Homescopes

I  received a comment to my recent post about entry level homes on the San Francisco Peninsula from Pam Buda, a Coldwell Banker agent in Sonoma County.

Pam informs me that she has recently been working with several buyers from San Francisco and the Peninsula looking for possible second homes and investments in her beautiful area. Pam tells me good solid homes in convenient locations can be purchased in the $300,000 range - sounds like a good buy to me !

Check Pam’s site out and see what your money buys north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I currently own investment property on the Big Island of Hawaii and a second home up in Lake Tahoe. For information about those areas, please do not hestiate to contact me.

On a beautiful San Francisco Peninsula fall morning, I toured the new listings in San Carlos, Redwood City, and Menlo Park today. I have several current buyers looking for homes up to about $1.1M so I focused on the entry level homes in all three communities. I have picked out one home in each city - San Carlos, Redwood City, and Menlo Park to give you an idea of what you could buy for around $1M and slightly less.

500 Pearl Ave., San Carlos is a 2 bedroom 1 bath home on a 4,400sf lot. This older home is located in the highly desirable White Oaks neighborhood in San Carlos. List price is $778,000. This home is listed by Tom and Eda Diridon of Carlmont Associates.

This listing is representative of the good buys out there in the current market.

2 years ago, you could not buy a house in White Oaks for much under $850,000.

At the present time, you can get into White Oaks and live in a charming older home with hardwood floors and be in a great community for under $800,000. This would not have been possible 2 years ago.

Heading south from San Carlos, I came upon a fabulously updated 3 bedroom 2 bath home in an excellent westside Redwood City neighborhood. This home is located at 1077 Chesterton Ave., Redwood City and is listed for $986,000 by Doug Gonzalez of Coldwell Banker Menlo Park.

This home has been beautfiully updated  with gourmet kitchen and a very open floor plan. Many of the major systems like roof, furnace, and water heater have just been replaced. This is a very sharp 3 bedroom 2 bath home at an affordable price.

After seeing a few more homes in Redwood City, I headed further south to west Menlo Park and found 833 Middle Avenue, Menlo Park listed at $1,029,000. This charming 2 bedroom 1 bath home is located across from Nealon Park and Little House and is just down the street from the new georgeous Safeway on El Camino. This older home sits on a large 7,500 sf lot and is listed by Keri Nicholas of Coldwell Banker.

Of course, there are many other fine properties on the market.

The Chesterton home in Redwood City is the nicest of the three and is offered at a very good price.

The Pearl home in San Carlos offers an opportunity to get into a wonderful family neighborhood for not much more than the price of a typical condo or townhouse.

The Middle property in Menlo Park is located in west Menlo Park one of the most desirable areas on the San Francisco Peninsula and with the large lot offers good expansion possibilties down the road.

In real estate, the size of a home matters!  When representing Los Altos home buyers, verifying a property’s size (in square footage) can be troublesome.  Usually, the size of the home and lot (in square feet) is auto-populated from city/county records into the multiple listing service (MLS) information.  Most of this information is correct but sometimes it isn’t.  Why?

Example Of Building and Planning Record Errors

Several years ago, I represented a homeowner of a property that was adjacent to Stevens Creek near Fremont Avenue in Los Altos.  The county records indicated an 18K square foot lot.  This property was on a large lot, but it looked nowhere near 18k square feet.  After intensive research, we found out that there was an interior lot owned by the water district that had been incorporated into the county records description of this property.  Fortunately, we waited until we had the correct information prior to marketing the home.

Example Of Seller Recollection Errors

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been out on a listing appointment and the homeowner’s recollection of the property’s size and the information from the county records differ.  Most of the time, the seller is innocently hoping the home is bigger (so they will get more when it sells).  But once they see a property description from a reliable source, they realize it isn’t.  No harm, no foul.  However, there are instances where the seller might not be so innocent.

Last month I was on a listing appointment with a homeowner of a Los Altos property that had an unusual floorplan.  It looked as if a garage had been converted into a living/bedroom with bath.   I showed the homeowner records that indicated that the home was 3 bedroom, 2 bath home.  However, the seller believed it to be a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home with approximately 450 more square feet than my records indicated.  (note: I am using fictitious numbers because the home is currently on the market).

How To Determine Market Value For an Addition that May Not Exist

When we got to the point of determining the home’s market value, I told them that I would recommend that it be priced at $1,500,000 until I could verify that the home was in fact larger as they had claimed.  They wanted it priced at $1,750,000, a $250,000 premium for something that may not legally exist.  Its odd footprint also reduced its market value.

The home was listed by another agent at the higher price.  I hope the agent did his due diligence and verified that the home was in fact a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home with the additional 450 square feet.  Otherwise, the agent and seller may find themselves in legal trouble as soon as the new buyer recognizes the discrepancy. 

Recommendations For Sellers

1. Price the home according to its verifiable size.
2. If there is a discrepancy, hire a licensed appraiser to measure the home and provide the appraiser’s  information to any prospective buyers.
3. Disclose any alterations done to the property (whether you did them or not).
4. Direct any buyers to the appropriate building/planning office so they can do their own due diligence. 
5. Clarify everything about the property before putting the home on the market for sale. 

Remember, buyers will buy almost anything as long as the problems are disclosed up front.  However, buyers get squeamish when they are hit with a surprises. 

The calendar was blocked out one recent Saturday morning so that I could spend a wonderful morning with long time friends at The Clay House in Montara making succulent wreaths!  We made them now so that they will be a little more filled in by the Holidays.  One of the organizers used Martha’s instructions as a guide, then bought the supplies and a few plants and we all split the cost.  We were to all bring succulent cuttings from our gardens.  Doing it this way, it cost us $17 each to make a wreath.

On prior Martha Stewart projects I would sometimes attempt, I have found her instructions to be for the natural born crafter, of which I’m not.  So I was happy when we started by making one together to see what “worked” and what didn’t.  Then we each began on our own wreaths. 

We cut the 24 inch wide wire roll into 8 inch lengths, filling it with moistened sphagnum moss and soil, then closing the wire together, bending it into the wreath shape and securing the ends.  I know it sounds easy, and it is.  The hardest part - basically requiring a little patience and manual dexterity, oh, and close-up vision - was securing the wire together.  A small pair of pliers does the job.  We used chopsticks to poke holes in the wreath, but as the instructions say, you could use a pencil or screwdriver.

It took about 2 hours to make our wreaths, including laughter, sharing stories, helping each other, and admiring along the way.

This is what I made.  If I can do it, anyone can!

Thank you to Clay House team!

You can always call Nancy at The Clay House for class & event information - 650-728-CLAY.

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I spent the day at West Coast Green in San Jose, CA with my friend, Susie, learning about tons of new “green” or eco-friendly products and information to help my family and clients.  I’ll share some of my favorites later in this post.  The highlight today was listening to Al Gore  and Jerry Brown speak.  The packed venue was brimming with enthusiasm and energy.  Two major messages I came away with…

1. We continue to need, and are moving toward, a “paradigm shift” in our Country from one of being caught up in the assumptions of the day to paying attention enough to see that we are in the process of ending one era and beginning another.  Put another way, we are collectively beginning to look at a long term approach instead of a short term approach to our world.

2.  Our Country is entering an era of limits.  We are now exceeding our limits, both ecologically and economically.  Al Gore touched on the financial/credit/housing situation as an example.  The growth, growth, growth, went unchecked and here we are.  One of the areas of limits we “assumed” would continue to grow was housing.  One of the terms he used related to unbridled housing growth was the ”human garage developments”.  What he means by this is… cheap houses, far away from business centers, cheap land, too much driving needed resulting in dependency on oil (our cars).  The analogy as it relates to climate changes is that we are now dealing with ”subprime carbon assets”.  The subprime part being the C02 emissions.  We can do something about it now before it becomes a crisis, he emphasized.

Mr. Gore ended by reminding us that if more and more of us absorb our reality, the shift will happen.

Here’s just a few cool booths I visited…there were so many more!  Let me know if you need a resource for a remodel or retrofit; I may have a contact.  My recyclable trade show bag is bulging!

LaCantina Bifold Doors - a folding door system that can accommodate up to a 52 foot wide opening for combined indoor and outdoor living.

InterWest Insurance, in partnership with Fireman’s Fund - for certified green building coverage and green upgrade coverage and other services (homeowners, start-up contractors, and commercial).

Woodshanti Cooperative - beautiful custom cabinetry and woodwork.  Certified by Scientific Certification Systems for the Forest Stewardship Council’s Chain of Custody (COC).  They also use local salvaged species of wood when possible.

ELT Easy Green - green roof and living wall systems.  Stunning designs using succulents.

Marin Outdoor Living - outdoor luxury products including portable fireplaces.

Bottlestone- countertop material made of 80% post consumer waste glass for many indoor and outdoor uses.

Clean Chute - Innovations in Trash & Recycle Systems.

Fireclay Tile - beautiful and fun designs and materials.

Ecofabulous - a creative resource for connecting you with eco-friendly products, reviews, tips, and more.

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Friday is a big day for the Los Altos Real Estate scene.  It’s Broker tour day, the day that agents go out and preview the new listings/homes for our clients.  

Of the 23 single family home listings on tour in Mountain View and Los Altos, 15 homes were new listings and 8 were either being re-toured (same listing agent) or re-toured with a new listing agent.  The homes that stuck out in my mind were:

1055 Ray Avenue Los Altos, Listed by Nancy Carlson of Intero Real Estate Services.  This is a small but nice 3 bedroom 1 bath home on a cul-de-sac street.  It’s priced at $1,375,000.  I would buy it and then maybe expand it later on.  A minor negative is that Ray Avenue is rather close to El Camino Real.

545 Clark Court Los Altos, Listed by Andy Tse of Intero Real Estate Services.  This 3 bedroom 2 bath home is also on a nice cul-de-sac street just south of El Monte Drive.  It is priced at $1,450,000.  It is as original as original can get.  The new homeowner can use it as it is now or completely remodel.  The house has beautiful landscaped grounds.

722 Brentwood Place Los Altos, listed by Pam Blackman of Intero Real Estate Services.   This smallish 4 bedroom 2 bath home has a fantastic lot and is located near the end of a cul-de-sac.  It is priced at $1,598,000.  It doesn’t have a master bath, but there is plenty of room to expand and still have a large sun drenched backyard (the yard will get great late afternoon sun).  It is just two blocks to Rancho Shopping Center and Loyola Elementary School.

653 Arboleda Drive Los Altos, listed by Ginny Kavanaugh of Coldwell Banker.  This small 2 bedroom 1bath home is on a large centrally located lot.  It is priced at $1,349,000.  Note: the last two sales of homes this size on Arboleda sold for $1,450,000 (9/27/07) and $1,500,000 (8/10/07).   The home has gone through about of year of cleaning, de-cluttering and preparing the home for sale.  I think it is the top home on the tour and should get bid up.

135 Carmelita Drive Mountain View, listed by Dary Marhama (sorry, no link.  He doesn’t have a website) of the Cashin Company.  This is a newly constructed 5 bedroom 3.5 bath home that also includes an in-law quarters.  The large lot is minimally landscaped.  It is listed at $2,199,000.  It is located 1.5 blocks from Huff Elementary School, the top rated elementary school in the Mountain View-Whisman School District.  There is also a twin sister of this home next door at 139 Carmelita Drive.  It is basically the same floor-plan but uses a different front elevation and different interior colors.

 That’s how I saw it for today.

Apparently at least a handful of government financial regulatory employees were doing something today other than figuring out how much money Wall Street needs to keep from further imploding…

The New York Times reports that JP Morgan Chase has taken over troubled lender Wamu.

What next?

Below is the photo of a Los Altos home for sale that I found listed on our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) this evening.  The 4 bedroom 2 bath home, listed by Pam Blackman of Intero Real Estate Services, is located at 722 Brentwood Place.  Brentwood Place is located in a nice neighborhood behind the Rancho Shopping Center. 

This might be taking the whole “market a home during the Halloween season” a little to literal.  It’s an interesting choice of photo and obviously an error. 

However, I think it should get further recognition in Mary Pope-Handy’s Haunted Real Estate Blog.

722 Brentwood Place, Los Altos. 

New real estate marketing slogan: “Almost new…never been lived in”  (just kidding)

For the one year anniversary and its first fundraiser, yesterday’s BBQ fundraiser and show at the gorgeous Sonoma Equestrian Center in Glen Ellen was by all accounts a great success.  Rather than the sales of 100 tickets hoped for, 400 tickets were sold and many of us enjoyed a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon under the oaks, eating, visiting and enjoying the entertainment, from vaulting (gymnastics on the backs of cantering horses) to musical freestyle dressage and a demonstration of some of the medieveal equestrian arts.   At the same time we learned of the concerted horse rescue efforts of many Sonoma county volunteers and Sonoma County Animal Control.  Whether through ignorance, hard luck or hard times, many animals in addition to many people are suffering these days, and when the animal is a 1,000 pound horse, the sheer logistics for any public agency, not to mention the expense, are daunting.  Obviously the volunteers at CHANGE have struck a nerve, and it is impressive to see such rapid growth and professionalism in a young charitable organization.  (Subtle hint:  Your donations are tax-deductible and go straight to the horses’ mouth.)

This event also marked the PUBLIC Sonoma County debut of good friend and client Sir William Hamersky and his trusty steed, Rohan, as they demonstrated some of the medieval horsemanship arts.

Below–Sir William’s squire hands him his lance for the quintain, an event which enables the knight to practice his jousting technique without knocking his foe off his horse.   Sir William and Rohan teach their medieval arts at the ranch we found for them in Sebastopol, Full Tilt Farm.   Prior to the quintain, Sir William remembers to dedicate his efforts to the lady of the manor this day, Laura Ponter, of the Sonoma Equestrian Center.  Bottom photo:  The quintain spins after a successful hit.

Surprising that two Piedmont “Fixers” are for sale at the last selling season of 2008. 

Both are on “A”  streets in Piedmont with tons of potential.  

A Grand 4,600 sq ft, 6 Bedrooms/4 Bath Traditional (20,000 sq ft lot) priced  at $2,150,000. 

 Comp may be a home on the same street, sold in 2003 for $3.825,000… 6 BR, 19,000 sq ft lot….”restored to perfection”  

 The other, an opportunity for buyers with cash to restore/improve is a 3 Br/2Ba, 1880 sq ft, 4500 sq ft lot with “Old world charm”  Price is $795,000.