OC Neighborhoods – Page 17 – Connecting Locals and Visitors

SoCal Real Estate: What to Look For in 2016

What can help sell a house in Orange County nowadays are homes with bonus rooms or flexible space that can be turned into a room. This aspect has become increasingly popular with buyers in recent years.

The reason may be attributed to lessen commute times to work from buying a quaint-sized home in Orange County vs. a larger spacious home in Corona or Murrieta/Temecula where employees have to deal with traffic on Ortega highway or use the 91 freeway.

Homebuyers want flexibility in how they can use their home during the last few years. Living space that can be transformed into an office, a guest room, for multiple purposes at any point in time. This has become especially important with the change in family living as aging baby boomers, retirees, and young single adults may choose to live with family members but only if there is a separate independent space.

A lack of square footage is not a deterrent if the home can be redesigned to accommodate areas which can be adjusted to the new homeowner’s objectives. For example, a house with a separate den or dining area can be made into a separate office or sleeping room and the owner can use the living room as a dining area. If the kitchen area is large enough, a den or dining area may not be needed at all.

Seasoned professionals and young adults may find a quicker commute to their jobs in Irvine, a mecca for those working in technology, finance and health industries, if they have a living space in Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, and other south OC cities.

Buyers may be getting more creative when they view a home for sale. Orange County real estate transactions were at their highest level in a decade. In 2015, 30,337 houses, condos and townhomes were sold that were listed in the MLS. The average price of an Orange County residential transaction rose to $741,109, the highest dating back to the housing crisis in 2007.

Review of 7 Dog Parks in South Orange County

Irvine Central Bark Dog Park
6405 Oak Canyon Rd
Irvine, CA 92618
Open until 10pm for those that work hard, and play hard. There’s water bowls, dog poop bags, and lots of seating
An additional great feature this park is there is an area for small dogs and a separate area for large dogs
A huge park with high ratings but sometimes there were reports of aggressive dogs with owners being very lax.

Laguna Beach Dog Park
20672 Laguna Canyon Rd
Laguna Beach, CA 92652
Well kept and clean park with separate fenced areas for large and small dogs on green real grass. Side street metered parking and closed on Wednesdays are the leading complaints. Doggie bags are available and so is a drinking fountain.

Newport Beach Dog Park
Northeast corner of Avocado Ave and San Miguel Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92660
PARKING: There’s designated street parking right across at 1441 Avocado Ave at the Newport Coast Pain/Hoag Surgicare building which is directly before you hit San Nicolas Dr. From the parking area, make a right, follow the long path up the hill after you make a curve and then you will see the dog park at the top of the hill.

There are some picnic tables when you reach the top with a beautiful ocean view.
Other reviews are it is a little small and if your dog enjoys running all over then this park may not meet their standards. Also, the grass is fake and there’s not any separate big/little dog areas.

Laguna Woods Dog Park
24400 Ridge Route Dr
Laguna Woods, CA 92637
Reviews are that it is a smaller park so your dog won’t out run you very far and “a place for paws” has artificial grass. Typically smaller dogs come here and the crowd tends to be older.

Mission Viejo Dog Park
Felipe Rd and Fieldcrest Lane
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Another highly rated park by pet lovers with separate fenced area for large and small dogs and dog fountains. This park in Mission Viejo has real grass, doggy bags and shaded seating area with water fountains for people. Negatives are limited parking as it can get packed after 5pm.

Wagsdale Dog Park
Oneil and Cecil
Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
A well kept, tidy and frequented by friendly dogs and people. The size of the dog park is very good and truly large enough for bigger dogs to really run around or to throw a tennis ball or frisbee. There are separate big and small dog areas and real grass. Residents in Ladera Ranch and adjacent areas are getting a petition signed to stop LAMARC from converting the dog park into a community center.

Coto De Caza Dog Park
Via Pajaro
Coto de Caza, CA 92679
A well-kept park with a large percentage of pet owners are very responsible watching their dogs and picking up their waste which makes it ideal for all dog owners

New Home Buyers on the Sidelines?

For the last twenty-four months, sales of new-homes in Orange County shot up at a very healthy rate.

According to numbers from CoreLogic, a real estate data analysis company, new home sales have dropped in Orange County for 10 consecutive months, with sales volume off by 21 percent. It’s not all negative though as existing home sales grew by 10 percent in the same period.

What is special about the decrease in new-home sales is it is limited to just Orange and San Diego counties.

Builders were pleased with sale of new-homes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as they increased by 20 and 23 percent, respectively. On a national scale, sales of new-homes rose 17.5 percent which means desirable Orange County went in the opposite direction in terms of new home sales.

Some real estate experts believe the reason is that prices went up too fast. Additionally, foreign buyers such as those from China, who comprised a big chunk of new home buyers in the last few years, are starting to diminish.

In 2013, a couple of large projects were started; Pavilion Park at Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine with 726 homes and Sendero project with 941 residences at Rancho Mission Viejo. They each had pretty much all of their homes sold by the start of 2015.

Sales prices out of reach for many

Corelogic’s data shows the median price of a brand new Orange County home reaching an all-time high of $909,000 in February 2015. As a whole, the median price is $835,000. Perhaps buyers are simply upgrading the home they buy at a lower cost.

The prices for land are backing builders in a corner with them having to construct a very large home on a relatively small lot at a high price, and that may also have turned some buyers towards existing homes with larger lots.

According to MarketPointe data numbers, sales contracts to buy condos and townhomes increased by 23 percent in 2015, whereas detached home purchase contracts fell 0.2 percent.

Nevertheless, many feel that there will be a recovery most likely towards the early part of 2016.

Will Lower Down Payments Spur More Buying in Orange County?

Once December 12th rolls around Fannie Mae will be loosening their lending parameters in a major way.

The major change helps borrowers come up with less money. I know. It’s just what you wanted, more competition in the already highly competitive Orange County housing market.

Home buyers will be able to purchase a primary residence home up to $625,500 in Orange County with as low as 5 percent down. For existing homeowners, they just need 5 percent equity to refinance to a fixed mortgage. Prior to this, any mortgage balance that exceeded $417,000 – referred to as agency high-balance or agency jumbo – needed to have 10 percent down.

Investors will be all smiles too.

The existing Fannie Mae guideline of 35-percent down for rental properties is also being put to rest. Investors will be able to make a purchase with just a 15-percent down payment up with a $625,500 loan amount. Would you rather pay $110,382 or $336,500 for a down payment? You’ll have $226,000 more to work with.

Due to strong economic resurgence in the the best Orange County job market in twelve years, a big demand for housing has grown for businesses and their growing staff demands. In Orange County, it is difficult to find big blocks of commercial real estate space or fairly priced housing.

Putting more pressure on the lack of real estate are the countless people and businesses that just don’t move, making real estate inventories low even more. And real estate investors are vigorously buying up the limited number of properties that are listed for sale or unlisted.

The end result are rising real estate prices. Most experts on regional housing don’t see this declining anytime soon.

While there is construction going on throughout the county, it won’t provide enough of a huge improvement to the low inventory.

The situation is so challenging for many who are seeking to buy real estate in desirable Southern California.

Some buyers lose out on a deal because it not making a good enough offer. Be prepared to pay close to the asking price because there’s just a lack of inventory.

One advantage for home buyers and investors are mortgage rates are low and lenders are willing to lend. In addition, with 95% financing up to $625,500 they may move into that home they wanted a lot sooner.

Home selection is tight, particularly at price points that many would regard as slightly affordable. Five to seven years of staying the in same home has changed in OC which has resulted in low supply.

Buying Your Next Home Before You Sell Your Home

Usually the next house you want to buy is going to have a higher price tag than your current home.

Making an offer on that next home can prove to be tricky if all you can put down is 10% or less on a new house.

So before you buy your next home, should you sell your current house, rent for a while, or just buy the new house?

How about taking out a HELOC to make your down payment larger, then you’ll own two homes and have two payments?

What about using a “bridge loan”, to get by for 3-6 months?

If you have the income to easily pay the costs of two mortgages – but the only issue the lack of down payment for your next home, a bridge-loan scenario, then refinance and pay off the bridge loan when you eventually plan to sell the current home.

However, most homeowners don’t want to take on the debt obligation for two mortgage payments at the same time.

In some cases, you could end up “stuck” with two mortgages for 6-9 months.

The reason you want to do this is because many prospective home buyers put a contingency on the sale of their current home in their purchase offer. If you are in the process of doing this in Orange County, you may find your offer not accepted countless times. If the sale of your current home will provide you with more funds to put down to the tune of 25% or 50% , your offer is a lot stronger in the seller eyes.

Certainly, in a very hot seller’s market, the seller still might not be interested in your offer even if it doesn’t have the sale of your home contingency clause because there may be all cash-buyers.

It’s important to let your realtor understand your goals and price your existing home properly when your offer is not contingent on the sale of your home. If your realtor prices your home much higher than similar homes in your neighborhood, possibly to assure them of a higher commission, they may not be factoring as every month passes, you’re making two mortgage payments. This eats right into the expected profits. Don’t let them off the hook with their common response of “the house will sell when the right buyer comes along”.

Think about if you had your home for sale. If you receive offers with FHA financing, 3-5% down, contingent on sale of their property (which may be overpriced) or closing dates 3-4 months out are the least considered. When receiving multiple offers, the simplest and least complicated offer is chosen. The offer most sellers will accepted are those with a large down payment, such as 30-50%, and have a quick closing date.

The worst part about selling your home early is you have to move your personal belonging into a storage unit temporarily, and then find a short term rental. By doing so, you can submit a stronger offer with a large down payment like the one you accepted on your home.