NAR Stimulus Package.. A Wishlist?
January 22, 2008
National Association of Realtors began asserting itself in Washington this last week as it began urging President George Bush and other law makers to push harder to get Government Sponsored Enterprises, Read more
Foreclosure Market and Traditional Buyers
January 21, 2008
This is in interesting subject!! I cannot tell you how many buyers and mortgage clients have approached me through the years looking for the ultimate score in the foreclosure market. This article is intended to shed light on what the term Read more
Offensive Offers the Scenario.
January 18, 2008
As I wrote the initial post regarding “Real Estate Offers thay Are Offensive” , it made sense to me to also post a real life scenario of a so-called offensive offer. So below is that story. I hope you enjoy.
Plan: The goal of this transaction was to Read more
Real Estate Offers That Are Offensive
January 18, 2008
This is an exhilarating topic in a declining real estate market. This is where home equity gain and great real estate value can be realized. However, you need to know what an offensive purchase offer is. Read more
Orange County, California Information Guide
January 4, 2008
OC Points of Interest
The area’s warm Mediterranean climate and 42 miles (68 km) of year-round beaches attract millions of tourists annually. Huntington Beach is a hot spot for sunbathing and surfing; nicknamed “Surf City, U.S.A.”, it is home to many surfing competitions. “The Wedge,” at the tip of The Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, is one of the most famous body surfing spots in the world. Other tourist destinations include the theme parks Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim and Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park. The Anaheim Convention Center is the largest such facility on the West Coast. The old town area in the City of Orange (the traffic circle at the middle of Chapman Ave. at Glassell) still maintains its 1950s image, and appeared in the That Thing You Do! movie. Little Saigon is another notable tourist destination, being home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. There are also sizable Taiwanese, Chinese, and Korean communities, particularly in western Orange County. This is evident in several Asian-influenced shopping centers in Asian American hubs like the city of Irvine.
Other notable structures include the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana, the largest building in the county; the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, the largest house of worship in California; the historic Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach; the Huntington Beach Pier; and the restored Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Some of the most exclusive (and expensive) neighborhoods in the U.S. are located here, many along the Orange County Coast, and some in north Orange County. Historical points of interest include Mission San Juan Capistrano (destination of migrating swallows), and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda. The Nixon Home is a National Historic Landmark, as is the home of a very different character, Madam Helena Modjeska, in Modjeska Canyon on Santiago Creek.
Since the premiere in fall 2003 of the hit FOX series The OC, and the 2007 Bravo series “The Real Housewives of Orange County” tourism has increased with travelers from across the globe hoping to see the sights seen in the show. However, the former was rarely filmed anywhere in Orange County.
Notable Natives and Residents
Due to Orange County’s proximity to Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the United States, many film and media celebrities have moved or bought second homes in the county. Actor John Wayne, who lived in Newport Beach, is the namesake for Orange County’s John Wayne Airport. Orange County has also produced many homegrown celebrities, including golfer Tiger Woods, basketball players Dennis Rodman and Kobe Bryant , a number of professional ballplayers, including retired slugger Mark McGwire, actor Kevin Costner, comedian/actors Steve Martin and Will Ferrell, actresses Michelle Pfeiffer and Diane Keaton, and singers Chester Bennington, Bonnie Raitt, Gwen Stefani, Jeff Buckley, Marc Cherry creator and executive producer of Desperate Housewives was from Fullerton, and Drake Bell.
The county’s most famous resident was perhaps Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, who was born in Yorba Linda and lived in San Clemente for several years following his resignation. His presidential library is in Yorba Linda.
Orange County Education
Orange County is the home of many colleges and universities, including:
Colleges
* Coastline Community College
* Cypress College
* Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
* Fullerton College
* Golden West College
* Irvine Valley College
* Laguna College of Art and Design
* Orange Coast College
* Saddleback College
* Santa Ana College
* Santiago Canyon College
Universities
* Anaheim University
* California State University, Fullerton
* Chapman University
* Concordia University
* Hope International University
* Soka University of America
* Trinity Law School
* University of California at Irvine
* Vanguard University
Chapman University, “founded in 1861 and based in the city of Orange, is one of the oldest, most prestigious private universities in California. Chapman’s picturesque campus is located in the midst of one of the nation’s most vibrant economies and artistically creative areas, and draws outstanding students from across the nation and around the world”. “The mission of Chapman University is to provide personalized education of distinction that leads to inquiring, ethical and productive lives as global citizens”.
The University of California at Irvine is a full-service teaching and research university, including a medical school, a teaching hospital, and an engineering college.
Orange County History
Members of the Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño nations long inhabited the area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Junipero Serra named the area Valle de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area’s first permanent European settlement. Among the group of explorers that came with Portolá were José Manuel Nieto and José Antonio Yorba. Both of these men were given land grants and their heirs also inherited portions of family land. The oldest of the Orange County land grants or ranchos was Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana granted in 1810 by Ferdinand VII of Spain. The Yorba heirs Bernardo and Teodosio Yorba inherited ranches in 1834 and 1846 respectively. Their ranches were known as Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana (Santa Ana Canyon Ranch) and Rancho Lomas de Santiago.The Nieto heirs Juan José and Antonio Nieto were granted land in 1834. The Nieto ranches were known as Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Las Bolsas, and Rancho Los Coyotes. Other ranches in Orange County were granted by the Mexican government post 1821, year of Mexican Independence, during the Mexican period in Alta California.
A severe drought in the 1860s devastated the prevailing industry, cattle ranching, and much land came into the possession of Richard O’Neill, Sr., James Irvine and other land barons. In 1887, silver was discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains, attracting settlers via the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads.
This growth led the California legislature to divide Los Angeles County and create Orange County as a separate political entity on March 11, 1889. The county is generally said to have been named for the citrus fruit (its most famous product). However, in the new county there was already a town by the name of Orange, named for Orange County, Virginia, which itself took its name from William of Orange, a famous protestant King of Great Britain and Ireland. The fact the county took the same name as one of its towns may have been coincidence. However it is also possible that the county was named for this city (and thus indirectly for William of Orange, whose family name was itself derived from the French town of Orange named in ancient times in honour of a celtic water deity).
Other citrus crops, avocados, and oil extraction were also important to the early economy. Orange County benefited from the July 4, 1904 completion of the Pacific Electric Railway, a trolley connecting Los Angeles with Santa Ana and Newport Beach . The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early Hollywood. It was deemed so significant that the city of Pacific City changed its name to Huntington Beach in honor of Henry Huntington, president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of robber baron Collis Huntington. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and U.S. Route 101 (now mostly Interstate 5) in the 1920s.
South Coast Metro area in central Orange County
Agriculture, such as the boysenberry which was made famous by Buena Park native Walter Knott, began to decline after World War II but the county’s prosperity soared. The completion of Interstate 5 in 1954 helped make Orange County a bedroom community for many who moved to Southern California to work in aerospace and manufacturing. Orange County received a further boost in 1955 with the opening of Disneyland.
In 1969, Yorba Linda-born Orange County native Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States.
In the 1980s, the population topped two million for the first time; Orange County had become the second-most populated county in California.
A spectacular investment fund melt-down in 1994 led to the criminal prosecution of County of Orange treasurer Robert Citron. The county lost at least $1.5 billion through high-risk investments in derivatives.[4] On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy,[4] from which it emerged in June 1995. The Orange County bankruptcy was the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.[4]
In recent years, the county has been characterized by conflict between the older more historic northern and newer southern cities over development, the building of new toll roads, and a recently defeated proposal to build an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station that would have reduced operations at the existing John Wayne Airport.
In 2005, a few months after the California Lottery joined the multi-state Mega Millions lottery game, a ticket sold in Anaheim that was shared by seven people won a jackpot worth $315 million, the first time Mega Millions was won in the state. The group chose the $180 million cash option.