Inspiration in Los Angeles

By: Barbara Lipkin

Although many poo poo the printed words of newspapers, I have read some excellent articles recently in the Los Angeles Times. Yesterday on Super Bowl Sunday, Rosanna Xia interviewed Gil Elbaz notorious for co-founding Applied Semantics Inc. This company built technology that connects related online subject matter and was purchased by Google in 2003 for $102 million.

What I found most interesting though, is Elbaz’s perspective on work and motivation. He describes a summer job during college when he sold vacuum cleaners door to door. He discovered that 1 out of every 10 people would buy a vacuum and he earned a $200 commission. He turned that around by saying he was earning $20 for each presentation. Today, he is the founder and chief executive of Factual Inc., a company that aggregates and organizes huge amounts of online data. Obviously he is hugely successful. However, his perspective is valuable for all of us.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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From humble beginnings to a successful hair-care empire

By: Barbara Lipkin

At this time of year, we all think back about what we can do to improve our lives- health, business, family. I was inspired this weekend by an interview in last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times written by Ronald D. White. He wrote about John Paul DeJoria, co-founded and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems. It was educational to  learn about his life. Each time he was fired, he tried something else. In one case, it was because he made more money the first year than the owner of the company. He lived in his car at one time. I laughed when he said one should pick a friendly street when you live in your car. His persistence was inspiring. Among his advice:

• Keep trying
• Don’t give up
• Like your work

What an amazing person with great advice this time of year!

To read the full story go to: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/22/business/la-fi-himi-dejoria-20120122

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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iPad saves Christmas for Westlake Home

By: Barbara Lipkin

A huge number of iPads were sold this year. They were definitely an item on Christmas wish lists. And now they can solve crimes. Those lucky iPad & iPhone owners know they should activate the app to FIND their iPad or iPhone. This tracker helped solve 2 home burglaries & saved Christmas for 2 families.

A Westlake Village resident was awakened by noise at 3:30 AM on Christmas Day.  He spotted the intruder who ran away.  His home had been burglarized & among items stolen was an Apple iPad.  He called the Sheriff’s Station & told deputies the stolen iPad was giving a signal from a nearby house. Not only did they recover the iPad but also arrested the suspect.  He is a resident of Vista who was visiting the area.

Our wonderful  & smart Malibu/Lost Hills deputies and detectives conducted a thorough follow-up investigation, which led them to information regarding a burglary which occurred in Vista, on December 22, 2011. Two flat-screen televisions, a laptop computer, and more than 40 Christmas presents belonging to children were stolen in the burglary in Vista.

They contacted San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies who police the community of Vista.  They conduced a search inside the suspect’s home in Vista.  They found all of the stolen property from the Vista burglary.

The Vista victim began to cry when she was told the good news.“Deputy Brower saved Christmas!”

Using this app on the iPad saved Christmas for two families.  I think that is something to be thankful for – technology can help solve crimes..

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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By: Barbara Lipkin

Lynn Zwerling helps an inmate during her weekly "Knitting Behind Bars" program at the Maryland prison system's Pre-Release Unit in Jessup. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun / October 27, 2011)

Knitting is a wonderful way to relax and enrich your creative side. It is also a great way to give back to your community in terms of donations of baby hats, blankets for foster children, caps for chemotherapy patients.

Now knitting and crochet will be walking the red carpet on the coattails of the Kardashian name. A major yarn producer has entered the keyword name game to sell their luxury yarns. Creative use of trending celebrities is being used to grab attention. Word has it from the BlackStitch that Tahki S.Charles yarns is introducing Kourtney, Khloe, and Rihanna soon. New yarns with hot topic, highly searched celebrity names are sure to be winners with young knitters and crochet crafters. The naming of yarn gets an entirely new meaning for its initial online success, but the proof of the pudding lies in the finish, the way the yarn performs on needles and hooks.

In my mind, Knitting has much more value than having yarn named for celebs.

In 2009, a 67- year old woman started teaching Maryland prisoners to knit as a form of personal transformation. To me, that is a worthwhile endeavor.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Welcome to our new neighbors

By: Barbara Lipkin

Our new neighbors, Rosti in Calabasas opened on November 10th in The Courtyard at the Commons in the space that was once Cosmos. Known for an extensive Tuscan menu ranging from small bites like a classic Minestrone to traditional style entrees like Penne All’Arrabbiata and Linguini Vongole, Rosti seems to fill a need in the Calabasas restaurant scene.

Every time I walk by the restaurant it seems to be bustling. Some friends of mine have mentioned that service is slow, but the management assures this will not remain the case as they are still working out the kinks. The servers are professional and friendly and I proudly welcome them to the community.

The Rosti Tuscan Kitchen has three locations; Calabasas, Encino and Santa Monica.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Can you believe this?

By: Barbara Lipkin

There are so many ways that companies try to sell their products to us – cookies on our computer, commercials on TV and the internet; even sponsors for blogs. Now they are after our dogs. My dogs, Charly & Teddy, do seem interested when they see other dogs on TV. But this is above and beyond. Nestle has designed a TV ad for dogs. They are one of the world’s biggest makers of pet food. They have launched the 1st TV commercial designed especially for dogs using a high-frequency tone to grab their attention. Dog’s hearing is twice as sharp as humans.

The commercial will be screened on Austrian TV this week & features a tone similar to a dog whistle that humans can barely hear as well as an audible squeak like a dog’s toy including a high pitched pink. The dog is shown pricking his ears. Next thing you know your dog will tear out a page from you magazine that shows a dog food that smells like steak so you buy him what he smells.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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The Santa Barbara Zoo

By: Barbara Lipkin

Just one hour away is the delightful Santa Barbara Zoo, formerly A Child’s Estate.

Compact & easy to get around, it is the perfect place to take young children or just stroll around & enjoy the grounds & the animals. When you enter, the baby otters are delightful.
They are playing & tumbling. My little granddaughter, Emma, could not get over their antics. On our way out, they had crashed & were sleeping in a ball of fur.  The giraffes are fun to feed as you watch their long tongues grap the lettuce. The grounds are beautiful & well maintained & a train takes you on a short ride.  In addition, the weather is perfect – our own Riviera. There are special events on the weekends.  Sometimes we forget that such wonderful places are right in our backyard.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Hidden Hills is 50 years old!

By: Barbara Lipkin

The city of Hidden Hills celebrated its 50th anniversary as an incorporated city with its annual Fiesta. Beginning with an outside concert on Friday night, the celebration continued with the parade on Saturday morning.  Among the parade ‘s highlights were the firetrucks, marching bands from Calabasas H.S. & El Camino H. S. & the famous dog walkers headed ny Angel with their large assortment of Golden Retrievers,pugs, poodles & other assorted breeds. The day continued with games, pet contest, bake sale & Tommy’s hamburgers.  In the evening we had the big rides & barbecue. An art show, pancake breakfast & other events completed the weekend.

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Million Trees LA

By: Barbara Lipkin

As we head into the hottest part of the Summer, it makes sense to look for ways to keep cool.  One of the most efficient and eco friendly is to plant trees.  It is usually at least 10 degrees cooler under the shade of a tree. Having a tree to shade your home will allow you to use less air conditioning to stay cool.  If you live in the city of Los Angeles, there is a terrific program to take advantage of. Here is some information I received from a client of mine.

“I just signed up with the Million Trees LA program and thought you might be interested too. You basically get up to 7 free residential trees to plant on your property for free.

The trees arrive in a 5 gallon container and depending on the tree species the height will vary from 3 ft tall to 8 ft tall. Included in your delivery you get 2 tree stakes, 2 tree ties, and 2 fertilizer tablets for each tree. Once you receive the trees you have to plant them on your property (front yard and back yard) not the city sidewalk or parkway (that area is city property and requires a permit from the City of Los Angeles).

This is the current list of stock available for you to choose from, and here is where you sign up (doesn’t look like a sign up form, but just fill it out and they will email you back within a few days):

http://www.milliontreesla.org/mtcontact1.html

They do not give away fruit trees via this sign-up, but they have a free fruit tree giveaways every Saturday at local Home Depots (every Saturday it’s at a different location around LA, limited ti one tree per property address, per giveaway). This month they are giving away various citrus trees. You can check out the dates and locations here:

http://www.milliontreesla.org/mtcalendar.htm

On Saturday 8/27 they will be at the Van Nuys Home Depot @ 7870 Van Nuys Blvd. Panorama City, CA 91402 and On Saturday 9/10 they will be at the Van Nuys Home Depot @ 16800 Roscoe Blvd. Van Nuys,CA 91406.

These are the only two dates they are in the SFV for 2011. Giveaway starts at 8am and they told me that in some locations supply is gone by 10am so get there early.”

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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Click here: Bank of America Donating Foreclosed Homes | AOL Real Estate  Love this

By: Barbara Lipkin

According to AOL:
“Bank of America is donating — and in some cases bulldozing — some of its foreclosed houses, according to Boston.com. The paper reports that the bank will donate 100 Cleveland-area homes located in communities eligible to receive grants from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.”

My Take-

“This is certainly an unusual real estate market.  Now foreclosed homes are being donated or bulldozed.  What about keeping homeowners in these homes during hard times?  That seems to me to the best way to stabilize a neighborhood.  Who takes better care of homes than their owners?  Work with them on modifications or sell them to new homeowners on short sales or REOs.   This blows my mind.”

Barbara Lipkin

Knowledgeable, caring and successful are words that best describe Barbara Lipkin, a Hidden Hills resident and top producing realtor with over 28 years experience. Barbara combines personal concern for her clients with professional expertise to achieve outstanding results in her field.

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