How to Choose a Real Estate Agent
January 26, 2012 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
Whether you’re a buyer or seller, your real estate agent’s skills can make or break a sale. That’s why it’s so important to find a trustworthy, professional Realtor who has your best interests at heart. Especially in this market, easy transactions are few and far in-between. Lenders are tightening up their policies, new laws that create potential complications have recently taken effect, and there are far more difficult transactions such as short sales, which require Realtors with expertise to navigate.
Markus was recently interviewed for an article on Wisebread.com entitled “How to Choose a Real Estate Agent”. How can you tell the bad apples from the true professionals? Read more
Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act Expiring – 2012 is the Year for Short Sales
January 19, 2012 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
It’s big news for homeowners everywhere who are struggling to meet their mortgage payments: the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act is set to expire on December 31st, 2012, making this year the year to do a short sale.
If you’re considering a short sale (which is a far better alternative to foreclosure), now is the time to take action. Once the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act expires, and you decide to do a short sale, you may end up paying thousands more in taxes.
Orange County – Why You Should Consider Buying Instead of Renting
January 18, 2012 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
If you live in Orange County, this year may be the best time to considering buying a home instead of renting. With rents steadily increasing (and expected to continue to rise as more distressed homeowners sell their homes and move into rentals), you may be able to own your own home for about the same monthly cost as renting, or less.
A recent OC Register article ran the numbers on renting vs. buying in Orange County, and found that the average monthly cost of owning a home in Orange County was $2,177 whereas the average cost of renting was $1,440 (making the difference between the two the lowest since 1989).
Tustin Blimp Hangar Tour
September 8, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
The Tustin Preservation Conservancy has scheduled a tour of our Historic Blimp Hangar on Saturday, September 17. If you would like to attend, go to their website at www.preservetustin.org to sign up. There is a coupon there for you to download and send in. BE SURE to include your email address, as they will be sending out meeting place and time a few days prior to the tour.
If you are already a member for 2011, you are ready to go. If not, you can send a donation along with the coupon to:
Tustin Preservation Conservancy
350 South B St.
Tustin, CA 92780
We will be there approximately one hour. There are NO RESTROOMS in the hangar.
New Listing Coming Up in Old Town Tustin
June 15, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · 1 Comment
We’ve got a new listing coming up in Old Town Tustin. It’s not on the MLS yet, so if you’re looking for a historic home and don’t want to compete with other buyers to get it, contact us. The house is a 1922 California bungalow. It’s super charming and on a great street in Old Town. If you’re not familiar with Old Town Tustin, it’s really a great place to live. You can walk to all of the restaurants and shops, the library, and even Vons. You can also walk to Peppertree Park where you can enjoy Concerts in the Park and Broadway in the Park in the summer. Plus every Wednesday you can walk to the organic farmer’s market on El Camino Real.
The house has original hardwood floors and original tile floors. The kitchen and bath are both vintage and it has a cute little dining room off the kitchen. It also has two bedrooms and a large bonus room that you can use as a family room, a hobby room or whatever type of room you’d like. The backyard is nice with a vegetable garden, a mature avocado tree, and a large storage shed. It also has a detached laundry room and a one car garage.
If you’d like more information or to see photos, please visit our website at www.oldtowntustinhomes.com. If you’d like to schedule an appointment to see it, give us a call at 714-299-3400.
Architectural Salvage Materials Available RIGHT NOW
May 23, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
As part of a recent settlement agreement with the City concerning certain vintage properties in the Lacy Neighborhood, Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society is conducting emergency architectural salvage over the next week. Because of time and storage limitations they are offering cut-rate prices on salvage items to local individuals (no dealers please) who can come to the site and haul away items as they are pulled out. They want to keep these items in the hands of Orange County residents if at all possible!
The salvage must be completed by May 30th, so this is a great opportunity for those of you engaged in (or contemplating) remodeling or restoration. The structures being salvaged range from 1890s to 1930s and contain beautiful hardwood. Items are in various conditions, some pristine, some with minor damage, and all are sold “as is”.
Some of the many items include:
doors and surrounds (some gumwood)
windows (casement and double hung)
claw foot tubs (with and without feet)
corner bathroom sinks and full country kitchen sinks
built in dining room and kitchen cabinets
Murphy beds (with complete hardware, some with doors)
California coolers and shelves
mirrored medicine cabinets
built in window seats
picture rail, baseboards, chair rail
small gas stoves
mail slots
Victorian corner fireplace and mantle
decorative pillars
full hardwood staircase and banisters
pocket doors
pillars
If you are interested -Please email heidi.brown@yahoo.com IMMEDIATELY and she will give you the phone number to call to arrange to view items and get a price quote.
Remember all salvage must be completed by Monday, May 30th. Proceeds benefit the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society!
Free Historic Home to Anyone that Wants to Move It!
April 27, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
Attention lovers and preservationists of old homes and buildings:
Have we got a deal for you!
The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society, in our efforts to support the preservation of Santa Ana’s beautiful, historic buildings, would like to bring to your attention an immediate opportunity to save a beautiful motor court in the Lacy neighborhood!
On behalf of the Friends of the Lacy Historic Neighborhood:
Good morning everyone,
Last week the Friends of the Historic Lacy Neighborhoods settled its lawsuit with the City of Santa Ana over the demolition of numerous vintage homes in that neighborhood (south of Santa Ana Blvd, north of First Street, east of Mortimer and west of Garfield).
As a component of the settlement, the Friends agreed to City’s preservation of 10 old homes and the demolition of others. One of the structures to be razed is the vintage motor-court at 611 N. Minter.
This 13 unit building is scheduled to be razed after May 15, 2011. The group of small buildings is available, at no cost, to anyone interested in moving it, in whole or part, to another site.
Proposals for the accelerated time line need to be to the City before the end of the month. You can view pictures of the building at http://www.santa-ana.org/cda/multifamilybuildingforsale.asp.
The contact person at the City is Shelly Landry-Bayle. I only have a general number for the city from which you can be transferred to Shelly. That number is 714-647-6900.
We hoped to save these buildings for use as a public meeting area, artist village and small-business retail or student housing. Perhaps the buildings will find a similar use elsewhere in the city.
Colleen Williams
Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society
Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle House & Medical Museum
120 Civic Center Drive
Santa Ana CA 92701
Old Town Tustin’s Historic Home Tour Coming in May!
April 21, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
Every year Old Town Tustin takes part in the Tustin Area Historical Society’s home tour. This year’s theme is “A Tour of Tustin’s History”. Save the date! The home tour takes place Saturday, May 14, 2011. The main event is a walking tour of some of the historical homes and gardens in the historic district. This year they are also featuring an Architectural Tour by trolley, a Tree Walk, a Quilt Show and Sale, Antique Cars on display at each home on tour, and craft vendors in the Tustin Presbyterian Church Courtyard. Don’t miss this event! Get here early to register – registration begins at 8:30am. And if you want some breakfast or lunch, try some of Old Town’s great mom and pop restaurants. You won’t be disappointed. For more info on the event or to buy tickets, click here.
Nana Jean’s – a new eatery in Old Town Tustin
March 23, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
There’s a new restaurant in Old Town Tustin – Nana Jean’s. We had lunch there yesterday and loved it. It’s just what Old Town needs: great food, good service and friendly people. I had the Matzo Ball soup – absolutely delicious with large matzo balls in a tasty broth. The bowl was large and I was super satisfied. It came with fresh bread and what seemed like a cream cheese spread blended with Spanish olives (though I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it was – whatever it was it was great!).
Markus had the meatloaf sandwich with the noodle kugel. The sandwich was huge – two juicy slabs of meatloaf with bacon slices on top. Yum! The noodle kugel – which neither of us has ever had before – was tasty. Almost like a noodle casserole but a bit sweet due to the cinnamon and sugar crust. Really tasty and nice and hot.
The patio seating area is nice – you can watch the goings on of Old Town as you dine. We will definitely go back again … and again!
Japanese Bakery in Old Town Tustin
March 21, 2011 by Markus & Heidi Brown · Leave a Comment
Cream Pan is the only Japanese bakery (and our favorite bakery) in Old Town Tustin. Rumor has it the baker learned his trade in France. The bakery is outstanding! They have all kinds of fresh baked breads including walnut, multigrain, ciabatta, challah, olive rolls, French bread, assorted sweet rolls and sliced Japanese-style bread with thick slices perfect for making French Toast. The Strawberry Croissant is my favorite! A flaky croissant filled with custard cream and fresh sliced strawberries. I can eat a box of those if given the opportunity. Another favorite is the Chocolate Orange which is a pastry more or less like the pull apart bread (don’t know the exact name) that is filled with chunks of chocolate against a wonderful orange flavor. Those are absolutely sinful!
They also sell onigiri – small rice triangles stuffed with salmon and wrapped in seaweed. These sound odd but they are delicious and great as a quick snack. If you want something less adventurous, they have all sorts of sandwiches, all made with fresh ingredients on their freshly baked breads. Some of our favorites are the chicken or pork cutlet sandwich or the egg salad sandwich which is the tastiest egg salad sandwich I’ve ever had. You can have coffee, lattes, and assorted cold drinks and they have some tables both inside and outside where you can consume your purchases if you can’t wait to get them home.
This is definitely a bakery worth trying out. Once you try it you will keep going back. Guaranteed! (P.S. They are closed on Mondays.)
