Smithcliffs Laguna Beach

One of the most unique and historic property landmarks in all of the Laguna Beach is arguably Pyne Castle.  The 17 bedroom estate was originally built in 1931 and is truly one of the most amazing properties located in Southern California.  It would be similar to a Hertz Castle but located much closer to the beach.  It last seen on the market back in 2012 which is pretty amazing to see such an amazing property being listed for sale.  The castle itself is huge with an estimated 18,300 square feet of living space located on multiple levels according to our multiple listing service.  It features a total of 9 attached garages and located on a multi acre lot which is amazing when you think how valuable land is here in California by the beach.

The area where

One of the newest features added to our MLS is being able to view coming soon listings.  These properties are technically not active on the market and are in the pre-marketing stage of being put on the market.  The coming soon feature was added so agents can get there home available to other real estate agents and potential clients while they are getting their professional photos and other marketing materials together.  The advantage of doing it this way for agents is that the days on the market will not start counting until it's officially switches to active.  If you have been familiar with real estate for awhile these were commonly known as pocket listings where real estate agents would only share these potential properties to clients they are currently

One of the hottest trends right now are 3D virtual home tours.  Since most showings are very limited agents in Laguna Beach are now making sure they every listing they have on the market comes with a virtual tour.  We checked all of the recent listings in Laguna Beach that have come on the market in the last week and every single one had a virtual tour.  The most popular virtual tour company by far is by Matterport which shows a 3D image of the property as if you were looking above the house and allows the consumer to walk through every single room as if they were at the house.  This makes a lot of sense since we have been getting a lot of calls lately of potential buyers asking for the virtual tour links of any given property.

One of the additional

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

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

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

Laguna Beach offers a wide variety of properties from majestic ocean front homes located above the crashing waves to small beach cottages located in the heart of the city.  We often get requests for clients looking for homes that offer a guest casita.  This is typically done to accommodate extend family members who prefer to have separate living quarters from the regular part of the house.  It's also ideal for those have have many friends and visitors to the home who want to stay in private accomodations.  As you can image with all the high end luxury homes that exist in Laguna Beach many of the guest houses can be very elaborate and offer the ultimate in luxury living.  

A good example of this is a home that's currently on the market in the gated

The North Laguna area of Laguna Beach has many ocean front homes and neighborhoods to choose from. North Laguna has traditionally been a bid draw for residents who live here due to the large upscale homes that reside along the coastline. Some of the largest and most expensive neighborhoods are also located here which include Smithcliffs, Irvine Cove and Emerald Bay. When looking for an ocean front property it’s important to keep these things in mind.

First, do you want to live in a gated community? This is one of the first questions we ask clients when they start their real estate search in Laguna. If the answer is yes, then this narrows the search down tremendously since there are only a few gated communities that exist in Laguna Beach. In South

Smithcliffs ocean front homes rarely come on the market in Laguna Beach due to the small nature of the community.  A total of 6 properties occupy the bluff front area with a total 21 homes located in the gated community called "Smithcliffs."  The neighborhood is very discrete and situated just south of Emerald Bay, one of the most publiziced ocean front communities in Laguna Beach.  As you can image when these prized properties come on the market they do command a premium in price.

This week a new oceanfront residence has come on the market for $33 million and is ideally situated in the middle of the Smithcliffs bay with unobstructed views of the ocean and occupies two ocean front lots!  One of the home's best selling points is the outdoor pool and