In any other year, when Costa Mesa homeowners read an opening line like, “For the 13th time this year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage set a record low…,” their reaction would most likely be something like, “Wow! They cut rates again! How great!”

Not this year. Most of 2020 has seen gun-shy Costa Mesa residents, having rebounded from one unexpected obstacle after another, take one look at that sentence and be more apt to focus on the unlucky number ‘13’ and think, “Uh-oh! Now what?”

But Costa Mesa homeowners can relax. The news flash is, indeed, good news (unequaled news, actually). As Realtor Magazine noted, when it comes to 30-year fixed mortgages, “home buyers and refinancing homeowners have never before locked in a rate this low.” When the…

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When you and your Realtor sit down to arrive at your property’s Costa Mesa listing price, there is no controversy about the mutual goal. The object is to arrive at the highest figure that will attract the greatest amount of interest from qualified buyers. That it will also begin the process of getting to the signing table in the shortest time is built into that objective. The only mystery is how many qualified buyers will be currently searching the Costa Mesa listings for just such a home.

That sounds a little simpler than it is in reality. The most basic element that goes into establishing the listing price is the Costa Mesa “comps”—recent sale prices for comparable homes. But since no two properties are exactly the same, that is just a departure…

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Sometimes perfectly logical assumptions just don’t pan out.

For homeowners who had planned to sell their Costa Mesa home this year, the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic looked like the worst kind of bad news—what pundits call a “black swan”—the kind of out-of-the-blue event that thoroughly disrupts normal prospects. Sure enough, unemployment numbers soared, and businesses in any number of fields ground to a halt. As if those conditions weren’t damaging enough, for Costa Mesa home sellers, even showing Costa Mesa homes became close to impossible as everyone grappled with finding the best ways to deal with the changing conditions.

Few would have believed that already by summer’s end, residential real estate sales could possibly rebound as…

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For anyone who follows Costa Mesa real estate trends, this year has upended all expectations. Even following the declaration of the national pandemic emergency, the course of activity continued to follow an unpredictable path. Last Thursday, the National Association of Realtors® Newsroom revealed new details about the unforeseen shifts in the housing market. Normally, when the national economy sputters as profoundly as it has since to onset of the pandemic, it constitutes “a condition usually associated with slower home sales and lower home prices.” The opposite has come to pass on both counts.

The NAR’s key findings detail a market that has tilted toward more expensive—and more spacious—properties:

  1. Buyers have been seeking housing with more…

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“Why Wednesday?”

Many younger residents will probably be wondering about Costa Mesa’s Veterans Day scheduling. Except for Thanksgiving—the ever-Thursday celebration—most national observances are arranged to sidle up to or include a weekend, one way or another, making the most of any time off. But 2020’s Veterans Day is on Wednesday, period. Why?

The answer is straightforward. True, in some communities, Veterans Day observances (parades, in particular) may be scheduled for surrounding days—but the central event, the national ceremony in Washington DC, is always observed on November 11 (there are more “11’s” involved, too). Here’s why (the story is kind of neat).

World War I was a particularly horrendous affair—especially when compared with…

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Every profession creates them—an ever-expanding vocabulary of specialized terms, followed by the list of acronyms they spawn. Costa Mesa real estate is certainly no exception.

Fortunately for the numerous house-hunters who have been out prospecting for Costa Mesa homes this fall—and for the homeowners whose properties are their quarry—there’s really no need to memorize them all. Your Realtor® (ideally, that’s me) will acquaint you with all the definitions you need to know, if and when they crop up.

Even so, since some of the most common ones do occasionally creep into blogs, ads, and various other Costa Mesa real estate communications, here is an abbreviated list of some common ones. Anyone with personal home buying and selling experience will…

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Location, Luxury, and Lifestyle! Three words that immediately come to mind after experiencing 2841 Europa Dr. located on a quiet interior street in the prestigious high-demand Mesa Verde neighborhood. Immediately upon approach you will fall in love with the stunning curb appeal of this home. Boasting white and black color tones, a custom Dutch door, brand new front lawn, and a charming tree swing...it is like something out of a storybook. The main level of the home features a formal living room/family room, dining room area, an office that was originally a bedroom (easily converted back), guest bathroom with shower, stunning designer kitchen, and a bonus Great Room addition that will make your jaw drop. Upstairs you will find two spacious guest…

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Costa Mesa residents who dutifully set their clocks back an hour last Saturday night may have been grateful for the extra hour of shuteye—but if they've been reading what shrinks and biologists are telling the Wall Street Journal, they probably spent the extra hour tossing and turning. The Journal's "Why the Time Change Is Trickier When Working from Home" provided a new reason to append some additional anxiety to the workweek ahead.

It's long been known that winter's shortened daylight hours cause a mood shift in some people—with the 'fall backward' clock adjustment exacerbating the effect. One Danish study found that depression increased by 8% following the time change (and that was before the pandemic).

For Costa Mesa homeworkers who've spent…

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