Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog

Buzzing across the news today is the notion of the World's Most Expensive House but unfortunately, it has yet to be built. More unfortunate than that, you aren't near any coast, so leave the yachts at home. Worse yet, it's in Montana, so in case of a huge snowstorm, if when the power gets knocked out. Get ready for a logistics nightmare. That's Crazy

Otherwise, Montana is a terrific place. I'm not sure that it is the most marketable for the most expensive house, because you're still competing with the Portabella Estate right here, in Corona Del Mar, Orange County.

How long until Orange County comes up with the next 100 Million Dollar plus home? Only a matter of time, I suspect.

Posted by Rory at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

When holding an open house, it is customary to give feedback to the listing agent about who visited the open house and what took place. Any crumbs leading up to and including whether the house is about to sell. Part of this feedback includes highlighting the number of visitors through the open house as well as distinguishing those who were agents, vs those who may be potential buyers.

This is what I call "citizens vs agents". Or the "clients vs. robots" model. It is reminiscent of the kids in the hall skit where business men would exchange business cards, and then proceed to sniff them. This is because the agents often have the same repetitious conversation with each other, and rarely does something new come out of it.

Another thing that I wonder is how the general public sees Real Estate Agents. I have read various blogs where seemingly normal people harbor a disdain for those in the Real Estate profession. In Orange County, there are tens of thousands of licensed agents. They are all clamoring for market share, and they are all bumping into each other on an almost atomic level.

What if Real Estate Agents were as revered as sports heroes? What if they made Real Estate Agent trading cards. Wouldn't it be great if children grew up wanting to join the ranks of Real Estate Agents?

Posted by Rory at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I have seen some pretty wild stuff pouring over pages and pages of property descriptions in our local MLS.

For Example, there's nothing like trying to sell a house WITHOUT ANY PICTURES:

The price on this home? $1,075,000
Without any pictures, let's just paint one for you with the Agent's Description:

Stats: 4 Bedrooms (Trust me, they're there)
Square Footage: 2700+ (Bring a Tape Measurer)

Beautiful Views! (But it was foggy that day, so they aren't worth a picture)

Notice to agents: "If you do convince your clients to see this one, keep in mind that the house was built in the 1970's so it is better to use your imagination at this point. P.S. I hope it sells, you should see the brochure."

How about some other choice remarks:
Remarks: Small dog name Tiffini, do not let her out...

Oh, now that I know the dog's name, are there any other critical elements that I need to know to sell this place?

I'm going to keep my eyes out for more entertainment stored in the vast MLS, and I'll be happy to keep the blog readers updated on it.

Meanwhile, you can Search the Orange County MLS yourself, and let the entertainment begin.

*Rarely seen by the non-Real Estate Agent public.

Posted by Rory at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

What does Orange County's power broker, and most elite real estate listing agent have to say about me?

When it comes to people asking whether to work with me or someone else he said,
"He should be your agent, he's better." In context, that's what he said when speaking about a young couple's agent in LA.

Allow me to explain the circumstances a little. First, when it comes to Orange County real estate everyone knows who John McMonigle is.

He currently has the most expensive listing in Orange County, the $75M "Portabella Estate" in Corona Del Mar.

He even appeared on Oprah to talk about it.

Yesterday he appeared at my Open House in Laguna Beach.
I have been holding an open house at 3 Lagunita, in the small community of the same name for an extended period of time.

Rain or shine, I have held this open house with the tenacity of a long distance runner training for the Ironman.
When John McMonigle came through my open house, he introduced himself as "John". I recognized his face, but until this point, I had never met him face to face. Part of my job as a great Real Estate Agent is to NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING, therefore I was correct in asking John first if he was an Agent himself.

The exchange went something like this,
ME: "So John, are you an Agent, or...."
John: "Yeah, I'm an Agent, and I build houses from time to time."

After that, John cruised around looking at the minute details of the property. He inspected the property with the enthusiasm of a fighter pilot doing a preflight check of a high performance jet.

When John turned to leave, a young couple entered, and they expressed reservations about entering an open house without their agent.

That's when John turned to them, motioned to me and said, "That's ok that you don't have your agent, use him, he's better." How did he know that, when this was our first face to face encounter?

He obviously subscribes to my blog.

Posted by Rory at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

An
Article by Kenneth Harney in the Washington Post & L.A. Times speaks of the dip in the Real Estate Market having "run it's course". This is more support for the soft landing philosophy of the market conditions, and this article sent the bubble bloggers straight to their keyboards to fire up their blog posting software, and dump some keywords out into search engines that mention "bubble, crash, doom, mayhem". That ultimately results in the Bubble Back Pedal where the bubble bloggers have to immediately counter any neutral or positive news with graphs, charts, and more banter.

In this market, I have boots on the ground, I'm seeing the deals that are being made everywhere.

Jim Cronin, mentions that "If it bleeds, it leads" basically indicating the decline of the use of the term "Housing Bubble" even when it comes to blogs. He explains how as a concept, the bubble is even being talked about less. As Ken Harney in the Washington Post mentioned, the bubble fear has "run it's course".

Where is the market going, now that the bubblespeak is irrelevant? Easy, it's headed for, hold on, brace yourself normality. To some that may be a withering disappointment, but to others it will most likely be the signal that the P has left the ool, and it is ok to go swimming in the market again.

Of course, this means no flippers, no wheeler-dealers, just good old fashioned buying and selling where the sellers can't make demands that will drive buyers away, and the buyers will not be able to pitch lowballs that end up becoming grounders.

There will still be people moving into Orange County, despite Jon Lasners' analysis that a single moving truck company's logs suggest some sort of exodus, or even his assertion that canceling of the beloved drama "The OC" spells bad news for real estate. Most of the bubble talk is based on fallacy.

Did people quit moving to Hawaii when Magnum P.I. went off the air?

Labels: 2007, flipping real estate, market, real estate, the oc

Posted by Rory at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post