HOLIDAY HOUSING DECKED SOUTHLAND SALES OFF 26% IN NOVEMBER; PRICE GAIN LOWEST IN DECADE.

Byline: JULIA M. SCOTT Staff Writer

Setting your home ablaze with twinkling lights and pillowy snowmen no longer requires untangling yards of wire and overloading electrical circuits.

A slew of businesses will design your display, supply lights and inflatables -- all in a few hours.

Decorating firms appear around Thanksgiving and then most vanish by Jan. 1, with rates ranging from $50 to a few thousand dollars.

``There seems to be more people into it because everybody thinks you can make quick money,'' said Ted Crofts, a construction worker from Sherman Oaks who puts up lights to make a few extra bucks.

Crofts, like many other decorators, has heard of people who make a year's salary in just a few weeks. But those businesses are rare.

David Hartel has had seven customers in his first year hanging lights. But none paid in full because Hartel, 45, gave discounts to clients who agreed to spread the word about him.

``I don't make tons of money,'' said Hartel, a handyman from Reseda who works odd jobs. ``Maybe next year, but until I get the word out there, it's just going to be small.''

Hartel created a Web page for his business, Hooked on Lights. He stapled fliers on telephone poles, hung laminated signs and posted notes on Craigslist. Hartel's equipment is limited to ladders, not heavy machinery that bigger companies like Mobile Illuminations use to reach rooftops and beyond.

Mobile Illuminations decks out The Grove and handles high-end customers in Calabasas and Tarzana. Brothers Jason and Chad Zdenek own the company, which has dozens of employees. Unlike others, they spend the entire year cultivating clients.

Zdenek, 28, who lives in Agoura, is trained as an electrician and engineer with a degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

``From experience, I know it's not elementary. Once you start a project where it teeters on whether there's enough power, you have to be savvy,'' Zdenek said about layout and circuits.

While some turn to professionals this time of year, most people still put up their own lights and decorations.

On Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, home to some of the brightest displays in the San Fernando Valley, hiring someone to do your lights is unusual.

``It takes us two weeks to do everything and it isn't yet finished,'' said Margaret Dolin, whose lawn is filled with red and green figurines. ``I have to fix the sleigh so it looks like it's sitting on snow.''

Dolin has heard of lighting companies for hire, but doesn't see the point ``if you can do it yourself.''

One street over on Candle Light Lane, putting up inflated snowmen and candy canes is a Hall family tradition.

``I would never hire somebody,'' said Jeannine Hall, 43. ``My kids would freak. My kids like to do it.''

But Craig Baxley in Chatsworth doesn't understand the draw of putting up your own lights. He hired Mobile Illuminations this year and paid them about $2,500 to make eight of his trees sparkle.

Baxley used to decorate his yard himself, but said the plastic reindeer would only ``last one year and the dog would take the antlers and drag it. The wind would blow and half the string would go out.''

When Baxley saw a well-lit home in his neighborhood, he called the number on Mobile Illuminations' sign. He has hired them two years in a row and now enjoys his lights without battling the elements.

``It feels like Christmas without the snow,'' Baxley said. ``And obviously other people agree because they stop and look.''

julia.scott(at)dailynews.com

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