Laguna Beach Real Estate Blog

Laguna Beach offers a wide range of homes with various amenities that capture views of the Pacific Ocean.  One of the more requested amenities would be homes that offer a roof top deck.  For the most part we don't see a lot of homes that offer a roof top deck for a variety of reasons.  The first reason would be that views in Laguna Beach are protected so by adding an additional level on top of the house to build a roof top deck may block a neighbors view.  Laguna Beach also has height restrictions when building a home so adding a roof top deck will count towards the total height allowance.  

Some of the best places to look for homes with rooftop decks are more established neighborhoods that have space between the neighboring homes in order to

There has never been a better time to buy an ocean front condo in the famous Table Rock complex.  Inventory always tends to be very low in this complex due to the small number of oceanfront condos that are in existence here.  Right now, buyers have 4 condo listings to choose from in Table Rock that offer spectacular ocean views in arguably one of the best locations in Laguna Beach.  Real Estate prices start at $2,650,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with 1,136 square feet and direct ocean front views to as high as $4,999,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with 1,371 square feet.  What separates these price points is the location within the complex, size of the unit and condition as far as upgrades to the condos, etc.  3 of the 4 new listings have been on

Buying a home in Laguna Beach can be tricky when deciding on which neighborhood to live and the best time to buy.  There are pros and cons to buying at different times of the year in Laguna Beach and often depends on how the current real estate market is doing.  It's first important to establish if the market is a buyers or a seller's market.  A buyers market means that homes will sit on the market longer than usual.  Buyers don't have to rush into buying a home and can often negotiate with the seller off the listing price.  In a seller's market properties are selling very fast and the owners are in control on who they sell it and the price they think the market will bear.  

Most of the homes in Laguna Beach will come on the market between January

Emerald Bay is widely considered one of the top communities in Laguna Beach due to it's private beach and secure guard gated entrance.  For many, this is a popular vacation rental destination as select properties are available for a short term lease of 30 days.  What many don't realize is that there is an extra cost to rent a home here that deals directly with the community.

Before you rent a home in Emerald Bay you must fill out and submit and an Emerald Bay Tenant Application.  This basically goes over the address that you will be renting, the start and end date, names of who will be living there, contact info and number of vehicles associated with the rental.  What many people don't realize is that there is a cost paid to the Emerald Bay community

Laguna Beach is a great place to find smaller one bedroom apartments that are available for a Long Term lease.  Long Term leases usually start at 12 month period as the landlord wants to make sure that the tenant is a good match for them and likewise the landlord is a good fit for the tenant.  Normally after this period of time a long term lease can be negotiated.  We often get requests for tenants looking for a 2 or 3 year lease period but in Southern California most landlords will not initially sign such a long contract with a tenant whom they have had no dealings with in the past.  This is pretty much how it's done in California so we recommend starting out with a one year lease and making a decision after that time whether to renew the lease or not.

Laguna Sands arguably offers one of the best oceanfront locations in Laguna Beach with condos located just steps to the sandy beach.  Condos are available here for both sale and for lease and provide residents with quintessential beach living.  We get a lot of calls for both buyers and renters interested in living in Laguna Sands and wanting to know the pet policy.  The Laguna Sands complex does allow for pets will the following guidelines.  The general guideline from the association management company has been set to be no more than 2 pets per residence.  This number is open to variance and is up to the association to make that decision for that number to be less or more for any resident.  The association also has say on to the size and weight limit of

Living in Laguna Beach gets you accustomed to many architectural styles that include Mediterranean, Spanish and lots of Contemporary homes.  One of the few architectural styles you don't commonly see is a home built in a Farmhouse style.  A new listing has come on the market in the Smithcliffs gated community in Laguna Beach and is described as being built in the French Farmhouse architectural style.  I have to admit I have never heard of a French Farmhouse architecture before but after doing some research I learned that it derives inspiration from the French Country style which offers a relaxed but elegant style with vaulted ceilings and top of the line finishes.  Often the walls and valued ceilings are painted white to make the space feel even bigger.

When Real Estate agents take a listing it is usually for a 6 or 12 month period.  Of course, this can be any length of time that the owner wants as we have seen it as short as one month when the owner really wants to get it sold right away.  After this set amount of time when the property does not sell it goes off the market and is considered an "expired listing."  Be prepared when this happens as dozens of real estate agents who's sole job is to call on expired listings will start calling you non-stop the morning after the home expires.  

These agents make a living trying to convince owners why their home didn't sell and to use them the next time around.  What most seller's don't realize is that these types of agents have very good phone skills but

The Laguna Lido has recently updated their pet policy when it comes to those who are planning to rent a condo in the complex.  This includes those looking to do a long term lease and those looking for vacation rentals as well.  According to several owners in the building the policy does not effect owners who live there as they are still allowed to have pets.  The rule takes aim at those looking to rent at the Laguna Lido as renters are not allowed to have pets.  We recently had some clients who were looking to rent the property for one month in the summer time and were told by multiple owners that the new policy does not allow for them to have pets, only for the owners.

Located on the oceanfront, the Laguna Lido is widely considered one of the top

Laguna Beach has a wide variety of homes from oceanfront mansions to modern ocean view homes.  While the large majority of homes are located near the beach there are also some homes located in a canyon setting outside of town.  The Canyon Acres community is one such neighborhood that embodies the life of country living while still being located within an easy 10 to 15 minutes to the beach depending on traffic.  Homes were first built here starting in 1926 when a small 2 bedroom, 1 bath cottage was built here.  Soon after that in the following 10 years several more 2 bedroom beach cottages were built that often featured around 1,000 square feet of living space.  Over the years, especially in the 1950's and 60's is when you started to see the development of