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.

12 ATHLONE Ct Menlo Park, CA 94025

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.

1022 S DELAWARE St San Mateo, CA 94402

Price: $469,950

Last sale: Apr 28, 2005 Sold $655,000
Loss if sold for asking: $185050 or 28%

Loss of equity per month:  $3701

It looks like the realtor tried to spruce up the photo a little bit and the tree looks like its an unnatural green color.   Supposedly this is not a short sale or REO, but  it has been listed 3 times now since April 2008.  Here is the listing history:

Jun 28, 2009       Listed        $469,950       –       EBRD #40417039
Jun 28, 2009     Listed     $469,950     —     MLSListings #80931255
Jan 07, 2009     Delisted     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
Sep 15, 2008     Price Changed     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
Jul 16, 2008     Relisted     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
Jul 15, 2008     Delisted     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
May 14, 2008     Price Changed     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
May 07, 2008     Price Changed     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
Apr 23, 2008     Price Changed     *     —     Inactive MLSListings #1
Apr 14, 2008     Listed

It is definitely overpriced for the neighborhood it is in,and it is one tiny house.

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.

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.

4238 GEORGE Ave #00001 San Mateo, CA 94403

Price: $365,000

I first put this one up over a year ago.  Looks like the price has been cut another $75,000 since then.  This is still a short sale which means that the troubled sellers are still holding onto the property.  Hopefully it will sell soon?

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.

1519 DAY Ave #D San Mateo, CA 94403

Price: $325,000

Last sales:

Loss if sold for asking: $115,000

This is a short sale in San Mateo.  My husband used to rent a very similar looking one bedroom apartment in Belmont for $1200 a month.  So I think this condo is still too expensive with a price to rent ratio of 22.5 and an HOA of $337.

3904 HACIENDA St San Mateo, CA 94403

Price: $925,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $165,000 or 15.1%

This home is in a fairly nice area of San Mateo.  It is a short sale at about the median price per square foot.  The lot is also a fairly good size.