Vicki Lloyd ~ MBA, ACRE, e-PRO, Realtor Lake Forest, California

If your Lake Forest home needs painting, new windows, garage door, new roof, plumbing, appliances or other repairs or upgrades, check into the City of Lake Forest's "Housing Rehab Loan" program. They offer up to $30,000 for home improvements at a great interest rate of 3% for 15 years, or for those who qualify, a zero percent interest deferred loan with no payments!

These loans are available subject to income limits and the properties must be owner-occupied and have some equity. More details are available at the City's website.

The Lake Forest II Homeowners Association includes 3436 homes in 14 different neighborhoods.

The Sun & Sail Club is the social center of this association and the facilities include 3 full sized pools, a kiddie wading pool, a large spa where you can watch the sun set over the lake, 9 tennis courts, sand volleyball, basketball, a gym, picnic areas, and a clubhouse where you can attend or host social functions.

Details about the individual neighborhoods and information about the recent real estate activity can be found at my locally focused blog : LakeForest2Homes.com

The Orange County Great Park is now offering FREE balloon rides on weekend evenings, in addition to the Thursday through Sunday daytime flights.

They also started providing evening entertainment with dancing on Friday nights, and concerts on Saturday nights. The lineup includes a wide range of entertainers from surf rock bands to Benny Goodman, to country western. Check their event calendar here.

I may be there, so if you see me, please say "Hello!"

Based on the levels of inventory, it looks like we are shifting back toward a seller's market! When the ratio of active listings to sales, or new escrows gets down below 6 months, it has generally been considered a market that favors sellers. This doesn't mean that prices are likely to rise soon, but that it is more likely that a buyer will take action sooner when a well-priced property comes on the market.

While there are still many bank-owned homes coming on the market, many seem to be getting more agressive with the pricing right from the start. There are now 38 active REO listings, 53 REOs in escrow, and 25 that have closed in the last 30 days. Assuming an average escrow time of 6 weeks, the 53 properties in escrow, indicate a pace of about 8.5 sales per week. At that rate, the 38 actives would be gone in less than 5 weeks, if no new ones came on the market!

The short sales are the hardest to evaluate due to the fact that each seller, lender, and listing agent is unique. Many of the currently listed short sales will not qualify due to some circumstance of the seller, and will eventually become foreclosures. Many of the listing agents who take the short sale listings are unqualified, and don't really understand the process. Most of the lenders are understaffed and overwhelmed, and not capable of responding to the best offers in a timely manner, so many of the buyers who made offers on these homes will drop out or buy something else by the time the lender makes a decision. At this time, there are 148 properties listed as active short sales in the MLS, with 30 currently under contract, and only 7 that have closed in the last 30 days.

For homes that are neither bank-owned or short sale status there are a total of 135 on the active market, with 42 in escrow, and 20 that have closed in the last 30 days. The active inventory ranges from $179,400 up to $1.8 million, and the average is $635,000. For those that have closed or are currently in escrow, the time on the market is an average of 60 days. For "non-troubled" homes, the inventory is very thin in many size and price ranges. I just witnessed a home that became available on Friday afternoon, with instructions that it could be shown beginning Saturday morning, and by Sunday morning, the status had changed to "Pending." In my opinion, this was priced right at the level that the market now dictates - not the "testing" end, or the "give-away" end, but right where it attracted attention from the buyers who were ready to act.

The activity level in Lake Forest is finally picking up! Right now, we have 114 properties in escrow and 49 that have closed in the last 30 days. Assuming that the 114 is about 6 weeks of activity, the 332 active listings represents an approximate 4 month inventory. Or using the 49 closings, it could be 6.5 months. Either way, it's much better than it has been for quite a while.

The troubled properties (short sales and foreclosures) still make up about 58% of the active properties and 68% of the current escrows. Of the 49 closings in the past 30 days, 32 of them were either short sales or foreclosed.

The pricing now begins at $135,000 for a bank-owned one bedroom condo, and goes up to $1.8 million for a custom lake front home. There are currently 2 single family houses priced at $399,900 and one other in a "hold" status. The first "under $400,000" sale of a single family home since November 2003 happened last month whan a bank-owned home that was listed for $414,000 closed at $395,000.

I specialize in Lake Forest, but work the entire Orange County area, and have identified and described several other well-priced properties on my other blog at (LiveLakeForest.com) If you have been waiting for some good buying opportunities, please contact me as soon as possible to help you find the right one!