La Quinta, California

La Quinta, California
Desert Luxury

Desert Luxury Realty

Thank you for visiting my blog. When you choose Mary Williams, as your real estate agent, you are working with a team of seasoned professionals who cater to your every real estate need. Buying or Selling your home does not need to be full of hassels or needless pressure. Take it easy and enjoy the luxury of the desert. I look forward to assisting you with your search or sell of your home. Contact me today!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

2014 La Quinta Summer Golf Tour

May 31 through August 23

Enroll Now for only $69

golfingRecently I featured in my May Newsletter information on La Quinta’s Summer golf. This is a chance to experience many of our great courses throughout the Desert Area. La Quinta Summer Golf is a 13 week program with shot gun starts at 7:30 am, before it gets too beastly hot.
“Course favorites such as Escena Golf Club, Eagle Falls, Classic Club, Indian Wells Country Club, and Desert Willow are part of the tour this year. Tour participants may pick and choose which courses they would like to play. Players may choose to play in either single or team divisions; plaques will be awarded to the top finalists in both divisions at the Golf Tour Banquet on August 23. You do not have to be a La Quinta resident to join the tour, so register today.... and invite a friend. *Guests are welcome to participate for a fee of $15 per week.” For more information and to sign up, go to http://www.la-quinta.org/Index.aspx?page=454 .
golfing schedule



































**all information above is from the City of La Quinta’s website.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Sorry to see you go!!

It’s the worst time of the year … packing up and leaving the Desert. It’s been warm, fun and exciting and did I say WARM? But it’s time to head back to your other house (can’t say “home” – this is your real home) until next season.

However, before you leave, there are some things you may want to do to make sure your home is closed up and ready for summer.

  • Leave large buckets or tubs in each room to add moisture to the interior air.
  • Turn off natural gas off at the main valve.
  • Unplug all appliances, media centers and computers …. Everything. It is amazing how much electricity is still used when something is still plugged in. You’re not there, why pay for that electricity?
  • Turn your water off at the main valve, flushing all toilets and run the water out of the pipes by just turning them on. Don’t forget the showers, either – those hold quite a bit of water.
  • Make sure all the ceiling lights and fans are off.
  • Close all blinds and curtains and make sure all doors are open for circulation.
  • If you don’t put your phone service on hold or have cell phones in the Desert, forward your Desert phone line to either your cell phone or home phone.
  • Enjoy candles? Place them in a plastic tub/tote and place in the refrigerator. You won’t want to come back to melted candles on your tables or shelves.
  • Open appliance doors – add several tablespoons of vegetable oil in the dishwasher and the garbage disposal so seals won’t deteriorate in the summer heat.
  • Turn off the Water heater.
  • Make sure the garage door is unplugged or turned off.
  • Whether you have your air condition unit running or off and all your electricity turned off is up to you. Some like to leave it going set at 90 to 95 degrees especially if there is a stock of wine or hanging art. But make sure it’s where you want it before you leave.
  • Line up a friend or neighbor who stays in the Desert over the summer to pick up any fliers, phone books or other items circulated in the neighborhood. Any of these left, will alert others you are away. Also, see if they or someone else could check the inside of your home every once in a while to make sure everything is okay.
Leaving the Desert is always hard, but it is worth it coming back in the Fall!!
Thinking about a remodel? This would be a perfect time!
Full house redesign or a room - I will handle everything while you’re awayand you won’t live through the stress and mess!! 

Call me today!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Hilltop home views outrank water-front views four to one, C.A.R. luxury client survey finds

Pebble Beach Views La Quinta CACalifornia Association of REALTORS(R) Press Release - May 2014
Vast majority of luxury home buyers purchased home as primary residence
LOS ANGELES (May, 2014) – Even in a state with hundreds of miles of beautiful, sandy beaches, luxury home buyers in California preferred hilltop homes over ocean-front properties by a margin of four to one, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2013 Luxury Real Estate Consumer Survey.”

Forty-one percent of buyers who bought luxury homes (homes priced above $1 million) last year, purchased a home with a hilltop view, compared to 10 percent who bought an ocean-front home.  Hilltop homes even outranked ocean-front homes and ocean-view homes combined (38 percent). Buyers also purchased luxury homes located near a golf course (16 percent), mountain area (12 percent), resort area (9 percent), lake-front (4 percent), and ski resort (1 percent).

The vast majority (79 percent) of luxury home buyers said they purchased the home as a primary residence.  Ten percent purchased the home as a vacation or second home. Nine percent purchased the home as an investment or rental property, and two percent cited “other” reasons.

Additional findings from C.A.R.’s 2013 Luxury Real Estate Consumer Survey include:

  •  One-fourth of luxury home buyers said the main reason they purchased a home was because they wanted a larger home, compared to traditional buyers (23 percent) who said they were tired of renting as the primary reason for purchasing a home.
  •  With luxury home buyers usually being higher income earners, more than a third of all luxury buyers (35 percent) were able to pay all cash for their property, compared to 27 percent of traditional buyers, and 11 percent of first-time buyers.
  •  Luxury home buyers also made higher down payments (30 percent of the sale price) than traditional buyers (25 percent), and as a result had less difficulty in obtaining financing than traditional buyers. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “very easy” and 10 being “very difficult,” luxury home buyers rated acquiring financing difficulty at 3.7, compared to 8.6 for traditional buyers.
  •  While luxury home buyers spent less time looking for properties (five weeks) compared to traditional buyers (10 weeks), luxury buyers looked at more properties (10 properties) than traditional buyers (eight properties) before purchasing the home.
  •  Buyers of luxury properties tend to be more optimistic than traditional buyers, with more than seven in 10 (71 percent) luxury buyers saying they expected home prices to increase in one year, compared to 36 percent of traditional buyers.
  •  Luxury home buyers intended to keep the property for a median of 10 years, compared to six years for traditional buyers.
  •  Fifty-seven percent of luxury buyers were single, compared to 37 percent of traditional buyers who were single.

Luxury Real Estate Consumer Survey slides (click to open):

The Luxury Real Estate Consumer Survey was conducted via email to a random sample of REALTORS® statewide who worked with luxury home buyers. All eligible respondents closed escrow on their homes within the 12 months prior to November 2013.  The survey asked REALTORS® a series of questions regarding their last closed transaction with a luxury client. Access the full report on the survey findings here: http://www.car.org/marketdata/surveys/other/ and view the webinar presentation here: http://www.car.org/marketdata/videos.
Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Survey contact: Selma Hepp (213) 739-8305
All information above is from the California Association of REALTORS®.

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Is it worth buying a Vacation home in La Quinta?

vacation home[social]With “Season” winding down in the Desert and winter vacationers are heading to the colder regions, there may be thoughts of a more permanent vacation home in the Desert.

Here are some things you may want to keep in mind when buying your Vacation home in the Desert:

  • How often will you use it? Will you be the sole occupant or will others vacation there, also? (Warning: Owning a home in the Desert will make you VERY popular with family and friends.) What are the reasonable lengths of stays to make it a viable purchase?
  • SHOULD you purchase your vacation home with others? You may want to ask legal assistance to hammer out specific ownership and owner rights if you do this.
  • How much does it cost to keep this vacation home running – when you’re there? When you’re not? How much does it cost to keep the grounds kept and the pool cared?
  • How much are additional amenities to a property?
There’s a lot to consider when buying a vacation home in the La Quinta area, but SO worth it – especially when the snow flies at home. Contact me today to answer all your vacation home questions!

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