Huntington Beach Real Estate Agent

Michael Franco is a local Huntington Beach Real Esate agent who specializes in the water front and luxury homes in Huntington Beach, California.

Found 132 blog entries about Huntington Beach Real Estate Agent.

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One of the upscale neighborhoods in Huntington Beach is the Central Park Estates neighborhood.  Commonly known as part of the Edwards Hill community is a collection of large scale homes that were mainly built in the early 1990's.  On average, this homes will be around 3,300 to 4,000 square feet in size with some larger homes as well.  Many of the homes are located on large lots that average around 9,000 square feet an often come with individual private pools as pictured below.  Since many of the homes were built in the last 20 years the floor plans tend to be very open and combine many of the entertainment spaces located on the main living floor.  Upstairs are often large master suites with generous size master baths with walk-in closets.  it's also not

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Everyone seems to want a deal in this real estate market and finding a home that is priced below market is very attractive to many buyers.  the 2019 real estate market is turning out to be very unpredictable and hard to tell what is going to happen for the remainder of this year.  For example, January is typically a very busy time of the year with many buyers actively looking in the marketplace.  I've been telling clients for at least 20 years that January is a great time to sell since many serious buyers turn out in large numbers looking to buy with not a whole lot of inventory on the market.  This is good if you are thinking of selling as you are not competing with a lot other homes on the market.  This year the number of buyers seems to be lower than

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It's coming close to the end of the year and it's always fund to look back and see what homes have sold for and what the market has done.  It's not uncommon to find many homes at the very top of the market in Huntington Beach to sell for over $4 million dollars.  This is especially true for the 3 top sales that sold in 2018 and ranged from $4,700,000 to $7,500,000.  Two of the three properties are located in the gated community of Coral Cay, one of the premier bay front neighborhoods in the Huntington Harbour of Huntington Beach.

The highest sale occurred at 3452 Courtside Circle located in the Coral Cay community and sold for the record breaking price of $7.5 million.  This price was in fact the highest price ever paid for a home in the city of

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One of the hardest things to figure out when buying a home in Huntington Beach is if the property is FHA or VA approved.  Typically a lender will have a list of available properties that are on the approved list but this is not always the case.  We have had some lenders call our office asking us about a specific property which would require talking with the homeowners association to check on the status.  An FHA loan is where the buyer is willing to put down 3% of the purchase price and finance the rest.  These are seen as a little more risky than a traditional loan since the amount of equity in the home is much lower than a buyer who might be putting down 20% of the purchase price.  VA loan are for military personal that don't require a down payment which

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One of the condo buildings located near the Huntington Harbour area is a small complex known as "Huntington Harbour Villas" condos.  The location is near the cross streets of Bolsa China street and Hail Avenue and just blocks to the water.  The condo located here are 2 bedroom units that average around 855 square feet and built back in the early 1970's.  It's pretty rare to see condos come on the market here but expect to find these two bedroom condos selling in the mid $400,000 range.

There is currently one condo for sale at Huntington Habour Villas that's on the market for $430,000.  The unit has been recently upgraded and features an open floor plan with recessed lighting and dual paned windows.  It sits above a shared two car garage which one side

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Located near the cross streets of Indianapolis and Newman in Huntington Beach is the The Pacific Sands community.  It's not uncommon to find one story homes in the mid $700,000 range that average around 3 bedrooms with 1,300 square feet.  These are very popular homes that tend to sell very quickly if priced accordingly.  One thing to keep in mind when buying in this area is that some of the homes are on lease land.  The land fee will vary depending on the property as we have seen fee's around $193.00 to $250.00 a month.  

There are several good things about this land lease.  First, the land lease is set to expire in mid year 2020.  Second, since we are less than one year away many sellers are offering to pay the final payments through escrow. Buyer is

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We are currently working with a client who is looking for condo under the $400,000 but has specifically said she doesn't want the condo to be under a land lease.  A land lease is basically when a person or entity buys a parcel of land and then leases the land to another party for a period of time.  Often times condos buildings and complete neighborhoods are built on this land but the residents never own the land and also have to pay a monthly fee to the owner of the land.  Sounds like a pretty good deal for the owner of the land.  It also can be a more affordable option for buyers looking to find a place to live as these types of properties are typically priced below other comparable buildings that are not on lease land.  The fear of the land owner not

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One of the more popular condo buildings in Huntington Beach is the Pierhouse condo complex.  Located directly across the street from the sandy beach at 1200 Pacific Coast Highway.  Many love the prime location and wonderful ocean views that can be seen from select units in this building.  There are some fee's the come with living here that buyers need to be aware of before buying here.  First, there is a homeowners association dues that is paid on a monthly basis that currently runs $495.00 a month.  What's included in this price is Cable TV services, water, trash, cable TV, sewer, exterior landscaping and building maintenance, clubhouse, barbecue area and gated entrance.  There is also a second fee that a lot of people are not aware and has to do with a

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Nestled near the cross streets of Newland Street and Talbert Avenue is a small community known as "Tamarack Village."  These are great condos that have a lot to offer with private outdoor patios outside the front door area with spacious master suites offering their own exterior decks.  These two story homes have a very well thought out floor plan with main living quarters located on the first level with bedrooms situated upstairs.  The dining room area opens to the outdoor patio area and really incorporates the indoor and outdoor living.

Real Estate prices will vary depending on the size of the unit as there are two and three bedroom floor plans to choose from.  Recent sales of 3 bedroom units have been in the high $400,000 range while 2 bedroom condos

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The Seacliff area is arguably one of the best neighborhoods in all of Huntington Beach, California with upscale single family homes, townhouses and condos.  If you are looking for a rental property here expected to find a limited number of rental listings here depending on what neighborhood you want to live in.  Within the 24 hour guard gates of Seacliff are numerous smaller neighborhoods.  These neighborhoods have a wide range of floor plans and amenities and can vary from a one story home to a three story townhouse.  

Seacliff rental prices currently start at $3,695 for a three bedroom, two bath townhouse that's located in the upscale Seacliff Club Series neighborhood.  Thees townhouses are located on three levels that offer a two car attached garage

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One of the newest communities in Huntington Beach has already started to see some re-sale properties come on the market for sale and for lease.  The Coastal Walk community is located near the cross streets of Warner Ave and Bolster Chica Street near the Huntington Harbour area of Huntington Beach.  When these were first built in 2015 there was a very limited number of townhouses that were built here.  The floor plans were very well perceived du to the open floor plan that combined the living room, kitchen and dining spaces.  The bedrooms are located on the upper floors with spacious master bedrooms with an upgraded master bath with combination jacuzzi tub and shower.  The homes incorporated a covered outdoor deck as well as a front patio at the front

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One of the more desirable places to live in Huntington Beach is the downtown area. Within the downtown area is a complex known as Townsquare Condos that offers a nice selection of residential condos that is located approximately 4 blocks to the beach. The area is well known for it's weekly Farmer's market that is held there every Tuesday night. The condos tend to be very well priced for a property located close to the beach. Real Estate prices in the past year sold for as low as $539,000 for a one bedroom unit with 838 square feet. The most expensive unit sold for $687,5000 and was a two bedroom unit with 1,067 square feet. Both of these properties sold in 2017 while recent listings for a two bedroom, one bath condo with 990 square feet is on the market

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Whalers Cove is a small neighborhood located off Beach Blvd near Adams Avenue.  The homes were built in the early 1980's and built as detached single family homes.  The most common floor plan is the three bedroom, two and a half bath model that features an attached two car garage and all bedrooms located on the upper level.  The location is approximately less than two miles to the beach with great restaurants and shopping located nearby on Beach Blvd.  From the exterior these homes look like traditional style homes while the interiors can be very open with vaulted ceilings and lots of windows to let in the natural light.

Lot sizes in this community will average around 5,000 square feet which is good size for a beach home.  The equates to a good size

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The large majority of residential homes on the market for sale in Huntington Beach can be found on R1 lots.  R1 is a building designation that is for the purpose on one residential structure that can be found or built on the residential lot.  This is a common theme throughout many of the beach towns here in California as only one home can be designated to be built on a lot.  There is another designation that is commonly referred to as an "R2 lot" which does allow for more than one structure to be built on a lot.  This a very common designation for duplex properties as the R2 lot allows for two structures to be found on one lot.

Finding this type of R2 designation in a traditional single family neighborhood is very rare but will have some upside

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Huntington Beach is one of the most diverse beach towns in all of Southern California with a variety of basic single level starter homes, luxury townhouses, beach front estates and water front homes for sale.  Within the Huntington Harbour area is a select number of condo communities that offer condos located next to the water that can come with it's own private boat dock.  That's the case with this new brand new listing located at 16148 Mariner Drive in the Huntington Marina community.  The condos sits on the downstairs level of the building and offers a total of two bedrooms, one and a half baths with an approximate 1,236 square feet of living space.  It was originally built in 1964 and comes with a one car attached garage.

16148 Mariner Drive is all

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Two Huntington Beach homes have been featured on the new Bravo TV show "Real Estate Wars."  The developer Michael Alladawi has over 10 brand new homes being built in the Huntington Beach area and is interviewing two agents, John McMonigle and JoJo Wilson for the listing.  At the end of Episode 2 of Season 1 the develop decides to give each agent one property each to see how well they can sell the property before committing to his other listings.

The properties are both located on California street in the downtown area of Huntington Beach which has become one of the most desirable places to live due to it's large number of newer construction homes, close proximity to the downtown area, beach and the Huntington Beach Pier.  We did a quick search on our

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Huntington Beach offers a wide range of housing opportunities from residential homes, condos, townhouses and even manufactured homes.  Our office gets a lot of calls from renters who have the ability to buy but would like to test out the market first before making the big purchase.  They often ask about properties that are available for lease that can be purchased down the line.  This is typically called a lease option where the renter has the ability to purchase the home at a later date.  Here is a brief explanation on how this works.

First, you find a rental home in Huntington Beach where the owners are open to selling the property as well.  A lot of times owners will have their property up for sale and for rent at the same time and take whatever

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Located in the Huntington Harbor Heights area is a small condo complex called "Tiara de la Pacifica."  The community was first built in 1984 and continued to build for a two year process.  The condos are all located on one small street called "Tiara Drive" with one and two bedroom floor plans.  There is a series of two story buildings with units located on both the lower and upper levels.  Condos on the top floor will have nice vaulted ceilings, living room fireplace, private outdoor deck and interior laundry. Downstairs units are also very popular and offer outdoor fenced in patios which can be ideal for those will pets. Condos often come with one detached garage and additional assigned parking space.

The grounds of Tiara de la Pacifica are very lush

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The Galbes in Huntington Beach is a great place to find lower priced condos near the beach.  One of the reasons for these low price points is that they are located on lease land.  The lease is scheduled to become due on December 31, 2059 according to current real estate listings in the Gables.  What does this exactly mean.  Here is a quick run down of the land lease situation.

First, owners of the gables don't own the land that is underneath their home and pay a yearly fee to use the land.  This is called a land lease with is essentially a contract to use the land for a certain period of time.  The fee is paid on top of the current $316.00 a month homeowners association.  One of the current listings has the and lease fee paid annually at $8400.00 which

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Many home buyers in the Huntington Beach area often look for a neighborhood with no homeowners association dues and no Mello Roos.  The location is near the cross streets of Indianapolis Ave and Brookhurst Street which is near the city limits of Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Irvine.  This is considered South Huntington Beach that is an easy 10 minute drive down to the beach with several neighborhood parks like Le Baird Park, Hawes Park and Burke Park located within walking distance.   What can you expect for homes in this neighborhood?  For starters, this is an ideal neighborhood for those looking for a one story home.  This is the typical floor plan of many of the older homes found throughout Huntington Beach with a three or four bedroom home with a