All Blog Entries by Sam Smith

Over the past 10 years many of the Carlsbad home builders have incorporated a guest casita into the floor plan.  This can be a big selling feature for those who have generational family members living with them as well as young adults that need some extra space in the home.  It seems that more and more children are staying at home even after graduating high school which makes having a guest casita the ideal situation.  There are several Carlsbad neighborhoods where I can recommend you look.

First, one of the newest communities to incorporate a guest casita is the 12 Pacific Carlsbad community.  The casita is actually attached to the main part of the house but comes with it's own private entrance.  Normally you only see detached casita's on homes

One of the most sought after new communities in Carlsbad is the Blue Sage neighborhood at the Preserve.  If you are thinking about buying a new home this area of Carlsbad should be on your radar since there is a wide variety of housing available here.  Within the Preserve are 4 different neighborhoods with some of the most affordable homes located at the Blue Sage & Agave community.  The location is near the College Blvd off ramp and the 78 freeway.

Real Estate prices in the Blue Sage community currently start at $572,990 for a three bedroom, three bath home with 1,533 square feet of living space.  This is a lot of square footage for the price not to mention that these are homes that are brand new.  I've had a chance to go through these homes and was

The homes surrounding the Four Seasons Aviara Hotel are considered some of the best neighborhoods in the Carlsbad area.  As with most Four Seasons resorts the area is simply beautiful with wonderful ocean views surrounded by a lush golf course and upscale homes.  One of the most prestigious neighborhoods is the Avira Point community that is a secure gated community with golf front properties that often feature over 4,000 square feet and offer wonderful golf course and ocean views.  Real Estate prices in this community are often found in the $2 million range for a 5,500 square home with ocean and golf course views.

Another great community is the Pavona and Cantata neighborhood.   This is a great place to find homes located next to the Aviara golf club

The city of Carlsbad is rich in history with many beautiful historic homes that date back to the early part of the century.  Some of the best places to look is the Olde Carlsbad area that is located in the Village area of the city.  These are beach close properties that have a lot of charm and personality to them and offer a distinctive architectural design.  For those not able to afford the high price tag that these homes often have a great alternative is to rent one these historic gems.  

Rental properties in this area don't come on the market that often for lease and is especially hard for those looking for a long term lease of over one year.  Since many of these properties are located near the main shopping area and the beach owners often use these

Real Estate agents have a great tradition that helps them learn what homes are on the market at any given time.  The term Broker Preview is what is commonly referred to as an open house for real estate agents which happened on a given day and time every week.  This way agents can have a chance to view any of the newly listed homes on the market without having to make an appointment with the listing agent.  This is crucial as time is of the essence and during a broker preview it's not unrealistic to see anywhere from 10 to 15 homes within a three hour window.  Often times agents will specialize in a specific neighborhood which makes it crucial that have seen every home that comes on the market in their area.

Each town has it's own date and time when

Some of the first homes in the Cypress neighborhood at the Preserve have been released for sale on our multiple listing service.  The Preserve has been selling homes in the Agave & Acacia neighborhood which first staring offering condos in the low $500,000 range.  Each of the 4 neighborhoods at the Preserve have been built at different times to make sure there is not too much inventory flooded into the marketplace.   Both Agave & Acacia are residential townhome properties with homes still available for sale.  The Cypress community is the first to offer detached homes with it's own fenced yard, rooftop deck, driveway and 2 car garage.  These are very modern homes built within the classic Spanish & Mediterranean architecture.  The 6 different floor plans

One of the newest communities in the neighboring town of Carlsbad is the Laurel Cove community in Encinitas.  Laurel Cove is located just east of the freeway near Encinitas Blvd and a short distance to the San Dieguito High School Academy.  There will be a total of 9 homes being built here with several homes already sold and under contract.  The base price is currently $1,375,000 for a four bedroom, four bath home with 2,312 square feet.  Many of the low-priced homes are one story homes which has become a very desirable floor plan among home buyers.  The interiors feature very open floor plans the combine the living room, and kitchen spaces.  The builder took no expense and offer top of the line stainless steel kitchen appliances with a large center

We recently had a client call into our office asking about the pet policy for the Sea Cliff community here in Carlsbad.  We contacted Andrea at Linday Management services who was very nice and she explained the pet policy to us.  Basically, you are not allowed to have more than 3 pets per dwelling unit.  That means you can have up to 3 dogs which is typically more than what other homeowners associations will allow.  She also let us know that all dogs must be on leashes and under control at all times when on common property or front yard areas.  

Another thing she mentioned to us was about dog behavior and the policies surrounding that.  When your dog is outside you are not allowed to tie it to a tree or fence or anything similar to that.  They also

The second phase of the Lanai community in Carlsbad is in full swing in this new construction neighborhood.  The new crop of homes is located in the Lanai II neighborhood with a selection of four to five bedrooms homes with homes ranging from 3,272 to 3,782 square feet.  Things are moving quickly in the Lanai II community with one home already closed escrow and two other pending sales ranging from list prices of $1,299,000 to $1,449,000.  

There is still one five bedroom home with 3,272 square feet that is still on the market for $1,311,040.  it actually just came on the market today and slated for completion in later summer of 2019.  The two story home is built in the plantation architectural style has a lot to offer with an attached three car garage.

The Mills Act is a federally run program that offers huge discounts on property taxes for those who own historic homes.  We have received several inquiries from clients who are looking for a home that is covered by the Mills Act in the city of Carlsbad.  When looking on the Internet for properties you will often find two designations when it comes to the Mills Act.  The first are properties that are "eligible" for the Mills Act but have not gone through the application process.  Some clients don't want these kind of properties since the application process can take up to 9 months and there is no guarantee the property will be accepted.  The second set of advertised properties are those that already have the Mills Act designation.  This is a huge selling

It's not uncommon for buyers looking for a home in the Carlsbad area to want space for all of their vehicles.  One of the requested items we get is where to find homes that offer RV Parking.  For the most part it's hard to find properties and neighborhoods that will allow for RV parking unless the neighborhood is typically not in a homeowners association or in an older community.  The Olde Carlsbad area is a perfect example of an area where you will find older homes located in the downtown area that may have extra space available for additional vehicles.

There are some communities in Carlsbad that offer designated parking areas for RV's as one of the amenities that they provide.  Typically there is a section of land that has been designated for this

One of the newest developments in the coastal Carlsbad area is the Magnolia Walk townhouse community.  Located on the ocean side of the 5 freeway near the Tamarack exit is a new and exciting townhouses now being offered for sale.  They are still under construction and expected to be finished by the end of next month.  There will a nice variety of two to four bedroom townhouses that will start at 1,092 to 1,565 square feet.  The townhouses are built in the classic Mediterranean style which is very popular in the Carlsbad area.  The builder has designed some nice features to be added in the homes that include vaulted ceilings, cozy fireplace, outdoor patio and granite counters in the kitchen area.  One of the unique things they are adding in the garage is

Every time a new community is built its not uncommon for the builder to build beautiful model homes that have many upgrades to show off the potential of the homes located in the neighborhood.  Many of our clients always fall in love with these model homes and think that there will home will look the same way but soon realize that all of these upgrades cost a lot of money.  For the most part these model homes are not available for sale when the community is first being built but at some time they do come on the market for sale, typically when it's toward the end selling homes in that particular neighborhood. 

A good example of this is a model home that just came on the market for sale in the Robertson Ranch Terraces community here in Carlsbad. The five

2018 has been a great year for Carlsbad real estate with a very strong economy and buyer confidence at an all time high.   The highest sale this year took place this year at 2649 Ocean Street as pictured below.  The 5 bedroom home offered 6,358 square feet of living space and sold for $11,500,000 and closed escrow on March 16th, 2018.  The property was originally listed at $14,950,000 and was on the market for a total of 110 days when the owners accepted the offer.  The location was a premier ocean front spot along the famous Ocean Street that is lined with luxury homes with stunning white water views.  2649 Ocean Street was truly amazing and was newlyweds built in 2017 and offered a very Contemporary architectural design both inside and out.  All 3

The Alta Mira community in Carlsbad, California is currently going under a special assessment.  Specifically, the Alta Mira V community is now currently receiving exterior improvements to homes located in this community.  One home that is currently listed for sale states that the seller shall pay for the special assessment balance at the the close of escrow.  The special assessment fee of has been noted on another residential listing as a $9,000 fee that was for "termite repairs and exterior refresh" of the homes located in the Alta Mira IV community.  Further information on the details of this assessment can be found by contacting the homeowner association at 858-550-7900.

The Alta Mira IV community offers a premier location near Poinsettia Park which

A set of 4 new brand new construction homes have just hit the market this week in Carlsbad, California with the new community name of "Acacia Pacifica."  Located approximately one half block to the beach is a collection of attached condos that are currently priced between $2,850,000 to $3,250,000.  The condos are still currently under construction with an estimated completion date around October 2018.  It's still easy enough in the construction phase for buyers to have some design changes if they act quick enough with an offer.  

First, the location is one of the biggest selling points for these condos.  Located between the Carlsbad State Beach and Tamarack Beach with a location that offers easy walks to the beach and the heart of the Carlsbad Village

One of the newest neighborhoods in Carlsbad is the Afton Way neighborhood.  Located on "Afton Way" street is a collection of 8 brand new construction homes that will offer panoramic views.  The location is near the cross streets of El Camino Real and Carlsbad Village Drive which is a short distance to the 5 freeway and an easy 10 minute drive down to the beach.  It's also located near the Carlsbad High School which is a big selling point.  Currently there are two properties on the market ranging from $1,385,990, to $1,475,990.  The homes have only been on the market for a short period of time and the lowest priced home already has an accepted offer on it and is currently in escrow.

The two remaining homes are still offered for sale with a brand new one

The Hacienda Cala complex is a favorite condo complex located in the desirable Bristol Cove area of Carlsbad.  This is an older building that was built in 1972 with generous size condos that span over 1,200 square feet for select two bedroom floor plans.  The location is directly on the water front which is a small cancel that leads out to the Agua Hedionda lagoon area and then eventually out to the Pacific Ocean.  This is a popular area for boating enthusiasts as many dock their boats here as pictured below.  Real Estate prices in Hacienda Cala will vary depending on a variety of factors.  For example, last October a three bedroom, three bath condo with 1,480 square feet sold for $499,000 after being on the market for only 8 days.  This truly was a

One of the newest neighborhoods in Carlsbad is the The Golden Surf community.  This is small neighborhood of 5 new construction homes that were built in 2018.  The homes are located on Camino De Las Ondas street with real estate prices starting just above one million dollars.  Sizes range from a three bedroom, two and a half bath home with 2,313 square feet to a four bedroom, three and a half bath home with 3,283 square feet.  The demand for these types of homes in the last couple of years has been very high with new communities like Robertson Ranch selling very well.

One of the selling points is not having any homeowners association dues and Mello Roos tax which is almost standard procedure for most new construction neighborhoods.  Some of the

Aviara is a very popular area of Carlsbad that is located on the southern end of Carlsbad.  Numerous neighborhoods have been built around the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort and Golf Club as well as the Four Seasons Aviara resort.  There are miles of high quality golf courses, highly rate elementary and middle schools as well as lots of local shopping, restaurants and luxury movie theaters located in this area. Finding a Aviara home for rent can be more difficult than you think since the inventory of rental housing has been very limited in recent years.  This is especially true for long term rentals as more and more owners are electing to do vacation rentals on their properties due to the high rental income that can be achieved during the high season summer