Last week, if you were among the Costa Mesa readers who happened across Mortgage News Daily’s banner headline, you could almost hear the writer’s yawn as he penned, “April’s Home Prices Grew by 13% and Broke More Records.” The implied ‘ho hum’ behind the words is understandable, but if it might lead Costa Mesa homeowners to accept such record-breaking as a new status quo, it could be misleading.

A close reading of the latest Gallup poll on how Americans expect residential prices to perform in the coming year leaves a more nuanced takeaway. “Americans Expect Home Prices to Rise…” was Gallup’s top line—but it added, “…Divided on Buying Now.” The poll confirmed that 71% of American adults predict that prices in their own neighborhoods will increase…

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Because of school year calendars and weather-related cycles, Costa Mesa real estate activity usually coincides with the historical spring-summer peak selling season in most of the U.S. Although it may come as a shock for local residents who subscribe to the “Memorial Day is the true first day of summer” notion, this week marks the end of Costa Mesa’s spring.

That’s right! Even if we feel as if spring just got going in earnest, by midnight at the end of this week’s three-day holiday, it will be over and out. Next Monday will mark the solemn observation of Memorial Day and the sacrifices our veterans have made throughout history—but the un-solemn observation of the Indianapolis 500 will already be in the books by Sunday evening.

For sticklers on…

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For local homeowners who plan on selling Costa Mesa homes in the near future, this is the time of year when the “peak real estate season” debate is most relevant. The question is whether to list now—when more buyers and sellers are usually active—or to wait until fewer competitors are selling their own Costa Mesa homes.

Homeowners who remain unpersuaded by either camp may look for other signs to help judge the current market prospects. Chief among the most relied-upon measures is quasi-governmental titan Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index—the composite measure of consumer attitudes and intentions for and about buying and selling a home. The latest findings from April have just been released:

  • Optimism reigns: respondents’ opinion that…

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Like all fashion trends, Costa Mesa home décor styles come and go—something that can prove troublesome when it comes time to sell your home. Dealing with the master bath’s wallpaper (the one with a motivational saying whose stylish font had such a modern feel 15 years ago) may be an easy fix—but abandoning a formerly trendy rolling barn door room separator can involve a good deal of architectural reengineering.

One recent piece by commentator Lauren Wellbank, a freelance writer with a decade’s experience in the mortgage industry, pointed out some emerging trends in buyers’ preferences when it comes to outdoor spaces. In the same way that interior designers can glance at a listing’s photos and immediately pinpoint when the property’s signature style…

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You can rightly say that Costa Mesa home bargains are still out there—but not without an asterisk. For local house-hunters who’ve been warned about a shortage of homes for sale, that should come as welcome news—but that does neglect to mention that the meaning of ‘bargain’ has stretched appreciably.

No matter how elastic your definition, Costa Mesa “bargain” homes in today’s market are certain to cost significantly more than they would have a couple of years ago (or even just last year). Yet— especially compared with historical norms—landing a home at today’s prices may actually turn out to fit the “bargain” definition—that is, ‘a good deal.’ The evidence is borne out by an indisputable measure: the dollars being laid down in the marketplace. If…

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Back in March, real estate site apartmenttherapy.com urged homeowners to do some soul-searching before signing up for a new backyard deck. Although their “5 Questions” were said to be those real estate pros “say you should ask yourself,” you don’t have to be a professional to recognize the wisdom in giving them some thought. As Costa Mesa homeowners prepare for summer this year, the questions deckless homeowners should ask themselves are especially worth thinking about. The issues touched upon:

Entertainment. Decks are for entertainment, for you, family, and guests. Do you really like “outdoor living?” If it’s not high on your priority list, you might put off the project until building material prices come back down to earth. Right now, lumber…

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There are reasons why Costa Mesa real estate investments (and real estate investments as a whole) are often considered to be in a class of their own.

Bankrate.com, for instance, doesn’t even mention real estate in its current “Best low-risk investments in 2021,” despite listing every variety from Number One: “high-yield savings accounts,” to Number Ten: “fixed annuities.”

Their list acknowledges drawbacks for each of the ten, ranging from #1’s investment return (last week, the best rate of return was half of one percent) to #10’s reputation of being “notoriously complex, so you may not be getting exactly what you expect.”

Financial commentators may be forgiven for neglecting to count “real estate” as an investment class when you consider that…

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“First things first” is another one of those simple sayings that people utter without thinking—it just means, “Do this; everything else can wait.” It can be uttered by parents as they lay down a work/reward sequence for their children—or by project leaders pointing out the first task on the top of a process flowchart.

For anyone thinking about buying a home in Costa Mesa, “first things first” works pretty well, too. In that setting, the “first thing” that ought to come first is The Number. It’s all about The Number.

‘The Number’ is the figure that’s the centerpiece in CNBC’s recent engaging home-buying commentary that’s headlined, “As home prices rise, here’s what buyers can do to land a deal.” It begins with the news that for the second week…

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“Sustainability” may seem to be a term that lends itself to vagueness—but you can nail it down. It’s “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.” Earlier this spring, the National Association of Realtors® issued a comprehensive report that began to put hard figures to the growing effect that sustainability issues are having on current real estate activity. It surveyed member agents and brokers on the bottom-line impact they see in today’s market. It looks to be appreciable—definitely more than an exercise in abstract idealism.

Probably the most significant single finding for how green features may affect Costa Mesa real estate marketing is the reported value of energy-saving features in listings. Sixty-five percent of agents and…

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Local homeowners with Costa Mesa homes for sale may be tradition-bound when it comes to how they plan on being paid (that is, with money)—but not every homeowner is equally old-fashioned. As CNBC pointed out last week, dollars aren’t the only option. Their report, “Real estate catches onto the crypto craze as people buy homes with bitcoin,” promised to examine how real estate agents “are pivoting to work with the cryptocurrency…”

The three-minute report that aired earlier this month did deliver on part of the premise, but fell short in verifying that much actual ‘pivoting’ has yet taken place. Boiled down to its verifiable elements, they reported—

  • Cryptocurrencies are cited as a growing trend for Realtors® buying and selling homes with…

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