Real Estate in South Orange County California

Interesting Stats on Ranch Santa Margarita - Over Several Years

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:22:58 -0600

I was curious, so I spent a few hours the other day looking at the history of home prices here in RSM. Take a look....

It's my opinion that we are very close to the bottom of this market. With low interest rates and pricing bottomed out, this is a great time to purchase!

Year	Date Range	Number of homes sold	Average Price	Average sqft	Average Price per sqft	Difference from prior year	Percentage difference from year before
2000	10/19-11/19	166	$250,000	1462	$171
2001	10/19-11/19	139	$301,099	1627	$185	$14	8.23%
2002	10/19-11/19	142	$372,155	1672	$223	$38	20.27%
2003	10/19-11/19	159	$426,625	1534	$278	$56	24.95%
2004	10/19-11/19	119	$518,036	1580	$328	$50	17.89%
2005	10/19-11/19	115	$599,084	1606	$373	$45	13.77%
2006	10/19-11/19	62	$587,840	1657	$355	-$18	-4.90%
2007	10/19-11/19	26	$507,904	1505	$337	-$17	-4.87%
2008	10/19-11/19	61	$400,393	1455	$275	-$62	-18.46%
						Average increase per year	6.95%

Mortgage Rates are DOWN - Way Down!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:16:54 -0600

Thinking of buying a home in Rancho Santa Margarita? This may be the best time in a LONG time. Mortgage rates are down, way down. Home prices may continue to fall for some time to come, or this could be the bottom. No one knows for sure. It's a pretty safe bet that if you purchase a home to live in, and stay there 5 years, it will increase in value. Stay 10 and there is a very good chance that it will double in value based on history.

$149K in RSM!!! Been a while since they've been THAT Low

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:23:42 -0600

There is a condo in Rancho listed for $149K - it's listed as a short sale, but with bank approval. That's amazing. I sold a similar condo in December for $205K and thought we were selling it pretty cheap.

Have we reached the bottom?

Yep- or very close.

Thinking about buying something myself as an investment.

You agree?

Oh, by the way, I was doing a BPO in Fountain Valley last week. There, home prices have been steady for the last year!! (source = Data Quick).

Thinking about buying a rental - call me, I have seen a lot of them.

Paul

Easy Way to Restore Your Oak Cabinets

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:04:56 -0600

Ok, so maybe Golden Oak has fallen out of favor with the masses, but I still like my Golden Oak kitchen cabinets.

I'd like them more if they weren't beginning to show their age.

The cabinet under the sink was the worst. Little drops of water over the years had taken its toll on the cabinet's finish.

Anyone that has read my blog in the past knows that I am a total do it yourselfer, but the thought of sanding my cabinets down to bare wood, was unbearable (pun intended).

So, for the last couple of weeks I have been trying to think of a simpler way to "repair" the finish. I thought about painting them, but I haven't liked the oak cabinets I've seen that have been painted. The grain always seems to show through.

Here is my formula -

Remove the doors and drawers. Take one of the fake (faux) drawer fronts from under the sind, down to the local big box depot.

The first step is to find a stain that is as close to what you already have as possible.

Next, get some scotch bright pads (that's the scratchy stuff on the back of most kitchen sponges).

Get some paint thinner.

Look for a new product from Minwax. It's a poly urathane, water based, that you apply with a rag. I know, you think, "that can't work" - but it works great, it dries super fast, and gives a great finish.

As an alternative, you can use spray on poly urethane, but that take forever to dry. I used the spray on the front before I tried the rub on. I will probably never go back to the spray.

I actually built the Oak Cabinets in my last house, so I am not totally cluess about finish work.

Buy some 100 or 120 grit sand paper (get some additional finer paper if you want an extremely smooth surface. 120 grit was fine for my project.

Now, figure out the sheen your cabinets have. Not what they used to have, but what they have now, so you can blend if necessary.

Ok, go home, take one of the door fronts that really looks bad. Grab your scotch bright and paint thinner, have some paper towels handy. Now rub down the entire door with the scotch bright and paint thinner.

Anywhere the wood is exposed, the paint thinner will darken, but once it dries, it will lighten back up.

The object here is to clean the wood, and to remove any of the really loose finish.

Let them dry, then go over them with the sandpaper. This time to smooth the existing finish, but not to remove any more than you need to.

Wipe the wood down real well with the paper towels, or blow it off with compressed air like I did.

Now you are ready to stain. I put it on with a brush, let it stand about 5 min, then removed it with the paper towels. If you did it right, the stain should blend in very well with the existing stain. You'll want to cover the entire surface, but the stain will only darken the exposed wood where the finish has warn off. Don't try to only paint the stain on the areas that are bare, just stain the whole piece, then wipe it all off.

Follow the directions on the stain. I had to wait 8 hours before I could poly coat mine. They do make a waterbase stain that I have used in the past, but they didn't have the right color at Lowes, so I used the slow dry stuff (Minwax again).

Once the stain was dry, I sprayed the fronts of two doors and faux drawer fronts.

Once those were dry, I turned them over and did the other side with the wipe on poly. That stuff is great. I used the same process on the cabinet frames.

Mine were actually falling apart, so I had to do some rebuilding, but in the end, the cabinets I repaired look better that those I haven't gotten to yet. In the mean time they blend in very well

Please note that there are many finishes out there and I can only say that my instructions worked for me. If you decide to try this, do so at your own risk, but enjoy the outcome if it works out for you.

Good luck!

Paul

Superstars really ARE Super - in RSM

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:40:48 -0600

Since the first of the year, our Century 21 Superstars office has listed more homes that have sold in Rancho Santa Margarita, than any other brokerage. In fact, we listed 59 of the 650 homes sold since the first of the year. The runner up only listed 47, next in line listed 36, then 21, 17 and so on.

There were a lot of companies that only sold 1 or 2.

We have approximately 150 agents in our office alone.

Agents selling Bank Owned properties led the pack by a huge margin.

I expect prices to firm up based on the number of sales.

Thinking of selling?

Please give me a call.

Paul McDuell

OMG!! Check Out the Latest McDuell Stats for Rancho Santa Margarita!!!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:24:28 -0600

So, here I am, minding my own business, but wondering if there really were more homes sold last month (Oct. 08) than last year (Oct. 07).

Are you sitting down?

Are you ready for this??

Last month there were 78 sales in RSM - that includes condos and SFRs.

There were only 28 homes sold in Oct. of 2007!!!

That folks is a 278% increase - that is HUGE!!!

Ok - but what about prices you ask?

Well - The average price per sqft in Oct. of 07 in RSM was $348.42

In Oct. of 08, that price dropped to $274.96 a SqFt.

That's equal to a 21% drop in value. That's a LOT, but not nearly as bad as many would have us believe.

So, what is the prediction?

I see it this way, demand is WAY up - When demand is up, prices go up.

There will be a lag, and who knows how long that will be.

But with the number of sales up this high, it's only a matter of time before prices start to go up again.

Thinking about buying an investment property????

Call me - There are 2 bedroom condos in Mission Viejo now for $180K!!!!!

Hike El camino del Rey - HOLD ON!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:43:57 -0500

Originally built in 1901, this walkway now serves as an aproach to makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro. If you haven't seen this, you are going to be amazed!

Market Will Fall Until We Reach Pre Nonsense Loan Price Levels Plus 2~3% per Year

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:07:44 -0500

The nonsense loans that were introduced in the first few years of this century are the main reason Real Estate prices shot up the way they did. All of the sudden EVERYONE was able to buy. Now that those loans are gone, and the families purchasing today are buying homes they can TRULY afford, home prices have fallen dramatically.

Imagine for a minute that those nonsense loans had never been introduced. Prices would have gone up gradually since 2001 or so, at maybe 2~3% per year.

Actually, that's kind of what is happening now. Home prices had inflated much faster than they should have, so until the levels get back to where they should be by now (had those nonsense loans never been introduced), we are going to see prices fall.

Well, we are almost there. Take the 01, 02 prices, and in 3~6% per year for appreciation, and you have the value that homes SHOULD be at.

Just a guess, but it makes sense to me.

What do you think?

Using your IRA to Purchase Real Estate WITHOUT Penalty

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:07:12 -0500

Did you know that you can use your IRA to purchase investment Real Estate? Yep, the IRA OWNS the Real Estate, no need to take an early disbursement. There are some rules like you can't live it while the IRA owns it, and you can't rent it to anyone linearly related to you (grandparents, parents, kids, grand-kids), but brothers and sisters are OK. You can even borrow money to make the purchase, but the loan must be non-recourse which means it cannot be sold on the secondary mortgage market and dramatically reduces your choices when seeking a lender (but there ARE lenders out there). Also, if you do borrow to make the purchase, the % of the purchase that is financed is subject to taxation (unless you use a 401K, which is exempt for the tax!). The bottom line is, it can be done, it's not complicated, there are MAJOR tax advantages, but you must follow the rules.

Please consult your tax professional for tax advice. Be sure that any tax consultant you rely on is very familiar with Self Directed IRAs and their use in purchasing Real Estate. Many are not aware that this is permissible.

Got a Question?

Give me a call or shoot me an email!

Paul McDuell

Dove Canyon Report

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:03:27 -0500

Good news, loan rates have dropped. 30 year fixed conforming (up to $417,000) with one point is at 5.875%, and 6.25% with no points (they were MUCH higher last week). Homes prices have dropped, but the number of home sales have gone up dramatically. 62% increase in the number of sales from Sept. 07 compared with Sept. 08 AND that average includes new home sales which have actually dropped dramatically. If you look at only resale home statistics, you'll see that sales have increased over 80% when compared to the same period last year.

But what about Dove Canyon. Some of you have been receiving my stats on Dove Canyon for almost a year now. We've seen the average price per square foot go from slightly over $300 to $283 this period. On a 2500sqft home that translates to a difference of about $42,500. That's a lot of money, but when you consider the price of the homes in this size range are over $700K it doesn't seem like as much.

With the number of sales increasing the way they are, it's only a matter of time that prices will follow. The California Association of Realtors predicts that home prices should start to recover in the second quarter of next year.

If you are considering a purchase, this may be the time to make your move. If you are thinking about selling to retire (not purchasing a replacement home), you may want to hold off until prices recover, but if you plan on purchasing a replacement home, lower prices can actually work in your favor, after all, the taxes you'll pay on your next home will be based on the purchase price.

This is pretty much what I have been predicting, that is that home prices will fall to the point of where they were before they started making the "non sense" loans. Now that we are practically there, we are seeing a predictable increase in sales volume for two reasons. First, because many people are becoming aware of the great values, and secondly because more and more buyers are qualifying to purchase homes.

If you have any questions about Dove Canyon Real Estate, or any Real Estate in South Orange County, please give me a call or shoot me an email!!

Home buyers and Sellers, if you are interested in acquiring a copy of my Dove Canyon report, shoot me an email and I will send you one.

Kids Become Adults, Homes Become Empty Nests

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:13:08 -0500

I have two kids, Sarah and Ashley. In May, Ashley turned 23, in June Ashley graduated Cal. State Long Beach and the same month moved to Charlotte North Carolina.

She moved to North Carolina because her boy friend, Jay, got a job transfer. He couldn't refuse their offer, and Ashley didn't want live here without him.

Sociology Degree in hand, her goal was to pursue a career in Medical or Pharmaceutical sales. She has since learned that the companies that she would like to work for require experience. She is wondering how to land that career job if they won't hire her without having that experience.

Slightly disillusioned, and running low on funds, she has returned to the work force as a waitress. The work is hard, but it pays well. She is only working part time, while she continues to look for a position in her career of choice.

Jay is committed to at least one year with the company before he can make any moves. Before they left they talked about possibly coming back to California, but as time goes by they speak less about the place they left behind, and more about the cost of living and opportunities where they are.

We vote for them to come back for a number of reasons; family support base, friends, network. But I'm afraid Ashley has the final vote in that decision. We'll see her at Christmas for two weeks, and talk to her regularly, but it's just not the same as having her close by.

I'm writing this because I want all of you with children still at home, to cherish the time you have together. Before you know it, they'll be gone. I never dreamed that my little girl would move all the way across the country, but then I was just naive. You only "own" them until their 18, after that, all of their decisions (potentially) become their own, including moving to the next city, state, across the country or even the other side of the globe!

Trabuco Canyon - What does TRABUCO Mean?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:48:33 -0500

Trabuco translated means Musket or short gun.

I read somewhere years ago, that a Mexican army officer, one of Portola's men, was riding through this area, when he lost his gun, his "Trabuco". I can just imagine him looking all over, retracing his moves looking for his gun and his comrades giving him a hard time. According to the story, that is how Trabuco Canyon got it's name.

Trabuco Canyon has modern homes and ancient oak trees, some over 1000 years old.

Nestled at the bask of the Cleavland National Forest in Southern California, Trabuco Canyon is a wonderful place to live.

Trabuco Canyon is not an official City, and in fact parts of it are incorporated into surrounding cities. Part of Trabuco Canyon is part of the city of Rancho Santa Margarita. Part is in the city of Foothill Ranch, other parts are not in cities at all, only an area of Orange County.

A little history lesson for today.

Paul McDuell

Bank Owned Properties in Horrible Condition

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:31:03 -0500

I am guessing that this is happening all across the country.

Bank owned properties being ignored and falling into deferred maintenance.

I'm not sure who to blame. I'm sure the banks are overwhelmed. But many of these homes are listed by my fellow agents. Shouldn't the agents at least make sure that the lawns and landscape are maintained?

I've heard that some of these agents have too many listings to be able to tend to all of them.

Ok, if that's the problem, then shouldn't more agents be listing these bank owned properties.

It's the agents who ultimately become responsible for maintaining a bank owner property once it's listed. There are some exceptions, but that is generally the case.

There are some agents that have hundreds of bank owned listings.

There are also many fine agents out there that don't have ANY listings.

Wouldn't it make sense to let some of these other full time agents list and oversee some of these homes.

Having homes fall into disrepair is bad for neighborhoods and society in general.

We in the industry have seen many homes that are begging for water and a little attention.

I am one of those agents that would love to list some bank owned properties and give them the attention they need. Any bankers out there reading this?

I'm here to help!

Who is STEALING my open house signs?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:18:01 -0500

ARGH!

Are times so tough that people need to steal my signs? Here in Rancho Santa Margarita, we are only allowed to use one type of open house directional sign. We get some out of the area agents doing open house here, using the wrong signs, but the vast majority get it right.

I hold open house every weekend - and recently, they have been very close to home. I put a sign in the lawn in front of the Shell gas station right down the street from me.

Twice, I've come back to pick up my sign at the gas station, and it's been gone. ARGH!

I figured that maybe the owner of the station asked the attendant to pick it up. So, I asked, or at least I tried. Seems the attendant speaks a different language (I have no problem with that, only wish I could speak their language). When I tired showing them one of my signs, and then throwing my hands up, attempting to ask where? They just smiled and said - OK, no problem. I think they thought I was asking for permission to place the sign on the property.

Well, I never found the signs, but my wife said she saw some signs this weekend where the section where a name would have been was CUT OUT! OMG

These signs cost $6.99 each, and the posts cost $6.99 each, so we are not talking about a lot of money - it's just the principle!

Oh, well, part of doing business I guess?

Should you buy a new(er) car?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:07:53 -0500

I work on my own car - yep, dumb sometimes, but I do. Even some of the major stuff. I recently changed the water pump, the hoses, and the belts on my BMW 740il. Cost me a couple of hundred in parts, but to have that job done, could have easily cost $1000.

My car has over 100K miles. This is point that I ususally sell the old one and purchase a newer one. Mainly because it makes financial sense.

Or does it?

I could sell mine for, let's say $12K and purchase a newer one for around $26K. The newer one would probably come with a warranty so I wouldn't have to worry about repairs for awhile.

The problem is, that the newer car is going to depreciate a LOT faster than the older one. So, unless something major happens to the older one, like the engine goes out, it's cheaper to keep the old one.

I was really looking forward to a newer car too - darn it.

Paul

Your IRA can purchase a rental property - No Penalty.

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:00:52 -0500

Yep, your IRA can purchase a rental property! You didn't know that?

It's true, you need to transfer your IRA to a self guided IRA. Then the IRA can purchase and hold title to the home. The home can be rented out and the income (all of it) goes back into the IRA, much like the profits of stocks would. Any work that needs to be done on the home gets paid for from the IRA funds. It's a little complecated, but it can be done. With the stock market tanking, and Real Estate prices at a point where a LOT of people are looking at purchasing income property, it makes sense to consider making the purchase with their IRA.

Thank Goodness Home Prices Have Come Down!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:54:58 -0500

Here is the way I see it.

Starting around 2001/2002 home financing got pretty liberal.

Loans were made with nothing down.

Loans were made without having to prove income.

Loans were made giving several payment options, where one of the options didn't even cover the interest charges (but you couldn't make that payment for long).

There were super low interest start rates.

So - to qualify, you took the starter rate, along with the starter low payment, considered the stated income and pretty much anyone that wanted to buy a home could.

Were lenders crazy, were these buyers nuts? NO

Home prices were accelerating faster than at any time in the past. No one was making the association - that is, easy money allowed anyone to buy, which meant over demand and higher prices. We just all knew that home prices were going up - FAST!

Most of us now know that the super low loan payments ended, the rates adjusted up-wards and many people could no longer afford their payments. The word spread, people realized that at some point they wouldn't be able to afford their homes. Demand faded, and prices dropped.

So, I asked this question - what would have happened to our housing market IF those crazy loans had never been available?

You know the answer - there would have been fewer homes sold, prices would not have gone up like they did and we wouldn't be facing the market we are in today.

So, were does it end?

Simple, we go back to when those crazy loans started, add in the NORMAL appreciation rates, say 2% per year, and home prices are right back where they should have been if those crazy loans were never introduced.

Over simplistic? Yes, for sure! More homes were built during those boom years so now we have more inventory, but wait, less have been built recently.

Anyway - this was supposed to be about why lower prices are a good thing.

Because now we are reaching a point where couples with 2 incomes, who have scrimped and saved and sacrificed, can now afford to buy a home.

That's the way it should be (well, ok, one income would be nice, but then we would be going back to the mid 70's level right?)

So, my point is - prices will fall until they reach the point that they would have been at IF these crazy loans would have never been introduced. Makes sense to me...

What is your take?

Sign of the times - Adult Kids Moving Back Home (Mine!)

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:34:10 -0500

My Daughter, let's call her "Sarah" (that is her name after all). Gave birth to my Grand Daughter, Laci, 5 years ago, almost to the day.

She didn't marry the father, Jason (though they ARE still together). Sarah is a gymnastics coach, and Jason is tile setter. Both have been struggling to find work. Jason got sick a couple of months ago, and hasn't been able to work much, and Sarch broke her arm this week spotting one of her students.

They have been renting while amassing medical bills. So 3 weeks ago, I got the call.

It went something like this, "Dad, is there any chance we could move in with you for a while, just until we get our feet back on the ground?" What would YOU have done? I'm not going to let my daughter and grand daughter live on the street, but thoughts of tough love did race through my head. We compromised, we are letting them move back in with conditions - they gotta pay some rent.

Maybe the current Real Estate market is a blessing in disguise for some. While our home prices go down, the market becomes more affordable to those who haven't been able to purchase a home up to this point, but that is the subject for another blog.

We are going to miss having an empty nest, it will be a major adjustment living with a 5 year old again, but it's going to be fun!?!?!?

Your Computer is too SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW - Here are some tips to speed it up!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:20:17 -0500

(Warning - Make ANY changes to your computer at your OWN risk - see the end...)

Along with my Full Time Real Estate Career, I am also a Microsoft Certified System Engineer.

Computers have been my hobby (my wife says obsession), since the late 70's.

One thing we have all experienced (some may not have noticed), is our computers getting slower over time.

How can you get the maximum speed from a computer - simple - buy a new one!

Sometimes that IS the best solution. Hang in a min, I have some things you can do to your current computer that should help speed IT up too.

As you install applications (programs), they ofter leave you a little gift in the form of a start up app. That means that a portion of the program starts up every time you start Windows. After a while, you have a bunch of start up apps sucking the life out of your system.

There are lots of ways to stop these apps from starting, but the easiest way is to simply go into MSCONFIG and uncheck some check boxes. Many of those start-up apps are not necessary and only slow your overall system down.

Here is a short list of speed up ideas.....

1. Start MSCONFIG (Run - type MSCONFIG - enter), look for the startup tab. There you will find a bunch of startup apps. You can un-check the box to the right, and they won't start next time you start Windows. Be careful, some of those apps ARE required. If in doubt, GOOGLE the name of the start up file to figure out what it is. If you mess up, and the computer doesn't start, go into safemode and reselect the boxes you unchecked.

2. Go into Windows Explorer, right click on your C Drive, Click on properties and uncheck indexing. You WILL get an error, just tell the system to continue. Indexing only helps when you are searching for something in Windows Explorer.

3. Disable all of the cutsie stuff that slows your system down. You you really need a shadow under your cursor??? Go to Control panel, System, Advanced, performance settings and select the option to optimize your system for SPEED. You will never miss those shadows and other cutsie things.

Poop happens, so make a few changes at a time (at YOUR own risk), remember or write down the changes you make. Safemode is your friend, you can usually go into that mode if you change something that won't allow your computer to boot properly. Go into safemode and UNDO whatever you did to make your computer not work.

Other things you should do are scan for Viruses, Adware, Malware and get a good antivirus program running on your computer.

I hope that helps, send contributions to, (just kidding)...

Why Choose South Orange County?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:00:11 -0500

There is an old saying that, "Many a serious thing is said in jest"

I often tell my clients that there is no additional fee for the weather in Southern California, it comes included in the sales price.

But we all know better, our prices are high because our location which just happens to include the best weather on earth (in my humble opinion).

In addition to that, we have the Pacific Ocean and, if you want snow, you drive to it, play for the day, and drive home. It's a short drive, a little over an hour each way.

But why would you choose South Orange County, there are several other areas in Southern California you could call home.

Here is why, South Orange County is one of the newest areas in Southern California. You get everything I mentioned above, plus great schools, super low crime, clean streets, newer homes that typically don't need a lot of upkeep (because they aren't that old).

Oh, did I mention the weather?

We did get some rain this week along with some thunder and lightening. A VERY rare occurrence. It rained for a couple of hours, and the lightening lasted for an hour or so. Just long enough to enjoy the show.

AND ladies and gentlemen - we are now including, at no extra charge, NEW LOWER PRICES!!

Is this the bottom? Who knows, but it's a GREAT time to buy some Weather!

Best product for floors - Your Opinion

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:44:21 -0500

Wood - pretty, looks warms, scratches, wears.

Carpet, cheap, feels nice, warm, looks good in many rooms. Gets dirty easily and wears out.

Ceramic Tile - inexpensive, holds up well unless you get the high gloss and put it in a high traffic area. But the grout gets dirty easily. Tip - seal it with a top notch sealer.

Porcelin Tile - Like ceramic tile, only super hard and durable. Lasts forever, but again, you have to deal with the grout. Consider tiny grout line and again, seal it.

Travertine - beaufiful - wears easily, but looks nice as it wears (until the natural holes start to show up). Those holes can be filled. The grout lines are typically very small and don't show the dirt as much. Very popular in So. Cal. over the last few years.

Marble - beautiful, but not practical - too soft. I put marble in one of our bathrooms. It looked great, and still looks good, but that original sheen is gone. It can be polished back, but it's very expensive. Grout lines are small.

Granite - You don't see many granite floors and I'm not sure why. It's pretty, it's tough, and it's not all that expensive. You can make the grout line tiny. I put a granite floor in our dining room where I wanted marble - I still looks like the day I installed it. It's Black Galixy, and it's a little hard to keep clean, but well worth it.

Slate - You gotta like the look of slate, like travertine, it's soft, but looks good as it wears. Problem I see is it's not smooth, so a little difficult to keep clean.

Composite wood floor - there are all kinds. They wear very well, hard as they can be, but most don't look real - so do. Shop for a nice one.

So - What floor material do YOU like?

What are your rules for butting up one floor type to another?

Paul

Open House Sitting - and Lunch - what do YOU eat?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:32:38 -0500

I get hungry during open house, do you? I typically tell myself that if I eat a large meal just before I start, that it will get me through the day - but it seldom does.

By the end of my typical 5 hour shift, I am starving.

Sometimes I'll plan ahead and bring a sandwich or something, but usually not.

What do YOU do?

And if you are reading this right now, and you are in Rancho Santa Margarita, Please come by my open house, and bring me a sandwich!! (only 1/2 kidding:-)

Paul

Do It Yourself!

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:28:15 -0500

Ok, I admit it - My name is Paul McDuell, and I am a Do It Yourselfter"

Oh, I've saved a ton of money over the years doing things myself, but a rational person might have asked themselves if doing it yourself is really cost effective.

When I tackle a large do it yourself project, I sometimes need to buy new tools. To justify the purchase, I tell myself that the tools will more than pay for themselves in money saved by not having to hire someone.

Here is a short list of do it yourself projects I've taken on over the years.

Two Roofs - ripped off the old ones' put on new ones - by myself

Always build my own computers

Build my own Oak kitchen cabinets in my last house - Note I said built, not just installed. I bought Oak plywood, and Oak hardwood. I made the cabinets, the drawers, the lazy susan, the drawer fronts and the cabinet fronts. The shelves in the panty pulled out. Took me a year. I was particularly proud of the lazy susan corner cabinet. It came out perfect with one small exception - it was too big to fit though the kitchen door!! Argh - had to tear it apart and reassemble it.

I always do my own car repairs, including replacing a couple of transmissions over the last few years. Brakes and rotors a given.

I have repiped a few house myself.

I've done a lot of tile and drywall work.

A ton of electrical work, including new breaker panels, new subpanels, and 220V circuits.

I finished painting the outside of my current home recently. It's a good size house, and it took me a couple of weeks to finish it. The house is 3200SqFt 2 story. I've painted a LOT of homes, but this was by far the largest. I have to admit though, that I hired a guy to paint the tops of my chimneys. There are up there above the clouds. This guy was crazy, AND expensive.

Still, I'm confident that had I paid a painter to do the job, it would have cost me 3 times what I paid in materials and it would not have been done nearly as well.

My best argument for not doing things myself is that it takes me away from selling Real Estate. If I had made an extra sale instead of painting my house, I could have given that commission check to the painter.

Of course, I wouldn't do everything myself if I didn't love doing it. I get a certain satisfaction of knowing that I accomplished something that most people wouldn't even consider doing.

It's been said, that it's "Labor of Love" and to a certain extent that's true.

I guess that didn't have a lot to do with Real Estate, but if you ever need any advice on a do it yourself project -----

Paul

Bank Owned, Short Sale, Foreclosure, Equity Seller

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:09:27 -0500

I find myself doing more educating these days than in past years. That includes educating myself!

There are a lot of people looking at homes that think they have a pretty good handle on the market, but when pressed I often find they are not quite sure about the difference between a short sale and a forclosure or a bank owned.

I am staying away from the short sales. The last offer I put in for a client on a short sale property was 3 months ago. Since then, I found the same client a bank owned property, our offer was accepted and we are getting ready to close. Still haven't heard back on the short sale!

I was in the office the other day, when a fellow agent shouted yippy! When asked about the excitement, she said that her short sale (she was the listing agent) had been approved! They submitted the first offer in early Febuary and got approval (on the 7th offer) in Sept.

Until the banks catch up, I am just staying away from the short sales. I don't care if the potential for a great deal is there, it's not worth my time or my clients emotions to have to wait for months on end knowing that the end result will probably be unfavorable.

I'll continue to put offers in on bank owned properties, but even those are moving very slowly.

Then there are the lenders. They are SO cautious now that it's incredibly difficult to get a loan through.

Our market has gone from, "almost anyone can buy a home", to "hardly anyone can get a loan to buy a home"

Ending on a positive note - I am holding a bank owned property open today, and the traffice has been steady - hey better than the recent past.

Paul

Are you Getting your Share of the Bank Owned Listings?

Paul McDuell (Century 21 Superstars) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:57:32 -0500

I've noticed something, and I don't think it just a local phenomenon. Its that a few Realtors have the majority of the bank owned listings.

I've read here on Active Rain, that it's not necessarily the top agents that are getting those listings either.

So what is going on here?

Can a single agent handle 15, 30 or more listings at once. If you are the listing agent, you're going to say sure! But with the sad state that many of these bank owned properties are in, and the limited resources that a single agent has, how can they really give the kind of support and attention these bank owned properties deserve.

Personally, I think the listings need to spread around. Agents that have only a few listings have the time to invest in taking a personal interest in these bank owned properties.

An uncared for bank owned property is going to bring the value on the entire neighborhood down. We need to spruce them up a little, and get aggressive with marketing.

Just my 2 cents.

Paul