It’s Daylight Saving Time!

Oh, yes.  It’s that time of year again, although, much earlier in the year then it used to be or that we feel it quite belongs.  But Congress changed things a few years back and now Daylight Savings Time begins the first weekend of March.  That’s this Saturday night!  Tomorrow night.  So before you head off to bed, don’t forget to change all of your clocks.  In our house that’s a lot of clocks since appliances have clocks today, and walls have clocks, and radios have clocks,  you get the jest.  Move the hands forward so you don’t have a surprise in the morning wondering what time it really is.  Spring Forward, remember that rhyme?

And yes, don’t forget the one clock that is often forgotten and it’s your watch.  Don’t forget to change your watch.

Last week Altos Research reported that the city of Burlingame, California had 61 properties listed for sale.  That number has been steadily increasing each week so it’s a good time to find a house in Burlingame, if that’s your pleasure.  There are currently 10 short sales, too.  The Median priced house was $1,198,000 and we saw a price spread between the low of $529,900 to a high of $2,880,000.  What you get for the Median house is 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, a house that’s about 66 years old, is just around 2200 square feet and that sits on a 6000 foot lot.  You also get great schools and a beautiful community to live in.

Burlingame is a Buyer’s market and has been one for a long time.  This week saw a large number of new listings come out, something we haven’t seen in a long while.  There were 2 houses close escrow last week, and there are currently 23 houses in various levels of pending sale.  The market has heated up now that loans are available at this price level.  The overall price trend has been down from last year but we are still looking at the low million dollar range for a median sized house in Burlingame.

Now that we are in a Spring market, prices will likely move up as demand increases.  Will some of these houses that are currently on the market be short sales if they don’t sell?  It’s hard to tell right now.  My lender’s are seeing many people upside down in their mortgages, and Burlingame likely has their fair share of these people.  Whether one sells or holds out depends on the individual’s circumstances.  If they have an ARM resetting now, it’s resetting low so that can buy them a year if they’re employed.  But, if they’re among the huge number of people laid off, they will have no choice but to sell.

The question I am always being asked is “How’s the Market?” and if you look at the chart above you can see a snapshot of the Burlingame market from 2005 to today and clearly see the bubble.  A market that is balanced sits at 30.  A market above is a Seller’s market and below is a Buyer’s market. Clearly that’s where we sit today, in a Buyer’s market and with 61 houses to choose from, you should in theory find a good home.

The Wilkas Group is here to assist you in finding that house and turning it into your home.  You can find us by clicking on the “Contact Us” button on the left.  We’re here to help.

For more recent market data about Burlingame take a look at here.

There are exactly 65 days left to qualify for the $8000 First Time Buyer’s Credit.  You must be in contract by April 30,2010 and close escrow by June 30th.  You can buy a home up to $800,000 and have an income as high as $225,000 for a couple or $125,000 for a single person.  We have homes to show you, so why aren’t you looking?  Seriously.  This price range is hot, hot, hot and we are seeing multiple offers once again, which means you must be out looking every weekend and writing offers.

Uncle Sam has even gifted move-up buyers.  If you purchased your first home five or more years ago, you too, can qualify for a tax credit of $6500 or 10% of the purchase price of the new home.  If you own a condo this is your opportunity for FREE MONEY by moving into a larger home.  What are you waiting for?  We have people who want to buy your condo and you can go out looking for a house.

The clock is ticking every minute of every hour of every day.  Uncle Sam is giving away cash.  This is money you can use to furnish your new home, or off-set your current tax bill if you want to file an amended return for 2009.  We have forms for this, so ask us and we can email them off to you.

There is a catch on this credit, as you would expect.  You’ll need to remain in this house for 36 months before selling or you’ll have to pay the credit back.  That’s fair.  If you file for one of these credits, be prepared for a possible IRS audit to verify that you qualified for the credit.  This is part of new anti-fraud rules and the IRS has already identified over 100,000 returns with potentially fraudulent home buyer credits from last year alone.  You will need to attach a properly executed real estate settlement sheet to your tax return to show proof to the IRS.  Your Realtor and Lender can help you with this.

Tick-Tock.  Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock.  The Wilkas Group is here to help you but you need to move on it.  Your lost time can not be replaced.  There are only 65 days, 1560 hours, 93,600 minutes left to do this.

The City of San Mateo is the largest housing market in our immediate area.  With a population just under 100,000 (or more once the census is completed) there is a wide variety of houses to choose from.  It offers a good selection of entry level homes, and has one of the prettiest areas with executive homes in the County, San Mateo Park.  Prices have come down significantly in some parts of the city, and while they’ve dropped some in other areas, they are now moving upwards again. Those areas include The Park, Baywood, Baywood Knolls and Aragon, where the largest homes are in the city.  These areas also garner significantly higher prices then other parts of the city.

San Mateo is a great place to live with a large downtown that draws people at all hours.  The Central Park sits at the edge of downtown and has one of the largest Japanese Gardens in the State as well as many areas for play and leisure.

This chart shows what’s happening with the single family housing market today versus 4 years ago.  Click on the numbers at the left of the chart to see the historical data, which is really interesting. This chart clearly shows how little inventory in housing we have right now.  This is why we are seeing multiple offers in certain price points.  We think there will be many more housing coming on the market this spring since there must be a lot of people out there unable to refinance their ARMs that are coming due later this year.  If and when this happens expect to see prices remain flat.  Right now, although it is a Buyer’s Market, that can’t last long without inventory.

Hillsborough, CA is one of the 10 most expensive communities in this country.  It is a beautiful town of about 9000 people with no commercial district.  Shopping is done in Burlingame or Millbrae or San Mateo depending on the orientation of the property.  The houses are large here.  The lots are a minimum half acre, which in our area is large.  Prices, of course, are large as well, and inventory, like the rest of our area is low.  Some of reasons for this have to do with the difficulty of buyers getting jumbo-jumbo loans, and  because of this we aren’t seeing many sales.

This is one of the nicest towns in all of California.  Top schools, easy commutes north to the City or south to Silicon Valley make this a choice of senior executives at major corporations.  Trees, views, the feeling of seclusion without being far from anything make Hillsborough CA a terrific choice for families.

Play around with the numbers at the top left of this chart to see the historical data on inventory versus price.  It’s interesting to do this and gives a good picture of how few homes are for sale in Hillsborough in any one period of time.  The chart goes back about 5 years, during the heat of the market bubble, and inventory was even lower than today!

If you’re interested in learning more about Hillsborough, CA, and would like more in-depth market data, please click the “Contact Us” button and we will be back to you by phone or email, your choice.  The Wilkas Group is well versed in this market and it would be our pleasure to assist you with your real estate needs be it buying or selling.  If you are experiencing financial hardship and need to sell short, we are specialists in this type of transaction.