Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Remember…it’s “The Onion”!
Foster City Real Estate...and so much more!



Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Remember…it’s “The Onion”!
OK, this is going to be a hard one…who is that lady and what is her dog’s name? Just kidding!! The truth of the matter is the trees in this park give it sort of a unique feel so the question is…what park is this? If you’re first to answer this question you’ll win a $30.00 gift card to Starbucks …and hopefully you’ll use it in one of the two Foster City locations! All the rules of the road are available to view on the left hand margin as well as on the bar above. The winner along with all other correct answers will not be published until Monday morning. Any and all silly jokes, snappy quips and all wrong answers will be published immediately if not sooner. Have a great Valentines Day!! Guys…go buy the goodies and the card today!
| Street Address | Status | List Price | Orig List Price | DOM | Beds | Baths | Bldg SqFt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 740 PROMONTORY POINT LN #3104 | A | 898000 | 123 | 2 | 2|1 | 1980 | |
| 19 BINNACLE LN | P | 778000 | 84 | 3 | 2|1 | 1860 | |
| 1003 STERN LN | A | 749800 | 8 | 2 | 2|1 | 1580 | |
| 1043 GALLEY LN | A | 749000 | 125 | 2 | 2|1 | 1440 | |
| 18 DORY LN | P | 748000 | 5 | 3 | 2|1 | 1860 | |
| 606 PAVO LN | A | 729000 | 21 | 3 | 2|0 | 1370 | |
| 1109 LORD IVELSON LN | P | 724950 | 749000 | 49 | 3 | 2|0 | 1350 |
| 763 FOSTER CITY BL | A | 718000 | 755000 | 81 | 4 | 2|1 | 1790 |
| 1120 FORRESTAL LN | A | 705000 | 735000 | 64 | 3 | 2|0 | 1350 |
| 1036 HELM LN | P | 698000 | 17 | 3 | 2|1 | 1880 | |
| 660 CYGNUS LN | P | 688888 | 17 | 3 | 2|1 | 1600 | |
| 860 MERIDIAN BAY LN #336 | A | 659000 | 165 | 3 | 2|0 | 1606 | |
| 720 PROMONTORY POINT LN #2308 | P | 650000 | 699000 | 54 | 2 | 2|1 | 2224 |
| 880 MERIDIAN BAY LN #309 | A | 639000 | 7 | 3 | 2|0 | 1606 | |
| 835 COLUMBA LN | P | 632000 | 649000 | 86 | 3 | 2|1 | 1546 |
| 952 DIAZ LN | P | 624000 | 639000 | 59 | 2 | 2|0 | 1260 |
| 9 E COURT LN | A | 619000 | 15 | 2 | 2|1 | 1410 | |
| 744 CELESTIAL LN | A | 618000 | 21 | 2 | 1|1 | 1270 | |
| 885 BALBOA LN | A | 618000 | 9 | 2 | 2|0 | 1270 | |
| 59 COMMONS LN | P | 615000 | 9 | 2 | 2|1 | 1410 | |
| 650 CELESTIAL LN | P | 614900 | 16 | 3 | 2|1 | 1430 | |
| 1001 LIDO LN | A | 599000 | 615000 | 81 | 2 | 2|0 | 1395 |
| 862 BALBOA LN #15A | A | 599000 | 630000 | 27 | 2 | 2|0 | 1270 |
| 105 CITYHOMES LN | A | 599000 | 4 | 2 | 2|1 | 1410 | |
| 880 MERIDIAN BAY LN #303 | A | 598000 | 77 | 2 | 2|0 | 1350 | |
| 17 E COURT LN | A | 589500 | 7 | 2 | 2|0 | 1230 | |
| 814 BALBOA LN | A | 589000 | 610000 | 116 | 2 | 2|0 | 1270 |
| 1171 COMPASS LN #112 | A | 589000 | 63 | 3 | 2|0 | 1593 | |
| 860 MERIDIAN BAY LN #123 | A | 580000 | 11 | 2 | 2|0 | 1245 | |
| 1218 MOONSAIL LN | A | 575000 | 600000 | 102 | 2 | 1|1 | 1350 |
| 800 SEA SPRAY LN #215 | P | 570000 | 95 | 3 | 2|0 | 1546 | |
| 1599 BEACH PARK BL | P | 535000 | 580000 | 96 | 2 | 1|1 | 960 |
| 860 MERIDIAN BAY LN #229 | A | 528000 | 568000 | 99 | 2 | 2|0 | 1350 |
| 1129 POLYNESIA DR | P | 519988 | 524988 | 61 | 2 | 1|1 | 980 |
| 1151 COMPASS LN #204 | A | 510000 | 505000 | 179 | 3 | 2|0 | 1593 |
| 126 ALBACORE LN | P | 495000 | 5 | 2 | 2|1 | 1370 | |
| 1170 FOSTER CITY BL #103 | P | 479999 | 49 | 2 | 2|0 | 1286 | |
| 800 SEA SPRAY LN #210 | P | 478000 | 24 | 2 | 2|0 | 1213 | |
| 820 SEA SPRAY LN #303 | A | 474000 | 488000 | 105 | 2 | 2|0 | 1233 |
| 800 SEA SPRAY LN #112 | A | 464888 | 32 | 2 | 2|0 | 1213 | |
| 815 SEA SPRAY LN #103 | P | 458103 | 28 | 2 | 2|0 | 1233 | |
| 1151 COMPASS LN #108 | A | 450000 | 64 | 2 | 2|0 | 1286 | |
| 1067 Shell BL #6 | P | 420000 | 13 | 2 | 2|0 | 1042 | |
| 1025 SHELL BL #7 | A | 410000 | 9 | 2 | 2|0 | 1042 | |
| 815 SEA SPRAY LN #209 | A | 399000 | 10 | 1 | 1|0 | 941 | |
| 1191 SW COMPASS LN #108 | P | 399000 | 85 | 2 | 2|0 | 1286 | |
| 1025 SHELL BL #8 | P | 398000 | 7 | 2 | 2|0 | 1042 | |
| 1131 COMPASS LN #316 | P | 396000 | 3 | 2 | 2|0 | 1286 | |
| 820 SEA SPRAY LN #114 | A | 394000 | 1 | 1 | 1|0 | 953 | |
| 178 ALBACORE LN | A | 385000 | 405000 | 95 | 1 | 1|0 | 724 |
| 908 BEACH PARK BL #116 | A | 379500 | 14 | 1 | 1|0 | 810 | |
| 800 SEA SPRAY LN #217-E | P | 319950 | 350000 | 55 | 1 | 1|0 | 1053 |
| 5205 ADMIRALTY LN | P | 309900 | 328900 | 99 | 2 | 1|1 | 998 |
Much like the single family homes, there’s been some movement of property since we did this chart too. The chart shows 30 active listings, there’s 28 this morning…that could be less by the end of the day today too. Right now there are 25 pending sales. ( The chart shows 23) Last February there was 37 active listings and 3 pending sales. That’s a wild turn around if you ask me. Of the actives listed up there I can tell you that at least 4 of them are currently sorting through mutiple bids and should go pending soon. Here’s some interesting active listings:
1003 Stern Lane listed by Emily Lim of Re/Max for $749,800. It’s not often that you’ll find a townhouse with it’s own beach! Not just waterfront…but beach. Even though it’s a 2 bedroom this Bayfront Court place is pretty cool and worth a look.
105 Cityhomes Lane listed by Andrea Kohler of Intero Real Estate for $599,000. City Homes has been pretty darn popular this year and everything that’s come up there has sold quickly. This 2 bedroom should be no exception even though it backs onto a busy street.
1151 Compass #201 listed by Roger Dewes of Coldwell Banker for $559,000. This is really one gorgeous condo! Even with the fairly high dues ($471.00) this 2 bedroom is most likely going to cause somebody to fall in love with it.
Check them out for fun if for nothing else…
| Street Address | List Price | Orig List Price | DOM | Status | Beds | Baths (F|P) | Bldg SqFt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 612 GLOUCESTER LN | 1379950 | 1499000 | 161 | A | 5 | 2|1 | 2540 |
| 1017 GULL AV | 1298000 | 1399000 | 100 | P | 4 | 4|0 | 2750 |
| 780 CATAMARAN ST | 1290000 | 92 | A | 5 | 3|0 | 2540 | |
| 521 BROUGHTON LN | 1225000 | 16 | P | 4 | 2|1 | 2350 | |
| 911 CLIPPER LN | 1198000 | 5 | P | 3 | 2|1 | 2360 | |
| 161 BEACH PARK BL | 1189000 | 22 | A | 4 | 2|1 | 2620 | |
| 850 GULL AV | 1168000 | 1178000 | 14 | A | 4 | 3|0 | 2160 |
| 386 MENHADEN CT | 1149500 | 1199500 | 65 | A | 5 | 3|0 | 2540 |
| 251 LOON CT | 1129000 | 1179000 | 86 | A | 4 | 3|0 | 2790 |
| 257 PUFFIN CT | 1065888 | 83 | A | 4 | 3|0 | 2450 | |
| 250 TRYSAIL CT | 1058000 | 1200000 | 72 | P | 4 | 3|0 | 2250 |
| 1134 POLYNESIA DR | 968500 | 988000 | 33 | A | 3 | 2|0 | 1640 |
| 960 DE SOTO LN | 949000 | 985000 | 143 | P | 4 | 2|1 | 2760 |
| 609 PLYMOUTH LN | 949000 | 1100000 | 23 | A | 2 | 2|1 | 1710 |
| 1156 DOVER LN | 930000 | 968000 | 30 | A | 3 | 2|1 | 1790 |
| 648 MATSONIA DR | 928000 | 978000 | 59 | P | 4 | 2|0 | 1760 |
| 1020 WINDJAMMER CI | 918000 | 3 | A | 3 | 2|0 | 1810 | |
| 37 WILLIAMS LN | 899000 | 918000 | 218 | P | 3 | 2|1 | 1550 |
| 1372 MARLIN AV | 899000 | 102 | A | 5 | 2|0 | 2010 | |
| 1100 BLYTHE ST | 899000 | 1 | P | 4 | 2|1 | 2120 | |
| 1121 CATAMARAN ST | 888000 | 5 | P | 4 | 2|0 | 1900 | |
| 150 FLYING CLOUD IS | 869000 | 924900 | 148 | A | 3 | 2|0 | 2210 |
| 50 WILLIAMS LN | 859000 | 21 | A | 3 | 2|1 | 1550 | |
| 491 PORT ROYAL AV | 849000 | 79 | A | 4 | 2|1 | 2200 | |
| 512 GIBRALTAR LN | 819900 | 22 | P | 3 | 2|0 | 1620 | |
| 1067 EGRET ST | 785000 | 33 | P | 5 | 2|0 | 1930 | |
| 61 WILLIAMS LN | 628000 | 739000 | 109 | P | 2 | 2|0 | 1240 |
You know what…the market is pretty darn healthy! I say that because for the longest time Lydia, my assistant, has created these charts a few days before they’re posted…and that usually meant nothing to their accuracy. That’s not quite true anymore. As of today, Tuesday February 9, there are 15 single family houses on the market in Foster City and 13 pending sales. (The pendings are in red.) Last February 5 there were 26 actively for sale…and 4 pending sales. The hottest segment of the market is the under $900,000 price range and that’s really because there’s very little inventory in town and most of what is there has an issue or two that limits it’s viability. Consequently, when a new listing comes up in that range it gets plenty of interest. The listing below just came up and isn’t on the list, and my friend Ronda O’Leary sold her listing at 257 Puffin…so it’s a pending now.
937 Constitution listed by Debbie Wilhelm of Coldwell Banker for $888,000. 4 bedrooms 2 baths, I think this will be an interesting barometer for the market. It’s really the only listing under 900k right now and I’m anxious to see how it does. 1121 Catamaran go multiple offers and was bid over a couple of weeks ago listed at this same price and it was bigger and had more upgrades. We’ll see.
1020 Windjammer listed by Stanley Lo of Green Banker for $918,000. This 3 bedroom house is a good one too and Windjammer is a great location. It’s just a tiny bit over that sweet spot but it’s worth watching. It has an offer date set for this coming Saturday…so I guess they’re pretty confident.

OK, OK…it was too easy! Of course it’s the Dog park…actually and officially it’s the Boat Park on Foster City Blvd. Congratulations to first time winner Jim Sakai who edged Lakshmi for the $30.00 gift card to Armadillo Willy’s. Also arriving with the winning answer was Kavita, Suresh, Erika Jahnke, Dana Ferri, Manoj, Pak, Roger Haddad, Sandy Hughes, Ellen, Alex O, Karen Paganucci, Harish, Ryan, Katherine Watt, DK, Deepa, Sheetal, Ajita Rajan, Nancy, The Magros, Macy Tan and Debbie Seligman. Great job, all of you!! Thanks for playing…see you again this Friday!

You have to admit, this foto sure fits the “funky” description. Kind of obscure…but not really. The question is, where is this thing? If you’re first to tell me the answer to that question you’ll receive a $30.00 gift card to Armadillo Willy’s over there at Bridgepoint. (Sorry…it’s San Mateo!) The winner along with all other correct answers will not be published until Monday morning. All the rules of the road are available to view on the left hand margin as well as on the bar above. Any and all silly jokes, amusing quips and all wrong answers will be published immediatey if not sooner. Thanks for playing…enjoy the Super Bowl!

If you’re looking for a way to exercise your skills, or lack of them, in the area of patience you need go no further than attempting to purchase an REO (foreclosure). There’s plenty of things in life less frustrating…like waiting in line at Starbucks or the security screening thing at the airport, or going to the DMV to renew your drivers license. Think those are fun? Wait until you buy a foreclosure, or worse yet, a Short Sale!
Just for the purpose of brevity, we’ll only discuss the REO process here today. Mostly because I think I’ll need medication to discuss the short sale process! A home gets listed as “bank owned”. It’s looking good at a discount price and even though it needs work of some kind, it’s going to get offers. The listing agent sets an offer date which is published in the MLS and encourages you to meet that deadline and requires you to be approved by one of their reps as a condition of offer presentation. Sometimes the bank offers you some kind of rudimentary disclosures, maybe their rules for REO sales, maybe some HOA docs if it’s a condo/townhouse…or maybe they give you nothing at all.
A fairly new trend is for the listing agent to state openly that phone conversations are not OK. Any and all questions or communication needs to be done via their assistant and only by e-mail. Sounds friendly, huh? So, you present the offer…and you wait. After 2 or 3 days the lender comes back with a boilerplateish kind of document that essentially asks you to raise your offered price. Technically, it’s their request for you to come back to them with your “highest and best” offer since they are now letting you know officially and in writing that they have multiple offers. They’re also letting you know that they reserve the right to continue to look at offers even though your now way past their published deadline for offer presentation.
OK, you sign this document, and maybe you sweeten the pot for the lender too. At this point do you know what happens? You wait some more. The bank also is OK with collecting more offers if they can, possibly rendering your “highest and best” irrelevant again (who knows?). After a week of stage two waiting, you hear (if your lucky)that you’re the winner. At this point you’re sent a 14 page addendum telling you, among other things, that the bank is still OK marketing this place and booting you out of first position at their discretion. They also want you to sign a clause that has you agree to pay them a fine of up to $350.00 a day if you are late closing the escrow. If you agree to all of that you probably will get the home. Maybe.
Doesn’t it sound fun? Then you get to inspect the property and find out all the details that the bank has so far not provided you. Like I said, buy an REO or hang out at the DMV? Hmmm….

I had the good fortune in the last few weeks to have a couple of very popular listings here in Foster City, 1121 Catamaran and 18 Dory Ln, and one thing became very clear to me while chatting with folks at each of the open houses…there’s a whole lot of buyers out there either not working with local real estate agents, or not working with agents at all. Dory had about 90 people at it’s open house, Catamaran at least 200. I’m sure of that on Catamaran because I printed 90 flyers and I had 4 left at the end of the day…people mostly come in groups and, almost always, one person takes a flyer.
In the case of Dory, I handed out 14 disclosure packets to interested parties prior to looking at offers…and I received 7 of them. On Catamaran I handed out 11 disclosure packets and received 3 offers. Of those 25 packets only 9 of them were given to local agents and 5 of the 10 offers came from local agents. Interestingly…of the 10 offers 6 of them were truly outstanding (price and terms) and 5 out of 6 were from local agents. Both winning bids came from local agents.
Why, you ask? It seems so obvious to me. These local agents know the Foster City market inside and out. They know what constitutes a good offer in a multiple offer environment and they know what will be important to a seller. One of the big reasons they know that is because they have sold listings here too. They also routinely see good offers from bad ones and thus they know what they’re doing.
Just so were clear, when I say a local agent I mean an agent who actually does a fair amount of business in Foster City. There’s real good agents in San Francisco, San Jose, Fremont…etc that would be lost in the Mid Peninsula and have no clue about Foster City. Honestly, I have no clue about San Francisco as a residential market. I’ve been a realtor for 20 years, sold hundreds of homes, but I’ve never sold a property in San Francisco. I would not provide a client the kind of service they deserve working with them in San Francisco.
Especially if you’re out there trying to do this thing on your own, consider working with a local agent…it will be more than worth it to you. That also applies to sellers.
Fabulous knowledge folks!! This is a pretty small park, yet SO many of you nailed it this week! Congratulations to Sophie Wu who wins the $30.00 gift card to Noah’s Bagels! Also arriving with the winning answer…just not as fast was Pak, Alex O, Ling, Lakshmi, Bill, Nike, Kavita, DK, Nancy, Anita Reiman, Leslie, Jessica, Erika Jahnke, Sheetal, Hema, Agnes, Alex Wei, Kirk and Irina. Great job folks!! Congratulations to you all! Thanks also for all of you who clicked through from facebook! See you again this Friday!
Jim Minkey
Today Sotheby's International Realty
Email:
jim@jimminkey.com
______________
1250 San Carlos Ave. #101, San Carlos
Phone: 650-576-1732
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