Jan Skrentny

This is remarkable because listings (representing a house for sale) are the lifeblood of real estate agents.

The owner is a woman on social security. She lost her husband to cancer two years ago. She has five dogs (four English bulldogs) that she loves and breeds. Her husband was an avid gardener but since his death she is having a hard time keeping up with the garden, the house, even the animals.

In this market a new listing has to be both well priced and well presented; there is too much competition for buyers to think “okay” is okay. I told the widow to make a plan to have the house and yard fixed up, the interior simplified, and an area developed for the dogs to reside when the house is being shown. I gave her the name of a trusted handyman who could help her do some of these things.

We developed a strategy so that by spring of next year the house will be ready for sale. The seller may have to spend some money to make the changes but it will greatly improve the sales potential of the house and the return on her investment will be rewarded many times over.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression – that’s especially true in this real estate market.

Every Thursday morning hundreds of real estate agents in the Lake Arrowhead area get up early to ready themselves for the rigors of…”Touring” otherside known as “Agent’s Tour Day.”

This is the day we go out to see new listings. Often times the listing agent will serve food or have a drawing for dinner, bottles of wine, Angels tickets in an effort to attract agents to see their listing. Why would they do that?

Well, you see, usually, agents sell you your home. You give them the criteria: number of bedrooms, garage or not, on the lake and they make the choices of what you’ll see or not see. Some of the big companies prefer to show you just their listings – they’re big, have big overhead and you get the picture.

Smaller agencies are inclined to show you everyone’s listings. Agents are your gate-keepers of information. And in real estate – information is power.

On Friday mornings some of us tour Crestline listings – that is a neighboring community. There are not as many of us because Crestline prices aren’t as high and therefore neither are commissions. You get the picture again, I’ll bet.

The motto of one agent from a big company is: “I’ll drive anywhere.” And she does. She’s a very good agent. You really want a very good agent to represent you – it’s just finding her or him that’s the trick.

…it’s hard to find these days; nearly impossible in the cities or suburbs.

Maybe you have the special sound-proof room or you just put on the noise canceling earphones and sleeping mask and imagine you’re in Montana.

Well, I can get it for you and it’s much closer. Two hours from Los Angeles, or Palm Springs, or Newport in the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead area, in the San Bernardino Mountains, at the end of a narrow two lane paved road vast vistas of Lake Silverwood, across a stream, onto a dirt road, at the very end is a magnificent home/estate – just under 6,000 square feet with a 1,300 garage on five acres – what started our being a moderate cabin has been tastefully expanded into a rustic estate dedicated to solitude.

You can even walk around in it. Feel the Blue Jays and Chickadees, the squirrels and coyotes gazing quizzically at you like, “what are you doing out here?”  You’ll make the most noise you’ll hear. And when the wind blows through your valley and the oaks, cedars, pines and fruit trees rustle strongly, even your sounds will be lost to the solitude.

Not for everyone, just for the lucky, just under $700,000.

I was playing tennis with some friends at Lake Arrowhead Country Club this morning, about as pretty a tennis setting as you can imagine, surrounded by mountains and towering trees, blue sky… the usual beautiful stuff. It was sunny and warm with a cool breeze and it felt just like summer in Maine. That sometimes happens here in summer, it happens all the time in the fall. Our Indian Summers are sensational even without indians.

My friend who live on Old Mill Road near the edge of the national forest told me today that she had two deer visit her yard. The were out eating weeds by her access road. They appeared to be a male and female and the buck had 4 points on his antlers. They were awesome!

It’s great to hear that we can live side by side with the local wildlife.

WHY THE MOUNTAIN?

I have lived in the mountains for 20 years with my wife Jessica and at some time or another with our grown children who have wandered through while growing up. I have been a real estate agent for eight years. Prior to living in the mountains, I lived in Los Angeles, Washginton, D.C., rural Virginia, Canterbury, England, New York, Rome, Italy and Milwaukee. I also traveled the world for the National Geographic and the Smithsonian. I’ve seen lots of cities, rural areas, cultural centers, isolated communities and historic ruins. I like it here, now.

I live in Crestline, just outside Lake Arrowhead, 60 miles east of Los Angeles and 5,000 feet higher – in a house that my wife and I designed and built (that’s something you can still do up here, after you buy the land).

This is an area of cedars and pines, ravines of dogwoods, no stop lights, small towns, post office boxes and seasons. In fall, trees turn colors and leaves fall. So does snow in the winter, but just some of the time. In the spring there are glorious explosions of color from trees in bloom and fields of daffodils. Mid-summer temperatures are in the 80’s at the highest – it’s 18 degrees hotter in San Bernardino (temperatures decrease 3 degrees per 1,000 feet of altitude) and 22 degrees plus in Palm Springs. Our 85 is 107 in PS.

REALITY CHECK

We’ve had two forest fires in the last four years. I’m sure you’ve seen them on TV. My wife and I have evacuated both times and both times we returned to find our house safe and sound. But there were people who did lose their homes.

ARE WE CRAZY TO LIVE HERE?

Live in nature? Amidst trees that could burn? With deer, bear, raccoons, coyotes, blue jays and humming birds all around you? Hell, aren’t they dangerous?

All of California is dangerous. Most Americas think its crazy to live here. I’m from Milwaukee, believe me, I’ve heard it repeatedly from relatives.

Malibu burns regularly. If a major earthquake strikes, like Northridge or Oakland, both in the last 15 years, buildings and freeways will flatten. In the mountain there’s a 5,000 foot buffer of granite, a two point better Richter scale chance of survival. When we lived on the beach in Playa Del Rey in LA, our house flooded twice in three years, waves rolling over 100 years of beach to pound the glass sliding doors which in time did buckle.

If global warming is real, LA’s underwater and I’m living on an island.

Still, one of the biggest dangers in California is real estate prices. Admit it, few can afford San Diego or Brentwood. No one can afford oceanfront any more. You dream of beauty, vistas, privacy and quiet. Can’t afford it – try the mountains.

Because of the recent fires, you can get more for your dollar than you could ever imagine other than in — Oklahoma.