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SASSYAGENT · Liz Chu · Global Luxury Real Estate · Southern California Coast · Orange County. English & Cantonese. Sassy by name. Strategic by design.

CLHMS-Guild · AREAA Global Luxury Ambassador · CIPC (Dubai) · NAHREP. DRE 01863750 · mysassyagent.com Secret to success is hard-work & dedication. Dedicated to achieving you the best results when selling and buying your ideal home to fit your current lifestyle.

11/09/2026

Never take wiring instructions from an email.

You're in escrow. Escrow is the neutral third party holding the money and documents until both sides do what the contract says. That is the definition.

But here is the part that is important. Toward the end of your escrow you are going to get an email with wiring instructions. It will have the right logo, the right names, details only someone inside your deal would know.

And sometimes it is not from your escrow officer.

People lose their entire down payment this way. One transfer, so you have to catch it before it is gone.

So here is the rule, and it never changes.

Never take wiring instructions from an email. Call your escrow officer at the number you looked up yourself, not a number in the email. Read it back out loud and confirm before you send even a dollar.

Selling or buying? Call me and let's go through the details from start to finish, including who will and will not take wiring instructions from you.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/08/2026

Did you know Newport Beach did not start as a beach town? It started as a loading dock.

Here's this week's Neighborhood Shout Out. The Balboa Peninsula.

In 1870 a steamboat called the Vaquero worked into the marshy lagoon to trade for hides and grain. James McFadden and James Irvine named the landing Newport. A new port.

In 1888 McFadden moved out to the peninsula and built a wharf that reached deep water, and a company town grew around the dock.

In 1899 the federal government put its harbor money into San Pedro instead, and the shipping was finished.

What saved it was a trolley line. By 1905, Henry Huntington's Pacific Electric Red Cars were running day trippers to the waterfront.

Now you'll see the Fun Zone, which opened in 1936 around a 45 foot Ferris wheel and is still turning.

Here's one nobody has settled. Across the water on Balboa Island, Dad's Donut and Bakery Shop and Sugar 'n Spice sit a few doors apart on Marine Avenue, and each claims the original frozen banana and the Balboa Bar. Either way, the treats make a kid's visit even sweeter.

Here are the real estate numbers. 54 homes and condos closed in the 92661 ZIP at the Balboa end of the peninsula this past year, from 879,000 to 27,500,000, with a median of 4,785,500.

So which Orange County neighborhood would you like to know about? Comment below, I would love to share.

*Closed sales from RPR, ZIP 92661, pulled October 28, 2026.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/08/2026

Did you know Irvine's very first neighborhood was built around a university that did not exist yet?

Here's this week's Neighborhood Shout Out. University Park.

It opened in 1966, five years before Irvine was a city.

The Irvine Company hired architect William Pereira to plan a city of 50,000 around that campus, and handed over 1,000 acres.

His answer was the village. Homes, schools, parks, greenbelts, a shopping center, association pools and spas, inside one boundary, with the big roads pushed out to the edges. That is why you can reach almost everything without leaving the neighborhood.

University Park is where that idea was first tried. Irvine has 22 villages and every one traces back to this one.

You can still read it in the architecture. Flat and shed roofs, post and beam, ranch houses and townhomes ringing University Park, with greenbelts running through it and backing onto 339 acres of Mason Regional Park and UC Irvine.

Here are the real estate numbers. 58 homes closed this past year, built from 1965 to 2025, from 980,000 to 3.9 million, and half sold in 18 days or less.

Sixty years on, people still move fast for the thing Pereira drew on purpose. The walk, the convenience, the proximity to the airport, and plenty of outdoor activities from biking to hiking trails.

Which neighborhood would you like to know about? Comment below, I would love to share.

*Closed sales from CRMLS, pulled October 30, 2026.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/07/2026

Did you know the forest in Lake Forest was planted by one landowner, and the two lakes are man made?

Here's this week's Neighborhood Shout Out. Baker Ranch, Lake Forest.

The forest is eucalyptus, planted in the first decade of the 1900s. Baker Ranch takes its name from the Bakers, who bought this land in 1959 and ran 5,000 acres of it as a ranch until they sold to Occidental Petroleum in 1969.

Baker Ranch was planned as three villages, with six neighborhoods opening first in 2014. Shea Homes and Toll Brothers split the lineup by size. Shea took the townhomes and the smaller detached homes, starting around 1,273 square feet at Brookland. Toll Brothers took the larger ones, reaching above 4,400 square feet, with five bedrooms and views of the mountains and hillsides.

The community association counts 1,750 homes and condominiums, seven parks, two tennis courts, the Borrego Trail and three pools: The Vista Swim Club, The Grove Pool and The Arbors Pool. The Grove clubhouse was voted Best Community Amenity by the Building Industry Association of Southern California.

It sits on a broad mesa next to 900 acres of open space, and its trails connect to the county network toward Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park. Bake Parkway and Alton Parkway frame it, with the 241, 5 and 405 close by. A Costco is coming as well. The City's Planning Commission has approved a 165,000 square foot store in Foothill Ranch, the first in Lake Forest.

Seventy homes closed in Baker Ranch over the past year, 53 houses and 17 condominiums and townhomes, from $865,000 to $3,260,000, with a median of $1,580,000.

So which Orange County neighborhood would you like to know about? Comment below, I would love to share.

*Closed sales from RPR, Baker Ranch, Lake Forest, pulled November 3, 2026.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/06/2026

Overpricing cost one Orange County seller $116,000.

Mortgage rates have been above 7 percent since September 11th, and here is what that does to a seller who starts high.

In September, 68 percent of Orange County sales never reduced their price. Those sold for exactly what they asked, and the typical one went pending in 11 days.

The ones that did reduce, down 1 to 4 percent: a home listed at 1,029,000 sold for 984,000. That is 56 days.

Down 5 percent or more: a home listed at 1,094,000 sold for 978,000. That is 81 days. That is 116,000 dollars gone against the original asking price.

And right now, 45 percent of everything available in Orange County has already been cut at least once.

So if you are thinking of selling, call me and let's set your number right, so you net more in your pocket before it ever goes live.

*Figures as of October 26, 2026

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/05/2026

Orange County has crossed into a buyer's market.

Expected market time hit 122 days, the highest since January 2019.

Here is what that measures. How long it would take to sell every listing in the county at the current buying pace.

Under 90 days is a seller's market. 90 to 120 is balanced. Over 120 belongs to buyers.

Two weeks ago we were at 118. Inventory is 4,948 homes, up from 4,288 a year ago, and demand is 1,219 pending sales, down from 1,546.

So there is more to choose from and fewer people competing with you. That is negotiating room on price, on repairs, on credits and on your closing date.

Thinking of buying? Call me and let's talk about your purchase and what this market will actually give you.

*Figures as of October 26, 2026

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/03/2026

Orange County moved in two directions at once, and your price decides which one.

Over the last two weeks the direction depends entirely on where you sit.

Above $2.5 million, expected market time went from 183 days to 192. Slower.

Between $2.5 and $4 million, from 125 days to 145. Slower.

Between $4 and $6 million, from 224 days to 260. Slower again.

And above $6 million it went from 379 days to 253. Faster by four months.

So the very top of the Orange County market sped up while every tier underneath it slowed down.

Which means if you own above $2.5 million, those are three different numbers, not one.

Selling or buying at this level? Call me and let's talk about where your price actually sits.

*Figures as of October 26, 2026

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

11/03/2026

Car. Health. Life. Fire. Every policy you own covers something that has not happened yet, and you pay every month, possibly forever.

Title insurance is the only one you buy for the past.

Here is what it is doing. Before you close, somebody researches everything in the public record on your property. Old liens, old loans, a contractor nobody paid, an heir who never signed, a boundary recorded wrong.

In my experience most of it gets cleared before closing and you never hear about it.

Title insurance covers what the search missed. And you pay it one time, at closing. Not monthly.

A problem from 30 years before you existed becomes yours the day you own it.

Now here is the part that costs people money. The policy your lender requires protects your lender. It does not protect you.

The one that covers you is separate. It is the owner's policy, and it covers you for as long as you own the home.

Buying in Orange County? Call me and let's talk about your purchase and the owner's policy that protects it long after you close.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

10/31/2026

Your Home Fairy is here 🪄

HOLIDAY selling myth.

Whether you're dressing up for Halloween or attending all the upcoming holiday parties, here is one you have probably heard. Don't put your home on the market during the holidays.

Here's what's true. It is the slowest time of the year for housing, and it starts the week before Thanksgiving. Fewer homes come on the market, and plenty of sellers who did not sell take their listings down.

But listen, HOMEOWNERS. Fewer sellers means less competition. The home still on the market is the one buyers find, and somebody out there has a wish for where they wake up on New Year's morning.

Your home also shows at its warmest this season. The lights on, something baking, the table set. In my experience that is the house they talk about in the car.

So whether you celebrate or not, the moves I see this season are about getting closer to family, work and schools.

Selling this season is one of the best ways I know to make somebody's wish come true.

And I'm ready to grant your home wish. Call or DM me anytime, and let's price yours for the holiday market with me, .

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

10/30/2026

Your home inspection is visual and non-invasive. 🔍

Visual means the inspector reports what they can see. Non-invasive means no opening walls, no digging up the yard, no moving furniture.

That's the standard, not corners being cut.

So what's left out? Inside a wall. Under the slab. Behind the fridge. Inside a chimney flue.

It's not a test the house passes or fails. It's a map of where to look harder.

When your report says recommend further evaluation, that is not filler. That's your inspector telling you to send a specialist.

You'll learn the condition of the appliances, plumbing, heat and air, attic, roof, and what a warranty would cover.

Thinking about selling and wondering what an inspector will flag? Or buying and want it done right? Call me, let's chat more in depth.

Liz Chu, SASSYAGENT
DRE 01863750
949.987.8900
mysassyagent.com

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