Save the date for the CHOC 37 th Annual Home Tour and Boutique, an event that has sold out in the last two years. The tour takes you into three gorgeous North Tustin homes. This year’s tour will be held on Friday, November 21, 2008. The tour is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while the boutique is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event starts at the Tustin Hills Racquet Club. Tickets sold in advance are $40 (includes box lunch). Tickets sold on the day of event (if there are any left) are $40 (no lunch).
According to its website, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) provides “the highest quality medical care to children. Our regional health system includes a state-of-the-art 232 bed main hospital facility in the City of Orange, a hospital-within-a-hospital in Mission Viejo, and five community clinics — plus over 100 additional programs and services. With admissions growing by 91% over the last ten years, CHOC and CHOC at Mission combined rank as the 16th busiest children’s hospital in the country.”
The OC Register interviewed one of the homeowners showing her home on the CHOC tour. Jo-Anne Newton grew up in the Cowan Heights, in a home that was on the CHOC tour. Now, it’s her turn. According to the article, the CHOC tour planners spotted her home when they came to look at another house down the street. They then invited her to be on the tour. Here’s the Q&A with Newton from the Register‘s article:
Q:What do you feel is special about your house?
A: The open floor plan. It’s so open, all the windows. There’s one 90-degree angle in the whole house.
Q:What is your favorite thing about the house?
A: Just the openness. It brings the outside in. If you sit here, it’s kind of like being in a tree house. It almost feels like you’re a part of it. I like space and have four kids, so there’s plenty of room for them to run and play. There’s a half-basketball court and pool.
Q:What are your influences in decorating the interior?
A: I think it’s a very eclectic mix of things, traditional, English, antiques, mixed with African and Asian pieces and modern pieces. I don’t plan it out. It’s all by feel. That’s just fun.
Q:What has been the most challenging?
A: It required maintenance because it’s a wood house. The house was built in 1973. We’ve lived here for 12 years. You just have to take care of it. When we moved in, there was no landscaping. It was a big dirt lot. We replaced the deck when we moved in, and we plan to expand the deck and build an outdoor kitchen because we spend so much time outside and we have enough space. I have it all drawn out in my mind already. We added a second story and workout room and guest room.
Q:What style is the house?
A: People refer to it as Frank Lloyd Wright, prairie-style.
Q:What does it mean to you to be on the CHOC tour?
A: Gosh, I think it’s very flattering to be asked. That someone would think our home is interesting, that people want to see it.
Q:Do you have a favorite room?
A: The master bedroom and kitchen. The kitchen because it’s so family-oriented and a good cooking kitchen, and I like to cook. The master bedroom has east-facing windows so I wake up to the sun and the kids love to hang out in there. Everybody’s in there. It’s a big room and there are comfortable overstuffed chairs. The kids lay over the chairs. The kids will hang out there together. They go there to do reading assignments. We focus on eating family meals so there’s no TV in the kitchen, so it’s sitting at the kitchen table together. We wait to eat when everyone gets home.
In the Saddleback Valley News last week, there was an advice column called “Ask a Realtor.” The realtor was Jim Flynn; the question was “Should I add on or buy a bigger home?” Forgive me, but I can’t find an electronic version of the publication, so here goes my quick summary from Fynn’s response:
Ask what Flynn calls the “Big Six” questions to help make a decision:
How much money do you actually have available in your current home (i.e. equity and current saleable price)?
How much more space do you really need/want?
Is your lot big enough to expand?
If you can’t expand out, can you expand up (foundation support second floor)?
Any issues with local zoning/building ordinances?
Are there affordable properties currently on the market that fit your needs?
While I tip my hat to Flynn for breaking down a very difficult question into an easy approach that is simple and logical, there are a couple things that I would add. And they are…
If you found a house that you want to buy that meets your needs, can you sell your house for what you want? Will you have enough for a down payment and qualify for a loan?
If you remodeled, would you be making your house “the best” on the block? You don’t want to be the most expensive house in your neighborhood… brings down your overall property price and makes resale more difficult; and you probably won’t get as good a return on your dollars spent as if you were fixing up your home to meet neighborhood standards of a desirable neighborhood.
Are there any benefits to moving/staying put besides what the house has to offer (commuting distance to work, kids happy in school, close to shopping/entertainment centers or parks, etc.)?
So, if you live in Tustin, should you remodel or buy another home? I can’t answer any of the questions about your current home, but here are some good deals that I would guess would be a move up for most growing families. They’ve all had recent price reductions and are prime for the picking.
1391 Bryan, Tustin 92705; 4 bed/3 bath; 2,259 sq ft house; 3,053 sq ft lot; listed at $605,000 (down from $634,000)
An OC Regsiter article in Sunday’s paper (“Looking forward on foreclosures“) by Julie Anne Ines discusses the proposed policy in Fountain Valley where the City would buy bank-owned homes and then sell them as affordable housing. While Fountain Valley is the first OC city to put any action behind this notion, they’re likely not to be the last. Cities buying bank-owned properties and converting them to affordable housing is supported by legislation signed by President Bush in July, which not only allows the cities to participate but provides federal funds.
According to Ines, Fountain Valley only had 32 foreclosures in the second quarter of ’08, as compared to 171 foreclosures in Santa Ana for the same period. The allocation of the federal funds is to be made based on the need within the cities. Given what we all know about foreclosure-mania Santa Ana, that means, according to Ines, that Santa Ana could see some funding in as little as two months. Could Fountain Valley be leading Santa Ana into affordable housing bliss, or maybe just another foreclosure-saturated abyss?
So, what might the City of Santa Ana have to choose from when they’re looking to buy bank-owned properties. Currently, there 159 bank-owned properties listed in Santa Ana (98 houses and 61 condos). Here’s a sampling of what could soon be affordable housing. . .
OC Register’s Elysse James covered the parking problem story in Tustin this week. According to her article (“Tustin council considering permit program for parking on streets“), there will be a public workshop hosted by the Tustin City Council on Monday to take a look at solutions to the problem with too many cars being parked on the streets overnight.
According to complainants, the problem stems from people not parking their vehicles in their garages and using them for living spaces or businesses instead… that and overpopulated areas with apartment complexes. The main area for this “offense” is Red Hill Avenue and Sycamore. Among the proposed solutions are “restrict parking between 2 and 6 a.m.” and “requiring permits to park during those hours.”
Some Tustin streets already have these restrictions: “About 17 city streets, including Cindy and Letty Lanes and part of Main Street, already have permit programs in place. Residents of those streets petitioned the city for the permits.”
I’m not exactly clear what the parking bans would entail (guess I should go to the meeting). It sounds a tad bit harsh, in my opinion. If you have an overnight guest staying with you, can they not park outside your house? If you have three cars (or more if you happen to have a few teenagers with jobs in the house), can you not park one on the street? Sounds like a parking ban that belongs in downtown of a big city, not Tustin.
I’ve seen a lot of price reductions… and yet they all still fascinate me. What makes them so varied? Why do people increase their price only to reduce it later? Who decides that a 2% reduction is good? …And the list of questions continue. Below is sampling of all of these different scenarios. One is just plain bizarre (I’ll let you be the judge of which one). Why do some people slash their price while others just shave it? Are more reductions (regardless of size) better?
In Santa Ana, properties that have been on the market 120+ days, are most likely to have at least four price reductions. However, those that are new to the market are most likely to have zero price reductions. So, who’s right? Well, without diving into a full analysis, my gut (and Redfin’s “Science of Real Estate“) say that it’s better to price your home correctly from the start. This means an aggressive price. If you find out that it’s the wrong price, then you should rectify the situation asap, not do these piddly reductions which just take time. Just look at where the reduction junkies are… they’re not sold, I’ll tell you that much.
An article in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal picked up by the OC Register caught my eye: “Don’t Bet Against Your House.” At first, I thought, duh… but then it hit me, the majority of us do just that. We’re basically gambling when we hope that our homes will increase in value… it’s all one big poker game. What cards we are dealt include the house, how the market if performing, all of those variables. What we bet is based on our income/savings, confidence in the market, etc.
The President of FiLife.com, a personal-finance website, Dave Kansas writes in his WSJ article some pointers on how to deal with these falling home prices and not bet against your house. Here are some excerpts I thought were of interest:
Take a Deep Breath
“Perspective, not panic, is always the first step in assessing the situation. Despite the scary headlines, the vast majority of homeowners are still sitting on decent gains, even if the value of their homes has declined over the past couple of years.”
“… homes are the great investments over time that many homeowners believe… the average return on a home is about 3% a year, roughly on par with inflation.”
Focuse on Your Portfolio
“For starters, rather than worry about your home, focus on the rest of your portfolio as an overall hedge against falling home prices. This would require steering clear of real-estate-oriented stocks such as real-estate investment trusts, home builders, mortgage companies and home-improvement stores.”
“Interest rates remain low and you may be eligible for a refinancing, which is something a shrewd homeowner should always consider. If you are carrying expensive debt, such as credit-card debt, using a refinancing enables you to substitute cheaper debt for more expensive debt.”
Ride It Out
“… talk to your bank. While bankers are in a stingy mood, many will talk with you about reworking your mortgage if you are under particular stress… Banks would prefer to work something out, if possible, and keep you in your home rather than foreclose.”
“In addition, get creative about extracting more cash from your home. An obvious way is to rent out the basement or a room. Defer putting in that new kitchen, instead putting that money into your investments to build a larger cash cushion to weather the hard times.”
We all know the odds in gambling. You’re more likely to turn over you hard-earned cash to the “house” than to go home with a new wad of cash. These folks in Tustin all bet on their house, and, big surprise, the “house” won.
So you want your own little slice of serenity in Villa Park but you’re not willing to shell out the million dollars required to buy the “average” Villa Park home (I should really say the average supersized home or even mansion with the properties Villa Park has on the market). The median list price is $1.4M and the median sold price is $900k. That right there is enough to make the typical buyer choke a little… sticker shock, to say the least.
Below I found the three cheapest homes in Villa Park. They range from $675k to $890k. Now, remember, these are actually really good prices for Villa Park. And the houses aren’t too shabby either. Some need a little more work than others, but all are decent. And, think about all the land you get… about a quarter of an acre and upward. That’s a pretty good deal for the “Millionaire Acres” city.
My post on Monday inspired to me to dedicate this week’s posts to the pristineVilla Park. Villa Park may only consist of 2.1 sq miles, be entirely surrounded by the City of Orange, and have only 1,900 homes with only 6,500 people living in them, but it’s a small town that packs a mighty punch in desirable real estate.
And, why is Villa Park so desirable? Try the small town feel or the lowest crime rate in Orange County, or, better yet, try the highly rated schools. The median list price in Villa Park is $1.4M and the median sold price is $900k. With those numbers alone, it’s not hard to tell what demographics live in this city. Let’s try well-educated, high wager earners to start. It’s no wonder I think of Villa Park as the millionaire acres from the Game of Life.
A while back I posted on how Orange homes just neighboring Villa Park were more desirable. Just being close to this place helps you sell your house. And check out how Villa Park’s real estate has fared in comparison to it’s surrounding neighbor of Orange. In just looking at the list prices (more data available for list prices; so few sold that one abnormality throws the trend off), we see that, yes, Villa Park has dropped, but not so drastically. It’s performing more like Newport Beach, another millionaire acres, rather than its encompassing friend Orange.
Villa Park House: $/Sq. Ft. Orange House: $/Sq. Ft.
So, what can you get for your money in Villa Park? Well, you better have a lot of it. I checked out properties that have seen price reductions in the last few weeks and here’s what I found:
An editorial article in the OC Register this Sunday caught my eye (“Villa Park is watching“). It was a commentary on Villa Park’s new regulations on soliciting. Per the article, in July, the City passed an anti-soliciting ordinance that makes “it illegal to drop flyers off at people’s front doors or solicit anything before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m., and it requires that those who distribute flyers pay $100 for a permit.” Also, “Anyone who distributes such materials or solicits business must avoid homes on the city’s ‘do not solicit’ registry.”
Councilwoman Deborah Pauly, a public supporter of the new regulation, claims that it’s to help keep “burglars and other evlidoers” out of the city. What’s funny, is that Pauly was recenlty investigated for posting her political signs on properties (and of those who didn’t even support her). So, what? Keep those thugs out, but put my signs and political PR in your yards… great message from one of the Villa Park’s leaders. There’s also been a movement to recall Pauly from office, but has not been successful.
While the OC Register’s editor seems to be up in arms about this new regulation: “We didn’t know it was the role of the government to ‘get a handle’ on who is ‘supposed’ to be there. It’s pretty creepy for a city to want to register and monitor visitors. It’s another reminder of how local officials are eager to tax, regulate and monitor our lives – all for our own good, of course.” To this, I say, have you ever been home alone and two large men come knocking on your door at 9 p.m. trying to sell you candy bars for whatever cause? While, of course, they could have been legitimate and really trying to help their after school program (or whatever it was), it was still a little scary. I’ve never wished my husband was home and that we had a bigger dog more. And, haven’t you heard of these strings of break-in’s recently targeting elderly woman? Someone posing as a solicitor is a perfect way for someone to gauge a house for a break-in.
If I lived in Villa Park, would I sign up on this “do not solicit” list? You bet! Do I feel bad for the Girl Scouts and other non-profits (who are supposed to be exempt, but there doesn’t seem to be any protection in the regulation)? Eh, kind of. Do I think it’s a little strict and a little bit too much big brother? Sure. However, in this case, I would be willing to sacrifice a little personal freedom for additional protection. Besides, why the heck do you really need to be coming to my house 7 p.m. or leaving me your business cards on my doorstep? If I need a tree trimmer, I’ll ask my neighbors for a reference… or, heaven forbid, I’d look in the yellow pages.
It’s been three months since I last did a real estate market report for Santa Ana. In the last report, I struggled to find good news. I was able to report that the number of days the average house was on the market was down, which could be seen as a good thing. Well, this time around, I’ve got nothing good to report. The forecast is all doom and gloom. Unlike Tustin and some other cities, we’re not seeing any signs of a turnaround for a long while.
Thanks to Altos Research, we see that the median single family home price continues to plummet. The current median price is $378,238, down 15% (from $443,171) in just three months. In looking at Redfin’s new market data page (so cool), we see the median list price for homes is $350k ($185k for condos) while the median sold price is $335k ($172k for condos). With these drastic drops, Santa Ana continues to be the poster child for sub-prime lending gone bad.
Meanwhile, inventory levels and days on the market continue to be on the rise. According to Altos, we’ve now got 1,404 properties on the market (up from 1,222). The average property has been on the market for about 126 days (up from 98 days). So, let’s see, we’ve got more houses on the market, and we’ve got them not moving, just sitting there. Yeah, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the median price is on a roller coaster that only goes down.
Redfin data is showing 1,060 homes and 676 condos on the market, both being on the market for 88 days. The graph below actually shows a decrease in inventory in the last few months. However, the graph does not yet have August included. There’s going to be some variance in the way that Altos counts versus the way Redfin does (FSBOs included/not included, etc.) as well as how the graphs depict the data, but both data sets are telling the same story… not good.
Just when I was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for the market with Tustin’s median price being up last week, Santa Ana has gone and flipped the switch making it dark and gloomy again. Thanks, thanks a lot Santa Ana.
An OC Regsiter article in Sunday’s paper (“
OC Register’s Elysse James covered the parking problem story in Tustin this week. According to her article (“
(Image courtesy Google)
Villa Park House: $/Sq. Ft. 
Orange House: $/Sq. Ft.
