This kitty leads an oh-so-glamorous life ...in Burbank

You can tell from his Hollywood bed that this kitty leads a pampered life in a beautiful crib. Now you, too, can lead this kind of glamorous existence! This guy's digs will be on the market next week.  The home has 3 beds, 2 baths, a bonus office, a huge pool, and lots of the luxe decorator details that any cat or human could wish for.  It comes with a petpedigree, too -- it was the childhood home of a famous movie star. The house will list for $630,000 -- call me for more details or stay tuned.

Great house for cats!

I know you really want another housing economics post, but here's (yet another) post having to do with animals in Burbank instead.  This is 229 N. Beachwood in Burbank, and much of it has been built for the owners' cats.  Actually, the front part of the house was built in 1928 and has the typical period windows, arches and wood floors.  The remainder of the house has linoleum flooring and a fanciful paint scheme.  But the best part for kitties and cat lovers is this: a long cat dining hall, which leads to a dedicated room that serves as a playroom, bathroom and lookout post for the home's pets.  The room has windows on three sides and each window has a perch -- perfect for bird- or other-creature watching. (Am I puffing here? This isn't even my listing.) The house is listed for $490,000 and has three bedrooms and three baths for the humans (or, maybe other pets).  Unfortunately for the pets and sellers, it's a foreclosure.

1429 N. Rose, Burbank has been reduced!

This adorable 3+2 on a huge lot has just been reduced to $479,000.  In case you don't remember, it has a remodeled kitchen, remodeled baths, central a/c and a HUMONGOUS lot -- 8372 square feet!  With a lot this size, you can expand the existing home, build your dream home, add a pool, have a massive vegetable garden (the current sellers got really into gardening) and more.  The house is in move-in condition and this is a standard sale, too!  Burbank homes don't get much better and this price can't be beat, either.  It will be open on Sunday, October 14, too.  Please call me if you'd like to see it.  Yes, this is the home of the famous actress babies Rae and Gus and the two Brazilian kitties!

Thinking about moving to get your kid in a great LAUSD school? Read this first.

This appeared on the editorial page of today's L.A. Times, and describes -- sort of -- the point system that's used to select children for the "better" LAUSD schools.  Yikes! I'm glad that I have cats instead of children.

How can I use catvertising to promote my real estate services?

The burning question on my mind...how to use cats in my advertising?

Foreclosed pets in Florida/Gangs in Chicago

Sad news for foreclosed pets in Florida:

New 'Owners' of Foreclosed Florida Homes: 300,000 Cats

Tuesday, 13 Apr 2010 10:25 AM

By: Julie Crawshaw

Hundreds of thousands of cats roaming beaches in Miami-Dade County, where one in 10 homes are in foreclosure, are living and often breeding in homes abandoned during South Florida’s housing bust.
Professional cat catcher Rob Hammer told justnews.com he estimates there are more than 300,000 feral cats roaming the beaches, and more than 100 cat colonies living in abandoned buildings.

Hammer — who normally takes the cats he captures to local shelters, where about 90 percent of them are put down because of disease — estimates populations are up 20 percent the last two years.

Area hotels and condo sellers are now waging a type of undercover cat cleanup, using Hammer as their main operative.

"Every day I have a different call. I mean, these hotels are now worried about their image. Their beaches are being turned into litter boxes," Hammer says.

At least cats don’t commit crimes. I'll say.

In Chicago, officials say that abandoned houses have become home to squatters, places where gangs and criminals stash drugs, plot crimes and evade the police, The New York Times reports.

The garbage inside attracts rodents (sounds like they need some cats), and the boarded windows symbolize neglect, which has a devastating impact on nearby property values.

Overwhelmed city officials, trying to trace the parties responsible for the dwellings, are facing a challenge unique to this crisis: Complex financial schemes hatched by predatory lenders eager to make home loans have made it tough to trace ownership of abandoned buildings.

© Moneynews. All rights reserved.

Thanks, Dana, for forwarding this.

From ICanHasCheezburger.com

Update June 12: This little guy/lady (or someone that looked just like him/her) was scampering across the top of my patio fence last night. I love urban wildlife.

The World Is Your Litter Box at Trinkets & Treasures

Trinkets & Treasures, a very cool jewelry/accessory/gift shop in Studio City's Tujunga Village, hosted a signing for my husband's book on Saturday. The book is called The World Is Your Litter Box and it's a hysterically funny how-to manual for cats, by Steve's cat Quasi. We sold quite a few books and got to hang out in this great area for awhile. Thanks to Linda, Suzanne and staff of T&T for making this such a success. The book is available at book stores everywhere and also on Amazon.

The World Is Your Litter Box

Happy Passover, humans. This isn’t about real estate but I hope you’ll indulge me anyway. Here’s the cover of my husband’s cat’s new book, The World Is Your Litter Box. It was written by Quasi with minor help from (husband) Steve Fisher and is a wildly funny how-to manual for cats. While it is all-age appropriate, it's not a kids' book. Published by Sterling, it’ll be out May 6, but we received an advance copy yesterday and we’re thrilled. I’ll post book signings as they are scheduled but the first is at the Encino Barnes & Noble on June 12.

The link to the book’s website is above, and Quasi’s blog is http://theworldisyourlitterbox.blogspot.com. Cat blogs are more fun than real estate blogs, if you can believe it. The latest post is the cats’ story of Passover, which is referred to by cats as Purrover.

More Burbank Animal Statuary -- The Cat Edition

Here are more Burbank animal statues! (See previous post on Smokie the Bear). Here's a larger-than-life wooden cougar in a front yard on Groton street. You'll note that s/he has a nice view. And, for those of you that worship the goddess Bastet, you now have a car-mounted graven idol in downtown Burbank! Who says Burbank doesn't have everything?