The Burlingame Elementary School District has announced that they have 2 schools with over 900 API State Performance Index scores and 4 with over 800 API State Performance Index scores.  That’s fantastic Burlingame!!  Add to that the 2009-2010 California Business Roundtable Honor Awards that all 5 of the elementary schools received and Burlingame has something huge to be proud of.

Burlingame Intermediate School’s, otherwise known as BIS, Knowledge Masters Team ranks 3rd in the State of California and 47th out of 649 schools internationally.  Is there any wonder why Burlingame is one of the most coveted communities in the Bay Area?  Home values have held and are once again rising.

This is the time to consider making a move to Burlingame if you live some where else.  Top schools.  Beautiful weather.  Central to San Francisco or Silicone Valley.  Graceful homes.  All of this makes a fabulouso community for raising a family or just as a special place to hang your hat.

The Wilkas Group is here to assist you in finding just the right house to make yours.  Our knowledge and expertise of the area is available to assist you.  Give us a call or drop an email.

Prices were trending downward last week.  So are the number of days it’s taking to sell and the total number of homes for sale.  We will have to wait and see if this becomes a long term trend.  There is a misconception that there is no money to lend for homes around the Median Price in Burlingame, but guess what, that isn’t so.  Wells Fargo is lending jumbo-jumbo loans up to $3 million if you put at least 20% down and have a 720 FICO.  So, what’s holding you back?

Looking at the Median Price trends over the past 4 years you can clearly see prices are remaining down in comparison to the peak in 2006.  It had to happen folks.  Prices were just unsustainable and had to come down, and so they have.  

Our research company, Altos Research, divides real estate markets into quartiles by high, mid-high, mid-low, and low.  In Burlingame the bottom Quartile has shown the most activity with the average number of Days on the Market a little over 2-1/2 months in comparison to the higher priced Quartiles, with Days on the Market over 3 months.  Obviously there is a vast difference between Quartile One’s median house and Quartile Four’s median house.  But all of them sit in Burlingame and as an owner one gets the Burlingame Elementary School District and Burlingame High School for public schools.  The elementary district has great schools and BHS is one of the better high schools in the San Mateo High School District.

Burlingame is considered a Cold! Buyer’s Market sitting solidly below the red line that divides the Altos chart above.  It’s easy to see we’ve been slogging along the bottom of the market for a very long time.  Will things go further south?  I sure don’t think so.  The Fed has done a good job of getting the banks to remember that their business is to lend money and the banks are doing just that right on our Peninsula.

This is a fantastic time to buy a home in Burlingame.  It’s a beautiful city close to SFO, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Bio-Tech centers along the County.  We’d love to show you one of those 63 houses for sale.  We have a fantastic lender at Wells Fargo to refer you to so you can see if you, too, qualify for the loans they have.  Give us a call at 650-696-2820 or send an email.  We are here to help you make your real estate dreams a reality and now is a great time to begin doing just that.

Twenty years later, we find ourselves with growing elementary enrollment in Burlingame.  It’s almost too much of a good thing! Classes are crowded.  Portable classrooms are becoming the norm at every school in Burlingame and the District is discussing buying back the old Hoover School at 2220 Summit Drive, right at the end of Easton Drive in the Easton Edition.  This building was a Buddhist Temple until quite recently.  It happens that it was for sale until a few months ago, but the listing was cancelled.  It just might still be available, and how fortunate for the families of Burlingame!

Still in beautiful condition, this former school could likely be ready for children within some renovations.  The classrooms still remain but there were many modifications done to the old school that might require addition construction.  It’s certainly not a done deal but a real possibility.  If it’s something you would like to see, do let the Burlingame Elementary School Board know your thoughts.  That means pick up the phone and call them, don’t just think about it.

The additional buildings on this campus could house the administrative offices for the school district.  If this old school site is purchased by the district, it could be a home run for the citizens of Burlingame.