What Comes Out of the ‘Black Hole’

my-las-flores-e28094_1235703949433

After years in this business, my husband has learned a few realities about my business: “I just have to return this one phone call.”  Translation: 30 minutes and several phone calls. “I just have to run down to my office and shoot out a quick email.”  Translation: 20 + minutes in the office. “I’ll be [...]

The Stimulus Plan -Big Miss for Orange County

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan was recently released.  It attempts to address some of the issues that the current housing market is struggling with and I have been through some of the details and as it currently is written, I’m disappointed. Near the end of December last year I posted the article about about [...]

Snow in Orange County?

Okay – maybe not technically snow but it sure looked like it.  This mornings hail storm was photographed and posted on Twitter by @dawnmiller.  Thanks Dawn for allowing me to share your cool photos. These were taken in Lake Forest in South Orange County (click on them for the full view):

The Bottom – Are We There Yet?

Country road

Remember those long car rides that seemed to last forever?  I used to pester my poor parents with the tired question, “Are we there yet?”  As a mother to 3 kids, 10 and under, I’m now on the receiving end of that tired question. This Orange County real estate market is one of those long [...]

The Numbers Are Telling You a Story

One of the things that I constantly talk about on OC Voice, is the need to be an educated buyer or seller.  My goal is always to provide information that helps to educate my readers about what trends we are seeing – without putting you to sleep.  Heck – I still want you to keep [...]

Break Out the Crystal Ball

Crystal Ball

The Orange County Register has recently posted a series of predictions about the future of the real estate market in Orange County – Eyeball 2009.  The predictions are from local experts, economists, and Realtors.  If you’re interested in the varies perspectives – take a look at the various links provided below. I’ll share with you [...]

Santa Ana Winds – They’re Back

Windy Day

I love variations in weather and believe it or not, 75 degrees and sunny, day-in-and-day-out bores me.  But Santa Ana winds are never a welcome sight. Last night, my youngest woke with a fever.  We knew she had come down with something yesterday during the Charger/Steeler game (yeah Steelers! – but that’s another post), but [...]

Microscope on the Market – Rancho Santa Margarita

Microscope on the Market

When you are looking to buy a home in Orange County, or anywhere else for that matter, it is critical to drill down into the numbers for the sector of the market that you are looking at.  Orange County numbers are wonderful benchmarks to know, but our market is made up also of submarkets within [...]

2008 Housing Review and 2009 Predictions

Steven Thomas, President of Altera Real Estate recently released his latest Orange County Housing Report and it is definitely worth taking the time to review if you are curious about how the 2008 housing market finished and the possible outlook for 2009. It’s a very comprehensive summary. I would encourage you to review the charts [...]

Here’s to 2009!

new-years

I have to say that I’m not too devastated to see that 2008 has come to an end. There was so much turmoil this year in the housing and financial markets, politics, world events and it’s psycologically comforting to have a fresh start. A lot has changed for me this year. I launched this blog, [...]