Real Estate Information Archive

One of the area’s most popular attractions, the Mission San Juan Capistrano is located on Ortega Highway about an hour south of Los Angeles. Orange County’s only Mission, the site documents and preserves over 230 years of Native, Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. history. It also serves as a fun and educational resource for visitors of all ages. People from all over southern California travel to the Mission to discover bygone eras and to take part in various special events such as the Saint Joseph’s Day celebration and the annual battle of the Mariachis festival.

Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1775 by Father Lasuen in order to bring Christianity to the Native peoples of California. Natives were encouraged to join the Mission and convert to the Spanish Catholic way of life. By 1806, the Mission’s population had grown to over 1,000 people.

Over the next several decades, however, the Mission suffered a decline due to natural disaster, illness, and Mexican rule. Things began to improve slightly after the U.S. won the Mexican American War in 1848, and several territories, including California, became part of the United States. By the early 1900s, a number of artists, photographers, visionaries, and wealthy individuals had taken an interest in the decaying site. Restoration and preservation efforts began in earnest in the 1910s and continued throughout the 1940s.

Today, the preserved adobe Mission serves as a historic landmark and museum. It sits on 10 acres of grounds and gardens and features audio tours, educational tour booklets, exhibits, and historical re-enactments. Daily activities include Koi fish feeding, guided tours, and the Mission’s award winning audio tour. (There’s even one for children) Native American Basket Weaving takes place on the first and third Wednesdays of every month, and on weekends, visitors can pan for gold and make their own adobe bricks.

Museum exhibits change frequently, so there’s always something new to discover, such as the historic artifacts, rare paintings, and religious documents featured in the August Mission Treasures exhibit. Depending on the time of year, visitors also can enjoy the Mission’s outdoor concert series, Music Under the Stars, or spend an adventurous night camping on the museum’s grounds.

Veterans and current military get free admission on Labor Day weekend. For more information, including current hours and exhibits, visit the Mission at http://www.missionsjc.com/.

Wish you could experience the thrill of flying an F-16 Fighter Jet or a Boeing 737-700? Now you can, at Flightdeck, Anaheim’s most popular flight simulation center.

Consistently rated one of the top 10 things to do in Orange County, Flightdeck’s flight simulation center features nine fighter jet simulations and one Boeing 737-700 flight simulator.

Whether you want to take control of a commercial jet or fight in air-to-air combat while maneuvering in the air at 600 knots, Flightdeck has the experience for you. Inexperienced pilots typically start with the FOX-1 Mission flight. Returning customers can experience the FOX-2 Mission, which builds on FOX-1 and includes additional air-to-ground combat. FOX-2 pilots have their choice of eight different aircraft, including the F-14 Tomcat and the MIG-29. Both missions are 45 minutes long.

Customers looking to experience an increased challenge can participate in the three-hour Viper-1 program. After three blocks of highly personalized instruction, pilots test their ability to perform a combined skills flight in a simulated combat environment. Training includes taxi and take-off, formation take-off, basic landing procedures, air combat maneuvers, air-to-air munitions, target acquisition, SAM Missile avoidance, and more.

While the majority of Flightdeck’s simulations are for one pilot only, parents and children, couples, and friends can ride together in Flightdeck’s newest addition: the F-111. This exciting new simulation takes place in an actual F-111 Fighter Bomber cockpit known as the “Aardvark.” Co-pilots sit side-by-side as they fight to avoid opponents, stay in the air, and hunt for bogeys. (Minimum age with adult supervision is 7)

Always dreamed of flying a commercial jet? Check out the 30, 60, and 90-minute options available for Flightdeck’s 737 flight simulator. The true-to-life, 180-degree wrap-around screen lets you see the world through a real pilot’s eyes, as you taxi, take off, climb, cruise, descend, and land in the midst of a variety of weather conditions. Experienced flight instructors guide you through the basic controls and teach you how to go through the pre-flight inspection. The 90-minute package may include an in-flight emergency and/or a diversion to another airport. With the 737-700 simulator, anything’s possible! 

Classroom training and in-flight instruction take place before each simulation to ensure participants get the most out of each experience. Group events, including birthday parties, bachelor parties, and corporate team building exercises, are available. Pilots must be at least 11 years old and 4’11” tall, unless accompanied by a parent in the F-111. Reservations by telephone are required. For additional information, visit Flightdeck at http://www.flightdeck1.com/.

A jump in home sales this summer indicates that Orange County’s housing slump may finally be coming to an end. According to housing tracker DataQuick Information Systems, sales were up 25.7% in July 2012 compared to July 2011 – that’s the biggest percentage gain the local market has seen in approximately 40 months. And, the boom isn’t isolated to a single area. According to the data, home buying rose in 80% of Orange County zip codes.

Market observers speculate that lower inventory – particularly of distressed properties that have been discounted in price – is driving the jump in purchases. Foreclosures, for example, accounted for only 13.2% of recent Orange County transactions. When compared to a historical average of 26% per month for the past four-and-a-half years, this indicates a significant decrease in supply. And, it’s that lack of supply that’s likely driving up prices.

While demand is highest for homes priced under $300,000, the median price for an Orange County home was $450,000 in July. And, thanks to a stabilizing market, low interest rates, and an increase in “normal” (that is, non-distressed) sales and purchases, most experts expect the upswing in real estate sales and prices to continue.

"Homebuyer confidence has returned ... and low borrowing rates and rents are attracting investment at higher than normal levels," Orange County Association of Realtors President Maria Elena Banks told The Orange County Register. "Buyers are jumping off (the fence) to follow investors, lured by low rates and the sense that prices will rise in the future as the economy improves."

Based on the data, it seems now may be the best time to buy or sell a home in years.

Lease agreements may not seem like much of a newsworthy topic, but here in Orange County, the word that Amazon is moving to town is spreading like wildfire!

The location in question is the Spectrum Building at 40 Pacifica in Irvine. This high-end office building, until last year, was the home of an FDIC satellite office. The FDIC, as you may recall, has been in charge of swooping into communities to clean up the messes that the recent financial crisis has left behind. Namely, this “clean up” has been in the form of managing receiverships and liquidating the assets of failed financial institutions.

However, last year the FDIC elected not to renew its lease in the Spectrum Building, freeing up about 110,000 square feet of office space. And according to CoStar Group Inc., a2z Development (a unit of Amazon) is set to move into the building in July of 2012.

So Why is This Such Good News?

The fact that the FDIC no longer feels it is necessary to maintain an office in Orange County is a clear sign of improving health in the financial sector—significantly helping to lift the cloud of economic doubt in Orange County. But even more exciting is how filling up that office space with the likes of a2z Development will positively impact the local economy. For starters, this means a boost in jobs. In fact, the a2z Development website has already listed openings for over a dozen jobs in its new Orange County office. This inlcudes positions for game designers, lead engineers and software developers.

A boost in jobs in Orange County could very well translate into an influx of new homebuyers, which is very good news for the health of Orange County real estate. Moreover, Amazon’s continued presence in Orange County will likely bolster the local economy, as Amazon and Amazon employees bring money into the community—also great news for Orange County real estate!

According to research conducted by Steve Thomas at Reports On Housing, the active inventory for Orange County homes is falling dramatically for both standard sales and distressed properties.

Typically, homes come on the market faster than they go into escrow; thus, the active inventory increases, but that hasn’t been the case in 2012. The current active listing inventory shed 226 homes in the past two weeks and now totals 7,597, which is 3,081 fewer than last year. The media hasn’t quite caught up to reporting on all of the activity; so, for the most part, homeowners have been shielded from the fact that the market is extremely hot.

The decrease in the availability of distressed homes is a particularly big surprise to many homebuyers who have been reading for months about foreclosure properties and short sales, but as Thomas points out, “The distressed inventory continues to drop like a rock.”

With less inventory and increased demand, the expected market time for Orange County has dropped to a mere 2.1 months. That is the lowest level in 78 months, back in August 2005. This is completely unprecedented for this time of year.

So far in 2012, Orange County’s active distressed inventory, both short sales and foreclosures, has dropped by 644 homes, or 20%, in just six weeks. Currently, distressed inventory represents 33% of the active inventory, and foreclosures are the hottest segment of the current market.

Just about every buyer wants to purchase a foreclosure, yet there are only 489 in all of Orange County, just 6% of the total inventory. In the past two weeks, the foreclosure inventory dropped by 57 homes and now totals 489, the lowest level since May 2010. With so few homes on the market, short sales are being swept up almost as fast as they hit the market.