Laguna Beach Real Estate

We recently had a client who was interested in purchasing a condo in the Laguna Lido complex in Laguna Beach.  The listing had mentioned that the condo was on a leasehold interest.  The listing broker remarks on the listing goes on to say that the "Sellers (Lessees) have the LEASE HOLD Interest until 2059". It goes on to say that the "Lessee pays for HOA, Annual Lease fee of $11,643,21. plus Taxes, Insurance and Utilities. At the end of lease Term, Lease Hold Interest reverts back to Lessor."  Our client wanted to get more information on this since they thought they say some other listings in the Laguna Lido that did not have leasehold interest so we did some checking.  After reviewing previous listings in this complex we noticed a fair number of units

We were just contacted by a client who is looking for off market condos in the Laguna Beach area.  Her main criteria is that she wanted a condo with spectacular views with a lot of building amenities.  Right now is considered our off season as many owners have decided to take their home off the market for the holidays.  Our typical selling season starts right after the first of the year and continues through the end of September.  The months of October, November and December are normally slower even through homes continue to sell just at a slower pace.  Even though a lot of owners take their home off the market for the holidays doesn't mean that they don't want to sell anymore.  A good real estate agent will have access to these properties and be able to

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

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

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.

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.

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

Buying a lot and building your own custom home is a dream for many who want to put their own stamp on where they live.  With the high real estate prices in Laguna Beach it sometimes does make financial sense to buy a lot and build your dream home.  Like many coastal cities in Southern California the process of designing and preparing to build the home can take the most time and energy.  This is especially true for the city of Laguna Beach which has some of the toughest planning rules and regulations that must be followed before getting the final approval.  There are many rules that are unique to Laguna Beach which makes it tough for outsiders to quickly build a home.  First, there is view protection which allows surrounding neighbors to petition if they

What a record year for home sales in Laguna Beach this year.  With a strong economy and comes record sales for ocean front properties with 3 home sales over $30 million dollars this year.  The 3 sales occurred in the communities of Irvine Cove and Victoria Beach.  The three properties are not new to the market as they have been on the market at previous times but what makes this unique is that all 3 homes sold in the same calendar year for record prices, all with commanding ocean front views.  2018 was a great year for real estate in Laguna Beach and here is a quick recap of the most expensive homes sold in Laguna Beach.

Two of the three sales occurred in the Irvine Cove community.  First, 2471 Riviera Drive sold for $35,820,000 after being on the