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Facebook

February 14, 2012 By 2 Comments

Do you like Facebook? Does it drive you crazy? My wife Lesley hates it and won’t have anything to do with it…says what she really wants is “face time”. Not shallow relationships online. You’ve heard all that I’m sure. The thing is, no matter how you feel about FB it’s a significant force in our culture now and it certainly is a factor in our local economy. One thing I’m also certain that it’s doing…helping significantly to revive the local real estate market.

I noted, on Facebook actually, today that I’m busier right now than I’ve been in years and that I think the real estate market around here is hotter than I’ve seen it in the 22 years since I’ve been doing this. It’s absolutely insane right now…and I think alot of this energy is coming from Facebook’s IPO. everywhere I turn I hear people speculating about that…don’t you? Since the IPO I’ve seen SIGNIFICANTLY more buyers in the marketplace and multiple offers are the rule right now. Case in point. Today I presented an offer on a house at 919 Woodland in San Carlos. It’s a fixer upper 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house that was listed for $699,000. My clients came in at $828,000 with a 30 day close and no contingencies of any kind. We weren’t even close. Turns out there were 28 offers! That’s crazier than 2004!

While were at it, I also presented an offer on a short sale at 702 Portwalk in Redwood Shores that was listed for $425,000. There were 11 offers on that place. On a short sale!!

How about in Foster City? Last fall I had a nice townhouse listed at 880 Carina in Isle Cove. It was on the market for 3 months and didn’t sell. All I heard was “The HOA’s are too high”, “There’s only a one car garage”, “The bathrooms aren’t remodeled”. We took it off for the holidays and relisted it again last Friday. Same place…even the same light staging! I had 200 people at the open house on Sunday. We got 6 offers tonight…5 of them went well over the asking price!

How do you explain this? Certainly, the inventory is ridiculously low on the whole Peninsula and certainly interest rates are low…but most of this activity began to really mushroom after Facebook announced it’s IPO. Seriously. It really seems to me that most of the folks out there who’ve been sitting on the fence just got off of it. 28 offers on a fixer in San Carlos? If you’ve been thinking of selling your home…now’s the time.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Foster City, How's The Market?, Real Estate

You Just Can’t Hide A Good Deal

February 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

Way back when, almost before life existed on Earth, I spent a fair amount of time hosting and attending parties. This was, of course, back before I got married and settled down dontcha know. My friends and I discovered a tried and true formula for having terrific parties and consequently when we had one they were always fun and successful. Here’s what we discovered…if we invited any guys the party stunk because the guys tended to outnumber the women 7 or 8 to 1. So, we stopped inviting guys all together. We created flyers and a week or so before the party we would hand them out…only to women! Women in bars, women at the health club, women in grocery stores, you name it. Never any guys though! Guess what…we always ended up with a party that consisted of 50% men vs women. Our events were really popular as a result.

You see the truth was that you could wad up one of those party flyers and throw it out the window of your car…and some guy would find it, tell all of his friends and they would ALL come to the party. If you invited 10 women, 2 or 3 of them might come. So if you invited 300 women and zero guys you would get 100 women and 100 men. It never failed!

Now…flash forward a couple of millenia and we have the 2012 Peninsula real estate market. That house in the picture is in South San Francisco. It’s a bank owned foreclosure. The bank ignorantly gave this listing to an agent from WAY out of the Bay Area. In Red Bluff or someplace around there. Said agent made small boo boo and listed the house in the San Francisco MLS…not the San Mateo County MLS. In case you’re unaware, there are two different databases and just so you know, South San Francisco is in San Mateo county. Since I,or any other local agent can’t see it in our local MLS it might as well be listed in Sacramento’s MLS. Are there any SF agents searching SM County in their MLS? No way. Right? Wrong!

This is the era of ZillowTruliaRedfinMovotoRoostSawbuckRealtor.com! They just buy the info from the MLS, regardless of which MLS! Everybody but us knows about this listing!! This clueless Red Bluff agent is going to review at least 10 offers on this property! 10 years ago this guy would have been wondering why nobody was calling or looking at his listing! It’s a weird feeling getting a call from your client who says they want to see this listing in SSF and I can’t find it to show it to him.

Honestly, you can’t hide good deals around here! It’s just like the wadded up party flyer that the guys found! Even if there’s a rumor of a deal…buyers will find it now.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Real Estate

It’s Foundational

January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I wrote this a couple of years ago…and it’s still relavant. Here it comes again:

This post has been coming for a long time, and on this topic I want to be really clear. 1) foundation problems are common in Foster City and 2) those foundation problems are not a reason to avoid purchasing a home in Foster City. For several years, many many homes have had issues with their foundations in this area. I met an engineer once who told me that he had fixed 60 foundations in Foster City over the years. I’m not an engineer, but as I understand it the majority of issues come from exposed rebar that’s rusted over time, has expanded and then cracks or breaks up the concrete around it. I’ve also heard that the high sodium content in the Foster City landfill impacts this rusting problem a bunch. The photo above is a typical example. The pieces on the right have fallen away from the rest of the foundation and the rusted rebar is obvious. The weakened condition of a foundation with this type of problem theoretically has an adverse effect on it’s seismic stability.

Several contractors or engineers have made a good business out of resolving these issues. The fix on the foundation pictured above is slightly under $24,000. If you’re looking at a hillside property in San Mateo, Belmont or San Carlos you could easily find drainage issues that can have similar expense and that certainly doesn’t prevent people from buying homes in those locations. Foundation problems in Foster City are correctable and shouldn’t frighten anyone out of buying here.

It is wise, however, for a buyer to be diligent in inspecting the home they are purchasing…and that means hiring an engineer or qualified foundation contractor (one who has experience with this type of issue in Foster City is best) to inspect this area. Most property inspections will note rusted rebar if found but not go any further in explaining a solution for it. Be proactive, if there’s even a hint of a problem on a report get further inspection.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Landfill, Real Estate

New Beginnings

January 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

Every year at this time sort of feels new and fresh. Like we get to start over again in many real ways. It’s like the slate gets wiped clean and everything that happened last year is over and done with…and here we are embarking once again on the journey. What will 2012 hold for all of us? Who knows…but we’re in it now so let’s make the best of it. As for real estate in Foster City? I think 2012 is going to be a really good year. I think it’s going to be a better year than any of the others since 2008. I guess my reason is simple too…my phone has been ringing a ton in the last month or so. Lots and lots of people are either looking right now or about to begin searching for homes to buy. At the same time, there’s 11 single family homes on the market in FC today and 15 condo/townhouses. That’s an incredibly small amount of inventory. When new listings come on the market in 2012 there’s going to be multiple offers since these buyers who’ve been looking havn’t exactly been thrilled with the existing inventory so…when something good comes up there’s going to be alot of interest. I think this trend is going to last for awhile too. 2011 was pretty sluggish if you ask me and there’s been some demand pent up. I think it’s going to be fun to see where this all goes. My only question is how long will it be before the mainstream media starts reporting this and then there will be even more buyers. I’m excited for 2012.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, How's The Market?, Real Estate

Wet Blankets

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

wetb

After 20 years I think I’ve probably seen it all when it comes to folks coming into open houses of mine. In the first few open houses there’s plenty of neighbors, there’s also agents with clients, folks that I think of as “professional” buyers ( those buyers who basically know what they’re doing) and there’s also those folks that just think it’s sort of fun to explore a house they see when they happen to be driving by. They have no intention of buying anything, they just like looking at open houses. I’m that type myself…I drive Lesley crazy when we go on vacation someplace because I can’t resist the urge to check out a few open houses if I see directional signs. Sometimes I just want to see how the agents in them act around me.

Well there’s this other class of open house visitor. I think of them as the wet blanket. These folks appear to go in with the specific purpose of being critical. They’re usually kind of a pain to tell you the truth. Typically they have no concept of the relationship between the listed price and it’s real value. Maybe they’re all from out of state and they think all of our prices are insane. 

On the first of April I pulled a little April fools prank here by telling that story about a Pompano house that was listed for $112,000. If that situation really did exist and I was holding the place open I’ll bet you there would be one person (out of the 500 who would come to that open house!) who would walk around the house and announce to me something like “There’s marks on the paint here!” or “How old is the furnace?” A few years ago I had this great listing that was kind of aggressively priced (we got 14 offers) yet there was this one older lady who complained to me about a cracked kitchen floor tile and told me in very broken English “Price too high! You come down!” I couldn’t resist..and I replied to her “Price too low! You come up!”

One of the funny parts of these complaints is the fact that the issues being raised are almost always easy and relatively inexpensive fixes. Missing closet doors, stains on carpet, marks on the hardwood floors…etc. If you’re buying a house at a discount versus the comps in the area, and sometimes even if you’re not, who cares about this little stuff!

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Real Estate

About Face

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Well, there’s been a pretty nice about face when it comes to Conforming loan limits. They were $729,750 as a result of the mortgage meltdown a few years ago but the Federal Government decided that the should be lowered down to $625,000. Surprisingly to me, the Feds decided last week to raise it again to the $729,750 number through 2013. That’s pretty darn good news for folks in this area as it certainly allows more bang for your buck when it comes to purchases and refis.

Here’s the story as reported by Reuters:

Congress Votes To Raise FHA Loan Limits

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Conforming Loan Limits, Getting a Loan, Real Estate

How Long Has It Been On The Market?

October 26, 2011 By 2 Comments

Every year, and for as long as I can remember, the big question that always seems to come at every open house I’ve ever done is the inevitable…How long has it been on the market? I’m not sure why that’s such an interesting question to everybody. There’s SO many ways to interpret that question too! First of all, to me at least, it sort of implies interest in the property? I mean, if it really sucks and you hate it, what difference does it make how long it’s been on the market? So, assuming it’s OK and you sort of like it..what type of outcome are you hoping for by asking that? If the answer is “48 hours” does that make the place more interesting and desirable that if I said “48 days”? Or “148 days”?

I mean, if the place is really intriguing to you and it peaks your interest a bit…do you like it less if it’s been on for 148 days? Does the remodeled kitchen with that nice granite seem crumbier if it’s been on longer? Really, I can see the looks on people’s faces when I tell them “48 hours”…it’s definitely different from when I say “48 days”. The big question, for me at least, is…are you more interested if you think somebody else might like it too? If I say “48 days” doesn’t that sort of imply that those other folks have looked at it and found it wanting…and therefore maybe I shouldn’t like it either? Maybe there’s a problem with it that I don’t know and that’s why nobody else has liked it?

Really folks, it’s always seemed to me that plenty of people like a place and then discover it’s been on awhile and then like it less. As if the important thing, at the end of the day, is how somebody else perceived it. There MUST be a problem…otherwise it would have sold, right? I really think all of these feelings are in full play when people buy a place. There’s plenty of homes on the market in Foster City right now that have been on the market for awhile…and a bunch of them are actually pretty nice too! I’m not passing any judgement mind you…I’m just observing.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Real Estate

Can Quality Overcome Big Challenges?

October 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

There’s an interesting scenario going on right now in both the Foster City single family market as well as the condo/townhouse market. Those scenarios beg the larger question of whether or not the quality of these individual homes can overcome the challenges that also exist in their locations. First off there’s a new 4 bedroom, 2 bath listing at 919 Marlin listed by Ronda O’Leary of Coldwell Banker for $949,000. The place is absolutely drop dead gorgeous! Look at those pics…it’s amazing. Who isn’t going to like that house? The question is, will the location on Marlin, a busier street, have an impact that could slow the sale of render that price to be too high? We’ll see…my bet is that it won’t have that big of an impact.

The second example is the townhouse at 606 Portofino at the Islands listed for $795,000 by Jina Farzinpour with Re/Max Star Properties. This is by far the most gorgeous unit I’ve seen at the Islands. It’s a large 3 bedroom unit on the widest water. Tons of upgrades! The question is, can this quality overcome the $720.00 a month HOA dues and the possible $40,000 assessment that could be looming there. Honestly, it would sure be tempting to live on the water like that. It’s been quite awhile since there’s been a comp at the Islands in that price range. I’m really interested to see if that place sells.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Featured Post, Real Estate

The Importance of Relationships

September 22, 2011 By 4 Comments

handshake

About a week ago I showed a house in Foster City to some folks who expressed some interest in the place. I called the listing agent, who I’ve known for a long time, and asked some questions. I found out two important things…1) the home was getting plenty of interest and there was a possibility of multiple offers, and 2) the listing agent was willing to look at an offer that I would write immediately. No waiting…and no competition for the buyer. Why, you ask, would that happen? Because the relationship that’s been established with that agent insures her/him that our potential transaction will be smooth.

This isn’t all about me of course, this is the story of the value to the consumer of working with an experienced agent. It’s become sort of common in the last few years for buyers to ask me if I’m willing to kick back commission the way rebating online real estate companies or other discount brokers do. These brokers have created a fantasy world where they’re selling the notion that a real estate agent’s job is a commodity. That we’re simply interchangeable parts, order takers and secretaries who merely know how to fill out forms and present them. Sometimes it works out and it’s true too! Lot’s of the rest of the time it’s not true. I think most of the time it’s not true.

There’s probably 100 reasons why experience is beneficial to a buyer or seller, yet I know that the Internet allows people to study and gain knowledge that wasn’t available to them just a few years ago. There’s certainly one way that the Internet or the rebaters can never touch and that’s in the area mentioned above…relationships. I can’t tell you how many times a client of mine has landed on a home in a multiple offer environment because of the relationship I’ve had with a listing agent. It’s also been enormously important for me as a listing agent to be able to identify an experienced agent that my seller can trust to close escrow on time. Relationships are also important in connection to lenders, title people, and inspectors as well.

Lots of this is simple human nature. You spend 20 years in one community and you get to know your coworkers and other agents. Naturally, you’re going to feel comfortable working with them. Working with somebody like this sure beats having an offer faxed by an “agent” who wasn’t in real estate just a year ago.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Buyer info, Real Estate

The Epicenter

August 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In case you were unaware of this, Palo Alto is undoubtedly the epicenter of all things real estate on this planet. Seriously. If you look at the numbers there, Palo Alto didn’t miss a beat following the mortgage meltdown, the 2008 crisis, TARP, the recession, the double dip, the debt crisis, S & P’s downgrade and whatever other sort of crisis has happened that’s effected real estate everywhere else. It’s simply amazing! Demand is high and folks are paying super premium prices to live there.

See that house pictured above? It’s a 1390 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 1 bath house at 120 Lowell that’s a half block from the Caltrain tracks. It looks alot like the houses in Fiesta Gardens in San Mateo.

The Fiesta Gardens house, at 1090 Fiesta Drive is a 3 and 2 and it’s listed for $665,000. Obviously, it’s not as nice as the Lowell house in Palo Alto…but the Lowell house is priced at $1,699,950. Amazing!

Last week I spoke to some folks about selling their home in Palo Alto. The place was originally a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house built on a slab with a 1 car garage. The garage was converted to a bedroom in the late 50′s and the side yard was turned into a covered car port. A family room and master suite were added at some point too, yet the house’s 2 bathrooms are now only accessable through the bedrooms. It’s 1540 sq ft. Imagine one of those Parkside ranchers with weird additions and no garage. The house also was located on a street with several large apartment buildings. Everything in me said it was worth about $850,000…yet the comps all showed more. Zillow showed it to be worth $1,250,000. The sellers had a 2 year old appraisal that brought it in at $1,200,000. Really fixed up houses in the same neighborhood have sold in the last year for between $1,640,000 and $2,250,000. We’ll probably list it for $1,200,000. Incredible!

I guess my question is…why is Palo Alto the Holy Grail of real estate? OK, the schools are great…right up to Stanford. It’s also true that it’s the hub of technology and University Ave is pretty cool…but REALLY! What I really think is that people believe in Palo Alto. They have confidence in it. They believe that Palo Alto is impervious to the fluctuations in the economy. There’s no reason at all for these prices to be as they are other than that. Compared to many, many other places Foster City is like that too. Folks believe in it…just not to that degree. The only thing that keeps moderating prices is confidence or lack thereof. The money is there and the buyers are there, once some confidence returns this market will climb. There are just too many people who either can’t afford or will simply refuse to pay $1,699,950 for a 3 and 1.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Real Estate
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