Journal
Strategy briefs, neighborhood-level market notes, buyer and seller guides, and the deal stories behind our results. Written by humans who work this coast, and updated as the market actually moves.
Buyer guide · July 27, 2026 · 7 min read
A plain, buyer-side guide to the fees you pay at closing on a Huntington Beach home, and how to find your real numbers.
Buyer guide · July 26, 2026 · 8 min read
A buyer guide to the fairway-adjacent neighborhoods around The Huntington Club and Meadowlark Golf Club, and how to read a golf-course lot before you make an offer.
Neighborhood · July 25, 2026 · 8 min read
A plain, side-by-side look at Huntington Harbour, Seacliff, Downtown, and the inland tracts, so you can orient before you ever schedule a tour.
Neighborhood · July 24, 2026 · 7 min read
A property and lifestyle guide to island living in Huntington Harbour, from the greenbelt loop and private docks to boat access and what a buyer should weigh before making an offer.
Neighborhood · July 23, 2026 · 7 min read
A plain-spoken look at Seacliff in Huntington Beach, from its guard-gated estate enclaves to the tracts and condos around The Huntington Club golf course.
Neighborhood · July 23, 2026 · 7 min read
From Surfside's Row A oceanfront to the homes on the sand along South Pacific Avenue, here is how the truly beachfront properties on this stretch of the Orange County coast actually differ.
Buyer guide · July 22, 2026 · 7 min read
A buyer's due-diligence guide to docks, permits, seawalls, and vessel fit in Huntington Harbour, so you know what to verify before you write an offer.
Buyer guide · July 21, 2026 · 7 min read
A plain-language map of Huntington Harbour's five islands and off-water streets, and how water access shapes price and lifestyle.
Buyer guide · July 17, 2026 · 7 min read
What off-market really means in coastal Orange County, and how a buyer gets real access to homes before they go public.
Strategy · July 16, 2026 · 10 min read
Luxury buyers on the Orange County coast keep asking the same question: which city fits the life I want? A cross-market read on Huntington Beach, Huntington Harbour, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Seal Beach, and Long Beach, and how to choose.
Strategy · July 7, 2026 · 6 min read
How Huntington Beach regulates short-term rentals, from permits and zones to transient occupancy tax, and why owners must check the current ordinance first.
Strategy · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
How accessory dwelling units are regulated in Huntington Beach, where the return really comes from, and how an ADU affects appraisal and resale.
Strategy · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
A high-level look at how a 1031 like-kind exchange works, the 45 and 180 day timelines, and why the qualified intermediary and your CPA come first.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
How VA loans actually work for Huntington Beach buyers, from entitlement and the funding fee to appraisal, zero down payment, and condo approval.
Neighborhood · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Three very different Huntington Beach settings compared by what they physically are: pier-side walkability, gated golf-course living, and waterfront homes with private docks.
Market · July 7, 2026 · 6 min read
A dated snapshot of where the Huntington Beach market sits in July 2026: tight supply, disciplined buyers, and rate sensitivity, with a reminder to confirm live figures.
Market · July 7, 2026 · 8 min read
Coastal scarcity gives Huntington Beach real long-term support, but the investment case depends on your goals, your holding period, and risks you should price in before you buy.
Seller guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Staging in Huntington Beach earns its keep when it fixes first impressions, light, and flow, not when it fills rooms with rented furniture for its own sake.
Seller guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
In a divorce, the home is usually the largest shared asset, and the choices are to sell, buy each other out, or wait, each with its own timing and pricing tradeoffs.
Seller guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Selling a home held in a trust usually avoids probate, but the trustee has to prove authority, handle disclosures, and act in the beneficiaries' interest.
Seller guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Selling an inherited Huntington Beach home depends on whether it passes through probate, which adds court confirmation and a public overbid process to the sale.
Seller guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
The real cost of selling in Huntington Beach breaks down into a handful of categories, and the way to see your number is to run a net sheet, not guess at a percentage.
Neighborhood · July 7, 2026 · 6 min read
How age-restricted 55+ communities like Huntington Landmark work as a housing product, what the rules and HOA structure involve, and how to verify the details.
Neighborhood · July 7, 2026 · 6 min read
Which public school districts serve different parts of Huntington Beach, how address-based assignment works, and the single reliable way to confirm a home's schools.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
What HOA dues actually cover in Huntington Beach, why they range so widely by community, and how to confirm the current figure before you buy.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
A plain-English guide to how Mello-Roos and other special assessments work in Huntington Beach, and the exact way to confirm whether a specific home carries one.
Neighborhood · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Owning on the water means owning the wall that holds the channel back. Here is what maintenance, permits, and disclosure look like over the life of a Harbour home.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Standard homeowners policies don't cover earthquake damage. Here is how the coverage works, who offers it, and how to decide if it fits your coastal home.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Carriers have pulled back across California, and more homeowners are landing on the FAIR Plan. Here is how the coast fits in and how to protect your coverage.
Buyer guide · July 7, 2026 · 7 min read
A flood zone doesn't have to scare you off a coastal home, but you need to read the map, understand the insurance, and price it in before you write an offer.
Market · July 6, 2026 · 6 min read
SpaceX went public on June 12, 2026 in the largest IPO in history. If you just became liquid and you're eyeing a coastal home, here's what happened and where that money tends to go.
Market · July 6, 2026 · 7 min read
I read the buyer needs coming through our private network of top Orange County agents every day. Here is what the money is chasing this summer, aggregated and anonymized: docks, single-story, and homes that never touch the MLS.
Strategy · July 2, 2026 · 5 min read
That's me with Robert Reffkin, who founded Compass. The reason a father-and-son team from Huntington Beach cares who runs Compass has nothing to do with the name on the sign, and everything to do with two things it changes for you.
The Tides · June 28, 2026 · 8 min read
The parade, the fireworks, the parking, and how to actually do the day right, from a family that has watched it from every spot on Main Street.
Seller guide · June 16, 2026 · 8 min read
Private exclusives, office exclusives, coming-soon, and the quiet agent networks: what 'off market' really means in California, what Clear Cooperation allows, and the honest math on when a private sale serves you and when it costs you.
Deal story · June 9, 2026 · 4 min read
A $3,925,000 sale. Twelve competing offers. Eight all-cash. $643,000 over asking, and about $1.475 million over Zillow's estimate. The real numbers, and the method behind them.
Seller guide · June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Beyond the marketing, the questions worth asking before you hand someone the most valuable thing you own.
Strategy · June 9, 2026 · 4 min read
An online estimate is a starting point, not a strategy. Here is why it misses, and what a real number is built from.
Seller guide · June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
On the water, the diligence file is part of the product. Handling the seawall and dock up front protects the sale and the price.
Buyer guide · June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
A practical framework for what it takes to buy on the coast, without the false precision of a number that changes every week.
Buyer guide · June 9, 2026 · 6 min read
If you want a dock, a boat, and the water at your back door in Orange County, here is what to weigh before you buy in Huntington Harbour.
Strategy · June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
The sequencing of a move-up matters more than most agents will tell you. Here is how to stay in control of both sides.
Strategy · June 9, 2026 · 4 min read
Automated estimates weight square footage and bed count. On the water, the value is in the things an algorithm can't see.
Seller guide · June 9, 2026 · 6 min read
Selling on the water is a different sale. The dock, the depth, and the right buyer pool decide the price as much as the house does.
Seller guide · June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
There's no single right answer, only the right answer for your equity, your next move, and your timeline. Here is the framework we use with sellers.
The Tides · June 7, 2026 · 5 min read
June Gloom isn't summer running late. It's summer the way the coast does it. Issue No. 1 of The Tides: why the marine layer is a gift, the most underrated stretch of water in the county, and one honest number.
Market · April 28, 2026 · 5 min read
Where prices are, what's moving, and what we're telling buyers and sellers right now.
Seller guide · April 22, 2026 · 7 min read
Why the opening week on market decides everything, and why the preparation that precedes it's the only thing sellers can actually control.
Seller guide · April 15, 2026 · 6 min read
A pre-market test of demand inside the largest agent network in the country, before a single public dollar is spent on marketing.
Buyer guide · April 8, 2026 · 5 min read
Dock dimensions, deep-water access, and the cost-per-foot premium that drives Harbour valuations.
Buyer guide · April 1, 2026 · 6 min read
Fairway frontage, gated enclaves, and architectural review, and the governance details that determine whether Seacliff is the right community for your lifestyle.
Seller guide · March 18, 2026 · 5 min read
How the presale home-improvement program works, what it costs, and the situations where it changes a listing's outcome.
The Tides
Subscribe to The Tides, our monthly market letter for the Huntington Beach coast. Sent the first week of every month.
