Our Tuesday tour day produced a few shiny pennies this week. In fact, two made our list for Best Deal of the Week.
The first is a short sale on Lyon in Belmont. It’s listed for only $759,000 and to be in the west-side hills location for that price is a good buy. Of course the banks still need to sign off on the offered price but if you can hang around for awhile you may be able to get that home. FYI—most lots on Monroe and Lyon are only 4,000 square feet rather than the usually 5,000.
Here are some details:
Beds, Baths:
4, 2|1
SqFt:
1980 (Assessor)
Lot Size:
4,000 sq ft (Assessor)
Yr Built:
1962 (Assessor)
Age:
49 years
Our next home is a favorite of mine on Eaton in San Carlos. It’s sold before, in fact my old manager used to own it. I love the feeling—it’s like you are in your own private resort with a pool and palm trees. The rear landscaping is great and it backs up to the creek for even more privacy.
Don’t be fooled by the two bedroom listing. This home was a three bedroom with one room being converted to a den.
Beds, Baths:
2, 1|0
SqFt:
1620 (Assessor)
Lot Size:
8,476 sq ft (Assessor)
Yr Built:
1948 (Assessor)
Age:
63 years
Parcel #:
051-294-050
Zone:
R100
Tract:
White Oaks
Don't forget. If you would like to see one of our Best of Tour homes give us a call at (650) 508-1441
Has anyone else noticed the Chevron station at the corner or Ralston Avenue and Alameda has been systematically raising the price of their gas two cents a day for about the last two weeks now?
Not one large in-your-face price adjustment mind you, no this is a well executed plan to fly below the general public’s radar while filling the corporate coffers with what is sure to be record breaking profits.
But we’re not just picking on Chevron. All the stations around Belmont are raising their prices in lockstep, it’s just that this station is near our office and I often sit at red lights and stare in amazement that they’re getting a two-cent raise each day while my income remains flat—at best.
And I thought the media loves these types of stories…
Time to wrap-up Belmont’s single family home sales for March 2011 and this month's graph honors the San Francisco Giants opening season with the famous orange and black.
(Click on the graph for a full-size version)
Comparing March 2010 to March 2011 we see that the number of sales has increased dramatically, up 70% from ten sales in 2011 to 17 in 2011.
MEDIAN HOME PRICE
The median price fell on paper because much smaller homes sold this year. In 2010 the median home price in Belmont was $994,750 and the median size home which sold was 2,345 square feet.
In March of 2011 the median home price dropped 18% from March 2010 but the size homes which sold were 27% smaller.
What this alludes to is prices actually increased, since now you can get a home 27% larger than last year for only 18% more. Put another way, if we look at the difference in the size of homes selling and use the smaller price per square foot which homes sold for ($417 per square foot) from March of 2010 it implies homes actually cost more this year (505 sq. ft. X $417 per square foot = $210,585). Add that to this year’s March median home price of $815,000 and you get an estimated adjusted median home value of $1,025,585 or a 3% increase over last March.
DAYS ON MARKET
The time it took to sell all 17 homes dropped dramatically as well from 76.5 last March to only 25 days in March 2011.
PRICE REDUCTIONS
Five homes in March of this year had to lower their asking price by on average $43,387 to entice a buyer to bid. In March of 2010 that number was four for $47,000 on average less. As a percentage of homes which sold 40% had to lower their expectations in March of 2010 compared to only 30% this year.
MARCH 2011
Of the 17 sales in March of this year nine homes sold on average for $39,439 less than the seller’s asking price in 64 days.
Two homes sold right at the seller’s asking price in on average nine days, and six homes sold for on average of $19,842 over the seller’s asking price in only 12 days.
MARCH 2010
Comparing that to last March when three of the ten homes sold for on average $39,000 less than the asking price in on average 75 days.
Five homes sold for the seller’s list price in 88 days and two homes sold over the seller’s asking price for $244,000 an average of more in 48 days.
So what’s up with that? The home on Bayview in that sold in March of 2010 completely threw off the numbers. It was a bank owned property that was grossly underpriced and had multiple offers.
Pricing your home as close as possible to its value is still the best strategy to get you the most money for your home, but as you can see in this case, with the abundant access buyers have to information these days, even a home which has been priced well lower than its true value will simply be bid back up to market value—and many times more; while over pricing your home will simply lead to price reduction after price reduction and quickly fall off the radar of many buyers.
Wikipedia defines it as: "A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed."
You'll need an app for your phone to decode this which varied depending on your operating system. My Blackberry Storm uses ScanLife with good results but other blackberry devices may use code cruncher–just Google them and you'll find one that works. Then simply snap a picture of this QR code with your phone's camera (with the app open) and it runs out to the internet and delivers…well, in this case your FREE Friday photo.
We use these codes on our web site and flyers to deliver information to people's phones rather than wasting print advertising paper resources. You’ll also see them on our sign post at a listed home in case the flyers run out or someone has the ability to be eco-friendly and download rather than take a printed flyer.
Our Mystery FREE Friday Photo can be downloaded here by scanning this QR code–try it; we think you'll like the new technology.
OK it will be all over the news but here’s the local Belmont scoop. Just as a back-up to our weather station which uploads to the internet, I have this visual aid in our backyard because I guess I am a geek for starters (I also have triple redundancy for my hard drives now), but it did help when the circuit board stopped measuring rain earlier this year.
The first picture is one I took when I left for work and the second is when I came home at lunchtime.
(You can click on any image to see a larger picture.)
Our weather station reported the following (see below). Notice the rain rate at 2†per hour at 11:52 and 36 MPH winds at 8:06 AM. It was raining cats and dogs.
Now we are up to 18.82 inches for the year (July-June), 3.82 for the month and 3.15 just since this storm event!
The weather at work was amazing too as you see this poor pedestrian trying to maneuver around a small pond on Ralston Avenue whilst the cars pay scant attention to him.
We’re excited to announce three “Best of Tour†homes from our Broker’s tour on Tuesday.
These homes represent homes we think offer a good value and should get snapped up quickly.
BELMONT
There were two in Belmont we thought we’re an excellent value. The first one was at 3484 Lodge but since it already has three offers since Sunday’s open house we may as well skip that one. It was listed at $799,000 which is an ex excellent value for the West side.
The second Belmont home at 2223 Thurm listed by Better Homes and Gardens M. Smith. It’s located right on the border of San Mateo on a pastoral 13,000 square foot lot. The four bedroom three and one-half bath home is nicely appointed and at 2,714 square feet it’s a very good value too.
SAN CARLOS
We liked 132 Arundel. Looks like a nice move-in condition home with three bedrooms, two baths with 1, 390 square feet of living space on a nice sized 8,500 square foot lot. Listed by RE/MAX D. Roberts
1362 Geneva in the White Oaks is a three bedroom three bath home of 1,860 square feet on a tad bit small 4,040 square foot lot but this home looks great and should fly off the shelf. Listed by Coldwell Banker R. Jabeen
As always, if you want us to look specifically for the best of tour home for you drop us an email or connect with us and let us know what you’re looking for. We’ll be your eyes and ears on the peninsula.
Today the Belmont Police department held true to a promise to hold a decoy pedestrian sting operation along several locations on Ralston Ave. and El Camino Real in Belmont.
The message was clear; beware of pedestrians in the crosswalk. Unfortunately it also netted one accident. Sergeant Brake mentioned in the official Belmont Police press release that the decoy had yet to step off of the curb and into the crosswalk when a truck that stopped suddenly to yield to the pedestrian and was hit from behind. However, a witness spoke to us stated the decoy had in fact actuated the crossing light and stepped into the crosswalk causing the driver to react quickly and the driver following too closely behind to not react quickly enough.
To hand out this many citations is amazing in the short span of time the decoy operation was in progress. It just goes to show how important this operation was to elevate public awareness.
As for the unfortunate accident that occurred, it could have happened any day with or without decoys.
In all, officers made 93 enforcement stops and issued 77 citations for pedestrian right of way violations. There was one traffic collision during the operation, at Ralston Ave & Villa Ave, when a driver, who had stopped for a pedestrian, who had not yet stepped off the curb, was rear ended by another vehicle. “That driver was following too closely and told officers he assumed that the vehicle in front of him would keep going” said Sergeant Brake’. “The driver who stopped did the right thing”, “This shows how important it is for drivers to be alert and maintain a safe stopping distance”, Sergeant Brake’ added.
Since 2007, the City of Belmont has averaged three (3) auto-pedestrian collisions per year, all of which resulted in minor to moderate injuries. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), pedestrians represent 18% of all traffic related fatalities and almost 5% of all traffic related injuries. In 2008 almost 650 pedestrians were killed in California and over 13,000 were injured, according to OTS.
A TORNADO WARNING WAS HOISTED FOR SAN MATEO COUNTY FOR A BREIF TIME. SEE BRIEFING BELOW. THE WARNING IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT
AT 1111 AM PDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TOINDICATE A TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR BELMONT…MOVINGNORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO FOSTER CITY AND REDWOOD CITY
The have been no official sightings of a funnel clouds or tornadoes according to the NWS. There have been many lightening strikes along the Peninsula as well as heavy downpours.
The weather pattern continued to have the potential to become dangerous throughout Friday afternoon. The warning was issued at 11:02 a.m. with winds moving northeast at 40 mph, according to the NWS.
As of 11:32 a.m. it is traveling east from Oakland and expected to cross the East Bay city of Alamo by 12:03 p.m. and a minute later in San Ramon. By 12:31 p.m. it is suppose to cross Antioch.
The warning expired by 11:40 a.m. but the strong weather pattern held over, according to Steve Anderson of the National Weather Service.
"The activity is slowly moving to the South," he said. "It is moving to the South Bay and San Jose within the next hour."
Anderson said the National Weather Service rarely issues tornado warnings for the Bay Area but when they are issued, residents should seek shelter and stay indoors.
The Belmont Police Department, in cooperation with, Millbrae, Burlingame, Foster City, San Mateo Police Departments, the San Mateo County Sheriff's San Carlos Police Bureau & the California Highway Patrol will be conducting a joint Pedestrian Decoy Operation on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 in the City of Belmont. The Belmont operation will be conducted between 8:30 AM and 2:00 PM at several intersections in Belmont.
[official story continued below]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: I poke fun at this piece but I literally sit near the crosswalk in front of our RE/MAX office next door to Vivace with our admin assistant and I watch day dreaming drivers nearly slaughter 30 pedestrians a day (her estimate not mine—she has a slightly better view).
And the pedestrians don’t help the matter. They wait until a car is barreling down upon them and set out in front of the oncoming car as if the crosswalk afforded them some sort of "force-field" protection from a ton of metal on four wheels at 30 mph with an oblivious operator at the helm–or not.
Many pedestrians approach this with an argument “Hey, it’s the law, the cars must stop when I’m in the crosswalk so I’ll just set right out and cross whenever I want toâ€, as if to tempt or defy Darwin’s evolution theory of survival of the fittest; and they don’t look first either. How else could a pedestrian get hit by a car except for stepping out when they probably shouldn’t while not paying attention?
PEDESTRIANS–Wait for the light at Alameda to turn red and all the cars will start slowing down anyway, and then hit the flashing light and cross the street once you are SURE the cars will stop. Unless it’s pouring rain, it’s the courteous thing to do and what you’d like a pedestrian to do when you are out of your shoes and into theirs—pedal to the metal.
DRIVERS–Now it’s not the fault of the cars it’s the drivers who are usually not paying attention. Focused with the tunnel vision seen only under the most stressful of situations they are glued to the mesmerizingly colorful traffic signal at the intersection of Alameda as if willing it to stay green will work—if they just stare at it hard enough. This is done all the while making dinner plans on their cell phones of course. They invariably miss the flashing crosswalk lights and fortunately the miss the pedestrians too—if only by a few inches.
Now much of this could be resolved if the city simply moved the crosswalk to the next block east near the video store and handed out "how to cross the street" pamphlets. You see the corner of our RE/MAX building harbors a blind spot to on coming west bound suburbanites and affords a perfect location for daring or unwitting pedestrians to hide before making their startling presence in the crosswalk just milliseconds after actuating the warning lights—sometimes performed with the adeptness of a track and field star. But don’t they use a closed course?
Police personnel in plain clothes will be used to cross the roadways in marked crosswalks, while motorcycle officers will watch for pedestrian right of way violations. Motorists failing to yield the right of way to the pedestrian will be stopped and may be issued a citation under section 21950 of the California Vehicle Code.
The departments will carry out enforcement of pedestrian right of way violations on a continuous basis and will continue to work together on future pedestrian decoy events in their respective cities.
It’s close to Saint Patrick’s Day and corned beef is all the rage—at least in America. Those of you who think boiled meat sounds tepid might consider our twist on this celebratory staple.
Nothing beats a good barbecued brisket and a corned brisket can be just as delicious. But boiling the brisket extracts the same flavor out of the meat as boiled ribs. Sure boiled ribs are tender, but they’re only as good as the BBQ sauce you apply.
Narsai David had a recipe like this years ago and it’s pretty straight forward so we’ll give you our version.
But first, Alton Brown from the Food Network offers a great recipe for brining your own brisket. We include this link more so you know what goes in a good brine. His recipe takes ten days advance prep and we’re already too close to Saint Patrick’s Day to try that. We recommend you simply buy an already corned brisket from your favorite butcher; And try to get the pickling packet along with it or get one from the spice department.
Like pork shoulder or ribs, brisket requires low and slow cooking to break down the connective tissues. You’ll typically find brisket sold as a flat cut or a point cut. We prefer a whole brisket for BBQ but for today’s recipe, the point or deckle end of the brisket is preferred. While the flat or thin part is leaner, less fat means that it will not be as moist or as tender (or flavorful). Let your conscious decide which cut is right for you.
Preheat the oven to 250.
Trim some of the excess fat from the top of the brisket leaving at least a half inch of fat.
Now slather the brisket with salt and pepper and a generous amount of Coleman’s prepared mustard.
In a roasting pan, add the brisket fat side up and cover with foil.
Bake it for about four hours and remove from the oven. How long you need to cook it for will depend on how big your brisket, or cut of brisket is.
Sprinkle a generous portion of brown sugar over the top of the brisket and add the carrots and onions around the side of the pan. Cover with foil again and return to the oven for two more hours. Depending on the size of your brisket, it could take anywhere from a mere 4 hours to 6 hours to get to an internal temperature of at least 145°—165° is preferable. In fact with brisket, you could go up to 190° with a whole brisket and it would still be fine.
The way you know when a brisket is done is by the feel. Since most people probably don’t know what that feel should be, you can simple whack off a small piece and test for tenderness by chomping down a few bites (it’s great to be the cook). Remember though that the outer pieces will be more done than the center so take your temperature reading in the thickest part.
The only trick with brisket (if you could even call it that) is to not let it get so done that it’s dry or stringy, but done enough that it’s not tough.
Once the brisket is done you’ll want to let it stand and rest covered with foil for at least ½ hour—again depending on the size. If you try and cut it right away, not only will you lose precious juices, if you cooked it right it might fall apart—and use a very sharp carving knife.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot on the stove you can add enough water to cover your new potatoes along with pickling spice and a bottle dark beer like Guinness—saving just enough to whet your palate. Bring the brine to just under boiling until the potatoes are near done, add the quartered cabbage and cook for ten more minutes or so.
Slicing the Meat
Think of the brisket like the trunk of a tree. The grain runs in one direction and you want to cut across it, not with it. When you serve you’ll have some nice caramelized carrots and onions along with the cabbage and some brined boiled potatoes and cabbage. The leftover corned beef makes excellent sandwiches but scrape off the brown sugar if you are making hash out of it. Now for the best part–you have five bottles of Guinness left over for a meal with your friends.
