Journal
The Desert, Understood.
Market data, buyer’s guides and the things that decide desert ownership.
What this is for
Most real estate writing tells you a place is beautiful. This is for the questions underneath: what an association fee actually covers, whether the land is yours or leased, why two homes at the same price in the same community are not the same purchase, and what a price reduction really means. Every figure here comes from the MLS or a named report and carries the date it was pulled. Where we do not know something, we say so.
Market data
Updated monthly from the MLS. What sold, at what price, and how long it took.
Desert Living
The July market read city by city, why one Indian Wells statistic is never enough, and where to go when it is 112 degrees outside.
Coachella Valley market reports
Current figures across the Valley's private communities.
Community market snapshots
Each guide carries its own MLS table: inventory, median price, days on market and sale to list ratio.
Buying
For buyers deciding where, and what to look for once they have.
La Quinta or Indian Wells?
The two cities walked through month by month. The differences that shape ownership appear across the full year, not during a February showing.
Toscana or The Reserve?
Two Indian Wells clubs three miles apart. Twenty two sales in six months against six. One is a market, the other is a waiting list with a view.
The Hideaway or The Citrus?
The same question one level down, comparing two communities rather than two cities.
The private communities of La Quinta
Six full buyer's guides covering membership, orientation, pricing and what decides value.
Ask Laurie & Cailin
Fifteen questions buyers and sellers ask most, answered with current figures.
Relocating to the Coachella Valley
Property tax, Mello Roos, HOA structures, seasonal utilities, schools and air service. In progress
Short term rental eligibility in La Quinta
The 2021 permit ban, which developments are exempt, the homeshare and Large Lot routes, and why association rules matter as much as City rules.
What ownership actually involves
The questions that decide whether a desert home works, and that almost nobody answers properly.
What your budget buys
What $2 million, $3 million and $5 million actually reach across ten private communities. Two million is entry level at one and does not reach another four miles away.
Short term rental eligibility
The La Quinta permit ban, the exempt developments, the two exemption routes, and why association rules matter as much as City rules.
What association fees actually cover
A lower fee is not always the cheaper choice. What differs between communities, and what to establish before you offer. In progress
Leased land and fee simple
The home may be yours. The land underneath it may not be, and it changes the value considerably. In progress
Is that price reduction actually a deal?
A $200,000 reduction can still leave a home overpriced. What the days on market and sale to list figures tell you that the headline does not. In progress
Selling
For owners weighing when to list and what to do first.
The Coachella Valley luxury seller's guide
Pricing, presentation, marketing and timing in the desert's seasonal market.
What renovation actually returns here
At The Quarry, price per square foot ranged from $476 to $1,173 across four sales, tracking build year almost exactly. In progress
Equestrian, polo, motorsport and surf
The eastern Valley corridor, where property is built around a pursuit rather than a view.
The desert has waves now
Palm Desert is about to hold the largest surf lagoon in North America, more than 100 miles from the Pacific. Why people may soon fly here specifically to surf.
Buying equestrian property in the Coachella Valley
Zoning, water, arena base, turnout and trailer access, and what separates a working property from one that looks the part.
The Thermal Club
A private motorsports country club on 426 acres, where membership and property ownership are inseparable and the garage drives the design.
Cailin McLennan
Competitive polo at Eldorado, and the equestrian side of the business.
Desert living
The Valley itself: seasons, events and how the year runs.
Explore the desert
Cities, communities and the shape of the season.
The Coachella and Stagecoach calendar for owners
What the festival weeks mean if you live here, rent here, or are thinking of buying. In progress
Ask us something
If a question is not answered here, it is usually faster to ask than to work it out from a portal. Questions that come up more than once end up on the Ask Laurie & Cailin page.
Written by Laurie McLennan and Cailin McLennan, The McLennan Team at Desert Sotheby’s International Realty
California DRE #01424382 and #02121998