OCTeam's Blog: All Categories

Marblehead Coastal is one of the most anticipated projects along the Southern Orange County Coast. The San Clemente coastal development,  what developer SunCal has proclaimed "One of the  last remaining oceanfront enclaves aong the California Coast, is shaping up and reported as follows:

If you listen to the news media the sky is falling and the last thing anyone should consider doing is buying a home. As with everything in life, real estate goes in cycles. Prices fluctuate in the short term, but long term real estate is still an excellent investment.

Below are the Top 10 Signs It Is Time To Buy A Home:

10. You are ready to stop paying your landlord's mortgage payment and start building wealth of your own.

9. You could use the property tax and mortgage interest deductions.

8. You want a vested interest in your community.

7. Temperatures have been close to 100 and you can no longer tolerate waiting for your landlord to fix your air-conditioner.

6. You are working at a job that you will no longer leave the country every other year.

5.…

Prestigious Hidden Mountain home... this lovely and elegant home is in the peaceful, wooded and small private community of Hidden Mountain Estates. Located just off of San Juan Creek Road in San Juan Capistrano in a gate guarded community of custom homes, this beautifully upgraded home welcomes you as soon as you enter the private entrance courtyard. A few features of this 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3406 square foot home include:
 

• Newer Kitchen, Granite counters and S.S. Appliances
• Tumbled Marble and Granite Baths
• Large Master Suite with walk-in closet
• Fantastic view back yard
• 3-car garage
• Huge back yard with view of the surrounding hills
• Great home for entertaining!

All homes within the gates of Hidden Mountain are…

Over the last several weeks, we have been working with a potential client that has been looking at a variety of custom built estate homes in exclusive Covenant Hills in Ladera Ranch.  Covenant Hills is the only gate-guarded village within Ladera Ranch.  Covenant Hills is located on 722 acres at the southernmost tip of this master-planned community that is part of Mission Viejo.  In total, it will eventually comprise of some 1,013 homes.

An example of one of several of the estate caliber homes that are being built are those located on San Jose Court.  One home of 7,200 square feet, offered at $4,899,000,  has gorgeous Spanish Meditterean architecture. The large private lot is situated so you can lounge in your secluded pool or spa with views of the…

We recently had the opportunity to work with two different couples who were looking to downsize, yet be in an active lifestyle environment. As one would expect, Orange County, California's  year-round sunny weather and beautiful oceanside setting make it an ideal place for an active living retirement. We were highly impressed with the variety of attractive 55+ communities where residents can enjoy sports like golf and tennis, and live within easy walking distance of amenities. Many have resort like facilities with Clubhouse, Pool, Spa, Putting Greens, exercize rooms and almost any imaginable club activity available.

We were fortunate that we had an opportunity to visit and research these senior communities in San Clemente, Mission Viejo,  San Juan…

Any real estate agent who thinks their website "doesn't work" is just the one I want working in my city. I guess "doesn't work" means not getting leads or converting anything to sales? Maybe "doesn't work" really means the agent is too lazy to do anything with it to get it to work.  In all fairness, I cannot get  door knocking, cold calling, working FSBO's, expired listings, postcard mailing to work for me.. so each of those farming techniques "doesn't work"  for me as I am too lazy to do those things anyway. Plus, why would I want to wear my shoes out when I can watch Springer, Oprah and find out from Dr. Phil everything I want to know about what else "doesn't work".   Maybe Dr. Phil has an answer about the website problem?

So, do websites really work? …

Money talks in Real Estate, especially in desirable areas. The artist colony, tourist destination and ocean front community of Laguna Beach is no exception. New listings in Laguna Beach increased by 7 percent in February 2007, while the number of homes that sold remained the same in 2007 vs. 2006. While market times increased by 40 days or 75 percent, during this same time frame, the average sales price increased 18 percent to $2,249,656. 

Nice housing bubble for Laguna Beach homeowners. Looks like people with money  to buy  luxury homes in ocean front communities in Orange County are spending it despite the what the doomsayers predict.  Shame on them for not listening to the news media.

Laguna
…

Buyers for real estate have become more tech / internet savvy and, according to most reports, over 85% of potential home buyers will look for property on the internet before contacting an agent.  If you are a home seller, how can you be sure that your home will be easily found by a buyer doing a search in your neighborhood?  Print media is no longer where home buyers go to look for homes. 

There is a benefit to using a Tech Savvy agent  who is at the top of the technology curve to sell your home. They are getting many calls or leads a day from buyers who are looking for property. Unlike a traditional agent, a  Tech Savvy Agent knows how to respond  quickly to the the internet buyer,

The benefits of using a Tech Savvy agent to sell your home will allow…