OC Exclusives Blog

reBarCamp Orange County reCap

2009-08-28T05:12:09Z

As usual, I’m ridiculously long between posts here… I think that’s probably just how it’s going to be, folks… also as usual, in between working with all of my great clients, I’ve been hard at work designing a couple of new features for the site… things like GoogleMaps for cities/areas that outline the tracts and a new, refined search system. Anyway, I didn’t want to start a post about the past… I was thinking more about the future… But, with any story, context is everything...

About three months ago, I was speaking with Linsey Planeta who is the broker/owner of Belterra Fine Homes located in Rancho Santa Margarita. We were chatting about a deal one of her agents and I were working on and she commented about my site and we started chatting about the real estate biz and how are you doing, etc… she said “Have you heard about the reBarCamps?” I told her I hadn’t; what was the scoop? She said I had to go to one and that she was driving out to the latest gathering in Phoenix the next day and how great it was going to be… I thought, “She sounds like she knows what she’s doing and anyone who would drive to Phoenix for a convention must know something I don’t, which is often, but nevertheless…”

Anyway, I thought, well, I’ll go if one lands on my head, but I am so crazy busy that it’ll probably never happen… that’s what I thought, of course, until the reBarCamp came to Newport Beach to the not-famous-but-super-cool Blue Beet bar near the pier a month later… let’s see – cutting edge, free-form sessions revolving around real estate and technology held at the beach in a bar? Did I mention free? I was in…

Here are some photos and a bit about the event... in a nutshell, it is a place for real estate brokers/agents and real estate-related technologists to get together and talk about the future of real estate. And to learn something.

The informal registration desk in front of the Blue Beet

I got a chance to chat with Steve High, Coldwell Banker Previews, Harrison Long, Coldwell Banker, Drew Hartanov of First Team in San Clemente, who I actually really wanted to talk with. He had to get running, but I am going to track him down and see if we can spend some time talking business… Drew – you reading this? Call me. I was actually looking for Drew and Scott Sambucci (Scott works for Altos Research who provides the data for my OC Real Estate Market Reports) and I bumped into both of them talking together… I had never met either of them, but I had seen pictures of Drew and Scott had an Altos t-shirt on… As I stood there waiting for an appropriate time to introduce myself and say “Hello”, they looked at me and said “Jesse? Jesse Brossa? We were just talking about you…” I laughed and told them I was looking for them… probably doesn’t sound all that coincidental to you, but I thought it was at the time… we chatted about the Altos Research reports I have on my site and Drew wanted to know what I thought of them. I told him my clients like them, but other than that, I didn’t have any hard metrics that proved they were doing wonders for me… I wanted to talk to Drew about managing his clients… I think we share a few challenges and I was looking for some good solutions…

A quick pan of the bar before things got going…

A couple of shots I stitched together for a vertical panorama

Jerel Taylor of American Trust Escrow & Mike from (the Valley?) I never asked… he is an agent/developer who had some excellent ideas about client management solutions... Mike -if you are reading this, send me an email so we can connect - we'll start that 'Deals not Dumps' site.

Volunteer/Organizer Stacey Harmon on the mic downstairs calling the crowd to order… I like this shot… with the disco ball and fireworks projection, she looks like she’s on an open mic at a karaoke contest. After a few intros and thank-yous to supporters, volunteers and participants, Jim Marks took the mike and started asking the crowd what we wanted to talk about, which was really cool… after a few suggestions, I shouted out that I wanted to talk about how to elegantly manage the ever-increasing email & voicemail inboxes, which is to say, how can agents diligently and effectively reach everyone who needs attention? The topic ended up being called Client Management or something… which I, ahem, actually missed because I chose to hang out with David Gibbons and a handful of other ubergeeks who were thinking what I was thinking – the 3.0 tech chat on the sand in the sun...

From left to right, Stacey Harmon seated, (don’t know w/ glasses), Eric Stegeman, Jim Marks, Linsey Planeta

The crowds moving in to see the board come together.

I think that is Eric Stegeman posting up a few of the early round-table sessions on the whiteboard…

Admiring their whiteboard handiwork

Jim Marks downstairs

Jim Marks & David Gibbons getting one of the first sessions going. From what I could tell, Jim Marks, Eric Stegeman and David Gibbons appear to be the core of reBarCamp... I don't know if this is a local thing or they are the 'it' men for the gatherings statewide... whatever the case may be, they were certainly in their element... The topic was an intro to social media (sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc…) and why agents absolutely need to be in those spaces… I beg to differ, but that is another post… One of the highlights of the event was meeting David Gibbons from Zillow; he knows the business of real estate, understands the intersection of social networks and business and has a thorough grasp of internet-based technologies... not that I can sum up what the guy knows in a sentence, but he was fluent in multiple relevant topics... loved that guy… he turned me on to a real estate company in Portland called mRealty that he said is doing some excellent things on the front end as well as behind the scenes on their site…

Eric Stegeman doing a session on GoogleAnalytics with Stacey Harmon at the assist. The session was an introduction to the analytics suite, but I didn’t get much out of it… I guess what was most interesting was to see how much other agents did or didn’t know…

The rooftop at the Blue Beat… a nice place to grab a smoke (can you still do that in the US?), chat about the day’s topics and enjoy the view of the sand and surf beyond…

While it was a pretty interesting day that held a ton of promise, it was mostly a day of ‘101’ topics, which was not bad… I think a 2-day event is the way to do it… a 101-type day to get things going, make some introductions, set the tone for the event and then let day two move deeper into topics like the future of the real estate brokerage, the future of the MLS, interstate MLS information sharing, mobile search solutions for clients… I guess I don’t know what I was expecting, really… maybe a small tribe of benevolent ex-Google developers, Yahoo UI geeks, and Zillow/Redfin ex-pats... At the end of the day, I had a great time and met some good people...

Note to reBarCamp organizers & volunteers: Thanks for putting that event together! Let me know when the next one happens. Locally, that is. I don't think I'd drive to Phoenix for the event... probably wouldn’t drive to LA for the gig either. Well, maybe Santa Monica. (coastal snob) Santa Barbara? Maybe. San Diego? Eh. Hawaii? I’d fly there and then spend all day at the beach… looks like its going to have to be Round Two in Newport… or maybe in Laguna Beach somewhere…

Til next time!

Annnd... we're back...

2009-08-28T04:21:09Z

You all know this by now, but I can happily say the site is back up and in ship-shape condition. The listings are available and you can search by tract again. The corrupt server hard drives were pulled out of the server, shipped off, pulled apart and had their data extracted which isn't an easy or inexpensive matter. Hats off to my service provider, IDX Network, for pulling it off in a reasonable timeframe.

To all of you who stuck around while the site was getting worked on, I want to thank you for your continued support. I actually met a woman at my open house in Laguna Beach last week that had been using my site for months... she saw my open house sign and said she had to come meet me... I was tickled... She told me she was so glad that the site was back up and how much she had come to rely on it... I was really happy that the site was working for her... according to my stats, there are about 500 people a day that come by the site - that's a ton of people... If you are one of them, please take a moment to say 'Hello' here... I hope we get the chance to meet someday.

All the best!

Jesse Brossa

Update on Server Crash

2009-08-19T19:13:05Z

Hello, all. I been receiving calls and emails daily from people who use the site regularly who have been unable to access the listing data. As most of you know by now, we had a server meltdown this past Sunday early in the morning. I spoke with my IDX provider this morning (IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange) and she informed me that a couple of our server's hard drives were really damaged and the portion of my site that displays listings was on one of them. She said best-case scenario is a full return to action in three days.... worst case scenario is a complete rebuild of the system that will take about 3 weeks.

In the meantime, I framed the website CyberHomes here - www.ocexclusives.com/cyberhomes.php - so you could continue to search the MLS for listings. It isn't perfect, but it has some nice features that I don't have, so hopefully you'll find it a suitable stand-in while we get things back online...

Again, if there is anything you need in the interim, just send me a quick email @ jesse@ocexclusives.com or call me @ (949) 292-9786.

Thanks for being patient! We're working hard to get the site back as soon as possible.

Server Crash on OC Exclusives

2009-08-17T16:47:36Z

Hello, all!

I'm sorry it has taken a server crash to write something new on my blog, but sometimes that's what it takes to spur me to greater action - a bit of crisis.

If you've visited my site since Sunday around 1AM, you've probably noticed blank white screens for all of my pages dedicated to individual tracts as well as some of their parent areas. We had a server crash early Sunday AM and the techs are rebuilding it by hand... I'm not privy to all of the details, but it sounds like it was a software and hardware crash which is no bueno. I'm staying hopeful that there was no crucial data loss.

In the meantime, if anyone needs information on a specific area or listing just email me directly @ jesse@ocexclusives.com so we can get you what you need. Maybe we'll get to meet each other - this is kind of like when the power goes out on your block and neighbors you've never seen before emerge and you all have a great time talking about the last time this happened and why you don't get out more often together.

Anyway, all the best! You guys are the ones who make this site great! I wouldn't do it if you didn't love it!

Jesse Brossa
Coldwell Banker

Coto de Caza: The Trails Pt. 02 - The Sunshine Boys Trail

2009-03-06T03:28:51Z

There is a short trail near Van Gogh Way in Coto de Caza called "The Sunshine Boys Trail" that takes you under a dense canopy of oaks. In the summer, this persistent shade is a very welcome way to wind down a hike from the upper Bellview Canyon Trail; in the winter and spring, it is a cool and dreamy place to have an afternoon picnic.

This is the Sunshine Boys Trailhead; it is easy going, flat and cool through the trees.

The grass has grown in beautifully under the trees right now; when it rains, there is a small creek that runs to the right.

This wide shot under the canopy is exactly what it is like there -shady, cool, grassy and green. It feels like you are walking under a green sea.

Out tromping with family.

This enormous oak reminds me of an elephant for some reason... maybe it's the bark that looks like a hide...

This is the far end of the oak grove and we're heading back down the trail at this point.

This is a view looking from the grove and out to the trail ahead which continues up the hill to the Bellview Canyon Trail.

Out of the oak grove and looking out to the hills; the sky is huge and the ground has been recently washed by the rain; I'm in heaven again!

Here's a map of the trail:

View Larger Map

Coto de Caza: The Trails Pt. 01 - Sawgrass & Eucalyptus Trails

2009-03-04T04:54:28Z

There are a few trails in Coto de Caza that I love hiking on and would recommend to anyone if you've got a little time, some decent shoes and a love for nature. I thought I'd break the trails apart so each could stand on its own.

The first I'm doing is the Sawgrass Trail that begins where the street of Sawgrass ends; it winds around a large custom home and then starts right up a hill covered by fire-blackened oaks that have since returned to a partial glory.

Here are a few photos from a couple recent hikes there:

This is taken near the Sawgrass trailhead; the oaks are still repairing after a fire that swept over the hills and into this little valley several years ago.

The undergrowth is pretty grown in with softwood trees and shrubs filling in nicely.

It had rained the night before and we were probably the first to walk on the trail, leaving our footprints in the sandy washes, alone save for the deer and coyotes.

The ridge in the distance is part of the Orange County trail system; I think it is called the Westridge Trail. I couldn't pass up the dramatic old oak, half alive, still an imposing figure guarding the trail.

A study in greens, from neon new grass growth to the warm dark greens of the oaks to the silvery greens of the sage.

A hobbit's-eye view of the new growth. My sister in the background, probably sniffing some plant and wondering what she could slice, chop, dice or cook it with. You go, Chez Barrrette!

A wood fungus growing on an old burnt oak log. I don't know what the green plants with the dimpled leaves are jutting out, but they were so vibrant... a riot of green.

Down through the center of this photo is the Sawgrass trailhead; Coto de Caza is in the distance.

I was walking with my sister who is a brilliant cook and when she saw this little fern-like plant poking up through the grass she dropped to her knees and started wondering aloud if this was edible and what she could do with it and how it would pair famously with a slice of prosciutto and fig, maybe with a little truffle oil and black pepper and by that time I was down on the ground taking pictures thinking how great an image it would make...

A very small little wildflower we picked out on the ground; this was probably as big as a kernel of corn. The fuscia was brilliant.

This is the mouth to the Eucalyptus Trail. At this point we were descending from the Sawgrass Trail and moving onto the Eucalyptus Trail.

This was right after we disappeared under the canopy. I'm sure someone will correct me at some point, but I don't think eucalyptus are native to southern California, so it was interesting to see a stand of eucalyptus that had made itself perfectly at home in this small little canyon.

Thinking about that last statement, perhaps this was a rancher's border at some point. The stand of eucalyptus runs in a fairly straight line, though there are certainly breakaways from the stand... in any case, it was eucalyptus-scented heaven standing in this damp glade... the crunch of bark underfoot, drops of water still dropping from the leaves... everything smelling so perfectly clean...

This is on the way out... that oak is amazing and enormous; I don't understand the physics operating on that branch that stretches over the trail - how can it be so far from the trunk, so thick and almost level to the ground?

Here's a map of the trails:

View Larger Map

Now go hike something!

The Walkability of a Place

2009-02-25T20:35:23Z

I was looking at zillow.com's website a moment ago, looking for ways to improve my site when I bumped into a little icon that had a "walk score" next to it. The property had a walk score of 14 and underneath he score it said "Car Dependent" and I thought "Is this some kind of algorithm to judge a place's walkability?" Of course, it was, or rather is... otherwise this post would end right now with "Wouldn't that be neat?"

Here's an example of walkscore.com's Walk Score app for a random listing I pulled in Laguna Beach:

1855 Ocean, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651

Looks like it gets a "75/100" which puts that home at a "Very Walkable" rank... I love it...

I'm calling my developers right now and getting this implemented into my listings.

Note: It looks like the "Walk Score Tile" that they provide is having some trouble in the Internet Explorer browser (at least on mine it is)... take it for a spin here: http://www.walkscore.com. Happy walking!

Irvine, CA Neighborhood Maps

2009-02-13T20:52:53Z

One of my clients is relocating to the Dallas, Texas area and since I'm not familiar with the lay of the land, I thought I'd check it out on Google Maps... you know - just to get some sense of the place... If you search for "Dallas, TX" in Google Maps, it of course centers on Dallas... on the left hand side, there was an area called "User-Created Maps" that had a link to "Dallas Texas Neighborhoods" and I thought "Perfect!" and clicked. Here's the link I ended up with - Dallas Texas Neighborhoods. On the Google map are overlays created by someone that delineate the neighborhoods in the area.. not all of them, but enough to provide some utility...

I immediately thought about our local real estate market in Orange County and what it must be like to be in any other state and have to move here for whatever reason, be it for the simple pleasure of joining all of us or to relocate for a job... whatever it may be...

I searched for "Irvine, CA" in Google Maps and didn't see anything like the Dallas neighborhood maps, so I thought I'd create my own for Irvine. Here's what I put together::

View Larger Map

If you click the colored areas, a pop-up with information on that neighborhood and/or business district comes up.

The actual link to that map is:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?gl=us&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114136910610563076864.000462abeed72952e52f5&z=12

I think I like it and I think I'm going to start doing them for a few other communities in the area; I'll let you know what I come up with.

New listing in Orange Park Acres

2009-01-23T19:03:09Z

I just took a new listing in the equestrian neighborhood of Orange Park Acres. The home is located at 10862 Meads; construction was finished late Summer 2008. The home is over 7,000 square feet and sits on over an acre, which is almost entirely usable. Orange Park Acres is zoned for horses and per the owners of the property, you may stable up to nine horses on the property.

The exterior of 10862 Meads in Orange Park Acres

The entry at 10862 Meads in Orange Park Acres

The gourmet kitchen at 10862 Meads in OPA

The saltwater pool & spa

A view from the rear corner of the property

A view from the balcony off of the Master Bedroom.

Features include:

• 5 Bedrooms, 6 Baths
• 7,097 square feet of living space on a 47,916 square foot lot
• Two Story
• Attached 3 Car Garage
• Amazing kitchen with professional-grade stainless steel appliances
• Workout Room/Gym
• Large Downstairs Bonus Room with full bath
• Downstairs Office
• Salt water pool & spa

The majority of homes in OPA are on septic systems, though I understand there are inroads being made into getting the neighborhood on a public sewer system. While at first glance it may seem that septic-vs-sewer is probably one of the items low on the totem pole of sales tactics, it must be noted that this home has one of Orange County's first grey-water recycling systems that moves waste water from the home and into a treatment filter and then into the surrounding substrate to partially irrigate the landscaping and ultimately reduce the impact of the waste water on the local water table. There is more on the process here: www.biosolutions.org/wastewaterproducts.htm.

You can take a look at the property on my Featured Properties page or at the property website - www.1082meads.com.

The list price is $3,200,000.

Snow on Saddleback Mountain

2008-12-18T21:22:16Z

For everyone that has moved here from places that celebrate wildly when the thermometer goes above 50 degrees in the winter, snow in Orange County may be the last thing you'd want to cheer. However, for a boy born in Hawaii who has lived here most of his life, snow gets me all giddy. The recent rains and low temps over the past few days brought us a nice little blanket of snow up on Saddleback Mountain. I thought I'd share a few pics from this morning.

This was taken near the end of Rancho Santa Margarita Lake; I took pictures of the wildfires from this vantage last year.

This is a wider shot looking up Trabuco Creek.

This is a sequence of 22 photographs, all stitched together. The actual size of the image is 29,620 pixels wide - if you were to print that, it would be 17 inches tall by 13 feet long - that's a huge image!

Newport Coast Sunset Photos

2008-12-18T05:02:55Z

I was showing homes in Belcara & Pienza in the Pacific Ridge area of Newport Coast a few days ago and I was saying goodbye to my clients when the sky just erupted in color. I grabbed my camera and shot as fast as I could, trying to capture every bit of the sunset as it moved through the most vibrant & electric colors I've seen in recent times.

Here are a few of the better panoramas I was able to stitch together:

This was the first panorama I took; you can see my headlights in the left of the image.

I stopped in the Pienza tract to grab this photo; I like the strong silhouette of the trees and homes against the sky (to say nothing of the amazing sky).

This is my favorite of the four; the range of color in the sky... the three separate lightening dark purple-blacks of the hills as they step towards the horizon... Catalina in the distance on a bed of clouds... a few lights sparkling in someone's Pelican Hill abode...

That's Catalina Island floating on a sea of purple and eggplant-colored clouds. This is about ten vertical photos that I stitched together to make one long panorama. Given the late hour and the fact that I didn't have a tripod, I was stoked to see that the images were sharp enough to keep...

Some favorite photos from this year - Part III

2008-11-15T22:48:11Z

This is Part III of my favorite photos from 2008; these were all taken in Crystal Cove and Pelican Hill - two sublime areas in Newport Coast.

Crystal Cove

This photo knocks my socks off; I love the cerulean blue color of the ocean, the warmth of the sand and the big traveling clouds moving overhead.

This is one of the picnic areas in Crystal Cove State Park; it sits slightly elevated above the sand and beneath the restored bungalows that you can stay in. The BeachComber Cafe is to the right of the photo and is a fantastic place to have lunch or dinner; they give you blankets if the breeze picks up, the food is surprisingly excellent and they have a full bar; need I say more?

This is a quick shot I took out of my window as I drove along PCH heading to Laguna Beach; that's Catalina Island in the distance which never fails to make me feel like some great adventure awaits.

Pelican Hill

This is the driving range at the newly-remodeled and revamped Pelican Hill Golf club designed by legendary course designer Tom Fazio in Newport Coast, California. I played the course with another three friends on a Friday afternoon and we saw two other golf carts and one group all day - it was an amazing day of quiet breezes, big clouds, sporadic rain showers and all around perfectly-imperfect golf I've ever had.

This is probably the fifth hole; Crystal Cove is in the distance at the center of the photo and Marriot's 'Newport Coast Villas" are at the left.

Pelican Hill Golf Course, Newport Coast, CA 2008. Slow day, no rush, good friends, enough said.

The last few holes are played on the ocean-side of PCH; the course surrounds the exclusive Pelican Point enclave.

Ocean Course at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, CA 2008.

Blustery day on the Ocean Course at Pelican Hill Golf Course in Newport Coast, CA 2008.

Some favorite photos from this year - Part II

2008-11-15T00:32:45Z

This is Part II of "My Favorite Pics for 2008"; here are a few of my favorite pics this year.

Laguna Niguel

This was near the Badlands Park trailhead in Laguna Niguel, which overlooks Laguna Beach. We were only there for a short while; I can't wait to get back there again.

Ladera Ranch

This was taken right behind the Covenant Hills area in Ladera Ranch.

This is in Ladera Ranch looking down Antonio Parkway towards Ortega Highway; we were headed off to a camping trip up on Saddleback Mountain.

Laguna Beach

I took this at the trailhead of the "Top of The World" park in Laguna Beach; it's a great place to spend an afternoon walking along the hills above Laguna. The views take in everything from the Pacific to Saddleback Mountain.

I can't think of the name of this newly-minted wilderness area in Laguna Canyon, but it is one of three where you can pull off and spend a day hiking around the hills that lie between Laguna Beach and Shady Canyon in Irvine.

This was taken in earlier this year when we had a huge outpouring of wildflowers across the hills; these are California Poppies - the state flower.

This was taken this summer in downtown Laguna Beach; we had some take-out pizza with friends and sat and watched the people go by and the sun go down.

I was heading home in August and I couldn't resist the light changing in the sky and playing out over the water; I stopped at Heisler Park in Laguna, skipped down to Picnic Beach and shot this quick panorama. The beach is a bit wider than this photo makes it look, but it isn't all that big; the tide was sweeping up and I had to move before I got swamped.

This was taken right above the last photo, at Heisler Park. The stairwell leads down to Picnic Beach. I put together a map of pretty much every accessible beach in Orange County at www.beachyoc.com; take a peek sometime.

Some favorite photos from this year - Part I

2008-11-13T23:48:58Z

Like I said in my last post, I shot a ton of photography this year for my site; in all, there are over 350 different photos in that main photo bar at the top of the site. Some of the pages rotate the photos automatically like the Buyer's page, and others pull a random photo for whichever area page you are on like the Crystal Cove Real Estate page.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Coto de Caza

This was taken in the south end of Coto de Caza, looking onto Mission Viejo Company property which extends for miles. Cows still graze here occasionally, which to some might seem ho-hum, but to me, still means there is a bit of old Orange County still around.

This is taken in the same spot as above, but just pulls in closer to that amazing oak tree which is illuminated by this passing sun coming through those big blustery clouds. And that green! It's electric... It reminded me of the green hills in Waimea on the Big Island - a green that vibrates it has so much pop to it.

I was out walking one day and caught these deer peeking out of the orange groves on William Lyon's property.

A nice cloudy day in Coto.

This was on a hike I took recently with a friend. He called me up to tell me he just bought a handheld GPS device and that he found this geocache website that let people upload different geocaches all over the planet. We found one in Coto and decided to head into the hills... we had a blast tramping through the grass and when we finally found the stash off of one of the trails, I thought it would be a good idea to leave our flashlight - you're supposed to take something in the stash/cache and then leave something in return. There was enough daylight left when we left the flashlight, but then we decided to try and find another one his GPS detected... bad idea... we walked back in almost pitch black. I'll bring two flashlights next time.

This was a panoramic shot I took on our geocache hike; please click the photo for a bigger version - it's worth it.

I'll post more photos later when I get a chance.

Ta-Da! Seven Months!

2008-11-13T23:12:18Z

Wow.

I was planning on giving it an even 7 month span between blog posts and write something on October 26th, but, as always the time got away from me… At least at the seven-month mark I could have said "Ta-Da! Seven Months!" and spin it like that kind of blog communication gap was something to be proud of… maybe I’ll wait a couple of weeks for the 8-month mark… nah…now is as good a time as any...

I suppose this could be the Summer/Early Fall Retrospect for 2008, which might read like this:

Here are a few highlights:

1. I improved the "Market Statistics" pages drastically from where they used to be - not that they were bad per se, but now I’ve piped in daily updates and created an interface that allows users to visualize the market data in a few different ways. If you take a look at the Irvine Real Estate Market Report page, for example, you’ll see the "Seven-Day Market Stats" box near the middle of the page that gives you narrow statistics for the Irvine area alone; immediately underneath is the "Real Estate Market Trends for Irvine, California" area that allows you to compare stats like "Number of Listings", "Median Price,", "Days on Market", and "Price Per Square Foot" in individual zip codes in the city.

2. I contracted a developer to work with Zillow’s Demographics API to provide a modicum of demographic & real estate-centric statistics that I thought people might find interesting. An example is the Newport Beach Demographics page. Next up will be relevant school data both of which will get integrated into the individual listings and displayed at the broader city-level.

3. I closed a number of escrows in the area, including
a. 10301 Jon Day in Huntington Beach for $890,000
b. 218 Via Mentone on Lido Island for $2,300,000
c. 16650 Akron Drive in Pacific Palisades for $2,620,000
d. 17 Mahogany Drive in Irvine for $1,620,000
e. 1 Sawgrass in Coto de Caza for $1,975,000
f. 29971 Saddleridge Drive in San Juan Capistrano for $1,800,000
g. 28822 Via Buena Vista in San Juan Capistrano for $1,000,000
h. 15452 Eiffel Circle in Irvine for $600,000

4. I just wrapped up - about an hour ago to be precise - a wider, better site design. It’s got more room for more information and best of all - bigger photos! My fave! Big photos are a must, pageload times be damned! Which leads me to Item # five.

5. More Photography! I’ve spent the past year shooting tons of photography of all of the great areas we live in... I’m still missing good photos from a few areas, but I’m getting there. I’ll post some of my favorites in a separate post shortly. Before another 8 months are up, I promise.

So.... what do you think? Comments and criticisms are welcome.