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.

800 WEEKS St East Palo Alto, CA 94303

Price: $848,000

Last sale: Apr 02, 2004 Sold $780,000
I have to say that this is a fairly nice looking house for East Palo Alto, but what is truly interesting is the past listing prices. Here it is:
Apr 09, 2009 Price Changed $848,000 — MLSListings #80840024
Feb 03, 2009 Price Changed $388,000 – MLSListings #80840024
Jan 26, 2009 Price Changed $445,000 – MLSListings #80840024
Oct 15, 2008 Listed $495,000 – MLSListings #80840024

Basically, the price on this house was lowered all the way down to $388k at one point, and in April the seller decided to jack the price up $460k. I guess they really believe that the bottom has been reached. In actuality this home is listing for twice the price per squarefoot as other EPA homes. All I can say is good luck.

226 Crocker Ave Daly City, CA 94014

Price: $399,000

Last sale: Bank repo for $454,750
Peak sale: 5/24/2006 for $740,000
Loss if sold for asking: $341,000 from peak price

Remember this horror show of a house? Well, this one isn’t that bad, but the bank must have hired someone who just really couldn’t care less about selling this house to take the pictures.   It looks like it’s been squatted in.  Here are some piles of trash:

Finally the requisite scary backyard:

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.

1532 CAROL Ave Burlingame, CA 94010

Price: $1,339,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $12,000 or 0.9%

The interesting thing about Burlingame is that the listing price per square foot is much higher than the sold price per square foot.  Here is the graph:

So it seems that Burlingame sellers are all still holding their prices high, but the ones that sell are much much cheaper.  If this particular home were at the Burlingame average of $620 per square foot, then it would be  at only $1.07 million.  Perhaps that would be a better starting price?

Price: $494,700

Last sales: Jan 30, 2009 Sold $572,000 ( Foreclosure)
May 22, 2007 Sold $890,000

Loss if sold for asking:  $77300 from foreclosure price, nearly $400k from last sale price.

This home is in a decent neighborhood of San Mateo, but it is fairly nondescript and now has the “appliance-ripped-out” look of foreclosures.  It is currently owned by Aurora Lending Services LLC in Colorado.   It is down $400,000 from its 2007 sale price, but it is doubtful if it’s worth even $494k now.

313 MAGELLAN Dr Pacifica, CA 94044

Price: $530,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $295,000 or 40.7%

It seems that this was originally bought with 2 fixed loans that totaled 100% of $725k, and then the owners refinanced in 2006 into two variable loans totaling $774k.  This means there might have been some cash out.   This is a short sale, and I guess the sellers won’t really lose much since they don’t have to pay back the money they cashed out.   There is an open house from 2 to 4pm on the 28th.

1233 BELLEVUE Ave #1 Burlingame, CA 94010

Price: $818,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $51,000 or 5.9%

This actually looks like a well maintained townhome in a good part of Burlingame.  However, buying this home at the current price would work out to be quite a bit more than just renting in the same area.   Looks like there are no defaults or late payments on this home so it may take a while for the price to be lowered because I don’t think the owners are that desperate.  There are open homes scheduled for three Sundays starting this Sunday.  You can see it on 2/22, 3/1, and 3/8 from 2 to 4 pm.

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.

1344 BERNAL Ave Burlingame, CA 94010

Price: $1,385,000

Last sale: Aug 17, 2006 Sold $1,425,000
Loss if sold for asking: $40000 or 2.8%

I’m not quite sure what the realtor means when he says “Absolutely Done!!!”  He seems very fond of exclamation marks and I hope he does not talk like that in real life.  Anyway, this property has showings for the next 3 Sundays from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  I would wait for the owners to reduce the price on this puppy since it is about $130 or about 20%  more per square foot than the median in Burlingame, and Redfin stated that Burlingame is one of the cities   with the most price reductions.     Chances are the owners of this lovely property will realize that they priced their home too high.