2581 ANNAPOLIS St East Palo Alto, CA 94303

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:

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:

Notice that now it is an adjustable loan. A year and a half later there was another cash out  refi in June 2004:

So basically he took another $30k out, but wait, it’s not over! Another 16 months later, he did another HUGE cash out refinance:

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”.

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.

1040 Patricia SAN MATEO, CA 94401

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.