All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.

Russian Investor Paids $100 Million for Home in Silicon Valley

The $100 million sale of a Los Altos Hills, Calif., home shows how some luxury properties are insulated from the U.S. housing slump.
The $100 million sale of a Los Altos Hills, Calif., home shows how some luxury properties are insulated from the U.S. housing slump.

A Russian investor paid $100 million for a 25,500-square-foot home in Los Altos Hills, Calif., which marks the highest price paid for a single-family home in the U.S.

Billionaire Yuri Milner, 49, who heads Digital Sky Technologies and whose investments include Facebook Inc., Groupon Inc., and Zynga Inc., has no immediate plans to move into the French chateau-style mansion and has a primary residence in Moscow.

The $100-million home features views of the San Francisco Bay, indoor and outdoor pools, a ballroom, and a wine cellar.

The high-price purchase is another sign in the growing strength of the luxury real estate market. Sales volume of homes more than $1 million increased nearly 4 percent in February year over year, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. Meanwhile, sales volumes for homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 have dropped nearly 8 percent.

This marks the highest known price anyone has paid for a single-family home. Investor Ron Baron in 2007 paid $103 million for 40 acres of vacant land in East Hampton, N.Y.

Source: “Home Brings $100 Million,” The Wall Street Journal (March 31, 2011)

For all your real estate needs, call or Email:
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE# 00669941

Trashed House on Market for $1,142,000, Attracts Lots of Offers

Photo courtesy of The Orange County Register
Photo courtesy of The Orange County Register

A once luxury home in Huntington Beach, Calif., is moldy, cement was poured down the drains, and a Jacuzzi tub was left running water for months. But after being listed on the market for less than two weeks for $1,142,000, it has already received five offers. What’s more, two of the offers were “well over” the list price, the real estate agent Tom Moon told The Orange County Register.

Moon says the 3,321-square-foot house was the worst example of “malicious vandalism” of foreclosed homes he had ever seen. Chemicals and cement had been poured down the drains and a floor in the home actually caved in from the weight of a pile of wet clothes and trash. Appliances, sinks, toilets, cabinets, countertops, and flooring were taken from the home too.

Photo courtesy of the Orange County Register
Photo courtesy of the Orange County Register

“This home needs drywall completion and installation of all interior decor,” Moon says. Mold remediation and new pipes have been completed since the home went on the market.

The home went to a foreclosure auction last August but failed to attract any bids.

This time around the home, which is on a cul-de-sac along a golf course in a guard gated community, has attracted plenty of buyer interest. However, getting to the closing table may still be a challenge. The winning bid of the five bids received on the home was the highest all-cash offer with a 2-week escrow period. Yet, shortly after completing inspections, the buyers initially walked. But the deal may be back on, according to the latest reports from the Orange County Register

Source Orange County Register

For all your real estate needs, call or Email:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

Beale Air Force Base Lands MC-12W Spy Plane Mission

The first MC-12 Liberty aircraft lands after its first combat mission in June 2009 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. U.S. Air Force
The first MC-12 Liberty aircraft lands after its first combat mission in June 2009 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. U.S. Air Force

The MC-12W spy plane mission will be based at Beale Air Force Base, bringing hundreds of new airmen and greater economic impact to the surrounding region.

“This should be a shot in the arm for the Yuba-Sutter area economically,” said U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, whose office announced the mission’s placement Friday. “We are so excited.”

With the first plane arriving in May, by July the base will have up to seven of 37 total “Liberty” planes, while the others are deployed elsewhere. The planes fly at low and medium altitudes for reconnaissance and spy missions and are piloted, unlike the Global Hawks also based at Beale.

Brynda Stranix, president and chief operating officer for the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation, said she expects civilian staff supporting the mission could number another 150.

The mission will require 555 enlisted airmen, and Herger said he would expect it will require new civilian support staff as well.

She added her office will target the contractors, possibly as many as 120, who’ll be servicing the planes in an effort to get them to base their businesses locally.

“When you’re talking families, it could be up to 2,000 people who will be coming here as a result,” she said. Over time, everything from recreation to retail will see an increase in demand.

Click Here for the rest of the story from the Appeal Democrat

For all your real estate needs, write or call:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE# 00669941

Nevada Fair Coming August 10-14

Mark your calendar for the event voted as “Nevada County’s Best Event” for 11 years in a row – the 2011 Nevada County Fair, August 10 – 14, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in beautiful Grass Valley.

“Gold! Rush to the Fair” is this year’s theme and we have five days of excitement and fun planned for Fair-goers of all ages.  The Nevada County Fair is the perfect opportunity to enjoy live entertainment, delicious food, carnival rides, animals, and exhibits – in a community-friendly environment and at affordable family prices!

Live entertainment will be available every day at five different stages throughout the Fairgrounds. There’s carnival rides and games, barns full of livestock, thousands of community exhibits, special contests, an Idol Competition, nightly arena events, daily demonstrations, gold panning, and food contests.  As always, Treat Street will be serving an array of delicious food and drinks – corn dogs, pasties, tacos, corn on the cob, beer, tempura zucchini, nachos, hamburgers, funnel cakes and caramel corn – just to name a few!

Long-time crowd pleasing events will soar into the Fair’s arena Wednesday through Sunday, presenting thrills ranging from a rodeo to Monster Trucks to the Demolition Derby.

The Ag Mechanics Auction will be held on Friday of the Fair, and the Junior Livestock Auction will be held on Sunday, August 14.

For those interested in entering competitions and projects for judging, the Fair’s Competition Handbook will be available June 1. At that time, all of the categories, as well as online entry information, will be listed on the Fair’s web site at www.NevadaCountyFair.com.

Gates open each day at 10 am, and close each evening at 11 pm. Admission this year will be $9 for adults, $6 for seniors (65 and older), $4 for children 6 to 12, and free to children five years old and younger.  Additionally, active and retired military, with ID, will receive free admission.

At one of the most affordable fairs in California, take advantage of discounts and pre-sales on tickets, which begin June 1. At that time, there will be discounts on daily admission and carnival ride tickets, and the popular “Be A Kid Again” promotion, with $4 admission tickets for Thursday, will be available. Additionally, Kids Day will once again be held on Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm and during that time all children 12 years and under are admitted for free.

The Nevada County Fairgrounds is located at 11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley, 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, off Highway 49. For directions, event details or general information, visit www.NevadaCountyFair.com or call the Fair Office at (530) 273-6217. You can follow the Fairgrounds on Facebook at “Nevada County Fairgrounds.”

Source:
Wendy Oaks
Publicist Nevada County Fair

 

For all your real estate needs, call or write:
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

Nevada County Snow Pictures, March 25, 2011

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Pictures taken by John J. O’Dell

These are pictures that I took on the way to Grass Valley.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them and view them with Pic Lens which is the best way to see these pictures.

If the does not work for you try this slide show.

Image 1 of 6

We're about to sail off, soon as we start the engines

 

For all your real estate needs, call or write:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

Chase Bank Accused of Breaking and Entering

A couple is accusing banking giant Chase of locking them out of their home and removing their personal property before a foreclosure was finalized.

Banks across the country have faced similar accusations. Lenders have argued they have the right to “secure” vacant properties they’ll soon own, but lawyers say it’s trespassing or breaking and entering when home owners still own the title of the property and the banks don’t yet.

In this most recent case, the Florida couple says they arrived home one night to find the locks had been changed and a sign posted on the window that said the home was being managed by Chase Home LLC. The couple, who said the house was to be sold in a foreclosure sale in a few weeks, say the bank didn’t give them a warning or notice of eviction.

The couple has accused the company’s representatives of removing the home’s appliances and the air conditioning unit as well as some of their personal belongings. Chase says the stove, refrigerator, and air conditioning unit were already missing when their representatives entered the house.

The couple’s mortgage has been in default since 2007, but court cases have prolonged the foreclosure since the couple filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009.

Chase spokeswoman Nancy Norris says that Chase authorized “a vendor” to change the locks on the home after it “determined” the house was vacant.

“Before the property was secured we confirmed that the home was empty,” Norris told the Miami Daily Business Review. “The utilities were turned off … we took photographs on the day we secured the property and the home was in disarray.”

Source: “Chase Accused of ‘Breaking and Entering’ Couple’s Home; Banks Claim They Have Duty to ‘Secure’ Collateral,” Miami Daily Business Review (March 24, 2011)

For all your real estate needs, call or email:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com

Donald Trump Claims He Screwed Gadhafi

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIfSb0EFCf4

 

Donald Trump says his business experience trumps many presidential wannabes – in the realm of foreign policy.

In an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, the bombastic money man said he’s already negotiated with world leaders – including Libyan madman Moammar Gadhafi, whom he rented a piece of land for an exorbitant price.

“I think I probably have more experience than anybody — whether I sell them real estate for tremendous amounts of money,” Trump said.

“I mean, I’ve dealt with everybody,” he added. “And by the way, I can tell you something else: I dealt with Gadhafi. I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for two years – and then I didn’t let him use the land.”
Trump was referring to his allowing Gahafi to pitch a tent on his property when the Libyan leader was in New York for an appearance at the United Nations in 2009.

The leader refuses to stay on high floors in hotels and insists on staying in similar structures when he travels. Gadhafi never ended up staying on Trump’s property amid a public relations flap.

Trump, at the time, claimed he didn’t know to whom he was renting the property until the controversy exploded.

Yet on Monday, Trump made it sound like he knew he was playing the Libyan strongman from the start. (Sounds like he’ll make a great politician)

“I don’t want to use the world ‘screwed’, but I screwed him,” he said. “That’s what we should be doing.”

Trump said Thursday that he would shell out $600 million of his own dough to become President – and dismissed claims that his bid for higher office was just a stunt.

“I have never been so serious as I am now,” he said.

 

Read more: Source  NYDailyNews.com

 

For all your real estate needs, call or email

John J. O’Dell
Real estate broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com