rancho santa margarita: Most Sales Occur in Which Month? Guess Before You Look! - 02/06/11 10:02 AM
Ok, so this isn't very scientific but I got the results I expected. For zip 92679 (the southern tip of South Orange County, Calif). I looked up the number of closed escrows for Dec. of 2009, then each month for 2010, and finally for Jan. 2011. I wasn't going to figure out when each of these sold, but I did "guestimate" a 45 day average escrow period. I'm sure some were MUCH longer than that what with Short Sales, but I figured it would all average out.
I took my monthly results, subtracted 45 days for the escrow period, and the chart below … (2 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Amazing Home for Sale - NO MELLO ROOS TAXES - NEED TO SELL QUICK! - 01/26/11 02:51 AM
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rancho santa margarita: Inventory Report Rancho Santa Margarita and Coto de Caza Jan 16th. 2011 - 01/16/11 12:10 PM
Jan. 16th. 2011
Based on the number of closed sales over the last 30 days, it would take 7.8 months to sell all of the current listing in zip 92679 and only 5.26 months for 92688.
When looking at larger homes, the inventory would last a little longer. For homes over 2500 SqFt. we are looking 8.6 months for 92679 and 11.6 months for 92688.
Historically - that's not too bad.
Open house this weekend was a little slower than last weekend, possibly because it's a holiday weekend.
Paul
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rancho santa margarita: Large Home Prices Up 12% 09 vs 2010 in one zip code in Southern California! - 12/06/10 01:50 AM
Home prices on homes between 3000 and 3300 sqft. in the 92679 zip have gone up. For the time period from Nov. 1st. through Dec. 6th. 2009 vs 2010.
The average price per square foot for homes in this size category was $231.38 in 2009.
In 2010 that price per square foot rose to $259.55!
That's a 12% increase!!
Now before we get too excited, keep in mind that there were only 6 homes that sold in that size category in 92679 in 09 and only 4 in 2010 - Still - I was surprised to see a rise at all.
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rancho santa margarita: Home Sales Down for November - Rancho Santa Margarita - 12/05/10 03:10 AM
The number of homes closing Escrow in November of 2010 in zip code 92688 is down 8% in relation to last year. Sounds like a scary trend, the type you read about in the newspaper. But looking at the raw data, it's pretty insignificant. 34 closed sales in 09 vs 31 closed sales in 2010.
 
Watch for a comparison of price per square foot for the same time frame.
 
Paul
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rancho santa margarita: When Tragedy Strikes Home - 10/12/10 01:47 PM
I'm back, and glad to be here.
Those who know me, know that I lost my wife a little over a week ago. She had been struggling with back pain and depression a long time. The details of her death are personal, but the fact remains that she is gone.
Besides me, she leaves behind our two adult children, Sarah and Ashley, along with our two granddaughters.
Nothing can prepare us for the unexpected death of a loved one. There has been an outpouring of support from Friends, Family and neighbors. Everyone knows that there are no words that will make … (3 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Wow - what a difference a month makes - Standard Sales Listings Rise in OC - 03/14/10 03:53 AM
This came as a big surprise to me. For several months, even years, it seemed like everything on the market was a short sale. We get so accustomed to stating that the majority of homes listed ARE short sales, that we sometimes forget to check our stats.
I've done the work for you, well, at least for my small part of the planet.
I specialize in South Orange County California, but I pulled stats for all of Orange County first.
Today - 3/14/2010 there are 8669 total active listings in all of Orange County.
Of those - 2446 are listed as … (1 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Huge Increase in Listings in Jan! Has the Shadow Inventory Arrived?? - 02/23/10 04:33 AM
Listings in Mission Viejo for Jan 2010 represent a 25% increase from Jan. 09
Below are the stats.
Jan 09 - 139 listings taken in Mission Viejo
Feb - 135
Mar 136
April 127
May 129
June 150
July 183
Aug 120
Sept 151
Oct 131
Nov 100
Dec 116
Jan 2010 - 174 listings taken in Mission Viejo - 25% increase! -
(of these, only 13 are listed as bank owned and 52 are short sales, 68 standard sales. So if you thought that maybe the banks are starting to dump "shadow inventory", I'd say, not yet (if ever).
Feb … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: This Recovery Will Be Different - Here's Why - 11/19/09 01:58 AM
The low end of the market is on fire with multiple offers and low inventory.
The medium to higher priced homes are languishing, still falling in value.
In past recoveries, sales started at the low end, and those sellers bought up. It seems logical that this will happen each and every time, BUT...
Have you already guessed where I am going?
Many, if not most Sellers this time around are either banks or selling short. In either case, those sellers will NOT be moving up, EVER!
At least two thirds of the traditional "move up" sellers are missing this time around.
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rancho santa margarita: Why This Recovery Is Different than Past Recoveries - 11/19/09 01:22 AM
The low end of the market is on fire right now. There are a ton of first time buyers AND investors snapping up the lower priced inventory. The medium to high price homes are another story. 
In past recoveries as the market recovered, sales at the bottom portion of the market led to sellers buying up into larger homes. While certainly that is happening this time too, it is occuring at a much slower rate.
Many, if not most of the homes being sold at the low end today are either Short Sales or Bank Owned properties. Those sellers will not be … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Paint Opinions Wanted - help me choose - 11/17/09 08:30 AM
Ok, so it's time to paint the inside of our house. It's been the builders white since we bought it almost 15 years ago. It was nice, and easy to touch up. The paint still looks new, but we are ready for a new look. We are going with a light beige for most of the walls - We are considering either Dunn Edwards Sandcastle or Travertine. If you are familiar with these two colors, I would REALLY like your opinion. If you are not, you can check out all of Dunn Edward's colors here - http://www.dunnedwards.com/retail/content.asp?Category=89&Content=0 just type to name … (2 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Why the Tax Credit is a Good Idea and Why Congress Should Extend it. - 11/02/09 01:45 AM
It's been said hear on AR that Tax payers will be repaying the Real Estate Tax Credit for generations. That may be true. It's also been said that it artificially manipulates the housing market and is doomed to fail!
Look, the market has been manipulated since congress allowed the mortgage interest deduction and the Real Estate Tax deduction. Should we also eliminate those? What's the difference? Other than the tax credit is going to be short lived in relation to the interest and tax deductions.
There are precious few homes on the market in South Orange County under 500K that are not short … (2 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Halloween - my wife's Birthday - always makes it extra fun.... - 10/26/09 05:33 PM
My wife loves to decorate for the holidays - especially Halloween.
She likes to dress up (usually as a witch).
This year we'll be handing out treats to the trick or treaters coming to our door.
My costume is simple - one of 3 latex masks - Weir wolf, Gorilla, or scary old man (heck, I don't even need a mask for the last one - LOL
The problem I have is my masks scare the kids - sometimes too much. So I put it one for an hour, then just enjoy handing out the treats.
What will YOU be doing … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Rancho Santa Margarita Home Sales - Prices Improve - 10/18/09 04:37 AM
Have we reached the bottom?
Have prices started to climb?
I did a quick comparison of sold condos for 3 different time frames in Rancho Santa Margarita. I looked at condos from 900 to 1200 square feet. I pulled sales data from the three following time frames:
12/1/2008 through 1/31/2009
1/1/2009 through 3/1/2009
9/1/2009 through 10/18/2009
Anyone who is working in this market can attest to how it's changed over the last 9 months. We have gone from a lot of bank owned properties, to almost none.
We are seeing HUGE demand in this sector with several offers on every condo … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: What Price Level are the RSM Homes selling at? - 09/21/09 07:25 AM
Stats are from the 1st. of the year - 09 through today 9/21/09 in Rancho Santa Margarita, Closed Sales.
Of 557 sales - below is the break down by price....
0 to 100K (those were the days) 2 sales
100 - 200K - 46 sales
200 - 300K - 109 sales
300 - 400K - 107 sales
400 - 500K - 132 sales (the sweet spot)
500 - 600K - 66 sales
600 - 700K - 53 sales
700 - 800K - 27 sales
800 - 900K - 10 sales
900 - 1M - 4 Sales
Over 1M - 1 sale.....
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rancho santa margarita: Short Sales - Mostly at the lower end of the Market in So Cal. RSM - 09/21/09 07:10 AM
It seems like ALL of the listings in Rancho Santa Margarita are short sales, when in reality only about 1/2 are. 74 short sales vs 79 Non- Short Sales.
BUT - if you look at listings up to 250K (one bedroom, and maybe two bedroom condos), the story is completely different.
$250K max- 19 Short sales vs. 3 Non- Short Sales
$251K to $500K - 29 Short sales vs 24 Non- Short Sales
501K to 750K - 19 Short sales vs 31 Non- Short sales
$751K to $1M - 7 Short sales vs 18 Non- Short Sales
Over $1M - ZERO short … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Short Sales vs Non-Short Sales in Rancho Santa Margarita - Surprise! - 09/21/09 07:02 AM
So - What percentage of homes that were listed as short sales actually end up selling as short sales?
In my very un-scientific study, I found that about 60% sell.
That was very suprising as I thought only about 20% would have sold based on what I have been told by others.
It's kind of tough to figure out, but here is what I did - I looked up the number of homes that sold as short sales that were listed on of after 9/21/08 in RSM (537). Then, I looked up the number of homes that were Active, Expired, Cancelled, … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Real Estate Sales Are Really Picking Up - 08/20/09 06:22 AM
Besides selling Real Estate, I also do a lot of BPOs (broker Price Opinions).
There are always 6 requirements for doing BPOs, 3 Active Listings and 3 closed sales that are in close proximity and similar description to the subject property. The closed sales need to be within 6 months, preferably 3 months.
I bring this up, because lately there haven't been enough ACTIVE listings available to do my BPOs.
The companies I do the BPOs for recognize this and are allowing us to use Pending Sales and Backup Status Listings in lieu of Active Listings.
A sign of the times, … (0 comments)

rancho santa margarita: Community Garage Sale This Weekend in Rancho Santa Margarita - 06/11/09 06:52 AM
This Saturday I have the privilege of hosting my neiborhood's annual Community Garage Sale.
It's a LOT of work, and it's not particularly cheap, but I enjoy helping my community and the PR can't hurt my business.
The sale will be Saturday June 13Th. from 7:00AM to 2:00PM
If you are local and interested in coming to the sale, follow the signs in Rancho Santa Margarita located at the corner of Santa Margaria Parkway and Antonio Parkway.
This is a small community of large detached homes, we expect to have at least 15 to 20 homes participating.
Hope to see you there!
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rancho santa margarita: FHA POINTS - an old story - 04/23/09 06:56 PM
Years ago, I was representing a seller on the sale of her home. It was customary, even required if I remember right, that on FHA loans, the seller had to pay the points. On this particular sale, mortgage rates were going up VERY fast. We are talking about the mid 1980's. The points on the buyer's loan started out at 1%, then went to 2%, then 3% finally ending up at 4 1/2%!!! POINTS!!!
There were very few buyers then and my seller really wanted the house sold, so she agreed to pay the points.
The one thing that I've never … (0 comments)