The Costa Mesa real estate lexicon rarely expands to include new terms—but as in so many other areas, exceptions were made during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them was the recognition of “zoom towns,” a term coined to designate smaller towns and rural areas that experienced an influx of remote workers and residents. Costa Mesa needn’t be considered a zoom town to market a possible “zoom room.” That’s a feature that remains appealing to many due to fallout from the pandemic—¬¬developments that include:

  • The rise of remote work. Powerful home computers and lightning-fast web speeds had already made remote work possible, but it took the pandemic-related health mandates to change ingrained workplace practices—by both workers and their employers.…

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Much of the media spent last week exploring the topic of Artificial Intelligence—with mixed opinions about whether it will turn out to be a boon or a curse to Mankind. Much of the discussion focused on AI-generated writing, which some students were already trying to pass off as the product of their own research.

One example was a robotic essay answering the question, “What are the chances that residential real estate will collapse?” The speedily-generated answer was an almost human-sounding regurgitation of what most experts thought: not likely. Local homeowners who were actually concerned about the future of Costa Mesa home values wouldn’t have been enlightened, since more convincing points had already been made by real financial analysts.…

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Even though the Costa Mesa housing market doesn’t precisely echo wider national moves, a connection between the two is only natural. There’s a psychological tendency to respect what authoritative sources avow—and most of the information about real estate that comes to our attention is national, not local. If the morning’s headlines include mention of the latest housing market leap or stumble, it registers. We may be perfectly aware that Costa Mesa’s residential results are apt to be their own thing, but we also know that our expectations (and our neighbors’) will tend to be colored by the zeitgeist as presented.

That’s why, despite its national nature, last week’s news about the U.S. housing market was positive for the Costa Mesa residential…

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When the Forbes’ Advisor site posts a question in its top editorial slot, most Costa Mesa readers assume it will wind up being rhetorical. If an answer follows, it’s likely to be couched in ambiguities. But still, the question posed in the “Advisor” was intriguing: When Will Home Prices Become Affordable? The answer to that question has consequences for anyone looking to buy or sell Costa Mesa homes.

The opening paragraphs held no surprises (but also no answers). They reprised familiar observations about 2022’s skyrocketing interest rates and the pressure they put on the housing market. According to the authors, the pressure was “much-needed” because it acted to slow the rise in home prices, which had surpassed record highs. The reasons why the…

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A short article got Marketwatch.com’s month’s commentaries off to a fast start on February 1. It centered on a pair of numbers, and “What 2 Mortgage Numbers Say About Home Buying Right Now.”

Here are the numbers—followed by “what they say” (or don’t say):

  1. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s composite index tracks the weekly volume of home loan applications. Last week it fell a seasonally adjusted 9%.
  2. The average 30-year home loan interest rate was 6.19%—the lowest since early September.

In a considerable understatement, MarketWatch observed that the first number—the drop in applications— “does not appear to have been driven by a rise in rates.” Since the rates had gone in the opposite direction, that would seem to be an unexpectedly…

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In addition to the mostly glum news about the likelihood of a downturn in the nation’s economy, you’ve probably also heard a blanket pronouncement for residential real estate that’s not so rosy. Based on the probability that we’re in for at least a short recession, at first glance that would seem to justify headlines like “Morgan Stanley: Home Price Declines Are Coming in 2023”—and even last week’s “When Will Housing Prices Drop?”

Not even IF, but WHEN!!! (Thanks a lot, U.S.News & World Report).

But hold on for just a moment. If you’ve been mentally rescheduling putting your Costa Mesa home for sale until a later time when the economy rebounds, there is a piece of information that’s missing—one that might change your mind. This was last…

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It’s a living arrangement that’s familiar to many in Costa Mesa who attended a boarding school or college away from their hometown—who left the comfortable family nest to experience “dorm life.” That sometimes wrenching living arrangement offers the economic advantage of dividing expenses that would be difficult for a single student to bear. In addition to the savings that result from sharing space and utilities, dormitory living (or sorority, fraternity, or other similar arrangements) can offer youngsters their first brush with how to share living facilities with others who aren’t members of their immediate family. The advantages that go with learning to respect lifestyles and customs that initially may seem puzzling (“take my shoes off every time I…

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It’s a situation faced by many Costa Mesa homeowners on the cusp of getting ready to sell. You’ve developed cooking skills customized for your run-of-the-mill kitchen for years, managing everything from the electric range (you prefer gas) to the slightly-too-small refrigerator. That takes thoughtful grocery ferrying between it and the old frig (it deserves retirement) that lives in the garage. There’s nothing to it, really!

But now, it’s selling time for your Costa Mesa house. Is the best course to assume the buyer will not worry about the kitchen because she/he will want to do a full-scale remodel to her/his own specifications? Or should you start writing a 50-page manual on how to actually prepare food in this kitchen’s current state (perhaps you…

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Last Wednesday, Fortune.com introduced Mia Taylor’s 1,850-word discussion of a question that many of today’s homebuyers may be pondering: “When is an adjustable-rate mortgage a good idea?” Just a year ago, when home loan interest rates were at historically low levels, the answer could have been dismissed more succinctly: “not now!”

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) are commonly offered in five-, seven-, and 10-year increments. These are 30-year loans that attract borrowers with temporary “introductory” bargain rates. The title periods specify the number of years after which the rates reset to reflect a level closer to then-current rates.:

When interest rates are high, some borrowers decide that, since rates are likely to move lower before the…

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Among the most Googled question as the new year begins are variations on “Will the housing market crash?” It’s a sensible query, but only for anyone who believes that Google can see into the future. Some of the variations, like “Should I wait for the housing market to crash before I buy a house? assume not only that Google engineers have solved the ancient art of soothsaying but that market timing is the most important step in buying a house.

The popularity of those queries can probably be attributed to the commendable human impulse for caution. If you don’t know what the future will bring, you should at least see what the experts are thinking. If common sense teaches that even experts can’t really be relied upon when it comes to market timing,…

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