We are built on a philosophy of Heritage & Hustle. The L3 is a full service real estate agency with a regional office located in the heart of #CostaMesa, offering a wide-array of custom services to meet their clients’ needs with roots in the community since 1976.  It’s L3 mission is to provide trusted, convenient, responsive service to ensure clients enjoy their real estate experience. The L3 was originally formed to offer personal, concierge-level service as an alternative to the large, nationally based real estate companies. From its small beginnings of only two employees, The L3 has grown to a full staff of 25 serving over 300 clients a year. The L3 is not limited to serving just its clients; it is also committed to serving the community.…

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In the days before COVID-19, had you asked most people how a pandemic might affect the homebuying public in Costa Mesa, a fair majority would probably have replied something along the lines of “Well—it probably wouldn’t be good.”

We now know that they would have been wrong (at least, initially).

Nationwide, most areas are experiencing an onrush of newly motivated buyers—many of them seeking to adjust to today’s changing needs. In a recent article in Barron’s, the CEO of a leading national homebuilder, Sheryl Palmer, described motivations of many newly energized homebuyers: “What I have to do working from home has just changed, and I can’t retro my house.’”

Simultaneously, at the same time that this increased buyer demand would normally coax…

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Costa Mesa apartments—specifically, the way new apartment complexes are built—could be in for some major changes if some tech company executives are right. The idea is to bring the manufacturing lessons learned from companies like Apple and Tesla into the real estate realm. If they succeed, erecting Costa Mesa apartment buildings in the future could be considerably more efficient (and less expensive). 

Henry Ford is credited with inventing the assembly line—the manufacturing technique where a product moves from one assembly station to the next, instead of having pieces brought to where the product is being built. Actually, medieval Venice was already building ships that way in the twelfth century. From the hull up, the ships were floated down a…

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By definition, the best Costa Mesa real estate agent for you is the one who sells your Costa Mesa home soonest, for the highest price, and with a minimum of hassle. Because you have to designate the one who will be your exclusive listing agent, you can’t ever prove how all the others would have fared.

So, what’s a homeowner to do when it’s time to sell? Going it alone isn’t a good idea—statistics show that homes represented by a licensed real estate professional sell for more, even considering the agent’s fee. But how can you know which agent has the highest probability of turning out to be “the best” for you?

The solution to this dilemma most commonly recommended by real estate commentators is this:

Interview at least three agents before…

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There was a sort of silly article last summer, “What You Can Do if Your Air Conditioner Breaks Before Selling Your House”—a title designed to ensure that Costa Mesa readers who plan on selling their Costa Mesa house will put everything on hold while they find out “what they can do” if their A/C goes AWOL.

A more recent article—also a must-read for home sellers with broken A/Cs—was titled, “Can You Sell A House with a Broken Air Conditioner?” The answer was ‘yes’—but with a resulting “severe impact” on the sale price. The author pointed out that “it is wiser and safer to get your A/C fixed” before listing it.

Both rate a solid “10” on the duh meter.

But both bring to mind some serious surveys. Costa Mesa homeowners can find dozens of online…

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Yahoo’s “Money” tab is a source Costa Mesa readers can visit for non-technical reportage on the latest U.S. economic developments. Last week it led with a surprisingly upbeat look at residential real estate: “Homebuyers rush back in droves despite coronavirus pandemic.”

There was ample evidence to support the description—a rush from homebuyers attested to by a 44.3% jump in pending home sales. The leap from April to May set an all-time record. And for those still unconvinced, there was further verification via the sustained volume increase in home purchase mortgage applications. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, applications had been on the rise, year-over-year, throughout the previous four weeks.

Given the backdrop of uncertainty…

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If you are thinking about putting up your Costa Mesa home for sale, you can expect that a goodly number of the buyers who will be considering your property will be female. And increasingly, the decision-makers may be Millennials—part of the group reaching adulthood in the early 21st century. Distinguishing how buyer traits and preferences differ is important for understanding what features are likely to appeal to different groups. 

For instance, the propensity for Millennials to use social media is a trait that can impact how they evaluate the Costa Mesa homes for sale that fit their search criteria. A recent research project by Better Homes & Gardens analyzed the differences between generations of women buyers “from Millennials to Boomers.” They…

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Costa Mesa luxury homes can be categorized as ultra-modern or even exhilarating contemporary, incorporating the latest wifi- and Bluetooth-enabled smart home technology in with elegant design and craftsmanship. Or they can be the polar opposite—luxury homes that meticulously preserve the authentic antique artisanship of past eras.

Last week, a luxury home was listed in Billings, Montana, that arguably blends unique elements of both categories. “Luxury” may be an understatement, given the scale of the property—and that’s not the only understatement. The workmanship may not actually be “authentic” (the property was built six years ago)—but design elements from past eras are definitely incorporated. For instance, it has a turret and moat— “with an…

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As more and more local businesses cautiously reopen, it’s becoming apparent that some lifestyle changes that began as temporary adaptations may be around for a while. One of those could impact Costa Mesa real estate in ways that are only gradually becoming apparent—at least that’s one conclusion Costa Mesa readers of last week’s Wall Street Journal would have drawn. 

WSJ’s “Management and Careers” editors reported on a phenomenon that’s been developing for a while. It’s one of the dislocations caused by COVID-19, which sent large numbers of employers scrambling for ways to operate safely for clients and workers. In many cases, the solution was to ask employees to work from their homes. It was a move that may not have been entirely altruistic: The…

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Costa Mesa’s summer solstice arrives this Saturday, June 20th. Astrophysically speaking, the solstice marks the longest day of our year. The moment of the summer solstice prompts a lot of scientific explanations, some more confusing than others. For instance, since the Sun doesn’t revolve around the Earth, Vox.com’s definition (“Technically speaking, the summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer”) is a little misleading. Vox probably really meant that the solstice is the moment when the tilt of Earth’s axis puts the Tropic of Cancer latitude nearest to the Sun (that “Tropic” is the one that’s north of the equator; “Capricorn” is the other one). 

The reason this is at all significant for those of us who live a lot…

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