A Storm is Coming to San Mateo
This has nothing to do with real estate exactly, but a major storm is coming to San Mateo County tomorrow and will last until Wednesday. Redwood City residents can pick up a max of 24 free sandbags at 1400 Broadway. For those of you living in the hills, coast, or the Redwood Shores area this might be worth doing. Hopefully everyone will be okay!
2581 ANNAPOLIS St East Palo Alto, CA 94303 – This is how you use your house as an ATM
2581 ANNAPOLIS St East Palo Alto, CA 94303
| Beds: | 4 |
| Baths: | 1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,070 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $169 |
| Lot Size: | 5,500 Sq. Ft. |
Last sale: Jun 16, 2009 Sold $573,732 (This is a bank take back)
Last REAL sale: Nov 10, 1999 Sold $270,000
I found the mortgage history of this home on PropertyShark, and it is quite interesting. First the homedebtor bought the house in 1999 with two loans from Bank of America:
| Lender #1 | Bank Of America | ||
| Loan amount #1 | $215,000 | ||
| Loan type #1 | Conventional | ||
| Rate type #1 | Fixed | ||
| Loan amount #2 | $55,000 |
Notice that the two loans add up to the purchase price. So great, this guy is buying the home for 0 down, but at least it is a fixed loan. Now he lived in it for a bit over 3 years before doing another refi. This time it is a cash out refinance because the amount borrowed is $300k. This time it is from Indymac:
| Lender #1 | Indymac Bank FSB | ||
| Loan amount #1 | $300,000 | ||
| Loan type #1 | Conventional | ||
| Rate type #1 | Variable |
Notice that now it is an adjustable loan. A year and a half later there was another cash out refi in June 2004:
| Lender #1 | New Century Mortgage | ||
| Loan amount #1 | $330,000 | ||
| Loan type #1 | Conventional | ||
| Rate type #1 | Variable |
So basically he took another $30k out, but wait, it’s not over! Another 16 months later, he did another HUGE cash out refinance:
| Lender #1 | Option One Mortgage Corp | ||
| Loan amount #1 | $572,000 | ||
| Rate type #1 | Variable |
Yup, in this final refinance he took out another $242k. Then finally the home was foreclosed this year. So at least he enjoyed the house atm for almost 10 years and took out over $300k. Here is the funny part, all the banks he dealt with are dead except for Bank of America. I guess it sort of makes sense, too. I don’t think this guy lost much since the money he took out was tax free and he didn’t really have any equity in the house anyway. The last bank definitely lost the most on this series of refinances, but I guess they have ” imploded”.
2330 University Ave #110 East Palo Alto, CA 94303
| Beds: | 2 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | - |
| Lot Size: | - |
| Property Type: | Luxury, Condominium |
| View: | City Lights, Downtown, Woods |
| Year Built: | 2006 |
Last sale: Feb 22, 2006 Sold $445,000
Loss if sold for asking: $246,000 or 55%
I don’t know about you but these listing photos just make me somewhat dizzy. You can sort of make out some chairs in the first one, but the second one seems like the realtor took it while he/she was drunk and fumbled around. Anyway, I suspect the cut down price is to elicit more bids, or the realtor was really drunk?
What is a median priced home in San Mateo now?
Well, according to Dataquick the median home price for San Mateo County in July 2009 was $574,750. So what exactly is a median priced home now? Lets see some examples.
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,160 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $474 |
| Lot Size: | 5,000 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Detached Single Family |
| Stories: | Bi/Split Level |
| Year Built: | 1959 |
Last sale: Feb 14, 2006 Sold $708,000
This one makes me have a sinking feeling. It’s about $24k below the latest median, but it’s reduced quite a bit from its last sale price.
234 RAMONA St San Mateo, CA 94401
| Beds: | 5 |
| Baths: | 1.5 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,040 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $558 |
| Lot Size: | 6,400 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Detached Single Family |
| Style: | Ranch |
| Stories: | 2 |
| View: | Neighborhood |
| Year Built: | 1907 |
This house seems to have a good facade, and it’s the same size of the condo I rent, but to buy it would cost twice as much as renting. Awesome huh?
3030 JEFFERSON Ave Redwood City, CA 94062
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 1.5 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,090 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $528 |
| Lot Size: | 7,250 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Detached Single Family |
| Style: | Ranch |
| Stories: | 1 |
| View: | Neighborhood |
| Year Built: | 1952 |
Last sale: May 26, 2005 Sold $780,000
This one is more than $200k below its last sale price and it’s a short sale, which means the deal probably won’t complete. It’s priced right at the county median now. It’s an okay neighborhood, but it’s on a busy street.
The general pattern to the median priced home seems to be the following:
1) The house is less than 1200 square feet
2) The house is more than 50 years old
3) The house isn’t exactly affordable to those with a median income.
Oh well, maybe one day this madness will end.
12 ATHLONE Ct Menlo Park, CA 94025
12 ATHLONE Ct Menlo Park, CA 94025
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,250 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $639 |
| Lot Size: | 5,115 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Detached Single Family |
| Style: | Traditional |
| Stories: | 1 |
| View: | Neighborhood |
| Year Built: | 1950 |
Last sale: Nov 23, 2005 Sold $960,000
Loss if sold for asking: $161,000
It looks like the current owners bought this home back in 2005 with a $720k adjustable loan. Their listing price will help them just break even. Open house this weekend on September 12th and 13th from 1pm to 4pm.
1040 Patricia SAN MATEO, CA 94401
1040 Patricia SAN MATEO, CA 94401
| Beds: | 4 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,960 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $255 |
| Lot Size: | 5,500 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Single Family Detached |
| Style: | Other |
| Stories: | 1 |
| Neighborhood: | SAN MATEO VILLAGE |
Last sale: Jul 06, 2007 Sold $818,000
Loss if sold for asking: $319,000 or 39%
I actually know several families that live in this neighborhood. It’s not the most ritzy part of San Mateo, but it’s not bad either. It’s close to shopping and the general neighbors are good. I know at least one family that paid over $700k for a smaller house than this one here a couple years ago. So is this a good deal? It really depends. A house like this would rent for $2000 to $2300 a month, though.
Offers
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