Brian Jones Real Estate Agent

I read statistics every day about how home sales are up or home sales are down or predictions that home sales will recover or predictions that homes sales won't recover. I'm in the business of real estate and I can't figure out what all these numbers mean. However, I did see some statistics that caught my eye and actually did make sense to me.

Everyday so far in 2011:

13,780 homes sell in the United States

72 homes sell in Orange County, Ca

500 homes sell every week in Orange County, Ca

2000 homes sell every month in Orange County, Ca

I speak with buyer's and sellers nearly everyday who are on the fence about buying or selling a home. They're afraid to make a move because of the economy or the thinking that prices will drop or a myriad of other reasons. We, buyers and sellers, forget that homes or listed and sold every single day. The reasons can be many; shelter, investment, upsizing, downsizing, schools, neighborhoods, and on a daily basis these decisions are made across the country. So if you are having trouble making a decision you can take solace in the fact that this decision is made by a large number of people every single day.

Courtesy of NAR 09/2011

Is now a better time to buy a home or to sell a home? The general consensus is that the housing market has hit a long-awaited neutral spot, meaning that prices have somewhat stabilized but could still go down a little or up a little.

It's a good time to sell! If you believe that the banks are holding on to a shadow inventory of homes that will be released on the market causing a downward pressure on prices then it's better to sell now before prices drop.

It's a good time to buy! Home prices have come down drastically from the highs and mortgage rates are the best we've seen in generations. The odds are that rates will be going up so even if home price were to decrease your monthly payment may increase.

It's always a good time to buy - and to sell. Every time a house rises in value, there's a person who makes money and a person who says "Darn!" And every time a house loses value, there's a person who says "Darn!" and a person who says, "I got a steal!"

Bottom line ~ it's a great time to sell and/or buy!

1 Minute Housing Report from Brian Jones

Although home prices have fallen, interest rates are on the rise and that can have a huge impact on your cost. The monthly mortgage payment you can negotiate today may be the lowest it will ever be in your lifetime.

John Paulson, a multibillionaire hedge fund operator and the investment genius who made a killing betting against housing a few years ago, is now bullish on residential real estate market. He recently said:

"If you don't own a home, buy one. If you own one home, buy another one. If you own two homes, buy a third. And, lend your relatives the money to buy a home."

Stan Humphries, chief economist of Zillow, explains that Paulson is talking about COST NOT PRICE.

Paulson is not just betting on house prices, but also on the ability to lock in low financing now with the expectation that it will be easier to pay it back in the future because of inflation.

I was fortunate to attend UCI at a time when the Fine Arts department was enjoying a resurgence of attention to the arts. Every quarter we would have visiting artists come in and teach classes; there was Billie Al Bengston, Joe Goode, Ed Moses and other highly accomplished artists who would critique your work and tell stories but what we as students found most interesting was their insight into the fine art world.

The reason this comes to mind is the excellent show at the Laguna Art Museum featuring the works of John Paul Jones who died in 1999. John Paul Jones, a Laguna Beach resident, taught at UCI from 1969 to 1990 and I was lucky to be one of his students. He founded the printmaking department at UCLA in 1953 and was brought to UCI by Tony Delap to start the print department. He was my professor for many print classes as well as independent study.

He was an introspective, quiet man who encouraged every student to find his or her own voice. John Paul had a romantic sensibility of what art does and what the teaching of art is all about. He was never patronizing but engaged students with dialogue and ideas at whatever their level.

The show is a wonderful reminder of an artist who wasn't into following flashy trends but followed his own voice and vision.

Laguna Beach is home to many diverse and interesting people and over the years as I moved from an art student to being a Realtor I appreciate more and more this little city and our link to the arts.

A pink toilet seat, pro football and 41 Laguna Beach homes - what's the connection?

My wife and I take the dogs for a walk every evening and last fall we kept seeing a pink toilet seat move from house to house in the neighborhood. Finally, we asked the question, "So what's with the pink toilet seat? Is this some form of punishment and how do we avoid getting this pink badge of honor?"

It turns out that it is indeed a punishment for losing the weekly pro football fantasy pool. Based on some obscure formula - something to do with passing yards, rushing yards, well kept yards, unkept yards and figures only a statistician would love. (I'm guessing alcohol played a part in this somewhere), host Steve Collings calculates the winner and loser each week and emails a spreadsheet to all participants.

Sometime during the evening the pink toilet seat will magically appear on the loser's fence, porch or garage for all to admire.

This year we were invited to join the fantasy pool and so far we have avoided the dubious distinction of losing. I must admit that we do have a twisted desire to wear the crown of the pink toilet seat for maybe just one week.