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.

500 LIVE OAK Way #503 Belmont, CA 94002

Price: $731,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $258,000 or 26.1%

My husband actually lived right next to this condominium complex when it was being constructed.  He was renting one of the several hundred apartments surrounding this complex.   When the homes were finally constructed they were all listed for around $1 million while the apartment buildings surrounding it were renting for less than $1500.   I actually went to one of the open houses there and  yes, of course these condominiums are nicer than the apartments, but for the most part they fit right into the neighborhood full of 2 to 3 story apartment buildings.  It’s not a bad neighborhood, but if you have this kind of money it is probably better to just buy a single family home and avoid the $300+ HOA.

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.

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.

205 Peoria St Daly City, CA 94014

Price: $280,000

Last sales:
Nov 18, 2008 Sold $410,000 -12.4%/yr Public Records
Oct 27, 2005 Sold $615,000 33.4%/yr Public Records
Jul 30, 2004 Sold $430,000 16.1%/yr Public Records
Dec 03, 2001 Sold $289,000 6.5%/yr Public Records

Here is another home that’s cheaper than 2001 and more than 50% off its peak.   It looks like quite a fixer, and it is still priced above the median price per square foot of Daly City.  This is probably not a surprise but it was also financed 100% by loans  in 2005.

665 FOOTHILL Dr Pacifica, CA 94044

Price: $468,000

Last sales:

Loss if sold for asking:  $247,000 or 34.5%
This home is now $23,000 above its 2001 price.   It was funded by a $143,000 fixed mortgage and a $572,000 adjustable mortgage in its 2005 sale.  Yup, that’s another 100% financed home and now it is a short sale.  There is an open house on 4/5/2009 from 1 to 4pm.

Price: $965,000

Last sale: Nov 10, 2005 Sold $1,200,000
Loss if sold for asking: $235,000 or 19.6%
This former 1.2 million dollar property was first listed 4/2/2008. Then it went off market twice and just got relisted again. This was financed in 2005 by Countrywide with 2 adjustable loans.  One was $900,000 and the second was $180,000.  This means that the buyers actually put down 10% or $120,000.  That’s pretty amazing.  Sadly it is now a shortsale.  It is a bit close to the 92, but otherwise seems well maintained.

2106 CORONET Blvd Belmont, CA 94002

Price: $774,500

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $25,500 or 3.2%

This is a decent sized Belmont home with a pool. The sellers took out two loans that covered 100% of 800,000 from the now dead Greenpoint Mortgage.  This means the mortgage alone would have been $4000 to $5000 a month on this puppy.  This would be double the price of renting a home like this.  Anyway,  there is an open house this weekend from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

90 CARLETON Ave Daly City, CA 94015

Price: $437,000

Last sale: Nov 16, 2005 Sold $718,000
Loss if sold for asking: $281,000 or 39.1%

This is a REO listing, but the tax records still say its owner is at 192 Ashland Dr.  It seems like the last buyer took two loans from Ameribanc Corp to buy this possibly second home or investment property.  80% was an ARM and 20% was fixed so it was basically  a 100% loan.   AmeriBanc unceremoniously died last year so I’m not sure who owns this property right now.  Anyway,from the pictures it looks like the inside of this property is still intact.