orengolanskicom: Mission Viejo Housing Affordability Heats Current Market
- 05/15/17 12:51 PM
Every now and again Forbes magazine assembles what it calls its “top financial brain power” to comment on a topic of interest. Late last week, the topic was real estate—more specifically, the answer to the question, “Is the Real Estate Market Still Healthy?” Speaking for our Mission Viejo real estate market, I’d have to the answer “yes.”(It’s a cinch I’ll never be asked by Forbes to join the panel because a one-word answer doesn’t make for a very long article). Their panelists did better at elaborating. They voiced a couple of blanket observations on homeownership in today’s market, then settled on some reassuring points on housing affordability. Their … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Real Estate Investing in Tustin Now Easier than Ever
- 05/15/17 12:49 PM
Has technology made investing in Tustin real estate easier? Entrepreneur Magazine has supplied an answer to warm the heart of any Tustin REALTOR® (like yours truly). They say investing in real estate isn’t just easier—it’s grown significantly easier. The reason is the medium we’re communicating through right now. “7 Reasons NOW Is a Great Time to Invest in Real Estate” was the title of the essay. The screaming “NOW” was the initial attention-getter, although the single one of the 7 Reasons that had me nodding my head didn’t deal with interest rates or bankers’ current awakening from their previous lending lethargy. It wasn’t any of the points dealing … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Selling Your Lake Forest Home: Beyond Marketing
- 05/15/17 12:46 PM
Selling your Lake Forest home takes marketing, of course. Highlighting its features—the specific details that the Lake Forest MLS lists for every property—is only the beginning. The number of bedrooms, square footage, lot size—even the architectural style—all help buyers eliminate offerings that won’t satisfy their housing requirements. These are quantitative marketing specifics that qualify a residence. Most have numbers attached. They’re also the basis for the “comps” that the bank or other mortgage lender will use to estimate your property’s market value. But they are only the first step in selling your Lake Forest home. They can (hopefully, will) interest buyers—but they don’t do much more than that. What’s … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Mission Viejo Homeowners (and Their Hefty Tax Advantages)
- 05/15/17 12:37 PM
As this season’s controversies swirl through Washington, one of them seems likely to wind up being at the top of the heap: federal income taxes. Whether or not they will be simplified (hopefully) or lowered (ummm—probably?) will be sorted out in due time, but one detail is a lead pipe cinch: when the dust clears, the real estate tax advantage will remain. If any politician is thinking about eliminating the real estate tax advantage, he or she is wisely being very quiet about it. For good reason: that’s an idea that would probably lead to a quick retirement from public life courtesy of many displeased voters. Certainly, … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Next for Lake Forest Trailblazers: Shipping Container Homes?
- 05/15/17 12:30 PM
I don’t know about you, but when I used to hear the term “affordable housing” I’d think of value-priced Lake Forest condominium listings, some of the nicer area mobile home parks, or maybe fixer-uppers likely to be snatched up by professional house flippers (ultimately to become slightly less affordable housing). When I heard “affordable housing,” I did not think “packing crate.” Nor did I think, “steamer trunk” or “storage unit.” That turns out to be entirely appropriate; nobody is volunteering to live in those. Where I missed the boat was that I did not think, “shipping container.” But that was then—this, as they say, is now. Those simpler days … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Tustin Home Loan Rates React to Fed Announcement
- 05/15/17 12:25 PM
Last week, local home loan observers were hardly surprised by the news that the Fed’s key borrowing rate—the one that’s most important where Tustin home loan interest rates are concerned —was left as-is. At least for the moment. What that indicated to most educated guessers was that the previous three months’ worth of relatively weak economic news was probably behind the decision not to raise rates. The economic news may not have been all that weak, but it was shaky enough to provide more good news when it comes to Tustin home loans—still remarkably (and happily) hugging the bottom of the 4% range. The reason it’s fair to call … (1 comments)
orengolanskicom: Credit Scores Remain Central to Mission Viejo Real Estate Dealings
- 05/15/17 12:19 PM
If you’re a typical Mission Viejo consumer, like most California residents, it wasn’t too long ago that you were being constantly bombarded by offers to let you in on a secret: your credit score. The “free credit score” ads got a lot of responses, but lately, they’ve grown scarcer. I think I know why. It used to be that thrift-minded people shied away from plastic because it made overspending too easy. Today, ubiquitous credit card bonus points and associated discounts and freebies make the opposite true. After all, taking a vacation without using at least some of your credit card airline “miles” or hotel “points” seems more careless … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Rating Tustin Houses for Sale with the SLAM List
- 05/15/17 12:17 PM
It’s called SLAM: an abbreviated approach that helps Tustin house hunters to quickly sort through listed houses for sale. Tustin homes that compare well using the SLAM categories warrant further investigation. The four parts of the SLAM list: Schools. The eventual resale value of a candidate property isn’t usually given much consideration early on—but should be. A major issue when it comes to resale is the neighborhood’s school district rating. Schools head the SLAM list because—especially for those who don’t have school-aged children—the quality of a property’s school district is easy to overlook. It can also be an indicator of other community quality issues. Location. It’s the key element that … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: Four Traits that Aid Mission Viejo Homebuyers
- 04/03/17 09:44 AM
The Rorschach (or inkblot) test is the one where a psychologist shows you a series of pictures that seem to be random black-and-white splatters. The shrink asks you what you think they look like. What you “see” in the inkblots tells something about who you are—how you look at things. If someone were to create a pack of inkblots to test for who would be best suited for the tasks facing Mission Viejo homebuyers, they’d be designed to pinpoint character traits that come in handy during a typical homebuyer’s quest. I don’t know how Dr. Rorschach came up with the shapes he chose (what was he thinking?)—but … (0 comments)
orengolanskicom: April Can Be a Timely Entry Point for Tustin Listings
- 04/03/17 09:16 AM
It’s April—a time of year when area homeowners who haven’t yet added their homes to the Tustin listings may have a legitimate question about whether it’s too late to benefit from the spring selling season. This year, they may also be concerned that the rise in mortgage interest rates could discourage prospective buyers. The answer to the first question is a qualified not—not too late! The only qualification has to do with the condition of the property itself. If it can be put into sound showable condition within a month or so, this is an excellent time to jump into the Tustin listings—for a number of reasons. We … (1 comments)
Every now and again Forbes magazine assembles what it calls its “top financial brain
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