My 2 Cents

Sorry I don't have any pretty pictures to post on this entry. I have been really busy the last month showing homes. I really feel the market is picking up. I was asked a couple of times today about my thoughts on what will happen with the Newport Beach real estate market. I thought posting it here would be a good idea as many people are wondering the same thing. Not that I can predict the future, but.........I think the best time to buy is right now. There are some homes that have been on the market a long time that need to sell. People in Orange County typically move around every 5-7 years. There are pent up buyers out there waiting. The reason I think now is a good time to buy, is that come summer, families with children will be moving around to be in the school district they want to be in. If you can't buy now, don't buy this summer during the peak season. A better time to buy is going to be this fall. I should also mention that the market under a million dollars is really hot right now. On well priced properties/short sales/foreclosures, it is common to find multiple offers again. BUT, if you want to talk high end......that is a totally different story. Crystal Cove has 54 homes on the market! Shady Canyon has 50 homes on the market! This is the high end area of Newport Beach/Newport Coast. Shady Canyon technically is in Irvine, but it backs up to Newport Coast/Crystal Cove. Shady Canyon is where many professional athletes live. I predict this area is going to be hurting come fall.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the market plays out. I think the one thing to remember is, if you really love a house, buy it......stay in it for a while....it will make money. It is hard to find a house you love. I feel like I am giving relationship advice. :) Hope this makes sense. If you are not emotionally attached to a house, make sure it will make money for you in the short term.....2 years. There are great buys out there right now that will make money in a couple of years.....they generally need a little love/attention.

Hope this blog helps and didn't confuse you more. :)

Lisa

www.CoveCanyonandCrest.com
www.PropertiesInTheOC.com

Pink House in Corona del Mar

Last week I toured the well known landmark pink house on 444 Begonina Avenue. This home has 5 bedrooms an 3 bathrooms, built in 1947, 3457 sq feet and is priced at $2,595,000. This homes sits on a R-2 corner lot. I have always wondered what it would be like inside this home. Since it is around Easter, I suspected you may get the Easter feeling when you walk in the door. I was right, I felt like I was at one of my relatives houses in Minnesota. This home was ready for Easter brunch......everything was perfectly in place. As I toured the upstairs, I really felt like I was in a MN home. I remember my girlfriends bedroom, which used to be an attic......you had to watch your head or you would run in to the A frame of the roof. There was also steep stairs up to another attic......where this home had a foosball table and it looked like Christmas decoration storage. I really felt at home in this house. You could tell this was a home that grandchildren love to visit. The one thing I thought was interesting, is that they had wallpaper on the kitchen ceiling. I wasn't really crazy about that.......actually, I am not a fan of wallpaper anywhere. Though it seems to be making a comeback. In my pictures, notice the butler......he kind of scared me when I walked in the house.

Next on my tour was a home on 300 Larkspur. This is a 'French Style Chateau'. It is a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath home, 2100 square foot home that sits on a corner lot. Great location. This home has so many little details to it, I don't think I would ever see them all. There is a little family room on the main level. The main living quarters is on the second level. The master bedoom is the best part. There are two little patios that look like a perfect place to wind down the day with a glass of wine. This home is priced at $2,899,000.

I also visited a house in Shore Cliffs. I will post a separate entry for this home.

www.covecanyonandcrest.com

www.PropertiesInTheOC.com

Shady Canyon Tour Broker Preview

Sorry I am a day late on this. Yesterday I was at Broker Preview at Shady Canyon. Broker Preview is when the agent holds the house open so brokers can go in an view the home.....since most of us work on the weekends....it is difficult to view homes unless they are on preview. Anyway, there were 8 homes open. It was another hot day......95 degrees. If I would have seen a water sprinkler.....I think I would have run through it. Anyway, if you are a follower of this blog, you know I am always looking for the WOW factor. Homes in Shady Canyon range from $2.8 to $18.9 mil. I didn't see much of the WOW factor until I reached the last two homes on the list. There were some pretty awesome homes.....but my favorite were the last two.....one on Canyon Creek and the other one was on Echo Glen. The fireplaces in the Canyon Creek home were really neat. I think the highlight of the tour for me was at Echo Glen.....remember....it was hot....and felt like Palm Springs on a really hot day.........was the swim up bar in the swimming pool. Back in my 20's I would go to Cancun, Mexico for spring vacations. Generally where ever you stayed there was a swim up bar. To see that at a house was pretty cool. I really wanted to be sitting in the pool drinking a margarita. There was one house that my partner and I viewed that was not on the tour. It is a house on Cactus, built by a friend of mine, Rob Glass. This house is $8.695 mil. It has to be one of the most amazing homes I have ever been in. I would describe it as artwork. Every room had such unique detail that you would never find in any other house. My partner and I were blown away by this house. I am posting a couple of pictures.......if you want more.....I will send them to you. There are so many details in this house that you couldn't possibly see them all in one viewing. Absolutely amazing......it has more than the WOW factor. Ok, I can't take much more work tonight. I will post todays activities tomorrow. I can only post 5 pictures per post. I did see an amazing house in Crystal Cove today that I will talk about tomorrow.

http://www.propertiesintheoc.com/

Broker Preview Shady Canyon

It was another hot day in Shady Canyon today. I went to a couple of listings. I went to a new listing on Vernal Springs. It is a great place......with an awesome view and patio area. See pictures above. I love a good area to grill. In Minnesota we call it "grilling out", in California it is referred to "barbequeing." Random facts I will post. I was also trying to chase down my friend Rob Glass. He is a builder in the Pelican Crest and Shady Canyon area. He has new construction on Needle Grass......as well as two completed projects that are close to Needle Grass. I was looking to get in to one of his houses to take pictures for new marketing pieces. Needless to say, I couldn't find him. I know he is busy so I will try him next week. His homes are truley works of art. I am looking forward to Broker Preview in Crystal Cove tomorrow. Today, I need to go to the vet, my dog Sam has had fleas all summer and I can't get rid of them. Fortunately, the vet said there is some pill he can take and then he will be fine within an hour. I feel bad for him......he doesn't look like he has fleas...but keeps on itching.

Broker Preview Today

I am going to try a 3rd party company for my comments. I had been posting them to my front page.....but that is starting to clutter the front page too much. I guess I need to get with the times and start a blog. :)

Let's start with yesterday as I was showing homes in Huntington Beach and then I went to broker preview. Broker preview is generally from 11-2 on Wednesdays in Irvine, Thursdays in Newport Beach and Newport Coast, and Fridays are Costa Mesa and the Balboa Peninsula and Island. Yesterday I started the day in Huntington Beach/Sunset Beach area. I haven't been in that area so it was fun to see what the Huntington Beach Harbour area is all about. I have to say I was really impressed. The couple I am helping are looking for a second home by the water. The great thing about this area, is you can be right on the water, with a boat slip for under a million.....and you are still close to the ocean. One of the homes was a shrine to Elvis....that was kind of funny as I have never seen anything like that in my years of real estate. This area reminded me of living on the lake in MN. Or if you have ever been to Florida....some of the retirement communities are like this....minus the alligators! Anyway, very nice area if you want to be right on the water....even if it isn't ocean front. I guess during the Christmas holiday they have a boat parade that is pretty neat. I am showing homes there again on Thursday so check back for pictures.

Anyway, on to preview. There is a great new listing in Crystal Cove on Cruisers Bluff. This home is listed for $5,995,000. It has 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, pool, great entertaining area....and some of the best views I have ever seen in Crystal Cove. This home is on the south end of Crystal Cove. On the patio, there are no rooftops......big deal for Crystal Cove as the ones with no roof tops, generally overlook noisy PCH. This house really impressed me. The master bedroom is on the main level. Another feature I hear the baby boomers really want. This house has the WOW factor that I look for when viewing homes.

Speaking of WOW factor......I saw a home on Kings Rd today. If you aren't familiar with Kings Road, it is the road that runs parallel with PCH just before you hit Newport Blvd. This house is very modern with a great pool area. The down side is that it is on the corner of Dover and PCH. The water fall in the pool covers the noise from the traffic. This home has great views of the peninsula/ocean. The master bedroom closet was huge. At 7000 sq feet, this home has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Pictures are above.

What does $23 million buy? A half acre on the Balboa Peninsula......bay front. You could easily build 3 homes on this property. I am guessing the person who buys this home may tear it down and build a big home. Currently, there is a home on the beach, a guest home on the other side of the alley and then a grassy/park area. Pictures are above.