and Kevin Casebier also are part of the team necessary to move such a large property sale.

"We've had maybe five serious showings," Taylor said. "One person ended up buying a $19 million property in Rancho Santa Fe nearby. The Web site has had over 14,000 visitors, but it's one of those properties where your buying pool is small."

The Web site even includes an eight-minute video regaling the estate's splendors. The estate sale went through a "quiet phase" with lower-key publicizing, then went a bit more public with advertisements in the publications one expects to check for such listings, including a front cover spread in Dream Homes International showing mega-dream homes only $10 million or more, Taylor said, as well as the Wall Street Journal and Stratus Magazine that goes into upscale private airports only.

"We're trying to let the community know we've got one of the high end properties," Taylor said. "Agents need to know how to deal with high end buyers and sellers who are always very successful in what they do."

BIG PRICES = BIG PROFITS (FOR AGENTS)

Any sale can be lucrative for agents. Typically, listing agents split 3 to 4 percent of the sale price, according to Taylor, while buyer's agents split 2 to 3 percent as well. Sometimes, a top agent might luck into being both listing and buyer's agent, Curtis said.

Those trafficking in the uppermost crust of the upper crust of home and estate sales also know it can take some time sometimes to move a property. For one thing, the serious potential buyers must be separated from the general public just wanting to gawk at the fabulous estates. So, serious buyers they must be identified through rigorous financial checks. Then, estates must be prepped and readied for in-depth visits and tours.

"The Ultimate Estate" is the pride and joy of Rick Nicholas and his family. While reluctant to provide too many personal details in order to maintain family privacy, Nicholas agreed to discuss the sale to help acquaint others with the overall process of high-end real estate transactions from the seller's vantage point.

"This is not an immaculate conception," Nicholas said. "You have to open up a private part of your life and how you live when you do this, but it is part of the process. You, and your lifestyle, become a source of speculation, cocktail party chatter. Your kids hear about it at their school. People are always intrigued."

Nicholas bought the property in 1992. He and his family moved in there in 1999. His family put in considerable time and energy over the last seven years developing the property into a magnificent estate. After selling, the plan is to relocate to another Rancho Santa Fe property and do it all over again.

WAITING FOR THE RIGHT OFFER

 "It's not like this is a fire sale," Nicholas said. "One of the really cool things as an owner, you are creating a canvas, your own private resort. The property is unbelievably wonderful, a great place to entertain friends, where you can put up multiple families. It's like another little, very private world."

 Nicholas has been developing such properties for the last decade, including one on the ocean at Laguna Beach he sold before moving to Rancho Santa Fe. Recently, he sold a high-end estate in Aspen, Colo. That property went in two days. The $40 million Los Arboles estate will take longer, obviously.

"We knew it was not going to be a quick sale," Nicholas said. "But even though the chatter is the market is soft and on a decline, our analysis was at a certain level of the market you're selling something that is one of a kind and not so subject to the ebb and flow of market pricing…We know the process could take 12 to 24 months."

The Rancho Santa Fe multi-multi-million dollar properties rank behind the top listed property in the county. That's a $50 million, 10,700-square-foot property at 2808 Ocean Front Ave. in Del Mar with 120 feet of beach frontage, health spa, theater, pool, tennis court, greenhouse and two guest houses listed in July.

July Real Estate Sales Not So Hot:Rancho Santa Fe Down 26.7 Pct. Solana Beach Down 71 Pct...

Buyers acquired fewer houses in July in North San Diego County than in any July since the first Reagan administration, according to data from the San Diego County Assessor. Rancho Santa Fe 92067 had a median sales price of $2.25 million with 11 units sold in July, a 26.7 percent drop in sales. However, home prices rose in 92067  about 23 percent. Solana Beach 92075 was even worse, a disaster actually. Only two  home sold in July, down 71.4 percent  for an average price of $881,000. Del Mar? Cardiff? No change with seven single-family detached homes dold at Cardiff and six at the home of Carson Palmer, Del Mar.

Prospective homebuyers in July worried about national and international economic problems, from a potential U.S. government default to European debt to high unemployment, real estate agents said. Buyers who did enter the market bid low on houses attempting to score deals.

Meanwhile, some sellers decided to wait it out for better prices. Yet others decided to rent their houses instead of selling. But it all added up to a historically slow July.

"It was rough," said Fred Bradley, a Rancho Penasquitos broker. "July isn't supposed to be rough, but it was."

The 721 houses sold in July in North County were the fewest since 1984, down 11 percent from June and 8.7 percent from last July. Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe and Carmel Valley sold 35 percent fewer homes in July than in July 2010.

Normally, summer is a real estate agent's busiest season as people try to make purchases and move before school starts.

The median price fell to $425,000, down 5.3 percent from June and 7.6 percent from July 2010, according to the assessor records.

"I think there's a lot of folks right now that are really concerned about the global economy," said Brian Westre, a Rancho Bernardo broker. "Anytime markets are rocked, they start to worry about their own job."

Overall, North County foreclosures in the first half of the year are at their lowest since 2007; mortgage interest rates are well under 5 percent; and the median price of $425,000 is at the same level it was in 2002, or 33 percent off its 2007 peak.

But prices may be too high for local buyers: Many tried to get deals with low offers.

"The buyers, by and large, are waiting for prices to go down, and sellers are waiting for prices to go up," Bradley said. "We're stuck in the middle."

Some sellers are choosing to rent their houses instead of selling. The house rental market is hot, as credit-troubled residents still need somewhere to live.

"Rents are pretty good. A lot of people are renting their property out; if they have the equity, they do it," said Sharon Johnston Mead, a Vista broker. "I'm not having any trouble renting mine, knock on wood."

Weight loss, how about real estate loss as Jenny Craig cuts Rancho Paseana sale price at Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 

Guess Jason and Catherine Barry can't sell the ultimate in horse training facilities, Jenny Craig's Rancho Paseana. Maybe another real estate firm would do better.

As reported this week, weight-loss guru Jenny Craig cut the price on her Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., equestrian estate to $25 million from $30 million. The property, about 30 minutes north of San Diego, came on the market a little over a year ago.

Known as Rancho Paseana, the property's 229 acres include a ¾-mile racetrack, two guest houses, an olive orchard, five barns and a veterinarian's suite. Also for sale, for $9 million, is Ms. Craig's 3.4-acre gated estate in Rancho Santa Fe. On a bluff overlooking the equestrian estate, that property has a four-bedroom main house, gardens and a private car museum. That's a grand old place. Ah-Ha Rancho Santa Fe News carried the Real Estalker's coverage of this continuing weigh house loss sage. For the coverage, visit here.

Mrs. Craig and her late husband, Sidney, co-founded the weight-loss company bearing her name. Jeff Hyland with Hilton & Hyland/Christie's International Real estate in Beverly Hills, shares the equestrian listing with Catherine Barry and Jason Barry of Barry Estates in Rancho Santa Fe. The Barrys also have the listing for the smaller property.

This is from the previous coverage of the "small" property at Ah-Ha Rancho Santa Fe News. For the full scoop visit here...

 SELLER Jenny Craig

LOCATION: Rancho Santa Fe, CA

PRICE: $8,995,000

SIZE: 10,029 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 full and 3 half bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to the kindness of Sandy Sandiego, Your Mama recently learned that diet plan diva Jenny Craig has put her posh pad in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe, CA on the market with an asking price of $8,995,000

Miz Craig and her deceased huzband/bidness partner Sidney founded the eponymous Jenny Craig weight loss and weight management system in Austrailia in the early 1980s and in the mid-1980s they exported their weight loss wares to the United States and around the world. In 2002 Mister and Missus Craig's lucrative diet plan enterprise was acquired by a private equity firm (MidOcean Partners) and in 2006 the company was sold to Nestlé in a deal worth approximately $600,00,000.

Your Mama does not know how much moolah Mister and Missus Craig pocketed from either transaction, but from the looks of their real estate holdings in the Rancho Santa Fe area, the company and the sale of said company was enormously profitable for the pashas of the low-cal pre-planned meal.

Certainly the Jenny Craig diet plan (or whatever it's called) has helped a lot of people down size their denims but the program is not without critics and controversies. At least one website dedicated to the fine art of dieting claims it costs a person to lose every single pound on the Jenny Craig weight reduction regimen. By the rudimentary calculations of Your Mama's bejeweled abacus, iffin a person needs/wants to lose 100 pounds–and there are an unnerving number of people who waddle the streets and clog up the drive-thrus at Mac-Donalds who need to lose 100 pounds–it'll cost them an astonishing eight thousand dollars.

.....

Embedded Public Relations Dept. Pt. 1 -- 'Iconic Del Mar, Calif. hotel interior remodel under way'

Editor's Note: I would re-write this, but I don't have time, so this is one instance where the PR people won a battle here. I would do more with this actually if...But I digress. The deal here is when I saw this I went STRATFORD INN - ARE YOU F'''IN KIDDING ME! Big time, because I've walked by that place for years and always thought of it as the ultimate in kitschy landmarks. So, to see it is now becoming this even more wildly kitschy 'Hotel Indigo' concept was, I duno, funny or something. That makes this sort of interesting, so don't get too confused by the frames since I embedded their raw copy for the purposes of time management and html demonstration. Enjoy!

-- Dan Weisman, founder/editor Ah-Ha Rancho Santa Fe So What Is News

Real Estalker Celebrity Musings: Liz Taylor, Joan Collins, The Beckhams, Prince and their real estate stuff, stuff...

(Editor's Note: Noody does celebrity real estate information/stalking etter than Your Momma, the Beverly Hills Real Estalker. Her seminal effort on Jenny Craig is a Rancho Santa Fe real estalker classic. It can be found here at:

Real Estalker Comes to Rancho Paseana as in 'Jenny Craig Trims Her Real Estate Fat' 

The Real Estalker had some good ones to share this week including Elizabeth Taylor - her Bel-aire home pictured above -  Joan Collins, David Beckham and Posh Spice, Prince, and the NBC page guy from 30 Rock. We thought you would enjoy. For more of the real deal from the unreal world of celebrity estates check it out at http://realestalker.blogspot.com/

And of course, nothing says what the Real Estalker is in good fun is discloed by Your Momma in her disclaimer, to wit: "The Real Estalker provides entertainment news and information about high-end and celebrity real estate with a little gossip tossed in for fun. Posts are created by culling and synthesizing information from multiple sources including public records, other blogs, magazines, newspapers, real estate listing aggregators and, of course, a slew of sources who almost always choose to remain anonymous. Published content may include inaccurate information and no claims of accuracy by Your Mama can or should be taken seriously by anyone. The Real Estalker is meant to be in the spirit of good fun and we hope it is taken that way. The Real Estalker is not intended or designed to be a map to the stars. It is intended to be a tongue-in-cheek, voyeuristic, online experience only. Your Mama asks that you do not chase down, visit, or disturb any person or property posted here because that would only make you an asshole. Seriously. Additionally, The Real Estalker makes no claims to the value, sale-ablility, structural integrity and etc. of any of the homes we discuss. We are simply sharing our sometimes sarcastic opinions of properties and decor. Anyone who would be influenced in regards to purchasing a house based on some dumb thing we write on this blog needs to have their damn head checked. Additionally, we do not take any responsibility for any stupid things might be said in the comments section and accept no liability for any loss, damage or hurt feelings our sometimes insensitive comments may incur.")

Friday Mish Mash

1. The executor(s) of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's estate have reportedly heaved her house in Bel Air on the market with an asking price of $8,600,000. No official listing has hit the interweb but according to the Wall Street Journal Miz Taylor acquired the gated 1.2 acre estate and the approximately 7,000 square foot ranch-style house in 1981. It has previously been owned by Nancy Sinatra Sr.

The house has 5 bedrooms including a master lined with Dame Elizabeth's signature lavender, the color of her eyes, don'tcha know. The living room has a beamed ceiling and an office was fashioned from a former screening room.

The grounds include a swimming pool, koi pond, hothouse for growing orchids and a terraced English garden.

Your Mama suspects this house will be snatched up by a developer before it ever hits the open market, knocked down and replaced with something more than twice its since. Such is the residential real estate "progress" in the 90201 and 90077.

2. Joan Collins, the lacquered lady best known as Alexis Carrington on the 1980s evening soap story Dynasty, has put her New York City apartment on the market with an asking price of $2,895,000 with monthly maintenance of $2,914.

The 1,900 square foot combination spread at The Dorchester building on E. 57th Street has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, hardwood floors throughout and a lot of 1980s day-core that includes–horror or horrors–black mini blinds in the Barbie pink-colored den, a zebra-striped sofa and ottoman in the living room and–natch–a Blackamoor statue or two.

According to the New York Post Miz Collins had a going away party at the apartment attended by a bunch of old ladies like Arlene Dahl and a gaggle of gays that included Alan Cumming and Bravo's Andy Cohen.

3. According to the Daily Mail Victoria and David Beckham have leased an ocean front house in Malibu, CA to the monetary tune of more than $60,000 per month.

Listing information shows the newly built and boxy contemporary sits on 1.1 bluff-top acres, measures 10,180 square feet and includes a total of 7 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms divided between a main and guest house.

Glass panels open the house to the ocean view balconies, backyard terraces, a 50-foot long swimming pool, spa and shallow lawn the runs to the edge of the steep bluff that tumbles down to the sand.

4. Surely His Purple Majesty Prince has had his people pay the $368,382 past due mortgage payments for a 20-ish acre spread he owns in Chanhassen, MN, outside of Minneapolis. Right?

30 Rock's Jack McBrayer Buys House in the Hills

BUYER: Jack McBrayer

 LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA

PRICE: $1,975,000

SIZE: 2,594 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Emmy nominated actor/comedian JackMcBrayer began exercising his southern-accented funny bone in the mid-1990s with The Second City Theatre in Chicago where he first came into contact with comedy's reigning queen Tina Fey.MiztoobMcBrayerParcelldeMcBrayerTalladegavee

In the early- to mid-naughts, long before Miz Fey's boob-toobjuggernaut 30 Rock ever hit the airwaves, Mister McBrayer created and honed his bubbly, wide-eyed and simpleminded NBC page character Kenneth Parcell on The Conan O'Brien Show. Eventually that character, a quirky half-witted hillbilly who goes to New York with stars in his eyes and a bus ticket home in his pocket, wound up on Tina Fey's tour de sitcom force, a turn of showbiz events that earned him fame, fortune and legions of fervent fans. Mister McBrayerhas also appeared in the films Talladega and Forgetting Sarah Marshall as well as on a number of tee-vee programs including Arrested Development and Phineas and Ferb..

Given that 30 Rock tapes in New York City it seems strange that the Macon, Georgia-born Mister McBrayer would want or need a multi-million dollar house in Tinseltown but, according to our eerily well-informed celebrity real estate whistle blower Lucy Spillerguts, MisterMcBrayer recently plunked down $1,975,000 for a fully-rehabbed residence in the Hollywood Hills above the historic and charming Beachwood Canyon neighborhood.

 The "contemporary" but architecturally unremarkable residence, according to listing information we cajoled from the interweb, measures 2,594 square feet over two floors and includes 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The nearly one-third acre hillside property recently underwent an extensive two-year overhaul during which the hillside at the back of the house was re-engineered and a large retaining wall added that created a flat promontory with million dollar views of the surrounding canyons, the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory and downtown. Say what you will about Los Angeles but living in LalaLand with a view like this house has is akin to living in Chicago with a view of the lake or in Brooklyn with a distant view on Manhattan.

A front-facing two-car garage dominates the narrow street frontage. The somewhat awkward entry to the house is around the side through a see-through gate that swings opens to staggering views and a wide terrace that continues past the front door and wraps around the back of the house. Iffin Your Mama were to have overhauled this house we would have done this front area differently with a walled courtyard entry that would not only provide additional semi-private outdoor space but also a gratifying sense of drama and anticipation as the eye is drawn through the courtyard to the front door and the dynamic and iconic views.

The main living space, a glass-lined living/dining room with powerful city views, connects to the updated and upgraded kitchen through a wide doorway. The honey-colored hardwood floors in the living/dining room run into the cozy but well-arranged kitchen that includes a vintage range, built-in wine fridge, pantry storage, a center work island and flat-fronted cabinets with nipple-like knobs. A day-dreamy corner window that allows the dishwasher to ponder the iconic Hollywood sign as they scrub the devil out of the frying pan.

A bank of cabinets perfect for storing bongs and board games surrounds the staircase to the lower level where a celebrity-sized master suite has a hookah lounge-sized sitting area wrapped in windows with panoramic views. Mister McBrayer's new boo-dwarincludes a walk-in closet and bathroom with double sinks, separate soaking tub, frameless glass shower with multiple shower heads and a separate cubby for the terlit. The walls into which the sinks are sunk in the master bathroom are papered with a shiny silver wall covering printed with over-scaled white flowers. Nobody loves shiny like Your Mama loves shiny so, in theory, silver wallpaper makes us pee with decorative glee. However this particular choice of wallpaper feels a little forced and trendy, particularly when paired with that snippet of electric apple green paint that surrounds the doorway into the closet.

Thankfully, a spiral staircase connects the second level living spaces with the lower level backyard, otherwise Mister McBrayer's pool party guests would be required to traipse through his private quaters in order to get from the kitchen to the pool and spa. A shallow covered patio directly off the master bedroom's sitting area looks like it barely provides any real shade. Pity that because it's damn sunny in Southern California and shade is a desirable feature for all but the most viciously over-tanned. The concrete patio extends halfway around the amoebic glass tiled swimming pool where it abruptly ends and becomes a narrow strip of lawn large enough only for small to mid-size pooches to do their dirty bizness. The strip of grass wraps around the remainder of the pool and the raised circular spa that can both be light in a variety of theatrical colors including lavender. To be honest, puppies, Your Mama isn't entirely positive that the spa is not at least partially visible from a couple of the nearby houses so it may not be the best place for Mister McBrayer to get romantic with whomever it is he gets romantic with. However, if your idea of relaxation is wallowing in a vat of near boiling water like you're a damn carrot in a stew than this is probably a perfectly impressive and glittery spa in which to do it.

Based on a few short minutes of entirely unscientific research and a leg up from a New York City-based editor, Your Mama is pretty sure that Mister McBrayer's New York City crib, a one bedroom and one bathroom condo in a fairly new and architecturally undistinguished building near Lincoln Center, was purchased in August of 2008 for $1,350,000.

Most Profitable Keywords In Real Estate: Rancho Santa Fe Blah Blah Village Homes for Sale...For more from Daniel Beer visit GeekEstate Blog here...

The sign says it all for luxury home sales at Crosby Estate where all the streets are named after classic Bing Crosby tunes.

I have been networking with agents over the last few weeks about marketing their business online.  Despite the fact that they all came from different backgrounds, ages, genders, and just about anything else you could think of, there was one commonality amongst them all, which I find problematic.  Each one of them said their primary goal was to rank for the keyword “San Diego real estate”.

Why do I see that as a problem?  Because I am concerned that they are about to spend too much time and money on achieving a high ranking for a keyword that will not only be incredibly difficult to obtain, but isn’t even among the most profitable keywords available.

Profitable keywords imply an action.  San Diego real estate implies nothing.  It is just a thing.  San Diego real estate for sale implies an action.  People want something that is for sale, presumably so they can buy it.  Component #1:  Action.

It is natural to think that a keyword as broad and generic as San Diego real estate is going to be the most profitable due to the shear search volume.  However, the truth is that the most powerful keywords are far more focused and have less search volume.  They may be something like Rancho Santa Fe homes for sale.  Rancho Santa Fe is one of the most beautiful areas in San Diego County.  Somebody that searches Rancho Santa Fe homes for sale is far more focused in on what they want and therefore far more likely to take action and buy.

But the more focused approach doesn’t end there.  Even better than Rancho Santa Fe homes for sale would be something more focused.  Something like Rancho Santa Fe Farms homes for sale, Fairbanks Ranch homes for sale, The Bridges homes for sale, or Rancho Santa Fe Covenant homes for sale.  These are all individual neighborhoods within Rancho Santa Fe. People that type keywords like these into the search engines know exactly what they are looking for.

Sure, they have far less search traffic, but the leads you convert from keywords like these are buyers or sellers that are laser focused and are just searching to find a relevant resource that they can rely on.  You can be that resource.  Component #2: Laser Focused Keywords.

1 + 1 = Success

Put component 1 and 2 together and you have an ultra profitable keyword formula.  Best of all it is easier to rank for these keywords than any of their more competitive, yet less effective generic counterparts.   Not only that, but because these people know what they want you will end up spending less time showing them around all over town while they figure it out.  Profits and efficiency all at once.  Beautiful.

Build a page for each neighborhood that you would like to work in and focus your SEO toward action oriented people that know what they are looking for.  You will reap the rewards.

Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach, Del Mar home prices drop 16 to 37 percent in February, North San Diego County Realtors Association says...

 Rancho Santa Fe median home prices dropped 16 percent on February compared to February 2010, leveling out at $1.85 million for 11 home sales. Median sales prices over the same period dropped 20 percent to $1.12 million for four homes sold at Solana Beach and 37 percent for 11 homes averaging $1.32 million at Del Mar. Those figures were supplied Friday by the North San Diego County Association of Realtors.

"The median price for all North County home sales – attached and detached – decreased from $360,000 in January 2011 to $358,000 in February 2011," the realtors association analysts said. "Detached homes in North County decreased 6.39 percent from $446,000 in January 2011 to $417,500 in February 2011, the largest monthly price decline in two years."

"The HomDex affordability percentage for all homes in North San Diego County – single-family detached and single-family attached together – decreased to 38 percent in February 2011 from 40 percent in January 2011," association analysts said. "Median days-on-market for single-family detached homes in North County increased slightly from 68 days in January 2011 to 69 days in February 2011."

Freddie Mac’s national average commitment rate rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.95 percent in February 2011 compared to 4.99 percent in February 2010.

The number of sales also dropped, as buyers fell out of escrow after trouble getting loans, real estate agents said.

Inventories swelled, as sellers tried to unload their homes for less than they owed in mortgages and pushed up the number of listings.

AREA DETACHED HOME PRICES FOR FEBRUARY

A roundup of the median sale prices in North County communities, listed by ZIP codes with the percentage from February 2010.

* There was one house sale in Rancho Santa Fe (92091) in Feb. 2010.

NOTE: Median figures can be skewed by low volume combined with the sale of several unusually expensive or inexpensive homes.

San Diego County and California Luxury Home Values Rise Slightly in Fourth Quarter 2010, according to First Republic Prestige Home Index...

Luxury home values increased in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the third quarter, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index by First Republic Bank, a leading provider of private banking and wealth management services.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2010, the Index indicated the following:

• San Diego area values gained 0.8% from the third quarter of 2010 and increased 0.6% year-over-year. The average luxury home in San Diego is now $1.71 million.
• Los Angeles area values rose 0.6% from the third quarter of 2010 and declined 2.2% from a year ago. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now $1.97 million.
• San Francisco Bay Area values climbed 1.5% from the third quarter and were up 3.6% from a year ago. The average luxury home in San Francisco is now $2.6 million.

 San Diego Area Values

Values in San Diego rose for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Ann Brizolis of Prudential California Realty in Rancho Santa Fe said the luxury market is becoming more active. "We had a very robust first quarter thus far. The number of sales has increased, and prices are stable. Since January 1, we have had three closings of $4 million to $6 million. Buyers are realizing that the biggest drop has already happened and there is also good inventory."

However, Chuck Gifford of Prudential California Realty in Rancho Santa Fe said he expects values to continue to soften in luxury communities across the region, even though the market for all cash transactions is heating up. "The pedal is to the metal in San Diego for all-cash buyers. There are buys you just can't resist."

Los Angeles Area Values

Luxury home prices in Los Angeles rose for the first time since the second quarter of 2008.

In Beverly Hills, there are a growing number of buyers, but a limited number of luxury homes for sale. "There is a huge amount of pent-up demand and a very tight market," said Billy Rose of Prudential California Realty in Beverly Hills. "Financially savvy buyers are really looking to buy, but they are constrained by a lack of inventory. Buyers are likely to look back in early 2010 as the bottom, and we're likely to start seeing appreciation, barring any unusual events."

 In luxury beach communities, buyer interest was growing. "December ended on a high note, and right now the market in Malibu and Pacific Palisades looks strong," said Carolyn Johnson of Prudential California Realty in Pacific Palisades. "Sellers are pricing their houses reasonably. Cash buyers are snapping up really good properties at really good prices."

In Santa Barbara, the luxury market was also picking up. "Properties that are well priced are selling fast and closer to asking price," Joanne Schoenfeld of Santa Barbara Living Real Estate Brokerage.  "We're getting more realism on the part of sellers."

San Francisco Bay Area Values

Values in the San Francisco Bay Area posted their third increase in the past four consecutive quarters, although the gains were very modest.

"We're off to a good start in 2011," said David Shepardson of Coldwell Banker in San Francisco. "It is shaping up to be a pretty strong year because of low inventory and the fact there are quite a few buyers out there. It's also apparent very quickly that if the property is overpriced, it will sit there."

On the Peninsula south of San Francisco, the fourth quarter was unexpectedly strong. "In the past two years, we only had two sales over $6 million in Woodside and Portola Valley," said Wendy McPherson of Coldwell Banker in Woodside. "In the fourth quarter of last year, we had six sales over $6 million all the way up to $15 million. All of sudden people have their confidence back."

In the Marin County, the market was also brightening. "This is the year we're going to see a very good recovery," said Olivia Decker of Decker Bullock Sotheby's International Realty in Mill Valley. "We had three months of good sales from December through February. This is encouraging because it is winter, and we're not even in the spring buying season yet. The market is definitely much better."

 About The First Republic Prestige Home Index

The First Republic Prestige Home Index is the first statistical model of its kind customized to measure changes in homes valued at more than $1 million in key California urban markets. Some common features of luxury homes in the Index: 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, three to six bedrooms, and three to six bathrooms. San Francisco Bay Area properties include a cross-section of luxury homes in Alamo, Atherton, Belvedere, Danville, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Lafayette, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Mill Valley, Moraga, Orinda, Palo Alto, Piedmont, Portola Valley, Ross, St. Helena, San Francisco, Saratoga, Sonoma, Tiburon and Woodside. Properties in Los Angeles represent a cross-section of luxury homes in Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Calabasas, La Cañada Flintridge, Encino, Los Angeles, Malibu, Marina del Rey, North Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, Studio City and the West Los Angeles enclaves of Bel Air, Brentwood and Westwood. San Diego properties represent a cross-section of luxury homes in Carlsbad, Coronado, Del Mar, Encinitas, La Jolla, La Mesa, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego and Solana Beach. In producing the Index, Fiserv CSW Inc. draws upon its economic database and years of experience in tracking single-family home values; collects and cross-checks data from multiple sources; achieves a weighted balance of validation elements such as repeat sales, comparable sales, and physical home characteristics; and combines this with First Republic's extensive local market knowledge.

About First Republic Bank

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) and its subsidiaries provide private banking, private business banking and private wealth management. Founded in 1985, First Republic specializes in exceptional, relationship-based service offered through preferred banking or wealth management offices primarily in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Portland, Boston, Greenwich and New York City. First Republic offers a complete line of banking products for individuals and businesses, including deposit services, as well as residential, commercial and personal loans. More information is available on the Bank's website at http://www.firstrepublic.com.

About First Republic Private Wealth Management

First Republic Private Wealth Management is the investment management, trust and brokerage group of First Republic Bank. First Republic Private Wealth Management offers objective advice and fully customized solutions with the same level of exceptional client service that has been the hallmark of First Republic Bank for more than 25 years. First Republic has the flexibility to provide individuals, families, businesses, endowments, schools and non-profit organizations with appropriate choices that responsibly meet a client's specific investment objectives.

Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate Musings: Foreclosure rates, Lennar opens future foreclosures...

(The view above "Sereno at the Lakes Above Rancho Santa Fe." Want to hear the real deal? After foreclosure data.) 

These charts and graphs lay out the foreclosure scene in 92067 Zip-line. Enjoy.

These statistics are only for the 92067 (Rancho Santa Fe Covenant & Area).  Rancho Santa Fe is also considered portions of 92091.

The chart above shows Rancho Santa Fe foreclosures including both Notice of Default and Notice of sale for the last 12 months.  Notice of Default (NOD) is the first public notice that the owner is in financial difficulty and starts the foreclosure process.  Historically this can be filed as early as several missed mortgage payments, but Banks may take months to record the NOD.  The Notice of Trustee Sale can be recorded as early as 3 months from the filing of the NOD.  Once the Notice of Trustee Sale has been recorded the initial auction date can be scheduled as little at 20 days, but many are postponed for up to one year.

The second chart indicates cancellations of auction dates, percentage of homes that went back to the Bank (REO), and those purchased by a third party.  Third party sales are cash investors that are flipping the properties for profit or holding for investment.

The third chart indicates the change in percentage from the previous year on Pre-foreclosure homes or Notice of Default, scheduled for sale, and bank owned properties (REO).

Finally the 4th chart shows the time to foreclosure percentage change from the previous year, time to re-sell on a Bank Owned Property, and time to re-sell on a 3rd party (investor) sale.

Now, on to what we "referred" to as Lennar's future foreclosures. Lennar Homes is opening this deal called "Sereno at the Lakes Above Rancho Santa Fe" for public display on Saturday, Feb. 26.

(Photo above: Lennar's Lakes development is in the upper left corner as a worker touts the ill-fated Cielo Farmers Market just across Del Dios Highway that had a turbulent one month stand last year.) 

Normally, we let the real estate community slide. Heck, we've got many wonderful friends and visitors who are real estate people. It's all good.

However, Lennar Homes knd of went beyond the pale with its press release Friday about this so-called Sereno At The Lakes yada yada. Let's get technical here before we go into the gist of these dwelling that cost around $1 million.

Firstly, what the heck does "Sereno" mean?  We looked it up online. Wait for it. Wait for it.

 

¹sereno

, serena adjective 

sosegado : serene, calm, composed

: fair, clear (of weather)

 : calm, still (of the sea)

--  http://www.aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com

Of course, it was far too close for comfort to...

noun pl. serranos -·nos

a kind of long, slender, very hot chili usually cooked while still green, used esp. in Mexican cooking

also serrano chili (or pepper) serrano chili (or pepper)

--  yourdictionary.com 

So, you want to pay $1 million to live in a kind of long, slender very hot chili usually cooked while still green? Didn't think so. Get a REAL fake name. (While we're on faux topics, those tiny, tiny man-made water holes don't look much like lakes either.)

That's not even the beginning of this outrage. The "Sereno"  development is at Rancho Bernardo actually. They're just calling it Rancho Santa Fe. Strike Two. They're behind in the count.

These homes aren't just behind one gate either. You have to drive through Crosby Estate's gates -- unless you know the secret way in as some do -- and then you drive through ANOTHER gate at The Lakes. That's ridiculous, especially for mere one million dollar homes. Maybe, you spend $2 million, you get two gates.

And as the previous foreclosure chart shows, not really a good time to be buying overpriced property. Not a good time to be rooting around for first-time buyers either, as the Lennar marketeers suggest. So, the Lennar press release with its overhyped sell truly grated.

(And we won't even bring up the fiasco at The Bridges where Lennar had to mix it up with the infamous rogue financier Barry Minkow and his fellow accomplice Nicholas Marsch III. Lennar won that $150 million battle. For more, visit our story at http://tiny.cc/0ay8l. Oops.)

For example, the Lennar press release to wit:

"Lennar is now grand opening their highly anticipated community, Sereno, this Saturday, February 26th...

Filled with exquisite custom-quality appointments and architectural detail, the expansive two-story residences at Sereno are truly spectacular and are attracting new homebuyers who are seeking a luxurious new home environment that also has all the comforts of home...

Secluded behind private entry gates and overlooking a panorama of sparkling lakes and golf course vistas, The Lakes community replicates the finest examples of California's golden age of architecture surrounded by tree-lined streets and riding trails.

The neighboring area presents the beautiful beaches and cliffs of Solana Beach, La Jolla, and Del Mar. Enjoy the Del Mar racetrack or the renowned Torrey Pines Golf Club. And charming downtown San Diego is just a short drive away."

OK, where do we start. "New homebuyers." REALLY? "Exquisite custom-quality appointments." YEAH, APPOINTMENTS, HUH. SOUNDS LIKE WORK. "Secluded behind private entry gates." STIPULATED. "Finest examples of California's golden age of architecture." REALLY. WHEN WAS THAT GOLDEN AGE EXACTLY?

But the kicker. "The neighboring area presents the beautiful beaches and cliffs of Solana Beach, La Jolla, and Del Mar." HMMM...DISTANCE FROM DEL MAR, SOLANA BEACH - 15 MILES; DISTANCE FROM LA JOLLA - 25 MILES; DISTANCE FROM ESCONDIDO - 6 MILES; DISTANCE FROM RANCHO BERNARDO - 0 FEET. DON'T SEE ESCONDIDO OR RANCHO BERNARDO ANYWHERE HERE.

BOGUS.

Get real then. Promotion and marketing is one thing. This is another. We could say a lot more. But we got to get to non-fake stuff now. Good luck, Lennar.

Oh, in case you're still interested: Sereno at The Lakes is located at 16937 Tillage Lane. For further information or driving directions to The Lakes, visit Lennar.com or call (888) 628-1706.

Carmel Valley's Jim "The Realtor" Klinge goes video viral on foreclosures, Pacific Station, Encinitas...

 Jim Klinge -- AKA Jim the Realtor – is a 25-year veteran of the real estate sales business with homes for sale in the San Diego North County Coastal region.

"Yes, I’d like to be your realtor, and would welcome the chance to speak to you. I can be reached at(760) 434-5000, or (858) 560-7700. I love email too; jim@jimklinge.com"

Klinge also has been keeping a daily video blog and frequent updates on the local, and even national, real estate scene. Two recent video entries paint an interesting picture of what's happening this week around town -- Dan Weisman

DRIP DRIP DRIP

San Diego County has 11,750 properties on the trustee-sale list. Are you wondering if the pipeline is being closely managed?  Here are the numbers of foreclosed properties for January:

2008 – 1,621

2009 – 1,133

2010 – 1,285

2011 – 1,111 with one day to go

But the quality seems to be improving, here are a couple more that were recently foreclosed:

PACIFIC STATION, ENCINITAS

The $40 million  mixed-use development at 687 South Coast Highway 101, in downtown Encinitas is now open for business. Nearly 50 residential units are for sale.

With prices from the $300,000s to $700,000s, homes at Pacific Station include a mix of two-story town homes, two-story lofts and single-story, flats ranging from approximately 600 to 2,300 square feet.

All floor plans feature private decks or balconies. Homes also include secure, underground parking and spacious storage units. The single-story flats are offered in one- or two bedroom, one-bath designs from 606- to 970-square feet.

Real Estalker Comes to Rancho Paseana as in 'Jenny Craig Trims Her Real Estate Fat'

SELLER Jenny Craig

LOCATION: Rancho Santa Fe, CA

PRICE: $8,995,000

SIZE: 10,029 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 full and 3 half bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to the kindness of Sandy Sandiego, Your Mama recently learned that diet plan diva Jenny Craig has put her posh pad in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe, CA on the market with an asking price of $8,995,000

Miz Craig and her deceased huzband/bidness partner Sidney founded the eponymous Jenny Craig weight loss and weight management system in Austrailia in the early 1980s and in the mid-1980s they exported their weight loss wares to the United States and around the world. In 2002 Mister and Missus Craig's lucrative diet plan enterprise was acquired by a private equity firm (MidOcean Partners) and in 2006 the company was sold to Nestlé in a deal worth approximately $600,00,000. Your Mama does not know how much moolah Mister and Missus Craig pocketed from either transaction, but from the looks of their real estate holdings in the Rancho Santa Fe area, the company and the sale of said company was enormously profitable for the pashas of the low-cal pre-planned meal.

Certainly the Jenny Craig diet plan (or whatever it's called) has helped a lot of people down size their denims but the program is not without critics and controversies. At least one website dedicated to the fine art of dieting claims it costs a person roughly eighty clams to lose every single pound on the Jenny Craig weight reduction regimen. By the rudimentary calculations of Your Mama's bejeweled abacus, iffin a person needs/wants to lose 100 pounds–and there are an unnerving number of people who waddle the streets and clog up the drive-thrus at Mac-Donalds who need to lose 100 pounds–it'll cost them an astonishing eight thousand dollars.

While our opinion ain't worth squat, the one and only weight loss plan Your Mama thinks actually works is to eat less, eat healthy and get up off your big ol' backside and get some damn exercise. All these porcine people who think they can freeze the fat off their asses or–like that bewigged and deluded Kim Zolciak ladee on The Real Housewives of Atlanta–decrease the size of their colossal cabooses by shining some silly lasers on their muffin tops are just wasting their damn dollars and being made the fool. Eat less, eat healthy and get up off your big ol' backside and get some damn exercise. That, butter balls, is the cold, hard truth on the matter.

Anyoodles poodles, let's get down off our dietary soap box, shall we? Jenny Craig–the company–seems pretty popular with the celebrity set or is, at least, well-known for celebrities being paid big bucks to provide testimonial and push the plan on over-weight non-celebrities. Over the years Jenny Craig's spokespeople have included Fat Actress Kirstie Alley who appears on an endless loop of puffing up and slimming down, former presidential mistress Monica Lewinsky, newly svelte actress Valerie Bertinelli, ladee-luvin' superstar musician/actress Queen Latifah and Seinfeld's Jason Alexander.

  A peep and a poke around the public records reveals that Mister and Miz Craig scooped up their 3.37 acre Rancho Santa Fe estate in May of 1997. The property was purchased from the estate of Pete Rozelle, former commissioner of the National Football League–from January 1960 through November 1989–who went to meet the great quarterback in the sky in December 1996. Rancho Santa Fe is consistently ranked among the top 3 or 4 most expensive zip codes in California and among the most expensive in all of the United States of America.

The San Diego County Tax Man shows The Widda Craig's crib measures 10,029 square feet and includes 3 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms while listing information indicates there are 4+ bedrooms and 4 full and 3 half poopers in the main house. Another two bedrooms located in the 550 square foot guesthouse share, we presume, at least one more terliting and bathing facility.

The property, rather grandly called The Villa, sits on sloping lot in and un-gated community of similarly sized homes in Rancho Santa Fe and is saddled with yearly homeowners fees of $13,126 per year. Many rooms of the Spanish-Mediterranean mansion, circa 1992, and the backyard overlook Rancho Paseana Farm, a 228-acre thoroughbred race horse training facility that Mister and Missus Craig purchased in 1995 and Miz Craig currently has on the market with a mouth drying asking price of $29,950,000. 

Huge wood gates swing open from the street into the first of three gravel motor courts at The Villa. A weave around a planter at the center of the first motor court brings one to the second motor court that has a fountain at the center swings around to the front front of the tile-roofed residence. A sharply curving drive extends off from the first motor court to a third motor court tucked out of site behind the guest house and garage.

 Shallow and gently curved stone steps lead from the driveway to a stunning pair of arched antique wood doors that open into an airy, multi-level foyer with wood inlaid terra cotta tile floors. Just off the front door a tightly curving staircase that Norma Desmond would adore has a series of arched windows that march up the the exterior wall and a delicate and sensuous wrought iron banister. The entrance hall steps down into the 33-foot long formal living room with stone fireplace, intricately carved wood ceiling and a vaguely ecclesiastical carved wood chandelier. The nearby formal dining room with antique wood beamed ceiling and over-scaled parquet flooring that reminds Your Mama of the sorts of nightmares we had as a child where everything was in the puzzling, disturbing and extreme opposite proportion as in walking life.

That kitchen complex includes a butlers pantry, gore-may cookery and breakfast room where a floor to ceiling curving glass window frames the view of surrounding hills. The chestnut colored cabinetry has a carved rope detail that matches identically to the rope detailing on the edge of the granite counter tops, an unnecessary decorative conceit we don't particularly care for. Up above rough hewn beams, down below Mexican paver tiles laid at a 45-degree angle and in between sit two work islands, two dishwashers, full-sized side-by side-fridge and freezer and hand-painted vine and the walls around the arched windows.

Other rooms include a vast, stone floored family room with arched fireplace, built in sunken wet bar, a pool table placed at a disharmonious angle in the middle of the room and a gigantic old-school big screen tee-vee. There are three more boob-toobs in the paneled library/media room that features distressed wood floors, wood coffered ceiling, and fireplace with elaborate carved wood mantel. Lowerd people, who watches three programs on the tee-vee at one time? Your Mama's boozy brain can barely follow one program at a time so we'd wind up in the nut house for sure iffin we attempted to view three programs at one once. Just the very idea causes us to need a nerve pill to manage the presumed stress of an attempt to watch three programs at once.

 The master bedroom suite includes a private study/office and a 29-foot long bedroom with a hand-painted mural on the ceiling, wet bar and private balcony. Both of the huge his and her poopers have separate showers and soaking tubs. "His" facility has a tee-vee mounted up on the wall like it's a damn hospital room and the "her" facility has a fireplace and more wall and ceiling murals that depict nekkid angels and other crap. Listen, cinnamon sticks, Rule Number 62 in Your Mama's Big Book of Decoratin' Dos and Don'ts states that wall murals in private residences must be approached with extreme caution. There is an impossibly thin line between a tasteful and well-conceived mural and an expensive piece of painted poo that represents a lame and painfully thwarted attempt to imbue a new(ish) house with a patina of age and old money. Although some exceptions can and must be made for wall and ceiling murals in houses of religious worship, any mural in a residential setting that depicts cherubs and/or angels shall arouse previously unknown depths of decorative suspicion and deep cynicism.

Miz Craig's property has a fully-finished 4-car garage/car museum with tile floors and tons of track lighting. Mister Craig, in his life, had a small but exquisite collection of historical automobiles, many of which were previously owned by celebrities. More than a dozen cars from the Craig collection were auctioned at Bonhams & Butterfields in August of 2010 including a 1933 Duesenberg convertible previously owned by William Boyd, a.k.a. Hopalong Cassidy and a 1935 Lincoln K V-12 Phaeton President Franklin D. Roosevelt used in California during his second re-election campaign. Mister Craig's collection also included vintage vehicles once owned by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable. Your Mama finds it interesting to note that at least two listing photographs show a Lincoln stretch limousine parked up in the Craig's garage. This leads Your Mama to believe that Mister and Miz Craig actually owned their own limousine which they, presumably, used to ostentatiously schlep around Rancho Santa Fe and San Diego. Having to rent a stretch limo for uppity events is one thing, candy canes, it's another thing to own a damn stretch limo. It's unseemly, really.

Anyhoo, the grounds at the rear of the house include vine shaded terraces, large swathes of very green rolling lawns, heated swimming pool, stone lined circular spa, tennis court and a 1,500 square foot pool pavilion. Your Mama thinks, but is not positive, that the Craig's installed a home fitness room in the pool pavilion complete with treadmill, free weights, punching bag, several other body toture devices and a small hot tub sitting right on the wall-to-wall carpeting, a situation that looks to Your Mama like nothing but a sure-fire recipe for mold.

Your Mama makes no claims to knowing a damn thing about the real estate market in Rancho Santa Fe and/or the value of the Craig's estate The Villa. What we do know from our brief bit o' research on the internets this morning is that the highest recorded price paid for a property in Rancho Santa Fe in the last year (as per Redfin) was $8,500,000 and that, puppies, was for a 21,000 square foot mega-mansion on 9 acres with 8 bedrooms and 10.5 poopers. Make of that what you will.

Has Barry Minkow changed his ways? More on major player in $150 million The Bridges, and many other, disputes.

Earlier this summer, Lennar Corp. in Southern California won a San Diego Superior Court decision in Nicolas Marsch III's allegations that Lennar ripped him off for $150 million in losses during the development of the Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe.

Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt, Jr. ruled several weeks of testimony by Marsch III "did not withstand close scrutiny and cross examination."

Infamous Ponzi fraudster-turned-crusader Barry Minkow very publicly advised Marsch in his allegations Lennar itself ran a Ponzi-like scheme siphoning money from a subsidiary to hide bad debt associated with the Bridges.

Has Barry Minkow changed his ways?

 The short answer is no. Here is the long answer..

As readers of this blog will recognize, we have done our fair share in exposing the writings of Barry Minkow and co.  (On shareholdersunite.com, beginning here, then here, here, here, here, here and Seeking Alpha, here, here and here). Apparently, we’re not the only ones, here is a good overview.

Barry Minkow 2.0
L.A.’s fraud king is back — and taking the media for another ride
A A A Comments (9) By BETH BARRETT Thursday, Oct 14 2010

A quarter century ago, a brilliant L.A. punk named Barry Minkow built a carpet-cleaning business worth hundreds of millions of dollars — on paper. His company, ZZZZ Best, turned out to be an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Minkow had built his phony business by lying to reporters, lying to investors, lying to federal regulators — even lying to Oprah.

But news organizations carried a special dose of blame. They had been so eager for his boy-wonder story that they failed to check even the most basic facts. Instead, they wrote glowing stories, unwittingly propelling Minkow’s phony business to lofty heights, costing investors as much as $100 million.

Minkow went to prison for seven years. Afterward, he sought to redeem himself. He became a minister and a fraud fighter, helping the FBI and starting a company dedicated to rooting out corporate wrongdoing. Heartened by the turn of events, some of the nation’s largest news organizations have been all too eager to do major stories in recent years on the redemption of Pastor Minkow — which is why the truth about him today is so maddening.

Tens of thousands of pages of court records going back nearly two years show that Minkow is again not to be trusted. He is leveling unproven allegations against major companies, driving their stock prices down and profiting by doing so.

A Miami judge in one of those cases says Minkow has no credibility, that he “will lie, plain and simple.” Since January, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been looking into Minkow’s activities.

In an interview with the L.A. Weekly, Minkow acknowledged that he has been a “horrible defendant in the case” in Miami, which is a lawsuit that one of the nation’s largest home builders filed against Minkow after he accused the company of massive wrongdoing. Minkow said the Miami judge is right in “thinking I’m an ass.”

But you would never know about the challenges to his credibility if you rely on the journalists who helped create Barry Minkow 2.0. To their readers and viewers, Minkow is still an upstanding Christian fraud-buster. (Click here for the interview.)

Mark Maremont, a Pulitzer Prize–winning senior editor at The Wall Street Journal, praised Minkow for his fraud-discovery unit and came to rely on him as a source for investigative stories. But after Maremont learned in January that Minkow was once again the subject of SEC scrutiny, he never wrote a word about it.

 In a flattering 2005 profile on 60 Minutes, Minkow detailed how he manipulated the media and even duped Oprah Winfrey. “Nobody knew I was a liar and a thief, but I knew,” Minkow confessed to correspondent Steve Kroft. But several months ago, when 60 Minutes was presented with evidence that Minkow was being deceitful again, producers had no interest in correcting the record.

Similarly, Fox News has enthusiastically served as one of Minkow’s biggest promoters. Minkow appears regularly on the network as a fraud expert.

During a recent interview on Your World With Neil Cavuto, the host aired clips from an upcoming movie starring Minkow in his own redemption story and gushed, “Now you’re a big movie star. … This movie is going to win an Oscar.”

To understand Minkow today, you need to turn back the clock to a garage in Reseda 25 years ago.

There, at his parents’ home, Minkow hatched his original scheme. He impersonated a customer in a phone call to a local television station, raving about a 16-year-old who cleaned carpets between his algebra and Spanish high school classes.

Five minutes later, Minkow said, a reporter called to arrange an interview.

“When the television piece aired, I got addicted to the recognition,” Minkow explained in a chapter he wrote years later for They Thought for Themselves, a book about people who have taken new paths in their lives.

After the television interview, Minkow’s carpet-cleaning business took off — or so he claimed. By 1986, at the age of 20, Minkow became the youngest person ever to take a company public. ZZZZ Best was listed on NASDAQ.... (more)

Your Weekly Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate Market Update

The Bottom Line - While other areas of the San Diego real estate market have seen a sharp drop off in activity over the Labor Day week, Rancho Santa Fe homes for sale have had a very strong week.  13 new Rancho Santa Fe homes going into escrow is testament of a fairly stable high end market right now.  Inventory is still high but there has even been renewed activity at the high end with a $13M Covenant home going into escrow.  There is still discussion in the media about the possibility of a "double dip" in prices, and while this could happen nationally, keep in mind that our Rancho Santa Fe market has been more moderate and hasn't experienced the bump in prices since the Spring 2009 "bottom".  Instead we see the majority of buyers choosing to target the sub $3M price range for Rancho Santa Fe homes and unless this changes then prices will stay level.

Rancho Santa Fe CA homes buyers continue to target communities like Cielo, Santaluz, Covenant and Fairbanks Ranch homes.  The Rancho Santa Fe real estate market had 13 homes go into escrow this past week, 2 of which were bank owned foreclosures.  Distressed Rancho Santa Fe bank owned REO sales are still attractive value opportunities for buyers but are still not dominating the high end market as the perception might be.

Rancho Santa Fe CA Homes New in Escrow/Pending This Week: 

Rancho Santa Fe CA Homes SOLD This Week:

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FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

The Dalzell Group

Prudential California Realty

PO Box 8001

Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067

Phone: (858) 755-7740

Or visit http://tiny.cc/oz9ta

http://www.carmelvalleysandiegohomes.com - Weekly market update for Carmel Valley homes for sale, Rancho Santa Fe real estate and the surrounding San Diego coastal areas. Price trends, Carmel Valley and Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood updates and forecasts. San Diego real estate trends vs. the US housing market in general.

The Dalzell Group

The Dalzell Group is an all-family real estate team that has successfully represented buyers and sellers in Carmel Valley since 1992. Headed by Jim, Ryan and Kevin the team has experienced both good and bad markets and consistently produced results that keep their clients coming back. Selling homes from the $200,000s to over $30,000,000 they specialize in residential, investment and relocation services throughout San Diego's North County.

Rancho Santa Fe luxury home snapshot

Luxury home sales in the Rancho Santa Fe area are bucking the national trend of a downward real estate market.

Rancho Santa Fe home sales this year have outpaced the sales activity for the first half of 2009, according to the Dalzell Group, affiliated with Prudential California Realty.

Some 103 Rancho Santa Fe homes have sold this year, compared to 60 homes for the same period last year, a 72 percent increase. However, prices for the homes dropped 10 percent with many of those homes sold

The time it took to sell a local home increased 21 percent over 2009 to nearly five months, according to Multiple Listing Service data.

Case Study: The Crosby Estate

Crosby Estate, off Del Dios Highway, has had a tough time selling homes, according to sources. However, the luxury development completed just a few years ago appears to have rebounded. Fifteen homes sold so far this year, compared to five last year at this time. What's more, sales statistics showed Crosby Estate homes... (more)

Two detached homes were sold at Rancho Santa Fe from June 20 to June 25:

• The Bridges – 4/5 – 3836 Sq. Ft.  - List Price $2,299,000 - Sales Price $1,925,000
• Fairbanks Ranch – 4/4 – 4636 Sq. Ft.  - List Price $3,195,000 - Sales Price $2,500,000.

Jenny Craig's race horse and hunter/jumper facility at Rancho Paseana, just off San Dieguito Road is now available...for sale that is...Asking price: $30 million.

"Rancho Paseana was originally developed by Gene Klein and his trainer Wayne Lucas, as a PREMIER Race Horse Facility and is presently owned by the Jenny Craig family who have owned it for over a decade. Nestled in one of the largest valleys in Rancho Santa Fe is Rancho Paseana, the largest Thoroughbred Horse Farm in all of San Diego County. Encompassing some 229 all flat usable acres with a seasonal stream and a premium 3/4 mile race track, Rancho Paseana has become one of the finest Thoroughbred training facilities in Southern California." -- Diet Programs Reviewed