When you’ve been in the same home for quite some time, selling your Costa Mesa house to today’s buyers probably means studying market preferences that differ somewhat from those that were current the last time. If you check up on the Top Ten lists of features buyers value, you find that what people say they will pay a premium for does, indeed, change.

You can trace more specific examples of this phenomenon by downloading Top Ten lists from different eras to see how they differ. Here are two such lists, side-by-side, which make for interesting comparisons.

The first is from a USA Today list of “Features Buyers Will Pay Extra For” produced in 2013…the second (the column on the right) is last year’s Fool.com “Top Features Homebuyers are Looking…

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You can bet that just about every one of the Costa Mesa homes currently for sale is owned by someone whose wish is for a rapid sale to a buyer who will be delighted that their offer was accepted. For this happy tableau to play out in reality, it’s only necessary that the Costa Mesa home for sale has been described fully and accurately, that the prospective buyer has thoughtfully assessed that information, and that the sale price is satisfactory to both parties.

In reality, instantaneous success is rarely expected by sophisticated buyers or sellers. Most successful closings are usually the product of a certain amount of give-and-take—something knowledgeable adults naturally expect for a transaction with such momentous consequences in so many areas…

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We keep reading about the widespread shortfall in U.S. home listings—usually credited for the steady rise in prices. For the typical Costa Mesa homeowner inclined to sell anyway, you’d think those conditions are reason enough to add their property to the Costa Mesa listings.

It seems unlikely. Evidently, there is a shortage of sellers willing to put their homes on the market, yet the latest U.S. data indicates strong sales activity. For the year just ended, existing-home sales reached 5,640,000. According to the Trading Economics website, that volume constitutes the highest level since 2006. Despite the shortage of inventory, the market is moving briskly.

There are reasons why that might make sense. The allure of being able to sell quickly and…

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Last week, area homeowners who plan on selling their Costa Mesa homes might have discovered some promising ideas for making the most of today’s pandemic-spawned health concerns. The ideas came in a video presented by realtor.com, which introduced some newly popular renovations aimed at helping “Coronavirus-Proof” homes. Since they are designed to reduce the transmission of germs of all kinds, the tips could also spur the interest of homeowners who won’t be selling their Costa Mesa homes anytime soon. The five ideas:

  1. Replace bathroom faucets and soap dispensers with new touchless models. If you’ve ever puzzled about how to turn on a faucet to do your 20-second hand-washing without contaminating the handle with your unwashed fingers—worry no…

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There’s no shortage of research and insights into how men and women differ when it comes to consumer attitudes—but scarcely any that deals specifically with the most important purchase either sex makes: buying a home. A while back (2013), Realtor® Magazine did tackle the topic in a piece based on a 50,000-consumer survey of active house-hunters.

In general, the house-hunting process itself was slightly more enjoyable for women, with 87% saying they liked looking at homes—10% more than for the men. Their views of homeownership differed as well. Men tended to associate it with “control over living space” and “more space for my family,” while women linked homeownership to words like “pride,” “accomplishment,” or “independence.” Those answers…

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About this time every year, the question for house hunters is whether to delay their serious shopping until the anticipated springtime upsurge in Costa Mesa homes for sale. Almost every year, when the weather begins to warm, the springtime ‘For Sale’ signs blossom. One school of thought has it that the wider selection favors buyers—it means more sellers will compete for their attention. On the other hand, that also means more buyers will vie for the most compelling properties.

Of course, when to start serious prospecting may be more dependent on individual calendars that are dictated by outside factors—so there’s no set answer for everyone. But there are a few powerful arguments why for some, setting out on a serious house-hunting expedition at…

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For homeowners weighing the pros and cons of adding their homes to the Costa Mesa listings, the ‘pros’ are substantial. The steady national rise in home prices indicates a healthy market—one significant “pro.” The latest national existing-home sales price figures confirmed a median rise of 14.6% over the previous year—the 105th consecutive month of price gains across all regions.

Another one of the “pros” is a market where competition is relatively light—something that’s been the situation in America for some time. And when the scarcity of existing homes for sale is combined with what might be the strongest “pro”—bargain-basement home loan interest rates—the positives make a strong case for this being a favorable environment for joining the Costa…

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Dave Ramsey is a standout among media finance coaches. It’s hard to disagree with his brand of commonsensical counsel that eschews shortcuts and paths to riches that depend on newly concocted strategies. Costa Mesa readers and listeners who rely on his consistently risk-averse advice learn to avoid high-interest debt while building a solid financial base—a footing typically anchored by the equity most families build through their greatest investment, their home.

As the old year came to a close, Ramsey’s web site laid down five trends that are likely to emerge in the coming year. Costa Mesa homeowners who have been tracking the national real estate crosscurrents would not have been surprised by any of the five—but would likely be reassured by the…

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No one may be sure of how many Costa Mesa homeowners chose to deal with their year-end stir-craziness by surfing the web last weekend, but for those who did so by Googling “top events of 2020,” there wasn’t much doubt about what finished as Number One:

The pandemic, of course.

Second place tended to be a jump ball between either the Presidential election or impeachment, after which a dozen other noteworthy occurrences vied for recognition. Among others, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s resignation from the Royal Family competed with the Australian and California wildfires, the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, a stock market crash (although Wall Street’s swift recovery made that one a weak contender), murder hornets, etc.

What did not…

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Gather ‘round, people: it’s The Year in Review time again—the week when columnists and TV talking heads line up to chatter and lament over the year’s record-shattering advances and failures. From Washington to Hollywood, Wall Street to Silicon Valley, 2020 provided as rich a trove of talking points as any year in memory.

Closer to home, for Costa Mesa homeowners and investors, the year in real estate was no exception. When news of COVID-19 first broke, it looked as if the pandemic’s spread might claim Costa Mesa real estate as an early casualty. Yet, despite the persistence of distressing developments in a host of other areas, local real estate watchers watched a much different picture being painted across the nation.

Here’s a selection of a…

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