Star Real Estate has successfully implemented Docu-Sign’s E-Signature Program (a web based electronic form signature program), which is provided to all their Orange County, CA real estate agents. This state of the art system expedites negotiations by allowing clients and Realtors to adopt an electronic signature on Real Estate documents, generating a faster submission of offers from clients to sellers in an eco-friendly way, in keeping with Star’s Green Initiative. Contracts and agreements can be back in minutes, with the ease of sending, signing and managing electronically. No more waiting for faxes, mail, or overnight packages. It saves ink and paper and helps the environment by eliminating all the extra paperwork generated by a real estate transaction.

Star provides training for their agents, familiarizing them with all of the innovative tools becoming standard in today’s real estate market.  Star associates can see exactly when a contract or agreement is viewed, signed, or rerouted. It allows signers the convenience of the familiar yellow signing tab process online, so they can sign anytime, from anywhere they have online access. By using Docu-Sign’s automated signer reminders, associates can be certain documents get signed. The system will not allow a signature to be overlooked, and allows geographically distributed clients to quickly sign and complete their offers and acceptances. This service is extended to the sellers and their agent, through Star’s membership, so that they too can view and approve documents more quickly and easily. This policy of shared tools ensures that the industry benefits from the latest technology.

Star Real Estate offers the best systems available in real estate to their associates. By fully automating their data and transaction management, Star’s Orange County Realtors can focus their attention on client priorities and services. Efficient data management is the key to a successful future in real estate. Star employs a suite of virtual tools and provides the training necessary to keep their agents on the forefront of the real estate industry.

Visit StarRealEstate.com when searching for Orange County Homes for Sale, Orange County CA Short Sales and Foreclosures, and for your Orange County First Time Buyer needs.

Star Real Estate is one of Orange County’s leading independently owned real estate companies. It encompasses a network of over 300 experienced realtors and 5 neighborhood offices. Star Real Estate divisions and entities include: Terra Mortgage; Advantage One Escrow; Star Investment Group; Star Business Brokers; The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (Relocation)

Post from: OC Homes

2042 Inwood Lane, North Tustin

This wonderful custom built single story home is located on a quiet cul-de-sac street in one of the most desirable neighborhoods of North Tustin. Updated and beautifully appointed, the home is ideal for both the executive and entertainer with a functional floor plan and resort style backyard perfect for recreation. Open for viewing on Saturday, November 14 between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., it is being marketed by Brenda and Janine Corwin of Seven Gables Real Estate.

An entry foyer welcomes guests into the approximately 3,392 square foot design. The formal living room features a custom fireplace and French doors that lead to the sunroom.

There is an oversize formal dining room with honed granite built-in buffet, a separate family room and den. The updated gourmet kitchen with center island and breakfast nook opens to the family room with fireplace and includes two SubZero refrigerator freezers, a six burner Viking stove.

The property also offers five bedrooms including the master suite with a private bath and a separate guest room with a bathroom accessible off the back patio. Additionally, there is a large laundry room with sink and built-in washer/dryer.

The sprawling 16,900 square foot grounds have been appointed with the feel of a resort and features large pool & waterfall, huge covered brick patio, expansive grass area and pool house with sink & refrigerator.

It is within the boundaries of Foothill High, Hewes Intermediate and Red Hill Elementary schools.

The property is offered at $1,495,000. For additional information, please contact the Corwin Team at 714.665.7150.

Post from: OC Homes

“Providing Clients with a Better Web Search Experience” Is Seven Gables’ Goal with the Launch of Its New “Content Rich” Web Site

On November 11, 2009, Seven Gables Real Estate launched its new website - www.sevengables.com using a state of the art search platform that is not only content rich, but offers a design that is clean, simple and well executed. 

According to President, Michael Hickman, the company set out to create a website that would fulfill its mission to do it better and more thoughtfully than any other real estate company. 

“There is only one other company in the country currently offering the same advanced technology as ours with a presentation that is innovative and fresh, the content informative and the technology, cutting edge. And we put out all the stops with this new website in order to provide more useful content and advice & exceptional support for the benefit of our clients,” he says.

Visitors to the website can obtain real estate market reports featuring data and trends derived from live MLS (Multiple Listing Service) data that are displayed in a way the average user can understand at a glance.

Market Reports are provided at the neighborhood and community level, which makes them far more useful than typical city or county-level views. There are also Neighborhood and Community pages featuring business reviews, photos and school reports (via implementation of the Yelp, Flickr, and Education.com APIs) as well as hyperlocal news content (via implementation of Yahoo Pipes).

The Property Search feature also provides an enhanced experience for the consumer since it merchandizes listings through a “gallery” view that enables the user to view large photos in the search results display.

Other site highlights include an Explore the Neighborhood feature, which is a map-based tool that enables users to view amenities in the area of their home search – businesses, places of worship, recreational facilities and more – in order to better understand what it is like to live in a community and a 7G Blog site with relevant and insightful industry related content. Those in the market to buy a home in the near future, can also initiate email alerts for daily updates on properties that match their specific search criteria.

To coincide with the launch, the company has also introduced its new Concierge & Client Services desk - a valuable consumer resource created to provide Seven Gables’ clients with answers and solutions to what’s on their mind, today.

Established in 1976, Seven Gables Real Estate is a family owned company serving the unique needs of Orange County homebuyers and sellers, committed to providing innovative technology and critical market knowledge in order to unite a powerful present with the time honored values of its past.

For more information, please contact our Client Services department at 800.955.7356 or email us at clientservices@sevengables.com. 

Tustin Real Estate, Orange Real Estate, Anaheim Hills Real Estate, Villa Park Real Estate, Yorba Linda Real Estate, Zip Code 92705 Real Estate, Zip Code 92780 Real Estate

Post from: OC Homes

Located at the intersection of three harbor channels on an oversized lot at a peninsula’s end, the four-bedroom, five-bath home has water-to-mountain views, an extra-large waterfront “corner” deck off the living room semi-rounded in tandem with the living area’s semi-circular wall of windows, and approx. 150-foot dock for dual yachts.

Its panoramic-windowed interior is subtly infused with the sun-bleached hues of sand and beachscape - yet adroit uses of curved architectural elements, raised foyer and dining areas, expansive ceilings, polished stone floors, and cleverly recessed lighting give it a delightfully sly hint of updated classic Hollywood Golden Age glamour. The space ideal for entertaining as well as for comfortable daily living.

On a typical crystal-clear Southern California fall or winter day, the view from almost anywhere in the main living area might take in a group of kayakers in brightly colored boats of red, gold, green, and blue a few hundred yards away, against a backdrop of the majestic snow-capped San Gabriel Mountain range some 35 miles north.

The home’s nautical location is virtually equidistant between Long Beach’s celebrity-rich Rainbow Harbor and the world-famous Newport Beach and Balboa harbor and bay, each about eight miles away in either direction along the coast.

The vision guiding the home’s redesign was to open every possible view to the serene waters of the harbor, hills, and mountains beyond. Upstairs and down, at least a dozen windows exist where there were none before, and special care was taken to include strategically placed sliding doors and windows throughout to invite indoors the Pacific Coast’s refreshing cross breezes.

Because the home was originally built in 1963, the quality of the core construction is excellent, but - after the fashion of the era - rooms were small and views limited.

In its new incarnation, the ground floor that was once a collection of divided areas for foyer, dining room, and semi-circular living room and kitchen, is now a broad open space whose horizon consists of windows looking out onto the harbor. Throughout, the interior is bathed in warm, pearly, sand-like hues, from its natural stone floors, fireplace, and countertops to exclusive custom wall and trim paints. The foyer and dining area are elevated, with one step down to the living room and kitchen; the mood is of grand, calm expanse.

The home’s original semi-circular motif, especially apt for a waterfront setting, has been preserved and emphasized with tasteful consistency and restraint. For example, the curvature of the floor line transition where the Perlato stone floors of the kitchen and dining room end and the travertine of the living room and foyer begins, is so understated that it barely registers on a conscious level. It is a beautifully effective method of room delineation, giving the entire space a uniquely tranquil foundation.

Gently iridescent backsplash tile in the gourmet kitchen faintly mimics the sparkling harbor beyond. Set as it is in yet another semi-circular space, its high open-topped cabinets, ten-and-a-half-foot ceilings adorned with nothing but simple stainless steel pendant lights, and a large center island with a retractable pylon stove exhaust instead of a looming overhead oven hood, give the sense of a secluded sand-washed open-air cove.

A voluminous walk-in pantry tucked behind the kitchen is tailor-made for behind-the-scenes operations so the kitchen can remain clutter-free and tidy when hosting parties, for which this home is ideally suited. The pantry includes a sink and convenient counter space, generous shelving, plus a washer and dryer hidden behind attractive cabinetry.

Aside from living, dining, and kitchen areas, the ground floor of the three-story home includes a master bedroom and bath with walk-in closets, a guest room with its own bathroom, and, off the foyer, a powder room with an artisan-style pedestal sink. Like everything else in the home, it reflects the colors and textures of the seashore and the faintest touch of Hollywood-style panache with gorgeous subtlety and restraint.

A few carefully selected signature features of the original home remain in place, most notably a wonderfully vintage ’60s-era mermaid fountain centered in the foyer and a tall, narrow skylight directly above it that brings a delicate play of light and shadow to the area.

The second story consists of two large bedrooms, each with its own bath, plus a family room with a full marble-countered bar. Like the living room, the family room is wired for full surround-sound entertainment platforms. The third story, a few steps up from the family room, is a spacious if unusually shaped room well-suited for a home office or an exercise room. It provides easy access to large attic storage areas, as well.

As in the ground floor, the colors for all appointments - flooring, walls, trim, and tiles - are discreetly and perfectly tuned to the true colors of nature’s palette in sand, sun-bleached wood, dune grasses, and her occasional sparkles of sky and water. Sliding windows are placed in areas best suited to draw in fresh sea breezes.

This work-of-art home is being offered by Sean Stanfield of First Team Real Estate at $5,950,000.

For details, contact Stanfield at (714) 421-3377 or visit http://www.seanstanfield.com/.

Post from: OC Homes

If you would like to buy your dream home but you can’t sell your existing home because it is now worth less than you owe, there is a way. Rates are the lowest they have been in years and you can purchase with as little as 3.5% down. There has never been a better time to get a bargain price on a distress sale.

The question is how do you dispose of your existing home and shed the associated debt so you can buy the new home? Here is how, Asset Liquidators can help you arrange to purchase your new home and sell your old one on a Short Sale. Asset Liquidators can help to arrange financing for your new home. You can buy your new home in as little as one day after you close escrow on the sale of your old home sold on a Short Sale. Your credit will only be minimally effected assuming you stay current on your payments. Asset Liquidators is on the forefront of this ground breaking strategy. An alternative is to buy your new home and then sell your old home. Once it has closed escrow, the existing home can be sold via a Short Sale as described in Part One available at: www.freeshortsaleservice.net. As for how to get a home at a bargain price, when you are competing against many other buyers, look for Part Three of this series next Sunday or contact Steve Spiro at Asset Liquidators at 949-212-3492.

Now that home prices have fallen refinancing or selling your existing home may seem impossible due to lack of equity in the home. If you find yourself in this predicament, there is a solution. This solution is being offered by Steve Spiro, Broker of Asset Liquidators. It is called a “Short Sale” and can release you from further liability for unpaid loan balances and HOA dues. The bank simply waives the portion of your loan that does not get paid off at close of escrow. The Short Sale process can be completed in as little as 60 days but can take up to 6 months to complete. In some cases, the new owner can sell or rent the property back to you at a reduced price.

In this situation you do not have to move. A Short Sale is a far better solution than just letting the bank take your home. The benefits for the homeowner are numerous and include avoiding foreclosure, deficiency judgments and allow the homeowner to stay in the home longer without making payments. There are no fees or out of pocket cost to the homeowner for this service. It is important to know that if you have more than one loan on your home and your loan (s) were obtained after you purchased the home (such as a refinance or HELOC), the second loan will not go away with a foreclosure. Nor will any unpaid HOA fees. With a properly handled Short Sale, all of your lenders, secured taxes, HOA dues and cost of sale will be paid off at close of escrow no cost to you.

If you are facing a real estate problem, as so many people are these days, consider a Short Sale as the free solution to dispose of upside down real estate. The transaction is highly specialized and must be handled by a specialist for a good outcome. For more information or help structuring your transaction , contact Steve Spiro, a California Real Estate Broker with 30 years of real estate experience specializing in Short Sale solutions. He can be reached at 949-212-3492 Or by Email at Steve@Asset-Liquidators.net

Post from: OC Homes

“Here at First Team Real Estate, we agreed that the terms of the original credit program were positive from its inception, so naturally, we were eager to learn about the recent adjustments made to keep it in succession. The extension of the program and passing of the bill has been highly anticipated by our company since it offers buyers a ‘move up’ program to take advantage of and brings a completely new potential to home buying. That is why we are more than proud to announce our role in its passage. As the Chair of the Business Issues Committee, real estate brokers and I collaborated alongside other committees to strengthen NAR’s position, allowing its acceptance into Congress. Additionally, as a participant in the Broker Assisted ‘letter & phone call’ program, First Team is able to take credit for helping to generate over 500 letters and calls to California’s House Representatives to vote in favor of the legislation.”

First Team Media Contact:

WeedaLutfi@firstteam.com

OndarTarlow@firstteam.com

First Team Real Estate Public Relations, 714-557-0771

Post from: OC Homes

Her marketing plan is exceptional. Her properties stand apart from the other listings in today’s market. Coleman delivers exposure to other Realtors with active Buyers, utilizing a wide database of 4,700, made up of former clients, local Real Estate Agents and prospective customers, as well as extensive global exposure on the internet. Coleman explains. “I sell your home everywhere. I spend the money needed to get a listing noticed.” When a client lists with Cheryl, she pays for additional coverage on many real estate websites to make sure that home has maximum impact on the market. She also utilizes Proquest Technologies, which captures Buyer inquiries on an 800 number, so that she can immediately respond to their questions. She uses HomeFeedBack.com, which contacts agents showing her properties to get their feedback from active prospective buyers. You’ll see her listings at the local carwash, on a paid ad board, on 2 bus benches, and in extensive e-mail campaigns. Coleman says, “I do what it takes to get the property sold.”

Coleman is part of a large group of friends and colleagues who work together to help and promote each other’s businesses. She says, “I am thankful that as I get to know more and more people and befriend them, we all end up helping each other succeed. I cooperate with others in the belief that we are not in competition, but a bunch of very hardworking people working together to get the job done.” She and her associates have thrived on this philosophy.

With extensive knowledge of the Beach Cities such as Huntington Beach, Huntington Harbor, Sunset Beach, Surfside, Long Beach and Newport Beach and the surrounding areas including Westminster, Cypress, Irvine and Garden Grove, Coleman works extensively to help buyers and sellers meet their real estate goals. To find out more about what Cheryl can do for you, visit her website at www.CherylSellsOC.com. Feel free to call Cheryl Coleman at 714-717-1728.

Star Real Estate is one of Orange County’s leading independently owned real estate companies. It encompasses a network of over 300 experienced realtors and 5 neighborhood offices. Star Real Estate divisions and entities include: Terra Mortgage; Advantage One Escrow; Star Investment Group; Star Business Brokers; The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (Relocation).

Post from: OC Homes

According to a recent TrendGraphix report for the time period of October 2008 to October 2009, Seven Gables Real Estate retains a nearly 30% market share in the community of North Tustin for homes priced at $750,000 and above. Based on data supplied by the SoCal MLS, the figures reflect Seven Gables’ long-standing position of strength in the communities it serves and currently equates to double or nearly double that of its closest competitor. The ranking is also inclusive of, yet not limited to the firm being #1 for Total Sales in Units, Percentage of Total Units Sold, Total Sales in Dollar Volume and the Percentage of Listing Units Sold for the past 12 months.  

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that in the category of Total Sales in Units, Seven Gables has respectively outsold its competition by a margin of 2:1, 4:1 and nearly 5:1.  According to President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael Hickman, this accomplishment is in large part attributed to the tireless efforts of a team of professionals that have been inspired to persevere despite the challenges presented by the market’s current climate.

“I have strategized with agents that have written up to 10 offers for clients and others that have listed and sold non-distressed properties in record time. There is simply no way to predict the outcome of each day, each week or each month, as no two are exactly the same,” Hickman says.

“Yet despite the fact that every day presents itself with a different scenario and the market remains as unpredictable as it is exciting, our committed agents and loyal clients have persevered ,” he continues.

Three decades ago, Seven Gables’ founders aspired to be different than other brokerages. They set out to create something that offered more than any service or sales business they employed and to offer the community an elite class of experienced professionals that ranked among the industry’s finest in the area.

To achieve this goal and deliver on the promise they made to their customers and to themselves, they chose to remain steadfastly focused on the prominent niche markets they know and specialize in, rather than attempt to be all knowing about the market.

“As a boutique company deeply rooted in the community, we understand that the success we’ve enjoyed is carefully cultivated and preserved by the unequivocal standard of professional excellence among our agent population. We prefer to be smaller and finer rather than larger and unable to keep to the promises we make or control the quality of our service. As such, we faithfully resist recruiting from the mass entrance of new agents into the marketplace,” Hickman adds.

To find out more about how the representatives at Seven Gables Real Estate can uniquely serve you & all your real estate needs, please call 800.955.7356 or email us at: clientservices@sevengables.com.

Post from: OC Homes

National pricing comparisons are valuable in the purchase of most things, but not in real estate. “It is crucial to recognize that real estate is a very local business. Markets vary from region to region and neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Cameron Merage, founder of First Team Real Estate. “A home in Brea may have a whole different level of dynamics with regard to value in the next 12 months than an equally priced home in Laguna Beach.”

Acknowledgement of that reality inspired First Team to create the unique and highly sophisticated Market Trends ^TM, a research, data, and proprietary analysis system. Use of Market Trends ^SM to pinpoint accurately a neighborhood’s pricing statistics and homes sales trends is the essence of Rule # 5 of the company’s revolutionary “The NEW Rules of Real Estate“, a list of guidelines designed to get the most out of today’s challenging market.

As a pricing tool, Market Trends^SM is invaluable for providing extremely localized data that, in turn, help to measure local trends and determine the right property pricing and trends to help buyers and sellers. It allows for comparisons that help First Team customers position themselves to leverage the market to their best advantage. Insight provided by Market Trends also puts First Team agents in the optimum position for negotiating the best deals on behalf of their buyer and / or seller clients.

Market Trends^SM is one of many innovative proprietary tools created, developed, and used exclusively at First Team, the largest independent privately held real estate firm in Southern California. For more than 32 years, the company has continued to grow and prosper because of its constant strategy of anticipating coming needs and challenges and having solutions ready for when they occur, leaving the competition behind.

“We cannot predict the future, but we do have a lot more knowledge, statistics, and data than most competitors which use to help home buyers and sellers maximize their opportunities,” Merage said. “Real estate is a very complex business, and that complexity cannot be underestimated.”

For more information on “The NEW Rules of Real Estate” please visit firstteam.com.

About the Company

Founded by President and CEO Cameron Merage with five agents in one office in 1976, First Team^® Real Estate and its Family of Companies including Hallmark Escrow, Coast Cities Escrow and Western Resources Title, have grown to over 2,000 agents and employees across 56 locations. The company has responded to changing markets for more than 33 years with innovative programs and targeted marketing enabling the company to sell more homes in Orange County in the last ten years than any other brokerage, according to Real Data Strategies, Inc.  First Team Real Estate, based in Orange County, is the # 1 independent real estate company in Southern California according to the 2008 RIS Media Power Broker Report and has sold more homes over $1 million dollars in Orange County, CA according to 2009 TRENDGRAPHIX, Inc. report for Orange County, CA, all residential property types $1 million and above.

First Team wins market share in any economic climate through innovation and proprietary marketing tools such as “The NEW Rules of Real Estate^“, HOT BUYS^® and Market Trends and successfully targets the luxury market with First Team Estates’ “Live Beautifully^®” campaign. First Team has relationships with many top real estate sites. The company’s “First in our Hearts” Foundation is well known for its generosity to the Southern California community. First Team and the Merage family is proud and honored to support Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, allowing families to realize the dream of home ownership and to experience hope.

MEDIA CONTACT:

WeedaLutfi@firstteam.com

OndarTarlow@firstteam.com

First Team Real Estate Public Relations, +1-714-557-0771

Post from: OC Homes

Post from: OC Homes