No Inventory in Real Estate - Now What?

In just the last thirty days, there has been another noticeable change in the Southern California Real Estate market.  Homes are selling.

I know, in 2012, more home sold than anytime since 2007, but there is more to the story.  If you look all around the county, homes that have been sitting for a year or more are now moving into escrow.  When these homes leave the market, then the average Days on Market or DOM drops further.  The key here is with fewer homes on the market these homes moving off market will have an even greater impact statistically.

What does all of this mean?  It means a clear shift in the market is happening.  The bottom diggers have scrapped everything off the bottom there is.  So now the big investors who are a little more conservative are putting up money for people to buy.  One loan agent says that even though "liar loans" have gone the way of the DoDo bird, there are still ways to do creative financing.

Private equity is once again pushing the limits on payment to income ratios' allowing people to buy into the more expensive homes that have been sitting.

A billboard in downtown LA proclaims "Home Loans Up To $10 Million".

The tide is shifting.

From the agents perspective, I am seeing a few very smart agents start to roll with this new market.  Mass marketing in Real Estate hasn't been cost effective since 2007.  Mass mailing email lists to thousands of people is a waste of time, since there are a dozen other agents and websites that will do it for them.

The agents that are starting to roll are adding value.  Private open houses, active buyer lists with qualified buyers and very direct person to person marketing is working.  This will be the new reality for a while I believe and it will filter out the incomes of many agents even further.

Online and mobile marketing tools that reach directly to sellers and buyers are going to continue to grow in popularity and importance.  Why?  Simply put these tools allow the buyers to keep a bit of anonymity until they feel like they have met the right agent or found the right deal.

Agents will need to know everything about a property.  "It is really a great house" won't cut it anymore.  If the internet can tell the prospects more than you can, chances are an internet agent will get the sale.

An app for that?

While the big websites have mobile aps for their potential customers, individual offices and agents have been behind the curve.  New tools are emerging that will change that.

Getting listings may really have to go all the way back to door knocking, which in some areas is very difficult.  Agents will likely need to live in their neighborhood and really know everyone in order to get a listing.   Listings are going to be life for agents moving forward.

Agents who mass market will spend too much time chasing maybe's where the agents that hold the line and only work with qualified buyers are going to move homes.  Imagine someone knocking on the door with three familys that want in your neighborhood and an agent with three signs that have been up for six months.  Who do you want to talk too?  One moves homes, one has signs.

The tide is shifting.

Direct Mail Or Online Marketing, How to sell a home?

As the owner of a marketing company that specializes in using the Internet and Social Media, Direct Mail companies are my biggest competitor.  I say competitor because small businesses don’t have an unlimited budget.  The owners of a small business have to make a decision whether to spend money for online marketing with us or with a direct mail and print ad company like my friends at Damion Hickman.

So is there a right answer?  Yes there is, but it isn’t the same for any business.  As a real estate agent, I see the markets from a different perspective.  The business itself is one variable.  The second is the customer.  The business and the customer define the best media for connecting the two.  Neither side can select the right answer.

On the side of direct mail, think about a business like Cake Tahoe.  Cake Tahoe is a great little cupcake shop in Truckee, California.  The opportunity with direct mail is to send out post cards to the residents in Truckee with a coupon.  For instance they could offer buy one get one free, or buy a cupcake, get free coffee.

This is a great opportunity to reach out to new customers who had no idea they wanted a cupcake.  The postcard is an interrupter of their life that offers them something new they didn’t expect.  This is much more difficult to do online than it is with direct mail.  A great direct mail piece is fantastic tool to seek out new customers who didn’t know they were in your market.

The cost of Online Marketing to reach out and have the same effect can be significantly higher.  Some markets, like Reverse Mortgages, will see significantly better results with direct mail.  People don’t search online for the best Reverse Mortgage deal.  Instead, they get a flyer in the mail that introduces them to something they have never known about.  At some point the market might shift, but it might not.

At the other end of the spectrum are “needs” like a water heater.  When your water heater starts making very loud noises, you don’t look in your mail box for a plumber, you go to the phone book if you still have one, or go online and search for Water Heaters, Plumbers and a number of other keywords.  Online Marketing works in these cases, not so much in the case of Reverse Mortgages or reaching new cup cake customers.  

Cake Tahoe could use online marketing to connect to current customers and find new customers who are looking for custom cupcakes, ice cream or coffee in Truckee California online.  The two customers are very different targets.  The key is to know your customers well enough to know which type of customer offers a better return on marketing dollars.  

Some businesses like TruSpeed Motorcars are able to use both effectively.  Direct Mail is used to remind existing customers of service intervals, and reach out directly to owners of exotic cars that are out of warranty.  Online Marketing is used to step in front of people searching for “Porsche Service”, or “Performance Porsche Upgrades”.  Each is a potential income source to the business, and each must be respected for who they are.

When you truly know your customers, you can decide whether direct mail or online marketing is the best way to connect with them.  

2013 Real Estate Market - Looking Forward

The Real Estate Market is shifting once again.  At the start of 2013, we are moving into really new territory.   Many other pros are a little unsure of where they are going with the 2013 Real Estate Market.  When I say pros, I mean agents, brokers and investors.  A salesperson from one of the major real estate websites called me, asking me to “fill in a great spot” that just opened up in my section of Orange County.  That call led to a very interesting conversation.  Because of that conversation, I decided to write about my observations as a buyer, investor and Realtor©.

It turned out that one of my major competitors and two smaller ones were pulling their ad campaigns from his company’s website.  During the conversation, he made a funny comment.  He said, “It is just like all the agents have decided to roll over and die.  They are all giving up.”  That got me thinking.

He was right in more ways than he realized.  He was also missing the real issue.  It isn’t the agents that have died, it is the market.   Yes many agents are leaving the business, but that isn’t the big issue with todays Real Estate Market.

In the area I focus on, my “farm”, listings are nearly zero.  Three years ago there would have been 20-30 signs at any given time.  Last weekend, there were just four.  Three of these are simply over priced which will require a very willing cash buyer.  I even like one of the homes, but it is priced too high and out of my budget.  Three of these homes also have been on the market over a year, one of them over two years.  The home that has been on the market the longest is held open just about every weekend now.

That house is an odd case.  It really is a great home and it is in a great location.  The problem is that it is a “middle house”.  There are significantly nicer homes and a few “fixers”.  The cash investors are buying the “fixers” and the cash buyers are going for broke.  My guess is they agree with me on inflation.  I think Real Estate is a better hedge against long term inflation than gold.

In a high dollar market like Orange County California, there is another issue.  Lenders aren’t lending the way they used to.  The ratio’s that we as agents learned to use for the past five or ten years are no longer valid.  Higher credit scores are required just as much as lower payment ratio’s.  

Being self employed, my income is avaeraged.  When I bought my home, I had a 52% ratio. That means the day I bought the house, 52% of my take home pay was going to be used for the monthly payment.  While that sounds crazy, it really wasn’t, if I was right. 

The bet I made was that the market prices had bottomed, interest rates were near bottom and I was buying my home below market due to the sellers stress.  So far it looks like I was right or lucky.   I bought into this market with a fixed rate loan, and knew that my wife would be going back to work bringing the 52% closer to 40%.  

Today, that kind of loan isn’t going to happen.  A payment to income ratio with 40% of take home pay for the house payment would be considered quite high now.   A couple of the loan officers I talked to at the big banks are saying they would like to see 30-35% ranges.

If I were house shopping today that means that I wouldn’t be able to buy anything close to what I live in now.  

This is the root of the problem with the Real Estate Market, not the agents.

When you take out “liar loans” and cut the maximum payments, you can see why the average buyer isn’t buying.  You can also see why sellers aren’t selling.  Nobody can move up.  The few people who I am lucky enough to talk with about listing their home are usually moving inland to lower priced property or out of state because of our new taxes.

House prices are creeping upwards here in Orange County, and I believe this is due to simple inflation, not a recovering market.  Days on Market is usually a great indicator to tell the status of the market.  That number is dropping, which in “normal” markets would indicate a move to recovery.  In this case, it is merely a symptom of the shrinking Real Estate Market.

What does it all mean, and when will the market recover?

For buyers, it means you need to be prepared.  You need at least one if not two loans pre-approved before you even start shopping.  Why?  Because when your agent does find you that house, you’ll need to move quickly before the seller changes their mind or gets an offer from someone better prepared to buy.  Sellers that do sell aren’t playing games and have cash offers lining up.

For sellers, it means that you also need to be prepared.  You should clean up the house to get the most you can for it, and be ready to move when a good offer comes in.  You also need to be ready to find out the buyers really can’t buy.  Even two pre-approvals may not get a loan these days.  

Sellers also have the advantage of being able to select from many hungry agents who are getting back to work.   Some are still figuring out the new rules and others are out door knocking for listings.  Either way, sellers need to be careful.  An agent trying to sell a home under last years rules won’t get you the best price or deal you can get.

There are still a few lazy “experts” that live in an area and have a listing or two.  If you do a little homework before listing your home, they are easy to spot.  All you have to do is read their listings and look at the details.  Don’t select an agent because they are your friend or neighbor, select an agent who will work for you.

When other agents are looking at the wrong information on the MLS, your house is going to have a hard time selling.  Recently I previewed a property after receiving several calls about it.  From the MLS data, the home was a deal, and I had a cash buyer who would be very interested.  While doing my research, I found the listing agent listed the monthly land lease of $4,000 as the annual lease.  Even after I pointed out that he had understated the annual lease by $44,000 he left the listing as is.  $44,000 per year is an entirely different category of buyer in this market.

For agents, the 2013 Real Estate Market means you have to go to work.  Not work like 2006 where you could plug a sign in the ground, and write a contract.  Work like really knowing your buyer before ever start shopping for them.  Anyone can surf the internet and find houses.  Our job as agents is to represent the buyers and find them a home, investment and help them fulfill dreams.  Todays challenge isn’t selling a home, it is fighting for the listing.  

Working with buyers is a whole new dynamic of research.  Knowing your area is key, and knowing when to let go of a buyer is also a skill many have forgotten.  When buyers are willing to go anywhere, you can’t help them.  Even thirty year veterans like my mentor can’t know every area in Orange County.  

While all of this is bad news for the local Real Estate Boards, since membership will likely continue to decline for the next two years or so, it is good news for agents willing to work.  Full commissions will be justified as you become the expert helping buyers and sellers navigate the overload of information and correct the misinformation from the internet and the press.

Like all things, the 2013 Real Estate Market will come and go, and next year will be different.  For now, hold on, it is going to be a rough ride.

Authors Note: Scott Bourquin is a Real Estate Agent and investor with Keller Wiliams Realty in Newport Beach California representing the Orange County Coast.  Not all areas will experience the same Real Estate Market.

Real Estate Marketing Online

Real Estate has been in my blood since I was a little kid.  I never could understand why my dad always rented his buildings instead of buying them.  When I was many years younger, I entered the market during a major upturn and bought several properties which ended up creating a pretty significant cash flow problem for me.

Like all addicts, I couldn't let go of my real estate holdings no matter how much money I was paying for other people to live in them every month.  Then it happened. Positive cash flow.  The reason I have a real estate license stems from that first positive cash flow check.  That check got my wife hooked too.

Today I am still running my online marketing business full time and investing in real estate for my own use.  As an agent at Keller Williams Newport Estates, I am always looking for the "deal".  If I find something that I can't fund or isn't exactly what I am looking for, I have a few friends who are also investors, so I share the deals with them.

When I do find a deal, my friends can't figure out how I found it.  Once in a while one slips in that isn't a deal because the other agent "accidentally" listed the monthly land lease for the home as the annual lease.  That $35,000 per year "accident" made the property a smoking deal on paper, and a horrible deal at the table for an investor.  Showing the property I was admittedly embarrassed that I didn't catch the mistake before wasting my friends time.

My list of clients is only about 15 people at any given time.  I don't want any more because I can't possibly dig for that many deals, and if they are all after the same type of deal, who am I really working for?  I know agents that have a staff of people collecting names and information to send out emails and listings on a daily or weekly basis.  You need a lot of volume to pay for that, and these agents rarely find their clients a great deal.  They are usually closer to market pricing or emotional sales.

For me the emotion should be taken out by clearly defining what the buyer is looking for first.  When they say "I'll know it when I see it" they are saying one of two things.  Usually they mean "I don't have a clue what I want, or what is happening in the market so I want you to show me." or they mean "I don't trust you to find a place for me, I need to look at them all."

Before I was a licensed agent, I was in the second group.   I had so much trouble with agents I created an ap to help them "score" homes before they showed them to me.  The ap isn't yet for sale because I figured out some flaws while I was getting my real estate license.

The real secret to finding a deal is understanding how the internet works and understanding that most agents don't have a clue.  They put their best foot forward on the MLS and maybe on their website and then transition to what my friend and mentor Jeff Walker calls "Hope Marketing".  They hope that somebody stumbles across the home among the thousands of other homes in the area and makes an offer.

With all of the tools and resources out there that teach online marketing I am amazed at how little real estate agents really understand.  When I wrote The Easy Guide To Real Estate Marketing it was intended for brick and mortar businesses, but any agent with an office address can use the same tools.

The biggest mistake I see agents make is using generic auto email programs.  The "new listings" are sent out and eventually end up in the spam box.  The mass mailer approach might land one or two sales a year but just about every agent I talk to complains about the lack of buyer "loyalty".

Buyers don't want spam, they want an agent who listens and gets them the moon for the price of air fare to San Francisco.  The best buyers agents have to educate the buyer and put a lot of work into finding them a home.  In the Orange County coastal market today, there is a lack of inventory or homes for sale and a lack of buyers with the cash and desire to move.  Loans in this market are tough because the home values are still quite high when compared to the national average.

I realize for a solo agent working for a broker, hiring an SEO or online marketing company like the Bourquin Group can be prohibitively expensive.  On the other hand getting a copy of the book containing a big percentage of our secret sauce can be an investment in your business.  Don't get left behind and don't spam your buyers.  Get online and get marketing the right way today.

If you are selling a home, and don't feel like your agent is getting the job done, grab a copy of the book and help them out be doing a little marketing on your own.

The Big SECRET Of Buying A Foreclosure

With all of the information on the internet about buying a foreclosure, you wouldn't think there are any secrets left would you?  Now I have to ask, If there aren't any secrets, how come everybody isn't buying foreclosed houses at half price and getting rich?  There must be a secret to buying foreclosures.

Easy access to information online and a subtle change in the market have made for an interesting real estate market.  Right now many people are  getting information about foreclosures online without understanding what it means.  They look at NOD, REO and Foreclosure listings on sites like RealtyTrac.com and many consider them the same thing.  The first part of the secret to buying a foreclosure is understanding what these things are.

Last year the market was very different.  Stocks were up so investors were staying in the stock market.  One day, Warren Buffet says he would like to own thousands of single family homes and then investors started throwing money at real estate again.

At least once a week I get a call or a lead from a website that starts the conversation with "I want to buy one of those million dollar foreclosures for four hundred thousand that I saw on somecrazyforeclosuresite.com", when can I get one, and oh by the way it needs to be stunning, with a three car garage and ocean views."  Do those "foreclosure deals" exist is what they should be asking.

Under the right conditions, I can help you get one of those houses if you are ready to make a wholesale buy.  Otherwise, you might pay eight hundred thousand for a home that someone else paid over a million for.  The conversation then goes to NOD's and Pre-Foreclosures.  Everyone wants a deal and they think the deals are everywhere and they are for everyone.

Unlike most other markets, real estate presents a different level of risk.  Especially when it comes to speculation.   I usually start  with  "So, do you invest in stocks?" most of the time the answer is "Why?".  I then ask "Do you borrow money for investing in stocks on margin?"  That is usually followed by a puzzled look or silence on the phone.

When you buy a foreclosure site unseen and ask the bank to invest money, that is exactly what you are doing.  Right now, banks aren't really happy doing that kind of loan.  That is what "hard money" is for.

So what does all of this mean to you, and what is the Secret?

I said the first part of the Secret is understanding the terms.

1. NOD - Notice of Default - This is not a foreclosure.  All the filing of an NOD means is the banks told the homeowner that they aren't paying their mortgage and the bank would like their money.  They are also filing a copy at the county recorders office so they can eventually maybe someday start the actual foreclosure process.

Most of the NOD's filed are for people who are trying to get a better deal from their bank.  It is a tactic used to negotiate a reduction on the loan.

At this point about 1 out of 80 homes that get an NOD end up on the market, as a short sale, and at least a dozen agents will call in the first two weeks to get the listing.

2. Pre-Foreclosure.  This is where the home is easier to read.  By this point it is either for sale as a short sale and the owners are making an effort to get out, or they are running a gamble to see if the bank will go all the way to foreclosure.  The grey starts getting a little more black and white.  Picking up a house in this area that isn't already listed is highly unlikely.  I would put the odds in the 1000:1 range that you could convince an owner and a bank to sell you the house at a great price during this phase.

3. Foreclosure Auction Date Set - Well not really.  Even when the "auction date" is set a deal can be made and the home won't make it to auction or it can be delayed.

4. Foreclosure Auction - This is the cash only auction on the courthouse steps, not the auction at auction.com or Williamsauction.com.  Investors and banks bid for the house on that day.

At the auction there are two outcomes.  1. The bank bids to keep it or 2. An investors bids for it.

In the first case, this is where every agent that has a relationship with the bank scrambles to get the listing.  If the house is in good shape, the banks will clean it up to FHA standards and try to sell it at a "retail" price.  The home is good enough to get a loan on.

If the house is a dump, the bank then assigns a "wholesale" price, which is what investors are looking for. The house won't qualify for a "standard" or "FHMA compliant" bank loan.  You need cash or very expensive "hard money".  Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and are a good contractor, it is tough to get in as a wholesale buyer.

This is where the confusion is.  A lot of people think that they should be able to get a "normal" home loan and buy a house "as-is" and fix it up.   The reality right now is that banks are not allowed to, nor do they want to accept this risk.  The bank doesn't want to get the dump back and go through all of this again.  It is expensive.

This is where information without understanding is a problem.  People spend dozens of hours scouring sites to get a "deal",  and then they call an agent because they don't understand that buying wholesale houses is a business, not a hobby.  If you are going to borrow "hard money" at very high interest rates, you have to be dead on your budget and flip the house quick or get a good tenant in there fast.

Bursting The Bubble.

So now the big answer.  There isn't a secret.  When you see an investor make $5,000, $50,000 or even $500,000 on a deal, they didn't just work that deal.  They likely worked hundreds or even thousands of deals and offers to make some good money.  The more they practice, the better they get.  Like Art Williams says, they "Do It" a lot.

The big risk is that you might not make money for a while.  Day trading, you might make money in an hour, with home flipping or investing in can take weeks or years.  When you leverage with other peoples money. The upside percentages can be phenomenal and the downside can be devastating.

That isn't to say you shouldn't buy Real Estate.  There are always great deals once you learn the business, and with interest rates under 4% I feel strongly that it is time to buy.  Last year when I posted that the market had bottomed in Orange County along the coast, I dove in head first and bought the most expensive house I could afford at a short sale. 

So how can you put this market to work for you?

If you have the patience, the best way to come close to a wholesale deal is to buy a short sale.  A short sale means that you are going to buy the house for less than the bank is owed for it.  The average in Orange County CA is just under 300 days right now from open to close on a short sale.  Nationally it was 308 days last month.  That is why you need patience.  As a general rule, the closer you are to the amount owed, the faster the sale happens.

The bottom line is if you need to move anytime soon and are using the banks money, my advice is find the best house you can afford and be happy.  If you have some time and would like to trade that time for equity while hoping the loan rates don't jump up, take a shot at a short.  Finally if you have cash and aren't a professional investor, buy wholesale very carefully with an agent who has been an investor themselves.

Happy Hunting.

Waterfront Auction Ends Today

The current real estate market can have some real interesting deals happen.  In the go-go days of 2004-2006, super luxury and unique homes were auctioned off quickly and easily.  Today many auctions don't even attract a buyer if the home is over $1MM.  Other times the banks are putting such a high reserve that nothing happens.  


I am not talking about the foreclosure auctions on the courthouse steps, rather I am talking about the big auction houses online and offline.  Last year I was the high bidder on several properties with bids under $50,000 and the banks wouldn't let me have them.  That was my first clue the market was turning, or at least the banks thought they could stop the dive by not letting homes go so cheap.  I don't know why they stopped taking any bid but they did, and it has been that way ever since for homes that are a FHA qualifying prices.


When you break $1 Million though, the rules are still all over the board.  Family greed and squabbles do funny things at estate auctions.  For probate, the courts are just telling the trustees to sell, and I am seeing some movement in those markets.  Even the short sales of homes over $800,000 have seen a decrease in the average closing times.  So where does that leave us today?


In Corona Del Mar California I have been watching a certain auction with a keen sense of interest.  Originally the property was listed at $14 Million, then over time lowered to $9.9 Million.  As an agent in the area $9.9 Million was a good starting point but it had been on the market so long the buyers just weren't interested for whatever reason.


The trustee decided to send it to Auction.  The property is one of the few original ocean front homes left in Southern California that hasn't been knocked down.  Walking the property I could clearly envision a new Tuscan style home featuring a subterranean garage.  I started emailing all of my clients who might consider such a project.  No interest at all.  One said "That isn't where the money is going."  Now I knew this would be interesting.  That came from a pretty savvy investor.

After really walking the property, and noticing all of the little details.  Details like the kitchen with the polished concrete floor still scarred by the tile squares, and the white washed wood vaulted ceiling in the master, and the 1960's style electrical light dimmers with clear switch plates, my wife looks at me and says "I could live here just like this."  With the opening price of $5.5 Million, it was clearly out of this weeks budget so I knew it wasn't going to happen at this auction.  I put a couple more feelers out to my friends who could write a check like this while I was admiring the view from the back yard.

My wife is always the romantic when it comes to homes and real estate.  I am generally more business.  Somehow I started to picture myself sitting in a wicker style chair writing my next book on the back lawn overlooking the Pacific.  I wrote my first book sitting on a balcony of my Texas McMansion overlooking a lagoon pool with a tropical garden as the backdrop.  How much cooler would it be to be sitting on a cliff above the Pacific writing that next book that is swirling around my head.

As I checked in this morning, the property was just approaching $6.0MM.  As an investor, that is still a bargain with a lot of room to make money.  As I write this there are just over 10 hours to go so I am interested to see if this is like poker and the two real bidders are waiting in the wings to make a snipe attempt at the end or if some lucky person is going to get a once in a lifetime buy on this land.

If I could just get that big advance for the next book or find a .05% interest only 5 year loan, I would buy it for $6.0MM and worry about it later, and that just isn't how I do business, there is something romantic about this property.

If you want to see it or bid on it in the next 10 hours, call me.

This Weekend In PCH Real Estate

This week in Real Estate along PCH in SoCal offered some interesting new listings and a change that I will be following closely.  The biggest change for me of course was bringing my marketing and business skills on board with my wife at Keller-Williams.  I have officially made the move from investor to agent/investor.


Back the the weekend notes, I found some interesting things, starting at the north end of OC.  The Seal Beach super home offered for $12 Million appears to have been taken off the market already.  After personally seeing the house,  I wish I still had the sheiks financial advisors number.  The house was fit for a king.  In fact I am still digging hoping to find that business card just in case. 


At the same time at the south end of my area in Corona Del Mar, not one but two Cameo Shores tear downs hit the market empty and running.  This is something I haven't seen in the nearly three years I have been monitoring the Cameo Shores and Cameo Highlands areas.  Just 18 months ago I was trying to put together an offer just under $2.0MM for a home that didn't even have a view just to get into that area.  The home sold before i could get a lender to commit.

The big news starts with an ocean front home sitting on a stunning lot that is going to auction.  It was originally listed at $14MM and had no takers for over 6 months.  The tax value is very low indication an original owner, so I am guessing the family for whatever reason just wants to sell it and get the money.  


The Auction information lists a starting price of $5.5MM making the property a smoking bargain.  The agent dropped the price to $9.9MM before the seller agreed to auction off the house.  If you are interested in more information call me, and I'll get you the details on bidding.  There are some great architects and builders in the area that could turn this property into a once in a lifetime buy.  

I think the lot at $5.5MM is a deal beacuse you could knock down the house or live in it.  There aren't many lots for sale at a price like this that include a livable house.  Just up the street off the water is a another original house with some great ocean views for $2.5MM.  

Having two homes in Cameo Shores at lot pricing isn't something that happens every day and both of them will likely sell this week unless the ocean front home has a high reserve at auction.  For those of you that don't know Cameo Shores, it boasts one of California's few private beaches.  There are three access points for the homes that are off water.  Several waterfront homes have a private path to the water.  

Both of the properties have a great opportunity to build some stunning subterranean space and create a very unique finished property.  For the short term the property might not be a huge profit move for an investor, but givin the current market changes, I'd bet my commission that by the time the new houses are finished they will be money makers.

Some time ago I said the sub $1MM bottom had hit Orange County, and the numbers are backing that.  Above $1MM there is still a lot of concern and homes are all over the board.  

In between Seal Beach and CDM there are a couple of nice new waterfront listings in the Huntington Harbor.  More than once I have heard the Huntington Harbor called the "half price Newport Harbor".  This might be true, a nice waterfront home with Viking Appliances and a 50 foot boat dock came on the market this week for $1.975MM.  Less than the price of the knockdown with a view in Newport. 

For buyers in the $1MM-$5MM market there are some deals to be had, digging for deals below $1MM is getting tougher every day.  Word on the street is the auctions have dried up at the courthouse and the banks are holding out.

If you are thinking of buying or selling along the coast in OC give me a call.  If you see something else happening, let me know your thoughts.