There were 221 closed sales of single family homes in 2011 with an average of 51 days on the market.  For those of you who don’t know what that means, it is the time it takes from the listing to the close of the escrow and recording of the new owner with the county.

• The average price was $1,257,035 and the median price was $1,196,000.
• The largest number of homes sold was in the $1,200,000 to $1,300,000 price range, with 25 sold.
• Then 19 were sold between $1,100,000 to $1,200,000
• There were 18 sold between $1,400,000-$1,500,000 and 18 sold over $2,000,000.  The top end of the market was selling very well in 2011.
• The sale prices were averaging between 96% at the list price and 98% of sold price.

The condo market is Burlingame isn’t a huge one compared to the other communities around us but there were 31 closed sales of condos in 2011 with an average of 77 days on the market.

• The average price was $616,461 and the median price was $535,000.
• The majority of these sales was between $475,000 and $600,000 with 12 sold.
• Luxury condos do sit in Burlingame and there were 3 sold above $950,000.
• The sale price was averaging between 94% at the list price and 97% of sold price

So, what does it mean when there are two sales prices listed?  The list price is the original price that a listing comes to market, and homes were selling between 94-96% at that price, which isn’t shabby.  If there was a price reduction, the second number is the percentage of homes selling at that price.  97-98% of all of the properties with price reductions sold at the reduced price.  This means demand is strong in Burlingame for real estate and prices are holding.

The old saying is if you want to live here you’ll pay the price, is holding true.  Burlingame has great schools, weather and location.  Let us know how we can help you find your dream home by calling us now.

Here are some current Burlingame houses for sale.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 34. See more city of Burlingame real estate.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

1. $1,749,500 : 2827 Hillside Dr, Burlingame
   
   3 beds, 4 full baths

   Home size: 2,990 sq ft

   Lot size: 12,096 sq ft

   Year built: 1936
   
2. $879,000 : 209 Channing Rd, Burlingame
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 1,620 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,750 sq ft

   Year built: 1928
   
3. $1,295,000 : 1138 Douglas Av, Burlingame
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,500 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,544 sq ft

   Year built: 1914
   
4. $2,550,000 : 3066 Hillside Dr, Burlingame
   
   4 beds, 4 full baths

   Home size: 4,200 sq ft

   Lot size: 10,640 sq ft

   Year built: 2008
   
5. $1,595,000 : 2673 Martinez Dr, Burlingame
   
   4 beds, 3 full baths

   Home size: 2,100 sq ft

   Lot size: 11,650 sq ft

   Year built: 1958
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Here are some current Burlingame condos for sale.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 9. See more city of Burlingame real estate.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

1. $599,000 : 30 Lorton Av #205, Burlingame
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,258 sq ft

   Year built: 1986
   
2. $499,000 : 1532 Floribunda Av #3, Burlingame
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,190 sq ft

   Year built: 1993
   
3. $578,000 : 1110 Bayswater Av #105, Burlingame
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,245 sq ft

   Year built: 1983
   
4. $439,000 : 1515 Floribunda Av #304, Burlingame
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 935 sq ft

   Year built: 1977
   
5. $249,000 : 777 Morrell Av #103, Burlingame
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 880 sq ft

   Lot size: 880 sq ft

   Year built: 1982
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

It’s that time of year again and if you have a young one and want to find a local Easter Egg Hunt, you’re in luck.  I think I’ve found almost everyone of them in San Mateo County and if you’re willing to head south I have a few for you in Santa Clara County, too.  The fun starts this coming weekend and continues Easter weekend.  Have fun!!

March 27 starts the fun

In South San Francisco head over to Orange Memorial Park, on Orange Avenue by 10 AM where there will be two egg hunts taking place.  One just for Pre-Schoolers 3-5 years old and the second one for Elementary children  6-8 years old.  Bring your own basket.  While you’re there tell the South San Francisco Women’s Club thank you for sponsoring the event.  Questions?  Call 650-829-3800.

San Bruno is hosting their 31th Annual Easter Egg and Pancake Breakfast in San Bruno City Park.  It starts at 9 AM and runs until 11 AM.  The hunts begin at 10 AM.  Call 650-616-7180 for more information.

If you don’t mind driving down to Los Gatos, there’s a hunt on the front lawn of Los Gatos High School between 10 AM and 1 PM.  There will be a carnival taking place as well and tickets will be for sale during the egg hunts.  The hunts are free and held by age groups.  10:15 AM – under 2; 10:45 AM – 2-3 years; 11:30 AM – 4-5 years; Noon – 6-7 years; 12:30 PM – 8-10 years.

Now Hop to April 3rd

Burlingame‘s Annual Lion’s Club Easter Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast starts early.Breakfast is served between 7:30 AM to 11 AM and costs $6 for adults and $3 for children.  The egg hunt begins at 9 AM, and again at 11 AM.  Be sure to have your baskets with you and you can call 650-348-0799 for more details.

Belmont is hosting their annual hunt at Twin Pines Meadow off of Ralston.  Be there at 9 AM SHARP.  It’s a free event for 3-10 year olds and all will get eggs, candy and other surprises.  Bring your own basket and thank the Belmont Park & Recreation Department to hosting this event.

If you prefer warmer weather for your egg hunting, then head down to Los Altos where it begins at 10AM at State and  2nd.  This is for 1-10 year olds and bring your own basket.  It’s a free event in downtown Los Altos.

Menlo Park has their egg hunt at Burgess Park between 10 AM and Noon.  This is a joint venture with the Menlo Park Firefighters Association and the Easter Bunny arrives on an antique fire truck.  This is for children 8 and younger.  Bring a basket for the eggs.

Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos is bringing in the Bunny on a Helicopter and your children can greet the Bunny at 10:30 AM.  The Bunny will be giving out eggs to all children there and face painting will be offered by the Magic Princesses.

The 33rd Annual Eggstravaganza is going to take place in San Mateo. It’s a full day of fun for the family.  Pancake breakfast begins at 9 AM until 11.  $7 for adults and $4 for children sponsored by the San Mateo Sunrise Rotary.  Art and games run from 9 AM to 1 PM.  The hunts start at 9:30 and continue to 1 PM.  Along with all of this you’ll get entertainment and can watch or participate in a Community Parade at 10:30.  It all takes place at Central Park, El Camino and 5th Avenue.

San Francisco has a hunt at India Basin at 11 AM. It’s the India Basin Annual Spring Hunt.  Bring your own basket.

There’s a hunt in Pacifica on Saturday at 10am at Frontierland.

and in Redwood City at Malibu Grand Prix in Redwood City. Registration is from 10 – 11 and hunt starts at 11:15.

Easter Sunday’s Hunts

Foster City’s Lions Club hosts the annual Easter Egg hunt held at Leo Ryan Park on the corner of East Hillsdale Blvd and Shell Blvd.  It begins at 2 PM and is free.  Just remember to bring the empty basket.  The Easter Bunny will be there ready for your camera. In fact, be sure you have your camera with you any time you take your children to one of these events. It is so cute to watch the children running around the grass and something you don’t ever want to miss!

San Francisco has the 19th Annual Spring Celebration and Easter Parade on Union Street between Gough and Fillmore.  Running between 10 AM and  5PM there will be many offerings for children of all ages.

If you know of an Easter Egg Hunt that I’ve missed in San Mateo County or for that matter, in Santa Clara County,  please let me know so I can add it here.

Just about every homeowner wants to improve their home so that it shows its best to the world.  Well, maybe not everyone, but most normal people do.  I was in an unnamed North County city while out on Broker’s tour and I happened to drive down a street that looked like no one took any pride in ownership of their homes.  And, I mean NO ONE!  It looked like a slum but a slum with homes worth $600,000 to $700,000 if these houses were in good shape.  It got me to thinking about what must go into someones mind when they just stop taking care of their property.  The front landscaping turns to weeds, trees and shrubs die and the place looks, well it looks like a slum. I just don’t get why people have no pride of ownership when a house is the single most expensive investment anyone is likely to make in their lifetime.

So what are the five easiest ROI in landscaping your home?

1.  Lawn.

This is the first, and easiest, ROI in landscaping your house.  If it’s dead, pull it out, and either seed or roll out a carpet of sod (instant gratification, believe me).  The investment on this can be as little as a weekend of labor in rototilling the dead lawn, adding top soil, leveling it smooth and spreading seed.  Then water daily and watch it sprout.  Or, if you want to spend a little more money, rototilling, adding top soil, leveling it smooth and rolling out the sod.  Late Fall is a great time to do this because Mother Nature will do the watering for you.

2.  Trees and Shrubs.

Having too many on a lot is as bad as not having any at all.  We all like to see a couple of trees, especially the shade variety if one has a western exposure.  If you have a lot with too many trees planted too close together, get one or more of them out.  That is easier said than done, believe me, since I have had a yard like that in my lifetime.  I often wonder what the people were thinking planting 3 trees within four feet of each other.  They weren’t thinking, and probably knew they weren’t going to be living there when the trees matured and were entangled into each other!  Here’s how to remove the dead trees and shrubs on your own and save money.  If it’s a big tree, many cities in our County have heritage tree ordinances and you must get permission to remove trees, even dead ones.  They often require that you plant a new tree in place of the old one, but you may chose where to plant it on your lot.  Double check with City Hall before removing those trees, just to be safe.

3.  Flowers.

We all like to see color in a garden and flowers marching along side a entry walkway are welcoming.  Take an afternoon and plant some.  Don’t plant them too close to each other, and allow for space to grow.  Plant bulbs in the winter so you have spring flowers.  Plant fall flowers for color into winter. We are very lucky to have a climate that gives us 12 months of flowers and plants, so talk to the nursery about what’s flowering each season and plant a little of each for year round color.

4.  Bark.

When you see a home that has been staged go on the market, inevitability the yard has fresh bark (or mulch) spread in the garden.  This inhibits weeds, covers blank spots by filling in the earth between plants, and just finishes off the look.  it’s a true do-it-yourself project and takes only a little bit of time to spread the mulch around your garden.  Voliá!

5.  Fencing.

If your fence is falling down by all means fix it.  If you are going to ask a lot of money for your home, the least you can do is fix the fence.  If you have neighbors surrounding your property you can ask them to split the cost as it’s a benefit to them as much as one to you. If they don’t want to do that, bite the bullet and fix it yourself.  You’ll be happy that you did, and  it will enhance your property values.

That’s it.  The top five things you can do to enhance your home and see an ROI on the investment of money and time.  Take a look at this house now.  It has curb appeal and makes someone want to go inside to see the rest of the house.  No one wants to see a dump, unless it is a fire sale, and even then many won’t go inside to look because they make an assumption that the inside looks as bad as the outside.  Keep that in mind when you’re doing your yard work.  There really is a pay back when you have a nice looking yard.

Getting back to my drive down the North County street.  There was one house there that stood out from the rest so I lied about there not being any nice homes there.  It was painted.  It was inviting.  It had neat landscaping.  And, it was For Sale.  But, I did not stop to look at it because of the neighboring houses.  I could not show a client the best house a the block of slum houses.  I can’t do it.  And now you know why.

Check Out Some Homes Currently For Sale In This Area

[listingpress citystate='Foster City,CA|' zipstate='' proptype='Single Family|' beds='0' baths='0' minprice='0' maxprice='0' features='' /]

The answer is maybe the deal will be a good buy and then again, maybe not.  Here’s the reason why I say this.  If a property is being sold as a Short Sale it means that the loan on the property is for more money than the property can be sold for.  There is a shortage of funds due the lender.  Sometimes a lender will forgive this amount and sometimes it will not.  If the amount is forgiven it may not be a win for the seller because they may have to show this amount “forgiven” as income in their taxes the following year.  It must be shown as income because it was money that was owed by the seller through a note to buy the property, but not paid back to the lender and the IRS looks at this as money in your pocket even though you never see the money.  Update:  The IRS has put a hiatus on the tax due for a short sale in order to assist sellers.  This may not last forever but it is helping them today.

A Short Sale may save the home owner from going into foreclosure but there are potentially major tax consequences in doing one.  If you are a buyer looking for a deal is this the way to find one?  Maybe if the price being asked for the property is  where it should be in the market.  If the seller is trying to break even, pay off his loan, pay the commissions to the Realtors involved in the transaction, and then move on the price might be “at market”.  But if the market today says the property is over priced, it sits and sits and sits.  Sometimes we see these properties have been listed for hundreds of days and with no appreciable price reduction.  If the seller is truly anxious to sell, they aren’t reducing the price right way unless they are working with an agent who is specifically trained in foreclosure and short sale, like Alex, a CDPE.  If you need to sell you need to price aggressively and be willing to take the hit in order to get out from under.

Selling a home prior to it going into foreclosure when it is worth more than the loans on it involves a lot of steps and isn’t easy to do.  One has to swallow their pride and talk to the lender about their situation, follow every step the lender requires and price the home aggressively in order to sell it.  Many people do the first part but forget to do the latter part, the price aggressively part. You need an attorney and accountant as a part of your team.  You must follow every step you are told to or you’ll find a foreclosure on your credit record and that’s a 5 year hit.  A short sale is only a maximum of a 2 year hit and sometimes even less than that.  Think about it, which would you rather have on your credit report?  Your FICO score drops about 50 points with a Short Sale and 150+ with a foreclosure.

Buying a property during a Short Sale could also mean that you also buy past-due taxes owed by the seller and any other liens that might be placed on the property such as homeowner association fees that are past due.  In effect, you get it all — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Around San Mateo County, for some reason we haven’t been seeing a lot of aggressively priced listings so these short sales sit and sit. We know there are a great number of homes close to default and these homes should be put on the market but when is the $64,000 question.  People are afraid to face the inevitable and unfortunately it’s often human nature not to do what is necessary before it becomes a panic.  A CDPE Realtor, like Alex Wilkas, can help facilitate the many steps necessary to price a home and get it sold.

Truthfully there is about a year’s gap between a buyer and a seller’s understanding on what’s happening in the real estate today.  Buyers are always ahead of the curve because they are out there looking at property a lot and they begin to see the pricing trends way before sellers do.  Sellers only see what their neighbor sold their home for and they want to sell for that same amount, or more and what the news is telling them.  They’re looking in the past not in the future, or even at today.  That past could be six months ago or longer.  They don’t understand what is happening to the market today unless they are actively out there looking to buy, and when they do figure it out they may find their mortgage is for more money than they could sell their home for today.  They are then  “underwater” because they owe the bank more than what their home is currently worth.  Is this bad?  Yes if you can’t afford the payments and can’t refinance to bring them down to where you can afford them.  It’s not bad if you went into your home with a fixed rate loan and you don’t plan on moving any time soon.  You keep on making those payments and hopefully by the time you are ready to sell your equity has moved back into a positive position.

The biggest issue in looking at buying a short sale is understanding that you may not get the property you place an offer on and the reason is complex.  Generally most lenders are huge operations with thousands of loans in their portfolios.  If some of those properties are “underwater” the lender isn’t concerned about this as long as the payments are current.  They do become concerned when the homeowner stops making those payments.  After several months the lender issues a Notice of Default to the owner and tells them they have a certain period of time to pay up what is owed or the property will be foreclosed upon.  How long this takes depends on the lender.  It is during this period of Notice of Default that one begins to see a home listed as a Short Sale.

The banks generally have several departments that handle these properties and if after a length of time the home has not been sold, it is bundled up along with hundreds of other properties and placed on a Notice of Trustee Sale notice where these properties are auctioned off, and yes it happens on the steps of the San Mateo County Court House in Redwood City.

You might be in escrow to buy one of these properties, but only one half of the bank knows this and if the other half decides to sell the place off and the Notice of Trustee Sale takes place, you lose your prospective home.  You do not lose your deposits but you have, in effect, wasted a lot of time trying to buy something at what you hoped was under market.  If you are willing to wait it out, and if the house you hope to buy doesn’t have a lot of mortgages against it, you will get a great buy.  Patience is a virtue and this is one you want to make sure you have.

One of the first questions we hear when a property has been on the market for 30 days and has seen no offers is why isn’t my house selling.  Why?  Well, it might be a price issue, but then again, it might not. It might be a marketing issue.   The most difficult thing to do when listing a property is to price it right.  Especially in this kind of a market, a softening market.  Prices didn’t really drop in all of our areas. Sure, they did in some areas of the Peninsula, but not by much in Burlingame, Hillsborough, west San Mateo, Foster City, Redwood Shores and San Carlos.  These areas  aren’t dropping as much as buyer’s want them to although they have softened. If you, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, have priced your home well, done the necessary work to make it shine, repaired major flaws, painted, removed clutter, cleaned up the garage, cleaned the yard and landscaped neatly your home should sell. Not in a couple of days but within 45-90 days.  This is a normal market.

Let’s pretend you are trying to sell your house by yourself – a FISBO (for sale by owner). You don’t want to pay a commission to any Realtor, you only want to sell directly to the buyer. You know your house.  You love your house and everything that you have done to make it special. You think you have the nicest house on the block. You know what the one across the street sold for last year and you think your house is better and worth more and therefore, you price it above the one across the street. You do flyers on your own (Microsoft is so nice to provide those templates, aren’t they?).  You advertise in the paper.  You throw up pictures on Craig’s List and forsaleby owner.com and wait for the open house.  You’ve got it listed on Zillow’s Make Me Move at a price you want.  People do come through. They comment. They touch. They open up doors and drawers. They look at your belongings, and open the medicine cabinet to look in there, too.  My, what a nosy bunch and mostly neighbors, too!  Then they ring the doorbell at all hours to see it, because you have a “For Sale By Owner” sign in your lawn. They want to see it then and now, and you have dinner on the table or your kids are screaming, or the laundry is spread everywhere.  What do you do?  Turn them away or let them in?  They are an intrusion to your life but since you don’t want to talk to a Realtor,  you must make a split second decision on what to do.  You are so turned off by the thought of selling with an agent that you’ve gone so far as to write Principles only in everything you’ve advertised.  It’s all yours baby.

You really haven’t done any kind of inspections to assure a potential buyer that the house is in good shape. You figure that the buyer will do this once you have negotiated the price.  You don’t have written disclosures of any kind done. You answer all questions and figure that’s all that’s required.  This is your house, after all, and you need every penny you can get out of it in order to move. You know you’ll need to open up an escrow account once you agree on a price with some company but you don’t worry about that because you assume they’ll help you.  You’ve even gotten a contract from the Stationary store or have downloaded the one Microsoft has in their Templates area on their website.  You’re all set. Right?

Tell me, what pitfalls, if any, do you see with the above scenario?  Can you tell me the ones that open this seller up to a law suit? Can you tell my what misjudgments they have?  Can you tell me if you think this property will sell at the price they’re asking?  For more?  For less?  Are they looking through rose colored glasses?

Stay tuned for my answers tomorrow.

Whether you want to buy an apartment building, duplex, condo or single family house, all have rental opportunities at top dollar.  While housing prices have declined in parts of our County, rental prices have not.  It’s been a long time since for us to talk about a positive cash flow in our county.  Generally one has had to buy quite a distance away but no longer.

If you’re willing to buy investment property in Oakland, or other places in the East Bay, the buys are amazing.  Many houses are available under $200,000.  Keeping in mind that it’s best to own property within 90 minutes of your home, the east bay has great opportunities for you.  Loan requirements for investment properties are tougher and you’ll need more down payment provided, but if  your money is sitting in the bank earning a small interest amount, housing is always needed and prices will go up.  Real estate always goes up.  We’re here to help you and give you pointers if you’re new to the real estate investment game.  Give us a call.  650-696-2820 for all of your real estate needs.

Who is lending?  Smaller banks are into this game right now and loan broker’s are perfect for tapping into these lenders.  There are some wonderful buys out there for first time home owner’s or move-up families.  The real estate market is alive and well.  Things are slow but anything involving money is slow right now.  If you are a first time buyer here’s your opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit Congress was so kind to provide to you.  There are conditions but if you qualify for it $7500 could be your tax-free loan.

If you are considering buying – or selling real estate today, don’t wait, just do it.  Life continues to happen for all of us and there is no reason to wait.  Do you have questions about this?  Call me at 650-867-2909 and I’ll talk with you about your specific needs.

So, you’re looking at that house for the third time and saying, ‘it’s not quite right.”  It needs
a new….  And, then you ask me what does it cost to do….?  You get the idea.  Whether it’s a new kitchen, windows, bathroom, roof or an addition to make the house perfect for you and your family, you need to have an idea of cost.  And then, what your ROI might be.

I am asked this kind of question fairly often.  What will it cost me to replace the windows?
Or, how much does a new kitchen cost?  My answer always is “it depends”.  It depends on quality.  It depends on vendor.  It depends, especially when it comes to that kitchen, on the appliances you choose and the kind of cabinets, or both.  Remodels and additions can be pie in the sky when it comes

Just in case you’re thinking about doing a little remodeling once you close escrow, here’s my 2008 guideline on what to expect it to cost.  Plus, when you get ready to sell your home, after doing everything to it to make it just perfect, what you can expect to re-coup.

Let’s begin with likely moderately priced additions to the
house.

Now let’s look at a moderately priced remodels of the house.

But, what happens if you want to go First Class with your remodel?

The costs above are for additions or remodels that are done with medium prices appliances and fixtures which are perfectly fine for most of us.  If you’re living in a more upscale neighborhood, where doing only the best works, then prices are considerably higher.  The first are to give you an idea for additions to that future home you’re considering.

Now, what if you only want to update the house because it’s such a great buy?

For an idea of what it might cost going whole hog, Full Monty or where money’s no object look at this.

Here’s the surprise in comparing the moderate projects versus the high end projects, the ROI on the higher end isn’t always as good as it is on moderate.  Isn’t that interesting?  So if you want to do something to that house you’re considering buying, only do what you really want to do, and not what you think will give you the best return when you sell.  Your idea of the perfect kitchen, bathroom, office or deck, might not be the next buyer’s idea.

This Sunday, downtown Burlingame will turn into a bicycle raceway, when the 5th annual Ryan Phua Criterium takes place, so beware.  Parking will be tight.  Streets will be closed and it will be a great day to bring the family and watch the fun.  Starting at the intersection of Burlingame Avenue and Lorton Avenue, the 7/10 of a mile race is serious business and the bicycles are moving fast.  Crossing the street when they’re coming down the raceway is dangerous and won’t be allowed, so plan accordingly.

The first race begins at 7 AM.  There is a 60 minute children’s race for kids 12 and under, at 10:20 AM, that runs the same course, as well as  other adult races during the day.  Most of the races run 40 minutes long, with bicyclists whizzing around the track at amazing speeds.  It’s an exciting race and something you will truly enjoy watching.

The Criterium race will accept registration through Friday here.  There will be same day registration for an additional fee .Go to  the front of Copenhagen Bakery on Burlingame Avenue to register.  The biggest race offers a $1000 prize to the winner.  The others offer $500 prizes.A Portion of each entry fee will be donated to the Burlingame Community for Education and Ryan
Phua foundation benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Over $235,000 has been raised to date.

Burlingame has hosted criterium bicycle races for years, with some in residential areas and most downtown.  The present course offers tight turns, and a small course with both men and women competing.  Street will be closed between 5 AM and 4 PM and the Burlingame PD will ticket if you are parked in an illegal area.  Some garages are going to be off limit,  Park a few blocks away and way over to the course areas.  Have fun and make this an annual event for the family to attend.