Coastal OC Living Blog

Corona del Mar Zoning Map

Stacey — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:15:52 +0000

A common question received from clients and those I meet at open houses in Corona del Mar is about the zoning of Corona del Mar. The Village area is a bit unusual in that it is dominated by R-2 zoning, resulting in a large percentage of duplex living. I estimate that about 75% of the Corona del Mar Village is zoned R-2 with the remaining 25% zoned R-1. So, the next question is where is the R-1 and R-2 zoning? I put together this map in order to illustrate the zoning of the Corona del Mar Village. If you find it helpful, please let me know. If you require further assistance in locating a property in Corona del Mar, I’m happy to help.

Market Condition Report – Coastal Orange County | April 2008

Stacey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:15:13 +0000

April’s Market Conditions Report for the Coastal Orange County market provides a 60 day snap shot for both single family residence’s and condos, broken down by area within Coastal Orange County. Special thanks to DJ Bibb of Ticor Title for providing the statistics.

The areas featured are:

Balboa Peninsula
East Bluff/Harbor View
West Bay
West Newport /Lido
Lower Newport-Balboa
Crystal Cove
Corona del Mar
Newport Coast
Laguna Village
North Laguna
South Laguna
Shady Canyon

The April 2008 Market Conditions Report continues to show a slow down in sales in the Coastal Orange County area although the slow down has “slowed” slightly since last months report, down to -41% vs -45% last month. So, the “spring pickup” in the market appears to be arriving as annually expected. As for the strongest sales in the region, Laguna Village continues to have the highest number of solds per month and the hightest % of listings selling. East Bluff and Harbor View has picked up steam over last months report. For the condos, Corona del Mar continues to have strong activity with the highest number of solds per month and tied for the highest % of listings selling along with East Bluff/Harbor View and North Laguna.

Surterre Properties eWaste Event – Saturday April 12th

Stacey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:48:48 +0000

Surterre Properties is hosting its quarterly eWaste event this Saturday, April 12th. If you have any electronic equipment that you want to safely discard, just drive through our eWaste drive and we’ll remove it from you car and make sure it is recycled for you! For further details about this weekends eWaste event in Laguna Beach, follow this link: eWaste Event – April 2008

Market Condition Report for Coastal Orange County – March 2008

Stacey — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:44:47 +0000

In a new monthly feature, I will be posting a Market Conditions Report for the Coastal Orange County market. The report provides a 60 day snap shot for both single family residence’s and condos, broken down by area within Coastal Orange County. Special thanks to DJ Bibb of Ticor Title for providing the statistics.

The areas featured are:

Balboa Peninsula
East Bluff/Harbor View
West Bay
West Newport /Lido
Lower Newport-Balboa
Crystal Cove
Corona del Mar
Newport Coast
Laguna Village
North Laguna
South Laguna
Shady Canyon

The March 2008 report shows (not surprisingly) that the Coastal Orange County area is experiencing a slow down in sales (45% fewer year to date than last year). However, the report also offers us the opportunity to see what areas are doing best in the current market conditions. For single family residences, it appears that Laguna Village is selling the best with the highest number of solds per month and the hightest % of listings selling. For the condos, Corona del Mar has the most activity with the highest number of solds per month and the highest % of listings selling.

Best Buys: Week of 3.3.08

Stacey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:43:30 +0000

This is the first of a series of posts designed to give curious readers some insight into a few of the properties that are the best buys in coastal Orange County for the week. For each property listed, I have provided a link to further MLS information on the property (if available), and the reasons why the property has made this weeks list. For further information about any of the properties, please contact me at 949.885.6497 or sharmon@surterreproperties.com.

*Please note that links to properties expire 10 days from post date*

406 Signal Road – Cliffhaven, Newport Beach. Listed $2,595,000
- Largest and newest offering in the price range of $2,495,000 – $2,695,000 in all of Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar or Newport Coast
- The only brand new custom home available in Cliff Haven
- The best value in all of Newport Heights & Cliff Haven ($455/sq. ft.)
320 Vista Trucha – The Bluffs, Newport Beach. Listed at $1,000,000
- Short sale – bank will look at all reasonable offers
- 5 bedrooms
- 2,800 square feet
1982 Port Albans – Harbor View Homes, Newport Beach. Listed at $1,399,000.
- Lowest price home in the neigborhood (one of the best neighborhoods in Newport Beach)
- Current owner bought the property for $1,595,000 in April ’06

Green Moving Resources

Stacey — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:28:20 +0000

One of the benefits of working with Surterre Properties, coastal Orange Counties premier green residential brokerage, is the awesome vendor contacts I’ve made in the green moving space. I’m have been so impressed with the professionalism, focus on customer service, and eco-friendly products and services of these vendors that I put together the following PDF in order to share with my clients: Green Moving Resources

My clients have had great experiences with these vendors – I trust that you will too. Tell them I sent you!

OC Green Guide

Stacey — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:10:33 +0000

Looking for local, Orange County based companies that are eco-focused? Finally, a great resource for Orange County specific green companies has been created: The OC Green Guide

The site states: “Born out of necessity, OC Green Guide was developed for those who need a convenient and concise guide to all things ‘green’ in Orange County. Where once there was often fruitless guess work in finding a non-toxic paint source, the latest organic restaurant or even a local source for solar panels; our OC Green Guide provides you with a fast and accurate way to track down all that Orange County has to offer in terms of green and organic businesses and services.”

What a great resource for those of us who are interested in living greener!

Recycling Trials and Tribulations

Stacey — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:05:00 +0000

As I begin to make progress on my green New Year’s resolutions, I have found that as simple as #1 – “Recycle at home” seems, it has come with a few implementation snags. It started with being unable to find the answers to basic questions.First, does my city (Costa Mesa) auto-recycle for me? There is a rumor out there that yes, it does. I’ve heard it from several people, but when I tried to verify this via my municipality’s web site, no such luck. This leads me to wonder if the “people” I hear this from are simply using this as an excuse to not recycle. So, I’ve decided “better safe than wasteful”, and committed to recycling in my home (at least I’ll get some of the CRV money back, right?!).My next question came about when I tried to decide how many compartments I needed for my home in support of my 2008 recycling efforts. I wasn’t clear if I needed just one bin for waste and one bin for recyclables, or if I needed to pre-sort my recyclables into categories such as plastics, paper, and metals. Amazing that this isn’t an easier question to answer…again, my local waste management company certainly doesn’t seem to think this is a FAQ. So, I consulted my personal green guru (I encourage everyone to get one), and learned that waste management facilities have sophisticated sorting equipment that tends to eliminate the need for me to pre-sort my recycables. Excellent news! One extra bin (in addition to my current trash bin) it is.

Finding the bin was a fun challenge. Of course, I’d prefer a stylish recycle bin (who doesn’t?). I did a search for “stylish trash cans” and “stylish recycle bins”. I found some fun ideas from Groovy Green and Nigel’s Eco Store but in the end decided to stick with the stainless steel theme I have currently going with my kitchen trash. I did find myself tempted by the Container Store’s simplehuman sensor can , but do I really need a $199 trash can? I opted instead for the Costco $39 model.So, now that I have the bin, the next question is what exactly can I put in it? There are more “rules” to recycling than I knew (I can’t recycle my squeeze ketchup bottle?)! I found this summary from Real Simple magazine helpful. Also, I love this summary titled “The World’s Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide”. Now that I know about the numbers on my plastic bottles, and what I can and can’t recycle, I have happily begun my home recycling crusade. For the last week, I have been recycling my bottles, cans, and paper in my new bin. I was looking forward to my first trip to the recycling center (finding my local one was the easiest part of the process: www.BottlesAndCans.com).Then, I hit a final snag – the housecleaner. Unaware of my new recycling system, I came home to find all of my trash (waste and recycling alike) neatly removed from my condo and gone to the dumpster. Sigh. So, lesson learned, make sure to inform the housekeeper of your new recycle system.Who knew there were so many steps to consider when deciding to recycle? Actually, maybe this is the reason not everyone does it. Maybe reading my trials and tribulations will help you. I’ll keep you posted on my continued effort to make recycling part of my daily routine!

2008 Green Goals

Stacey — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:53:00 +0000

For my inaugural post, which happens to fall in January, it only seems fitting to address the issue of goal setting. As is my annual ritual, I have once again plopped myself and my notebook computer down at Panera on 17th Street in Costa Mesa for several afternoons now, and, armed with a chocolate chip cookie and latte, drafted my goals for the year ahead. This year, I’ve added a new category to my list – Green Goals. 2007 was the year that introduced me to the wonders of green. I’ve always been clear that it is my favorite color (may have something to do with my green eyes), but last year the planets aligned and my journey towards living greener began. I went to work for a green Real Estate company, Surterre Properties, which led to my discovery of the EcoBroker designation. I became the first EcoBroker Certified agent at Surterre Properties and the first in Coastal Orange County. This led to the opportunity to meet some outstanding green vendors whose products and services make greener living, greener real estate, and greener moving a reality. This blog will serve as an opportunity for me to introduce you to the truly outstanding ones that I have already found, and those that I will meet in the months ahead.The opportunity to live in a healthier home environment, be more energy efficient (and save money!), and make choices that will help to preserve the beauty of our surrounding environment and the planet are ideas that really excite me. Who doesn’t want these things? As a result, I’m committed to living greener from here on out. I, like most of you, am just beginning on this journey, and a journey it will be. What I love about the green movement is that it can be incremental. I can make little changes in my life and over time, they will yield big changes. I view it as an evolution, and I hope that you will choose to evolve along with me.So, where to start. For me, 2007 was a year of doing the basics and getting educated…changing out my light bulbs to compact fluorescents…watching An Inconvenient Truth…reading…websurfing…networking. I decided to make 2008 a bit more clear. I wrote down my greener living goals, and I am sharing them with you. I challenge you to go green with me. I will document my journey, and share my trials and tribulations with you here. I hope it helps you with your own green living inspiration and I look forward to hearing of your own adventures and ideas.

Stacey’s Greener Living Goals 2008:

Recycle at home
Use recycled bags when grocery shopping
Use mug instead of coffee cup whenever possible
Sign up for paperless billing for monthly bills/statements
Convert to safer household cleaning products
Go to a landfill
Participate in the Costa Mesa Water Studies Committee
As finances permit, purchase:
– Energy Star Washer/Dryer
– Energy Star Refrigerator
– Energy Star Oven
– Energy Star Dishwasher
– Paint home with non-VOC paint
– Improve insulation of ducting system and attic
– Programmable thermostat
– Eco-Sheets/bedding/pillows