Dick Hamer

Doing some website maintenance at DickHamer.com, I discovered some interesting signs that well-priced real estate is on the move in south Orange County. Since I offer lists of listings showing the best-priced buys in both the over-$500K and under-$500K segments, I can track how many of them change from Active to Pending status in a given timeframe. What I've found today is that, in the last week, 18 out of 66 such listings in the under $500K list went Pending (27%). In the other group, 10.6% or 5 out of 47 went Pending. This pretty well mirrors what I'm also seeing and hearing here in Lake Forest / Mission Viejo, where an increasing number of buyers are snapping up the better-priced offerings, typically short sale and bank-owned listings. It's definitely getting busier out there!

Buyer activity is definitely heating up in south Orange County, with weekend traffic at Open Houses seeming to be getting stronger each week now. Both purchase offers and pending sales are on the increase, with more homes receiving multiple offers and selling in very few days on market.

In some ways, it's feeling like the "old days" of 2003 - 2006, when inventory was very low and demand very high. The difference now is that while overall inventory is considerably higher than before, the lower-end, detached home market is in a more affordable price range, and many more buyers are coming out of the woodwork, having been patiently waiting for a couple of years to see opportunity-time come their way.

It's paying off for many of them with great deals on homes that are in the neighborhood of 30% off from their peak prices. Typically, today's market realities also mean that these buyers are qualifying for their loans with realistic down payments and loan guidelines that make sense, rather than the sub-prime and stated income products that helped to cause all kinds of havoc for all concerned. We're in a healthier mode loan-wise, meaning these buyers are not likely to be losing their homes to foreclosure in the coming years.

As this process unfolds, taking inventory off the market, much of which is "distress property", we are working our way through this inevitable and necessary part of the cycle that has been so much in evidence for the past 2 years or so. Although there is certainly more of the "distress" inventory to hit the market, as this process keeps working and more buyers return to the market, pricing is firming up and the "bottom of the market" is being defined. This creates more confidence in buyers, in turn creating more showings, more offers, more sales and ultimately, a return to a more balanced and healthy market for all. It's inevitable, and it's just a matter of time before we will be looking back on this in a different light. And that's when many folks will be saying "that's when I should have bought a home" again.

Would any of your clients be interested in a home purchase option such as this? My wife and I, both Realtors, are about to begin a green remodel of a 70's- built Orange County (CA) tract home in largely original condition. Now a rental, it will be available for sale in a few months as a transformed, eco-friendly, energy and water-saving design exercise, remodeled inside and out. Sustainable and/or recycled materials and no/low VOC content paints and adhesives will be used throughout. Solar photovoltaic panels on the roof will produce most of the energy, while all new wood, dual-pane windows & doors, plus eco-friendly and healthy alternative insulation will conserve it. Both tankless water heating and low-flow plumbing fixtures, along with water-saving landscape design and irrigation will be featured. We plan to showcase the technologies, the products, vendors and the home itself to educate, inform and hopefully, excite visitors to both the home and its various media promotion sites. Once done, we plan to sell the home, repeat the process with the next remodel-ready home and grow the green homes consulting business associated with it. Your comments are welcome!

Dick & Vivan Hamer

Lake Forest, CA

Contrary to what many folks believe and what you see in the news media, homes are selling and buyers are back in South Orange County. Evidence of this is apparent at Open Houses, as well as with increased ad calls and "sign calls". Indeed, more sales are showing up on our office Sales Board, which tracks monthly sales activity. But one of the surprising facts that you might only know if you're out there trying to buy is this: Good listings that are well-priced are selling quickly again! In just the past few weeks, some buyer-clients of mine were interested in making offers on not one, but two consecutive bank-owned listings (both in Lake Forest). In both cases, before they could confirm their loan status with their lender and proceed with the offer, the homes SOLD, with multiple offers being submitted. The first listing broker indicated "gazillions" of offers came in (in less than a week on the market), while the second home attracted no less than 14 offers, in just 3 days on the market. It went into escrow at an agreed-upon price that was well above the bank's list price and now both are currently Pending Sales. The moral of the story, as my clients and I agreed, is that if you see a home that you really like and that is well-priced for you, don't assume it will be there long. There are many savvy buyers now taking advantage of what has become a very favorable market!