Historic Homes Blog

In the movie “Father of the Bride,” the parents of the bride could have lived in this exquisite Floral Park Cade Cod home. From the center hall entry to the elegant stairway to the wall of French doors which open to the pool and back yard, this home has it all. Even a private sauna! A newer granite counter top kitchen with a commercial stove and built in refrigerator and even a basement!

Who would have thought you could find such a spectacular Cape Cod in Historic Floral Park, Santa Ana, California? Click on the photo for more information and call for a personal tour!

I look forward to seeing you at the Floral Park Home and Garden Tour on April 26th and 27th from 10-4pm. This home will be open as an added attraction!

It is hard to believe that a fabulous Historic Art Deco home in Floral Park California can be improved upon, but it is true. Floral Park is known for its cornucopia of homes from Cape Cod, Spanish, California Monterey, English Tudor to French Mansard, but an Art Deco home is a rare treasure. And one that has been lovingly and painstakingly restore and enhanced is even rarer. The owners of this home have expanded the kitchen, added a family room with a wall of French doors to the beautiful back yard. They also added a state-of-the-art office behind the garage. From the lush landscaping to the artistic railings on the master suite balcony, this Art Deco home is a dream come true.

And if that is not enough — this home is on the Santa Ana Historical Registry and, therefore, qualified for the Mills Act. This means that the property tax is greatly reduced — about 25% of the regular property tax bill.

The Bowers Musuem, just a block or two from Floral Park, is excited to announce the arrival of the “Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor” on May 18. The exhibit will be open until October 12, and tickets are selling fast. This is said to be one of the most significant artifacts ever to travel to the U.S. from the First Emperor’s enormous mausoleum. The exhibit will include over 100 sets of objects which include 20 complete life-sized terra cotta figures respresenting all aspects of the emperor’s army.

So, come to Floral Park and see what is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th Century!! Check it out and order your tickets now.

You can save a tremendous amount of property tax by using the Mills Act! In fact, many homeowners have saved up to 75% of the regular tax bill for their home. 

The amount of tax you pay is not based on the actual sales price and the tax assessor uses a unique formula to determine the exact amount. 

The property MUST be on an historic registry in order to participate in the Mills Act, but if yours does, you are in for a great savings.  Check out this website for more detailed information.

Everyone seems to be throwing terms around, and you may be wondering what they actually mean.  One of those terms is short sale.  What is a short sale? And what does it mean to you?

In the simpliest terms, a short sale is the sale of a property for less than the amount of the total encumbrance.  This is a combination of all loans -  the first mortgage, the second mortage, line of credit and any other encumberances, i.e., equity lines, judgements, etc.

 If you need to sell your property and the market value does not yield proceeds to pay off all lenders and encumberances  in full, you have a short sale situation.  In order for a lender to consider allowing a short sale and receiving proceeds which are less than the amount they are owed, you will have to have an acceptable hardship and must comply with their request for information to validate that hardship.

About 20% of the sales in Orange County at this time are resulting in short sales, so it is a common delima.  The appropriate professionals who are adept at working through these often tedious transactions can help you resolve the situation.  You are always advised to get legal and tax advise to be sure that this is the best path for you. There are tax and credit consequences of which you must be aware. 

Paul Caiten has an insightful look into the short sale www.hangtenrealestate.com and Laurie Manny in Long Beach has some incredible short sale properties www.lauriemanny.com

Here are a some of my favorite quotes, two from long ago and one from a friend this morning:

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
British prime minister during WWII

“There may be some things you do better than me, and some things that I do better than you, but unless you are willing to do EVERYTHING YOURSELF ALL THE TIME, you need to trust and respect the individual responsible for the task.”

I always think it is good to step back and listen….

As a member of the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society  and a lover of historic architecture and detail, I find historical preservation is a natural for me.  Having lived in vintage house, I have a sincere appreciation for the craftsmanship and quality of yesteryear. 

In addition to the sheer joy of living in an historic home, there are major financial advantages also, namely the Mills Act.  This is a federal program that allows for you to reduce your property tax drastically, as much as 60-75%.  Check out the web site for more information. 

And if you want to tour and enjoy historic homes in beautiful Floral Park, be sure not to miss the Floral Park Home and Garden Tour on April 26th and 27th.  See my earlier post for details, and check out www.floral-park.com for full details and to purchase your tickets on line.  I look forward to seeing you there!!

Per a recent report on NBC’s Today Show, the best site to search for domestic airline tickets is www.kayak.com or www.itasoftware.com and the best site for european travel is www.wegolo.com .  Their suggestion was always to search at least two sites and then go directly to the airline of choice to reserve your ticket. 

I have yet to check this out fully, but it certainly is a great place to start.  I know from experience that the airfare varies drastically depending on the day and time you fly as well as the site that you use.

I have to laugh — this seems like it is becoming a PetBlog — but today is the 9th birthday of my crazy dog, Bacci.  It has always made me laugh that he was born on April Fool’s Day — Always has been extremely appropriate for him!!

 So, today, I wish Bacci a Happy 9th Birthday — he has to the be the luckiest dog in Floral Park — or perhaps all of Orange County, as I am cooking him chicken just to celebrate!!

 There is just no way to measure the value that pets add to our quality of life!

 If you surf, you get the best ride and the most speed from perfectly timing the wave you wish to ride. If you are a stock investor, you want to buy low and sell high. As a shopper, you look for bargains. Does this all sound familiar? So if you are a real estate investor, how do you know when to buy? The size of the decision and its long-term consequences can be paralyzing and then there is the issue of financing and affordability

We may have reached a time in the real estate market in Orange County where a potent combination of excellent interest rates, newly available financing (FHA and Conforming loan limit increases), greater selection and lowered sale prices serve up a huge opportunity. Waiting for prices to fall further is an imperfect strategy because we will never correctly time that “lowest price” moment and while we are waiting, rates may rise as they have been doing recently. My suggestion is to MAKE AN OFFER if you want to buy and see what the seller’s response is. It can’t hurt to ask!