Pat Hale Discovering Seal Beach

Saturday at the Old Town Gallery the Koinonia Family Fundraiser raised over $2000.00 in donations. It was a great time with raffle prizes, silent auction and even live music with Rudie Dane.   If you missed the party and want to donate to the foster care program please call 877- Childs Hope or see their web site at www.kfh.org.

The Holiday Parade in Old Town Seal Beach will be on Friday, December 5th this year.  Most locals set up early along Main Street with chairs and blankets to save their spot.  It is a lot of fun for Old Town.  It is not at all  like the Rose Parade or the Macy Parade.  It is just a fun, old home style of parade.  It has some high school bands, girl and boy scouts, local merchants, etc.  To see who is going to be in the Parade, a list is usually posted in the Sun Newspaper a week before the Parade.

The younger Ghost and Gob-lens in Old Town will be hitting the streets of Seal Beach, Friday, October 31, from 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.  It is really a lot of fun to give out goodies and to see all of the great costumes the families create.  Be sure to stop by my Real Estate office at 311 Main Street Suite 16 for a treat.

Residents in Seal Beach have been trying to the issue of how high to build a house.  It is now on the ballot as Measure Z.  The Long Beach Telegram has an article on this ballot measure in a recent article.  http://tinyurl.com/6mcrph

The measure affects only the Old Town area of Seal Beach.

According to www.dqnews.com, September sales in the Southland were up almost 6% from August and up more than 65% from one year ago.  Here are some statistics for our local area.

In Seal Beach the median sales price was $762K, up 4.2% from one year ago. The average per square foot was $567.

For comparison purposes, in the Belmont Shore (we used zip code 90803) the median sales price was $1,200K, up 15.9% from one year ago. The average per square foot was $459.

The prices are up in our area over a year ago and the average per square foot is better in Seal Beach and down a little in Belmont Shore.

To see a list of available homes in Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Belmont Shore, and the general area be sure to visit my website at www.pathaleonline.com.

Contributed article

I’ve always wanted to rank the eating establishments in Old Town Seal Beach except I could never find a way to do so without going broke or looking like Alfred Hitchcock’s profile. 

I decided to use YELP (www.yelp.com).  I used the number of reviews of the Old Town eating establishments.  I multiplied that number by the average rating to come up with the total points (rounded).

So here are the top 10 Old Town restaurants (based on data from YELP).

328 Koi Sushi Restaurants (82 reviews, average 4.0)

308 Beachwood BBQ (77 reviews, average 4.0) 

270 Nick’s Deli (60 reviews, average 4.5) 

184 Walt’s Wharf (46 reviews, average 4.0) 

156 Mahe (39 reviews, average 4.0) 

108 Slice of New York Pizza (24 reviews, average 4.5) 

84 O’Malley’s On Main (24 reviews, average 3.5) 

76 Rivers End (19 reviews, average 4.0) 

70 Angelo’s Italian Deli (14 reviews, average 5.0) 

52 Ruby’s (15 reviews, average 3.5) 

Using the number of reviews is a fair way to build this list.  Why don’t you try to establish your own list?  After you do, you can submit it along with a photo of your profile.

Thanks, Pat, for letting me submit this list to your blog.  And I know your website is www.pathaleonline.com where you also show lots of other interesting information about Seal Beach, especially the Old Town area.

The purpose of the event is to “spread more love in the world”. The entire 5 kilometer route (3 miles) is decorated with hundreds of inspiring quotes, all of them hand-made. You can also expect to find interactive activities along the walk route.

What’s more is that it is entirely free with free snacks, free T-shirt, and live entertainment.

When: Saturday, October 18 2008, 9:00am – 1:00pm

There was an article in the Press Telegram ( http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/ci_10680860 ) about the Anderson Art Gallery in Sunset Beach.  Owned by Bill Anderson, the gallery features Anderson’s efforts to preserve images of Sunset Beach as it was in the 1960’s.  Other works contrast the old and new Sunset Beach.  The gallery shows works by other artists, too.

The gallery is open only on Friday through Sunday (other times by appointment only).

After all of the bad publicity regarding the housing industry, I decided I was curious about home pricing in the Seal Beach area of Old Town over the past 10 years.  So, I did some research myself with the help of the Tempo System, the system most realtors use in Southern Calilfornia since July of 1998.  This is what I found out.

SEAL BEACH SALES FROM 1998 – 2008

YEAR            #UNITS SOLD             LOW PRICE                     HIGH PRICE

2008              40                             $673,000                     $5,500,000 

2007              52                             $786,000                     $8,000,000  

2006              68                             $795,000                     $5,200,000

2005              82                              $556,000                    $4,000,000  

2004              74                              $470,000                    $3,500,000

2003              74                              $549,000                    $4,300,000

2002              74                               $350,000                  $1,575,000

2001              59                              $350,000                   $1,700,000

2000              64                              $255,000                   $3,800,000

1999             101                             $250,000                  $2,071,173

1998              27                              $279,000                   $650,000

Looks like there is never too much activity in Seal Beach Old Town.  By the prices everyone should of bought in 1999.  But if you didn’t maybe you should buy now.  Give me a call so I can e-mail you free the most current activity in Old Town Seal Beach, Belmont Shores, Naples or Huntington Beach.

Thank you to all of the local charities and sponsors of community events.   Since I opened my own office, I am approached almost daily by one or the other, so I am extending an offer of donation.

As I do with all of my friends and clients, from any joint real estate transaction or referral  of a client for a purchase or listing, upon the successful closing, I will be happy to donate 10% of my gross commission to your Foundation or local event.

I look forward to serving you and your friends along with helping your charities and events.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at any time.

Pat Hale  (562)773-3919