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San Mateo County Foreclosures? Not Many. Not Yet.

Graph of Foreclosure Filings in San Mateo County

I thought it would be interesting to look at what’s going on in the foreclosure arena for our corner of the world. It’s looking like the clock is ticking for a lot of families and they will soon have to come to a hard reality about their housing needs. We aren’t seeing a ton of bank owned properties in the MLS yet, but the data here is telling us there are a lot of houses schedule for auction, where they become bank owned, and a lot receiving notices of default where the mortgage hasn’t been paid for several months.

About Hillsborough California

The town of Hillsborough, formed in 1910, and named by William Davis Merry Howard because he originally came from Hillsboro New Hampshire. The town sits on land that was part of Rancho San Mateo, Howard’s vast property purchased from the Mexican Governor, Pio Pico in 1846.

Year-end Look at Hillsborough CA Market

We saw about 10% of the listings sell and it takes a long while for the listing to sell. The listings are seeing price reductions in most, but not all cases. The difference between the Median list price and the Median sold price is 23% so someone hasn’t figured it out yet and that’s the seller. Be patient and you’ll get your deal but be sure your house has been sold before even making an offer in today’s market.

Five Easy Landscaping ROI’s For Your Home: Foster City, CA

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.

San Mateo County is Seeing Short Sales But Are They Good Buys?

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.

Are You Selling Your Burlingame CA Home? You Must Listen to That Offer in Person and Here’s Why.

Your house has been on the market for two and one half months. You’ve been a good member of the Clean Counter Club but it’s getting harder and harder to do it everyday. Days get interrupted. Dinners are interrupted. Saturday open houses. Sunday open houses. Keeping the house picked up is a chore. Keeping the toys off the floor is almost impossible now. Keep the kids clean? It’s summer and oh, so impossible to do!

There IS a Reason Why You Are Sneezing Lately San Mateo & Foster City!

This is for all of my East Coast friends shoveling the snow. Eat your hearts out! In our neck of the woods the blossoms begin to pop out around this time of the year and this is no exception. The flowers and blossoms are started to open up when we had unusually warm days and…Read More »

Hillsborough CA Market Report 01.08.09

In our corner of the world, mid-San Mateo County, the most exclusive and expensive community is Hillsborough, CA. If you wonder why I put the CA next to it, when I never do this for our other communities it’s because there are several other cities named Hillsborough that are spelled the same way, and I…Read More »

Preview This Year’s Dicken’s House in Hillsborough The Next Two Weekends

If you’re like me, you look forward to the annual Dickens House Holiday Boutique shopping extravaganza every fall. It’s always fun to go see the house that was selected and then decorated and filled with gift ideas for family and friends. This year you can have the opportunity to see the house in all its…Read More »

What’s Your ROI on Remodels or Additions Around the San Mateo Area?

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…Read More »