Real Estate Information

Thousands of people showed up for Fire Service Day events in front of the Burbank Police/Fire Building on May 10 – a much higher attendance level than ever before, according to Burbank Fire Chief Tracy Pansini.

The biggest hit of a day filled with exciting and dramatic demonstrations and exhibits from the city’s police and fire departments, entertainment, a water festival, guest appearances by Lil’ Squirt and Mickey Mouse, behind-the-scenes tours,  and more, was the Fire Fighter’s Obstacle Course. Pansini said people of all ages just couldn’t get enough of it.

“For the obstacle course, we had a charged one-inch fire hose and challenged participants to drag the hose through the course and shoot out live flames we had in windows of a simulated burning house. We gave out really beautiful medals to kids kindergarten through 5^th grade if they completed the course in a certain time frame, although the course was open to everybody,” he said. “It was hands-down the crowd favorite. The line didn’t go down all day.”

Pansini, a big believer in “farming” local youths as future workers and leaders in city services such as the Fire, Police and Water and Power departments, added that he especially appreciated Brad Korb’s enthusiastic presence at the event.

“Brad’s the only guy who does this – showing up at these things, such as the Fire Camp we had for kids earlier this year, and letting everybody know what a great job they’re doing, publicizing our events through the Burbank Bulletin newspaper, and really helping to inform and involve the community,” he said.

The feeling is mutual, according to Korb.

“Burbank is a great city with great city employees,” he said. “I really enjoy talking with Tracy and spending time with him – he has such a positive, uplifting spirit. When you’re around him, he makes you feel good just being there. That our city has people like him in positions of leadership speaks to the things that are best about Burbank.”

The owner of a one-of-a-kind business in Magnolia Park recently learned that one of her business neighbors, Brad Korb, is a one-of-a-kind Realtor.

Rhonda Vigeant, who owns Pro8mm with her husband, Philip, has a close friend in Valencia whose elderly aunt, a resident of Burbank, recently passed away. The friend, who was helping her father settle the aunt’s estate, asked Vigeant if she knew of any good Realtors to help sell the late aunt’s home.

Vigeant recommended Brad Korb. Although she’d never met him, she’d heard of his good reputation, received his Burbank Bulletin, been to a few of his impressive Open Houses, seen his listing and “sold” signs all over town, and knew he was community-minded.

Korb took on the listing, got the house whipped into shape, and had the property sold in short order.

“My friend could not stop raving about how efficient he was – she was very grateful to Brad and to me,” said Vigeant.

The Vigeant’s business, Pro8mm, which has been located in Magnolia Park for 22 years, is like Korb in that it, too, has a grateful clientele. The company exclusively specializes in super 8 millimeter and 16 millimeter film for production and archiving. Professional filmmakers turn to Pro8mm for many things, ranging from scanning and converting small format 8- and 16mm films into high-quality footage suitable for 35 mm theatrical releases, to modifying and renting 8 mm and 16 mm cameras for use by film professionals and film students.

The company also offers high-definition, high-quality scanning and archiving services for old and often fragile 8 mm and 16 mm home movies.

“We’re a professional motion picture company that offers these services to the general public,” said Vigeant. “A lot of people can put their home movies on DVD, but it’s usually of very low quality. We are Hollywood’s preferred archiving specialists because we have cleaning and scanning techniques that don’t compromise the film.”

For information about Pro8mm, call 818-848-5522 or visit pro8mm.com.

Your real estate needs are extremely important – that is why I am as close to you as your telephone or your computer. Call me or email me! I’m always here for you – in fact, it’s my absolute personal pleasure to assist you. I truly love helping people accomplish their dreams, just as I love being involved in the community that you and I share. My Burbank Bulletin recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of spreading good news about our community organizations, and last month, I celebrated my 29^th year in the local real estate industry. Call me and I will bring to you a wealth of experience in Burbank real estate, a passionate regard for giving back to our community, and very personalized VIP service. My number is (818) 953-5300, or you can email me at Brad@BradKorb.com. Call me!

Square dancing and Brad Korb’s popularity have something profound in common.

“The communication and follow-through was fantastic, top of the line,” said Sunshine Vandenberg, describing the experience she and her husband, Frederick, had when Korb sold their Burbank apartment building early this year. “He was always keeping in touch. Whenever there was work that needed to be done, such as tenting, they set it up and took care of everything.”

Likewise, the Vandenberg’s beloved hobby of square dancing is essentially an exercise in communication and follow-through with equally beneficial results, though of a very different kind. The “communicators” are callers from all over the U.S., and the follow-through is in a “square” made up of eight dancers who do-si-do and allemande with fun finesse.

“It’s good exercise, keeps you off the couch, and becomes a great social club that is a lot like family,” said Vandenberg, adding that she and her husband have been members of the Western Weavers Square Dance Club of Burbank for four years.

Though many of the dancers – singles and couples alike – are retired, plenty of the club’s members are younger people with and without kids. All members are welcome to the club’s regular events, which are alcohol-free and very family friendly. According to Vandenberg, classes for newcomers, with or without partners, will begin Sept. 9. For information, call (818) 845-6058 or (323) 660-3328.

The simplest concepts are sometimes the most brilliant. A case in point is the aptly-named Magical Magnolia Park Bicycle Tour, an event that celebrated its 2^nd year on May 24 with an impressive – and impressed -- crowd.  The concept is straightforward: bicyclists pick up “passports” at the event promoting Burbank’s Magnolia Park Business District, get them stamped by businesses they visit during self-guided bike tours, and those with eight or more stamps get rewarded with some nice give-aways.

Last year, about eight businesses participated and a fair number of riders showed up. This year, according to Magnolia Park Partnership manager Gail Stewart, 24 businesses participated and more than 300 bicyclists attended the event, which was held from 3 to 7 p.m.

Even though it was held on the cusp of summer, it may have felt like Christmas to some because of all the fabulous freebies. Gracie Coronado, Assistant Manager of the partnership, said the city gave away bike bags, U-locks, and tire repair kits. Merchants were handing out marvelous goodies as well – everything ranging from aprons, shoe gels, and compasses, to flower seeds and cookies.

“The turnout was unbelievable,” Coronado said. “It’s a great way for people who live in or near Magnolia Park and the businesses that are there to get to know each other and get a little healthy exercise while they’re at it,” said Brad Korb, whose real estate office, RE/MAX in Action, has been located in Magnolia Park for many years.

Korb, a member of the Magnolia Park Partnership Committee, volunteered at the event by handing out guidebooks to bicyclists; meanwhile, members of his Brad Korb Team distributed Tootsie Roll pops and packets of flower seeds to visitors.

Highlights included booths hosted by cycling organizations, tours of some of the businesses, and a raffled give-away of two beach bikes donated by Providence St. Joseph Medical Center.

“I’m not surprised that even though this was only the second time we’ve done this, the attendance and business participation was so much higher,” Korb said. “I think it’s like a snowball rolling down hill – it will get bigger and better every year.”

For more information about Magnolia Park and upcoming events such as the BeBoppin’ in the Park, a street festival and vintage car show slated for Aug. 23, call (818) 238-5209 or visit magnoliaparkburbank.org.

The real estate market cycle is at a point where property values in general have declined in Southern California. The up-side of that is that you might be eligible to have your property taxes reduced as a result.

If you bought property within the last few years, or if improvements you made increased your property taxes over the same time period, I recommend that you look into it! My office has all the forms needed to file with the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor, and we’ll be happy to help anyone looking for comparable values determined by the sales prices of recent homes in their neighborhoods. Call my office at (818) 953-5300 or send me an email at Brad@BradKorb.com to see how we can help.

Wow! Brad Korb is proud to present 1217 N. Valley.  Located on an oversized 8,104 square foot lot with a circular driveway, 2.5 car garage, large storage area behind garage - perfect for RV or boat, covered patio, and awesome deck with spa.  The 1,652 square foot home includes 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, wonderful stone fireplace in living room, central heat and air, and huge formal dining room that could be a den.  This Burbank Unified School District property is priced at $599,995, and is located nearby ABC Studios, Rhino Records, and Warner Music Group.

posted by J. Anderson

Fortunately, the Grim Reaper who visited Burbank High School Tuesday morning, April 29, was only a costumed imposter – though it was genuinely spooky to see him escort a “living dead” student out of class every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.

It was even scarier when a police officer promptly appeared to read an obituary for the lost student, who returned in a few minutes with white face make-up, a coroner’s tag, and apparently no ability to speak or interact with other students.

This was all part of “Every 15 Minutes,” a program reenacted in high schools across the country to warn teens of the tragic dangers of drinking and driving. The program is named for government statistics indicating that someone in America is killed or injured in alcohol-related accidents about every 15 minutes.

All juniors and seniors at Burbank High took part in the two-day program, which included a horrific mock crash scene near the high school, a field trip to Pierce Brothers Mortuary, an overnight retreat at the downtown Burbank Holiday Inn, and a Memorial Service.

Burbank High School Assistant Principal Hani Youseff and Government and Economics teacher Doug Grimshaw, the program coordinator, were pleased with the results.

“The feedback I got back from students and parents was amazing – a lot of people said it totally changed their thinking about alcohol and driving,” Grimshaw said. “The surprising part was that it also impacted the entire school population and a lot of the community. It went better than we expected.”

The program was made possible with outside help from the city police and fire departments, the California Highway Patrol, and the support of local businesses and businessmen such as Brad Korb.

“I know it’s a scary and unpleasant thing to consider, but drunk driving is a problem that must be faced,” Korb said. “I was pleased to see how many in the local community came out to support this program. It will certainly save lives.”

Submitted by Brad Korb

Back in the 1950s, Hugh O’Brian was a full-fledged TV and movie hero – everyone knew him well as Wyatt Earp and other bigger-than-life characters. But a lot of us kids didn’t know that to O’Brian, real heroes were people like Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who’d won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. When O’Brian was invited by Schweitzer to visit the hospital he’d set up in Africa to care for the sick and dying, the actor was honored!

He spent nine days with Dr. Schweitzer and came back determined to help pass on the torch of humanitarian dedication embodied by Schweitzer through a leadership program for American teens, and formed Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership. In the 50 years since, HOBY has helped thousands of high school students apply leadership principles to building a better world for the future.

One of those teens is Burbank High School junior Joe Nerlinger, who was playmates with my son before first grade! Last year, Nerlinger was nominated by a local teacher as a potential attendee for a HOBY seminar for sophomores at Occidental College.  Nerlinger made it through HOBY’s selection process, attended the seminar, and enjoyed it so much that he was thrilled to be nominated to return this year as a Junior Counselor.

But before he could go, he had to find people to provide financial sponsorship. I was glad to pitch in. Joe really puts in a lot of time around the community in volunteer capacities. I’m proud of my son’s friend, and proud to help sponsor his involvement in HOBY.

The world of websites and marketing is moving and changing so fast that it’s a big job just to keep up with it – and Brad Korb works hard at doing just that. He recently attended what he calls a “mastermind conference” on websites, where he learned the latest in website wisdom.

The conference, which featured Dean Jackson and Joe Stumpf, among others, was a real treat because Jackson and Stumpf are very knowledgeable about the subject and often get into some exciting and informative conversations, which are shared with audiences.

“I keep returning to these seminars because every time I do, I learn more about using the worldwide web to help my sellers find the right buyers for their properties,” said Korb. “The web is amazing because when it’s utilized properly, it puts my clients’ listings not just in front of potential buyers in the city, region, or state, but all around the United States and the world."