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.

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?

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.

According to the Hudson and Marshall website, the last highbid is only $167,500, and this is the description:

 

512 Stanford Avenue
Redwood City, CA 94063

Bed:	3	Only 8 Days Left to Bid Now
Bath:	1	Bid Now!
Sq. Ft.:	820

Comments:

Last High Bid $167,500

Agent disclosure requiring buyer signature regarding homicides at property

Buyers who are interested in purchasing this property prior to the auction must be pre-qualified for financing through Wells Fargo or Wachovia. (This is only a requirement to be pre-qualified; the final loan may be obtained through any financial institution)

Please call 1-877-937-9357 during the following times:

Monday – Friday, 7:00 am – 11:00 pm Central Time

Saturday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Central Time

Or online at: Wells Fargo Pre-Qualification Form

Would you buy this for $168k?

1115 DAVIS St Redwood City, CA 94061

Price: $399,900

Last sale: Sep 27, 2006 Sold $585,000

It looks like this home first went on sale in 2007 and was listed for a total of five times. Now it is a REO. The price has been cut by at least 100k since its first listing and it is down a bit more than 170k from the last sale price. Good luck moving this one.

131 BELMONT Ave Redwood City, CA 94061

Price: $499,000

Last sale: May 10, 2005 Sold $630,000

This tiny little cottage is still asking for half a million, which makes it over $800 per square foot. I wonder if the owner noticed that it’s NOT in Atherton. The funnier part about this is that it is available for rent for $950 a month. Let’s do some math here. Suppose you put 20% down and finance $400,000 at 5% over 30 years, you’d have to pay about $2150 for mortgage plus another $400 a month for tax. So, why would anyone buy this if they wanted to live here? It might help the seller to remove the fact that it’s for rent because it just emphasizes how ridiculous of a decision it is to buy this home. Additionally, the listing is probably keeping renters away because potential renters would fear that they can be kicked out once the home sells to some sucker.

1825 MIDDLEFIELD Rd Redwood City, CA 94063

Price: $259,900

Last sale:
Sep 11, 2006 $630,000
4/18/2000 $297,500

Yup, this little rancher has rolled back to below its 2000 sale price. What a difference 9 years make. This is currently owned by U.S. Bank and it is definitely the cheapest single family home in Redwood City now based on price per square foot. It looks like it needs some fixing, and it is not in the best neighborhood, but at least it is priced to be affordable to median income families now.

Price: $940,500

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $159,500

This home certainly has an interesting facade.   It’s one of the larger single family homes in this area and it looks pretty well maintained. This was actually financed by a 80% adjustable loan.  Prime adjustable loans actually have pretty low rates right now, so these sellers may not really be in that much trouble.  The price per square foot is low for the area and perhaps it has a good chance of selling quickly.

1234 CLINTON St Unit 201-C Redwood City, CA 94061

Price: $319,000

This is probably the cheapest 2 bedroom condominium in Redwood City right now. It is in a decent neighborhood and the HOA is a fairly low $200 a month. However, this is a fixer upper and a short sale, so it may be even cheaper once it forecloses.

Price: $425,000

Last sale: May 23, 2001 Sold $592,500 – Yup.. it’s down from 2001!!

Loss if sold for asking: $167500 or 28.3%

This property has been on the market for about 9 months now. It is a duplex and the smaller unit actually pulls in $1400 in rent.  This could be a good deal for someone with the downpayment.  Here are the calculations:

Downpayment: 20% = 85,000

Loan: $340,000

Terms: 5.25% fixed  – This is a duplex so you could qualify for primary residence rates if you live in half of it.

Monthly  mortgage: $1877.49

Income: $1400

Taxes: Approximately 1.1% so  it’s about $400 a month.

Insurance: $50 a month or $600 a year as an estimate.

So if you live in half of it and collect the rent, then you would be spending around $1027.49 a month to own this.  Additionally, you can deduct the mortgage interest on the portion you live in.  This could be a good deal provided that the house isn’t super trashed.  It is in the area near Redwood City downtown, and it can be a little sketchy at night I guess, but the neighborhood isn’t horrible.   I’m convinced that there is something else wrong with this place.  It is a short sale, and banks have been notoriously slow in responding to offers, and maybe that’s why it still hasn’t sold.

Interestingly enough, East Palo Alto and Daly City actually made the list for least discounted.  That is probably because most of the listings in these cities are  bank owned and so the starting price tend to be very low.  The report mentioned that East Palo Alto actually had homes sell for above asking, and I’m not really surprised because there are decent single family ranchers selling for under $200,000 now in East Palo Alto.  I’ve been to that city many many times, and some areas are not that scary looking.

So the lesson to sellers here is that they should not overprice their homes.  If they don’t hold on to unrealistic expectations of what their home is worth then they might sell their homes quicker.

This is a bank owned property now selling for $399k. The following is the listing Dale sent in from 2007:

Considering that they bought this house in 2006 for $830k, I guess they were just trying to cover their costs. Unfortunately it ended in an epic fail.

Loss: $431k or 51.9%