May 16, 2008
FREMONT
Low: 32924 Lake Bluestone St – 2/1 - $370,000 Sun 1-5
Mid: 4627 Rousillon Ave – 3/2.5 - $689,888 Sat/Sun 1:30-5
High: 43533 Gallegos – 5/3.5 - $1,730,000 Sat/Sun 1-5
HAYWARD
31416 Chicoine Ave – 3/2 - $399,900 Sun 1-4
MILPITAS
Low: 488 Dempsey Rd #00191 – 1/1 - $300,000 Sat 1-4
Mid: 674 Calero St – 3/2 - $550,000 Sun 1-5
High: 915 Cameron Cir – 3/2.5 - $795,000 Sun 1-5
NEWARK
Low: 36594 Lakewood Dr – 4/2 - $579,990 Sun 1-4
High: 8290 Olympic Ct – 3/2 - $597,500 Sun 1-4
UNION CITY
Low: 4537 Ojai Loop – 4/3 - $649,000 Sat/Sun 1:30-5
Mid: 2901 Daisy St – 3/2 - $679,000 Sun 1-4
High: 3019 Belize Way – 4/3 - $835,000 Sun 1-4
BONUS HOUSE(S)
Whenever I see a particulary interesting property listing I will add it to my regular open house listings. Here’s a great place and they have lowered the price $25,000 as of today! Hurry on this one!
At 2620 Bean Creek Rd., Scotts Valley you have the option to hear Bean Creek babbling nearby and listen to the sounds of the tall forest trees whispering in the wind on a day when you just want to curl up in the warm sun outside and read a good book. Perhaps in that beautiful hammock you’ve wanted to hang up that you bought on one of your vacations. Or you can have a family get-together, birthday party, wedding party, or just about any kind of party you can possibly think of. This house has it all! This home can be your retirement home or a ‘growing new family’ home.
This gem is a favorite of mine because I know it intimately. The owners are my relatives so I have been to it lots of times. My favorite times have been the summer parties there. The grounds are beautiful! We’re talking room for a band, kids jumping house, clowns, face painting tables and all the relatives and friends you can gather. And, because it’s set in a forest, there have been great family camp-outs there as well.
The inside of the house is in immaculate condition. I immediately feel that “ahhh…home at last” type of feeling. It really stands out from the other nearby homes because of the water-side acreage that it is on. Once on this property you don’t even know that there are neighbors around you. And yet, it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump to downtown Scott’s Valley. This is a really quaint little town with just about everything you could possibly need. Add to all of this the fact that Santa Cruz beach is a short drive away and you just can’t go wrong.
It’s open this Sunday, May 18th from 1 – 4 p.m. I urge you to go take a look at it. And the weather forecast for this weekend makes it an ideal day for an outing!
REAL ESTATE TERMINOLOGY:
Fee Simple - An estate in real property by which the owner has the greatest possible power over the title. In modern use it expressly establishes the title of real property with the owner without limitation or end. He or she may dispose of it by sale, trade, or will, as he or she chooses. In modern estates the terms “Fee” and “Fee Simple” are substantially synonymous.
May 16, 2008
The owners of the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, a 1946 landmark in glass, steel and stone designed by the architect Richard Neutra might be be feeling a little sellers’ disappointment (a widespread condition in the current housing crunch). This week the modernist gem, which they put up for auction at Christie’s recently, sold for $15m after the estimate had been set at $15m-$25m.
The anonymous buyer also bought an orchard adjacent to the property for an additional $2.1 million. It includes three cacti that were a gift from Frank Lloyd Wright to Kaufmann on his first visit to the home (so you could argue the buyer snagged three cacti at $700,000 a piece).
But the homeowners — Brent Harris, an investment manager and Beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian, both architecture enthusiasts who are divorcing — are probably not too deflated as it turns out they paid just $1.5m for the house when they bought it from the estate of Barry Manilow in 1992.
A tenfold increase in value in 16 years isn’t bad, although it’s clear they invested a lot in restoring the house to its former glory. (It certainly grabbed the limelight in J. Crew’s spring catalog from which these photos are taken.) To Financial Times architecture critic Edwin Heathcote the Kauffman house:
“…exemplifies the cool intensity of mid-century modernism every bit as much as a Miles Davis trumpet solo or a Rothko painting”.
On a less elevated plain, here are the recent home sales 425 miles north of Palm Springs, in Berkeley, Ca, none of which exceeded the price paid for those three cacti but the owners of at least one of which — 110 Brookside Drive — will be feeling sore. That house went on the market for $1,095,000 but closed $225,500 down at $869,500.
May 16, 2008
In an attempt to beat the heat yesterday, I thought it might be nice to head to a cooler clime and chose Half Moon Bay, just over the hill from my house. Less than 25 minutes away (on a good day), we can usually hope for 10-20 degree cooler weather on the ocean side of the mountains. I love this quaint little town, with its eclectic shops, great bakery, the smell of the salt air, and especially all the farm stands. But given the gas prices, I decided to multi-task and make the most of my trip. On the agenda:
1. Stop at Ox Mountain Landfill and drop off tree trimmings
2. Check out some houses for you all
3. Wander the downtown and have a bit of lunch
4. Stop at the farmer’s stalls on the way home for some great fruit and veg
So off we went. My son has made many trips to Ox Mountain Landfill before on my behalf. From our house, it’s only about 5-7 minutes further away than the Belmont BFI dumping station, but is less than half the price ($10 vs. $22). Once you enter the facility, there are stations set up all along the uphill winding road, with collection points for computers, old appliances (except refrigerators), newspaper, cardboard, green waste, and at the very tippy top, all the rest of the crap that you need to get rid of. It actually took longer to get to the top than it did to unload, but it was a fascinating journey (albeit a bit stinky).
Next, I concentrated on homes on the west side of Highway 1, within walking distance to the ocean. Although there are over 70 homes for sale in HMB, I thought that you might appreciate this area, especially with the mercury hovering near/around/over 100. And boy, is there an eclectic mix of homes over there.
First up was an unfinished home on a substandard lot. I thought it might be worthy of consideration, but it is located across from the city school district and an elementary school, one block off the Highway, and the circus is in town. Yes, there was a circus set up in the parking lot directly across the street from this corner home at 489 Kelly. Even the price of $499,000 wouldn’t let me recommend this one to you. Down the street is 344 Kelly (photo right), just about 3 blocks from the ocean. It is located in a mixed area of older and newer homes, of one and two-story height. This particular home is over 70 years old, a single story Spanish style abode, on a 7500 sf lot. The home looked a bit rundown from the outside, but the interior pics are nice. This is priced at $819,000 and has been on the market just over a month.
Between the two homes on Kelly, just off Jenna Street, you can find something a bit cheaper at 406 Laurel. A 2/2 first-floor condo of 1090 square feet, it was in a mixed area of homes, duplexes, condos and apartments. Priced at $369,900, it has been on the market for two months.
A better buy might be the rancher at 843 First Avenue (photo right). It sits amongst an older tract of homes on a corner a few blocks to the ocean. The home, a 4/2, takes up most of the lot, however, and you have virtually no yard of your own (just a public beach down the road apiece).
Last on my list is a gorgeous one-year-old two-story home at 915 Railroad Avenue with a price tag of $1,775,000 (photo below). This shingled-exterior home sits on a 10,707 sf corner lot with a 4-way stop, just on the edge of developable land (Bluff Top Coastal Park begins just a block away). The second story has a partial wraparound deck with a gorgeous view of the ocean, is nicely landscaped, and I imagine that on a clear day you could see forever.
After a quick wander at the beach, we turned the car around and headed into town. Walking from one end of Main Street to the other (and back again) we stopped for a meal at Pasta Moon (buckwheat fettucine with chard and walnuts and a chicken panini, if you must know), grabbed some coffee at Peet’s and headed for the farmstands. We got half a box of strawberries for $6, the scent of which was torturing us all the way home, three types of pesticide-free lettuce and some really large organic beets. All in all, it was a pretty good day. How was yours?
May 16, 2008
There is no way you should be staying indoors this weekend. If you aren’t hiking Mt. Tam, picnicking in Huddart Park, or kayaking on the Bay, you should head on down to Mountain View, the venue for the A La Carte & Art Festival. For twelve years, this food-themed multi-ethnic art festival has attracted some of the best local chefs and artists from around the West Coast. There is a juried art show (over 250 exhibitors), several music venues, food galore, and a farmer’s market. You can check out local wine and microbrews, cooking demonstrations, 11 local bands, and even the kids have their own place to have fun and hang out at the Fun Zone.
So head on over to Castro Street (which is a haven for great international cuisine) and enjoy a few hours of sunshine. (Don’t forget the sunscreen!)
While you are in the area, you just might want to check out these new listings with open houses:
141 Centre Street, 2/2.5/ 1232 sf, Townhouse, $625,000 DOM: 8
The price on this townhouse seems to be spot on, given recent sales and current comps. Close to El Camino, hwys 85 and 237, the complex has less than 50 units and HOA of $315/mo. Open Saturday/Sunday 1:30-4:30.
240 View Street, 2/2.5, 1332 sf, Condo, $848,000 DOM: 10
This is just a stone’s throw from this weekend’s festival. Walk on over and see this well-designed Spanish-style complex built in 2007. Only 22 units, the HOA fee is pretty high at $500, but not much can go wrong in something so new. Open Saturday/Sunday 1:30-4:30.
2416 Villa Nueva Way, 3/2.5, 1598 sf, .28 acre lot, $1,250,000 DOM: 3
This house backs up to busy Grant Road, across from El Camino Hospital (which constantly seems to be undergoing construction). But it is a nice looking rancher on a large lot. My guess is that not much remodeling has been done given the agent’s description and lack of photos. Which leads me to the conclusion that this house may be a bit overpriced. Open Saturday/Sunday
BONUS: Once you are done in Mountain View, you can head to neighboring Los Altos and Fine Art in the Park. Sponsored by the Rotary Club, this annual event takes place in Lincoln Park and features original art, unique gifts, food, entertainment, and free parking. Atu/Sun 10-5:30
Recent Sweet Digs Posts
Oakland and Piedmont: New Listings, Price Reductions, Foreclosures
One Townhome Left in Toll Brothers’ Sunnyvale City Park Development
SF: Get Your Feet Wet in the Outer Sunset
May 15, 2008
Inventory in Oakland and Piedmont is spilling out all over the place: new listings, price reductions and foreclosures abound. Below are some of my picks in a few choice Oakland neighborhoods: Montclair, Rockridge and Crocker Highlands; plus one listing from the city of Piedmont.
NEW
9043 Broadway Terrace 4bd/3.5ba $1,895,000 Not only is this a new listing on Redfin, this is a brand-spanking new construction, built 2008, in the Montclair Village area of Oakland. And being brand-spanking new I guess means big-spanking bucks given the asking price here. At $551 per s/f it’s leaning towards the high end of the spectrum in Montclair with a high of $660 per s/f and lows in the $200-$300’s per s/f. As usual with the Hills, the views look cool (especially the red-hot sunset) but where are pix of the interior of the house?
REDUCED
5133 Coronado Ave. 3bd/2ba 1483 SF Now $875,000 reduced from $905,000; Craftsman Bungalow in Rockridge; previously sold for $880,000 October 2006. Immaculate pix of the interior and a quaint watercolor-esque illustration (picture featured above) of the outside of the home give it a picture-perfect look.
95 Oakmont Ave. 4bd/3ba Now $1,495,000 reduced 100k from $1,595,000. Wildwood area of Piedmont. It’s a mediterranean home, and the medi-style homes are coming strong onto the market as we careen into summer. (Don’t you see them just everywhere when you search listings these days?) The home’s been on the market 41 days. With no sales history listed it’s hard to tell if it’s priced right.
BANK-OWNED
4132 Balfour 4bd/3ba Spacious-looking new construction stucco currently listed for $900,000 and at 2705 SF that’s $333 per s/f. A bank-owned foreclosure in Crocker Highlands, the bank bought it in April 2008 for $880,000 and it was originally sold for $1,150,000 in 2005 shortly after it was built in 2004. This is also a NEW listing, being on Redfin for about 1 day as of this writing.
6072 Valley View 3bd/2.5ba 1564 SF Now listed at $599,000 this Montclair home has been reduced from $649,000. A bank-listed foreclosure, it sold in March 2008 for $566,623, down from a high sales price of $700,000 in September 2006. As common with Montclair homes, it appears to be nestled in the trees and judging from the Virtual Earth map looks to be on a very long lot. A home in Montclair for under 600k? Sounds good to me.
May 15, 2008
If you are looking for a centrally located home with easy access to highways 101, 280 and 85, it is hard to choose a better location than Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale has also been known for many years as one of the safest cities in the US to live. Perhaps this is why there is only one townhome left in the 130 home City Park complex for sale.
The unit that is still available is a 3 bed, 3 1/2 bath, 2-story home with a two car garage and 1615 square feet of living space. Each secondary bedroom has its own bathroom as well. Offered at $766,975, it is pricey in a market where single family homes can be found for similar or lower prices.
Known as the Las Palmas model, this townhome has a fully modern kitchen that opens to a family room with a fireplace and media niche. It is designed in the Mission style, but recessed can lighting and other modern touches give it a contemporary feel.
Located off Fairoaks and Weddell Drive - a Lowes as well as many great restaurants and grocery stores are very close by. Caltrain is also close, as is Highway 237 if you work in the East Bay.
If you want this one - better hurry!
May 15, 2008
The Sunset gets a bum rap. People think it’s all fog and sand in your eyes, too far from the city central and devoid of culture or “hipness.” I like this out of the way quality. At least in the Outer Sunset, you can escape the regularly exhausting bustle of the city: with acres of parking, the Golden Gate Park, and miles and miles of ocean. And on days like today, all sunshine and glitter on the sea, there’s no better place to live.
Still, this area has never been #1 on the SF Desirable Neighborhood list, and its homes have generally fetched less than those in more easterly locations. Yet at the height of our crazy, over inflated market, even the most drab and barren properties shot up to 800k, 900k, a million.
Not so now. Submedian blogs about the current Sunset slump here:
of the 13 homes that list the previous sale price 6, or 46% are listed for less then what they were previously purchased for…..[and] anybody selling a Sunset home purchased within the past five years is showing negative appreciation. And in some cases, it is drastic: 1491 43rd Ave is now listed at $720,000. It’s high water mark was it’s purchase for $875,000 in April 2005. That’s a whopping $155,000 depreciation over three years.
He also notes that people who bought a decade ago or more, and are now selling, do stand to make profit, but how much profit is hard to know, since
They have across the board higher listing prices then the newer homeowners, and are paying the price for their desire to hang on to those higher prices by having much higher DOM’s: 54 is the DOM average for the people who have owned their homes more then five years, compared with 26 for the folks who are newer homeowners.
If you are buying, and like a little beach in your backyard, you might find a deal in the Outer Sunset. Here are a few SFH listings.
2627 47th Ave., 2/1 SFH, reduced to $560K
2646 45th Ave., 3/2 SFH for $628K
2142 42nd Ave., 2/1 SFH for $685K
2209 46th Ave., 2/1 SFH for $699K: Open this week (see link for details)
May 15, 2008
Well, it’s been awhile since I went off the deep end and ranted about any one thing, but today I cannot help myself. And maybe I am totally off base and live in my own little suburban world, but I have a feeling that I am still the sane one.
In the current issue of Dwell, there is a letter to the editor from John D. of Staten Island. It is short and in its entirety says:
“Why glorify the small home (March 2008)? A small home might serve its purpose for a progressive couple, but anyone with kids or a family will soon realize that 1,000 square feet is never going to be enough. Living small seems responsible at first, but living that small will never catch on. Living modest might: Modest homes of 2,500 square feet, and creative ways to fit and furnish them, are a burgeoning trend, and I’d like to see this aspect of responsible living explored more.”
So, living in suburbia as I do, I should be content with a modest 2500 square foot home? Hmmm. Sarcasm aside, of everyone I know in my area of $1mil+ homes, only two live in “modest” abodes, the rest of us schlumps live in cramped quarters under 2000 sf. My grandparents spent most of their retired life in a trailer of under 50 feet. Not a double wide, not some large modular thing, just a simple trailer, similar to an Airstream. They never seemed hindered by the lack of storage space or being without a kitchen island. The biggest house I have ever lived in or owned is under 1800 sf, including my current home where I raised 3 kids. No cramps here. Our relatives who live on the coast of England live in less than 1200 square feet and are quite content. I never considered these spaces small. I consider them adequate, comfy, and much easier and quicker to clean than a bigger home.
So, I want to know, when did 2500 square feet become “modest” and whose reality is that?
Recent Sweet Digs Posts
A Tale of One Street
San Jose: One of America’s Recession Proof Cities?
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
May 14, 2008
It’s not often that I can tell you the basic history of one street in one local city. But I have some inside knowledge, stored away in my brain all these years, that I thought I would share. The street in question is Ward Way, a short cul-de-sac off Alameda de las Pulgas in Woodside. This was just a patch of dirt in the 1950s when people started building. At that time, there was no high school, no Highway 280, and it was located in unincorporated Redwood City.
To find Ward Way, just go two blocks south of Woodside High School on the Alameda and turn right. It is a short cul-de-sac of just 16 homes, that magically got annexed by Woodside sometime in the late ’80s/early ’90s. If you cross the Alameda, the homes on the other side are in Redwood City; two blocks south and you are in Atherton. It’s a two-block enclave that Woodside managed to add to its tax rolls. It also added to the value of the home, having a Woodside address. Which is a good thing, since all the homes on the north side of this street actually back up to Woodside High School, a factor that most people would find a detriment. Imagine hearing the bells go off every 65 minutes for 9 months of the year, hearing the cheering fans at the football stadium, listening to cars every morning at 7:40 and every afternoon at 2:15. Then there is the chatter, the constant incessant teenage chatter during breaks, during lunch, and before and after school. It could be kind of annoying. Trust me, I know. I had family that lived on that street at the top of the hill. They were one of the first ones to build a home here in the early 1950s, when it was surrounded by dirt and orchards, and they just sold it 7 years ago. Imagine, 50 years in the same home, almost unheard of these days.
The home that brought me to this walk through history, is one that just hit the market at 2145 Ward Way. For the 40-plus years that I have been going up this street, I have only seen a handful of For Sale signs. People like the street, there is no traffic, homes and lots are large, and there is convenient access to Highway 280. But since my family sold their home, I know of at least 4 homes that have sold. And this current listing, I have on good authority, is being sold by the original owners. It is a 4 bedroom, 4 bath Tudor-style home built in 1956 on a half acre. There have been updates over the years, and the grounds are very stately, with a well-manicured lawn and rose garden. Located on the south side of the street, there is not the same level of noise coming from the high school. The price: $2,500,000.
As for those other 4 sales:
2190 Ward Way: Top of the cul-de-sac location, this home sold in 2004 for $2,380,000. The home sits on 1+ acre, has 2 master suites + 2 other bedrooms. There are 3.5 baths, family room, sun room, 3-car garage, pool, putting green, and fruit trees galore.
2160 Ward Way: 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home built in 1955. Sold in 2007 for $2,350,000. The last sale on this home was in 1998 for $960,000. Not bad, making $1,390,000 in 9 years!
2165 Ward Way: 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home built in 1954. Sold in 2006 for $1,650,000.
2155 Ward Way: 3 bedroom, 2 bath home built in 1954. Sold 2006 for $1,600,000. (This home has actually changed hands 5 times in 20 years, which is unusual.)
May 14, 2008
Last week, Yahoo Real Estate ran an article discussing a Forbes study that highlighted 10 American cities that seem to be weathering the recession the best. Texas fared well in this study - with Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio all making the list. Others listed include Salt Lake City, Charlotte NC, Seattle, Raleigh NC, and Oklahoma City OK. Surprisingly - San Jose also made the cut.
The choices were made using three key measures: unemployment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending February 2008, the BLS data on job growth in non-farm payrolls through February 2008, and median home price data from the National Association of Realtors from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007. These results were then adjusted using data from a November 2007 report, “U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis,” by the U.S. Conference of Mayors which lists each city’s estimated gross metropolitan product growth by projecting how rising foreclosures and falling home prices would affect overall levels of productivity in local economies.
Texas didn’t experience the rapid growth in home prices seen by California, New York, Florida and other metro regions. It makes sense they would be in better shape, as they are not experiencing the “correction” the rest of us are seeing. All four major Texas cities also show a drop in the unemployment rate. I have noticed that many high tech companies choosing to relocate from California for tax reasons are moving to Texas, particularly to the Austin area. A strong base of technology companies can also be seen in Seattle, and Raleigh, thanks to Microsoft and Cisco Systems.
Should San Jose have made the cut? Although this is my home and I hope for the best in the last half of 2008, I think not. According to Forbes:
“And in the San Jose area, the median home sale price is over $830,000. That’s 11% higher than it was in the fourth quarter of 2006, helping to land the area at No. 4 on our list. Problem is, that growth has since cooled, and it remains to be seen whether pricey homes coupled with a 5.3% unemployment rate will cause trouble for homeowners this year.”
The median home price cited here was based on old data - looking at it with a May 2008 perspective gives new insights. Yahoo Real Estate as of today shows the median home price at $529,900, NOT $830,000. I wonder if Forbes included the surrounding higher priced areas such as Saratoga, Los Gatos, and Cupertino in their study. And according to EconoMagic, the current unemployment rate is 5.5%, not 5.3%. This may not seem significant, but it shows an upward trend.
San Jose’s economy is heavily based on how well local high tech companies are doing, as they employ most of the residents who consume local goods and services. Although Biotech is beginning to blossom in this area, it will take years before these fledging companies employ work forces the size of Intel, Sun Microsystems, HP, eBay, or Yahoo. Outsourcing of engineering functions which followed the manufacturing outsourcing boom has left many who formerly held high level jobs high and dry, and this trend continues.
A better way of assessing how well San Jose will weather the storm would be to check the Silicon Valley 150 report from the San Jose Mercury News daily, and look at the economic strength of the top 150 companies. This data also needs to be tempered with current unemployment rate data as well as foreclosure rate data; some Silicon Valley companies are improving their balance sheets through moving operations off-shore or laying off workers.
Although tech stocks have been moving upwards the past several days, I still contend that a new evaluation with these extra factors included would leave San Jose off the hallowed Forbes list. I still hold out hope that our situation will change - and we will truly earn a position in this list in a few years. For this to happen, our elected officials will have to directly address the mortgage crisis with California-specific solutions, incentivize business to stay here instead of moving to Texas or outsourcing engineering to India or China, and provide REAL housing solutions for those just getting started out in our fair valley.
Until then, rapidly rising gasoline prices (among the highest in the nation), food costs, and the threat of water rationing coupled with an unstable unemployment rate make this a tough place to ride out the storm.
[Photo Credit: Forbes.com]
