You live in a zip code where the cool season grasses can do very well without requiring daily watering to keep them green in the summer. I have a friend in 92649, Huntington Beach, who's had fescue for decades with no problems. He mows at the mower's highest setting and waters once a week in the heat of summer. His yard is the greenest in the neighborhood.

As for when to seed, I would wait until the summer heat breaks and you have continual temps in the 80s or lower. If you wanted to use zoysia, I would check first to see what is available, and then I would check with Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar. I realized you'll drive past a hundred other garden centers, but Roger's Gardens is worth the visit. Specifically ask them which of the zoysias is best to plant.

My problem with zoysia is that it can turn brown early in the season from too much water/rain and will remain brown for 9 months until the following April when it reawakens as if nothing happened. Here's a picture.

The yard in this picture drains right through where the dead grass is, so when it rains for a week, that spot is flooded the entire time. A fungus takes hold, deadens the grass, and it remains that way for the entire season and more. I don't know the variety of zoysia here, but it is in San Antonio, which is nothing like your climate.

Also be sure to ask at Roger's whether zoysia remains green all year. Here it goes dormant/brown when the weather cools into the 30s.

Thanks for the recommendation, I have called quite a few places and none of them have any Zoysia. So I am really open to anything. My problem with the fescue we have is the clumping nature and I want something a little more smooth.

Do you have a favorite type of grass for this area?

Not all zoysia clumps. This is what you're talking about, right?

The traditional turf type zoysias will remain nice and flat for you.

My favorite grass type is St Augustine, but that does not fit any of your criteria. Nor does hybrid bermuda. I think you're on track with what you already had (fescue and KBG).

Normally I'm jumping up and down about people trying to grow Marathon I, II, or III in SoCal, because they usually live in the desert. I grew up in Riverside back when water was plentiful, so people grew whatever they wanted even if they had to water daily. Nowadays that is irresponsible. However, you live way west of the 405, which is my cutoff boundary for growing fescue, rye, and KBG. In fact you're almost in the water. My friend in HB tells me the summers are getting much warmer, but I think you're still good for the few days when you wish you had an AC system in the house. If you need to water more frequently than every 7 days, slip into higher frequency by watering every 5 days to start. But when the temps fall into the 80s again, stretch the interval out to every 10-14 days. And when you water, do it deeply, one inch all at one time. Watering deeply promotes deep rooting, cools the soil down deep, and the soil microbes love it. You can time how long it takes to fill several cat food or tuna cans placed around the yard. My time with my oscillating sprinkler on full sweep with my hose and water pressure happens to be 8 hours. Some people with a high flow in-ground system can apply 1 inch in 20 minutes. Everyone has to test their own property. That time will become your watering time from now on.