The Streets Around Us-Sharon Road

EXCERPTED FROM OUR MORGAN REPORT NEWSLETTER:

In our last newsletter issue we mentioned how some of Belmont’s streets got their names and we were coxed to include some more in this edition. We also included a teaser about Belmont’s first and only golf course so we’ll dispense with that first. Unfortunately for golf fans, the course is not some well kept secret—in fact it has been gone for years.

Around 1925 the team of Lyon, Monroe and Miller had a grand scheme to create an 18 hole golf course adjacent a tony club house complete with swimming yank, tennis and handball courts and a children;s wading pool that would be the envy of the Peninsula.

The clubhouse would be called Belle Monte, and cost $65,000 to complete. An innovative tactic was employed to attract would-be buyers and included free bus rides from San Francisco where prospective buyers were plied with beer and induced to buy a lot. Membership for the club cost $100 but was included with every home sale on the very streets that bore their names.

Around 1929 the Belle Monti project fell on financial hard times and an attempt to salvage the operation was launched by opening the club to the public. But in 1929 the stock market crash forced members to either drop out or move away and the corporation went bankrupt. The “Hillcrest” golf course was eventually subdivided into lots for the WWII returning veterans and today we find only remnants of a bye-gone era with street names such as Fairway and a few stately homes (now on Belmont’s historic registry) which lay on what was once the perimeter of the golf course.

On the topic of streets, did you know Senator William Sharon was a U.S. Senator from Nevada, who has a small street, Sharon Road, named after himself in Belmont? Find out why Belmont had a lake named after him too in our next issue or visit our web site at local Belmont blog at BeautifulMountinBlog.org and find out what happened to the old club house before it became what is now the Congregational Church of Belmont.

Drew and Christine Morgan are experienced REALTORS and NOTARY PUBLIC located in Belmont, CA where the own an operate MORGANHOMES, Inc.. They have been assisting buyers and sellers in their community for over 30 years. Drew and Christine have received the coveted Diamond award and ranked among the top 50 agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California by RE/MAX. To contact them, please call (650) 508.1441 or email info@morganhomes.com.

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This article provides educational information and is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered real estate, tax, insurance, or legal advice, and it cannot replace advice tailored to your specific situation. It’s always best to seek guidance from a professional who is familiar with your scenario.

BROKER | MANAGER | NOTARY

Making Your Home “Market Ready” For Sale

You’ve no doubt heard the term “staging” a home but there’s a lot more to getting your home ready for sale than just bringing in plants and re-arranging furniture.

The terms “staging” typically implies a professional designer has been retained to make a house look like a model home, yet there’s a lot more that goes in to staging a home. Often times, a home will need a complete facelift, as is often the case with trustee sales. Vacant homes always show better professionally staged, and even homes with modern amenities can use some detailing.

We break down staging into two categories. 1) Vacant homes for whole house staging and 2) Occupied homes for staging augmentation. Professional designers are akin to artists and often prefer a vacant home to an occupied one since they are beginning with a blank canvas, or palate if you will.

But getting a home ready for the final touches of furniture, plants and pictures often requires weeks of renovation. We coordinate with our design consultant to first identify our market segment–the buyer who will likely purchase the home. Then we take instructions as to what color scheme to employ and begin the process of renovation or upgrades. Some of the typical enhancements include:

·         Fresh Paint

·         Refinished hardwood flooring

·         New carpeting

·         New bathroom or kitchen tile, granite or other contemporary materials

·         Kitchen cabinet re-facing or replacement

·         Bathroom fixture replacement

·         Hall and entry lighting enhancement

·         Landscaping and fresh lawns

There’s no need to be anxious about the renovation process. As your “project manager”, we coordinate all enhancements with our professional team of property enhancement experts; from tile people to painters, handyman, hardwood floor experts and carpet installers.

The video you are about to see highlights several homes we’ve staged for sale and shows before and after images. If ever the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” rings true it’s in this short video, enjoy.

 

Belmont Housing Review–August 2008

August, 2008

The data for the summer months suggests Belmont’s housing sector may be near or at the bottom for any market corrections though the picture outside the mid-peninsula remains uncertain. Belmont is a micro-market and we take this position not because all of the data points to positive market indicators, but rather the data points are all in flux. Arrow_ride_2

Taken as a whole, the sumer wasn’t bad to Belmont sellers at all. But like we’ve said before, it’s extremely hard to telll how bad a storm will be when you are in the middle of one; but all storms do pass and we’re getting a glimpse of daylight in our numbers. Whichever is the case– whether we are near the bottom or passed it–we’re all along for the ride, for better or for worse.

Instability in these critical numbers such as the amount a seller receives of their asking price, the median price compared to the size homes actually sold month-over-month is indicative of a market in change. In other words there is no real direction in which all the numbers point—whether it’s a buyer or seller’s market.

Belmont_aug_2008 ←Click on the spreadsheet for a larger size.

↓The number of sales in August fell to only 17 after posting a year high of 25 in July (there were 22 last year at this time). Though sales were down 32%, there were also 22% fewer homes to sell.

↑The median price however rose to $947,000 from $890,000 in July. In August last year the median price was $988,500. See our post on the median price correlation and the size of homes selling to put these wild fluctuations in perspective.

↓The time it took to sell a home went from 14 days in July to 41 in August. That’s a strong indicator that the slow summer months liquidated some old inventory; remember most of July’s sales were consummated in May and June.

↓The amount the seller received of their asking price dropped a whopping 7% from 98.37% in July to 91% in August and dropped 11% over last year when it stood at 102%. This statistic is understandable when homes are selling in 41 days instead of 14 as they did last month. Homes which are overpriced and languish on the market tend to sell way under what they should, but we’ll save that for our next post. Still, you can’t help but compare this to last year’s performance and give it a big red arrow.

This fall we expect sales will pick up a bit from August but still remain under last year’s numbers. This winter could be relatively quiet but we expect next spring to determine the fate of the local market into 2009.

Data extracted from the Multiple Listing Serice for San Mateo County.

The information contained in this postis educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

Podcast-Making Your Home Market Ready for Sale

PODCAST SERIES-VIDEO

You’ve no doubt heard the term “staging” a home but there’s a lot more to getting your home ready for sale than just bringing in plants and re-arranging furniture. Rssjpg_2

The terms “staging” typically implies a professional designer has been retained to make a house look like a model home, yet there’s a lot more that goes in to “staging” your home for sale. Often times, a home will need a complete facelift as is often the case with trustee sales. Vacant homes always show better professionally staged, and even homes with modern amenities can use some detailing.

We break down staging into two categories. 1) Vacant homes for whole house staging and 2) Occupied homes for staging augmentation. Professional designers are akin to artists and often prefer a vacant home to an occupied one since they are beginning with a blank canvas or palate if you will.

But getting a home ready for the final touches of furniture, plants and pictures often requires weeks of renovation. We coordinate with our design consultant to first identify our market segment—the buyer who will likely purchase the home. Then we take instructions as to what color scheme to employ and begin the process of renovation. Some of the typical enhancements include:

·         Fresh Paint

·         Refinished hardwood flooring

·         New carpeting

·         New bathroom or kitchen tile, granite or other contemporary materials

·         Kitchen cabinet re-facing or replacement

·         Bathroom fixture replacement

·         Hall and entry lighting enhancement

·         Landscaping and fresh lawns

There’s no need to be anxious about the process of these renovation. We coordinate all enhancements with our professional team of property enhancement experts from tile people to painters, handyman, hardwood floor experts and carpet installers.

The video Podcast you are about to see highlights several homes we’ve staged for sale and shows before and after slides. If ever the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” rings true it’s in this video—enjoy.

                              

Download market_ready.m4v

You’ve no doubt heard the term “staging” a home but there’s a lot more to getting your home ready for sale than just bringing in plants and re-arranging furniture. Podcast

Listen your our Video Podcast to see and hear more…

Download market_ready.m4v

When Not to sell Your Home

PODCAST SERIES

Podcast_mic

Real estate markets are cyclical and can last ten years as we’ve recently seen, but even within a cycle there are better times during each year in which to sell.

The short answer is the worst time is in the winter, with the best times being in the spring and fall but here’s why. Psychologically, it appears buyers are more motivated to get a home early on in the year. Writing a huge check to Uncle Sam in April could be one incentive, and fulfilling one’s New Year’s resolutions could be another—both are frequently mentioned. Whatever the reason more buyers come out in the spring and tend to pay more for a home (as a percent of asking) than any other time.

The year’s spring market started off rather unremarkable due to the uncertainty of real estate as a holding while many buyers took (and continue to take) a wait and see attitude.

This graph illustrates the favorable fall selling conditions with the seller receiving a high percentage of their asking price. Notice that in October the amount a seller receives typically bounces back up? We call this phenomenon the “fall bounce” as October sales are consummated in September/October.

That could make this fall a prime time to sell in this year’s cycle. Fall is typically another window of opportunity to sell and obtain the most money for your home and this one appears to be shaping up quite nicely. The market has been rebounding steadily since the beginning of the year, and appears it may crescendo this fall, at least for the year.

We wrote a series on our blog at BeautifulMountainBlog.org about when’s the best time to sell where we analyze the important market indicators to determine favorable selling conditions. Some of which are::

·         The month’s supply of homes for sale

·         The amount a seller received of asking

·         The days it takes to sell a home, or DOM

If you are considering moving this fall we’d be glad to answer any questions you may have about the process.

Download when_not_to_sell_a_home.mp3

Tuesday’s Tour-9/2/2008

Driving Tuesday’s are tour days of agents. We get a chance to see all of the new listings in one fell swoop. Some of these homes have been open the previous Sunday and you may have already seen them. If you haven’t, here’s my update on the Belmont Homes that were in my Weekly Update last week but toured today, September 2nd 2008:

2422 Hastings 3 Bed/ 2.5 Bath 2,250 Sq Ft Attached Home LISTED for $1,038,000. These are attached homes in the Belmont Hills. You tend to get a lot of home for your money but not much land. This home needs some updating. On the plus side it’s an end unit home so you only have neighbors on one side. Nice canyon views from the rear of the home.

1909 Lyon 3 Bed 2.5 Bath 1,600 Sq. Ft. home LISTED for $912,000. This is a nice home with a lower extra room. It’s in move-in looking condition and on a nice quiet portion of Lyon.

2014 Lyon 2 Bed/2 Bath 1,761 Sq Ft Home. I’m skeptical about this home’s reported square footage but nevertheless it’s an excellent deal for a west side Belmont hills location and wins our Best Belmont Deal of the week at only $779,000.

512 Alameda de Las Pulgas 2 Beds/ 1 Bath 1,230 Sq Ft home. Don’t let the busy address fool you. This home sits back on a quiet driveway off of the Alameda. LISTED for $804,000.

Bring your contractor to this home. It’s on a busy street as you know but it does sit way back. I like the older Spanish style architecture it has but that also translates into some much needed work to be done.

Belmont’s Best Deal of the Week—September 2nd 2008.

Belmont’s Best Deal of the Week—September 2nd 2008.

This home just popped out at us as being one of the best deals we’ve seen in awhile. I’m a little skeptical about the reported square footage but it’s still a good deal. Once in the home the upper level flows out to the rear yard and it’s all level–a real plus in the hills. There’s what is being called a permitted room and bath down in the garage making it a three bedroom if it’s really permitted. Anytime a room opens into a garage it’s not supposed to be a legal room (Uniform Building Code citing). It may have been permitted at one time, making it a legal non-conforming room. Oh and it had nice views too!
2014 LYON AV, Belmont 94002 (Belmont)
$779,900 Beds: 2 bed(s) Baths: 2 bath(s)
DOM: 6  CDOM: 6   MLS: 80830339 
Property Overview
2014 LYON AV
Belmont (Belmont) 94002
Detached Single Family (Class 1)
Bed/Bath: 2 / 2
SqFt: 1,761
Lot: 4,000 sq ft
Yr Built / Age: 1951 / 57 years
Assoc Fee:
List Price: $779,900
Sale Price:
Sale Date:
COE Date:
Remarks
This spacious approx 1761 sq. ft. Belmont Country Club light and bright home with den has views of the hills,beautiful hardwood floors,wood burning fireplace and a open floor plan flowing out to the patio and deck. This home is perfect for entertaining. Formal entry, dining room, eat-in kitchen,freshly painted interior and exterior and 2-car garage.Close to shopping and easy access to 280 & 101.
Schools/Districts
Elem: – –/ Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary
Middle: – –
High: – –/ Sequoia Union High
Property Features
Familyroom
No Family Room

Informal Dining Area
Eat in Kitchen

Other Rooms
Den or Study

Bedroom Descriptions
    – –

Shower And Tub
1 Shower over Tub

Shower
1 Stall Shower

Other Areas
Formal Entry
Laundry Area – Garage

 Amenities
220 Volts in Kitchen
220 Volts in Laundry Area
Cable TV Available
Gas Water Heater

Fireplace Location
Fireplace in Living Room

Floor Covering(S)
Linoleum or Vinyl
Partial Hardwood
Tile
Wall to Wall Carpeting

Energy Features
Insulated Hot Water Heater

 Listing Includes
1 Dishwasher
1 Refrigerator
Dryer
Free Standing Range/Oven
Washer

Garage/Parking
2 Car Garage
Attached
Off Street Parking

Lot Description
Lot Sloped Up from Street

View
Neighborhood View
Valley View

 Yards/Grounds
Deck
Fenced Yard
Patio or Deck Covered

Has Pool
No Pool

Pool Description
    – –

Pool Options
    – –

Style
Traditional

Horse Property
No

Horse Property Description
    – –
Listed By Valerie Dakin, Alain Pinel Realtors
Presented by Christine Morgan, Carlmont Associates, 650-508-1441, cmorgan@morganhomes.com
** Information contained on this report is designed for accuracy but is not guaranteed **

Belmont Housing Activity–Week Ending August 30th 2008

Belmont had a relatively busy week with 6 new listings, 4 homes went pending and 7 that closed escrow. That brings Belmont inventory of homes for sale to 47, up just slightly from last week.

Be sure and check back in around Thursday as the month’s totals will be in for an interesting perspective on the summer market and the overall recovery of the housing sector.

NEW LISTINGS

Davey 523 Davey Glen Rd 4 Bed/3 Bath 2,114 Sq Ft Home LISTED for $1,165,000

2422 Hastings 3 Bed/ 2.5 Bath 2,250 Sq Ft Attached Home LISTED for $1,038,000. This home is slated for tour on Sept 2nd and won’t even be open until September 9th from 2:00-4:30

19009_lyon 1909 Lyon 3 Bed 2.5 Bath 1,600 Sq. Ft. home LISTED for $912,000 OPEN HOUSE 8/31 1:00-4:00. Again. It won’t be toured with agents until Sept. 2nd.

2014_lyon 2014 Lyon 2 Bed/2 Bath 1,761 Sq Ft Home First agent tour Sept. 2nd OPEN SUNDAY 8/31 from 1:30-4:30

14 Arroyo View Circle 2.151 Sq Ft ATTACHED home Associaiton fees are $330/month. This is a nice complex though the fees are a tad bit high. OPEN SUNDAY 8/31 1:00-4:00

512 Alameda de Las Pulgas 2 Beds/ 1 Bath 1,230 Sq Ft home. Don’t let the busy address fool you. This home sits back on a quiet private drive off of the Alameda. LISTED for $804,000. No open house mentioned.

As you can see most of these are slated for agent tour on Tuesday, September 2nd so we haven’t even seen many of them yet. If you want early access or like any of these homes give us a call and we’ll help you out on any of these.

Homes that Closed Escrow (SOLD)

↓2 Lyndhurst Court 4 Bed 2/Bath 2,030 Sq Ft home LISTED for $ 1,125,000 SOLD for $1,100,000 in 166 Days.  This is a bit misleading in that this home was originally listed at $1,300,000. Once it finally was lowered to $1,125,000 it sold in two weeks.

Carlmont2 ↑2604 Carlmont Drive 3 Bed 2.5 Baths 2.070 Sq Ft home LISTED for $ 999,995 SOLD for $1,010,000 in 110 days. Here’s another one—how does a home that is on the market for 110 days gets over the asking price? Because it was lowered from $1,118,000 to $995,000; the market determined it was worth slightly higher than the price adjustment and was bid back up to $ 1,010,000. It really sold in four days after it was lowered.

↔2622 Monte Cresta Drive 4 Bed/3 Bath 2,190 Sq Ft Home LISTED for $ 999,000 SOLD for $ 999,000 in 66 days.

↓2015 Arbor Ave. 2 bed/ 1 bath 960 sq ft home LISTED for $749,000 SOLD for $740,000 in 30 days.

This home gives one a good idea what starter homes in the Belmont Hills go for.

↑2818 San Ardo 3 Bed/2 Bath 1,420 Sq Ft. Home LISTED for $ 725,000 SOLD for $751,000 in 4 days.

This was our Best Deal pick when it hit the market and sure enough it sold over the asking price.

↑2736 Monserat 3 Bed 2/Bath 1,190 Sq Ft Home LISTED for $701,910 SOLD for $726,000 in 89 days

Once again a home sits on the market for 89 days and sell over asking? It started at $799,000 and was lowered to $710,910 where it received an offer in two days and closed higher for $726,000.

↓14 Meadow Park Circle 2 Bed/2 Bath 1.270 Sq. Ft. Townhomes LISTED for $699,000 SOLD for $640,000 in 37 days

First Time Homebuyer Credit Set to Expire

Well the housing reform bills’ $7,500 credit for first time home buyers is going to be a let-down for most Bay Area buyers. Here’s the real kicker—it phases out for individuals whose income is needed to purchase the median price home on the Peninsula.

Also, contrary to any hope of getting a credit at the close of escrow, this is merely taken as a deduction on you tax filing so leveraging it to buy down points at the close of escrow and lower your interest rate is a no go.

Still, it will help take the sting out of the first year of property taxes for people who are able to qualify for this interest free loan.

We received an update from our accountant, who gave us the following information:

First-Time Homebuyer Credit 

·         A first-time homebuyer is allowed a refundable credit up to 10% of the purchase price of a home, not to exceed $7,500 per family. A first-time homebuyer is a homebuyer (including the spouse) who has not held an interest in a residence during the past 3 years.

·         The credit applies for home purchases after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009. You can treat a residence purchased after December, 2008 as purchased on December 31, 2008 so that you can claim the credit on your 2008 return. The credit phases out for individuals with modified adjusted gross incomes between $75,000 and $95,000 ($150,000 – $170,000 for joint filers) in the year of purchase.

·         The credit amounts to an interest free loan. The credit is paid back at $500 per year beginning in the second year after the taxable year in which the home is purchased. For example, if you purchase a home in 2008, the credit is allowed on the 2008 tax return, and the repayments begin with the 2010 return. If you sell the home or stop using it as your principal residence, any unpaid credit is due on the tax return for the year of the sale or when the property stops being used as your principal residence.

·         You cannot claim the credit if your financing is from tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds, if you are a nonresident alien, if you dispose of the residence before the close of the taxable year in which you purchased the home, or if you are eligible for the District of Columbia first-time home buyer credit.”

By the way, if you need a good accountant his name is Frederick Thompson and he’s in San Mateo. We’ve used him for the last several years and he’s very informative and helpful.

 

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

Belmont Housing Activity-Week ending August 23, 2008

Belmont’s housing inventory once again is right at 44 single family homes for sale. A stable inventory is a key element to holding prices stable. We’re only a week away from the month’s end report and we’ll look at the absorption rate—the rate at which homes are selling compared to new listings—the days it takes to sell a home, and what percentage the seller is receiving of their asking price. These are three important indicators in predicating the direction of a market.

Belmont’s week in review:

NEW LISTINGS:

Belmont had four new listings this week.

Forest 2002 Forest 3 bed 2 bath 1,243 Sq Ft for $898,000. There’s an interesting back story on this home. It sold in June of 2007 in multiple offers for $945,000 and now it’s back on the market at $898,000. That’s a good indication of how the exuberance of the market forced buyers to pay top dollar. As for the home, it’s very cute (as in small). It’s tastefully remodeled but the garage has been converted (the seller says legally) to an office—so there’s no garage. How in the heck the seller ever got the city to permit the conversion of a garage in the Belmont hills is beyond me. In an effort to quash parking issues on narrow streets, the city now makes you ADD a garage space if you plan on a significant remodel.

Forest is up in the hills on the border of San Mateo and it has a great country feel, though at 4,000 the lots are small.

3215 Upper Lock 3 Bed 2 baths 1,500 sq. ft. for $849,988

Once again this home didn’t make the Tuesday tour so we haven’t seen it but we’re familiar with the homes on that street. These usually have a shared driveway and this home appears to be in rather original condition. OPEN SUNDAY 8/24 1:00-4:00

2947 San Juan 3 Bed 1 Bath 1,010 sq. ft. for $775,000

Anytime you can get a home in the Belmont hills for under $800,000 you’re probably getting a good deal. This home is located down in the San Juan Canyon and a more-or-less level section of the street. Someone may bulldoze this home but it could be salvageable too. Certainly the structure that’s there is not the highest and best use of the land. OPEN SUNDAY 8/24 1:00-4:00

318 Treasure Island 2 Bed 2.5 Bath 2,207 Sq. Ft. for $735,000

Treasure Island Homes are located out near Oracle and are technically in Belmont. This one has yet to be on agent tour and as you might recall another home came up last week at 320 Treasure Island Drive which was a 3 Bedroom for $775,000. If you’re planning a Sunday open house day, 318 is open SUNDAY 8/24 from 2:00-4:00 and 320 Treasure Island is open from 1:00-4:00 so you can kill two birds with one stone.

OK. There’s one more persistent listing that came back on the market. Reposo is back once again. This 3 bed 2 bath 1,600 sq. ft. home is now listed for $1,100,000. It started out at $950,000 back in August of 2007, was RAISED to $1,000,000 in October of that year when it didn’t sell and is now at $1,100,000. If you like this home you’d better hurry or it might be $1,200,000 by Fall…

PENDING SALES

Belmont saw two of its homes go pending this week. The home at 1134 North Court which sold for $951,000 in April of ’05 was listed for $745,000 and sold immediately.

2117 Cipriani from our Carlmont Associates office went pending too once it was lowered from $1,398,000 to $1,358,000. That’s a nice home.

Last week we talked about the new listing at 1514 pine Knoll. A 2 bed 1 bath 1,200 former cottage on a level knoll with views of Mt. Diablo and the San Francisco Bay. Listed for $799,000 I know it’s a two bedroom but what a great location.

SOLD HOMES

Three homes closed escrow this week:

South 515 South Road 4 Bed 3.5 Bath 2,870 Sq. Ft. home for $1,499,000. Listed originally at $1,579,000 and lowered to $1,499,000 where it sold in just a week and a half after it was lowered.

1756 Terrace 4 Beds 2.5 bath 3,209 sq. ft. listed for $1,275,000 closed for $1,235,000. It was on the market for 66 days.

5 Ridgewood Court 4 Bed 2.5 Bath 2,280 sq. ft. ATTACHED home off of Hastings Dr. Listed for $1,028,000 and closed for $1,000,000. It was only on the market for 14 days.