Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog

5 :: Set a goal and stick with it. Setting a goal may include buying something at a price that will stay within your means. It may mean that you need to have your home sold by a certain date, or at a certain price (those two can work against each other). Your goal may be to be as thorough as possible in selecting your future home.

4 :: Be clear with your agent that you want service. If your agent told you what kind of service they provide, they should stick to that. This means that you should let the agent to the heavy lifting for you when it comes to losing sleep or stressing about the house you are trying to buy or sell. This also means that your agent shouldn't create drama. You'll find that some agents live in a constant state of drama.

3 :: Give the appropriate amount of attention to the things that matter. Things that matter in the real estate transaction are negotiations, inspections, and the decision making about which you need to interface with your agent. It is a good idea to pay attention to those things as they come up. Don't let those important things slide, they will create more stress later.

2 :: Spend some time playing golf. ...or whatever it is that you do. Don't get too wrapped up in the fact that your life is making a transition.

1 :: Keep track of your calendar. Make sure that you know how long it is going to be until you exchange keys. This is the ultimate goal, and it represents the date when you can sit, relax and let out a deep breath.

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

An economist interviewed on CNBC explained that the slowdown in housing nationwide, has started to spill into consumer consumption. As a result, he said that a rate cut is still not on the table for the FED currently. However, he said that it is getting more likely that a rate cut could occur in late '07 or early '08.

What does this mean for home buyers? While prices may be coming down, they are not falling fast enough to offset the increasing interest rates. Buying power is becoming increasingly diluted. Even if a rate cut comes at the end of the year, it isn't likely to prompt a return to the economic atmosphere of the last two years where getting a loan was very easy.

Posted by Rory at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

What happens when the seller won't budge, and wants to hold on to their price? The chances are good that you have just encountered the 30%-40% of the market that "doesn't need to sell."

It is almost a mantra chanted by people these days, "I don't need to sell." This can confuse and frustrate the otherwise willing home buyer who has really big expectations of a "soft market".

Buyers in this market are looking for deals. If the seller's aren't going to give them one, they will sit on the market, while the buyers use phrases such as these:

Common Buyers Phrases:
Softening Market
Decline
Falling Prices
Bubble
Hit Bottom
Low Ball

To the buyers seeking deals, my advice is to leave no stone unturned, look at every possible listing in your price range, and have a few favorite possibilities lined up before making an offer. The more listings that you leave on the table for yourself, the more leverage you will have in trying to negotiate a deal.

To sellers, my advice is not to put the cart before the horse and get ready to buy before you sell. If your money isn't coming from the sale of your current property, then of course you are going to hold out for a good offer. Make sure that your property is getting plenty of lookers though. If you aren't getting the showings that you need, then don't expect any offers, this is where marketing is going to help you stand out ahead the hundreds of other available properties in your zip code.

Posted by Rory at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Local business decides to move seniors elsewhere for business reasons : Our dirt more valuable than senior citizens.

Has the hunger for cashing out real estate eclipsed the basic fundamentals of humanity?

Posted by Rory at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Last night, I had some very important news come across from our affiliate lender, First Capital.

The gist of the message is that lenders are much more strict about the terms on which they will lend money. The falling prices of the market will not be enough to give buyers much more advantage. The buyer's purchase power is getting weaker.

For the full story straight from the lender's desk, download the PDF which explains how much you can expect to afford.

Posted by Rory at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

If you don't like arguing with your neighbor whose tree is creeping onto your yard, or blocking your view, try working with 6 neighbors to maintain the street on which you all live.

This is exactly what the residents many small pocket neighborhoods in Laguna Beach are facing. This is a situation where they not only own their own land, and homes, but a portion of the street that they use for direct access to their home. Think: extended, shared large driveway.

The problem is that these streets are most often originally asphalt, or black top. When they deteriorate, it is up to the residents to come together and pitch in to restore the street and fix the potholes.

As you can imagine, not all neighbors are on the same page. Some can't afford to pay for road maintenance.

Posted by Rory at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I have recently encountered a phenomenon which is to say the least, disturbing, and at best an annoying surprise. In this market, there is a ton of housing inventory on the market, but still there are listing agents who can't be bothered to accommodate a ready and willing buyer who wants to see their listing.

These agents are somewhat rare, but not a rare as you may think. To give you an idea, with my last most recent clients who were ready to buy something by the beach, 1 agent thwarted our attempt to show her listing on 2 different occasions. If only her clients knew! My clients didn't even have the chance to look at her house as a potential option, and they bought something a week later.

When you consider that this even happens with listings above $2 million, it is pretty shocking. To those people whose house is still on the market, I feel for you.

Now with my current client, I have been scolded by a listing agent who accused us of just being looky-loos. She wasn't even open to scheduling a time in the future when the client could see her listing. She knew nothing about myself or my client other than that we wanted to see her listing. She said that it was not supposed to be on the market right now, because there are guests staying at the the property. While it was her mistake, and she failed to note that in the MLS, she decided that we were the problem instead. Weird.

I would think that these listing agents would be doing everything they could to sell your listing, what with selling a house being a prerequisite to them getting a paycheck and all.

Much more recently, in the past week, another agent felt "put out" that he had to meet us to show us his listing. If you would have seen the house, you may have felt put out as well, but the point is that the agent came across as being rude since we had the nerve to interrupt his sports activities. I guess we should take into account that your golf game matters, Mr. Agent.

Labels: lazy agents

Posted by Rory at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

When it comes to premium real estate, it seems that there isn't an area in Laguna Beach or Newport Coast that is in higher demand than Crystal Cove.

What does it take to move from the typical Orange County home, let's say something just above the median home price into a monster ocean view home in Crystal Cove?

If you currently own a home in the $700,000 price range, it isn't out of the question to own a home in the 4 or 5 million dollar range. It is a matter of executing a well crafted plan.

Here is what to do:

1. Create a list of goals, make sure to pay special attention to your 5 and 10 year plan of where you want to live and what kind of net worth you will create for yourself.

2. Become a student of investing. Look to invest further in and outside of real estate investments.

3. Pay attention to Warren Buffet's rule, and "Don't lose money."

4. Quit your day job. There are less than 1% of professions that allow you to achieve the net worth goals that you will need. You know if your current job is in that 1%, if it isn't you should think about leveraging your skills into starting your own business.

5. Speaking of leverage, plan how many properties that you'll need to buy and sell to leverage your way into a higher end bracket; i.e. selling your 700k property may enable you to buy your next home at 1 million. If you research the market correctly and buy and sell within the correct market cycle, you can minimize the number of times that you will need to do this.

6. Destroy your debt & conquer your credit score. If your credit score isn't pristine, you won't make it into the upper echelon of property ownership until it is.

7. Save your money. Showing strong assets in the bank may not be easy now, but if you make it part of your future plan, and practice spending less than you bring in, you can optimize and magnify those results as you see success.

8. Sell your business. Since you quit your day job, you realized that your time is worth more than some company was willing to pay you. The real payoff comes when you can sell off one or more businesses which you have spent time building. Not ready to quit your job? Try building a business on the side; (called straddling) and once the income from the business reaches an reasonable level, then work the business full time.

Follow the steps and be diligent, you could be on easy street.

Posted by Rory at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

5 :: Read the local newspaper of the area where you want to live. Pay special attention to the business section, the real estate classified ads, and the special real estate section.

4 :: Get very clear on your actual price range. An automated price range calculator is not a good resource for this. Either talk to a lender, or when you do hire an agent, have the agent recommend one to you.

3 :: Drive the neighborhoods in your area of interest.

2 :: Begin your research online find an MLS Search website. Be aware if it is not immediately obvious who the agent or broker providing you the MLS Search, then it may be a company interested in selling your information to others.

1 :: Visit open houses and quiz the agents about the area, when they start to tell you the properties and areas that stick in your mind, you'll get a great idea of what is hot vs. what is not.

Labels: hire an agent, how to

Posted by Rory at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a Canadian filmmaker who wanted to learn more about Laguna Niguel.

He flew down to the area to attend and film a documentary on the Moon Amtrak Festival

He wanted to get some idea of the backdrop and what kind of community Laguna Niguel is. He spent a significant amount of time interviewing me on Real Estate related elements of the city. Ironically, that interview took place in the nearby city of Dana Point. He interviewed me outside of the luxury community of Ritz Cove. His footage there will no doubt provide a flamboyant juxtaposition as a backdrop of all of the bare asses facing the train. This is surely a bad moon rising in Laguna Niguel. We're gaining international attention, but is it for the right reasons?

He was specifically interested that Laguna Niguel was a young master planned community.

I said that you have to thank Real Estate developers for that.

He asked if the mooning of the train was an unwelcome event in Laguna Niguel. I wondered if he thought that it would go against the grain of the demographic.

I told him that here in Orange County, we have all walks of life represented. I further said while I haven't attended the mooning myself, that when plenty of people consume plenty of alcohol near a set of railroad tracks, that mooning the train was almost a natural, inevitable event.

Kudos to the Mugs Away Saloon, who had the business savvy to turn it into a full blown festival.

Posted by Rory at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

With rising interest rates, the pundits are calling for the prices to come down. With a downward adjustment in prices, will it offset the rise in interest rates to keep equilibrium of the current market that we see today?

No, the net effect is that payments for the same property that has decreased $100,000 in price will still go up, based on the average sales price here. While prices adjust down, they won't adjust down far enough to offset the rising rates. So the sideline buyers who wait are waiting for their payments to go higher, and be incrementally priced out of property that they may otherwise afford.

For more information, download the flyer, or visit our affiliate lender website: OCLoanTeam.com

Posted by Rory at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

After I help somebody move, I like to send them a feedback form to find out how well I did my job.
Here are what my recent clients in Mission Viejo had to say:
On a scale of 1 - 10

Area Product Knowledge: 8

Service Level: 10

Willingness to go the Extra Mile: 10

Honesty: 10

Communications: 9

Negotiations: 9

Comments: "Overall it was beneficial and enjoyable working with Rory. Rory did an excellent job first understanding our needs and desires, and focusing the home search against those criteria. He was a helpful and objective thought partner in reviewing homes. He did an incredible job negotiating for us, and also letting us know when items weren't negotiable. Rory went more than the extra mile helping us with the details and logistics of closing, moving, and financing."

Things that could be improved: Continue to get more knowledge of areas outside Laguna Niguel and Dana Point.

Would you hire me again? YES

Would you recommend me to a friend, relative, or associate? YES

Ron and Patti North, Mission Viejo

Posted by Rory at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

One blog that I watch on a daily basis is Bawld Guy Talking and today I saw a post that he wrote that brings much needed insight to the investment debate.

Phil Town disagrees, and claims that the numbers in the stock market out perform Real Estate hands down.

Phil is an investment teacher in the discipline of Warren Buffett.

On CNBC's The Millionaire Inside he and
Real Estate Maven Barbara Corcoran practically go rounds on this topic. Barbara asserts that Real Estate investing doesn't involve hours and hours of homework, and that for the average joe it is much safer than the stock market.

Corcoran and BawldGuy agree on that point.

I always have to insert my usual disclaimer that comparing the stock market to the housing market is an apples and oranges comparison, and it will usually result in second guessing the housing market so much, that you'll miss the property that you should have bought. In short that comparison leads to regret later.

Posted by Rory at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It seems that you can't go anywhere here in Laguna Niguel without some Real Estate Agent touting the benefits of Pre-Paid Legal. I don't blame agents for trying to get started into a side business, especially when the market is like the one we're currently seeing.

The question I have, is are consumers served by having a deluge of marketing offering them something that may on the surface seem so practical and useful, but is now so widely available, that it has lost it's brand identity, or has now become diluted?

Let's look at the facts: Prepaid Legal websites may be a good second business for someone who are looking for another stream of income.

By now, so many people have heard of Pre-paid legal, that in Orange County, this is an area that has been over-fished with the idea, and chances are good that you're not the first person to mention it to them.

Posted by Rory at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

During my open house today, on Virginia Way, in Laguna Beach, I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Ahlke of Coastal Staging. She came to water the plants at this listing, but I ended up getting quite the education on how her staging business works. She told me that the pricing isn't by square footage as I had thought, instead there is a staging fee that is related to how many rooms she and her crew come in and stage. Then she has a monthly fee that has a 1 month minimum.

She has a warehouse with the furniture inventory that she uses. "I have listings staged from Laguna to Huntington Beach," said Ahlke. The furniture is available for sale with the home, but is negotiated outside of the those terms directly between Ahlke and the new home buyer. Home buyers find it convenient to buy the furniture especially when it is a second home that they are buying, and don't want to go through the hassle of finding and coordinating a theme.

It is generally accepted that staging a home helps to sell it quicker and possibly for a higher price. For more on that wisdom and more about staging in general, visit
Craig Schiller's Staging Rants and Ravings

Posted by Rory at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. Let's also thank all those serving in the US Armed Forces, past and present. I want to send my personal gratitude out to those currently in harm's way, as well as those returning from active duty.