The real estate market dynamics can seem enigmatic to both beginners and seasoned professionals. One question that often puzzles homebuyers and sellers is: "How do I know if I'm getting a good price?" The L3 Real Estate Team, experienced veteran's in the Costa Mesa property market, shares key insights that'll guide you through this conundrum.
Understanding the Local Market
Costa Mesa, over the last 12 months, has witnessed 599 transactions. With competitive average sales prices around $1,449,603, Costa Mesa's real estate is on fire. Houses spend an average of 36 days on the market, reflecting a more than desirable demand in this vicinity.
However, these numbers might not tell the entire story. It's important to delve deeper and explore
For past generations, the magic summoned up by the phrase “Million-Dollar!” would be hard to exaggerate—so the idea of Costa Mesa million-dollar homes would have represented gawk-worthy artifacts of success. Even though today, “million-dollar” this and that are attached to everyday news items, last week’s announcement from Redfin’s Economic Research unit may have come as something of a surprise. The news was short and sweet:
“Nearly one in 10 U.S. homes are worth $1,000,000 or more.”
The rising proportion of million-dollar properties may be due in part to a weakening U.S. dollar, but by no means is that the whole (or most interesting) story. Some details:
55 of the 99 most populous metros have seen a rise in million-dollar and
Last Thursday, under the headline “The Housing Recession is Over…,” Costa Mesa real estate observers found a MarketWatch report laden with positive indicators. All of them were, however, less than earth-shaking in scale. The optimism-tinged phrases like ‘ticked up,’ ‘inched up,’ and ‘small positive increase’ were balanced by negative results that were equally minuscule—‘falling only slightly,’ was one of those.
Even so, it was hard not to applaud the overall message—a fairly convincing gathering of June month-end numbers that look as if real estate industry momentum is stirring. The springtime doldrums seem to be over—but only ‘just.'
Here are MW’s particulars:
Pending home sales advanced a bit on a month-to-month basis—the first
Costa Mesa homeowners have ample reason to expect to attract bids that reflect the recent run-up in U.S. real estate prices, but that alone shouldn’t lull them into complacency as they prepare their property for entry into the Costa Mesa listings. That’s a real estate truism—even in a well-defined seller’s market. For area homeowners who see tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands!) of dollars more in market value indicated by recent comparable sales, it’s tempting to then assume that little preparation will be needed to achieve similar results. Not true.
The value of thorough preparation to show off any property continues to make a substantial difference at the signing table. Since the word “thorough” may be too vague to be of much value, here
For Costa Mesa parents who have yet to experience the wonders of Disneyland or Disney World, despite the expense and the line waits, there’s a good chance you will come to agree with the majority takeaway: the memories are worth it. Even so, the corporate powers-that-be at the Walt Disney Co. have never relied on word of mouth to keep the crowds coming—and now they have come up with an amusing promotion that includes a real estate twist.
As World Real Estate News wrote last week, this attention-getting gambit sounds like it came “from the leave-no-stone-unturned school of marketing.” Disney decided the moment had arrived to add their landmark Haunted Mansion to real estate site Zillow’s national listings. For veterans of the eternally popular ride,
If you have ever tuned into “Today’s Homeowner,” you’ll be familiar with Danny Lipford, the friendly, drawling host of one of TV’s longest-running home improvement shows. Lipford is a contractor who demonstrates practical tips on how Costa Mesa do-it-yourselfers might remodel outdated or rundown areas in their homes with little more than ambition, energy, and a few bucks. He makes it look fun and easy, which is undoubtedly why the program has been syndicated for a quarter of a century.
The show has a website, too, which last week published a valuable safety tip: “20 Ways to Reduce the Effects of Indoor Air Pollution in Your Home.” It covered the topic from top to bottom: everything from what it is and what its health effects can be to what to
The government thinks that Americans are sorely lacking when it comes to key homebuying information. It’s hard to say whether that’s true of the Costa Mesa homebuying population—but Fannie Mae’s latest study explains some good reasons why it might be.
In Fannie’s recently issued publication, 3,600 respondents were ‘largely unsure’ or just plain wrong about current homebuying realities. This, despite the significance of homebuying as the most important purchase most people make. Homebuying is also such an infrequent transaction most people don’t focus on data when it’s available.
Another contributing factor is “a fundamental lack of financial literacy across the country.”
The majority of those quizzed hadn’t a clue about credit score
Long before well-prepared Costa Mesa homeowners arrive at the signing table, they will have been aware of the factors mortgage lenders pay attention to—foremost among which is their bill-paying history. For years, they will have avoided making late payments—or underpayments. They will have corrected erroneous negatives on their credit reports and straightened out any historical inaccuracies.
If they have read up on how home loans are originated, they will know that a second weighty factor is “amounts owed”—but that’s a term that can be easily misunderstood. It turns out to include more than the term implies.
You’d think that “amounts owed” would be a simple dollar amount. If John and Jenny Smith have credit card debt totaling $8,000 and a car
When is the best time for selling your Costa Mesa house? Is there even a best time? If the change in residence is triggered by some inflexible external factor (like a transfer at work), the answer is foreordained: NOW! That can be right now, or in November, or February—since you will be making the move, to avoid paying for two homes, there really isn’t a choice. The sooner it’s listed, the better. But if the timing of a move is completely at your discretion, the “when” can be troubling. More than one Costa Mesa homeowner has worried so long and hard about the issue that years pass. When the For Sale sign does eventually go up, it’s probably because the cost of inaction has become apparent. The true answer to the question about the optimal time for
