John Alesi (Orange County California Real Estate)

According to the HUD website, FHA has raised the limit on financed amounts to $729,750. This will be a great help in the Orange County area, especially in South County, where much of the inventory is still north of the $700,000 mark.

Here's a breakdown of homes over $700K compared to total number of active listings by local city:

As you can see, luxury markets like Newport Beach and Coto de Caza have a huge number of over $700,000 listings while the, Ladera Ranch and Laguna Niguel are sort of in the middle and the remaining areas show smaller proportions of these listings.

The obvious benefit will be toward the high end of the market, allowing more people to take advantage of the new FHA limits.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver and Mission Viejo
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

So just what do these three things have in common? Stay tuned...

Today was Career Day at one on our fine Mission Viejo Middle Schools, La Paz Intermediate. Along with the usual parade of professionals giving 30 minute lectures to the students was one extremely popular "professional." His name...Matt Sorum! All of you rock n' roller know Matt as the drummer with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. Not only is he famous, but back in the day, Mr. Sorem was also a student at this very school. How much more street cred could one guy have in front of 300 screaming middle schoolers?

Dressed in the requisite black jacket, black denim pants, red suede boots and spiky hair, Matt Sorum told of how he got his start with bands like the Cult, touring along with national acts and eventually became the drummer for GNR, went on to garner three Grammy nominations and win one, bought a Mercedes and become a success in the music biz. But for all of his hype he really honed in on the one thing that made him a success...become single minded in your purpose and be determined to do what it is you want to do. He is very proud of the fact that he doesn't have a "real job" but rather is a success doing what he really wanted to do from when he was a young boy attending junior high school.

I had a few minutes to talk with Matt before the students arrived where he confessed that he was a little apprehensive about his upcoming presentation. He said, "I hope the students know who I am." Well, from the moment he hit the microphone, it was apparent that they not only knew him, but knew of the bands he played in and, upon his exit, was immediately swarmed with students asking for his autograph on Guns N'Roses CDs, T-Shirts, notebooks and drumheads. As a finale to his visit to La Paz Intermediate, Mr. Sorem stayed after in the music room to talk one-on-one with a few of the students, asking them questions about their dreams and, of course, siging a few more autographs and mugging for some photos.

Thank you, Matt Sorem, for your inspiring words to our young students! You are a real pro!

*EDIT* I need to send a special shout out to Dan Robbins, the director of Music at La Paz for his efforts in arranging Mr. Sorum's appearance.

If you are considering a real estate transaction (buying,selling, relocating, investing), you can count on me as the local expert serving Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as all of South Orange County.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Dogs, Cats, Horses and Llamas
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

Let me introduce you to a fellow agent at CENTURY 21 Superstars, Russel Taylor. You see, he lives on four acres in Modjeska Canyon, CA (the area that burned in the late summer fires and flooded in more recent winter rains) with his wife and a menagerie of animals including dogs, cats, horses and llamas! Really...llamas. In addition to their "regular jobs", Russel and wife, Teresa, run the Modjeska Ranch Rescue. While they usually keep their "zoo" filled with rescued dogs and cats, they are now caring for up to a dozen horses (do you know how much hay they eat in a day?!?) and a handful of llamas.

As the economy has sputtered, the number of animals at the shelter has swelled. Families have abandoned their pets or brought them by because they can no longer care for them. Additionally, some of the dogs are truly "special needs" pets and need lots of love. If you are in the area and would like more information about adopting one of these animals or would like to help out financially (remember what I said earlier about the hay?), please visit the Modjeska Ranch Rescue website and take a look around. I'm sure you'll fall in love with one of these marvelous creatures. Anyone got room for a llama or two? How 'bout a nice thoroughbred?

You can also read more about the animal rescue in a recent article in the Orange County Register.

If you are considering a real estate transaction (buying,selling, relocating, investing), you can count on me as the local expert serving Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as all of South Orange County.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Mission Viejo's Got Talent
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

Just a few weeks ago, I headed out with some buddies to the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Locals know this place as a long standing concert venue that has featured everyone from top name headliners to local up-and-comers. On this evening I was there to catch the opening act, a Mission Viejo High School grad by the name of Rachel Lipsky. This firey, 23-year old country singer lit up the stage singing original songs and primimng the crowd for the main act. While many in the audience were there to see John Corbett (actor from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding'), Rachel brought a strong following of friends and family that showed their appreciation with a "standing O" and the end of her set.

Rachel has performed on stages throughout Southern California including the main stage at the summertime Lake Mission Viejo concert series, opening for Toto and Chely Wright. Keep an eye (and ear) out for this rising local star.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Who's Making Up These Statistics Anyway?
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

An article in today's (Feb 3, 2009) Los Angeles Times Business section revealed that home prices are not really as low as stated! According to Times' writer, Peter Hong's research, home values vary according to whose statistics you use. Zillow claims that, based on their methodology, home prices in Los Angeles and Orange Counties have not dropped as low as what has been reported in the media. The media typically uses information compiled by MDA DataQuick, using a "median price" model. The DataQuick median price for the December LA County home value is $320,000 and Orange County is $397,000 while Zillow figures it's $387,021 for LA and $474,560 for OC. That's a $67,000 and $96,000 difference, respectively! Another set of figures are available from the Case-Shiller Index which uses an entirely different model to arrive at their values.

So, how does the home buyer or seller make sense of this dizzying array of calculations? And does the very generalized median price for all of Orange County really help the client who lived in a (comparatively) very small market of Rancho Santa Margarita or Mission Viejo or Laguna Beach? As the long-timers in the real estate business will tell you, the "market" is really made up of many "micro-markets", each with their own defining characteristics. Therefore, home values must be carefully calculated by considering a lot more factors than "I heard this guy on talk radio say, 'home values are down by xx%'". Do your homework and conduct your research and consult with a local professional REALTOR®. The success of your next transaction should hinge on some hearsay evidence. It doesn't hold up in court and it won't help you buy or sell your home.

If you are considering a real estate transaction (buying,selling, relocating, investing), you can count on me as the local expert serving Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as all of South Orange County.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.