Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog

The recent Real Estate blogger meetup at K'Ya in Laguna added punctuation to the reason that so many people are attracted to the mystique behind Laguna Beach, our recent real estate blogger meet up, was quite a success. Even real estate bloggers see that this is a great place to live. I hope that it can be a regular event.

Joe and Rudy from Sellsiuswere fantastic hosts, and I think they did a great job of winning the hearts and minds of everyone there to use their Real Estate classifieds service. The irony of it all, is that I never really discussed their new launch with them, but because they do such a great job of getting the word out with their blog, and appearances, I think it is worth a test drive on my part.

It was a unique privilege to be a part of the evening, those who participated represent some of the brightest minds in the real estate blogging genre. I was fortunate to spend some quality time with Dustin Luther discussing the Rain City Guide, and his new role at Move.com.

I was so thrilled to finally meet Brian Brady, of whom I've been a great fan for some time.

Overall the spirit of the evening was that some of the elite of real estate technology, swimming in one of the elite locations of Real Estate in the nation.

Labels: blog, lifestyle. real estate

Posted by Rory at 7:13 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Even in the realm of multi-million dollar properties, there is separation between luxury, and ultra luxury. Let's take a look at who and how people pursue these properties.

First, it can be said that it is not hard to find a single family home in Orange County that is around the Million dollar mark, in fact it is getting more common. I have clients who may have owned a home for the past several years that is now worth over a million dollars. They are now looking to sell that home, and use the proceeds from the equity to jump into the luxury market. I'm just going to say that right around the 2 Million dollar mark, is really where I start to see the higher quality on finishings, larger floor plans, and highly desired locations. Of course there exceptions to all of this, but it is useful to get an idea of the stratifications of quality and location of property available. In the range of high 2 Million dollar housing in Orange County, and past the threshold of 3 million dollars, you start to see properties that have a near-premium location, premium finishings, and a variety of floorplan and square footage. By near-premium location, I mean very close to the coast, or perhaps some highly desired area.

From the 3 to 5 million dollar range, there are various trade-offs that work within the near-premium location, premium finishings, higher square footage. Above 5 million, you can expect exquisite quality properties, that have fewer qualified buyers.

The next stratus is the ultra-luxury, which I really define as being in the 10 Million Dollar plus range. This range starts to get the best mix of premium location, premium finishings, garage square footage that dwarfs the homes in the million dollar range, imported and rare features can be found in these properties. It getting pretty common to start quoting prices for oceanfront listings in Laguna and Newport and the reaction from the luxury buyers is similar when they run across these stellar listings. It goes something like, "That's a BIG number." These properties are targeted toward that one in a million buyer. The chances that a buyer will lock into one of these properties is most likely based on ONE big factor, like a premium beach front location, or the need for a 10 car garage.

Beyond the ultra-luxury is yet another higher price stratus, that really is 20 million +
These properties really only have 1 buyer for them. It is the luxury realtor's job to locate that 1 buyer. These properties require extremely aggressive international marketing campaigns that are best translated into several languages and marketed worldwide. This is why it is critical for high-end agents to think in terms of language mastery and spend time on foreign language skills. Touring this property via helicopter is a great way to get the big picture on these listings.

Who is buying this real estate? I'm not going to talk about who my clients are, but I'll just throw out some career paths so that if you want to start shopping about luxury real estate, you can see if this matches where you see yourself:

Celebrities
Professional Athletes
Real Estate Developers (Commercial and Residential Builders)
Hedge Fund Managers
CEOs (Technology, Bio-Tech, and dozens of other sectors)
International Heads of State
Entrepreneurs, Ultra-Successful Business Owners

Posted by Rory at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

TAB

Undoubtedly, one of the most pristine beaches in South Laguna Beach is at the foot of Three Arch Bay. Three Arch Bay Real Estate activity has really started to heat up. There are currently 6 properties in escrow in Three Arch Bay.

Three Arch Bay is a pristine community located in South Laguna Beach. It straddles the PCH and is guard gated on both the seaward and inland sides of the PCH. Currently prices in Three Arch Bay can range from the high 2 Millions, up to 19 Million. There are premium properties also in the community that could eclipse that price should they come on the market.

About 20 properties per year sell in Three Arch Bay.


Click Here for A Map of Three Arch Bay

Labels: South Laguna Beach, Three Arch Bay

Posted by Rory at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

With the recent media buzz about the sub-prime lending industry woes, it is key to have an understanding of how this effects you.

The direct effect on you will be based on your personal FICO score. If your score is above 720 or so, you should remain unaffected and in the so called A-Paper lending category. A-Paper simply means that you can qualify for the best lending rates and products.

The next category is the so called Alt-A. This is the category of lending products, rates and services for people whose credit score falls below the A-Paper threshold.

The final category is called sub-prime. This is where you here so much controversy in the media. If you don't take care of your credit score, chances are you end up in this category.

There are ways to improve your credit, but it takes work on your part.



The lenders in my office also "coach" people on how to get their credit score improved over a very short period of time. You can visit their website at www.OCLoanTeam.com

If you are ever interested in buying Real Estate for the first time, or owning more Real Estate, stay on top of your credit, by learning what damages your credit, and how to improve it yourself.

Labels: FICO

Posted by Rory at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The nice folks over at Trulia asked me to be a guest blogger. I have to say that it was an honor, since I think that their map search is just about the best thing for people researching Real Estate.

Much to the annoyance of a colleague who likely finds himself in the "I don't get it" camp when it comes to Trulia, people are actually finding what they want on their map search.

Proving also, that the Trulia - Prudential relationship is alive and well, our office just conducted a brief training highlighting how Trulia helps advertise the listings for agents. My in-office colleagues welcomed the information. The idea that Trulia could be the brains behind the New York MLS means that they have truly "arrived" and that other brokers nationwide could learn by working with them. It is a pretty hard struggle to swim upstream against the flow of new oncoming technology. This is especially true when the public is what is driving the strength of that flow.

To the folks who still don't get it, I urge them to be flexible, not to resist change, and to give your website visitors what they want.

Posted by Rory at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post