There are three national websites that our quite popular and contain much real estate information about communities around the country.  For specific information on Orange County and Huntington Beach use the links below to access these sites.ActiveRainLocalismPoint2HomesIf you are buying or selling in Orange County, California and in particular Huntington Beach, California, check out these sites.Of course you will want to go the my company's website where you will have access to all the homes on the Multiple Listing Service (ZipRealty listings and all the listings from all the other Brokerages in the area).  If you list with ZipRealty, your property will be a featured listing.  Buy the way the ZipRealty website is also a national site, as we have offices in most major US metropolitan ar... 03/03/2007

Here is an article published by the LA Times about Huntington Harbour.Click Here for the article.I was interviewed by this reporter as an expert on real estate in Huntington Harbour and provided much of the information for the story, as noted by the credit at the end of the article.For additional information go to:About Huntington HarbourAgents Serving Huntington HarbourHuntington Beach HomesHuntington Harbour Homes 03/03/2007

If you are considering selling or buying real estate in Huntington Beach, California visit www.MikeStankewich.comOther good sites are www.RealEstate4HuntingtonBeach.com www.OurRealEstaeAgent.com www.MikeSellsHomes.com www.Real-Estate-for-Southern-California.com and www.Real-Estate-for-Orange-County.com As a buyer you have access to all the property on the SoCalMLS and will receive a rebate of 20% of our commission.As a seller you will recieve exceptional Internet exposure of your listing on all the major national and local real estate websites including my top ranking sites on the major search engines. 03/02/2007

Huntington Harbour and SeaCliff are the two most prestigious areas Huntington Beach. Huntington Harbour is comprised of five man-made islands with several channels bor boating enthusists. Multi-million dollar homes with private boat docks are on the perimeter of the islands and also on the channels near the mainland.The Harbour extends from Pacific Coast Highway on the South, the Main Channel going out to the Pacific Ocean on the West, Edinger Ave. on the Notth, and Saybrook Lane to Heil Ave. to Algonquin St. to Warner Ave. on the East. It is comprised of Mainland properties and the five islands known as Admiralty Island, Gilbert Island, Davenport Island, Humboldt Island, and Trinidad Island.As well as the single family homes on the islands, there are several condominium and townhouse c... 03/02/2007

SeaCliff and Huntington Harbour are the two most prestigious areas in Huntington Beach.The SeaCliff area of Huntington Beach is comprised of luxury homes that surround the focal point of SeaCliff Country Club.  SeaCliff Country Club is a private club that offers championship golf, tennis, a pool and a spa, and clubhouse facilities including restaurants. The SeaCliff area extends from Pacific Coast Highway on the South, Seapoint St. and Edwards St. on the West, Ellis Ave on the North, and Goldenwest St to Yorktown Ave. to Main St to Huntington St. on the East. It is in close proximity to Huntington Beach Central Park and has the equestrian center, SeaCliff Village shopping center and the Huntington Beach city beach adjoining or within the area.Neighborhoods include the Peninsula with Wes... 03/02/2007

Hello All,     Well, yesterday was not too good on Wallstreet was it?  Wow.   Back on Topic!     Today has been going very well, I had a very nice meeting with another member of our online community, and lets just say I was very impressed.  Now, I can't give you his name, because that would be doing so without his consent (and besides this blog is about what is going on in my head, not to point people in any given direction).  I hope that we can both benefit from the relationship that begun this morning.      On to another topic.  Got a quick question for those of you who actually read this thing.  Lately my wife (Joanna) has been under a ton of stress about her up coming art show that she is preparing for.  My question is very simple.  Should I suprize her and take her out for a fun da... 02/28/2007

Well I'm back,     So sorry for those of you who had money riding on me giving up over the weekend, still here.  I did have a few issues this weekend, mainly with Joanna's health.  On Friday night about 7PM she seemed to be out of it a bit, but I didn't pay any attention to her odd behavior until after she passed out and would not wake up.  We spent the better part of Friday night, and most of Saturday sitting in the Emergency room at Hoag in Newport Beach.  That was not fun.     It appears that her issues with the endocrine system (that had been undercontrol for the past 9 months or so) are coming back, not good.  We have several appointments setup this week with her doctors to see if her medications can be adjusted to get this thing back undercontrol again, I hope so.     She is resti... 02/26/2007

Hello all,     Well, it seems that I have managed to complete another day but it feels like I'm missing something...  But what?  I crossed off everything on my To-Do list, and even managed to get into tomorrow's list abit.  It must be the whole "End of the Month" paranoia that I usually go through, last thing I want to do is to forget to order docs or to not schedule a signing.  Well with another double-check everything seems to be complete.       Time to head on home and help out Joanna with some of her stuff (remember the art show is coming up).      I hope you, the stanger reading about my personal day, my thoughts, my fears... had a good day as well.  If anyone needs me over the weekend please feel free to give me a call on the cell phone, because just like you, I never stop working... 02/23/2007

Hello All,     So, if you have been reading this blog I'm sure you understand that I am a very boring person, never have any fun by most people's standards, but my wife and I are quite happy with our lives in the HB.       I want to tell you about what exactly I do for First Horizon Home Loans.  I am a Construction Lending Specialist, that means that I get to deal with rather sticky deals.  Here at FHHLC we offer a product that is similar to several others out on the market, but it has a few key items that set us apart from everyone else (aside from the fact that I work here).     Here are the basic bullet points of our OTC (One Time Close) Program     1.  We loan up to 95% of the FUTURE VALUE of the project     2.  We do Stated Income loans      3.  We can lock the rate at the time of ... 02/23/2007

Well, what is there to be said today.  The weekend was fine, no real issues, its nice when I dont get a call on a Sunday afternoon.  So far today has been alittle uneventful, only working on existing business, no new contacts today, oh well.  For those of you who are interested my wife, Joanna, is still working on her next art show, she is on peice number 30 or so.  She seems to be getting more obsessed the closer the date comes up. Well got to get back to work.  I have my client in TX that I need to help out with a loan. Later all. 02/20/2007

Okay, I know I should keep my mouth shut! afterall I am part of a very tight lipped group.  The shrouded Realtor's club.  I swear sometimes I thought I should be wearing a shriner's hat.  I was trained by the best, Coldwell Banker and Century 21, to live, sleep, eat and drink Real Estate.  The coveted award's banquets, The uninvited spouse's cocktail parties,caravans,meetings,lenders,title.escrow people all competing for your business.  Oy vay who has time to sell Real Estate! I felt as if I re-entered High School with all the gossip and rivalry.  When I found I was more involved with office poltics than contributing to my retirement fund I decided to fly the coop. My first obstacle was to de-program myself and get back to basics.  One and one makes two not half of two. I was just plain... 02/06/2007

Huntington Beach, CA December 2006 MLS UpdateHere are the latest real estate market statistics* for Huntington Beach, CA. These numbers represent single family (SFR) homes and condos. The number of homes on the market where the asking price has been reduced *: 41.5%  AverageNovember 2006December 2006% ChangeAsking Price$834,256$859,0313.0%Sales Price$806,530$822,9322.0%% of Asking Price97%96%-1.0%$/SQFT$460$4620.4%Days on Market9710811.3%Total Transactions10180-20.8%All numbers are from the MLS and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. * Market numbers as of 1/8/2007:  663 properties on the market with 278 showing price reductions. Days on market reflect number of days between listing date on MLS and close of escrow. 01/23/2007

Here are the current top 3 rated real estate agents for Huntington Beach, California according to Point2Homes.com out of 182 agents.1. Liane ThomasVisit WebsiteView ProfileSend ReferralPhone:(951) 454-3805Cell:(951) 454-38052. Mike Stankewich, Realtor, MBA, e-PROVisit WebsiteView ProfileSend ReferralPhone:(800) 225-5947 x8660Cell:(714) 697-00383. James & Margret HoppeVisit WebsiteView ProfileSend ReferralPhone:(949) 400-1072I invite other agents to join the Point 2 NLS community.  You have the opportunity for a free website, a place to post your listings which will be syndicated to other real estate websites, and the ability to network with other agents to build up your referral business.  You can purchase neighborhoods for as little as $20.00 per quarter to be a featured agent for the ... 01/17/2007

These are currently the top websites in Huntington Beach, California according to Alexa.1. Huntington Surf and Sport http://www.hsssurf.com/2. Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau http://www.surfcityusa.com/3. Mike Stankewich - ZipRealty, Inc. http://www.real-estate-for-orange-county.com/4. Electric Chair http://www.electricchair.com/5. Golden West College http://www.gwc.info/ 6. City of Huntington Beach http://www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/ 7. Premiere Bail Bonds http://www.premierebailbonds.com/ 8. Huntington Beach Public Library http://www.hbpl.org/ 9. Innovative Plastics, Inc. http://www.plasticfab.com/ 10. Holly Olson - RE/MAX Select One http://www.hollycampbell.com/These are currently the 10 top business and economy websites for Huntington Beach, California according to... 01/17/2007

I am going to deviate from my usual statistical report, since the market is in a transition and the statistical data is at the most confusing to all. This is a very frank report that will not please everyone. However it is as I see reality!The market and the economy in Orange County is strong and the future outlook is encouraging. However housing inventory is high and buyers are unsure of what to do, and thus sit on the fence. There are sellers who are thinking the market has reached a peak and want to sell to move out of the State. Mostly retirees. They can afford to wait for the price they want.There are pre-foreclosure sales and short sales, however these represent a small fraction of real estate transactions.Overall appreciation rates have decreased to single digit numbers, however ... 12/09/2006