All Blog Entries by Sam Smith

A San Clemente Ocean View condo is now available for lease in the Vista Pacifica condo complex in San Clemente, California for $1,800 a month.  The 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo features two dual master suites with each bedroom having it's own private bath.  The condo features an upgraded kitchen with granite counter tops and maple cabinetry that overlook the view.  In addition, you will find vaulted ceilings and lots of windows that bring in a lot of light into the condo.  You will also find a small viewing deck off the living and dining room that have a direct view of the ocean.  Here you will see nightly sunsets and Catalina Island views.  If you are interested in leasing a condo similar to this property please contact us today for a private showing.  Vista

A San Clemente Forster Ranch home has just been sold by San Clemente Real Estate agent Sam Smith who represented the seller.  5508 Costa Escondida, San Clemente is located in the Forster Highlands area of Forster Ranch and specifically in the Ridgemore neighborhood.  The property is widely known as one of the premier lot in the area with a very large 13,000 square foot lot.   A large front and back yard complete with a basketball court, outdoor fireplace area and big grassy area.   Inside the property featured a large master suite with deep soaking jacuzzi tub and a large covered gazebo on the 2nd level that overlooked the Forster Ranch Valley.  The home was sold as a standard sale and sold within 2 weeks of being on the market by Sam Smith.

The Forster

A San Clemente short sale listing has just been sold by San Clemente short sale agent Sam Smith who represented the buyers.  The short sale was located in the Ocean Hills community and featured 3 bedrooms with an ocean view for the incredible price of $315,000!  The Ocean Hills community is located next to Sea Pointe Estates gated community on the north side of town which is located across the street from Trader Joe's and the Ralph's Shopping center.  The community has several community pools and a small golf course to practice your golfing.  Short sales have become the very best way to buy distressed properties at low prices.  This short sale did take approximately 3 months to get short sale approval but the end result was a great deal for Sam's buyers

A Southwest San Clemente home has just sold for $582,500 by San Clemente Real Estate agent Sam Smith who represented the seller. The Southwest San Clemente market has seen record low inventory as home prices under $800,000 have overnight disappeared for the most part. The demand from buyers now looking for homes in the Southwest area between $500,000 to $800,000 has sharply increased. The home located at 110 Avenida De Los Lobos Marinos was one of the remaining properties in the $500,000 range. If you are looking for homes under $800,000 then make sure to contact Sam Smith as many of these homes are privately being sold. A good example of this is an ocean view property in Southwest San Clemente that was located at 123 Calle Del Pacifico which just on

Glen Ridge Estates and the Forster Ranch area are the best kept secrets for finding homes with large lots.  Often times our clients will ask us for homes with pools or homes with pool size lots for under $700,000 and we immediately educate them on select communities in the Forster Ranch area.  If you are not familiar with the San Clemente marketplace then let us educated you here.  Forster Ranch is located on the east side of the freeway in San Clemente.  Basically, the 5 freeway cuts right through the middle of San Clemente and is the natural divider between homes located on the west side of the freeway near the beach and homes located on the east side where you will find panoramic ocean view homes up in the hills. 

One of the areas on the east side is

A Forster Highlands San Clemente home listed by San Clemente Real Estate agent Sam Smith has gone into escrow.  5917 Camino Rocoso is located in the Ashton community in Forster Ranch and was listed for $550,000.  This single level home had a huge interest upon being placed on the market and received 8 multiple offers.  The property featured 4 large bedrooms with a nice open floor plan.  The home as located on a quiet cul-da-sac street with a large front and backyard.  The housing inventory in San Clemente is extremely low and there are many buyers looking for homes under $550,000.  Forster Ranch is one of the best places to find homes in this price range as properties tend to be less expensive than other parts of the city.  First time home buyers and real

Surfers looking to live next to the Trestles surf break in San Clemente should look no further than the Cyprus Shore gated community. In fact, you will find four gated communities located right next to each other that share the same private access to the beach. The communities consist of Cyprus Shore, Cypurs Cove, The Breakers and Cotton Point Estates. Each of the communities have different price range and style of homes.

If price is no object then you will want to live in Cottons Point community. Home prices are typically well above 5 million dollars and is the closest community to the Trestles Surf Break. Cyprus Shore is located next to the Cotton Point Estates community and features oceanfront and ocean view homes. If you are one of the lucky ones

The San Clemente municipal golf course is one of the best kept secrets in San Clemente for those who are golf enthusiasts. For those looking to play an affordable round of golf then you will be happily surprised that golf prices are especially low when compared to other golf courses. An average round of golf costs as low as $14 dollars for residents which is a tremendous value. There are many homes In this Southeast area which surround e course and have wonderful golf and/or ocean views. The homes are often single level homes built in the mid part of the century with newer style homes mixed in as well. Golf course view condos located at Presidential Heights offer an affordable alternative for housing with golf course views. No matter where you decide to

Forster Ranch is a diverse section of San Clemente where you will find a nice mixture of newer and older communities the co-exist with each other.  One of the newer sections of the Forster Ranch area is the Forster Highlands community.  The Forster Highlands community is a mixture of six different communities that have been built in the last 10 years or so that showcase Spanish, Mediterranean and Bungalow style homes with all the modern amenities you would want. 

Among one of the communities is the Ridgemore area where the new home located at 5508 Costa Escondida has been listed for $825,000.  The home features a one third acre lot with sports court, outdoor fireplace entertainment area and one of the best view gazebo's to be found in the area.  The

Finding a home in today's market can be tough when faced with the record low inventory of homes in the San Clemente Real Estate market.  One of the best deals in the current marketplace are "short sales" as bank owned and foreclosures properties have almost disappeared from our market.  Short Sales are considered distressed sales but have many significant differences than a foreclosure property.  The main difference is time.  If are willing to be patient and have time to wait for a bank to make a decision on a short sale then they may be the perfect vehicle for you in finding your dream home. 

A new short sale listing has come on the market in the "Reserve South" community in San Clemente.  For those not familiar with San Clemente, the "Reserves" is a

A San Clemente short sale has just gone in escrow by San Clemente Real Estate agent Sam Smith who represents the buyer in this short sale transaction. 724 Calle Casita is located in the Ocean Hills golf community in San Clemente, California. These town-homes are widely popular due to their prime location on the north side of town near Trader Joe's, San Clemente Krikorian Theater and the San Clemente Hospital. From this location you have easy access to the 5 freeway and just minutes to the beach. The townhouses at 724 Calle Casita 3 bedroom condo with wonderful ocean view that was listed for the amazing price of $315,000. The condos at Ocean Hills are split level where you have your entertainment spaces up above and bedrooms located below. Upstairs

The San Clemente Southwest area is a great place to live and is located in the west side of the freeway in the south west section of San Clemente, California.  San Clemente Real Estate agent Sam Smith has just put in escrow a three bedroom home located in the Southwest area that was listed for $599,000.  It was only last year in 2011 when homes in the $500,000 could be find in this sought after community but things have changed quickly in recent months.  With the shortage of homes on the market and demand of buyers wanting to buy has caused home prices to start to climb back up. 

Since the sale of 110 W Avenida Del Los Lobos Marinos then next lowest price home is currently listed just under $900,000.  The mid range of $700 to $800,000 homes has quickly

A wonderful ocean view condo has just been listed in the downtown San Clemente area located at 148 W Mariposa for $635,000.  The condo is located in a Mediterranean style building that is home to two upscale condos, similar to a duplex building.  The west facing condo has wonderful ocean and sunset views from the living room, kitchen and Master Bedroom.  The condo has lots of windows and natural light and features two large bedrooms and two baths and located on the upstairs level of the building with a one car garage.  Ocean View condos are hard to come by in the $500 to $600,000 range so we are excited to see this new condo come on the market.  The area is very tropical and just a short walk down to the beach.  You will also enjoy easy walks to the

The Reserves is one of the most exciting communities that has been built in the last 10 years in San Clemente.  Known as one of the best family neighborhoods, the Reserves are located in the Forster Ranch area of San Clemente where four separate communities have been built.  All four of these communities are located behind electric gates which offers an extra layer of security when living in the Reserves.  The communities are simply known as the Reserve West, Reserve East, Reserve North and Reserve South.  If you are looking for a gated community under $800,000 with ocean views then the Reserves are a great place to start.  The homes were built around 2004 and built in the Spanish, Mediterranean and Arts and Crafts styles.  Homes sizes, views and prices

Let's face it, we are all getting older!  As the older we get the more a single level home makes more sense.  For starters, you get to enjoy all the amenities and rooms on the home on one level.  This provides a nice flow to the home as everything is accessible quickly.  Also, avoiding the many steps to a second level home is crucial as you get older and find it hard to get up and down steps.  A lot of home buyers are specially seeking out neighborhoods and homes where you can find one story single level homes for sale.  With over 40 communities in Talega finding the right communities is the first step in narrowing down your search.  If you prefer to live in a senior 55+ community then the gated community of the Talega Gallery is an obvious choice.  The

Talega is home to many ocean view neighborhoods each with different degrees of ocean views.  Many of the neighborhoods in the Talega area of San Clemente are not located in gated communities so finding a gated community ocean view property may be harder than you think.  This is also combined with the extremely low inventory of homes that we are currently experiencing here in San Clemente so use our guide to pinpoint the exact location in order to find the perfect ocean view gated community home.  First, one of the newer and exciting communities in Talega is the Altura community.  In fact, they are still building homes in this area so If you have you heart set on a brand new construction home this is a good place to start.  The homes range around 5,000

One of the more common requests that we get here at San Clemente Real Estate is home buyers looking for homes with a guest casita.  A casita is a newer trend where home buyers are looking for a room outside the structure of the house for visiting guests or extended family members.  A Casita can actually be ideal for someone wanting a separate office space or a quiet room away from the hustles and bustles of the main house.  No matter what the reason a guest casita is very much a sought after amenity and can be found in many San Clemente communities.  One of the more popular locations to find homes with guest casitas is the Talega area.  In the large scale homes found in the Talega communities of Altura, Alta, Ravenna and Carillon you will find guest

San Clemente is small little beach town in Orange County, Ca that has seen tremendous growth in the last 10 to 15 years.  One of the biggest changes is the development of the Talega area.  Talega is home to over 40 communities and 3,000+ homes with a wide variety of architectural styles and models.  There is a little bit of something for everyone from small starter 2 bedrooms condos in the $250,000 range to larger luxury estate ocean view homes in the $1.5 plus range.  With the downturn in the real estate market, the Talega homes have really seen a drop in real estate prices in the last 5 years.  As a result you will find more motivated sellers who are willing to sell their home creatively and use different techniques to get their home sold.  One of these

2012 is turning out to be a great year as buyers are back in the market looking for properties.  With the current low inventory of homes buyers are open to looking at fixer upper homes as a way to get in to San Clemente Real Estate marketplace.  Fixer upper homes rarely come on the market and can range anywhere from a small condo to large ocean view home.  If you don't mind a little sweat equity and you enjoy fixing up homes then these properties may be perfectly suited for you.  A recent fixer upper home has recently come on the market in the Mira Coast Villas condo community here in San Clemente, California.  Mira Costa Villas is an older complex here in San Clemente that were built in the late 1970's.  The condo is currently listed for $369,000 and

One of the main attractions of being a resident here in San Clemente is the joy of living by the beach.  Many love the carefree lifestyle and warm attitude you will find here in San Clemente.  If you are thinking about buying a home in 2012 then you many want to consider the 3 main areas where you will find San Clemente Real Estate listings by the beach.  The first area is the downtown San Clemente area that has recently become a popular place to live.  Surrounded by the San Clemente Pier and to the north and the south you will find luxury homes and condos in the downtown area.  Those who are not familiar with the city will quickly learn that this is where you will find all of the downtown shopping and restaurants in San Clemente. In recent years many new