Bidding Wars Are Back for Los Angeles Luxury Homes

A week after Christine Lynch listed her five-bedroom, six-bathroom house in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles for $3.625 million, she had seven offers. Within 10 days, she had a deal—for $225,000 more than the asking price. The all-cash transaction was completed on April 23. “My first reaction was, ‘Wow, I guess we’re really doing this,’ ” says Lynch. “I was really surprised by this level of interest and how quickly it sold.” Bidding wars are breaking out for luxury homes in such wealthy enclaves as Brentwood, Beverly Hills, and Bel Air as an increasing number of buyers bet on rising home prices and investors return to the market. Even properties in need of extensive renovation are being fought over by shoppers who expect...

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Kvetch in May: Why Market Timing Isn't Everything

All hail Memorial Day weekend. In the tradition of my Miami childhood, ‘tis the season to don Crockett & Tubbs white pants and flaunt the right to bare arms. Hedgies and traders clad in Sperry Docksiders bolt Gotham for the leafy, saltwater-sprayed indolence of the Hamptons. The market’s volume dips to a trickle.And so “Sell in May and Go Away” becomes the mantra of choice. Indeed, this strategy has been especially useful over the past two years, with markets rallying to start the year and plunging between the onset of summer and autumn. One minute, the world’s not so bad, come to think of it, and stocks are hitting new highs. Then, with complacency all the rage, another PIIGS-led panic ripples across the pond. Maybe Europe’s...

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The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Stimulus

In early May, at a suburban home in Chattanooga, Cindy Faulkner began unpacking one of several boxes, removing lingerie, blindfolds, massage oils, and dildos to display for the half dozen women gathered. Faulkner is a sales consultant with Ohio-based Pure Romance, the Amway of vibrators, and she was the guest of honor at a party of the sort one might normally associate with Tupperware. Before Faulkner could even finish unpacking, two of the guests began asking her about the Fifty Shades of Grey books, the bestselling erotic romance trilogy written by overnight British sensation E.L. James. Did she have any of the toys featured in their favorite scene, including a tickle and whip (a leather riding crop with a feather on one end), blindfolds, and a set of Ben Wa balls (a vaginal exercise...

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