Bob Phillips

The story of Coto de Caza

It took twenty years for Coto de Caza's market to arrive. When it first opened in 1976 as a master-planned community, it was an isolated corner of Orange County, 12 miles inland and 18 miles southeast of Irvine, in the canyon lands east of Mission Viejo. In the ensuing years, during market downturns and ownership changes, the vision of a woodland-filled, environmentally attuned master-planned community has never wavered. Now that population and employment centers and road access have expanded to its doorstep, Coto de Caza's homesites are nearing buildout, with just a handful of custom lots still available.

Coto de Caza (idiomatically translated from the Portuguese as "The preserve of the hunt") originated as a working ranch in the 1700s, with a hunting lodge and riding center. Actor John Wayne kept his horse, Pretty Boy, at the Coto ranch, and he practiced shooting on its range. In 1970, covenants were drawn up to preserve the rural valley setting of the property as lots were sold for vacation homes. More than 2,200 acres-45 percent-were set aside as open space and wildlife refuges.

In 1979, Arvida, the Florida-based resort development company, purchased the property to develop as a hunting lodge resort. Recreational facilities were constructed to support the activities of the hunting- and equestrian-oriented clientele. The riding center was used for equestrian events during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1983, Orange County approved Coto's master plan for a community of approximately 5,000 homes, and three years later, the community officially opened.

At first, Coto remained isolated. That all changed in 1994 when Oso Parkway was extended from Interstate 5 all the way to Coto de Caza's south gate, and in 1995 when the Foothill transportation corridor-a highway and feeder system-opened. The growth of adjacent Rancho Santa Margarita brought with it nearby schools and stores. In anticipation of increasing growth, which the community was already experiencing, homesites were remapped in 1994 to be located on grassy ranchland knolls rather than in the canyons, as originally approved. This resulted in the capture of substantial view premiums, preservation of native oak woodlands in the canyon bottoms, and retention of the rural character of the valley as originally envisioned. The number of homesites was voluntarily reduced to fewer than 4,000 from the originally approved 5,000.

The developers have remained true to the original vision of environmentally sensitive development. The 475-acre Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park was ceded to the county in 1994. More than 200 oaks were relocated to strategic points to preserve the rural atmosphere. Throughout the course of development, thousands of oaks and willows were preserved. In 1989, a computer-controlled central irrigation system was installed to manage the community's water usage. In conjunction with the introduction of native and drought-tolerant plants, the system saves about $200,000 of water each year; it had paid for itself in two years. Indigenous grasses that had been stripped during centuries of ranch use were reintroduced, with support from the county fire authority, which helped to reduce water usage and to mitigate the possibility of grass fires.

Coto de Caza's reputation as an ecologically oriented recreation community was strengthened by the former Vic Braden's Tennis College and a 36-hole Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed golf course. The golf course respects the original plan to set aside land for wildlife and riparian refuges. There is a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse, and the equestrian center maintains its Olympic-caliber facilities. Forty miles of hiking and equestrian trails meander throughout the community, linking the 20 community parks within Coto to adjacent parks and wilderness preserves.

In 1996, Orange County-based Lennar Communities took over as development manager. Under Lennar's stewardship, Coto was repositioned to promote more luxurious homes and lower densities, coincident with the regional recovery from the recent recession. The average price of a new home increased from $375,000 in 1996 to $840,000 in 2000, to well over a million dollars, today.

Today, Coto de Caza is widely recognized as one of the country's largest gated communities. Homeowners have been united in their allegiance to the Coto way of life: in 1999, 25 percent of new home sales were to existing Coto residents. That dedication derives from the uncompromising position successive developers have maintained in their commitment to environmentally sensitive development, open space, conservation, and enhancement of the natural environment, despite changing economic conditions. Coto de Caza continues today, as a one of a kind community.

For a tour of our special community call or email Bob Phillips.

Bob Phillips, Altera Real Estate, Serving South Orange County Since 1976!
Direct phone: 949-643-2100, Email: agent.BobPhillips@cox.net Website: http://Coto4Sale.com

Here's a link to the latest report on real estate activity in Orange County, as prepared by the president of my company: http://www.OurAgentSpot.com/sthomas/MarketTime-Sep-4-08.pdf This report is chock full of graphs and statistics to support his findings.

For a brief synopsis, Orange County's inventory of houses has leveled off a bit - stopping a 5 or 6 month steady decline. That can pretty much be attributed to this time of year. In addition, the number of new escrows has also leveled off - much higher than the previous two years at this time, but about the same number as last month. This is also a seasonal situation.

Our local real estate market gradually improved for the past 6 or 7 months, and has been regularly been reported in this blog. Some readers, who noticed this trend months ago, were able to take advantage of some remarkably lower prices than the previous year or two.

The good news is that there is still a high number of distressed properties coming onto the markets, and that these represent more excellent opportunities, for the astute buyer/investor.

If you are looking to buy or sell a property in South Orange County, I began my career in this area almost 32 years ago, and have been through numerous cycles, some just like this one. I would be pleased to be your Realtor of choice.

Send me an email ( agent.BobPhillips@cox.net ) or give me a call.

Bob Phillips, Altera Real Estate, 949-643-2100.

Hello again, and welcome to the Fall Season,

Real estate in our area - South Orange County - continues to follow a path that was established early in the year, where a significant majority - definitely more than 50% - of business going on is the sale of distressed properties, mostly lender repossessions.

The good news in that scenario is that there are some exceptional buys within those distressed inventories, and frankly, many people are taking advantage of them. Most of those buyers are non-contingent, and are striking great deals, in their purchases. These buyers typically either sold their previous house long ago - the past few years, and have been renting a while - or, perhaps have been transferred by a company who helped them with their moving expenses, or, the most prevalent situation, have made their previous house into a rental, since the rental market is fairly strong, right now.

The question arises "What about selling our present home, in order to purchase our next one?" I hear this all the time. There are a couple of answers here. One, is your house in the upper 10-20% of the houses in your neighborhood, in terms of condition, amenities, and most importantly, location? If it is, there are some normal houses selling at this time, also - not all the sales are distressed properties. The problem is, you still have to consider those neighboring distressed properties as competition - because your prospective buyers certainly will.

That means you will have to be competitive. Not necessarily lower, but at least competitive. Buyers will look at the distressed houses and calculate how much it's going to cost to bring them up to "snuff". Most of these lender repossessions are sold "as is", and that is usually a bit shabby.

Some buyers don't like to fix up a property - if yours is pristine, they will pay more for yours, than for the lower priced fixer down the street. In addition, a higher percentage of lender repos are in less desirable locations, so, again, a buyer might pay more, if yours has a superior location.

Here's where you, and/or your potential agent, have to be honest. Is your house REALLY in better condition, or in a better location? The easiest way I've found is to actually take my clients out to look at the competition, as if with buyer's shoes on, and then go back to compare their present house. If theirs is indeed superior, then they stand a good chance at selling - as long as they are still priced competitively.

If your house is more of an average house in an average location, AND, if you have plenty of equity, plus probable additional funds for your purchase, then it may be better to rent out your present house for a couple of years until the sales prices become better again. As I stated earlier, the rental market is fairly strong right now, and I can assist you in finding a good tenant.

What if you're in a problem house with a problem loan? You're having difficulty making the payments and the loan amount is higher than the home's new lower value? If it is indeed a hardship, you are probably a candidate for a "short sale" - selling at a price lower than the loan amount, but getting the lender to go along with the sale - rather than have to foreclose. I have experience in such situations, since the original short sale days back in the mid 90's, and can guide you toward successful options. The main problem with selling on a short sale, or being foreclosed out of a house is that you generally have little or no cash left, to move somewhere else - usually not enough to buy, which makes becoming a tenant pretty likely.

Whatever your situation, I have been dealing successfully with similar scenarios since 1976 - just short of 32 years. Click agent.BobPhillips@cox.net to send me an email, or give me a call at (949) 643-2100. I look forward to being at your service. Bob Phillips, Realtor, Altera Real Estate.

Here is a link to the latest, bi-weekly Market Report produced by the President of our brokerage:

http://www.OurAgentSpot.com/sthomas/MarketTime-Jun-12-08.pdf

For a synopsis of the report, the news for O.C. real estate continues to get better in almost every respect. Sales are up, while inventory is declining. What USUALLY happens in such a scenario is that prices is that prices become stable, and the market becomes more balanced between sellers and buyers. That definitely seems to be the case at the moment. These are signs that the recent market downturn is slowly, but surely grinding to a halt.

As an aside, the problem in this recent real estate downward cycle has never been interest rates. It's been overleveraging by home owners, unsustainable price increases relative to local incomes, and a tightening of lending guidelines - not rising interest rates. Remember during the 2004-2006 boom years the average 30 year fixed loan was about 6.25% - just about where it was today - and just about where it will be in December. By the way, the "temporary" High Cost Area Jumbo Conforming and FHA loan limits are already in the process of becoming permanent. Expect extensions of the provisions of the Stimulus package to be completed by November of this year.

So, interest rates are "OK", and there is still a good selection ( albeit declining.) of properties to choose from, and prices seem to be bottoming out. This just might be a great time to be looking for property, at least in Orange County, California.

If you've been thinking of buying a house in South Orange County, give me a call and let's talk real estate. I've been helping my friends and neighbors with their real estate decisions for over 31 years!

Send me an email ( agent.BobPhillips@cox.net ) or give me a call.

Hope Now, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors that is working to help prevent foreclosures, announced today that mortgage servicers provided loan workouts to approximately 183,000 homeowners in April 2008, the highest monthly amount since the program was begun in July 2007. Since July 2007, the industry has helped almost 1.6 million homeowners avoid foreclosure through workouts which include loan modifications and repayment plans.

Here is a link to the entire article, detailing some recent success for the program: http://hopenow.com/upload/press_release/files/Homeowner%20Workouts%20Reach%20Record%20Level%20In%20April.pdf

For more information on HOPE NOW, and to see the full membership of the Alliance, please visit www.HOPENOW.com.

If you know someone who is having difficulty making their mortgage payments please send them a link to this blog, or have them give me a call ( 949-643-2100 ) or an email: agent.BobPhillips@cox.net

Serving South Orange County since 1976 - Bob Phillips, of Altera Real Estate.