Emerald Bay at North Laguna Beach is one of the most private and exclusive ocean and beach communities in South Orange County.  Emerald Bay at Laguna has 21 single family homes now listed for sale on the MLS. Average asking price for these Emerald Bay real estate homes is $6,591,000.  These have Pacific ocean views and average interior size of 3,593 square feet.         See Emerald Bay homes now listed - click here for active link Highest asking price for an Emerald Bay home now for sale is the estate oceanfront property at 22 Emerald Bay with direct sand access and asking price of $24 million.  This property comes with preliminary plans for rebuilding by a famous architect, located with surf and sand views and sunsets throughout the year. 12 Emerald Bay homes at Laguna homes have sol... 04/12/2011

“Good Morning” everybody and I wanted to bring some wonderful color into your morning! The photo above is from Laguna Beach in southern California, and the rest are flowers from different places. Can you name some of these flowers, and if so please leave the names in your comment … I am sure that many of you may know the name of this flower that grows allover the World! These flowers were taken at the San Diego Zoo several weeks ago. This photo above and the the pic of Laguna Beach are my two favorites, “which ones are yours”?   Let Robert Swetz bring some color into your morning!   04/10/2011

    Is the market is improving or at least stabilizing!?  We provide the latest market updates regularly, as well as personal consultation of market direction... The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for February: The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the 0-$500,000 Range: 2011   1 listings closed escrow              2010   2 listings closed escrow             The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $500,000-$1,000,000 Range: 2011   13 listings closed escrow              2010   2 listings closed escrow The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $1,000,000+ Range: 2011   12 listings closed escrow               2010   16 listings closed escrow                    *Does a sales report tell the whole story about market environment, consumer ... 04/09/2011

APRIL 8, 2011 6PM AND THE BEACH IS STILL READY FOR US TO GET IN... THOUSAND PEAKS READY FOR SOME SURFING....   AND THEN THE BOYS CHOSE THIS BEACH TO JUST CHILL..... IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY.......... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHOTOGRAPHY IS MY FIRST LOVE, BUT NOTHING LIKE ADDING FAMILY, PHOTOGRAPHY AND VACATION... NEED INFORMATION ON THE LOCAL BEACHES OR THE BEST BEACHES TO VISIT IN THE LAGUNA BEACH, NEWPORT AND HUNTINGTON BEACH AREA???  CALL ME FOR DETAILS... OR BETTER YET EMAIL ME AND IF YOU ARE VISITING I WILL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE LOCAL BEACHES AND THE PRIVATE ONES THAT ARE A MUST THAT ONLY LOCALS KNOW....WHERE TO GO...  IF YOU ALSO WANT TO KNOW DETAILS ON MY MAUI,HAWAII BEACHES... I CAN G... 04/08/2011

IN LAGUNA BEACH ON APRIL 1ST, 2011 LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Chance Gaul cannot drive a car yet. He is only 14. But he is already the fastest thing on wheels around here. Ann Johansson for The New York Times Barbara Evans, in her S.U.V., told Chance and his mother, Ginger DeLong, "I don't want to see a skateboarder on this hill." While Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes precariously descend the windy canyon roads here at 25 miles per hour, Chance bombs down at 40, sometimes even 60 m.p.h. on his skateboard, savoring the sea breeze on his face. But this may be his last ride here. The future of downhill skateboarding is in jeopardy in the region where the sport was born, with bans spreading across Southern California and lawmakers questioning whether people - teenagers mostly - should be barreling... 04/02/2011

MARCH 31, 2011 Welcome to the Sawdust Art Festival WEEKEND CLASS WITH MARY HURLBUT in Laguna Beach, CA. "Enjoying Your Digital Camera" with Mary Hurlbut Three-hour intro class to digital photography for beginners. Learn the art of seeing light, while also having those pesky technical questions answered in plain English! Bring your digital camera, the manual it came with, and, if you have one, a laptop. Wear shoes for walking. We will spend time in the classroom covering the Art of Photography and the basics for using digital cameras. Then we'll get outside and practice what you've learned, before returning to the class and uploading the images to a computer for viewing and discussion. Please make a list of questions you have about digital photography and email them to Mary, one week pr... 03/30/2011

  Laguna Beach, California, homes for lease - March 24, 2011 With some of the most extraordinary and ocean view areas, Laguna Beach has 278 homes now listed for lease. Average monthly rent asking price is $7,092 now at Laguna Beach. Average interior size is 1792 SF on Laguna Beach homes for lease. 126 of Laguna homes for lease are condos, and others are single family residences.   Laguna has more non-owner occupied homes for lease and leased than other areas at South Orange County. There are lots more homes leased at Laguna Beach than the number sold. 233 Laguna Beach homes were leased with signed contracts since January 1, 2011.  Average lease price was $4,180 per month, and average size interior was 1235 per SF. During that same time from January 1 to March 24, 2011, Laguna had 76 hom... 03/23/2011

1 Minute Housing Report How do Americans view owning a Home? Last week, Fannie Mae released the National Housing Survey. Here are the survey's more interesting findings.  96% of all homeowners said homeownership has been a positive experience. 84% of Americans still believe that owning a home makes more sense than renting. Even 68% of renters believe owning makes more sense. 64% consider buying a home as a safe investment. Buying a home was considered safer than buying stocks by over three times the number of people (64% vs 17%). 2 in 3 Americans believe that lifestyle benefits of homeownership (65%) are superior to the financial benefits (32%). Homeownership has always been an important part of the American Dream. Not only are there financial benefits to owning a home but the benefits ... 03/18/2011

Laguna Beach California 3-13-2011 - Photograph taken by Robert Swetz   I have traveling the State of California for over 35 years now and there are certain areas that are my favorite. I have always loved Laguna Beach and my daughter and I had the privilege of walking along Laguna Beach, as we walked down some stairs to the beach we saw this wonderful display of flowers that have been growing along some cliffs beneath the homes. Vegas Bob is working on purchasing a condo in Laguna Beach through one of his Corporations where he can write books, paint, and work with his photography. VB will be keeping his roots in Vegas and spending approx 3-4 months out of the year in Laguna Beach.   Laguna Beach, CA - Homepage Official website of the city includes departments and elected officials, comm... 03/17/2011

Laguna Beach Certified Farmer's Market Every Saturday in in downtown Laguna Beach, Ca. in the lumberyard parking lot across the street from city hall you can get fresh fruits and vegtables from local farmers at The Laguna Beach Certified Farmer's Market. This Farmer's Market is the real thing! Every farmer who sells at a certified market is inspected by the county agricultural commissioner to make sure he/she actually grows the commodity being sold. Rain or shine the Laguna Beach Certified Farmer's Market is open for business every Saturday 8am-12pm. For more information about Laguna Beach and Surrounding areas give me a call (949)350-8922! 03/07/2011

Is now a better time to buy a home or to sell a home? The general consensus is that the housing market has hit a long-awaited neutral spot, meaning that prices have somewhat stabilized but could still go down a little or up a little. It's a good time to sell! If you believe that the banks are holding on to a shadow inventory of homes that will be released on the market causing a downward pressure on prices then it's better to sell now before prices drop. It's a good time to buy! Home prices have come down drastically from the highs and mortgage rates are the best we've seen in generations. The odds are that rates will be going up so even if home price were to decrease your monthly payment may increase. It's always a good time to buy - and to sell. Every time a house rises in value, ther... 02/18/2011

I am a proud grandpa, tonight I watched my granddaughter Lexi, (Go Lexie) dance on the Grammy with Katy Perry.  I have followed my granddaughter as she would go thru training and lessons.  I went to dance performances and have seen her blossom.  Here full name is Lexie Contursi and she is getting a lot of time during the routine.  She is beautiful and dances with great pride.  We love you Lexie,  Go Lexie. 02/13/2011

Once again James Shaffer's home is on the market.  James  "Munky" Shaffer is Korn's guitarist has his home back on the market it has been off the market for 7 months.  The home is a mediterranean style home and is listed at $2.99 million one million than it had been on the market for just a few months ago.  The home is walking distance to the ocean, as well as shopping areas and restaurants.  The home is a 3 bedroom 2,670 square foot home on a 5,000 square foot lot.  The home has three levels and an ocean view.  It is a beautiful home near Crescent Bay Point Park.    02/13/2011

  Is the market is improving or at least stabilizing!?  We provide the latest market updates regularly, as well as personal consultation of market direction... The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for January 1st - December 31st The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the 0-$500,000 Range: 2010   15 listings closed escrow 2009   17 listings closed escrow             At pace with the previous year 2008   17 listings closed escrow The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $500,000-$1,000,000 Range: 2010   97 listings closed escrow 2009   93 listings closed escrow                    Nearly Tripled! 2008   35 listings closed escrow The Laguna Beach Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $1,000,000+ Range: 2010   224 listings closed escrow 2009   178 listi... 01/29/2011

  Electric cars should have a place to charge up in the city of Laguna Beach by the end of the summer. The city council recently voted to negotiate an agreement with ChargePoint America, a program from electric vehicle infrastructure company Coloumb Technologies. The program uses federal money to buy charging stations for cities and individuals and build a network for drivers of the increasingly popular vehicles. Electric Vehicles will soon be common on American Roads. The two charging stations will be installed at the south end of the parking lot at Laguna Canyon Road and Forest Avenue, taking over two parking spots. The council agreed to continue to charge drivers to park at the spots and limit their parking time to three hours, to coincide with other spaces in the downtown area. Cit... 01/15/2011

I was fortunate to attend UCI at a time when the Fine Arts department was enjoying a resurgence of attention to the arts. Every quarter we would have visiting artists come in and teach classes; there was Billie Al Bengston, Joe Goode, Ed Moses and other highly accomplished artists who would critique your work and tell stories but what we as students found most interesting was their insight into the fine art world. The reason this comes to mind is the excellent show at the Laguna Art Museum featuring the works of John Paul Jones who died in 1999. John Paul Jones, a Laguna Beach resident, taught at UCI from 1969 to 1990 and I was lucky to be one of his students. He founded the printmaking department at UCLA in 1953 and was brought to UCI by Tony Delap to start the print department. He was... 12/02/2010

A pink toilet seat, pro football and 41 Laguna Beach homes - what's the connection?  My wife and I take the dogs for a walk every evening and last fall we kept seeing a pink toilet seat move from house to house in the neighborhood. Finally, we asked the question, "So what's with the pink toilet seat? Is this some form of punishment and how do we avoid getting this pink badge of honor?" It turns out that it is indeed a punishment for losing the weekly pro football fantasy pool. Based on some obscure formula - something to do with passing yards, rushing yards, well kept yards, unkept yards and figures only a statistician would love. (I'm guessing alcohol played a part in this somewhere), host Steve Collings calculates the winner and loser each week and emails a spreadsheet to all particip... 12/01/2010

IT'S THE HOLIDAYS! AND YOU SHOULD FIND OUT WHERE THE NEAREST SHELTER IS LOCATED AT NEAR YOU AND GIVE! GIVE-GIVE-GIVE--- MY SON WENT TO A CATHOLIC H.S. (MATER DEI) AND PART OF YOU PASSING TO THE NEXT GRADE>> YOU HAD TO CLOCK IN X..... AMOUNT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS, 10-FRESHMAN YEAR, 20-SOPH YR, 25-JR YEAR & LIKE 40 HOURS YOUR SENIOR YEAR. THEY TAKE IT VERY SERIOUS! Well, now that my son is in college he continues to help in various charities with us, but this year I never forget about our on going annual shelter for both men and women in our area. There is a list of items they need for the shelter... I PERSONALLY, TOOK ITEMS TO THE SHELTER SATURDAY MORNING>>>> DVD'S, SHEETS, FOOD, TOWELS & 3 REAMS OF PAPER AND A BOX OF PENS :) IT JUST TAKES THE INITIATIVE!!!!! PAY IT FORWARD!!!! IT'... 11/29/2010

The Montage Resort & Spa is having their First Annual Holiday Tree Lighting and it's Open to the Public! The Festivities are scheduled for Monday November 29th and begin at 4:30pm. There will be Carolers, Music, Prize Giveaways, Complimentary food and drinks, Chef cooking demos etc. Check out their website for all the details: http://www.montagelagunabeach.com/events/holiday-tree-lighting-and-community-open-house 11/26/2010

Now is a great time for buyers to shop for a great deal along the Laguna Beach coast for that coastal estate because of the lower price offer.  According to The Orange County Register the homes on the sand in Laguna Beach are a little bit cheaper today.  Some experts claim that now is a great time (holiday time) to swoop in and purchase a home in Laguna for a lesser price. A home in South Laguna on Coast Hwy has dropped its price has dropped its price by $1,000,000 dollars. It is a home located on the ocean front and is over 4,300 square feet.  Another home on Mar Vista 3150 square feet has also dropped its price by $1,000,000.  According to the statistics 26 homes sold in October and 21 were priced below $2,000,000 A home in North Laguna sold at over that amount.  The home above Shaw's... 11/21/2010