His tale begins… “Not so long ago, in a place far away, something very special happened, something that changed Christmas forever”…
and takes you into the magical Northlands where, “there are only two seasons: Christmas and Getting Ready for Christmas”.

Discover how Jeremiah, an orphaned baby moose adopted & loved by Lily, Santa’s favorite raindeer, may “look like a moose” to the herd, but finds that it is not as important to become a raindeer as it is to become
what nature intended, The Christmas Moose.
View the first 8 pages now! (pdf)

Press Release-(pdf)

Visionaries II, the second in the ongoing series of programs dedicated to insight, imagination and ingenuity and presented by Jan Skrentny at the Prime Properties Welcome Center will take place Saturday, December 5^th, 2009 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.

The special guest  will be nine time Iron Man age group champion, Cherie Gruenfeld who will speak about her remarkable athletic career. She is the only woman in the world over the age of 55 to break the 12 hour mark in the Kailua-Kona, Hawaii international event. Cherie did not begin her amazing career until her 40’s. She will also discuss her heart’s passion, a non-profit corporation called “Exceeding Expectations” a triathlon based program to help inner city youth set goals, work hard and “exceed expectations ” especially concerning who they are and what they can become.

The first Visionaries program held November 24, 2009 featured five time National Emmy award winning Production Designer and Art Director, Rene Lagler, a Lake Arrowhead resident. Rene’s program was attended by a sold out house of enthusiastic guests who enjoyed the casual ambiance, fine food, great beverages and intimate contact with the captivating speaker. Rene had video of his numerous design wonders: the 1984 Olympic games, the 100^th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, the Three Tenors Concerts in New York and around the world plus hundreds of television shows and TV specials that he designed and which featured Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and many more household names.

Attendees of the first event like psychologist Dr. Kathy O’Fallon called the Soiree (from the late 19^th century and early 20^th century cultural, artistic and social events) a memorable evening which caused her to reengage her creative muse and start writing poetry again. Allison Banner praised the casual ambiance and the insightful speaker as being inspirational. Questions from the audience were encouraged in the homey front room setting of the Welcome Center. Both before and afterwards, guests interacted with the speaker and discussed ideas in the intimate, warm setting.

Proceeds from the first Visionaries event were donated to the Mountain Communities Hospital Foundation. Proceeds from Visionaries II will be directed to Cherie’s charity Exceeding Expectations a non-profit community youth group.

For reservations which are highly recommended as seating is extremely limited please contact Jan Skrentny at 909-908-8520 or call the Prime Properties Welcome Center at 909-337-SOLD (7653). Cost of the evening is $50.00 per person and checks should be made payable to Exceeding Expectations and mailed to Jan Skrentny PO 2319, Lake Arrowhead, Ca. 92352.

Over the winter, because of the unpredictable nature of the weather, the Visionary Series will take a hiatus. It will return in the Spring when it will host an intimate evening with one of the featured film makers of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival. Times and dates will be announced as soon as set.

Jan Skrentny Presents…

On Saturday, October 24, 2009, 5-time Emmy Award winning Art Director and Production Designer, Rene Lagler will share numerous career highlights and insights with our special guests. This is a rare opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at Rene’s highly acclaimed body of work.

Where are great ideas born? How does a concept become reality? Who creates the future?

Join our host, Jan Skrentny, for the first in a series of extraordinary presentations that take you inside the minds of some of today’s most forward-thinking designers, inventors and innovators.

VISIONARIES - with Rene Lagler, guest presenter
Date: Oct. 24, 2009
Time: 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Location: Arrowhead Welcome Center ~ 26816 Highway 189, Lake Arrowhead, CA. 92352
Seating is limited ~ RSVP Jan Skrentny 909-908-8520
Price: $75 per person donation
All proceeds will be donated to Mountains Community Hospital Foundation
Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from the imagination of Casual Elegance.
Press Release-(pdf)

About Rene Lagler
5-time Emmy Award winner Rene Lagler has been the production designer of more than 2,500 television shows and major events, including awards shows and specials, sit-coms, talk shows such as The View, network news shows, and game shows- the first of which was Hollywood Squares.

Rene designed the 57th Academy Awards from which he won an Emmy; the Grammy Awards from 1983 to 1988; the Emmy Awards; and the Country Music Awards from 1991 to 2006. He was Production Designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and for seven events celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, for which he won an Emmy.

He designed specials and television series for Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, George Burns, Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Barry Manilow, Tony Orlando, and Neil Diamond.

Other projects include The Three Tenors at Dodger Stadium and at the Eiffel Tower. He created the stage environment for Pope John Paul’s Mass in Central Park, the 50th Anniversay of Mount Rushmore and We the People 2000 in Philadelphia. Since 2000, Rene has designed the Capital Concerts for Memorial Day and the 4th of July on the lawn of our nation’s capitol. He designed the Democratic National Convention in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, as well as two Presidential Inaugural Galas in 1993 and 1997.

As a licensed California Real Estate Agent, I can list and sell anywhere our diverse state. But I have no professional standing in Virginia except that I know the questions to ask to help my friend get the necessary information on HOA (Home Owner Association) rules, zoning, taxes, septic systems, water rights, construction codes, historic excavation sites, drainage, and, not to overlook, the best price for the property. Like agents in California, some of the Virginia agents we dealt with were very forthcoming with information while others only answered the questions they are asked.

In my opinion you’re better off with the former.

However, the point of this page is that at the same time I was in Northern Virginia, in Lake Arrowhead I had an escrow closing, two clients wanting to write offfers, another escrow running into some bumps, and one new client wanting to know information on property that had just come onto the market and I had not seen.

As I have written before, Prime Properties is a boutique agency. We have ten agents, all ten of whom I know well, especially their strengths - construction, landscaping, decorating, appraising, contracts, commercial property, repoes, dealings with banks, people skills. I am fortunate that I could pick between them for the qualities I needed most to help my clients even though I was physically not there.

Of course I was on the phone with my clients all the time but when they needed to view a property in person, submit an offer, investigate an inspection problem, get keys after a closing – I had skilled people to back me up; as I would back them up if the situation were reversed.

Where I live the fog gathers thick on the needles and when the wind blows and the tree shakes rain falls.

We call it tree rain. But it only happens on one side of the house; the side that is canopied by the tall trees. One side of the house has rain, the other is dry. Micro-climates not more than 60 feet apart. I can plant and grow totally different flora from the front door to the back door. It’s quite delightful and fascinating.

There are many micro-climates up here. In one area it might be socked in, a mile distant it coule be patchy clouds and a mile further it is sunny.

I like athmoshere and weather - vision altered, light becoming shafts of illumination.

Throughout my garden I have mushroom lights with rounded glass top. At night in the fog the light goes up in straight beams much like those eerie images of the lasers that were shot into the sky where the World Trade Centers once stood.

I have dozens of shafts of light, outlining stairs and pathways that lead far up the mountain side, up to leveled area where I built my grandchildren a tree house. In the fog it is like a light house, high above our home, the gardens and waterfalls, its illumination dimmed and then brightened by a dancing cape of fog.

It’s eerie and magical. I hope some day you’ll get to enjoy it.

Jan, thank you for putting so much time and effort into this project on our behalf. You’ve made what could have been a negative experience into a very positive one. We hope we can continue the friendship we started in the years to come. Merry Christmas. Scott & Debbie Neubert.

But just recently I had another opportunity to demonstrate the value of that phrase. I was referred the home of two doctors from Redlands. They and their family had owned and enjoyed the lake view home for over 20 years but of late because the boys had grown and moved away, the house was not being used. The interior  was in excellent condition but the exterior had a lot of deferred maintenance that greatly reduced the value of the property - peeling paint, wood rotted decks, a dated feeling. Our agents estimated that in “as is” condition the home would sell for under $300,000.

But we calculated that if the doctors would spend money to fix, repair and repaint we could get them their investment back plus a fair amount more. A designer on our staff consulted with them about new colors for the home. We got bids from several builders and I over saw the repairs. In my next post I will show pictures to prove the point - the house turned out beautifully.

The doctors paid $20,000 for all new decks, paint, termite completion and exterior upgrades and before the house went on the market I got an offer of $365,000 for the property. Their $20,000 investment gained them a $45,000 profit in under one month.

Now not everyone has that kind of disposable funds available. But this is absolutely true - most buyers in this market want well cared for homes. Those sellers who are throwing their homes on the market in “as is” condition are lumping their most precious possession along with the banks repoes — also sold in “as is” condition.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression - use it wisely.

Snow depths ranged from three feet in Crestline to over four feet in Lake Arrowhead (the difference is based on altitude: Crestline is just below 5,000 feet and Arrowhead is at a mile high, 5,280 feet — with every 1,000 feet of elevation temperature drops roughly three degrees — thusly the higher the altitude the colder the air and the more snow.)

On Saturday I got a call from clients saying they wanted to come up and view property. I told them that  there was lots of snow and that I doubted if many of the homes had been shoveled out. They said they were okay to climb over snow berms (where the snow plows had piled snow to clear the roads) and trek through knee high snow fall.

And by God, they were.

The group,  myself and six others, in two SUV’s blasted our way down snow packed streets and trudged through deep snow. The skies were blue, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was in the high 40’s. It was a delightful time, even when we had to shovel snow away from doorways to gain entrance. One of the men offered his sweat shirt so we could wipe our feet when we viewed a newly remodeled home that had no entrance mat.

Amazingly, they found a place that they loved: A very rustic cabin with huge views that in the white dressing of the day looked as picturesque as you could  ever imagine.

Afterwards, over a hearty lunch at a local lakeside restaurat, Woody’s Boat House,  everyone admitted it was fun. 

It was fun: Embracing the elements instead of hiding from them. 

Just don’t wear tennis shoes, they get pretty soggy.

In winter my SUVs are outfitted with extra boots, gloves, coats, shovels, towels, powerbars, water and buckets of salt. I can’t guarentee I have sizes for everyone but I do my best to take care of my people - my clients and friends.

When my wife and I first moved to the mountains and built our home, three days after the county inspectors had signed off on the construction, the March Miracle of 1991 occurred. After seven years of dought conditions, 20 plus inches of rain fell, filling lakes and resevoirs, nourishing trees and replenishing underground springs.

In 1991 the mountain communites were shut down for weeks. Power was disrupted for days. Residents were captitive of their mountain homes as work crews struggled to clear main roads and side roads.

By comparison the 2008 storm, almost as great in snow fall, was a testimate to how much better public services have become in the mountains. Power was barely interrupted in the week’s period. Plowing crews kept the main roads open and even the back roads were plowed within the first 24 hours.

The best advice in those situations I can offer to perspective new home owners in the mountains when a storm of such magnitude rolls in is — stay home, light the fire place and enjoy it. There is unparrelled beauty out every window as the world is transformed. With proper clothing and footwear a walk outside will be an event you will long remember.

And if your children and grandchildren can come up to enjoy the sledding and snowman-making… it is beyond comparison. A true delight. 

Their faces light up viewing the transformed surroundings. So does mine. Every time.

There is something significant to say about the change of seasons that so few Southern Californians know anything about.

It’s hard to tell owners who have beautiful homes that they have recently remodeled and taken excellent care of that their homes are worth less than they paid for them in 2005.

Fortunately for the Lake Arrowhead area the price decline has not been as great as in the Inland Empire or in Southern California in general. Our inventory is larger than normal but not glutted; our market is not riddled with bank owned properties or short-sales. 

Still, after all the fees are sorted out (commissions, inspections, cost of sale expenses) they will lose money. These two parties were aware of the market and knew that they had to price their houses well so as to not be “chasing the market” (i.e. pricing too high to begin with and only dropping price as the market drops - effectively always chasing the real value of the property).

My best advice to sellers in this market is “don’t sell.” But if you have to (to relocate, for health reasons, job transfer, etc.) tell your agent you want a price your house so that it will sell.

Too often agents will seduce sellers by telling them their houses are worth far more than they really are. The agent gets the listing and in a month asks for a price reduction. The next month or two there is another reduction. And then another. The seller is always chasing the market.The best way to know what your house  is really worth? Ask the agent to show you well priced houses in your price range. Then ask to see them. You compare. How do these houses stand up to yours? In curb appeal, location, size, quality of construction, maintenance. These houses are your competition. Have your agent evaluate these other houses with your house - the pros and cons or each and how it factors into the pricing.

Don’t get trapped in chasing the market, it’s a great waste of time and value.