All Blog Entries by Sam Smith

The San Clemente Real Estate market in the last three to four months has been really crazy as buyers are bidding against each other when new listings that are priced well come on the market.  Many thought COVID would bring the real estate market down but it has actually had a reverse effect and the market has never been stronger.  One of the biggest issues is limited inventory which has been a problem for the last two to three years in San Clemente and has become even more limited due to COVID.  What many buyers are doing is looking for homes that are not on the market yet but will be coming on the market soon.  These listings that were once only limited to real estate agents are now available to the general public.

One of the best things you can do

San Clemente has a lot of rental options depending on the kind of home that you want and the location.  Renters looking for newer construction homes on the ocean side of the freeway should consider the brand new Sea Summit community for it's beautiful Spanish & Mediterranean style homes that can offer nice ocean views.  Over the past year we have seen several rental homes come up on the market for lease with four different neighborhoods to choose from.  The large majority of rentals tend to be located in the Sea Summit Agua neighborhood which is the most affordable of all 4 neighborhoods.  These homes have a shared driveway with other neighboring homes so it's not a traditional detached home.  

There are currently 3 rental homes on the market right now

We recently were working with a client who was excited to hear that there was a Life Time Fitness center in San Clemente.  He wanted to look for homes in close proximity to this chain fitness company.  We never realized that there was a huge following up this gym and quickly realized they had other locations in Southern California including Laguna Niguel and La Jolla.  The best place to look for homes within close proximity to the San Clemente location is the Rancho San Clemente area.  In fact, Lime Time Fitness is located at the base of Rancho San Clemente and used to be the old Swim & Tennis Club if you have been here long enough to remember that.  There is even a 24 Hour Fitness Located Near the very end of Rancho San Clemente which is a less

What a difference a couple of months make when looking at San Clemente real estate market.  COVDI19 has really changed the landscape of the marketplace and has actually caused the reverse of what most people think would happen.  We get a lot of calls from buyers thinking they can get a big discount on real estate since they feel the overall economy has taken a hit due to the large number of jobs that were lost.  In fact, the opposite has happened to the real estate market.  The inventory of homes on the market for sale was low before COVID19 and because of the pandemic there are even less sellers wanting to put their home on the market.  Given the high demand of buyers that still want to buy in part to the very low interest rates there is almost a bidding

Condos near the San Clemente Pier area always command a premium in price, especially if they offer any kind of a views.  The Panorama Condominiums located 420 Avenida Monterey offer all of this with a location that is just a matter if minutes to the beach.  The building dates back to 1964 when it was first built and offers mostly studio and one bedroom with a rare two bedroom units here too.  One thing you can't expect here are large floor plans as the studio units typically run between 345 to 400 square feet while the one bedrooms are around 680 to 830 square feet.  What you can expect in some of these condos is great ocean views as well as views of the San Clemente Pier as well.

Real Estate prices have really gone up in recent years with the last

One of the newest developments to hit the San Clemente Real Estate marketplace is the Ten10 Santiago complex in San Clemente. We have been watching this construction for a long time and it's exciting to finally start to see the final product.  The location is right in the heart of Southwest San Clemente area near the Ralph's shopping center.  The address is located at 1010 S El Camino Real at the corner of Santiago street, hence the name 1010 Santiago.  Several weeks ago they had their first open house and the design and attention to details is what you would expect from a new construction condo.  The condos sit ideally over the houses in the Southwest San Clemente area with great ocean views.  

We have included a virtual tour below of one of the

San Clemente has many different neighborhoods that can offer private backyards if you know where to look.  It seems like the latest trend in real estate is to build new homes close to each other which sometimes seems to come in the lieu of offering privacy between properties.  For the most part it's always best to look in older and more established neighborhoods as these were often built on larger lots.  This is especially true for some sections of the Forster Ranch and neighborhoods by the beach in San Clemente.

The first place we recommend looking is the Forster Ranch of San Clemente.  While this area isn't the oldest community in San Clemente, homes in this area are well known for having large over-sized lots.  This is especially true for the large

If you are considering buying a home in San Clemente then it's still not too late to find a detached home for around $600,000.  Over the last 10 years these numbers have been slowly increasing but there are still some neighborhoods that offer excellent values when looking at detached properties.  One thing to keep in mind that not all detached homes are classified as single family homes and can be considered a residential condo.  This is often done by real estate builders who build a new community but want to save money so they classify the homes as condos to save money.  This doesn't seem to be a big deal since the home has the look and feel of a traditional detached single family home but without the classification.  

A perfect example of this is the

One of the most affordable places to live in San Clemente is arguably the Vista Pacifica complex.  This is actually a really nice place to live located in the plush Rancho San Clemente area that's located very close to the San Clemente high school and the onramp for the 5 freeway.  The most sought after rentals in this complex are those that offer an ocean view.  There is a very limited number of these units located on the perimeter of the complex that have direct views of the ocean and Catalina Island.  These are also some of the most expensive rentals in Vista Pacifica so if you are looking to save money look for those that are located on the interior of the community.  Properties that can be found in Vista Pacifica consist of one and two bedroom condos

This has been a great year of real estate in San Clemente with over 900 homes selling in this calendar year.  The strength of the economy and the stock market has resulted in a very active market with higher sales than the previous year.  There were a total of seven homes that sold for $4 million dollars or more with the top sale over the $6 million dollar price point.  December is typically one of our slower months but many agents whom I have spoken with think it's been the busiest December that we have had in recent years. Here is a quick guide to the highest homes sales in San Clemente for 2019.

The highest sale this year occurred in the Cyprus Cove community which sold before it even came on the market.  This was a newly designed home by James

San Clemente has a large number of properties on the market for sale right now that are being marketed as fully furnished.  This is becoming a big trend in selling a home  How exactly does it work?  For starters, there are various degrees in which an owner can decide to sell a home.  We see some sellers offering select pieces of furniture to be included in the sale while others will offer completely everything including kitchen plates and silverware.  One of the first things you should do it make a quick estimate on how much the furniture would cost if you were to buy it.  

It's important to also factor in the selling price of the home as well.  If the home is priced correctly and listed at a price point of where other similar type homes in the

There is one thing that is true about real estate no matter where you decide to buy and that is always about location.  You can always change the interior of the home but you can never change the actual location of the land that the property sits on.  This is also true for homes located on a corner lot as these types of properties are considered prime real estate here in San Clemente.  One of the main reasons why homes on corner lots are so desirable is having only one neighbor to the side of you.  If you like having extra privacy then this is type of property that will give you the extra space that you are looking for.

There are also other factors as well.  Homes on corners lots tend to be typically larger than other neighboring lots.  Often times

The San Clemente historic home tour is set to take place next month on October 12, 2019. This year will feature a tour of 9 historic properties here in San Clemente.  San Clemente has a very small number of historic properties still in existence so a chance to visit nine different properties is a rare opportunity.  The San Clemente historical society is now offering advance tickets for those who would like to attend.  Currently tickets are being sold at $30.00 per person or $100 for 4 tickets.  This changes on the day of the event which increases to $40 per person.

The tour details of which properties will be on the tour have not been released yet but will be sent via email once tickets have been purchased.  It's important to note that the tour will

The long anticipated development of this community has finally come to life with 3 homes being released on to the market in the Socorro Shores neighborhood.  I received a call on this development many years ago as they were trying to figure out how much homes would sell for in this area.  At the time the Sea Summit community located next door had not even started development so it was tough to gauge exactly what homes would sell for.  Since the Sea Summit neighborhood is heading towards it's final stages of selling out it makes sense that there are enough comps to support a brand new construction home with over 4,000 square feet on the north side of San Clemente.

Socorro Shores is a combination of 9 luxury homes located on Via Socorro street in San

Arguably, one of the best neighborhoods in San Clemente is the Southwest San Clemente area.  What makes it so desirable is you won't find two homes that look exactly the same which has not been the trends for new construction homes.  Many of the new neighborhoods in San Clemente are considered tract communities that alternate between 3 to 4 different floor plans with every third or forth property looking the same.  This is not the case in the Southwest area as every home was custom built by owners who live there.  Many of the original beach homes still exist while many have been converted into much larger homes which tends to be a trend in real estate nowadays.  

Rental prices for single family homes will typically start at $3,000 per month for a two

One of the benefits of living in the Southern California is the sunny weather we get to enjoy pretty much all year around, except for the June gloom that that occurs every year.  Many residents have used this benefit to aide in going green and using solar panels as an alternative to electricity.  The technology in this field has drastically changed over the years and as a result has become more affordable.  Many homes in San Clemente are installing solar panels on their roofs which has become a huge selling point when it comes time to sell.  Markeing a home with solar panels really does appeal to those who want to live a more green focused living and for those who are also cost conciecous who want to save money.

There are typically two different ways

If you ever get a chance to drive through the Sea Summit neighborhood one thing you will be really impressed with is the beautiful landscaping in front of these new construction homes.  The Sea Summit community has rules and regulations set in place that all landscape designs must first go through the association Design Review Committee (DRC) to be approved.  Due to this reason you will see a very diverse but uniform upscale look to the landscaping here.  The DRC actually oversees any kind of work that you do here which include decks, walls, fences, pools, patio covers, etc.  They want to make sure that the integrity of these upscale homes remains. Architectural applications must be sent to the DRC headquarters in Irvine who are within the Keystone

One of the most affordable places to find an ocean view rental in San Clemente can be found in the Ocean Hills community in San Clemente.  While homes for sale in this neighborhood has been very limited there has been a large number of rental properties that have come on the market.  Currently, there are a total of 8 rental homes that range from $2,800 to $3,950 a month.  Some of these are strictly long term 12 month rentals while others are willing to do a short term lease that includes month-to-month rentals and minimum 2 and 3 month rentals.  The shorter term rentals typically will come furnished and includes all utilities.  There may be a slight fluctuation in price during the high season summer months while being more affordable during the off season

When I first got into real estate over 20 years ago I always heard the word "turnkey" and had no idea what people were talking about.  It seems like its a favorite word among real estate agents for describing a home that is in excellent condition.  it wasn't later that it was explained to me that it literally meant turn the key in the door and leave without any concern about something falling apart or not working correctly.  Once I got this explanation it started to make sense but I still feel like it's a word that is over used by the real estate community.

Nevertheless, it's a short way to describe a home that needs little to no work done on the home.  Basically, bring your touthbrush and move right in.  This is especially true to describe condos in

Southwest San Clemente is widely considered one of the best neighborhoods in San Clemente by many who live here.  While the community is predominately filled with residential homes there are also some nice condo and townhouses located in this area.  One of the best places to look is near the State Park area which has a large number of oceanfront, ocean view and residential condos.  A perfect example of this is a new listing that just came on the market at 268 Avenida Montalvo #1 in San Clemente.  The two bedroom condo features two levels of living space with a total of 1,648 square feet.  It comes with an attached two car garage and features wonderful ocean views as well as coastline views looking towards Dana Point.  It's currently priced at $1,399,000.