Orange County Real Estate Blog

2010-01-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

424 Camino Vista Verde in Pacifica of Talega San Clemente has just lowered their price to $1,325,000. Th property features great views of the Talaga golf course and is located at the very end of a private street with only one neighbor to the left. It features 5 bedrooms and over 4,000 square feet. For more information on this or any Pacifica of Talega San Clemente property, please contact us at 949-444-1901 or email at info@bclh.com. Currently listed by Sam Smith and Jay Dixon of Beach Cities Real Estate.

Southwest San Clemente Short Sale

2009-10-29T08:02:00.001-07:00

113 Avenida Santiago in Southwest San Clemente has just came on the market for $649,000. It's a single level home in the desriable Southwest San Clemente area featuring 2 bedrooms and 2 baths with approx. 1,600 square feet of living space. Please visit 113 Avenida Santiago for more information.

New Listing: 23412 Pacific Park - Canyon Villas - Aliso Viejo - $325,000

2009-10-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

23412 Pacific Park in Aliso Viejo has come back on the market listed for $325,000. The condo is newly renovated in Caynon Villas Gated Community. It features two bedrooms and is a Penthouse Condo with Sweeping Views of the Valley, Mountains & City Light Views below. The rooms are spacious with a large living Room and a warm fireplace that Is open to the kitchen. The condo is light and bright and is an end unit with lots of windows and natural light! The Association has two pools, fitness center and Bbq Area. Please contact us here at 949-388-3685 with any questions regarding this Aliso Viejo home for sale.

Real Estate Newport Beach

2009-10-13T23:02:00.001-07:00

Beach Cities Real Estate specializes in real estate in newport beach. Newport Beach is one of the top destinations in Orange County, California.

September 2009 Edition of Beach Cities Luxury Homes EMagazine

2009-09-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More beach cities

Just Listed: 152 E Avenida Palizada - New Construction Contemporary Home - $929,000

2009-09-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

Brand New Construction Contemporary Home In The Heart of San Clemente! Great Amenities With Lots Of Light and Very Sleek and Modern. The Home Features 3 Bedrooms and 2 1/2 Baths with Peek Views of The Ocean. Wide Open Spaces Ideal For The Art Collector. Kitchen Features Dark Rich Cabinetry with Granite Countertops And Is An Open Concept With The Living Room. This Home Is Ideal For Those Who Like To Entertain AndWant A Very Unique Home In San Clemente. Visit http://www.SamSmithTeam.com for more info on this property.

Marbella Country Club - San Juan Capistrano's Estate Homes - www.MarbellaCountryClub.com

2009-09-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Marbella Country Club Showcases Currently Listed Homes For Sale In Marbella Country Club in San Juan Capistrano, California. Marbella Country Club Is One of San Juan's Premier Guard Gated Golf Course Communities Featuring 250 Custom Luxury Homes With Golf Course and Mountain Views Including Marbella Crest Estates. Please Contact Beach Cities Luxury Homes at949-444-1901 for more information on this wonderful gated community in San Juan Capistrano, California.

New Listing: 424 Camino Vista Verde - Talega of San Clemente - $1,389,000

2009-08-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just Listed - 424 Camino Vista Verde, San Clemente - $1,389,000"Absolutely Stunning Home That Shows Like A Brand New Home & Is Located One of the Nicest Locations in Talega. Secluded on A Single Loaded Street In The Peaceful Neighborhood of ...Pacifica. The Home Features Stunning Views of the Talega Valley & Golf Course Below." Visit http://www.samsmithteam.com for more information on this home.

Email us at info@bclh.com or call 949-444-1901. http://www.samsmithteam.com/

August 2009 Edition of Beach Cities Luxury Homes EMagazine

2009-08-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More beach cities

Just Sold: 1408 Avenida Tranquila - $725,000

2009-08-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Just Sold 1408 Avenida Tranquila for $725,000. It had been on the market for 6 months with another agent with no successful sale. Beach Cities Luxury Homes marketed & sold the property in just 2 weeks.

June 2009 Edition of Beach Cities Luxury Homes EMagazine

2009-06-10T18:38:00.001-07:00

June 2009 Edition of Beach Cities Luxury Homes EMagazine

Beach Road - Newly Launched Website Showcasing Beach Road in Dana Point, California - www.BeachRoad.com

2009-06-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

www.BeachRoad.com showcases the luxury properties for sale as well as offer vacation rental assistance for homes in the gated community on Beach Road in Dana Point, Ca. If you are looking to find a great residence on the sand, Beach Road is the perfect spot in South Orange County, California.

March 2009 Orange County Homes Sales Report

2009-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

The March 2009 Orange County Home Sales Report is out and sales have dramatically increased! In the zip code 92672 (San Clemente), sales have increased by 39% from last year with a medium price of $546,00. For a free copy of this report, please click here and will email you a free copy.

Sales Activity Has Greatly Increased

2009-05-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Kevin Budde, of Bank of America Home Loans. "As a local lender in the south Orange County market, we have see recently a tremendous increase of offers being made on properties. The strongest market is the sale prices under $500,000. Obviously, this is the area of the great affordability. Agents are reporting to us the frequency of multiple offer's being made when a new property comes on the market. This isn't just short sales being priced ridiculously low just to get offers in. These are properties competitively priced and many are equity sellers. FHA financing which will end up being 40% of the financing this year, has been a tremendous help with getting buyers into homes.

What we have really noticed oon our end, is the more frequenet conversations with clients telling us they believe the market is bottoming. 6 months ago everyone was asking why they should purchase now as they believed home prices still had room to fall. Now thy are concerned prices may not fall much more on the low end and they are concerned interest rates may move up as the economy improves. Both are legitimate concerns, rightfully so.

Unfortuanelty, we are no seeing as much enthusiam over the $1 million dollar price range. The cliens who purchase in the upper maret generally are either self-employed or hold executive titles with major corporations. Qualifying self-employed borrowers has become more difficult as they often have many write off's due to business expenses. The executives are not recieving the larg bonuses they were making or stock options they can sell at a large profit.

Never the less, the activity is real and it should continue to grow as the economy stabilizes and improves.

Current Market Trends: More Bank Foreclosures To Come

2009-05-01T12:01:00.001-07:00

Here is the current market trends for the upcoming years It's forecasted that there are more foreclosures to come. Please click here for any questions regarding any of these points.

San Clemente Real Estate

2009-04-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

The San Clemente market is starting to see a large number of homes come on the market as typically happens this time of year. I just noticed that there are 19 homes for sale in the Sea Pointe Estates area of San Clemente which is a very high number of homes for sale in San Clemente. Interest rates are still low and there is a general feeling that we have hit the bottom of this market so things are optimistic for the remainder of the year. As a San Clemente Realtor, I can answer any questions regarding the San Clemente Real Estate marketplace.

Obama's New Plan: Making Home Affordable Refinance

2009-04-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Do you Qualify for a "Making Home Affordable" Refinance? On March 4, 2009, guidelines were released under President Barack Obama's Making Home Affordable initiative, which is designed to help up to 9 million homeowners stay in their homes through refinanced mortgages or loan modifications.

To qualify, you must:

1) Owe between 80-105% of your mortgage.
2) Have a loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Approximately 60% of single-family loans are backed by Fannie or Freddie, but a homeowner may not know this about their own loan. If you don't know, call Fannie at 1-800-7FANNIE and Freddie at 1-800-FREDDIE or submit online forms with Fannie and Freddie.
3) Have a conforming loan. That means a loan under $417,000 in many areas or up to $625,500 in high-cost areas like San Francisco, Boston or Washington, DC. Even still, the Zillow Home Value Index (median home value) for the city of San Francisco is $724,244, which says that lots of people have loans higher than the conforming limit. (Note: the conforming loan limit for certain high-cost areas of the U.S. for 2009 mortgage originations is now $729,500.)
Take this financialstability.gov Q&A to see if you qualify. If you don't think you qualify for a refinance, you might qualify for a loan modification under the plan.

Refinance Loan Overview
If You have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) which was doing fine enough that you bragged about it but your loan is going to reset to a higher interest rate amidst market uncertainty and everyone is buzzing about it. Lying awake at night is interfering with your job, so you figure you'd better say goodbye to that low but fluctuating interest rate, and get a nice secure fixed-rate loan before the swing hits the sky.

This is a common scenario these days as interest rates inch up and many homeowners who opted for ARMs in the past 10 years are hoping to switch to a traditional loan.

Switching types of mortgages, as described above, is one reason people refinance, which is simply replacing a current mortgage with another. But there are others.

Reasons to Refinance Lower your interest, but keep your term: When rates drop you want to take advantage of it and lower your monthly payments, but keep the length of your mortgage.
Take care of that balloon payment: You opted for a short-term ARM with a balloon payment and the due date is looming, so you have to come up with a longer-term loan.
Shorten your term: Lower interest rates (or an increase in your income) mean you can pay down your principal faster.
Credit rating change: Take advantage of an improved credit rating and get out from under that high rate you had to accept when you bought.
You need cash: In some cases, you can refinance for an amount more than what you still owe on your home. Lenders limit the Loan to Value at no higher than 70 percent for this type of loan.

First Time Buyer Mortgage Protection Program

2009-04-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, April 2, 2009 the Housing Affordability Fund has launched a new program designed to provide peace of mind to first-time buyers who are hesitant to enter the housing market due to concerns about potential job loss, and subsequently being unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations.

To qualify for the Mortgage Protection Program, Applicants must:

· Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in the last three years.
· Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before Dec. 31, 2009
· Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction
· Purchase the property in California
· Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed)

What is the Mortgage Protection Program?
The Mortgage Protection Program provides a combination of involuntary unemployment,
accidental disability and accidental death protection for qualified first-time home buyers.
The program is being offered by the California Association of REALTORS® Housing
Affordability Fund (“CARHAF”), to help build confidence in the purchase of a home and
to reduce the fear of foreclosure in the event of a job loss or accidental death or
disability. CARHAF has committed $1 million to provide this program to qualified home
buyers.

What are the benefits?
Through the program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs or become accidentally
disabled may be eligible to receive up to $1,500 per month for up to six months to help
make their mortgage payments. A qualified co-buyer can also participate in this program,
for a reduced monthly benefit of up to $750 per month for up to six months in the event
of a job loss or disability. In addition, the program offers a one-time $10,000 accidental
death benefit.

How much does it cost?
It costs the home buyer absolutely nothing! If the home buyer is granted an insurance
policy, the insurance premium is prepaid for one year by CARHAF.

Who qualifies for this program?
An applicant must:
• Be a first-time home buyer who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years;
• Open and close escrow between 4/2/2009 and 12/31/2009;
• Purchase a primary residence in California;
• Be represented by a California REALTOR®; and
• Be a W-2 employee (i.e. not self-employed) but can not be a sole proprietor,
partner or controlling stockholder in the business in which you are employed, or a
dependent of a sole proprietor, partner or a controlling stockholder in the
business in which you are employed.
There are no income or home price caps under this program.

Are there any exclusions under the policy?
Yes. You cannot be self-employed, an independent contractor, a business owner, a
temporary or seasonal worker, an educational employee on a scheduled break, or work
for your immediate family. There are other exclusions such as voluntarily choosing to
become unemployed, expiration of employment contracts, willful misconduct, criminal
misconduct, death, disability, family leave, childbirth, pregnancy and war. See the
insurance policy for specific definitions of these exclusions.

How do home buyers apply?
Home buyers must apply through a California REALTOR®. The REALTOR® will submit
the completed application to CARHAF on the home buyer’s behalf. The application can
be downloaded at http://www.carhaf.org/.

When does the home buyer get the insurance contract?
An e-mail confirming coverage under the insurance policy will be sent to the insured and
a special web address and password will be included to use in order to access and
review the insurance policy within thirty (30) days after eligibility has been verified.

Must the monthly benefit amount be used to pay for the mortgage payment?
Yes. Under the CARHAF Mortgage Protection Program, a home buyer agrees to use the
insurance proceeds first to pay the mortgage, and the remainder however he/she sees
fit.

Are the benefit payments taxable?
It is possible that unemployment benefits may be taxable. Home buyers should consult
their tax advisor about any benefits received and determine what tax rules apply. The
plan pays regardless of any other coverage a home buyer may already have.

For general customer service questions, who do I contact?
Call Monica Rodriguez at (213) 739-8380, or email Ms. Rodriguez at monicar@car.org.
Be sure to mention that you are a CARHAF Mortgage Protection Program customer.
When can the home buyer receive program benefits?
The insurance policy requires a “vesting” period of six months before becoming eligible
to apply for benefits and a one month “elimination” period before payments begin. More
information about the policy can be found at www.carhaf.org or by calling Della Romero
at RealCare at 800-939-8088 or emailing her at dromano@realcare.biz.

How long will this program last?
Applications will be reviewed and insurance policies will be awarded on a first come, first
served basis until the program funds are depleted or until CARHAF discontinues the
program, whichever occurs first.
Questions about the Insurance Benefits

What is meant by Involuntary Unemployment?
Under this plan, Involuntary Unemployment is defined as totally and continuously losing
full-time employment as a result of:
(1) a permanent involuntary termination of employment; or
(2) an involuntary layoff or suspension of employment; or
(3) an authorized, unionized strike or labor dispute by a chartered or previously
organized trade or labor union; or
(4) a lockout, discharge of employees or temporary closing of business in response to
organized employee activity; or
(5) a state or federally declared disaster caused by a geological or weather-related
natural event.
Involuntary Unemployment does NOT include quitting, resigning, retiring, expiration of
an employment contract, being fired for cause, or being on leave due to accident,
sickness, disability, family obligations, childbirth, pregnancy, or due to scheduled
seasonal or temporary breaks.

What are the waiting periods?
Initial Vesting Period and Actively at Work Requirements. Before involuntary
unemployment insurance can be utilized, there is an initial Vesting Period of six (6)
months and a four (4) month "actively at work" requirement. These periods can run
concurrently, so you must be enrolled for at least six (6) months and also be working for
at least 4 consecutive months immediately prior to the date your involuntary
unemployment begins before you can have an unemployment event qualify for a claim.
If you become unemployed anytime before the initial vesting period is over, you will not
be eligible to file a claim, and you will have to return to work for at least 4 consecutive
months before eligibility begins. The unemployment claims procedure requires
documentation of registration with your state's unemployment office which will verify the
date of your unemployment.
Elimination Period. Once the vesting period and "actively at work" requirement has
been met, there is also a 30-day "Elimination Period" before cash benefits are paid. The
first 30 days of involuntary unemployment are not covered.

How long do I get involuntary unemployment cash benefits?
There is a six (6) month "Maximum Benefit Period" per unemployment occurrence. You
will be paid 1/30th of the monthly benefit amount for every day you are unemployed
(beyond the vesting and elimination period) up to a maximum of 6 months. You will be
paid in arrears, not in advance.
If you go back to work after having a claim paid, you have to return to work for at least
four (4) months consecutively, to "requalify" for benefits. But this will only apply if you
renew the coverage beyond the first year.

How do I file an unemployment claim with the insurance company?
Contact 1-800-888-2738 for a claims package. Please mention that you are a CARHAF
Mortgage Protection Program customer when doing so to ensure that your call is
forwarded to the appropriate personnel. You will need to complete the claims package
and submit it according to its instructions. You must register with your state's
unemployment division. The claims administrator will verify your coverage and start the
claims payment process. If the waiting periods are over and your claim is otherwise
valid, you will be paid a benefit equal to 1/30th of the monthly benefit amount for every
day beyond 30 days that you are out of work due to unemployment for up to six (6)
months. The insurance company does not pay claims benefits in advance.

If I get sick and am out of work do I qualify for Accidental Disability?
No, it only pays if you miss work due to an accident.
Is there a vesting period for the Accidental Disability?
There is no initial vesting period for this coverage but it does contain a 4 month "Actively
at Work" requirement among other conditions, exclusions and limitations.
Can I upgrade my benefits or renew the coverage at the end of the one year
program?
Prior to the end of the first year, you may be given the voluntary option to renew at a
"contributory" rate, which may include the same benefit package or an enhanced
package. Renewal of the product is subject to insurance company and/or CARHAF
Mortgage Protection Program availability. Methods for payment and other terms and
conditions will be provided along with the renewal offer.
The descriptions above are intended to serve as a summary and are not part of the
insurance contracts. You should consult your own insurance policy or certificate for the
specific terms which apply to you.

Jumbo Loans Are Back

2009-04-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Syndicated real estate columnist Kenneth R. Harney reported in a recent column that jumbo mortgage money is flowing back into the home loan market. This is great news for agents and their qualified luxury home prospects.
Jumbo loans are generally mortgages exceeding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's statutory high-cost market purchase limit. At the beginning of this year, the ceiling was $625,500, compared to $417,000 a year earlier. Congress has raised the upper limit in high-cost areas for Fannie, Freddie and the FHA to $729,750, a figure extended by Congress through the end of 2009.
According to Harney, new money is starting to flow into mortgage loans which are too large to be purchased or backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration. Major banks are starting to fund programs offering "jumbo loans between roughly $730,000 and $1.5 million, with fixed 30-year rates starting in the upper five percent range," said Harney.
Tim Kruger, a Westlake Village (CA) based Private Mortgage Banking officer for Wells Fargo, told a recent Institute training class in Beverly Hills that Wells Fargo is once again offering jumbo loans. Bank of America reports they will offer jumbo loans through their retail network and also through their Countrywide Home Loans subsidiary. Amsterdam-based ING Group has also begun offering jumbos. Rather than spinning these loans off to Wall Street, the lenders are expected to hold them in their own portfolios. Expect stringent qualifying requirements and minimum required down payments from 20% to 30%

New Supply of 'Jumbo' Financing In Pipeline. Bank of America and Others Are Stepping Up The Availability of High-Value Loans for Low-Risk Borrowers!

2009-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

March 22, 2009
As Reported in the LA Times Reporting from Washington — New money is about to flow into an area of the real estate market that has been hardest squeezed by the credit crisis:
mortgages too large to be purchased or backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration.
Though the so-called jumbo mortgages are heavily concentrated in California, portions of Florida and the Northeast, higher-cost neighborhoods
throughout the country traditionally have depended on their ready availability to finance houses. But with the collapse last year of the private
mortgage bond market on Wall Street, home buyers, builders and refinancers who relied on jumbo financing were left with few sources -- except at
punitively high interest rates and huge down payments.
That's about to change. Major banks are heading into the jumbo segment, originating big loans at affordable rates -- not to then sell to Wall Street
bond traders but to keep in their own investment portfolios.
Bank of America, the country's largest mortgage lender, is rolling out a large program to finance loans between about $730,000 and $1.5 million,
with fixed 30-year rates starting in the upper 5% range. The loans will be available through the bank's retail network and through its Countrywide
Home Loans subsidiary. After April 27, Countrywide will be re-branded -- shedding the name it's had since 1969 -- and morph into Bank of America
Home Loans. Bank of America acquired Countrywide in 2008.
Barbara Desoer, the bank's head of consumer real estate operations, said there's "a real need" for capital in the jumbo arena, where interest rates last
fall sometimes exceeded conventional loan rates by three to five percentage points -- if financing was available at all.
Traditionally, jumbo loans have been defined as any home mortgage whose principal amount exceeded Fannie Mae's or Freddie Mac's statutory
high-cost market purchase limit. Most recently that ceiling was $625,500, up from $417,000. But in 2008, Congress temporarily raised the upper
limit in high-cost areas for both companies and the FHA to $729,750. In the economic stimulus legislation passed by Congress last month, that
maximum was extended through Dec. 31 of this year.
Though it will almost immediately become the biggest player in the jumbo loan segment, Bank of America will not be alone. With little fanfare,
other financial institutions have become more active. For example, ING Group, an Amsterdam-based banking and insurance conglomerate, offers
jumbos as large as $2 million through its online ING Direct unit. The minimum down payment for an ING Direct jumbo is 25%; Bank of America
quotes a minimum of 20%.
ING's jumbos typically are "5/1" and "7/1" hybrids, with a fixed interest rate for the first five or seven years, followed by an adjustable rate tied to
the LIBOR inter-bank index for the balance of the 30-year term. Current rates start around 5%.
San Diego-based Luxury Loans originates jumbo and "super-jumbo" mortgages of $3 million and higher in 50 states for a handful of large
commercial banks, which then put them in their investment portfolios.
Victoria Johnson, chief executive of Luxury Loans, declined to identify the banks that buy the biggest loans but said their underwriting standards can
be rigorous. For example, some investors want proof of substantial cash reserves -- at least six months of borrower income -- deposited even when
down payments are substantial.
Bank of America's new program requires hefty liquid resources -- six months of principal, interest, property tax and insurance payments in reserve --
plus fully documented income, solid credit scores and a full appraisal.
In Fort Collins, Colo., Brian Shaver, senior loan officer for 1st City Mortgage Group, originates jumbos through MortgageBase.com, selling them to
banks in the U.S. and as far away as Hong Kong. For a loan of $1.5 million to $2.5 million, MortgageBase wants a 40% down payment and liquid
reserves of 50% of the loan amount to qualify for a 4.875% note rate on a 5/1 hybrid.
Johnson says she welcomes Bank of America's entry into the mass-market jumbo arena. "We need them," she says, "there's been a really serious lack
of liquidity at this end of the market," which has hurt home prices throughout California as well as parts of the East Coast.
"The more competition the better," she says. Properly underwritten, with solid down payments, large reserves and high credit scores, "jumbos are
probably a smart move" for large and small banks that have capacity in their portfolios, she says.
Bottom line: If you've been postponing a purchase, sale or refi because the loan amount you need is too big for Fannie, Freddie or FHA, check out
the new, non-Wall Street sources of jumbos.

Just Listed: Two New Short Sale Listings: 14 Lansdale & 6521 Alexandria

2009-03-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

6521 Alexandria - Huntington Beach, CA - $465,000

14 Lansdale, Ladera Ranch, Ca - $350,000

We have just listed two new short sales in Orange County. 14 Lansdale In Ladera Ranch listed for $350,000 & 6521 Alexandria in Huntington Beach listed for $465,000. Please visit http://www.bclh.com/ or email sam@bclh.com for more information.

California Budget Resolution - What It Means To You

2009-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Following several months of debate and delays, our state representatives in Sacramento delivered a 2009-2010 budget to Governor Schwarzenegger today. The governor is expected to sign the budget as presented. Although details are sketchy, the budget appears to raise existing sales tax levels by 1 percent, and places a 0.25-percent income tax increase across the board. Under provisions included in the new budget, the vehicle license fee will increase from 0.65 percent to 1.15 percent of a vehicle’s value.

The budget also includes: a tax credit (equal to the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price, or $10,000) for the purchase of a single-family residence that has never been occupied, as a principal residence, between March 1, 2009, and March 1, 2010; and a 90-day additional delay in foreclosure sales, intended to force lenders to implement a proactive workout program that rewrites loans in default.

The state budget package also includes a limit on future spending as a trade-off for new taxes; this would have to be approved by voters in a statewide ballot at a special election on May 19. This approach also contemplates $5.5 billion in short-term loans and voter approval of a plan to borrow $5 billion this year against future lottery revenues at the same statewide ballot election.

Fearful that special interests may try to derail the effort at the ballot box, a provision has been included in the budget to extend the major new taxes by one to three years if the spending cap is approved by the voters. Voters also would have to approve some shifting of existing special funds for mental health services and child development programs to help balance the budget.

Should California receive more than $9.2 billion in federal aid, the income tax increase would fall from 0.25 percent to 0.125 percent, and $950 million in planned spending cuts to several programs, including in-home care and Medi-Cal, would be eliminated.

At the demand of Senator Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) -- who cast the final vote needed to pass the budget -- three additional propositions will be placed before the voters. If approved, these would institute an open primary system, prevent legislators from getting paid if the budget is not passed on time, and will stop salary increases to legislators if the state is operating in the red.

Although both the process and the result have left a lot to be desired, having a balanced budget in place is critical for our state in these challenging times. Our Sacramento staff and our member volunteers will continue to monitor, advocate, and report on the actions of our elected representatives in Sacramento. We’ll keep you apprised of additional information as it becomes available.

James Liptak
2009 PresidentCALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Obama Housing Plan Questions and Answers

2009-02-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a reformatted
version of questions and answers on the Obama administration’s
housing plan released today by the U.S. Treasury in Washington.

Questions and Answers for Borrowers about the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan

Borrowers Who Are Current on Their Mortgage Are Asking:

1. What help is available for borrowers who stay current on their
mortgage payments but have seen their homes decrease in value?
Under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, eligible
borrowers who stay current on their mortgages but have been
unable to refinance to lower their interest rates because their
homes have decreased in value, may now have the opportunity to
refinance into a 30 or 15 year, fixed rate loan. Through the
program, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow the refinancing of
mortgage loans that they hold in their portfolios or that they
placed in mortgage backed securities.

2. I owe more than my property is worth, do I still qualify to
refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?
Eligible loans will now include those where the new first
mortgage (including any refinancing costs) will not exceed 105%
of the current market value of the property. For example, if your
property is worth $200,000 but you owe $210,000 or less you may
qualify. The current value of your property will be determined
after you apply to refinance.

3. How do I know if I am eligible?
Complete eligibility details will be announced on March 4th when
the program starts. The criteria for eligibility will include
having sufficient income to make the new payment and an
acceptable mortgage payment history. The program is limited to
loans held or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

4. I have both a first and a second mortgage. Do I still qualify
to refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability
Plan?
As long as the amount due on the first mortgage is less than 105%
of the value of the property, borrowers with more than one
mortgage may be eligible to refinance under the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan. Your eligibility will depend,
in part, on agreement by the lender that has your second mortgage
to remain in a second position, and on your ability to meet the
new payment terms on the first mortgage.

5. Will refinancing lower my payments?
The objective of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan
is to provide creditworthy borrowers who have shown a commitment
to paying their mortgage with affordable payments that are
sustainable for the life of the loan. Borrowers whose mortgage
interest rates are much higher than the current market rate
should see an immediate reduction in their payments. Borrowers
who are paying interest only, or who have a low introductory rate
that will increase in the future, may not see their current
payment go down if they refinance to a fixed rate. These
borrowers, however, could save a great deal over the life of the
loan. When you submit a loan application, your lender will give
you a “Good Faith Estimate” that includes your new interest rate,
mortgage payment and the amount that you will pay over the life
of the loan. Compare this to your current loan terms. If it is
not an improvement, a refinancing may not be right for you.

6. What are the interest rate and other terms of this refinance
offer?
The objective of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan
is to provide borrowers with a safe loan program with a fixed,
affordable payment. All loans refinanced under the plan will have
a 30 or 15 year term with a fixed interest rate. The rate will be
based on market rates in effect at the time of the refinance and
any associated points and fees quoted by the lender. Interest
rates may vary across lenders and over time as market rates
adjust. The refinanced loans will have no prepayment penalties or
balloon notes.

7. Will refinancing reduce the amount that I owe on my loan?
No. The objective of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability
Plan is to help borrowers refinance into safer, more affordable
fixed rate loans. Refinancing will not reduce the amount you owe
to the first mortgage holder or any other debt you owe. However,
by reducing the interest rate, refinancing should save you money
by reducing the amount of interest that you repay over the life
of the loan.

8. How do I know if my loan is owned or has been securitized by
Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?
To determine if your loan is owned or has been securitized by
Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and is eligible to be refinanced, you
should contact your mortgage lender after March 4, 2009.

9. When can I apply?
Mortgage lenders will begin accepting applications after the
details of the program are announced on March 4, 2009.

10. What should I do in the meantime?
You should gather the information that you will need to provide
to your lender after March 4, when the refinance program becomes
available. This includes:
• information about the gross monthly income of all borrowers,
including your most recent pay stubs if you receive them or
documentation of income you receive from other sources
• your most recent income tax return
• information about any second mortgage on the house
• payments on each of your credit cards if you are carrying
balances from month to month, and
• payments on other loans such as student loans and car loans.

Borrowers Who Are at Risk of Foreclosure Are Asking:

1. What help is available for borrowers who are at risk of
foreclosure either because they are behind on their mortgage or
are struggling to make the payments?
The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan offers help to
borrowers who are already behind on their mortgage payments or
who are struggling to keep their loans current. By providing
mortgage lenders with financial incentives to modify existing
first mortgages, the Treasury hopes to help as many as 3 to 4
million homeowners avoid foreclosure regardless of who owns or
services the mortgage.

2. Do I need to be behind on my mortgage payments to be eligible
for a modification?
No. Borrowers who are struggling to stay current on their
mortgage payments may be eligible if their income is not
sufficient to continue to make their mortgage payments and they
are at risk of imminent default. This may be due to several
factors, such as a loss of income, a significant increase in
expenses, or an interest rate that will reset to an unaffordable
level.

3. How do I know if I qualify for a payment reduction under the
Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?
In general, you may qualify for a mortgage modification if (a)
you occupy your house as your primary residence; (b) your monthly
mortgage payment is greater than 31% of your monthly gross
income; and (c) your loan is not large enough to exceed current
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. Final eligibility will be
determined by your mortgage lender based on your financial
situation and detailed guidelines that will be available on March
4, 2009.

4. I do not live in the house that secures the mortgage I’d like
to modify. Is this mortgage eligible for the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan?
No. For example, if you own a house that you use as a vacation
home or that you rent out to tenants, the mortgage on that house
is not eligible. If you used to live in the home but you moved
out, the mortgage is not eligible. Only the mortgage on your
primary residence is eligible. The mortgage lender will check to
see if the dwelling is your primary residence.

5. I have a mortgage on a duplex. I live in one unit and rent the
other. Will I still be eligible?
Yes. Mortgages on 2, 3 and 4 unit properties are eligible as long
as you live in one unit as your primary residence.

6. I have two mortgages. Will the Homeowner Affordability and
Stability Plan reduce the payments on both?
Only the first mortgage is eligible for a modification.

7. I owe more than my house is worth. Will the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan reduce what I owe?
The primary objective of the Homeowner Affordability and
Stability Plan is to help borrowers avoid foreclosure by
modifying troubled loans to achieve a payment the borrower can
afford. Lenders are likely to lower payments mainly by reducing
loan interest rates. However, the program offers incentives for
principal reductions and at your lender’s discretion
modifications may include upfront reductions of loan principal.

8. I heard the government was providing a financial incentive to
borrowers. Is that true?
Yes. To encourage borrowers who work hard to retain
homeownership, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan
provides incentive payments as a borrower makes timely payments
on the modified loan. The incentive will accrue on a monthly
basis and will be applied directly to reduce your mortgage debt.
Borrowers who pay on time for five years can have up to $5,000
applied to reduce their debt by the end of that period.

9. How much will a modification cost me?
There is no cost to borrowers for a modification under the
Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. If you wish to get
assistance from a HUD-approved housing counseling agency or are
referred to a counselor as a condition of the modification, you
will not be charged a fee. Borrowers should beware of any
organization that attempts to charge a fee for housing counseling
or modification of a delinquent loan, especially if they require
a fee in advance.

10. Is my lender required to modify my loan?
No. Mortgage lenders participate in the program on a voluntary
basis and loans are evaluated for modification on a case-by-case
basis. But the government is offering substantial incentives and
it is expected that most major lenders will participate.

11. I’m already working with my lender / housing counselor on a
loan workout. Can I still be considered for the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan?
Ask your lender or counselor to be considered under the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan.

12. How do I apply for a modification under the Homeowner
Affordability and Stability Plan?
You may not need to do anything at this time. Most mortgage
lenders will evaluate loans in their portfolio to identify
borrowers who may meet the eligibility criteria. After March 4
they will send letters to potentially eligible homeowners, a
process that may take several weeks. If you think you qualify for
a modification and do not receive a letter within several weeks,
contact your mortgage servicer or a HUD-approved housing
counselor. Please be aware that servicers and counseling agencies
are expected to receive an extraordinary number of calls about
this program.

13. What should I do in the meantime? You should gather the
information that you will need to provide to your lender on or
after March 4, when the modification program becomes available.
This includes:
• information about the monthly gross income of your household
including recent pay stubs if you receive them or documentation
of income you receive from other sources
• your most recent income tax return
• information about any second mortgage on the house
• payments on each of your credit cards if you are carrying
balances from month to month, and
• payments on other loans such as student loans and car loans.

14. My loan is scheduled for foreclosure soon. What should I do?
Contact your mortgage servicer or credit counselor. Many mortgage
lenders have expressed their intention to postpone foreclosure
sales on all mortgages that may qualify for the modification in
order to allow sufficient time to evaluate the borrower’s
eligibility. We support this effort.

Courtesy of: Corissa Dailey
REO Loan Specialist
949-280-4410 Cell
949-341-7221 Office
866-671-8731 E-Fax

Open House: 24772 Anchor Lantern: Sat/Sun Feb 21st & 22nd: 12-4pm

2009-02-18T13:59:00.001-08:00

Open House This Weekend: Feb 21st & 22nd. No appointments needed! Come See this great House in the gated community of Lantern Bay Estates in Dana Point which is 500 feet to the Harbor. Just let the gaurd know you are coming to the open house and they will let you through! Call Sam Smith at 949-291-0424 with any questions! Great Price at $1,499,000.

Located In The Ultra Exclusive Lantern Bay Estates - A Beach Bluff Gated Community Consisting of Only 45 Luxury Homes Next To The Dana Point Harbor & Doheny Surf Beach. This French Normandy Estate Has The Feeling of 1920's Historical Home With All The Modern Amenities. Exquisite Architectural Detail with Hardwood & Slate Flooring, Hand Painted Walls & A Barreled Brick Ceiling. The Living Room Is A Favorite With Floor to Ceiling Stone Fireplace, Hardwood Flooring & Italianate Light Fixtures. A Gourmet Kitchen with Black Granite Countertops, Stainless Steel Appliances, with a Viking Stove-Top and Built-In Refrigerator. The Kitchen Opens To A Circular Breakfast Nook & Large Family Room. A Fabulous Game Room With Brick Covered Ceiling & A Den Complete The First Floor. Upstairs Features A Master Suite With Built-In Entertainment Center & Tumbled Stone Master Bath. A Private Backyard with An Incredible Black-Bottom Pool with Waterfalls. No Ocean Views By Just 500 Feet To Harbor & Beach! Hurry On This One!

Just Listed: 24772 Anchor Lantern, Dana Point,CA - $1,499,000 - Lantern Bay Estates

2009-01-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

We haven't seen prices this low in Lantern Bay Estates in a long time!!! This is a neighborhood where homes sell around the $4 million dollar range. This is a potential short sale so hurry on this one! Here is a brief description of the property: Located In The Most Exclusive & Desirable Locations In Dana Point; Lantern Bay Estates - A Beach Bluff Gated Community Near The Dana Point Harbor & Doheny Surf Beach. This French Normandy Estate Has The Feeling of 1920's Historical Home With All The Modern Amenities. Exquisite Architectural Detail with Hardwood & Slate Flooring, Hand Painted Walls & A Barreled Brick Ceiling. The Living Room Is A Favorite With Floor to Ceiling Stone Fireplace, Hardwood Flooring & Italianate Light Fixtures. A Gourmet Kitchen with Black Granite Countertops, Stainless Steel Appliances, with a Viking Stove-Top and Built-In Refrigerator. The Kitchen Opens To A Circular Breakfast Nook & Large Family Room. The Family Room Features Built-In Cabinetry & A Charming Brick Fireplace And Opens To The Formal Dining Room. A Fabulous Game Room With Brick Covered Ceiling & A Den Complete The First Floor. Upstairs Features A Master Suite With Built-In Entertainment Center & Tumbled Stone Master Bath. A Private Backyard with An Incredible Black-Bottom Pool with waterfalls. Separate Sitting Area with A Charming Fireplace For Those Cozy Gatherings. Lantern Bay Estates Is A Great Location Where You Can Walk To Great Restaurants & Quaint Shopping & Enjoy The Dana Point Harbor and the Beach!

Please contact Sam Smith at Beach Cities Luxury Homes at 949-291-0424 and visit http://www.bclh.com/

Lowest Price Home in SW San Clemente: $599,000

2008-12-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

We haven't seen prices this low in a long time! The Southwest part of San Clemente is the most desirable part of San Clemente by the beach. All of the homes are custom and have a very quick and easy walk down to the beach. I sold the house next door 2 months back for $650,000 so this is a good deal. Give me a call at (949) 291-0424 or sam@bclh.com for more information about this property. Property photo courtesy of Prudential CA Realty.

Just Listed: 169 Avenida Junipero, San Clemente, CA - $1,299,000

2008-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Just Listed in the Highly Desirable Southwest San Clemete Area! Here is a brief description from the listing agent:
"HUGE PARK-LIKE BACKYARD! WALK TO BEACH! OCEAN VIEWS! UNIQUELY REMODELED! ROOFTOP DECK! Words Cannot Describe This Fabulous Home That Has Been Remodeled And Improved. The Owner/Architect Took A Small 800sq.ft. House And Created A 2300sq.ft. Masterpiece. Travertine Floors, Distressed Hardwood, Onyx Backsplash, Glass Pebble Tubs, Roof Top Deck, Artist Studio At Back Of Property...The List Goes On. Before You Buy...Be Sure To See This Property. Don't Miss The Cute Artist Studio At The End Of The Property Next To The Little Stream And Bench. The Lower Level Is Separate From The House And Is Plumbed For A Bathroom. Currently, It's A Game Room...But Could Be A Third Room. The Master Suite Has Ocean Views And Is Perched Within Huge Trees And Palms. The Picture Windows Create A Feeling Of Living In The Tropics. Climb The Staircase To The Rooftop Deck And Watch The Sun Set Behind Catalina Island. The Seller Is Motivated And Will Look At All Offers." Please Contact Sherry Bauer at Beach Cities Luxury Homes at 949-212-8911 for more info on this home!

President Bush Buys New Home in Dallas, TX

2008-12-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

It has been reported that this property is currently under contract from President Bush and this is where he plans to retire. Click Here to see the full listing detail.

Just Sold - 11 Via Cartama, San Clemente, CA - $972,000

2008-12-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Just Sold! Owner had bought the property for $1,625,000 in 2006 and was sold as a short sale for $972,000. We are the short sale specialists and can get your home sold. If you need to sell, contact our office at 949.444.1901 for a free consultation on your property. Details on this home can be found at LuxuryRealEstate.com

Forster Mansion Exclusive Events: (949) 661-6676

2008-12-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Forster Mansion is now the premier place to have your special event.

The Forster Mansion is conveniently located in San Juan Capistrano on Ortega Highway near the I-5 freeway - less than 30 minutes away from all of Orange County-

The Forster mansion is Orange County’s "new" preeminent venue for exclusive events. This private and gated indoor and outdoor venue can accommodate up to 400 guests for a private event.

The Forster Mansion is a National Historic Landmark, and a distinctly recognizable and proud structure located just over the freeway from the San Juan Capistrano Mission. It is a magnificent example of early California Mission Revival architecture. The garden transports you back to slower times. A wall in the garden is part of the original San Juan Capistrano Mission that Frank Forster owned. A magnificent Pine Tree frames and shades the Mission Wall and is recorded as the oldest Pine Tree in Southern California. They are protected, as is the entire Forster Mansion, as a National Historic Landmark.

The property is zoned A1 Commercial. In addition to weddings and receptions, our staff of professionals exceeds the expectations for Bnai Mitzvot, Corporate and Charity Events, Parties, Showers, Luncheons, all with attention to detail to make your celebration unique and elegant. Enrich your celebration by allowing staff at The Forster Mansion to bring your dream event perfectly to life.

Please contact them at (949) 661-6676 today.

Interest Rates Have Fallen Precipitously! Look at the Jumbo Rates as Well

2008-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

So what happened? The Federal Reserve Board keeps saying the economy won't be able to fully recover unless financial markets resume moral functioning. The U.S. economy is under considerable stress and has downshifted further after the financial crisis of September. Interest rates though had continued to remain flat the last several months even with all of the dire news.

What happened is the Feds announced plans last week to buy up to $100 billion in agency debt from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and to buy up to $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

Eventually, once this crisis has passed, the Fed will have to shrink its balance sheet by selling back the private-sector assets it has accumulated. But that is an issue for the future. For now, the goal of the policy makes must be to support financial markets and the economy. Courtesy of Kevin Budde of Countrywide Financial Services.

Just Listed: 221 W Avenida Cordoba, San Clemente, CA - $1,149,000

2008-11-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

Just Listed: Large Two Story Home Just Steps Down To The Beach. Aspen Style Inspired Home with Seperate Guest House In The Back Ideal For Mother-In-Law Quarters. Property Features Large Open Wood Beam Ceilings With Peek Ocean Views from Upstairs Front Deck. The Property Is Completely Fenced In For Dogs & Children To Play. This Is One Of The Best Streets In Southwest San Clemente with Stunning Views Of The Ocean As You Come Down The Street. The Majority of Homes on This Street Are Large Two Story Custom Beach Homes With Great Curb Appeal. No Homeowners Fees & Ocean Side of PCH! See the posting at the Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Section and LuxuryRealEstate.com featured home.

Just Listed: 33642 Sea Point Drive, Dana Point, CA - $895,000

2008-11-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

Just Listed: Luxurious Single Family Home in the Exclusive Gated Community of Waterford Pointe just a half mile to the beach! Beautiful Panoramic Views of the San Juan Valley & Coastline Ocean Views from your large view deck. Very Open Floor plan with beautiful hardwood flooring, custom travertine stone fireplace & floor to ceiling windows, surround sound audio with custom wall Plasma TV (included!). Kitchen is tastefully done with granite countertops, recessed lighting, and stainless steel appliances. The home features a main floor bedroom & bath with pull down murphy bed for maximum space utilization. Downstairs features two bedrooms with a large Master Suite with direct access to backyard. Master Bath features both Jacuzzi Tub & Shower and His & Her closets. Front & back decks have been installed with high quality Trex material. Waterford Pointe is a highly desirable neighborhood due to its proximity to beach & great ocean views and features a large pool, spa & tennis. Featured on Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Page and LuxuryRealEstate.com. Contact Sam Smith at 949-444-1901 to view this great home.

Interest Rates Drop 1/2% Down To 5.25% for 30 Year Fixed Loan!

2008-11-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

What a great day for rates. We finally got what we have been looking for which is the government coming out and saying that they are supporting the mortgage market directly. They are doing this by putting out 600 billion dollars to purchase Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie Mae bonds. The impact was immediate. 30yr fixed conforming is at 5.25% 30yr fixed and FHA traditional 30yr fixed at 5.5%. This is a .5% drop from yesterday.

Cotton Point Estate - San Clemente - $15,000,000

2008-11-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

"Stunning brand new construction in Cotton Point Estates--home of the Western White House!!! Spectacular ocean view estate situated on a 39,000 (approx.) sq.ft. parcel. This property is fit for royalty. Designed by respected local architect David York, this San Clemente Spanish Revival home features a formal reception room, 32-seat dedicated theatre plus lobby, spa with custom sauna, steam room, roman tub and rain showers. Six stunning bedrooms each with an en-suite bath. The property also includes a guest residence w/ a full kitchen, great room, laundry room, bedroom and bath. Other features: double offices, a full gym, recreation room, library and art/crafts/music room. The amazing grounds offer a resort quality negative edge pool with a sunken bridge, spa and palm islands, a large sports court, cabanas, fire pit, and fountains. Breath-taking ocean views from many rooms. Outstanding fixtures & finishes from Morocco and around the world". Listing text & photos courtesy of Keller William Realty.

High-end Real Estate Requires Marketing Touch

2008-11-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

This Is A Great Article from Sunday's Daily Herald. "In today's market, it is actually easier to sell a $3 million home than to sell a $1 million home, according to two local luxury home experts.
"Sales in that top bracket are actually much more stable than those in the $1 million to $1.5 million category," said Carol Best of Keller Williams Success Realty in Barrington.
"In fact, until just recently, sales in the luxury market were quite strong, and going forward we hope that these buyers will go back to investing in real estate since the stock market has become so unstable," added Valerie Zelinski of Century 21 Roberts & Andrews in Crystal Lake.
According to Best and Zelinski, when you are selling a luxury home to top-tier clients, you are selling a lifestyle more than you are selling a home.
"Instead of looking at a house and asking yourself as an agent, 'What does this house have to offer,' you have to figure out who the buyer of this property will probably be, and target them in your marketing," Zelinski said.
Best and Zelinski are part of a rare breed in the Chicago area market. They are members of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, and while Best has earned the organization's coveted certified luxury home marketing specialist designation, Zelinski is still working on hers.
The institute is an independent organization that is not tied to any specific real estate brand, so membership is open to agents from all firms.
"Today's affluent are citizens of the world and the successful luxury agent must know how to reach them and what lifestyles they are seeking," said Laurie Moore-Moore, founder of the institute and author of "Rich Buyer, Rich Seller: The Real Estate Agents' Guide to Marketing Luxury Homes."
Among our affluent citizens, Best and Zelinski said, there are various distinct lifestyles and personality types that institute members are taught to recognize.
"There are the unmistakably affluent people like Donald Trump and Paris Hilton," Best said. "They have an annual income anywhere from $300,000 to $6 million per year and they are the ones who will want their home to have an exclusive design that suits their personality. They want to know what the home says about them."
Then, Best said, there are people who, like Oprah Winfrey, are called the "dependably affluent" people. They want their home to reflect true craftsmanship and want everything in the home to be functional and have a direct benefit.
Another category is the "economically affluent" people like Alan Greenspan and Suze Orman. According to Best, this type of client wants their home to have great value, but they want to be quiet about it.
Other affluent people want to be totally anonymous in their wealth - like Katharine Hepburn. She wanted a home that made her happy, but didn't want anyone else to know about it.
Wealthy people like Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren crave a home that is unique and makes them feel good, but they don't want it to scream affluence. They want it to be tasteful, above all, Best said.
Finally, there are the Warren Buffets of the world who want a quality home that suits his needs but is understated.
"Warren Buffett has lived in the same house for 40 years and is perfectly happy," Best said. "That is something that people who spend hundreds of dollars at Starbucks every year can't begin to understand."
"When I take a listing, I have to profile the type of buyer who I think will buy the property," Best explained.
The more seasoned agent of the two, Best has been in the local real estate business since 1992 when she left Federated Department Stores' commercial real estate department after helping to purchase the land and build countless Main Street stores that are now Kohl's.
She heard about the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing at a National Association of Realtors convention and took the training in Dallas with other top agents from around the world in early 2006.
Zelinski, on the other hand, got into real estate 2 years ago and immediately decided to specialize in luxury homes. She read about the institute on the Internet and took the training in Tampa, Fla., this past summer.
"With your marketing you have to go out and grab a buyer and bring him or her to that property," Zelinski said. "You cannot just list this kind of property on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and expect someone to buy it."
Members of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing know they need to invest in expensive Internet and other forms of advertising that will allow word about their listing to reach a national and even international audience.
They are also taught how to assess the actual number of potential buyers in a given market and how to price a property to maximize the buyer pool, Best, a certified residential specialist, said.
"Agents and sellers out there are just randomly picking listing prices. But there is a science to it, depending on your time frame," she continued. "I have done a major study of MLS listings and it taught me a lot about this market."
That has also given her the confidence to be frank with potential sellers about what they need to do to sell their property and refuse the listing if they do not seem willing to follow her advice.
"I have learned to let other agents spend their time and money on it," she said.
Best and Zelinski make sure they network with other luxury home specialists around the world and refer buyers and property back and forth.
"It definitely helps to reach out to other luxury home experts because you never know when they might have a buyer for one of your properties," Zelinski said.
"There is definitely a higher risk with spending the money to market these properties, but there is also a higher payout at the end," she continued.
Zelinski currently has listings in Wisconsin for a historic 21-room lakefront mansion in Sheboygan and for an island in Door County. The Sheboygan home is listed for $3.75 million and the island is priced at $3 million.
"They sought me out after seeing my marketing because they assume that their buyer will come from the Chicago area," Zelinski said.

If you are looking to sell your Luxury Home, please contact Sam Smith of Beach Cities Luxury Homes for unique selling ideas & pricing at (949) 291-0424 or email sam@bclh.com

Make The Recession Work For You!

2008-10-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

Champions Love Recessions, Companies that out marketed and outsold their competition during slow times emerge from the recession with increased market shares and better long term profitability.

Studies in September 2008 by the Marketing Planning Institute, Mc Grawhill and Nielsen show that Marketing Investments are more critical in gaining market share during the downturn rather than when business is good. A Mercer company study shows 802 of the top 1000 companies that cut cost on marketing during a downturn couldn't turn profitable for 5 consecutive years after the recession

Here are the 3 ways you can Grow Market Share while others are loosing

1) Marketing Champions attack the market place in a downturn. They Carefully spend marketing dollars on online or email marketing activities where cost of customer acquisition is much lower. During tough times, Marketing Champions deploy counter intuitive strategies to Gain new customers and expand to global markets and expand market share. Pushing off new campaigns or Reducing Marketing is a sure shot way to ride your business to the bottom of the Totem pole. This is the time to make the investment in to Growth while most others are cutting costs.

2) Multi channel marketing solutions including email and online promotions help bring superior ROI at reduced marketing expense. Invest in Web projects to cut administrative and direct mail or telemarketing costs and take products to market faster.

3) Customers have more time now than ever to meet Sales Executives and discuss long term propositions. Some of them might be planning initiatives to develop and launch new products and you could get through to them at the right starting point. Target customers of competitors and particularly those of competitors who have pulled back and reduced their visibility. You can have Top Sales Managers call up top clients and add extra contacts to your clients to expand business within your client base.

Play Hardball, Be Relentless, Lot of Business is up for Grabs, Grab It! The Playing field is less crowded. Many of the competitors take a Survival approach in a Recession. You should take the Trivial approach instead of succumbing to Recessionary Pressures.

Welcome the Recession and Get to work on Grabbing Market share now!!

The Government Plan Will Work

2008-10-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Accoding to Kevin Budde, Assistant Vice-President of Countrywide, The government's steps will help the economy. They are pumping liquidity into the credit markets, keeping the businesses' doors open allowing them to make payrolls and setting a floor under housing. It seems it can't happen fast enough for the scared buyers.

Here's how I expect the situation to unfold. In a few weeks the Treasury's plan will start up. The government will begin buying up the bank's toxic debt, getting it off their books. The debt will be sold later hopefully at a profit paying back some of the national debt.

By Thanksgiving it will be clear how it's working. This process is known as reverse auctions. If these reverse auctions aren't enough to get the banks lending again, the Treasury will implement their second phase of buying bank's shares to provide the liquidity needed to keep the wheels turning.

By year-end, the credit markets should be functioning better. Commercial paper will be moving again. Long-term lending, corporate bonds will start picking up. It will take more months to return to normal however. The measures taken by the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and central bankers around the world will avoid the feared major economic downturn.

The New York Times ran an article this morning with an interview of Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet said he has begun buying U.S. stocks in his personal account which prior to yesterday did not contain stocks, only bonds. He stated he has a minimum one year window time frame. The record shows Mr. Buffet has only stated this previously twice since 1972 and he was 3 to 6 months early. His philosophy is sell when everyone is greedy and buy when everyone is fearful.

The fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year will remain difficult times for both the stock market and the housing industry. However, in January the lending process will be showing the steps being taken now are working and come Spring of 2009 sales of existing homes will begin a steady and consistent increase in volume as the fear diminishes. It can't seem to happen fast enough with what we have been through and are currently experiencing. January will begin my 34th year in the mortgage lending industry.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am anticipating many good years to come. I wanted to share a little insight. I hope it help clarify things. Thank you. Kevin Kevin BuddeAssistant Vice-PresidentPrivate Client GroupCountrywide Bank, FSB

11 Via Cartama - Bank Approval at $1,029,000!!

2008-10-09T10:20:00.001-07:00

We have formal bank approval for this short sale at $1,029,000. The is located at the end of a cul-de-sac in one of Talega's most upscale neighborhoods! Call Sam Smith at 949-444-1901 for more details on this home. More photos can be seen on our website: http://www.bclh.com/ or LuxuryRealEstate.com

Smart Moves to Make After the Fed Decision

2008-10-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, surprised us with by cutting the federal funds rate by 50 basis points after leaving it unchanged at the last three meetings. So what moves should you make with your mortgages, home equity, auto loans, CDs and money market accounts, and credit cards?
Mortgages:
Keeping track of the recent ups and downs of the U.S. financial system is enough to give homeowners and others a nasty case of whiplash. America's biggest financial institutions are struggling; hence, the great volatility in the stock market," says Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans.
All this financial tumult prompted the Federal Reserve to act with an emergency 50 basis-point reduction in the target federal funds rate Oct. 8. The announcement was a surprise, as it came in advance of the Fed's next scheduled meeting Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.
However, the rate cut itself is unlikely to impact mortgage rates significantly, as cuts in the federal funds rate do not directly affect mortgage rates.
This is especially true of fixed-rate mortgages. While it's true that such mortgages sometimes decline in the wake of a Fed rate cut, they are just as likely to rise.

By contrast, adjustable-rate mortgages can be a bit more sensitive to Federal Reserve rate decisions. Many ARMs are pegged to the London Interbank Offered Rate, more commonly known as LIBOR. LIBOR rates usually closely track the federal funds rate. So reductions in the federal funds rate often result in lower payments for homeowners with ARMs. This is one reason why people traditionally have forsaken the safety and security of a fixed-rate mortgage for the greater volatility of an ARM. Good candidates for ARMs typically include people who live in their homes now, but soon expect to move -- such as retirees considering relocation, empty-nesters thinking about downsizing and workers in temporary job assignments who expect to move soon.

Adjustable-rate mortgages also may make sense for somebody who has "a lot of money in the bank and a pretty secure job and (who) isn't afraid to take on the uncertainty that his rate and payment could change in the future as a tradeoff for a lower rate and payment today," Walters says. However, today's economic turmoil has made ARMs a bit less attractive than normal. The spread between LIBOR and the federal funds rate has become uncharacteristically wide, meaning many people with ARMs will not see their mortgage costs fall as they typically would after a Fed rate cut.

In addition, the spread between ARMs and fixed-rate mortgages has been paper thin, negating the major traditional cost advantage of choosing an ARM. For now, homeowners will have to weigh the risks and benefits of choosing an ARM and decide for themselves which option is best.

Take-Away:

After leaving rates unchanged for several months, the Federal Reserve surprised many observers by cutting the target federal funds rate by 50 basis points. The move is thought to be a reaction to recent turmoil in the world's financial markets. The central bank's rate cut will not have a direct impact on mortgage rates. Rates may fall, but they could just as easily rise.

Home Equity:

A lower federal funds rate is good news for borrowers who use home equity lines of credit. Rates on HELOCs typically are tied to the prime rate, which moves in tandem with the federal funds rate. So, if you need to borrow money, a HELOC may be your best option. Not only is the cost of borrowing now cheaper, but the interest associated with this type of borrowing is tax-deductible. However, homeowners would be wise to borrow carefully. All signs point to coming economic hard times, and any type of debt can be toxic in such circumstances.

Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans, counsels American consumers hoping for a quick rebound of the financial system to be patient. "I don't think there is going to be some kind of a silver bullet," he says. "Some of this is just going to flat out take time."

Take-Away:

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates after leaving them unchanged for months. That means borrowing costs on home equity lines of credit -- which move in tandem with changes in the federal funds rate -- should fall. The uncertainty surrounding the fate of the financial system -- and the U.S. economy -- means Fed rate hikes are exceedingly unlikely in the near future.
For this reason, HELOC borrowers should expect costs to remain low for some time.

Meanwhile, changes in the federal funds rate do not directly impact existing home equity loan rates (which remain fixed) or rates on new loans. However, these rates have been climbing in recent months and may continue to do so.

Auto Loans:

Shopping for an auto loan is the same no matter what the Fed does. To get the best deal, show up with a very good credit score and shop around. Randy Ellsperman, chief financial officer at FirstAgain.com, an Internet-based lender, suggests checking online before going to the brick-and-mortar banks.

Though slightly self-serving, it's good advice no matter which online lender you decide to visit. The applications are quick and offer an almost instant answer for borrowers. "Determine what your options are. Don't just go to one bank, don't just go to the dealership and take their interest rate," says Ellsperman.

"You would be forearmed to know what your options are, and a lot of companies will approve you prior to completing the auto transaction, so then you have at least one benchmark," he says.
Online or otherwise, an excellent credit score will net the best loan but a hefty down payment will also help. Buyers with less than perfect credit reports will almost definitely need to put down a significant down payment.

Take-Away:

Just like getting pre-qualified for a mortgage, shopping first for the loan will allow buyers to get an idea of the rates available to them as well as the amount of money a lender is willing to offer.
"The whole auto purchase is an exciting and emotional process. It's going to be one of the largest purchases someone makes," says Mike Celuch, chief financial officer of Paragon Federal Credit Union in New Jersey.

"That's why it's better to take time to know what rate they can qualify for and how much they can actually afford before they get too excited or emotional. At the dealer they will be a lot more comfortable making the purchasing decision on that car," he says.

Copyrighted, Bankrate.com. All rights reserved.

Senate Approves Plan To Help Stabilize Nation's Financial Markets

2008-10-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

The Senate last night approved a revised version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in a 74 to 25 vote, clearing the way for full consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives. The House voted down an earlier version of the plan on Monday.The revised plan, which is designed to shore up the nation's financial markets, includes a temporary one-year increase in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) caps for bank and credit union accounts. The cap increases are critical because they increase the funding backstop the public relies upon should their banks fail. The plan also includes extensions on several business tax breaks and adjustments to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individual taxpayers. These, as well as the FDIC cap changes, are amendments lawmakers believe will help bolster a smooth approval by the House.

5 Tips for Selecting The Right Luxury Real Estate Agent

2008-10-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

5 Tips for Selecting the Right Luxury Real Estate Agent

You've made the decision to buy or sell a luxury home, and now it's time to select the real estate professional who can best assist you. Not all good agents operate effectively in the upper-tier market. It is a market segment that requires special competencies. Here are some general guidelines for choosing an agent to help you in the upper-tier residential marketplace:

1. Look for market knowledge and real estate skills. Not only should your agent know the city or area you are interested in, he or she should be knowledgeable about the price range you've targeted. A luxury home expert should be able to discuss the amount of inventory available, the average number of days a property is on the market before going under contract, the number of sales in the last 90 days, and the list to sales price ratio, all by price range. The more knowledgeable the agent is about the upper-tier market, the more valuable he or she can be as a resource for you. When you schedule your first meeting with a prospective agent, let the agent know you want an overview of the market conditions based on price range. A solid track record of success is also a clear indicator of market savvy. Don't choose an agent based on country club membership, the kind of car he or she drives, or similar criteria. Do choose your agent based on the answer to the question, "Does this agent have the skills and resources necessary to help me accomplish my real estate goals?"

2. Notice special luxury affiliations and designations and ask what they mean. To zero in on professionals who specialize in the fine homes and estates market, look at an agent's memberships and designations. Some agents are members of organizations specific to the luxury market such as The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, which awards an international designation (Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist or "CLHMS") to agents who meet education requirements and have a track record of success. Some real estate companies offer special recognition to their associates who work successfully in the luxury market. Some firms have special luxury marketing programs available to their agents. All these memberships, affiliations and credentials add credibility.

3. If you are selling, ask that the listing presentation include a specific marketing plan for your property. Don't assume that the best marketing plan is always the most expensive. Listen to why the agent has included each element of the plan. Be sure that your home will be promoted Online as well as in more traditional ways. If the home is very expensive or the buyer is likely to come from outside the area, a luxury home magazine may be an important part of the plan. Recognize that the marketing plan in a fast-moving sellers' market will differ from the plan to be implemented in a slower buyers' market. Your agent should outline his or her proposed plan and explain it. Look at the quality of the marketing pieces the agent has used in the past as part of your evaluation process. Some agents will have access to special luxury home marketing systems with special marketing pieces that add value to their toolkit.

4. If you are selling, don't let an agent "buy" your business. Choosing an agent based on the highest suggested list price is counterproductive if the house is overpriced. The agent doesn't set the price-the marketplace does. If your home goes on the market as an overpriced listing, agents and their prospects will quickly move on to other properties that offer more value relative to cost. Will they come back if the price goes down? In many cases, no.

5. Rapport and clear communication are important. Buying and selling can be stressful. Choosing an agent with whom you communicate clearly will help simplify the process. Be sure he or she understands your needs and expectations and that you understand the process and the agent's expectations of you. In short, specialized knowledge + quality tools + clear communication = an agent who can deliver the results you want in the luxury home arena.

Ocean View House - Short Sale Approval in 30 Days! - Listed at $699,000

2008-09-19T18:50:00.003-07:00

This property is in the final stages of the short sale approval. The 1st Trust Deed holder, Countrywide, has recieved all documents and is reviewing the short sale and will have final word in 30 days or less. If you are looking for a fantastic ocean view home with ocean views from both the first & second levels of the house than this is it! Located in the gaurd gated community of Marblehead, you won't find a better buy than this property. It features 3 bedrooms, 2 baths & approx. 1900 square feet of living space. Call us at 949-444-1901 for more information on this home.

Bank Owned Property: Reserve South Community of San Clemente - $814,000

2008-09-19T18:27:00.001-07:00

A Bank Owned Property Has Hit the Market is the Reserve South community of San Clemente.!!! Reserve South is a gated community on the Northeast side of San Clemente. These are newer homes with great open floorplans, this one has a main floor bedroom and bath. The Kitchen features dark cabinetry & granite counters & Buit in entertainment cabinets in the Family Room. If you haven't been inside this association then it's worth a look. The association features a clubhouse with pool, spa and huge grass area for kids & dogs to play. Call 949-444-1901 for more information on this property. Listing text & photo courtesy of Regency Real Estate Brokers.

Lowest Price Single Family Home in San Clemente - $359,000

2008-09-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

The lowest price home in San Clemente has just hit the market! It is a historical 3 bedroom home on the north side of San Clemente. The property does need work but has lot of potential & huge tax savings since it's on the historical Mills Act list that gives huge tax discounts for owners of historical homes. Great Buy for San Clemente. Email sam@bclh.com for more information on this home or call 949-444-1901.

Just Reduced: Beach Front Property! $10,500,000

2008-09-16T21:13:00.001-07:00

Oversized beachfront lot on exclusive Beach Road in Capistrano Beach, this home exudes that true 'toes in the sand' ambiance - with a white sand beach at your feet & forever views of ocean & endless coastline from nearly every room. The region's most noted designers & builders have created a 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath work of art, using beautiful custom finishes, exotic imported materials, artisan craftsmanship, advanced technology, building & engineering techniques. Breathtaking contemporary residence befitting its unparalleled location & offering elegant coastal living. Spacious, light-filled rooms open through disappearing walls of glass onto expansive beachfront terraces - the best of indoor/outdoor living & entertaining in all seasons. Highlights include: gourmet kitchen, state-of-the-art theater, oceanfront master suite with office & spa bath, generously-sized & luxuriously appointed guest suites, large rooftop view terrace, & finished 3-car garage (parking for a total of 8 cars). Listed for a simple $10,500,000. Listing courtesy of Coldwell Banker Previews

Bank Owned Property: Southwest San Clemente

2008-08-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

Did your real estate agent tell you about this deal that hit over the weekend? Are you ready? 3 blocks to the beach in the most desirable part of San Clemente (Southwest San Clemente). 4800 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 6 baths, 7, yes a 7 car garage!! Oh, and an ocean view as well! Asking price.......$1,000,000 even! If you are not familiar with short sales give me a call 949-444-1901

Interested in viewing this property? It's easy: Call me at 949-444-1901 and I will get you in right away. Hurry, deals like this go fast!!!!!!

Historic Doheny Mansion in Dana Point For Sale: Built in 1929 - $2,995,000

2008-08-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

Historic Doheny Mansion is now for sale for $2,995,000. The property was built in 1929 for Edward Doheny and has kept a lot of the original features from the early 1920's. It's one of the largest historical homes in the area with an approx. 4900 square feet of living space: 4 bedrooms & 6 baths. The property sits on a large 11,000+ square foot lot and has a detached 2 car garage. This is a rare find to have one of the largest historical properties available for sale. Property is shown by appointment only so please call our office at 949-444-1901 to set up a showing.

New Advertising Partner: Wall Street Journal Online

2008-08-22T09:43:00.001-07:00

Beach Cities Luxury Homes listings will now be featured on the real estate section of the Wall Street Journal. With the current value of the American dollar, we see more & more foreign investors coming into this marketplace. Currently, Beach Cities Luxury Homes Listings are featured on our affiliate site, http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/, the #1 viewed website for buyers looking for Luxury properties. Now, we have added another great website to reach International buyers, http://online.wsj.com/real-estate. If you are interested in getting global exposure for your property, please contact Beach Cities Luxury Homes at (949) 444-1901 or email at info@bclh.com

San Clemente Real Estate Data Report

2008-08-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Current Data from May 2007 to July 2008 for the number of homes for sale, sold & pending. We had a spike in January & April and we should to see another spike in September as people rush to buy homes as the new school years starts

New Real Estate Section in Craigslist

2008-08-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Casual users of Craigslist may not have noticed a change last week to the Real Estate for Sale section. Recently, my bookmark for that section suddenly started showing fewer and fewer listings.
Around August 4, it appears the ‘real estate for sale’ category was split into ‘for sale by broker‘ and ‘for sale by owner‘ buckets.

It's still one of the most popular sites to find real estate for rent & for sale. We have even helped clients who are selling furniture items in their home for sale by uploading them to Craig's list and It worked out great!

There were complaints about the previous real estate for sale section, like, “Why do brokers put their listings here (multiple times), when there is already an MLS?” The new categorization solves that issue if you just want to see owner listings. But when I looked in the ‘by owner’ section today, it seemed rife with spam, foreclosure ‘help’ ads, and other money schemes. Some policing will be needed.

With the split, is Craigslist prepping to charge California brokers to advertise their listings like they do in NYC? We shall see.

Million Dollar Listing: Bravo TV's New Show

2008-08-21T16:43:00.001-07:00

I was intervied by Bravo TV for the 2nd season & I'm glad I didn't get the job. My hair needs to stand up more!

Capistrano Shores Residents Buy The Land On The Beach Front Mobile Home Park Here In San Clemente - Property Values Expected to Increase Dramatically!

2008-08-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

As reported in the OC Register, The largest beachfront parcel in San Clemente has new owners: Its residents. The Park was purchased from Amherst College for about $100 million, Realtor estimates, to the current property owners.
Capistrano Shores, a 90-unit mobile home park in North Beach, was purchased Jan. 25 from Massachusetts-based Amherst College, said Mark Howlett, president of the park's homeowners association. Howlett is a resident of San Juan Capistrano, but has owned a cottage in the park for a year and a half. He added that 97 percent of the park's cottages are secondary homes.
The oceanfront park stretches over seven-tenths of a mile, and Howlett estimated the post sale transaction value of the cottages to be $2.5 million per lot.
The purchase price and terms of sale could not be disclosed. Local Realtor Mike Cotter estimated the sale to be roughly more than $100 million.
"It's a really sweet deal for the residents there," Cotter said. "It's definitely the largest transaction lately in San Clemente."
The land was donated to the college in 2006 by alumnus Roger Holden, said Amherst spokesperson Caroline Hanna. Howlett said they've been working on the sale for 17 months. They wanted to secure the land for themselves and future generations, he said.
"Everyone found a way to do it," Howlett said. "In that the transaction took 17 months to complete, all residents were provided adequate time to provide financing for their homes."
He said residents were elated to finally control their own ocean cottages, and described the sale as a "team effort" and win-win situation for both homeowners and Amherst College.
"We are very pleased that the sale of the land – a gift from a generous Amherst alumnus – has enabled this group of dedicated homeowners to now also become landowners and remain on such a beautiful piece of property," said Amherst treasurer Peter J. Shea.
Howlett added that residents are pleased with the developments proposed for North Beach over the next several years, which they believe will enhance their property values.

Pre-Foreclosure Sale: 116 E Avenida Cornelio - $785,000

2008-08-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Looking for a Deal? Need a large 2200+ square foot house with an ocean view? Great Location Just A short walk to the beach. 116 E Avenida Cornelio has been approved by WAMU for an Unbelievable Price for A Large 2200+ Square Foot House with an Ocean View!!! House is approved for short sale at $785,000. The house next door is listed for over $1.2 million! The home feautres Large Spacious Rooms with Large Landscaped Backyard, 2 Car Garage & Ocean View Master Bedroom with Ocean View Deck. Close to Beach & Shops. Hurry On This One!!! The property goes into foreclosure next week! Contact Sam Smith at 949.444.1901 for more info on this property.

Housing Bill Passes: What this means to you.

2008-08-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

The president has officially signed into law the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, also known as H.R. 3221. H.R. 3221, perhaps the most significant piece of housing related legislation we have seen in recent years, implements necessary consumer protections while promoting stabilization of the current market and industry through reforms to the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.

This bill is very long, 789 pages to be exact, and covers several issues. I have outlined what I think are the main points of the bill that I believe will directly affect us most.

First Time Homebuyer Credit
Allows first time homebuyers of a principal residence to receive a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, up to $7,500. A first time homebuyer is classified as someone who has not owned a home in the last 3 years. This applies to home purchases made between 4/9/08 and 6/30/09. The tax credit is given to the homebuyer as a check and is repaid over 15 years at $500 per year. A single tax filer with income up to $75,000 will qualify for this tax credit. The tax credit will phase out as a single filer at $95,000 a year income. A joint tax filer with income up to $150,000 will qualify for this tax credit. The tax credit will phase out as a joint filer at $170,000 a year income. If the home is sold before the tax credit is paid back, the homeowner may or may not have to payback the full tax credit. If the homeowner sells the home at a loss, the remaining amount owed on the tax credit is forgiven. If the home is sold at a profit and the profit is less then the remaining amount owed on the tax credit, the tax credit is forgiven. If the homeowner dies, the remaining amount owed on the tax credit is forgiven.

New Agency Conforming Loan Limits
The current agency conforming loan limits maximize at $729,750 depending on the area where the property is located. The current limit is due to expire on 12/31/08. As of 1/1/09 the new maximum conforming loan limits for high cost areas will be adjusted to a cap of 150% of the current GSE loan limit of $417,000 for one unit properties or $625,500. Areas not regarded as high cost, the limits will be set to 115% of the local area median home price or $417,000 for a mortgage secured by a single family residence, $533,850 for a 2 family residence, $645,300 for a 3 family residence, and $801,950 for a 4 family residence.

FHA Modernization
Seller funded down payment assistance programs will be eliminated as of 10/1/08. Minimum cash required from the buyer is increasing from 3% to 3.5%. Up front mortgage insurance premium is increasing to 3% as of 10/1/08.

Hope for Homeowners Plan – FHA Rescue
The purpose of this plan is to ensure that loans are made available to distressed homeowners who could benefit from a refinance in order to be able to stay in their home. It allows owner occupant homeowners to avoid foreclosure by reducing their principal outstanding balance and their current interest rate. Participation in this program is voluntary.

The main requirements under this plan are:
· It must be your principal residence
· Borrowers mortgage debt to income ratio (including all existing mortgages) as of March 1, 2008 must be 31% or higher
· LTV is limited to 90%
· Existing lien holders must waive any prepayment penalties and fees
· Existing lien holders must agree to accept the proceeds as payment in full of all indebtedness and release of all liens
· Minimum 30 year term loan must be secured
· Maximum loan amount allowed under this program cannot exceed $550,400 (may be different for high cost areas)
· No second liens allowed for 5 years
· CLTV can not exceed 95%
· The loan must be underwritten with full income documentation
· Equity appreciation will be shared on a graduated scale with the lender
Sale or refinance within year 1 entitles HUD to 100% of the equity appreciation
Sale or refinance more than 1 year and less then 2 years entitles HUD to 90% of the equity appreciation
Sale or refinance more than 2 years and less then 3 years entitles HUD to 80% of the equity appreciation
Sale or refinance more than 3 years and less then 4 years entitles HUD to 70% of the equity appreciation
Sale or refinance more than 4 years and less then 5 years entitles HUD to 60% of the equity appreciation
Sale or refinance within year 5 entities HUD to 50% of the equity appreciation

The most noticeable changes in the bill are with FHA. Begininning October 1st, 2008, the down payment increases from 3% to 3.5%. In addition, as predicted, FHA will no longer allw the down payment assistance programs like Nehemia. Any loan in process must have full credit approval by FHA on September 30th. The last big change is the mortgage insurance will no longer be "one rate fits all". It will now be driven by credit scores and loan to value. The overall rate will go down making for less payment to the borrower.

The second biggest change is on December 31st, 2008, the temporary high balance of $729,000 will end. Under the new housing bill it will be reduced to $625,500 for both FHA and FNMA and FHLMC. It would have become $417,000 again if not for this bill. These balances apply to Orange County, California as well.

Cypus Shore Ocean View Property: 4016 Calle Louisa - $2,999,000 - Exclusive San Clemente Gated Community with Private Beach Access!

2008-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Rarely a great ocean view property comes on the market in the gated community of Cyprus Shore under $3 million. 4016 Calle Louisa has come on the market and is a great buy!!. A legendary community of ocean front properties, world class surfing, private beachs, views beyond belief from Cottons Point to Dana Point with the Islands in between. This is an incredible opportunity for you to own this beautiful contemporay single level home offered at the LOWEST PRICE OF ANY PROPERTY CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET in Cyprus Shore. This is truly a beach lifestyle with community pool, tennis courts, spa, club house and park. Offered at $2,999,000. Listing courtesy of Century 21 OMA

Short Sale and Home Foreclosure Debt Cancellation Information

2008-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Update Feb. 4, 2008 — The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualify for this relief.
This provision applies to debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 or 2009. Up to $2 million of forgiven debt is eligible for this exclusion ($1 million if married filing separately). The exclusion doesn’t apply if the discharge is due to services performed for the lender or any other reason not directly related to a decline in the home’s value or the taxpayer’s financial condition.
The amount excluded reduces the taxpayer’s cost basis in the home. More information on claiming this exclusion will be available soon.
The questions and answers, below, are based on the law prior to the passage of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007.

Magnifcant 6,000 Square Foot Waterfront Home with Boat Dock - Weekly Rental - 16989 Edgewater, Huntington Beach, CA

2008-07-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Luxurious Weekly Rental. This Custom French Estate in Huntington Harbor accomodates 18 people with a 60' foot boat with strking views of the water & ocean. Expanisve floorplan with dramatic entry way with 45 foot ceilings. Renting this property will be the most unforgetable vacation you will ever have. Water & Sunset View from the Living, Dining, Kitchen, Master Bedroom & Bath, 2nd Family Room & Patio and a Huge Rooftop Deck with Expansive Views of the Ocean and Perfect for Entertaining. The master bedroom suite opens up to a balcony looking directly out at beautiful Huntington Harbor. Private Elevator with access to all 3 levels & private front & back balconies. The most impressive room in this home is the waterfront great room. It combines towering ceilings, with a huge bar, fireplace, pool table, family room, and dining room. The great room area alone is 2000+ square feet. The couches can be moved in this room to create a perfect area for a dance floor if you have a special event.$7,000/week and $350 cleaning fee. Call Sam Smith for available dates. House sleeps 18 people comfortably.

Online Real Estate Search Surpasses All Other Media

2008-07-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Research now shows that consumers are 500% more likely to sell a home through the Internet than through the newspaper according to the 20007 National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers. It's an important to choose a Realtor that understands how to advertise your home over the Internet vs traditonal print media. The website for Beach Cities Luxury Homes is perfect example of showcasing your home for sale (www.bclh.com). Email me to get a free market evaluation of your home.

O.C. Home Prices Rise For 1st Time In 7 Months In June

2008-07-18T13:51:00.001-07:00

O.C. home prices rise for 1st time in 7 months in June according to the Orange County Register.
July 16th, 2008, 9:22 am · posted by Jon Lansner / O.C. Register columnist
DataQuick’s final stats for June show the median home-selling price at $495,000, a 2% increase above May — though pricing is still down 23.3% vs. a year ago. That’s when the current all-time high of $645,000 was set.
We chose to note the monthly price increase, certainly a modest one, because it’s the first time price have increased month-to-month since November. Even with steep discounting, Sales remain sluggish: June buying was 26.9% below a year ago.At the local level, only 6 of 83 O.C. ZIPs saw improved pricing vs. a year ago. (The ZIP-by-ZIP analysis of OC Resales for June is HERE!)

Price Reduction: 34 Marana - Sea Pointe Estates, San Clemente, CA - $1,995,000

2008-07-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

34 Marana has just lowered their price to $1,995,000 today (7/11/08) in Sea Pointe Estates. It was previously listed for $2,100,000. It has 4 bd/4ba and approx. 3800 square feet on at 11,100 square foot lot. Here is a brief description from the listing broker "Come enjoy life at the top of San Clemente in prestigious guard-gated Sea Pointe Estates! Commanding views of the ocean and white water by day and romantic views of the city lights at night, from the moment you enter the dramatic 2-story entry foyer of this newer, custom-built masterpiece. Newly built with all the upgrades including travertine flooring, a speclatular kitchen, built-in sound system inside and out. One can enjoy or entertain friends and family in the large, flat, private backyard with spa as you pass through the over-sized double sliding glass doors. An additional game room with wet bar and large deck to enjoy the views. A main floor master suite makes this a very rare find indeed! Association pool, tennis courts and clubhouse. Near award winning schools, freeway access, shopping, restaurants and theaters. Come enjoy luxury living by the beach! Photo & listing info courtesy of Thomas, Jerry of Coldwell Banker.

Please contact Sam Smith at 949-444-1901 or info@seapointeestates.com for info on this or any Sea Pointe Estates properties. Sea Pointe Estates Blog courtesy of Beach Cities Luxury Homes.

Sales Trends For Orange County, CA - Condo Sales Under $500,000 Are Up - Investors Are Back In The Market!

2008-07-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here Are All The Sold Units for Orange County, CA over a 12 month period from May 2007 to May 2008. The Red Markings Show Sales in Single Family Homes & the Blue Markings are Condo's Sales. Bottom chart shows all price ranges and Top chart shows solds in the under $500,000 price range. Notice the increase in SFR sales in the under $500,000 range. Investors are coming back into this market and picking up the bargain basement prices on condo's under $500,000. This is a great time to pick up great buys!

New Listing - 2111 Via Teca, San Clemente, Ca 92672 - $759,000!!

2008-06-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Short Sale!!! Looking for an Ocean View home in San Clemente? This property features Ocean & Catalina Views from both levels In This Exclusive Gated Commnunity of Marblehead. Prime Location With Breathtaking View From The Master Bedroom & Downstairs Living, Kitchen & Dining Room. Elegant Hand Crafted Staircase With Formal Dining Room. Huge Master Bedroom With Large Walk-In Closet. Two Stone Fireplace & Newer Appliances & Views Abound. Property features 3 bedrooms & 2 baths with approx. 1900 square feet of living space on a 5,000 square foot lot. Priced at $759,000. This is a great buy for an ocean view home in San Clemente. Interested in learning more about this property? Email: sam@bclh.com or call us at 949-444-1901. A Beach Cities Luxury Homes Listing: http://www.bclh.com

Sales Are Starting To Rebound!

2008-06-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

That was the headline of the Orange County Register on Tuesday, May 20th 2008. The accompanying photo was a very crowded entry to an open house. What’s happening? The bottom of this market is approaching, that’s what. This is exactly what was reported in this newsletter last month. Prices have gone down so far, so fast, that it’s hard for waiting buyers to resist. We saw an upward trend in open escrows as mentioned last issue, but the main ingredient is the upward swing of the affordability index which is growing every month to a higher percentage of people who can now buy a home. This correction in the market was not only inevitable, it was necessary. When the market topped out in 2006, we were down to 11% affordability. When only 11 people out of 100 can afford to buy a home, that market is in trouble. According to Dataquick sales were still off 19% from the same period last year, but that is a lot better than 36% off the mark. But still, there is a long recovery period ahead. The OC Register reported, using Dataquick numbers, that April (the latest complete month stats available), was 46% below the average April since 1988. According to the article, “Sales for the January through April period were down 57% compared with the 20 year average.”
But the upward trend is significant. Both investors and homebuyers are on the hunt for the perfect deal. Certainly the raise in FHA loan limits has helped significantly as well as FNMA interest rates remaining at their near historic lows. Should you buy? That’s up to each individual to decide according to their need. But it should be mentioned that THE TODAY SHOW aired a segment on real estate the last week in May. Their conclusion: DON’T WAIT! BUY A HOUSE! This is the same morning show, viewed by millions that 2 years ago proclaimed, “Whatever you do, don’t buy a house right now.” So the fact that they are on board with a bottoming market, is at the very least, interesting.

Price Reduction: 69 Marbella - Sea Pointe Estates, San Clemente, CA - $1,100,000

2008-06-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Price Reduction today for 69 Marbella in Sea Pointe Estates. Property was listed for $1,299,000 and now is on the market for $1,100,000. This is the lowest price Sea Pointe Estates home by almost $600,000 as of today! The next lowest price home is 28 Campanilla at $1,699,000. This may be you chance to get into this wonderful gated community in San Clemente. I've had several requests from buyers looking for homes over 2500 square feet or bigger. This property is approx. 2,485 square feet and is on a huge 10,000 square foot lot. Marbella is the main street as you enter Sea Pointe Estates and this is at the top of the street with Ocean Views as seen in the photo above. The property has 3 bedrooms & 3 baths. Listing info & photo courtesy of Flock, Candice of Prudential California Realty.Call Sam Smith at 949-444-1901 or sam@bclh.com to get more information on this newly reduced Sea Pointe Estates home.

Sea Pointe Estates New Listing - 16 Cresta Del Sol - $1,769,000

2008-06-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

A New listing has hit the market in Sea Pointe Estates. 16 Cresta Del Sol is listed for $1,769,000. The property was previously on the market and now the owners are motivated to get it sold! The property features 5 bedrooms & 6 baths, 4000 square feet of living space with a 3 Car Garage. Here is a brief description of the property: "What a view for this price! Panoramic views of ocean, canyon and city lights the moment you enter the elegant 2-story entry foyer. Newer, custom-built Tuscan style home offers several sets of French doors from many rooms to entertain friends and guests or step out onto the oversize deck to enjoy the spectacular views of the ocean, hills and golf course by day or romantic city lights at night! Chefs will love the bright, open kitchen while enjoying the ocean view. The master suite has commanding views and a large private deck to unwind after a long day, a fireplace and luxurious master bath. Come enjoy luxury living by the beach is prestigious, guard-gated Sea Pointe Estates. Near beaches, shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, schools, and of course, the cool ocean breezes, with NO MELLO ROOS! Listing Text & photo courtesy of Thomas, Jerry of Coldwell Banker.The property does require an appointment to view this property.

Please contact us at info@seapointeestate.com to view this property or call 949-444-1901 to schedule an appointment.

Just Sold: 126 Avenida San Dimas - $695,000

2008-05-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

Newly Listed Beach House in San Clemente! Property features 3 large bedrooms with 2 baths and bonus office room in garage! Over 1500+ square feet of living space and ideally located next to golf course and easy walk to World Class Trestles surfing beach! Property is currently listed for $695,000 by Sam Smith. Here is a brief description on the propety "Great Value In San Clemente. Large 3 Bedroom Home With Ocean & Golf Course View Deck! Easily Walk To Trestles Beach & State Park & San Clemente Golf Course Is Within Steps Of The Property! Home Features Newer Windows, Roof, Wood Flooring & Closet Organizers. Property Is Completely Fenced In For Dogs & Kids to Play! The Property Has Lots Of Natural Light and The Rooms Flow From One Room To The Next. Bonus Office Room Set Up In The Garage. Interested in seeing this property? Contact Sam Smith at 949-291-0424 or sam@bclh.com

31 Campanilla: Sea Pointe Estates Murder Mystery

2008-05-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- Sea Pointe Estates. As reported by KNBC, An investigation continued Monday into the deaths of five adult family members whose bodies were found in a home in a San Clemente gated community, authorities said. Click here to see Video.

Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said relatives had asked for welfare checks at the home prior to the discovery of the bodies, but authorities had checked only the outside of the home previously. Sheriff's Lt. Erin Guidic said the bodies were discovered Sunday by a relative who went to the home at about 3:50 p.m. and then called 911.Sheriff's deputies arrived about 4 p.m., Sunday, at 31 Campanilla St., in Sea Pointe Estates, and found the bodies of five adults.The victims, all members of the same family, had been shot, the Orange County Register reported. They may have been dead for two to three weeks, according to the newspaper.KNBC reported that the stench from the decomposing bodies was so bad that workers wore masks as they removed them.The hillside neighborhood has large homes worth $1.5 to $2 million, according to the real estate Web site Zillow.com.Amormino would not speculate on whether the deceased were victims of a murder or murder-suicide, but judging from evidence at the scene, the deaths were "definitely foul play," he said.Authorities would not say if they believed the killer or killers were among the dead, but Lt. Guidic told the Register, "I don't think there is any reason for the community to be fearful."The dead, all found in a first-floor bedroom by a relative Sunday afternoon, were described as a couple in their late 40s or early 50s, an older woman and twin sisters in their 20s.Two handguns found in the house were taken into custody as evidence, authorities said.Autopsies on the bodies were under way Monday, and results were expected on Tuesday.

According to True Crime Web Blog, 31 Campanilla was the San Clemente address for accident reconstruction specialist Dr. Manas Ucar. Ucar's expertise was in vehicle fires, explosions, and seat belts.At one time Dr. Ucar was a professor at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. Several newspaper articles about Dr. Ucar were published in the Syracuse Post-Standard in the 70s and 80s. Interesting in light of this story was a small announcement published in that paper in October, 1986. It told of twin daughters being born on September 6 that year to Mr. and Mrs. Manas Ucar of 734 Westscott St.

The OC Register reported today that Fingerprint experts are expected to help identify the badly decomposed bodies of five family members who were discovered in a house here over the weekend, Sheriff’s officials said Monday.The bodies could have been in the house for two to three weeks, said Sheriff’s officials, who believe the deaths resulted from an isolated incident and that there is no danger to the community.Two handguns were found in the house on Campanilla Street in the gated Sea Point Estates neighborhood overlooking the ocean, officials said. The bodies were discovered late Sunday afternoon after relatives went to the house.Sheriff’s Lt. Erin Giudice declined to give the exact street address for the house, but neighbors said it was 31 Campanilla. That house is owned by Manas Ucar, property record show. Ucar is listed as a consulting engineer and an expert witness for accident investigations, according to ca-experts.com – an online California database of expert witnesses.Property records also list a Margaret or Margrit Ucar at the address.The neighborhood, set on a hillside, has large homes worth between $1.5 million and $2 million, according to Zillow.com.Found dead in the house were a man and a woman in their 40s or 50s, twin sisters in their 20s, and an older woman in her 70s or 80s, Giudice said.The middle-aged man and woman were found near a closet off a first-floor bedroom, each with a handgun nearby. One of the guns was registered to the woman, Giudice said; she did not know to whom the second was registered, or whether either gun had been fired.The two younger women and the older woman were found nearby, in the first-floor bedroom. Giudice said there was no sign of a struggle and nothing else in the bedroom appeared to be amiss.The man appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound, Giudice said. One more of the dead might also have been shot, she said, but the bodies were so badly decomposed that investigators were not certain.Autopsies of the five bodies began on Monday morning, but Giudice said it would likely take until Tuesday to get any results, including the identities of the dead. Fingerprint experts are expected to arrive Tuesday to help identify the bodies.The family that owned the house, the Ucars, had twin daughters in their early 20s, said Roxie Weaver, a neighbor.In an interview with KDOC-TV’s Daybreak OC news show, to be aired Tuesday, Weaver said “You could hardly tell (the twins) apart because they always dressed exactly alike.”Grace and Margaux Ucar were 2004 graduates of San Clemente High School, according to a yearbook Weaver showed to KDOC. A Grace and Margo Ucar studied human biology at UC San Diego, where they were due to graduate this year, according to a list posted on the university’s Web site.The twins’ mother had a jewelry store at the atrium in Fashion Island, Weaver said. She said the family had lived in the gated neighborhood for 17 or 18 years and were “very private.”Three relatives – at least two of them brothers – found the bodies on Sunday afternoon after breaking a window to get into the house, Giudice said. The smell was so overwhelming that investigators had to wear Scuba-like breathing masks when they entered.The relatives had called the Sheriff’s Department a few days earlier, asking that deputies swing by the house and make sure everything was all right. The relatives said they thought the family was on vacation.Deputies visited the house on Saturday and checked the doors and windows, but found nothing out of the ordinary, Giudice said. They even called a tow truck to help them get into a car parked outside, but did not find keys or a garage-door opener. The relatives asked them not to force their way into the house.It was the second time this month that deputies had visited the house, Giudice said. On May 14, a neighbor had called to say the family appeared to be away on vacation, and asked that deputies check on the house.Giudice described the people who lived in the house as a “very, very quiet family.”

Dana Woods Home for sale - 25091 Danacoral - $829,000

2008-05-24T10:40:00.001-07:00

Just Listed! Looking for a home by the beach? This Large Two Story Home In The Beach Community of Dana Woods in Dana Point Is now for sale for $829,000! It's One of the most popular floorplans in this community with 4 Bedrooms & 3 Baths. It has a Large Open Floorplan with Gracious Size Rooms. Downstairs features a Main Floor Bedroom & Bath & Inside Laundry. Upstairs features 3 Bedrooms Including a large Master Suite. Property Is Located On A Very Quiet Cul-De-Sac Location. An exclusive listing of Beach Cities Luxury Homes: Please Contact Sam Smith at (949) 291-0424 for more information on this home. Please visit http://www.25091danacoral.com/ for more photos of this property. Online brochure at http://www.dana-woods.com/

Understanding Today's Real Estate Market

2008-05-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you have every wondered how the real estate market got to the point where it is today you need to go back several years to get a perspective on what created today's market conditions. Here's a view of what happened according to the Institute of Luxury Home Marketing.
What created today's market conditions?
The conditions leading to the current credit crunch and real estate slowdown are largely a result of a frenzy of demand - demand created by the global investment market and by individual investor/speculators. Beginning in 2000, the world's pool of investment money exploded. In 2000, there was a pool of about $35 trillion dollars invested or seeking investments. But in the short time between 2000 and 2006, that global money pool doubled to about $70 trillion. This translates to a huge number of cash-rich investors -- from pension funds to sovereign funds - all competing for good investments.
Money to spend!
Pools of mortgage loans (mortgage backed securities) have historically been viewed as safe, desirable investments. So, the growth in investment funds meant demand for these investment vehicles soon outstripped supply. Mortgage companies recognized that if they could generate more loans, they could sell them. Wall Street created new ways to package these mortgages, sell them, and pass the benefits and risks on to investors. In addition, more loans supported the political objective of increasing home ownership.
At first it seemed like a win-win. Mortgage money fueled home ownership. The lenders made money, Wall Street prospered and the risk to investors was evaluated based on historical data showing low loan default rates in the U.S. The problem was that in the rush to make more loans, lenders' underwriting requirements lipped. What lenders call "liars loans' became common. These loans required no verification of income or assets. The lender took your word that you had a job and that your income and assets were what you said they were. They simply checked your credit score and made the loan. Adjustable rate loans, interest-only loans, and other loans previously used for special situations, went main stream and were often misused.
This flood of cheap, easy money (designed to produce the maximum number of loans) attracted small investors who decided to join the home buying party. In 2004, a less than terrific stock market caused many investors to look for alternative investments. The California, Florida, Washington D.C. markets (plus a few other major markets) were attractive locations for investment due to strong population growth, healthy job markets, and good overall economic prospects. Investors swarmed into these markets under the assumption that money invested in residences would generate higher returns than the stock market or other investment options. They were right. However, in lock step with investors, came swarms of speculators (we're defining speculators as investors who really couldn't invest without special financing.) The low underwriting standards allowed them into the market.
The demand created by these two groups created a buying environment in these targeted markets where flipping became the norm. It ceased to matter whether a property would cash flow or even be rented. There were quick profits to be made. Return-on-investment was high. Strong demand allowed investors and speculators to contract for a property with a small deposit and sell the property at a profit prior to closing. Others bought, held briefly, and resold for more money. Price appreciation soared with the demand. Developers and builders followed the money and inventories began to rise.
2005: The frenzy moved to new markets
By 2005, many savvy small investors felt the top markets of 2004 offered less opportunity and they looked for new markets where economic fundamentals were good and prospects for home appreciation were strong. In short, they wanted to duplicate the smart investments of 2004 in new markets. This shift or "spillover" into new markets like Phoenix/Scottsdale (AZ), Las Vegas (NV), Reno (NV), Seattle (WA), and Cape Coral (FL), created new demand in these markets. Speculators followed, as did builders and developers. Second home buyers also jumped into the fray, adding to the demand. Government home ownership programs encouraged those at the bottom of the economic pyramid to buy. Money was fueling the market. Homeowners who didn't want to sell, refinanced instead using the high valuations on their homes to take out cash. Home equity was used like cash from an ATM machine to fuel consumer purchases contributing to a more robust economy. The total number of loans soared.
During 2005, almost 40% of all home buyers were investor/speculators or second home/vacation buyers (27.7% & 12.2% respectively). The difference between the two is primary intent. Investors were looking for return on their investment, while second home buyers' primary motivation was to use a property as a residence. Appreciation soared in these spillover markets in 2005. For example, Phoenix/Scottsdale prices jumped almost 40% in 12 months.
This was not a normal market, nor one which thoughtful observers would expect to continue. Bubbles were being formed. However, the housing boom was an economic engine and everybody wanted on board. Anyone looking closely at the situation should have seen trouble on the horizon. But, consumers were getting dream homes, lenders and Wall Street were raking in profits, home ownership was growing, industry job creation was strong, old statistics promised the investments were safe, and regulators, must have been dozing.
2006: The real estate market slowed down
By 2006, some homeowners began having difficulty making their loan payments as loans ballooned or rates clicked up. When lending practices began to tighten in 2006 and some loans had significant rate adjustments, there were fewer qualified buyers and more available inventory, so market conditions changed. Many buyers fund themselves with properties they couldn't afford and loans that were upside down - more was owe on the properties than they were worth. There were fewer investors pursing residential investments and those that were out there shifted their target markets looking for new opportunities for good returns. Speculators began to fall out of the market.
In 2006, 36% of buyers fell into the investor/speculator or second home buyer category. The percentage of investors had declined to 22%, while the percentage of second home buyers had increased to 14%. Despite the overall slowdown, there were still some markets with good appreciation (investor/second home buyer demand, a booming oil business and Katrina relocations all being important factors). Top appreciation rates in 2006 were about half of what they'd been in 2005. Overall, national home sales slipped 10.8% in 2006, compared to the previous year. However, mortgage securities were still a hot commodity.
2007: The slowdown continued
By 2007, the downturn in housing had gained momentum. Lenders were facing a secondary loan market which was becoming a bit more selective about loan purchases. Money was getting tighter. Job losses and other economic issues in markets like Cleveland and Detroit contributed to the slowdown. By the end of the year, The National Association of Realtors reported that the housing market was off by 12.8% compared to 2006 (which, remember was already down about 10% compared to 2005). The new home market had suffered even more, falling a whopping 26%, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
2008: Credit Crunch
2008 brought a serious "credit crunch." The creative packaging of loans into new forms of mortgage securities, (which had fueled the market by keeping money flowing for home investment) suddenly became a more visible problem. As buyers defaulted, the value and marketability of the mortgage securities became questionable. The financial market took a closer look at these securitized mortgages and realized that ratings based on old underwriting standards were irrelevant and the risks were significantly higher than projected. Defaults and foreclosures soared, home inventories rocketed up, and home prices softened. Available money dried up and the financial market face liquidity and solvency issues. The bubble had burst. The loan frenzy was over, leaving an industry questioning how to deal with the resulting problems.
So what's ahead? With money tighter, home inventories high, an economy that is either in or on the brink of recession, a weak U.S. dollar, and lower demand for housing, it seems safe to assume that the short term economic news is not good for residential real estate. We have not yet seen the full extent of problems in the housing market and may soon have to deal with similar problems with auto loans and credit card debt. It will probably take the rest of 2008 and all of 2009 before we work our way out of the housing downturn.
The luxury market continues to perform well
It's not all doom and gloom. The top of the market continues to be healthy. Many of the country's most affluent zip codes are still enjoying price appreciation. Recent research by The Harrison Group for American Express revealed that the affluent view today's real estate market as an opportunity. In fact, those who earn at least $500,000 annually not only see an opportunity; they plan to buy residential real estate in the next 12 months. Of the 40% who report buying plans, the majority say their planned purchase will be a second or third home. This demand will be supplemented by wealthy international buyers who view our residential properties as "on sale" and are continuing to purchase in many major markets.

Bottom line - the market overall is soft and will be for awhile; however, the top of the market is out performing other segments.

Doom & Gloom All The Way To The Bank

2008-05-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

As Reported In This Month's Issue of Dream Homes Magazine, San Diego Issue, La Jolla Homeowners Gained 315% in the Last Decade. Did you know that in the slums of some rust belt cities affected by major manufacturing job losses, such as Detroit, the federal government is selling homes for as little as $1? You can’t even call them “homes,” really – they are the skeletons of homes that have been vandalized and looted and occupied by squatters in neighborhoods that aren’t safe even in broad daylight. And yet those homes – and foreclosed homes bought back by lenders who simply want to recoup the amount still owed on the mortgages and short sales by people who want to avoid foreclosure – are thrown into the mix when the powers that be decide what the national average home price is.

That’s why it’s absurd that the mainstream media is alarming the public about the housing market when it reports facts such as that the national average price has declined by 6.45 percent to $201,000 in the last year; alarming both potential homebuyers and home sellers into becoming paralyzed and doing nothing. “Nobody is buying, nobody is selling,” is the mantra of the mainstream media. Well, mainstream media, you’re a major part of the problem with the huge fall in confidence out there with your national numbers and your sob stories about people who are being foreclosed on…mostly people who didn’t do their due diligence when purchasing a home, did not read or understand their loan documents, were lied to by their mortgage broker or lied about their own incomes and bought way more house than they could realistically afford – the excuses go on and on.
And second, mainstream media, you are wrong. People are continuing to buy and sell in upscale communities – such as the San Diego County coast, Orange County coast, Westside L.A., Silicon Valley, and Seattle – just as they always have, because business, outside the financial, real estate, and construction sectors, is booming. In addition, most of these upscale area homes are actually appreciating in price, not depreciating…again, just as they always have. To demonstrate this, we took a look at one community, La Jolla. The average price of a La Jolla house in 1977 was $118,700. In 1987, the average had jumped 409% to $485,900. In 1997, the average increased another 157% to $763,500. In 2007, the average price in La Jolla had appreciated another 315% to $2,408,900.

The average of those three huge percentage jumps is 294% per decade. Using that figure, we predict the average price will be more than $7 million in 2017 and more than $20 million in 2027.
The most important point to take away from this article is this: All real estate is local…and not just by city but by neighborhood.
Now let’s look at stocks versus real estate. Even stock market cheerleader The Wall Street Journal had this to say recently: “The stock market is trading right where it was nine years ago. Stocks, long touted as the best investment for the long term, have been one of the worst investments over the nine-year period, trounced even by lowly Treasury bonds.”

Bottom line: Buying real estate in an upscale community is still your best investment. Homebuyers and sellers need to take a longer view; years, not months or days. Compare the lack of growth in stock prices with the growth displayed by La Jolla over the past decade.

Newport Crest Condo For Sale- 20 Kamalii, Newport Beach, CA

2008-05-07T19:34:00.001-07:00

The Housing Crisis Is Over?

2008-05-06T14:03:00.001-07:00

As Reported In Today's Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal "The dire headlines coming fast and furious in the financial and popular press suggest that the housing crisis is intensifying. Yet it is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of the U.S. housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now.
How can this be? For starters, a bottom does not mean that prices are about to return to the heady days of 2005. That probably won't happen for another 15 years. It just means that the trend is no longer getting worse, which is the critical factor.
Most people forget that the current housing bust is nearly three years old. Home sales peaked in July 2005. New home sales are down a staggering 63% from peak levels of 1.4 million. Housing starts have fallen more than 50% and, adjusted for population growth, are back to the trough levels of 1982.
Furthermore, residential construction is close to 15-year lows at 3.8% of GDP; by the fourth quarter of this year, it will probably hit the lowest level ever. So what's going to stop the housing decline? Very simply, the same thing that caused the bust: affordability.
The boom made housing unaffordable for many American families, especially first-time home buyers. During the 1990s and early 2000s, it took 19% of average monthly income to service a conforming mortgage on the average home purchased. By 2005 and 2006, it was absorbing 25% of monthly income. For first time buyers, it went from 29% of income to 37%. That just proved to be too much.
Prices got so high that people who intended to actually live in the houses they purchased (as opposed to speculators) stopped buying. This caused the bubble to burst.
Since then, house prices have fallen 10%-15%, while incomes have kept growing (albeit more slowly recently) and mortgage rates have come down 70 basis points from their highs. As a result, it now takes 19% of monthly income for the average home buyer, and 31% of monthly income for the first-time home buyer, to purchase a house. In other words, homes on average are back to being as affordable as during the best of times in the 1990s. Numerous households that had been priced out of the market can now afford to get in.
The next question is: Even if home sales pick up, how can home prices stop falling with so many houses vacant and unsold? The flip but true answer: because they always do.
In the past five major housing market corrections (and there were some big ones, such as in the early 1980s when home sales also fell by 50%-60% and prices fell 12%-15% in real terms), every time home sales bottomed, the pace of house-price declines halved within one or two months.
The explanation is that by the time home sales stop declining, inventories of unsold homes have usually already started falling in absolute terms and begin to peak out in "months of supply" terms. That's the case right now: New home inventories peaked at 598,000 homes in July 2006, and stand at 482,000 homes as of the end of March. This inventory is equivalent to 11 months of supply, a 25-year high – but it is similar to 1974, 1982 and 1991 levels, which saw a subsequent slowing in home-price declines within the next six months.
Inventories are declining because construction activity has been falling for such a long time that home completions are now just about undershooting new home sales. In a few months, completions of new homes for sale could be undershooting new home sales by 50,000-100,000 annually.
Inventories will drop even faster to 400,000 – or seven months of supply – by the end of 2008. This shift in inventories will have a significant impact on prices, although house prices won't stop falling entirely until inventories reach five months of supply sometime in 2009. A five-month supply has historically signaled tightness in the housing market.
Many pundits claim that house prices need to fall another 30% to bring them back in line with where they've been historically. This is usually based on an analysis of house prices adjusted for inflation: Real house prices are 30% above their 40-year, inflation-adjusted average, so they must fall 30%. This simplistic analysis is appealing on the surface, but is flawed for a variety of reasons.
Most importantly, it neglects the fact that a great majority of Americans buy their houses with mortgages. And if one buys a house with a mortgage, the most important factor in deciding what to pay for the house is how much of one's income is required to be able to make the mortgage payments on the house. Today the rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is 5.7%. Back in 1981, the rate hit 18.5%. Comparing today's house prices to the 1970s or 1980s, when mortgage rates were stratospheric, is misguided and misleading.
This is all good news for the broader economy. The housing bust has been subtracting a full percentage point from GDP for almost two years now, which is very large for a sector that represents less than 5% of economic activity.
When the rate of house-price declines halves, there will be a wholesale shift in markets' perceptions. All of a sudden, the expected value of the collateral (i.e. houses) for much of the lending that went on for the past decade will change. Right now, when valuing the collateral, market participants including banks are extrapolating the current pace of house price declines for another two to three years; this has a significant impact on the amount of delinquencies, foreclosures and credit losses that lenders are expected to face.
More home sales and smaller price declines means fewer homeowners will be underwater on their mortgages. They will thus have less incentive to walk away and opt for foreclosure.
A milder house-price decline scenario could lead to increases in the market value of a lot of the securitized mortgages that have been responsible for $300 billion of write-downs in the past year. Even if write-backs do not occur, stabilizing collateral values will have a huge impact on the markets' perception of risk related to housing, the financial system, and the economy.
We are of course experiencing a serious housing bust, with serious economic consequences that are still unfolding. The odds are that the reverberations will lead to subtrend growth for a couple of years. Nonetheless, housing led us into this credit crisis and this recession. It is likely to lead us out. And that process is underway, right now.
Mr. Moulle-Berteaux is managing partner of Traxis Partners LP, a hedge fund firm based in New York

In Depth: How Low Will Real Estate Go?

2008-05-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

In A Recent Forbes.com article, the national real estate market remains bleak--in some neighborhoods vacant homes outnumber those that are occupied and sellers are being forced to lower asking prices in a bid to lure bargain hunters--it's assumed that when housing dips to a point where buyers think it represents a bargain, they'll buy back in.
The problem is many of the markets that experienced steep 2007 price drops are still a long way from recovery. There is a silver lining reported in the San Diego market (read below).

That's based on a Moody's Economy.com report prepared for Forbes.com. It predicts that 2008 isn't going to be any gentler than last year on slumping markets like Los Angeles, Sacramento, Calif., Las Vegas and Tampa, Fla., where market weakness is expected to cause 10% to 25% drops over the next year.
Moody's model incorporates inventory levels, job growth or loss, and the availability and cost of credit based on current mortgage rates and the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Survey, which asks lenders about their mortgage standards.
The model also measures home buyer expectations on a market-by-market level, based on an 18-month moving average of home prices. The more sharply prices fall, the more likely buyers are going to stay out and wait for a bottom; in a quickly accelerating market, buyers are more likely to jump in, expecting future home price increases.
Falling Figures
Price drops result from a convergence of factors including overbuilding and speculating and rapid price increases.
But large-scale job loss has the most potent effect, note Eric Belsky and Daniel McCue, economists at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Markets can overheat, overexpand and digest flippers and overexuberant builders, but housing prices are most likely to fall when people lose their paychecks.
Belsky and McCue studied housing downturns from 1980 to 2004 and discovered that the most likely cause of housing price declines were spikes in unemployment. Consider the industrial cities of Cleveland and Detroit, which have lost jobs steadily since 2000 and now post unemployment rates of 6% and 7.7%, respectively, well above the national average of 5.1%. Of the 10 cities on our list of cities experiencing the greatest price drops, they are the only two where prices are lower than in 2000.
Surprised? Don't be. While prices are falling, they are, for the most part, higher than earlier this decade. In 2000, Inland Empire prices, for example, were $138,560. Moody's has Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., home values declining another 23% this year, to $291,590.
"In a normal housing market, we have ratios that you qualify for a certain amount of house at your income level," says Anthony Sanders, a professor of finance at Arizona State University. "Since banks have tightened credit, we're starting to revert back to those lending standards, and prices are going back to reflecting a ratio of income and median house value."
Of course, these price increases are largely because of new development and bloated McMansions--and not necessarily of normal appreciation. Between 1980 and 2000, home values consistently ran 3.7 times the median family's income in San Bernardino-Riverside, but by 2006 that figure swelled to a multiple of 7.6. If home prices return to the area's historic growth rate, Inland Empire prices would balance at $200,000 in present dollars.
Bottom line: "The continued decline," says Sanders, "is going to be very problematic for homeowners--but also for secondary investors."

In Pictures: Top 10 Markets With Sharpest Declines

In Los Angeles, Calif. the expected year-end median home price: $471,320 with a Percent drop: 17%. Prices in Los Angeles nearly tripled from 2000 to 2006, going up 161% to $575,550 from $217,220. Income growth did not match that rate. The median home price in 2000 was 4.7 times the median family income, but by 2006, home prices were 10 times the median income level, making L.A. the least affordable housing market in the country.

In San Diego, Ca, the expected year-end median home price: $471,300. Percent drop: 18.7%
There's a silver lining in San Diego's slumping market. Though the city is experiencing steep price declines, transactions have started to pick up over the last three months, reports Radar Logic, a New York real estate research company. This is a sign that buyers are starting to re-enter the market, which is expected to help slow price declines.

5505 Costa Escondida - San Clemente, CA 92673

2008-04-30T16:53:00.001-07:00

We just listed this great property in the Ridgemore area of Forster Ranch. More information can be found on this property by going to our website: www.bclh.com or email me at sam@bclh.com

Fed cuts short-term rate for 7th time

2008-04-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Short-term interest rates will come down again, for the seventh time since September.
The Federal Reserve cut its target for the federal funds rate by a quarter-point, from 2.25 percent to 2 percent. The prime rate will fall by a quarter-point, from 5.25 percent to 5 percent. The move spells good news to people who borrow money on loans, such as home equity lines of credit, that are linked to the prime rate. It's not such good news for savers who want to put their money in short-term certificates of deposit.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee has been slashing rates to encourage consumers to borrow, and therefore stimulate the faltering economy. At the beginning of September, the federal funds rate stood at 5.25 percent; since then, the Fed has cut it by 3.25 percentage points. It has been an unusually rapid series of rate reductions, as the Fed has tried to catch up with the economic slowdown brought on by the housing slump.
"Recent information indicates that economic activity remains weak. Although readings on core inflation have improved somewhat, energy and other commodity prices have increased, and some indicators of inflation have risen in recent months. The substantial easing of monetary policy to date, combined with ongoing measures to foster market liquidity, should help to moderate growth over time and mitigate risks to economic activity," according to the Fed announcement.
This rate cut had been expected, with futures markets pricing in a 1-in-5 chance that the Fed would keep rates unchanged, and a 4-in-5 chance of a quarter-point cut. To the extent that anyone expected the Fed to keep rates unchanged, that sentiment stemmed from the inflation picture. As anyone who drives to the grocery store knows, prices for gasoline and food have been skyrocketing and threatening to eventually push up prices for everything.
Typically, rate cuts make inflation worse. That makes the case for holding short-term rates steady. But this isn't a typical situation. Prices aren't rising because the economy is booming; instead, they are rising despite an economic downturn.
"It's a compromise between two equally persuasive arguments," says Richard DeKaser, chief economist for National City Corp. "On the one hand, there's an increasingly legitimate argument that inflation needs to be pre-empted more aggressively." On the other hand, he says, "there is still risk to the economy in terms of weaker growth."
Downward-facing dollarOn the inflation side, DeKaser says, the Fed has been counting on a weaker economy holding wage growth down, which in turn is supposed to put a lid on inflation. By that reasoning, the Fed can continue to goose the economy by cutting rates, and can put off worrying about inflation until after economic growth resumes. But commodity prices are surging and the dollar is weakening in relation to other currencies. Both of those factors exert upward pressure on prices, especially for imports.
By cutting short-term rates while European central banks keep their rates steady, the Fed contributes to further erosion in the dollar's relative value. In turn, foreign companies either raise prices on exports to the United States to maintain profits, or they sell their goods to countries with stronger economies. Either way, through straight-out price increases or through scarcity, foreign-made goods become more expensive in the United States.
Inflation-fighting takes backseatHow do you turn that around? You could raise interest rates, which would eventually make prices of imports more competitive, but higher rates would restrict overall economic growth. Right now, the Fed prefers to stoke the economy by cutting rates again. Inflation-fighting is a secondary priority at the moment.
"The ongoing concerns related to inflationary pressures have to be weighing very heavily on their minds," says Jim Baird, chief investment strategist at Plante & Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"They've pumped a lot of liquidity into the system, particularly since the beginning of the year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them take a step back and let this filter its way through the system at this point. They have to look at which of the battles they want to fight -- keep prices in check to a greater degree or reduce the risk of further softening of the economy and at the same time try to provide some liquidity and stabilize the credit markets."
Consumer impactThis rate cut's impact on consumers "is not likely to be very impactful, but in combination with past rate actions, it has quite a bit of impact," says DeKaser. He believes that a lot of this impact will come via reducing the monthly debt payments that some mortgage holders will have to make.
Specifically, rates on home equity lines of credit will go down again, and that will reduce the minimum monthly payments that borrowers carrying balances will have to pay. And declining short-term rates mean less payment shock for some people with adjustable-rate mortgages.
Long-term rates, such as those for fixed-rate mortgages, don't respond directly to the Fed's rate decisions. Instead, long-term rates are guided by inflation expectations. They could go either way, depending on whether the bond market decides whether the Fed's rate policy is too restrictive, too permissive or just right.
The federal funds rate is the target interest rate for banks borrowing reserves among themselves. The discount rate is the interest rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow reserves from the Federal Reserve. The Fed wants to be the lender of last resort: It wants banks to borrow from one another at the federal funds rate before borrowing from the Federal Reserve at the higher discount rate.

Is This The Last Fed Cut?

2008-04-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

The Federal Open Market Committee meets today through tomorrow (April 29-30) and by now you're familiar with the drill -- they'll cut interest rates. But unlike recent Fed meetings that culminated with aggressive moves of the half-point and three-quarter point variety, the upcoming meeting is poised to produce a comparatively small quarter-point cut.
Exactly what will this mean to consumers? Rates for home equity lines of credit and variable rate credit cards will see further declines, though not all borrowers will benefit equally.
The biggest beneficiaries of the Fed's rate cut campaign -- homeowners facing resets on adjustable-rate mortgages -- will see no incremental benefit from another rate cut. The reason is that yields on Treasury bills that serve as the index for many ARMs moved lower well in advance of the Fed's actual moves as those yields reflect expectations about interest rates in the time that lies ahead. Those T-bill yields have already begun to move higher, reflecting concern about inflation and expectations that the Fed will transition away from further rate cuts. LIBOR rates have also increased notably off their 52-week lows, but for a different reason, as there is still tension in global credit markets amid questions about the accuracy of banks' self-reported funding costs. The bottom line is that another rate cut means nothing to borrowers holding adjustable-rate mortgages.
Savers, I haven't forgotten about you, though it seems the Fed has. While savers have become well-acquainted with the pounding that Fed rate cuts deliver to yields on cash investments, there is a moral victory close at hand. If the Fed cuts by just a quarter-point, and seems willing to move to the sidelines in order to evaluate the health of the economy before acting further, this will mark the bottom for yields on cash.
Although inflation concerns are growing and yields on Treasuries have moved higher, any sustained improvement is unlikely unless the Fed quickly begins to raise interest rates. Frankly, the Fed will have a hard time raising interest rates and imperiling the very ARM borrowers they've ushered out of harm's way with repeated interest rate cuts. Article courtesy of Bankrate.com

Carl's Jr.'s Founder (Carl Karchner) Summer Estate Is Now For Sale for $8,500,000 in San Clemente, CA

2008-04-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

The Spanish Summer Estate of the founder of Carl's Jr. Fast Food Franchise & owner of Hardee's (Carl Karchner who died early this year just shy of his 91st birthday) has hit the market at $8,500,000.

4006 Calle Louisa Is An Expanisve Spanish Style Masterpiece Is Located In the exclusive Gate Guard Community of Cyprus Shore in San Clemente. It features 4 bedrooms, 6 baths and over 7500+ square feet of living space on a 16,000+ square foot lot!. The neat thing about this property is that is sits on a large corner lot that overlooks the ocean. It's hard to find such a large lot in this location. The lot is situated on 2 legal lots. The house itself features 2 master Suites, A large living, family & dining room along with a game room & spa!

The exclusive Cyprus Shore community is well known to have one of the most popular and beautiful beaches in all of California. This community features direct beach access to the beach and Is most widely known for the world famous surf break called Trestles. Of course, one can't mention this area without giving reference to the "Western White House" where former President Richard Nixon lived 40 years ago.

Interested in seeing more properties in this area? We have free mls access for all the homes in San Clemente at www.bclh.com/mls.php.

America's Wealthy See Buying Opportunities In Sluggish Real-Estate Market

2008-04-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Is now a good time to buy real estate? The size of your paycheck likely will play a big part in how you answer that question as reported in a recent Wall Street Journal Market Watch report.
While many average Americans are skittish about the housing market, some of the country's richest citizens see the current conditions as perfect for buying, according to the Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, released on Tuesday by the American Express Publishing Corp. and Harrison Group, a market research and consulting firm.Seventy-seven percent of the wealthiest people surveyed think real estate presents a "real opportunity" right now. In the survey, "wealthy" meant having discretionary household income of more than $500,000 a year.
And these high-income earners are putting their money where their mouths are: 40% said they are in the market to acquire real estate this year.
The survey was originally conducted late last year with 1,800 people representing the wealthiest 10% of American households. But the more recent figures are from a follow-up survey with a smaller sample of the original participants, conducted last week to ensure the study reflects rapidly changing market dynamics.
Other survey participants are "upper middle class," with incomes between $100,000 and $149,000; "affluent," with incomes between $150,000 and $249,000; and "super affluent," with incomes between $250,000 and $499,000.
The wealthy aren't alone in their belief that the real-estate market represents a buying opportunity: 67% of the upper-middle-class participants also agreed with that statement, as did 72% of the affluent and the super-affluent.
"There are bargains out there ... severe price pressure across the board," said Jim Taylor, vice-chairman of Harrison Group. That said, at the very top of the market, there is an abundance of buyers and that is holding prices steady at that level, he added.
Still, the wealthiest were the most committed to buying soon. Only 17% of upper-middle-class participants said they were in the market to buy real estate this year, while 24% of the affluent and 26% of the super-affluent said the same.
Home sweet second -- and third -- home
Forty-one percent of those in the wealthy category said owning a second home was "almost a requirement" for people of their economic means, according to the survey.
Thirty-three percent of the wealthiest who said they intended to buy this year are now in the market for a second home, and 25% said they are in the market for a finished third home, according to the survey.
"They're treating it as a portfolio play, rather than a recreation play," Taylor said. "They've moved off the notion that it's just pleasure real estate," he said, adding that the wealthy use second homes to help balance their overall investment portfolio.
Recession now, but rebound coming
Seventy-nine percent of the survey's respondents said the country is in a recession now, but 88% said they are confident that property values will eventually rebound. Still, 18% of respondents said the equity in their home is worth less than what they owe.
Many respondents expressed significant anxiety over the recession, Taylor said. That was especially true of the upper-middle-class and affluent groups, he said.
But not everyone is worried about their own financial stability. Taylor said he expects the number of millionaires to increase by another 6% this year.
Passion for home improvement
A separate survey of senior-level executives found that high earners often are passionate about improving their homes -- even more passionate than they are about spending time on the golf course.
Thirty-nine percent of 552 high-level executives said they were passionate about home improvement, compared with 32% who said the same about playing golf, according to a recent survey by Doremus, a business communications agency.
"Home is seen by most as a respite from the world, a place where people feel they can be themselves." said Hope Picker, director of research for Doremus, in a news release. "And high-powered senior-level executives are no exception.
"Golf is a game, but it's another form of competition and, in many cases, it's also a surrogate conference room where business is conducted and deals made. But home, even for many high-level professionals, is a safe haven. In addition, home-improvement projects tend to be both tangible and finite, in contrast to much of their work."
The company recommended that marketers interested in reaching these high-net-worth individuals should target them through publications, broadcasts and online sites that feature decorating and improvement ideas for the home and garden.

In Escrow: 134 W Avenida Barcelona - SW San Clemente By Sam Smith

2008-04-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Another property put into escrow by Sam Smith. This property was located on one of the best streets in Southwest San Clemente. The home features 2 bedrooms/2 baths & approx. 1283 square feet. Here is a brief description on the property "Mid-Century Beach Charmer On One Of The Best Streets In SW San Clemente. Yard Is Completely Gated With White Picket Fence. Living Room Is Light & Brite With Corner Windows. Large Master Suite With His/Her Sinks, Soaking Tub, Separate Shower & Walk-In Closet! Individual Laundry Room Is Adjacent To Garage. Owner Currently Has Set Up Office In Garage But Can Be Easily Taken Down. Great Price & Great Location!"

Thinking of buying or selling in San Clemente? Give Sam Smith a call today at 949-291-0424 or email sam@bclh.com

Just Sold - 4100 Costero Risco - Sam Smith of Beach Cities Luxury Homes

2008-04-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Another successful closing by Sam Smith of Beach Cities Luxury Homes. 4100 Costero Risco is located on one of the most beautiful streets in San Clemente. This property is located in the stunning Cantomar Area of San Clemente With Panoramic Views. The property featured 4 bedrooms & 4.5 baths with approx. 3,996 square feet. Beautiful Interior Design touches throught this home with an Incredible Gourmet Kitchen with Granite Countertops that double as Breakfast Bar, Stainless Steel Appliances, Double Oven & Rich Mahogany Cabinets. The Dining room had great views of the Oversized Pool Size Backyard And Opened Up To Formal Living Room. Dramatic Open Wrought Iron Staircase In the Entry way as It Lead You To Upstair Bedrooms. The property had a Very Large Master Suite With Views of The Hillside & Beyond. The Backyard Is Beautifully Landscaped with Center Gazebo Perfect For Entertaining & Relaxation. It was a newer built home finished in 2001. The best part about this home is that it had no Mello Roos Tax! Email sam@bclh.com for more info on this home or any other property in this neighborhood

Sea Pointe Estates New Listing - 28 Cresta Del Sol, San Clemente, CA 92672

2008-04-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

28 Cresta Del Sol is back on the market in Sea Pointe Estates. If you love Mediternean Design & European Finishes then you will love this property! Listed at $2,150,000 This 4 bedroom/3.5 bath boasts 3,800 square feet on a 10,500 square foot lot. It has great curb appeal and is located on a beautiful single loaded street. Here is a brief description of the property "Straight from the rolling hills of Italy! This custom-built Italian masterpiece was constructed with many components imported from Italy and Europe and assembled with precision and care. Gorgeous views await from each and every room. Main floor bedroom with full bath. Chefs will love not only the gourmet kitchen with high-end applainces, but will enjoy the views while there. The great room has custom built-ins for the entertainment system. Several sets of French doors lead to the large, flat yard or the tranquil views of the canyon and the cool shade off the large patio. Don't miss the wine cellar! Enjoy romatic evenings and a twinkling lights view from the private deck off the master suite with fireplace, luxurious master bath and his and her walk-in closets. Prestigious guard-gate community with pool, tennis courts and clubhouse. Close to fwy access, beaches, shopping and theaters. Come enjoy luxury living near the beach! Listing text & photo courtesy of Coldwell Banker.

Sea Pointe Estates New Listing - 88 Marbella, San Clemente, CA 92672

2008-04-25T05:44:00.001-07:00

Just Listed as of 4/23/08! A Brand New Listing Has Just Hit Sea Pointe Estates. This Mediterranean style home features 4 bedrooms & 4 baths & has approx. 4,466 square feet of living space and a huge 11,ooo+ square foot lot with a pool, jacuzzi and spectacular ocean views, wow!

Here is a brief description of the property: "Spectacular Ocean, Coastline & City Lights views from this enchanting custom home in guard gated Sea Pointe Estates. Spacious, bright and pristine condition await the buyer looking for majestic living in this entertaining home. Imported stone flooring, granite counters,decorator tiles and more are found through this residence. A newer kitchen with stainless appliances, granite counters, solid wood cabinets and the 'awesome view' make this property special. Large formal living room and dining room with dual fireplace, great family room with wet bar, built-in audio/visual cabinet and double sliding doors lead to the rear grounds. Lavish Master suite with new master bath, stone and granite shower, granite counters and two sided fireplace enhance this suite. Library with double glass french doors, game room and 3 additional bedrooms round-out the living spaces. Rear grounds include fabulous rock pool, waterfalls, water slide, spa, covered patio, granite and stone bbq area & firepit. Listing text & photo courtesy of Prudential California Realty.

Interested in seeing this incredible proerty? Contact Sam Smith at 949-291-0424 or sam@bclh.com today!

Sea Pointe Estates New Listing - 1 Madrigal, San Clemente, CA 92672

2008-04-24T17:17:00.001-07:00

Just listed 4/21/08, 1 Madrigal in Sea Pointe Estates. This is a really great property. I have been to this property several times when owned by the previous owner. If you are looking for a very nice single level home with nice ocean views this is it!
Here is a brief description of the property: "Located in the guard gated community of Sea Pointe Estates,this exquisite custom home boasts views of the Pacific Ocean,Catalina Island & Dana Point Harbor. A private gated courtyard leads to this impressive single level design. Interior space includes 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths plus bonus/media room. The gourmet kitchen is a chef's dream with a center island & breakfast bar surrounded by rich cherry wood cabinetry & granite counters. State of the art stainless appliances include a DCS stove,an additional Kitchen Aid oven,microwave,warming oven,refrigerator & more.The impressive design is enhanced with coffered ceilings,crown moldings,sky lights & 4 fireplaces.The designer flair is enjoyed throughout with additional custom features including travertine, marble,custom closets,surround sound systems, art lighting & camera security system. Designed for entertaining the rear yard includes a sit down BBQ. center, cozy fire ring & spa all perfect to enjoy sunset ocean views. The garage is 4 car." Listing text & photo courtesy of First Team Real Estate.

Interested in Viewing this property? It requires a 24 hour notice to show. Please contact Sam Smith at 949.291.0424 or sam@bclh.com

Go Green: Happy Earth Day

2008-04-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day! We here at Beach Cities are making an effort to be earth friendly. We have recently incorporated DocuSign. Basically, instead of printing all of the numerous documents that are required for a real estate transaction, and then faxing them and having those printed up again on our clients fax machine we are incorporating all documents to be signed online! If you want to save trees, I recommend visiting http://www.docusign.com/ Here is their challenge: We’re challenging ourselves and our customers to save ten million sheets of paper by using the web to sign documents of all types electronically, without paper. Six million e-signatures delivered via DocuSign’s web-based service by Earth Day 2008 will make a real impact.
Every paperless e-signature has an environmental ripple effect. First there are the trees that won’t get cut down and can keep producing oxygen and absorbing CO2 greenhouse gas. Then there’s the prevention of pollution from paper manufacturing and the avoidance of resource use to transport trees and paper by truck or plane. And finally, secure online e-signing eliminates the need for additional planetary impact to print and overnight mail important documents. Listen to thier podcast: Join the eco-challenge! Click Here.

Credit Correcting: Doing It Yourself

2008-04-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Follow these steps to learn how many professional credit repair services remove negative items from credit reports!! A person’s credit-worthiness is shown by a credit rating, which is based upon present financial condition, experience, and past credit history. A credit report details the credit history of a person or business, and is used by a lender in evaluating a potential borrower. If you have negative items on your report there are some simple steps to get them taken off your report which will save you money when you go to buy your next house, car, or boat!

1) Requesting the Credit Report
The first step in correcting a credit report is to find out exactly which credit bureaus are used by lending institutions in the consumer’s area. The best way to do this is to ask a few lending institutions (banks, savings and loans), especially any at which the consumer has (or plans to have) accounts, which credit bureau they use. (Remember, there are literally hundreds of small credit bureaus nationwide.)
It is impossible to make any credit corrections unless it is known exactly what is contained in the credit report. Therefore, a consumer wishing to mend their credit history should request a copy of the report. Credit bureaus are not required to give the consumer a report, but they must tell the consumer what is contained in it.
Credit bureaus need complete information to insure they send the consumer the correct credit report. If a consumer has been turned down or denied credit in the past 30 days, they are entitled to receive a copy of the credit report free of charge. A copy of the credit denial should always be included with a request for the report. In order to comply with federal law, lenders must provide the consumer a report showing the name of the bureau from which they obtained the credit information. Each time a consumer applies for credit and is rejected, the creditor must advise the consumer why he was turned down and which credit bureau was used. This written rejection notice permits the consumer to get free credit reports. (Email sam@bclh.com for sample letter). If the consumer has not been denied credit in the past 30 days, a modest fee of $5 to $15 will be charged for the requested information. The consumer also has the option of going in person to the credit bureau. The visit should be made exclusively to pick up the report, not to become involved in a discussion or argument with the clerk regarding the content of the report.

2) Reviewing the Credit Report
Once the consumer has received the report, they should make sure they fully understand it. Since all credit bureaus have their own method of reporting, it is imperative that the consumer learn how to read and interpret the information collected for the report. Credit bureaus will provide the consumer with answers to any questions and explanations regarding the reporting format.
Then, the consumer should make a list of any items with which they disagree. Start with name, prior address, date of birth, social security number, employment, previous employment and any other personal items.
Next, review the credit inquiries. As you recall, each time a credit report is run by a subscriber, it is automatically recorded on the credit report. No one may run a credit report unless the consumer authorizes it. The consumer does not want excessive credit inquiries on the credit report. If a creditor sees a lot of activity in a file, he will begin to wonder why the consumer has been turned down so many times or why the sudden interest in so much credit; it may make the creditor uneasy.
The consumer should then carefully review the credit and payment history, writing down any items with which he disagrees.
All derogatory items must be removed after a specific period of time. Bankruptcies are removed ten years from the date of the bankruptcy. All other derogatory items including liens, judgments, late payments, charge offs, repossessions and convictions must be removed after seven years from the date of the last activity. Most credit bureaus have their computers programmed to remove these items automatically a few months prior to their anniversary date.
Few creditors, not to mention consumers, are aware that credit bureaus may report a consumer’s entire credit file since its inception (including all negative information) to a requesting subscriber if the subscriber is involved in granting the consumer certain items.

3) Addressing The Disputed Items
The next step is to send the credit bureau a formal letter listing all the disputed items and the reasons for disagreement. Sample letters addressing different inaccuracies follow as reference. The consumer should request investigation and resolution of all items. The wording should state that “these inaccuracies are highly injurious to my credit rating.” “Injurious” is the key word. The letter should also contain a request for an updated copy of the credit report once the investigation has been completed.
When writing a credit bureau, always write neatly (type if possible.) Be clear and write directly to the point. Never use foul language, make threats or recount personal stories. Always try to document the requests for investigation with copies of checks, bills, notes or any other type of proof that may be available.
Email sam@bclh.com for a "sample dispute letter for items in credit reports that have been inaccurately reported." Credit bureaus are required to investigate or reinvestigate all items the consumer disputes on his credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act clearly states that credit bureaus do not have to honor a request if the credit bureau feels the request is “frivolous or irrelevant.” Credit bureaus in actuality, however, seldom do so. The Federal Trade Commission (governmental agency responsible for overseeing The Fair Credit Reporting Act) has advised credit bureaus not to use this as an excuse to not investigate requests unless they are prepared to defend their refusal in court. Email sam@bclh.com for "sample letter for For Items in Credit Reports - Belonging to a Former Spouse."
Once the credit bureau receives the consumer’s letter, they have a reasonable amount of time (usually 4 to 6 weeks) to verify the validity of the disputed information with the original reporting subscriber. Remember, all information can only be added or deleted from a credit report by the subscriber (creditor); credit bureaus only report what they are told by the subscriber.
The consumer should always send all correspondence to a credit bureau via certified mail, return receipt requested. The consumer should also start a file and keep copies of all correspondence and make written notes of any conversations, giving the date, name of the person spoken with and the pertinent points discussed. Email sam@bclh.com for "Sample Dispute Letter for Items in Credit Reports - Not Belonging to the Consumer"
If, after a few weeks, the consumer has not received a response from the credit bureau, they should send a letter inquiring why. Or, the consumer may want to follow up with a telephone call. Whenever communicating with the credit bureau (verbally or in writing), regardless of what they say or do, never use foul language, threaten them or get upset. These actions can only hinder, not help. Email sam@bclh.com for "Sample Follow Up Letter No Response to a Dispute Letter "

4) Reviewing the corrections
When the consumer finally receives an updated investigated credit report, they should compare it with the initial negative report. On an average, about 50% of the disputed items will have been eliminated. Some credit bureaus will put “no response” if the subscriber did not respond to the credit bureau’s request for verification of the disputed item. Why were some items removed and others not? Simple. Credit bureaus must verify the disputed information with the subscriber; the subscriber, in many instances, will not bother to respond to the credit bureau’s request. The subscriber may not have the personnel available to fulfill the request, they may verify it without checking their records, or they may review their records and find the information is or is not accurate. (If an institution only keeps records for 24 months after the transaction has been terminated, how can they verify a late payment if the request for verification comes on the 25th month?)
The consumer then must “weed out” the subscribers who are accurately reviewing their records and those who are not. The next letter to the credit bureau should ask them to reinvestigate the items which are still disputed and clearly state the reasons. In this letter it is also wise to request the company names, address and telephone numbers of the subscribers with whom the credit bureau is verifying the disputed inaccuracies. This allows the consumer to follow up directly if the disputed items are not removed. Email sam@bclh.com for "Sample Dispute Letter For Items in Credit Reports - Inaccurately Reported After Investigation Request"
The step we have just described, is how many professional credit repair services remove negative items from credit reports true or not. The credit repair services will send the credit bureau letters denying everything derogatory including bankruptcies and foreclosures knowing about 50% of all items will be removed because of the reasons previously stated. They will continue to blitz the credit bureau with requests for reinvestigations until the credit bureau or the subscriber fails to comply in the allotted time. The best month of the year is December due to the heavy work load around the holidays!!!

5) Contact The Creditors Directly
If after completing these steps there are still items the consumer wishes to remove, it is time to contact the subscriber directly. If possible, this should be done in person; however, always make an appointment. This will ensure the subscriber is available and will also demonstrate to the subscriber that the consumer is driving there to see him exclusively to try to resolve the dispute. Only meet with a credit manager or someone in a position of authority who has the decision making ability to negotiate the debt.
There are three key words to remember at all times when dealing with a subscriber. Negotiate! Negotiate! Negotiate! As with credit bureaus, regardless of what the subscriber says or does, the consumer should never get mad, make threats or use foul language. Email Sam Smith at sam@bclh.com with any questions or copies of the sample letters

Proposition 60: Transfering Your Tax Base if 55 Years +

2008-04-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Looking to purchase a new home but concerned about higher property taxes? Look no further than Proposition 60 if you are over 55 years old. Homeowners who are at least 55 years of age may sell their homes and transfer their present base year property tax value to another home of equal or less value. The new home must be in the same county, or in a county that allows Proposition 60 to be used. The base-year property value is whatever the value of the home was on March 1, 1975, or in the year they purchased the property after that time. Thus, they are allowed to continue with the original figure as their tax base, adding a maximum of 2% every year, to arrive at their tax bill, rather than be required to step up to 1% of the value of their new purchase.

The Big Dig: Better Beach Access In San Clemente

2008-04-15T09:05:00.001-07:00

Mariposa Beach in San Clemente will now have a new beach access thanks to the "Big Dig". From 10 p.m. Friday until late Sunday afternoon, Mariposa Point was a beehive of activity, round the clock, building a pedestrian access to the beach. They stopped the trains & the Railroad track was lifted off. Excavators dug deep. A crane hoisted heavy concrete blocks. Sections interlocked. Spectators gawked. The hole was refilled. By late Sunday afternoon, the track was put back.
That's how John S. Meek Co., working 24 hours a day, dug a ditch and inserted a pedestrian tunnel under the railroad track, over the weekend at San Clemente's Mariposa Point.
The underpass won't open until June. There are still finishing touches, plus extension of an elevated boardwalk over the tunnel.
"We're glad that it's in," project manager Tom Bonigut said Monday. "That was a big milestone."
Michael Metcalf, a neighborhood resident who lobbied the city to build the tunnel, said, "That's the most spectacular thing that's happened to Mariposa Point in decades – since El Niño. Magnificent." More photos at Sun Post News.

San Clemente Real Estate - New Listing - 5505 Costa Escondida

2008-04-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Just Listed! 1st Time On The Market!! True Pride Of Ownership In This Ridgemore Home. Great Location On Private Cul-De-Sac Street With Views of The Valley Below. 3 Bedrooms ~ 2.5 Baths with easy conversion of bonus room to 4th bedroom. Approximately 2200+ Square Foot House Built in 2001 with new exterior & Interior Paint. Large Designer Upgraded Kitchen With Granite Countertops, Professional Stainless Steel Appliance & Travertine Stone Floors. Quaint Family Room With French Fireplace & Open To Kitchen and Breakfast Nook. Large Backyard With Nobody Behind You. Large Wood gazebo & barbecue perfect for entertaining. Large 3 Car Tandem Garage on a Private Cul-De-Sac Street Location. Great Price! Call Sam Smith for more information this home. Property can be viewed at Luxry Real Estate.com or Beach Cities Luxury Homes company homepage. Click Here To View A Video Of This Home.

Where the Home Price Gaps Are Biggest

2008-04-14T16:22:00.000-07:00

Not even the richest U.S. metro areas are immune from the housing downturn, recently reported by Business Week online.
Despite their glittering reputations, places such as Beverly Hills and Paradise Valley, Ariz., have seen their median home prices drop hard. But don't expect an Okie-style exodus of Ferraris and Range Rovers to cheaper neighborhoods any time soon. At the very top of the housing food chain, people are still buying—and spending—like it was 2005.
For super-rich buyers, both here and abroad, the credit crunch isn't much of a concern when buying a house because they have easy access to cash and debt. And even in the country's priciest markets, there aren't many houses worth $5 million or more, so demand nearly always outstrips supply.
Which means that even though housing market in states like California and Florida have been clobbered overall, certain exclusive enclaves remain unfazed.
Palmy Days
For example, it was reported Apr. 6 that the oceanfront Palm Beach (Fla.) estate of the billionaire founder and chairman of Jones Apparel Group (JNY), Sidney Kimmel, had found a buyer at $81.5 million, just 24 days after being put on the market. If the sale closes, it will be the highest price ever paid in Palm Beach.
And in Beverly Hills, where house prices dropped 8.7% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with a year earlier, the 29-bedroom, 40-bath former home of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies is on the market for $165 million, the most expensive listing ever.
In early March, the 29-room townhouse once owned by the late publisher of Penthouse, Robert Guccione, on Manhattan's Upper East Side sold to Harbinger Capital Partners founder Philip Falcone for $49 million. What makes the sale even more interesting is that the property was listed at $29.99 million in 2003. This means that, despite the general housing malaise, the property sold for 66% more than its asking price five years ago.
"Demand [for luxury real estate] is remaining strong, and even if [prices in elite Zips are] going down they're not going down as much as the overall market," said Laurie Moore-Moore, founder of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing in Dallas, which trains agents to work in the high-end international property market. "What it means is there's a segment of the population that can afford the price point, and those folks are continuing to buy."
BusinessWeek.com, with the help of Fiserv Lending Solutions, evaluated the performance of some of the nation's most elite Zip Codes. We ranked communities based on the relative expense of houses compared to their surrounding metro area (The top ranked community, Paradise Valley, Ariz., had a median home price of $1.8 million, or 7.5 times the median for the Phoenix metro area). Of the 25 high-end enclaves on the list, all but one location performed better than its metropolitan areas in terms of 2007 home price appreciation.
General Slide
Still, prices in most of the high-end communities on our list, including Beverly Hills; Vero Beach, Fla.; and La Jolla in San Diego, experienced declines in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Fiserv. Even so, the strength of the multimillion-dollar mansions at the top of the market appears to be tempering what might otherwise have been worse.
Median home prices in Santa Barbara, on California's Pacific Coast, fell 10% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the same period a year earlier. But prices in the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta metro area took a 20.6% nosedive during the same period.
Pricey markets in the Northeast, which saw more moderate price jumps during the housing boom, appear to be doing better. Selling prices in upscale Greenwich, Conn., rose 4.7% while prices in its local Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area stayed flat.
the fashionable Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass., prices jumped 10% during the year that ended in the fourth quarter, 2007, even as prices fell 2.7% in the Boston-Quincy metro area.
Manhattan, one of the world's wealthiest property markets, didn't make the list because data were not available from Fiserv, which counts single-family home transactions (New York is primarily a co-op and condo market). In Manhattan's tight market, the median sales price in the first quarter rose 13.2%, to a record $945,276 compared with the first quarter last year, according a report by Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Holding Up
"High-end activity has boomed," said Greg Heym, chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens, a residential brokerage firm in Manhattan. "We're not saying it's recession-proof; we're not saying it will never go down. But it takes longer for the fundamentals to change."
Wealthy Zip Codes are generally less vulnerable to a serious slide because they have fewer subprime borrowers and, often, a tight supply of homes. But most communities have a mix of houses, including some cookie-cutter developments. The mega-rich are choosy and look for fabulous, distinctive properties that have lasting value even in markets that have been weakened by investor speculation and overstretched buyers losing homes to foreclosure.
"I would never say any property is immune to market forces," says Chad Roffers, president of SKY Sotheby's International Realty in Sarasota, Fla. "But a condo or single-family home that more looks like a commodity is seeing a greater correction in price. The unique, one-of-a-kind properties that are difficult to replace are bringing top dollar or setting record prices."
Christopher Hain, a real estate agent with Ramsey-Shilling Associates in the Hollywood Hills, says homes of $10 million or more are in short supply in the Los Angeles area. In Beverly Hills, house prices at the lower end of the market—that is, $1 million or so—are much weaker than the top of the market, he says.
"I'm working on three developments: $5 million homes in Brentwood, $6 million homes in Beverly Hills, and $27 million homes in Bel Air," he said. "Which one am I most confident in? The $27 million development. I know they're going to sell because there will be nothing compared to it."
See BusinessWeek.com's slide show to find out which metro areas have the greatest median home price gaps.

San Clemente Real Estate Market Update - April 2008

2008-04-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Inventory is low and buyer activity is on the rise! (as of right now....) The LA Times has reported that we may be close to the bottom of this market and what a great time to buy! We have never seen downturn pricing in combination with low interest rates!!! The time to negotaite with sellers is NOW!

Last summer, we had so many homes for sale that the buyers had so many properties to choose from. The Orange County register reported a drop in the median price of an Orange County home from the months of June through September from $640,000 to $570,000 in three short months.

There were a lot of factors that are in this current marketplace.

1) We saw a lot of adjustable rate mortgages coming due this year. I talked with many owners who's payments on a small condo went from $2,500 to $7,000/month! Most of these owners couldn't afford their payments so they were just walking away from their homes. For those that could hang on for a couple of months we saw them put their homes up for sale in desperation. The sad part about this is that their property values were less than what they paid for them two years ago. The hardest hit areas in San Clemente was Talega.

2) We saw a lot of REO's coming back on the market. REO's are Real Estate Owned properties that they banks bought back from foreclosure. The banks wanted to get rid of these properties this year so they were pricing them well below the current market values just to get them sold quickly. Most of these were able to sell but they brought down the homes values in doing so.

3) New home builders are also in the market. They are under financial obligation from the banks to keep building the homes they got financing for several years back when the market was good. In order to sell these homes they were offering huge incentives to induce people to buy their homes. It was hard for most re-sale homes to compete with this when the price was comparable to their home and on top of that they had unbelievable incentives to buy the new home and not the re-sale home. I saw one home builder offering to pay their mortgage up to 1 year if the buyer purchased their home.

Now, we are heading back into the summer months where we traditionally see a lot of home coming back on the market. Serious buyers are out in the marketplace and making offers on properties right now. It's simply supply and demand. The supply of homes is still low as of right now, so If you are thinking about selling your home, NOW is the time. If you wait until the summer time It will be too late and COST YOU MONEY. You will be competing with a very large number of homes and the price you get for your home, if you do get is sold, may be less.

If you want a free consultation on what your home is worth, give me a call:

Sam Smith
(949) 291-0424
or email me at sam@bclh.com.
You can visit me at San Clemente Realtor.com

I can help you with the timing of your sale that will get you the most money for your home!

WAMU Closes It's Wholesale & Retail Divisions

2008-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

As reported in the New York Times, Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, was poised late Monday to grab a $5 billion lifeline from the buyout firm TPG and other investors in an effort to stabilize its finances, people briefed on the deal said.
But it was unclear whether the investment would be enough to steady Washington Mutual, which has suffered steep losses on mortgages. The thrift may end up being acquired by a larger rival, ending its 119-year run as an independent institution, analysts said.
TPG, formerly the Texas Pacific Group, put up the bulk of the money by buying new preferred stock. TPG, run by David Bonderman, will get one seat on Washington Mutual’s 14-person board. An announcement could come as early as Tuesday.
It is a remarkable turnabout for Washington Mutual, whose once highflying stock has swooned along with home prices. Under Kerry Killinger, its longtime chief executive, Washington Mutual grew rapidly in recent years by lending aggressively, particularly to low- and middle-income borrowers, and by buying smaller competitors.
But during the past year Washington Mutual’s stock price plunged more than 67 percent as the mortgage crisis spread through the financial markets. The stock closed up $2.98, at $13.15 on Monday.
The new funds — equal to more than half of Washington Mutual’s $9 billion market value on Friday — would probably offset losses on par with levels last seen during the savings and loan crisis of the early 1990s. Even so, Washington Mutual, based in Seattle, may yet seek out a diversified partner, given the risks of its big mortgage portfolio and its focus on the West Coast.
“Nobody really knows where the bottom is, but you are taking away the worst-case scenario,” said David Hendler, a financial services analyst at CreditSights, an independent research firm in New York. “This just stabilizes their businesses to cover the losses on the old business that were worsening. They haven’t shown the vision to execute on a growth plan to diversify away from mortgages.”
Washington Mutual is the latest financial institution to go hat in hand to outside investors. Since the sharp downturn in the credit and housing markets last summer, Wall Street giants like Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS have raised tens of billions of dollars. But Main Street lenders have been hit hard, too. Many have slashed their dividends, and investment bankers say several are looking to raise money or are seeking out acquisitions.
The deal is a departure for TPG, which typically seeks to gain control of companies. It also poses significant risks.
Washington Mutual has been hit hard by losses stemming from mortgages made to borrowers with risky, or subprime, credit. The thrift pushed aggressively into products like interest-only and so-called negative amortization loans, which are now among the most toxic.
The lender also has significant exposure in California and Florida, where property values have declined the most.
And after acquiring Providian Financial’s subprime credit card business in 2005, Washington Mutual now expects a sharp increase in loan charge-offs. In response, Washington Mutual has cut its dividend, eliminated several thousand jobs and raised $3.7 billion in a separate preferred stock offering. Still, its stock price has continued to plummet.
The TPG investment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Just Listed - 134 Avenida Barcelona - San Clemente

2008-04-03T16:07:00.001-07:00

Just Listed This Mid-Century Modern Beach Charmer On One Of The Best Streets In SW San Clemente. It Features 2 Bedrooms & 2 Baths & Approx. 1283 Square Feet. The Entire Yard Is Comletely Gated With A White Picket Fence. The Living Room Is Light & Brite With Wonderful Corner Windows Typical of This Period. A Large Master Suite With His/Her Sinks, Soaking Tub, Seperate Shower & Walk-In Closet! There Is An Individual Laundry Room Which Is Adjancent To The Garage. The Owner Currently Has Set Up Office In Garage But Can Be Easily Taken Down. It's Walking Distance To T-Street Beach As Well. Don't Miss This Property, It's At A Great Price & Great Location in SW San Clemente! Listed at $789,000

Call Sam Smith at (949) 291-0424 to see This Great Property.

Orange County Real Estate Auction - April 6th 2008

2008-04-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Looking for the next deal? US Home Auctions are coming to California and holding auctions all throughout the state. Orange County dates will April 6, 2008 at the Anaheim Convention Center. There are properties from San Clemente to Newport Beach, and a lot of properties in Santa Ana. The cool thing about this auction is they provide instant financing on the spot. I have participated in this auction in Arizona and can give more insights on how this works. They also do give a 1% comission to Real Estate Brokers so I would love to work with anyone looking to purchase a foreclosure home. Please call or email me if you are interested!!

Sam Smith
(949) 291-0424
sam@bclh.com

Just Listed - 69 Marbella (Sea Pointe Estates)

2008-04-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

(April 1st, 2008)
Just listed today 4/1/08, As The Lowest Price Home In Sea Pointe Estates! Here is the description of the property: "Sweeping ocean views from this exquisite custom home...THIS IS THE LOWEST PRICED HOME IN SEA POINTE ESTATES. Gorgeous custom wood craftsmanship throughout. Ocean coastline views all the way down to San Diego. Charming courtyard off the family room. Two beautiful brick fireplaces in family room and living room. Wonderful master suite with ocean views, with large walk-in closet, beautiful bathroom with large shower and spa bathtub...Beautiful oak bannister..ONE OF SAN CLEMENTE'S FINEST GATE GUARDED COMMUNITY WITH TENNIS COURTS, POOL, SPA AND COMMUNITY CENTER WITH BARBEQUE AREA...Nestled in the private rolling hills of San Clemente. Located in North San Clemente, close to Fwy access, shopping, ocean beaches, hospital and more...GREAT LOCATION..." Text & photos courtesy of Prudential California Realty.

To See This Home, Please Contact Sam Smith of Beach Cities Luxury Homes at (949) 291-0424 or email at sam@bclh.com We our your Sea Pointe Estates specialists!

Sea Pointe Estates Blog, San Clemente www.SeaPointeEstates.com/blog

2008-03-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

Interested in learning about property activity in Sea Pointe Estates in San Clemente? Now there is a blog dedicated to Sea Pointe Estates real estate market in San Clemente. Anytime there is a new listing, price reduction, property going in-escrow or taken off the market, Sea Pointe Estates blog will report it. Get up to the minute news about Sea Pointe Estate properties at www.seapointeestates.com/blog.

Massive Round-The-Clock Concrete Pour Is Completed For 400-Foot-Long Bridge At Marbelhead Coastal In San Clemente

2008-03-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

San Clemente, Calif. (March 21, 2008) -- As reported by SunCal, A major construction milestone for SunCal Companies’ Marblehead Coastal master-planned community in San Clemente was reached Tuesday, March 18, with the round-the-clock pouring of 2,400 cubic yards of concrete for a 400-foot-long bridge that spans a canyon within the development.
The massive undertaking was the single-largest concrete pour for any portion of the 248-acre community on bluff-tops overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Two shifts of 60 construction workers each coordinated their non-stop flurry of activity for nearly 20 hours, steadily filling the Avenida Vista Hermosa bridge’s stems and soffits with concrete.
The pour started under floodlights at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and continued non-stop until 12 midnight. It involved 2,400 cubic yards of concrete that were transported via 300 truckloads, with up to 20 trucks per hour onsite.
“Conducting 20 straight hours of pouring concrete into the maze of forms at the bridge required a tremendous amount of planning, preparation and coordination,” said David Placek, vice president of project management, SunCal Companies. “This represents a significant accomplishment for Marblehead Coastal and demonstrates our commitment to moving forward and completing this development.”
When the bridge is finished, it will link a major thoroughfare that will serve both the residential neighborhoods and the commercial center within the community.
Phase I of the development’s custom homesites is currently being offered, and the sales gallery is open by appointment to prospective buyers. The prices for the Phase I custom homesites range from $1.65 million to $3.4 million. Please contact Sam Smith of Beach Cities Luxry Homes at (949) 291-0424 for free literature on Marblehead coastal properties.
Marblehead Coastal, in the historic beach town of San Clemente, is the last, most precious oceanfront community along this stretch of classic Southern California coastline. Marblehead Coastal is created as a community consistent with the history and architecture of the area, and one whose natural beauty is enhanced for future generations. Marblehead Coastal is planned to include 69 custom homesites, as well as 244 merchant-built residences and villas.

Why is everything happening very quickly now? Early reports from the OC Register that Steve Craig went to court earlier this year with a lawsuit against SunCal to ensure delivery of promised Marblehead Coastal site improvements, he exuded optimism about his plan to bring a 640,000-square-foot commercial center to San Clemente.
Craig said he got a temporary restraining order in January in the Superior Court to prevent SunCal, master developer of the 248-acre Marblehead Coastal Community in San Clemente, from withdrawing funds from an escrow account that was set up to ensure that promised infrastructures will be built for the 51-acre site that Craig purchased nearly two years ago.
SunCal is caught in a housing slump that has made money tight; a company spokeswoman confirmed that fact Jan. 8 to the City Council. Craig said Wednesday that the contractor who was building an Avenida Vista Hermosa bridge for SunCal at Marblehead Coastal pulled off the job.
A SunCal spokesman, Joe Aguirre, said in a prepared statement, "The contractor for the Vista Hermosa bridge has paused its work for the time being due to a contractual issue, and we cannot discuss the details at this time. We intend to complete the bridge, but we're evaluating when the work will resume."
Aguirre continued, "We do not know why Mr. Craig would bring an action against us as we have fully complied with all of our contractual obligations to him. When and if we are served with a lawsuit, we will turn it over to our legal counsel and respond appropriately."
Marblehead Coastal – a planned community approved for 308 homes – also includes trails, community parks and Craig's shopping center, which includes a hotel, conference center, cinema and restaurants.
Craig said he took the legal action Wednesday as a precaution but is confident all the work will be completed.
"The good news," he said, "is that the project is fully bonded."
Craig said he is about to begin building his own bridge to connect Avenida Vista Hermosa across a canyon to the shopping center site. A year ago there was talk of building SunCal's bridge and his bridge under one contract. "Thankfully we chose not to do that," Craig said. "We are moving ahead with our project. We're delighted to have the opportunity to get under way."
Some updates provided by Craig:
Next step:Construction of a parking structure could begin in May. It, like the shopping center bridge, is about a one-year effort.
Effect of the economic downturn:"Our business hasn't been better. The outlet industry traditionally has always had its best years during down times. In 91-92-93-94, our last major downturn in the U.S. was clearly our best years in Cabazon and some of the other projects we had. In November and December … we had our two best months in the history of our company at a time when many retailers were saying it was a very soft holiday season. For example, the Citadel in Los Angeles, their sales were up 21 percent. That was true in Castle Rock, Colo. It was true in Loveland, Colo., and a couple of our other properties."
Construction outlook:With the economy slowing, contractors will be hungrier for projects like the San Clemente center, meaning more competitive bids. Craig is seeing this for a project he is doing in Phoenix.
When the first stores might open:"I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but the last quarter of '09 looks like our target date at this point." Weather could affect that.
Prospective tenants:"I believe 100 percent of the shop space has been spoken for, and we're looking at maybe expanding the size of the phase 1 building slightly, putting more stores along the front, facing Avenida Vista Hermosa.
Square footage of phase 1:"With the theater, it was about 325,000 feet. We could probably add another 15-20,000 feet to it.
Signed leases?"My guess at this point is at this point we've signed almost 100,000 square feet of leases. We have another 50-75,000 in lease documentation. and then and then … (a third group of) people are negotiating terms. We've had tremendous demand. It's one of the most sought-after projects in our industry right now. I think that we'll open fully leased."
The theater:It's already designed, by the same firm that did The Grove at Farmer's Market in Los Angeles' La Brea area. Mario Savopoulos, a San Clemente resident, did the design. "I'm very pleased with it. He took a lot of pride in doing that design work because it'll be his home theater."
Cinema operator:"We have 3 operators that we're talking to. The fourth option is that we may own the theater and hire one of them to operate it. Ten screens. There's also some private screening rooms …"
A big bookstore?"At this point I'm hesitant to say yes. The book industry is in tough shape. They're willing to come, but they want a significant subsidy. In other words, they can't pay any rent, basically. And this is not a cheap building. It's one of the most expensive retail buildings that would be built. Unfortunately, it requires some real rent."
Restaurants: "We are continually showing restaurants the space. There's been no one that has come down there that didn't love it. It doesn't mean everyone wants to be there, but we've had a lot of interest in it. We have leases out to California Pizza Kitchen. We have a lease out to Ruby's Diner, and we have a lease going out to Opah. We're talking to a number of people … but the nice thing about the restaurant buildings (is) these are outside the center itself. So we will build them as we lease them. We'll build them as a custom building when they're signed."
The number of restaurant spaces:About 13. One of the buildings that was slated for a restaurant is drawing interest as a spa. "A number of spa operators have come to us and said this would be wonderful … the canyon location … it'd have kind of a very serene, peaceful approach."
Any impact if Marblehead homes are stalled:"Our marketplace is much broader than that. We've felt that San Clemente itself would represent maybe 10-15 percent of our business. It's important for us to pick up Mission Viejo and Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano. We see a big business from Laguna Beach …(people who) instead of going up to up to Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, maybe having a little bit nicer drive down the coast."
Projected economic impact on the town:More than $3 million a year in sales and hotel taxes. "Right now the vast majority of San Clemente's potential sales tax dollars go to other cities. They get very few dollars that come in here. The project will be a big benefit, and as we get into tougher times I think it's going to be even more important to the community, to have the opportunity to have that revenue to do the things they need to do."
Is the center named yet?"I think what's most challenging about the name is that this is not just an outlet center. There's entertainment. There are a wide variety of restaurants. There may be a spa. So just to call it an outlet center, I don't really think it's probably a fair name … we're also going to have tenants that aren't outlet tenants … regular price tenants. So we're reluctant just to say it's San Clemente Outlets, come here."
Legal dispute over freeway-facing signs:"We're interested in trying to sit down and work something out. It takes two to tango. We're willing to sit down and talk and see if there's a common ground that can be reached and maybe save them some money and save us some money and time too."
Response from Richard Boyer, whose local group San Clemente Citizens for Integrity in Development sued to contest the city's approval of a sign-exception permit:"We are pleased to work with the city if they want to make a good-faith effort to work toward a settlement. That's been our position all along, if we can reach a settlement without going to court, that's preferable to a trial."
SUNCAL'S RESPONSE
In a prepared statement, SunCal spokesman Joe Aguirre responded to questions about the status of the SunCal and Craig projects.
Q. What is the situation involving Craig Realty?
A. We do not know why Mr. Craig would bring an action against us as we have fully complied with all of our contractual obligations to him. When and if we are served with a lawsuit, we will turn it over to our legal counsel and respond appropriately.
Q. What is happening with the SunCal project?
A. Construction at Marblehead Coastal remains underway, although work is being completed in phases at an adjusted pace and progress is also dependent on the weather. SunCal remains committed to, and excited by, this very special property. Marblehead Coastal is the last great oceanfront community on this classic stretch of the California coast, and we look forward to continuing to work with the city as we make this master-planned community a reality.
We previously had a very aggressive, accelerated construction schedule, but with the cyclical conditions of the housing market, it has become necessary to adjust our timelines. However, our original vision of Marblehead Coastal has not changed, and we are committed to completing this development as planned and approved.
Q. What is happening with the Vista Hermosa bridge?
A. The contractor for the Vista Hermosa bridge has paused its work for the time being due to a contractual issue, and we cannot discuss the details at this time. We intend to complete the bridge, but we're evaluating when the work will resume.
Q. What is happening with the improvements pledged to the commercial site?
A. The commercial portion of Marblehead Coastal is an integral part of this master-planned community, and we remain committed to completing the preparatory work for the site.

Ocean Front Home On 1 Acre Lot (San Clemente)

2008-03-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Rarely on the Market!! Ocean Front Residence in SW San Clemente on nearly 1 acre lot (see dotted lines marking property). Property is currently listed at $4,700,000. For more information on this property please contact Sam Smith directly at (949) 291-0424

Fed Slashes Rate To 2.25 Percent

2008-03-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Now that the Federal Reserve has cut rates again, this question comes up: What good will it do?

The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee cut the target for the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 2.25 percent.
The prime rate will fall three-quarters of a percentage point, also, to 5.25 percent. Variable-rate credit cards and home equity lines of credit are pegged to the prime rate, so they will drop, too. The goal is to encourage consumers to borrow and spend more to revive the economy.
A cut of a full percentage point had been widely expected, but the Fed apparently believed that would be too inflationary: "Inflation has been elevated, and some indicators of inflation expectations have risen," the central bank said in its policy statement. "The Committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters, reflecting a projected leveling-out of energy and other commodity prices and an easing of pressures on resource utilization. Still, uncertainty about the inflation outlook has increased."
But will consumers borrow and spend more in response to lower rates on credit cards and credit lines? Maybe -- but probably later rather than sooner.
"In the short term, I'm not sure it will have much of an impact at all," says Jim Baird, chief investment strategist for Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Mich. "Clearly, when you look at consumer sentiment, there's a lot of concern about the economy, housing and certainly the stock market. Consumers are very hesitant to stick their necks out very far."

Pushing on a string
But that's what's happening now. There's a lag of six to nine months before the effects of Fed rate cuts begin to be seen in the broad economy. Late this year, this hefty rate cut "is going to have an effect, but it's got to be accompanied with some relief from anxiety, from consumers who will say, 'I feel better buying at cheaper rates,'" Baird says.
Some commentators talk of "pushing on a string." That's the situation you have when the Fed keeps cutting interest rates, but lenders are afraid to lend and borrowers are reluctant to borrow. John Burford, vice president and investment portfolio manager for the International Bank of Miami, doesn't think the Fed has arrived at that point. He feels confident that today's rate cut will have the desired effect. Eventually. It always works, he says.
"These lower rates will get the economy going, and they will prompt consumers as long as they are employed and they are getting pay increases -- not as much as they want to, but they are getting them," Burford says. "Once this turmoil settles down, it'll work."

Radical steps
The key is settling down the turmoil, and the Fed has been working on that, too, by engineering the fire sale of Bear Stearns and coming up with creative ways to keep money moving through a financial system that keeps threatening to seize up with fear. Burford notes that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is a student of what went wrong before the Great Depression, and that the Fed has closely analyzed Japan's mistakes in the 1990s. Those errors won't be repeated, Burford believes, and that in itself will be a confidence-builder.
Baird notes that, until recently, people talked about whether a recession was coming. Now the questions are whether the recession has begun yet, and how long and severe it will be.
The Fed can't do it all, though. Banks will have to loosen the purse strings, too. Lending guidelines have become especially tight with mortgages, and particularly with home equity lines of credit. Some lenders have cut their customers' credit limits because of falling home values.
"It starts with the banks. I suspect that there are borrowers out there who would be happy to borrow if they could," Baird says. But first, banks have to repair their balance sheets. That's taking time.
Long-term rates, such as those for fixed-rate mortgages, don't respond directly to the Fed's rate decisions. Instead, long-term rates are guided by inflation expectations. They could go either way, depending on whether the bond market decides whether the Fed's rate policy is too restrictive, too permissive, or just right.
The federal funds rate is the target interest rate for banks borrowing reserves among themselves. The discount rate is the interest rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow reserves from the Federal Reserve. The Fed wants to be the lender of last resort: It wants banks to borrow from one another at the federal funds rate before borrowing from the Federal Reserve at the lower discount rate. Article courtesy of BankRate.com

Gianni Versace’s Lake Como Home Sold To Moscow Baron

2008-03-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

As reported in the London Times, Gianni Versace, the flamboyant Italian fashion designer, was gunned down on the steps of his Miami mansion in 1997, Villa Fontanelle, his beautiful weekend home on the shores of Lake Como, has sat virtually lifeless.
The yellow 19th-century palazzina was for 20 years his favourite house, and the scene of glamorous weekend parties attended by guests such as Princess Diana, Elton John, Sting and Madonna. Over the past 10 years, however, while Versace’s family and the fashion world mourned his loss, the elegant four-storey property near the village of Moltrasio has been left largely uninhabited (bar the odd celebrity visit: Jennifer Lopez spent her honeymoon there with husband number two, Cris Judd, in 2001). Photo slide show.
Now Villa Fontanelle’s scores of wooden shutters are set to be flung open to the spring sunshine once again. The house is being bought for £26m by a Russian businessman in a private deal. Sources close to the transaction have named him as Arkady Novikov, a multi-millionaire restaurateur known as the “blini baron of Moscow”. They have revealed he is paying at least £3m more than the asking price set by the Versace company last summer to ensure the house doesn’t go on the open market.
The bid will also make sure nobody else gets to view the fabled ornate interiors or wander on the grand terraces and manicured gardens created by one of the world’s boldest style-makers. Neither Novikov, 46, nor Aylesford, a top-end Chelsea estate agency involved with marketing the villa, would comment on the sale.
Versace, the creator of that dress – the two slinky strips of black fabric, held together with safety pins, that catapulted Liz Hurley into the limelight in 1994 – owned several grand homes, including properties in Milan and New York. But it was on the tranquil Lake Como estate, 30 miles from Milan, that the Calabrian-born designer would seek refuge from work with his long-term lover, the former model Antonio D’Amico, and members of his family, including his beloved niece Allegra, now 21, to whom he left half of his fortune.
Versace said of Fontanelle: “The house in Moltrasio is a Proust house, whereas the ones in Milano and Miami are more Batman. . . It is the house that really belongs to me, reflecting a mirror image of all that I am, for better or worse.”
The property was built in the first half of the 19th century by Lord Charles Currie, an eccentric visiting Englishman who fell in love with Lake Como. Failing to find a villa for sale, he decided to create his own, right on the water’s edge. By 1977, when it was bought by Versace, it was in a state of abandonment, and the designer set about restoring it to its former neoclassical glory. The work, completed in December 1980, included landscaping the three acres of ornamental gardens, which now have a tennis court, water frontage and a private mooring.
Versace was as hands-on – and outrageous – with the renovation and decoration of the villa as he was with the gold lamé suits that established his reputation in the 1970s. He chose every item himself, from furniture and paintings to table linen and dinnerware, creating a mini palace that was a personal shrine. Midnight blue and gold, the signature colour scheme of the Versace fashion house, featured throughout, along with the Medusa-head logo and hundreds upon hundreds of neoclassical objets d’art.
The villa also became a homage to the male form. Many of the rooms have magnificent full-size marble nudes of Greek gods, set on plinths. The dining room is said to be decorated with large plasterwork medallions and lit by a Russian crystal chandelier that originally hung in a palace in St Petersburg.
Preoccupations with the grandiose and the imperial continue elsewhere: the enormous main bedroom, with an empire bed, has blue satin armchairs and more statues of Greek deities. Bathrooms, themed in blue and gold, feature red marble detailing and are adorned with medallions of Roman emperors, marble busts and classically inspired artwork and urns. One source close to the sale adds of the property: “It is a magnificent house, very elegant, very rare and one of the prettiest houses I’ve ever seen.”
So, minimalist it is not. Another who viewed the property prior to the sale says of it: “There is a lot of bizarre furnishing one knows the family enjoys, but which may not be to everyone’s taste – especially the two enormous stone men in the main bedroom.”
Like Versace, Fontanelle’s soon-to-be owner is, in his own way, a radical. Novikov, who recently bought a villa on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda – next door to Roman Abramovich’s girlfriend, Daria Zhukova – is credited with transforming the restaurant scene in the Russian capital. He has introduced sushi, caribou and nachos with deep-fried onion blossom to the menus of a culinary empire that includes 47 restaurants and a chain of cafes. He starred in the Russian version of the reality-television show The Apprentice.
Trained as a chef in Soviet days, Novikov applied for job at McDonald’s when it opened its first branch in Moscow in 1990, but his boasts about the number of different cuisines he could cook failed to impress the Americans. Undaunted, two years later he borrowed $50,000 from a friend and set up Sirena, which became Moscow’s finest fish restaurant, with a dining room in the style of a wooden galleon and an aquarium beneath a glass floor. Such exuberant style perfectly fitted the brash taste of the novi Russki, the class of new Russians who made fortunes during the collapse of communism. Another early restaurant was The White Sun of the Desert, which featured belly dancers, live cockfights and and overflowing buffets of Uzbek delicacies.
The kitsch bling of his restaurants does not appear to match his sartorial tastes. The shaven-headed Novikov favours the clean-cut look – white T-shirts, dark suits and blazers – with his flair evident only in his business ventures. He says on his company’s website: “I grew up late, reading fairy tales until I was 15.” And: “I am often asked whether I’m going to expand my company. I always tell myself, ‘Enough. Stop.’ But I can’t stop!”
Whether or not Fontanelle’s over-the-top decor will appeal to Novikov is anybody’s guess, but it looks as if he will be undertaking his own decorative schemes. Some furnishings from the villa were auctioned in 2005, and sources close to the sale say that Sotheby’s Milan is lined up to sell off other contents later this year. The company has declined to comment. Whatever happens to the interior, however, Fontanelle will never lose the glamour of its past and its dolce vita party spirit – albeit mixed in with a fairy tale that ended in tragedy.
Roy Strong, the garden designer and former director of the V&A who was entrusted with landscaping the park for Versace, has fond memories of a key chapter in the villa’s recreation – and of its owner. “My wife and I stayed there every year for more than 10 years,” he recalls. “I went one year, and Gianni didn’t seem interested in the garden, but I made some sketches. The next year, he took us to our bedroom, threw open the shutters and said, ‘Here’s your garden.’ And there it was. There were statues, fountains; the trees were very old, and their branches just trailed into the river.
“He was a genius in a way. We were good friends, but it was a private friendship. To me, he ranked among the shyest people I’ve met. We would just read and go for walks. He had wonderful collections, and it was a wonderful house. It really is the end of an era.”