Coming soon in Sherman Oaks - a 3 bed,3.5 bath home with a wine country vibe for $1,850,000

This lovely house is 14840 Round Valley Drive in Sherman Oaks, and it will be on the market next week. OMG, I'd buy it if I could. It's a totally private retreat. You can gaze out at the panoramic view while sitting under your own oak tree (that's Amy, above). Inside, the midcentury-inspired interior features huge windows that open to the massive front yard and yes, the views.  Just about everything has been redone, too.  Now, all you need are a few hundred vines... Check out 14840RoundValley.com for more pictures and come visit me at the open houses next Saturday and Sunday, the 8th and 9th.

14784 Round Valley in Sherman Oaks has sold for full price

This is 14784 Round Valley in Sherman Oaks and it just closed escrow.  I would have bought this house if I could have -- the back area was very uniquely designed and the interior had everything I could want.  The home belonged to my agent and colleague Debby.  The sales process wasn't particularly smooth and the first escrow cancelled because those buyers didn't want to deal with the septic tank. Oh, those septic tanks! The second buyers didn't have a problem with septic tanks, but we had a problem with their agent's "team" of helpers (that will be the subject of another post soon).  But at any rate, onward! Debby and family are now on to a new life.

My clients just bought a home in Sherman Oaks and I learned more about septic tanks than I thought there was to know.

Congratulations to Joe and Amy on their recent purchase of a wonderful mid-century home in Sherman Oaks!  Over the months, we saw every home in Sherman Oaks and Studio City, but nothing clicked.  Then, we arrived at this Sherman Oaks home and it was love at first sight.  It was recently bought and flipped by a celebrity flipper couple; click here for L.A. Times article.  Yes, we had competition, but Joe and Amy really brought a lot of creativity to the offer process and ultimately prevailed.

Did you know that portions of Sherman Oaks' hillside properties are on septic tanks and not city sewers? Neither did I until this sale -- septic tanks are not common in L.A.  So as part of the buyers' due diligence, they had the entire septic system inspected.  And we read reports previously obtained by the sellers. And learned lots and lots about tanks, pits, depth of pits, how often the clean-out needs to happen, care and handling, drainage, etc.  We combed over the findings (the inspection videos are on Youtube, if you are brave enough want to see them).  This is definitely NOT the sexy part of real estate.  At the end of the day, all was well and we all are much better educated than when Amy and Joe began their journey.  The house and view are truly lovely and I'm sure Joe, Amy and their dogs will be very happy there for many years to come.

Yes, I sold this Sherman Oaks home twice in one year. Here's how it happened.

4484 Stansbury, Sherman Oaks just closed for the second time this year.  I was the listing agent both times.  Here's how it happened.  It was a short sale in 2013.  By the time it got a great offer and the (long, long) short sale process was done, it closed at the beginning of May.  The price was $538k and it went out at all cash to an investor (yes, I thought it was low, but that was all the lien holding bank wanted).

The investor rehabbed the house (which was pretty cute to begin with and in good shape) and hired me to list it again.  Hey, I know Sherman Oaks real estate, right?  We put it on the market in July for $799,000.  This is what homes go for in these parts.  And it quickly got an offer like everything else, and sold for $809,000 yesterday.  That's how I came to sell the same home twice in one year.