Ladera Ranch Real Estate

Ladera Ranch Village Clubs are one of the unique benefits of life in this new master planned community. At the center of every Ladera Ranch village is a Village Club which is the center for recreation and socializing. One of the more popular villages is Avendale Village. Avendale Village is the largest village in Ladera Ranch and offers many recreational activities such as: softball and T-ball fields,  swim complex, sand volleyball, water funzone with wading pools, basketball and tennis courts and many parks. One park in particular, is Founders Park where the Harvest Festival is held and the Fourth of July parade and fireworks display.

Avendale Village is comprised of thirteen neighborhoods, sometimes called builder tracts.  Below is a list of the Tracts showing the housing style, number of homes and size range of the homes constructed: 

Tract Name         Housing Type     # of Homes   Size Range of Home  Astoria            Detached Homes      99        1,726 – 2,245 SqFt  Berkshire          Attached Condos    156        1,102 – 1,505 SqFt  Canopy Lane        Detached Homes     113        2,294 – 2,585 SqFt  Charleston Place   Attached Condos    139        1,226 – 1,626 SqFt  Front Street       Detached Homes      22        3,357 – 3,634 SqFt  Greenbriar         Attached Condos    130        1,518 – 1,737 SqFt  Savannah           Detached Homes      83        1,485 – 1,760 SqFt  St. Mays Road      Attached Condos    141        1,383 – 1,888 SqFt  Sterling Glen      Detached Homes     103        2,422 – 2,850 SqFt  Sumners Way        Detached Homes      58        3,249 – 3,545 SqFt  Tether Moon        Detached Homes     112        1,959 – 2,428 SqFt  Weatherhaven       Detached Homes      71        1,978 – 2,586 SqFt  Willow Bend        Detached Homes      99        2,961 – 3,180 SqFt  

Home construction first began in Avendale Village in 2001 and the final homes were completed in 2005.  Eight of the countries finest home builders constructed the fine homes in Avendale Village listed as follows:

• Warmington Homes – Astoria and Charleston Place
• Shea Homes – Berkshire 
• Standard Pacific Homes – Canopy Lane, Front Street and Willow Bend
• D.R. Horton – Greenbriar
• Barratt American – Savannah
• John Lang Homes – St. Mays Road and Sumners Way
• William Lyon Homes – Sterling Glenn and Weatherhaven
• Centex – Tether Moon

As of the date of this article, there are 40 homes Active for sale in Avendale Village ranging in price from $464,900 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo on Arabis Court, on up to $1,369,000 for a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 3,468 square foot estate on Lanford Lane.  The median price for these 40 homes is $610,000. 

In the year 2005′ there were 147 homes sold in Avendale Village, ranging in price from $405,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo on Vinca Court, up to $1,200,000 for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2,780 square foot estate on Tether Moon Lane.  The median price for these 147 homes sold was $567,000 and the average price was $620,086.

For an up-to-date list of just all homes currently listed for sale in Avendale Village, click on the link below:

View All Avendale Village Detached Homes Now Listed for Sale

View All Avendale Village Condos Now Listed for Sale

Avendale Village is served by the award winning Capistrano Unified Public School district.  Most of Avendale Village is served by Ladera Ranch Elementary School, and a small portion of the south end of the village is served by Oso Grande Elementary School instead.  The Intermediate school is serviced by the Ladera Ranch Middle School, and the high school is Tesoro High School.  

If you have any questions about Avendale Village or Ladera Ranch real estate, please feel free to contact us by email or by phone at:  949-388-3396.  To view all homes currently listed for sale in Ladera Ranch, click here:  Ladera Ranch Real Estate for Sale.

Technorati Tags: Real Estate, Ladera Ranch, Home, Condo

The fine townhomes at Berkshire in Ladera Ranch were developed by the renowned builder Shea Homes.   Construction began in 2001′ and the final condominiums were constructed in 2003′.  Berkshire is located between Antonio Parkway and Sienna Parkway and just south of Avendale Blvd. in Ladera Ranch.

Berkshire consists of 156 Condo units comprising of 7 distinct and modern floor plans as listed below: 

• Mitchell  (A) – 2 Bdrm, 2 Bath, 1,102 SqFt
• Micthell Alt 1 (B) – 2 Bdrm, 2 Bath, 1,135 SqFt
• Baes (C) – 2 Bdrm, 2 Bath, 1,248 SqFt.
• Whipple (D) – 2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, 1,316 SqFt
• Reid (E) – 2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, 1,346 SqFt
• Chavex (F) – 2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, 1,541 SqFt
• Altuchow (G) – 3 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, 1,505 SqFt

Each home includes and 1 or 2 car garage, and fireplace.  Some of the special features these Condos offer are:  Spacious Master Bedrooms With Walk-In Closets, Roman Tubs and Double Vanities, Large Balconies and much more.

Ladera Ranch is a new master planned community located in south Mission Viejo, CA. Ladera Ranch is a one of kind collection of unique villages and intimate neighborhoods, comprising of classic and modern architectures.  There are several Village Clubs ranging in size from 3 to 5 Acres, and numerous sports parks, such as:  Avendale Park, Ladera Ranch Sports Park, Township Park, Flintridge Park, Wycliffe District Parks, and Echo Ridge Park.  In addition, there is a 24 Acre regional park with baseball diamonds, soccer fields, tot lots and more.

Berkshire in Ladera Ranch is located in the award winning Capistrano Unified Public School District.  The grade school is Chaparral Elementary school, the middle school is Ladera Ranch Junior High, and the upper classes are at Tesoro High School.

There are currently 8 Condos Active for sale in Berkshire ranging in price from $479,999 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,250 Square Foot home on Arabis Court, on up to $589,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1,541 square foot condominium on Dietes Court.  The Median price for these 5 homes for sale is $509,000.

Today there is one home under contract In Escrow and the asking price is $499,900 for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,346 square foot condo on Agave Court.  In the past 90 days, there have been 4 homes sold and close escrow.  The prices ranged from $475,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath , 1,316 square foot condo on Viburnum Way, on up to $515,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1,346 square foot condo on Arabis Court.

If you would like more information about Berkshire condos or Ladera Ranch, contact Vincent Bindi at 949-388-3396.  To view all condos and detached houses for sale in Ladera Ranch, visit our website at:  Ladera Ranch Homes. 

Since the real estate market in Ladera Ranch and the rest of Orange County, CA has recently slowed down considerably, the MLS is a must have in the marketing and sales of homes and condos today.  Gone are the days when you could just stick a sign in the front yard and have several purchase offers by the end of the week.

The MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service and is a cooperative arrangement among all licensed real estate professionals.  Here is how it works, a licensed real estate agent will contract with a home owner to sell their home.  This Listing Contract specifies a commission that the seller will pay when the home sells, and this commission is split between the Listing Agent the subsequent Buyer Agent that sells the home to the future Buyer. The Listing Agent lists the home for sale in the MLS computerized database, and then this new listing is made electronically available to some 20,000 other real estate agents throughout Orange County and Ladera Ranch. 

The vast majority of homes and condos listed for sale in Ladera Ranch are placed on the MLS.  The MLS is more powerful marketing tool today than ever before due to partnerships and affiliations created over the past several years with other Internet portals.  Today, when a home is put up for for sale in Ladera Ranch and is listed in the MLS, is advertised in more than 40 major Internet websites.  A partial list of these Real Estate advertising websites are:  Realtor.com, HomeSeekers.com, HomeStore.com, Homes.com, YahooRealEstate, AOL.com,  MYOC.com, OCRegister.com, OCRealEstateFinder.com, LATimes.com and many more… 

Recent independent Nationwide studies has shown that over 75% of all home buyers begin their home search on the Internet.  And usage here in south Orange County and Ladera Ranch is even higher.  The reasons for this are obvious.  The Internet MLS listings often provide multiple color photos, complete address with maps, detailed property descriptions, Tax assessor data and more. As compared to older marketing venues such as Real Estate Magazines and Newspapers, which only contained one photo at best, and just snippets of information pertaining to the details of the home. Plus, Newspaper and Magazine advertisements are notorious fro being out of date with regard to whether the home is still available for sale, where as the MLS and the corresponding Internet portals that it feeds, are updated within a day or two.

In addition, many licensed real estate professional today, work with many potential buyers, and these buyers are typically set up with an email alert service by their Agent.  When a new listing is input into the MLS, these computerized email alert services are instantly notified of the new listing, and if the listing meets the wants and needs of a particular buyer, that new listing is immediately emailed to that Buyer.  This is a very effective and targeted marketing tool that is revolutionizing the real estate industry.

The MLS that is used here in Ladera Ranch is called the SoCalMLS which covers the entire Orange County real estate market and many other cities outside the county as well.  The MLS is a very secure and password protected system.  Today, there are over 20,800 properties listed for sale in Orange County, and there are 273 residential homes and condos listed for sale in Ladera Ranch.  Currently, the Median asking price for a  detached house in Ladera Ranch is $1 Million, and the Median asking price for an attached Condo in Ladera Ranch is  $565,000.

To view ALL homes listed for Sale in Ladera Ranch, visit our website at:  Ladera Ranch Homes.  To learn more about our Email Alert service, visit:  OCJustListed.com

The master planned community of Ladera Ranch incorporates a collection of unique villages and intimate neighborhoods that are woven together by a network of trails, parks and paseos. Ladera Ranch homes offer a wide tapestry of classic and modern architectural styles. From Traditional, to colonial to modern or Spanish decor… one can find just about any popular architectural style in the homes built in Ladera Ranch.

The community of Ladera Ranch has lots to offer such as several Village Clubs ranging in size from 3 to 5 Acres where neighbors and kids can gather.  There are also numerous sports parks, called:  Ladera Ranch Sports Park, Flintridge Parks, Township Parks, Avendale Parks, Wycliffe District Parks, and Echo Ridge Parks.  In addition, there is a 24 Acre regional park with 4 baseball diamonds, 6 soccer fields, tot lots and much more…. all of this for the enjoyment and use of Ladera Ranch residents.

There are currently 104 detached homes for sale in Ladera Ranch, ranging in price from a low of $580,000 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath 2 story condo, on up to $5,900,000 for a 6 bedroom, 5 bath, 8,441 SqFt home with 3 car garage.  The average price for these detached homes for sale is $1,371,528 and the Median price is $1,049,900, with an average days on market for sale of 52 days. 

Currently, there are 51 homes that are Pending In Escrow in Ladera Ranch.  This represents a healthy ratio of homes currently active for sale as compared to homes pending in escrow.  The Median price of these Pending homes is $839,000, and the lowest price is $619,500 and the highest price $3,900,000.

For the past 30 days, there have been 22 detached homes that have sold and closed escrow in Ladera Ranch. The lowest priced home sold was $615,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath 1,500 SqFt home.  The highest priced home sold was $4,020,000 for a 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 6,200 SqFt estate.  The Median price of these homes was $865,000 and the average price was $1,054,945 with an average days on market of 55 days.  Again, these figures reflect the strong market that Ladera Ranch has been experiencing ever since this community began about 5 years ago.

If you would like to view all Homes for sale in Ladera Ranch, simply visit our website at:  Ladera Ranch Real Estate.

The beautiful new community of Ladera Ranch has many different Condo exterior elevation options to choose from.  One of the Architectural signatures of Ladera Ranch is the wide variety of exterior elevation looks and styles.  From Traditional, to colonial to modern or Spanish decor… one can find just about any popular architectural style in the Condominiums built in Ladera Ranch over the past 5 years.

The Master Planned community of Ladera Ranch has lots to offer such as several Village Clubs ranging in size from 3 to 5a Acres where neighbors and kids can gather.  There are also numerous sports parks, called:  Ladera Ranch Sports Park, Flintridge Parks, Township Parks, Avendale Parks, Wycliffe District Parks, and Echo Ridge Parks.  In addition, there is a 24 Acre regional park with 4 baseball diamonds, 6 soccer fields, tot lots and much more…. all of this for the enjoyment and use of Ladera Ranch residents. The association dues for the Ladera Ranch community is about $160 per month, and the association dues for each individual Condo community will range from $125 to $165 per month.

There are currently 58 Condos for sale in Ladera Ranch, ranging in price from a low of $434,900 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath 2 story condo, on up to $689,900 for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1,880 SqFt townhome with 2 car attached garage.  The average price for these Condominiums for sale is $564,257 and the Median price is $554,900, with an average days on market for sale of 44 days. 

For Condos that have sold and are currently under contract (In Escrow), there are a total 20 such units in Ladera Ranch.  This represents a healthy ration of homes currently active for sale as compared to Condos under contract in escrow.  For Condominiums in Escrow, the Median price is $549,900.

For the past 30 days, there have been 25 Condos that have sold and closed escrow in Ladera Ranch.  The Median price of these Condos was $508,900 and the average price was $519,292 with an average days on market of 52 days.  Again, these figures reflect the strong market that Ladera Ranch has been experiencing ever since this community began about 5 years ago.

If you would like to view all Condos for sale in Ladera Ranch, simply visit our website at:  Ladera Ranch Real Estate 

We have found that there is a lot of confusion regarding Mello-Roos in Ladera Ranch.  Simply put, Mello-Roos  is a special assessment in the form of property tax that is levied on Ladera Ranch (and other cities) real estate within a designated district. These Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos districts are created to raise money by the sale of bonds, for the purpose of financing infrastructure improvements for that community. This infrastructure improvements may include sewer treatment, larger water lines, new streets, expanded drainage system, new parks, upgraded electrical lines, new schools, etc. 

The motivation for the creation of the Mello-Roos tax  started back in 1978 with the passage of Proposition 13 which restricted local governments ability to pay for capital facilities and services by increasing property taxes. In 1982, Senator Henry Mello and Assemblyman Mike Roos enacted the Community Facilities District (now called Mello-Roos) to provide local governments with an additional way to raise needed funds, and the first MelloRoos district was created in 1986.  Below are some of the more common questions that are asked about Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos:

What is the Total Tax Rate in Ladera Ranch including Mello-Roos ?  When homes were first built, the Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos fee plus Prop 13 base tax totaled about 2.0%.  Prop 13 base property tax is approximately 1.1% of the purchase price and the Mello-Roos portion of the tax was approximately an additional 0.9%.  One important disction is that the Prop 13 Tax is based upon the sales price, so as your home appreciates and is sold, the new Buyer has to pay a higher property Tax.  But, the Mello-Roos tax is not based upon the sale price and mostly stays constant even after years of appreciation.  Due to the strong appreciation that Ladera Ranch has experienced since the homes were first built, the Prop 13 tax adjusts upwards at 1.1% of the purchase price, while the Mello-Roos has essentially stayed fixed at approximately $2,000/year.  So today, the total property tax is around 1.5% for a $800,000 home.  

How does one estimate the Mello-Roos when buying a Ladera Ranch home? During the purchase process, the Seller is required to acquire a report which will state in writing the exact amount of the Mello-Roos fee. But before you make an offer you can also estimate the Mello-Roos for it does vary somewhat from community to community and even lot to lot.. You take the quoted Tax Assessor yearly Tax amount, and subtract the 1.1% of the Prop 13 portion of the tax from this amount. The remainder is a reasonable estimate of your yearly Mello-Roos payment for that home.

Can I deduct my Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos taxes from my Income Tax? Many  tax accountants state that the Mello-Roos tax is not tax deductible. It is best advised that you consult with your tax consultant and make your own decision on this topic.

How and when do I pay the Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos Tax ? The Mello-Roos tax is included in your normal Prop 13 tax bill and this is billed to you twice per year on February 1st and November 1st. 

How long do the Ladera Ranch Mello-Roos tax last ? The Mello-Roos assessment is written for about 15 to 25 years dependent on the community facilities district. Although, some of the districts have the right to renew the Mello-Roos tax if needed.

How do I compare the value of a Home with Mello-Roos against a Home without?  Let’s say you are thinking about  buying either a home in Ladera Ranch with yearly Mello-Roos payment of about $1,800, or possibly buying a home in Laguna Niguel with no Mello-Roos. To compare the values of these two homes, take the $1,800 yearly Mello Roos payment, divide by 12 for the monthly payment of $150. A $150 per month payment is approximately equal to a $25,000 mortgage in today’s interest rates. Therefore the home in Ladera Ranch is actually costing you about $25,000 more as compared to the home you’re considering in Laguna Niguel. If the Ladera Ranch home is still more desirable to you at a comparative price $25,000 higher than the home in Laguna Niguel, then buy it, if not, buy the home in Laguna Niguel.

If you would like to view all homes listed for sale in Ladera Ranch, please visit our website at:  Ladera Ranch Real Estate