DOUBLE-TEAMING BUYERS; AS VALLEY'S HIGH-END REAL ESTATE DEMAND ACCELERATES, FIRMS ARE DISCOVERING PAIRING UP PAYS OFF.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

It's an equitable division of labor.

Real estate agent Dianne Merryl sizes the customers up. Then her partner, Robert Bluman, focuses on the details. Together, they sell some of the most expensive homes in the San Fernando Valley.

``Robert is really good at the legal aspect. When it comes to real estate law, disclosure and writing offers he's much better than me,'' said Merryl. ``I just have a good way with people. I can zero in on what they want.''

And there's a lot of wanting.

Now, with the Valley's real estate market in a recovery mode, business is brisk at the high end. Since June, the sales of Valley homes costing $500,000 or more have jumped 30 percent on a year-over-year basis. Sales increased nearly 50 percent in September.

Overall home sales will hit their highest level this year since 1989 and prices are showing an upward trend. Some agents are reporting increases of 7 percent in the price of high-end homes on a year-over-year basis.

Thank a surging economy, especially the entertainment and high-tech sectors. As those industries prosper, they bring an influx of high-salaried workers to the area. And the Valley benefits because many of those companies are located here or nearby.

``The economic growth that we've enjoyed for the last three or four years seems to have disproportionately benefited the high-income groups. That in itself has translated into a much stronger housing market,'' said Nima Nattagh, a market analyst at Experian, real estate information service.

``Higher-end homes have been doing rather well on the bounce-back we've had in the stock market,'' he said.

Jim Link, vice president of the Southland Association of Realtors, which serves the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, said sales of these homes started picking up during the first part of the year.

If the trend is sustainable - Link thinks it will last at least into next year - it could help bring a familiar look to the Valley's market.

``Until this last recession the Valley has been a trade-up market. It wasn't so much a first-time buyer market or low-end market. It was a place where people moved up to a more expensive home, and that was the lifeblood of the market,'' he said.

The high-end market is now so robust that there are more buyers than properties for sale and some of these big-ticket homes generate multiple offers, something that was not happening a year ago.

In most instances, the selling of high-priced homes - those in the mid-six figure and seven-figure range - across the San Fernando Valley is the work of two agents, not one. There's a payoff in partnering.

That's why Merryl and Bluman are together. They both work out of Fred Sands' Encino office, where they earned the title of estate directors about seven years ago. The company bestows the title on agents that have demonstrated a knack for moving high-priced real estate.

Merryl and Bluman are in the top 1 percent of the sellers companywide at Sands.

``For us it's fabulous. We each have our own strengths, and we've built a terrific referral business. I would advocate it to anybody who can do it. We have a great friendship, and we get along very well,'' Merryl said of the arrangement.

``You get two agents for the price of one. And you don't pay any more commission,'' Bluman said. ``When you're working with a buyer, you have two sets of eyes, and that's very good for the buyers.''

Typically, it's a 50-50 business proposition. Commissions, about 3 percent, are split, as are expenses and the workload.

Coldwell Banker Jon Douglas agent Marc Shevin has been selling homes in the Valley for 21 years. He's focused on the high-end market for the last six. Last year he sold a $3.25 million home in Hidden Hills. That was 1996's biggest sale.

For Shevin, focusing on this price spectrum just made good economic sense.

``As the market softened up, you only had so many hours in the day so you might as well focus on what's going to make a living,'' he said.

He partners with his brother, Rory.

``For me it was pretty obvious,'' Shevin said of his decision to work with someone. ``No one can work seven days a week, 24 hours a day.''

Typically, when a property is put up for sale, a lock box is put on the door so agents can get the key and show the house to prospective buyers. Expensive homes don't have lock boxes, so agents have to be available at their clients' convenience.

Finding clients is not a problem these days.

``The buyers are coming out of the woodwork, but there is a scarcity of homes. There are buyers ready, willing and able to buy, but there is a dearth of quality properties,'' Shevin said.

One reason is the recession.

The Valley market began shedding equity in the early 1990s, with values falling at all price ranges. Experian's research shows that a consumer who bought a high-end home - one priced at more than $400,000 - in 1990 is likely to have experienced a 16 percent decline in value.

Given that, some homeowners are reluctant to sell because they would still be taking a loss on their investment.

``What we need is more inventory because there is a demand for higher-priced homes,'' said Molly Wallace, who sells high-end homes for Dilbeck James R. Gary & Co. ``People are holding on to their homes to see what the market will bear.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Chart

Photo:(1--Color) Fred Sands real estate agents Dianne Merryl and Robert Bluman work as a team to keep up with the San Fernando Valley's burgeoning high-end home sales market.

(2--Color) Estate homes, such as those at the Silver Hawk development, are big draws.

Terri Thuente/Daily News

Chart: (Color) MILLION DOLLAR MARKET

The number of homes costing $500,000 or more increased 30 percent from June-September 1996 to the same time period this year.