Normally, December is a ho-hum month for Costa Mesa home sales—and that could well be the case again. Across the nation, 2018’s leadup has performed pretty much as expected. Home sales slowed as the number of home listings stayed in short supply and mortgage interest rates crept upward. So it would surprise no one if Costa Mesa home sales followed the national trend.

But instead of a sleepy year-end market, a year-end surprise might be possible. That’s the studied opinion of CNBC’s respected real estate commentator, Diana Olick. December is “usually the slowest month for home sales,” she writes; “but that might not be the case this year.”

Last week’s pronouncement came on the heels of a dynamic stock market swoon but had little to do with that…

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The L3 Real Estate is proud to introduce its newest team member Jason Villani. Jason is an exceptional Realtor and couldn't be more excited to join our growing family. We are honored to welcome such talent and personality and we look forward to being part of his continued success. #TheL3#LocationLuxuryLifestyle #WeAreL3

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Costa Mesa’s holiday season is well underway now that we’ve passed the commercial post-Thanksgiving kickoff days: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc. If you are one who is debating whether or not to sell your home during the holidays, there are plenty of both pros and cons. One good reason is the relative lack of competition; another is the attitude of most house hunters in December: they tend to be an earnest crew.

As to whether this particular holiday season looks like a good one to sell your own Costa Mesa home, last week offered what might be a relevant hint. Although it’s true that measuring consumer “moods” can be an iffy proposition, last week delivered at least one piece of hard evidence. Since Costa Mesa home buyers are by definition the…

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The “hero shot” is what advertising agency folks call a photograph that makes a product the “star” of its surrounding layout. The product can be a cereal box or a Mack truck—large or small; it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the product appears at its most appealing.

In local real estate terms, the hero shot for a home being offered for sale is the glamour shot that appears at the top of the Costa Mesa listing. For professionals to create that photo, they use the latest equipment to capture the image, then refine it through top-notch processing software to enhance it further.  

But when it comes to making sure your own home is represented by the best possible real estate hero shot, there can be exceptions to the wisdom of…

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As Thanksgiving rolls around again and our Costa Mesa houses fill with visiting relatives and friends, it’s hard to repress an occasional thought like, “Gee, I hope the water heater holds up” or “Boy, this would NOT be the time for the range to give out!” But it’s true that if there’s one thing first time homeowners can learn from their more experienced Costa Mesa neighbors, it’s to expect the unexpected—at least when it comes to home repairs. That isn’t to say that some wallet-draining breakdown is certain to happen a month or two after moving in—but the odds are close to 50-50 that something could need attention within the first year or so.

That was just one of the major takeaways for Costa Mesa readers of last week’s NerdWallet 2018 Home…

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 Last week Costa Mesa homeowners’ peace of mind would have been strengthened by some words that received wide circulation throughout the financial press. Their author was a gentleman whose opinions are as close to bankable as anyone currently on the scene. If there were such a thing as a Nobel Prize in real estate, this guy would own one—come to think of it, he DOES have a Nobel prize (for economics), but his work largely centers on the U.S. real estate market.

We’re talking about Robert Shiller, the Yale professor who co-invented the Case-Shiller Index. It’s the most economically respected measure of U.S home prices. Costa Mesa homeowners who measure their own financial wherewithal usually consider the market price of their Costa Mesa home as a…

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Tom Von Eschen

The L3 is proud to introduce its newest team members:  Tom Von Eschen and John Gee! Tom and John are exceptional Realtors and couldn't be more excited to join our growing family.  We are honored to welcome such talent and personality and we look forward to being part of their continued success.

 

 

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