When a website like lexology.com assesses the year in real estate as one “which faced unprecedented challenges,” Costa Mesa readers know what to expect: details that amount to a torrent of excuses justifying a lame showing in the year just ending. But--not so. As Year 2021 goes into the record books, its history is anything but—as any number of Costa Mesa homeowners will attest. They have good reason to be elated by the ballooning value of their primary investments—their Costa Mesa homes.

The buoyant details weren’t limited to Costa Mesa, either. Throughout most of the nation, the story was the same. Home.com “saw home prices skyrocket like never before.” CNBC headlined, “Homeowners are sitting on record equity,” while theclose.com could note, “the…

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When it comes to the holidays, one favorite story that might seem to be Grinch-worthy is a true one about an evergreen Christmas song—a classic that Costa Mesa shoppers couldn't avoid even if they wanted to. It's strains haunt Costa Mesa's holiday atmosphere, everywhere from markets to department stores—and if there's a Christmas tree lot with a PA system, it will play at least once every half hour.

The musical perennial that's at the center of the story is the perfectly-named "The Christmas Song." That's the one that Nat King Cole first immortalized; it's his or Mel Tormé's voice we hear most often. For younger readers who only vaguely recognize Tormé's name, you'll recognize his "smooth, soft vocal timbre" singing voice in an instant. Not for…

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As December began, at least one Washington Post report—the one from award-winning real estate reporter Michele Lerner—didn’t spare the superlatives. For Costa Mesa homeowners looking to add their home to the Costa Mesa listings, the details could scarcely have been more auspicious. According to the headline, buyer demand in the month just ended wasn’t just good. It was record-setting.

Lerner relied on two separate reports from Redfin for much of the data that validated the claim. One index which records buyer demand as reflected in requests for house tours and various other home-buying services eclipsed the previous record. By another measure, 45% of U.S. properties were sold within two weeks of being listed—during the four weeks ending November…

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The New York Times recently published an article under a headline that sounded like a do-it-yourselfers’ instruction manual. But instead of a hobbyist’s step-by-step for making macrame wall hangings or scrapbook assemblages, the How-to subject was the largest acquisition most families make in a lifetime: “How to Buy a House.”

The first step in the How-to was to determine “Rent vs. Buy?” That’s a reasonable starting point because if renting makes more sense than buying, time spent learning how the Times would go about buying a house would be better used in learning, say, how to keep your pets from damaging the rental.

There were three “basic questions” for determining whether to buy a house—the first two being:

  1. How long will you be staying…

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Last week, Costa Mesa residents couldn’t escape the new word, “Omicron”—the latest permutation of the COVID-19 virus. The Greek alphabet doesn’t usually work its way into daily conversations, but in Costa Mesa, “Omicron” was one Greek letter that made its way into discussions about everything from holiday parade gatherings to global travel plans. It hadn’t yet been invoked in connection with the gasoline price rises—but that may have been just a matter of time.

The topic of real estate was no exception. In fact, to the extent that it affected local mortgage interest rates, the new variant had indeed touched on Costa Mesa home sales. By midweek, the home loan industry’s Mortgage News Daily was dominated by two Omicron stories:

“Big Swings as…

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It’s a life-altering milestone if ever there was one: the decision to move away from the family home. There have always been a variety of reasons why retirees and near-retirees choose to make the leap—with today’s head-spinning social changes certainly doing nothing to pare down that list. Deciding to change your Costa Mesa housing situation often boils down to an intended (or already proceeding) lifestyle change. Since these are the very definitions of “personal” reasons, you might assume that since everyone’s situation differs, their motivations are all over the map—making them all but unclassifiable.

True enough—but it turns out that some generalizations are possible (and useful, if you are uncertain whether your own upcoming decision is an…

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