Last week ended with a quadruple-barreled blast of good news that bolstered prospects for Costa Mesa real estate—an effect magnified by how unexpected all had been.

When times are good, Costa Mesa real estate can’t help but benefit. That may seem to be so obvious that it doesn’t even need to be said, but a close cousin is arguably even more important: When people feel times are good, Costa Mesa real estate benefits.

Friday’s positives were magnified by the contrast with what had been reported in earlier days. Although the holiday-shortened week had seen evidence of strong holiday sales, that was dampened by a grab-bag of alarming developments: government shutdown; China trade standoff; Apple sales losses... This meant that Friday’s raft of…

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As Costa Mesa plunges fearlessly into the New Year, it’s the perfect time to present a roundup of the experts’ predictions for 2019 real estate. Last year’s national forecasts turned out to be more-or-less accurate for Costa Mesa real estate—probably because nothing very surprising happened. Throughout the year, despite several onslaughts by Mother Nature, the overall economy continued to bolster optimism—even counting the stock market gyrations at year’s end.

What do the majority expect for the coming year in real estate? Here’s what they are willing to commit to on the record:

MarketWatch predicts that there will be a general tilt away from seller’s market conditions to favor buyers—but just. Although acknowledging that such shifts often “lead…

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The word is “clutter.” It keeps cropping up whenever a Realtor is asked for advice about selling Costa Mesa homes.

The clutter factor might not seem to be so overpoweringly important. After all, a housekeeping crew can scour and shine most homes in a day or two–and that would seem to outrank the clutter component by a mile. So why all the fuss about clutter?

I believe the reasons are many. Of course, selling any Costa Mesa home requires it to be at least freshly cleaned (best if immaculately so)—but everyone accepts that without a second thought. Clutter is another matter. It goes to what’s meant by the term.

After a home has been prepared in every other way, de-cluttering action means ruthlessly removing just about everything that tends…

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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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