The life span of a typical short sale listing in Los Altos/Los Altos Hills goes as follows:

• The property is originally listed at a price very close to the debt on the property plus the transaction costs and maybe a little profit
• The property sits on the market for quite a looong time with no activity
• The Seller realizes that they are financially bleeding from every Orifice
• The property is re-listed at a below market value in an effort to induce offers
• The Seller receives multiple offers which are reviewed and submitted to the bank/investor(s)
• Everyone waits to see if a deal can be worked out.  Some are, but many aren’t

Below is a graph of short sale properties that are currently or have recently been on the market in Los Altos/Los Altos Hills.  I have included the original list price, current approximate debt and list price when the property ratified a purchase offer with the seller.

The actual numbers are below.

Sellers, a home’s value is not based on its loan balance.  Price it to the market and try to move on.

If you are thinking of buying a short sale property, check out the amount of debt on it and the number of lenders involved.  It may make sense to pass on it if there is too much debt or more than two lenders.

Giant Oak Tree Falls in Los Altos

Originally uploaded by David Blockhus

I was taking my dog on a walk this morning and came upon this
beautiful old Oak tree that fell over in the recent rains. The tree
came down in the 900 block of Springer Road in Los Altos.
Fortunately, it appears that the tree grazed the house.

Below are additional images of the downed tree.

[View with PicLens]

The higher end of the market saw an increase in activity in March.  Three single family homes priced above three million sold, including one home that sold close to six million.  This all cash deal closed within a week of being listed.

Thirty four single family homes closed escrow in the month of March.  Note:  34 closed sales is the 12 year monthly average of closed escrows for March.

Eight properties had multiple offers and sold above their asking price.

Click los altos real estate market update – March 2010  for a detailed 24-month history of home sales activity in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

Should you have any questions about your home and/or its value relative to our current market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250. Thanks for reading.

62 percent of all single family home listings sold in 2009.  This is about seven percentage points lower than the 12 year average of 69%.  Only 2001 and 2008 had a lower percentage of listings sell.  Listings also continue to be off relative to prior years.

Not reflected in the above stats yet indicative that the market may be changing is the increase of sales towards the end of the year.   An article in today’s San Jose Mercury News discusses this uptick in 2nd half sales.   

Only 27 homes sold in the 1st quarter of 2009.  That number jumped to 75 in Q2, 87 in Q3 and 80 in Q4.  Rarely have we had a Q4 with sales so strong.  Only twice in the last 12 years has Q4 had such strong sales (2006 and 1998). 

Based on this data, it appears that were back to about 2004 values.

Property is still selling, albeit at a slower pace.  Homes in the lower price ranges are selling better than higher end homes.  Homes properly priced and presented to the market will sell.  Unfortunately, we’re still seeing a fair amount of over priced listings that will continue to ”chase” the market down (somewhat skewing the stats).  This isn’t the time to “test” the market.  If you wish to sell, do it right or it will cost you in the long run.

As always, if you have any real estate questions please contact me for a confidential discussion of your real estate options.

Los Altos city streets scored an average pavement condition of 83 out of 100, while the region overall averaged 66. The report graded the region’s 42,000 miles of roadway as “fair” overall, with many worn streets needing rehabilitation to prevent continued, rapid deterioration.

Click to read report:   Los Altos Pavement Condition

Among neighboring cities, Sunnyvale scored 74; Los Altos Hills, 76; Mountain View, 75; and Cupertino, 70. The worst score went to Unincorporated Sonoma County with an average of 44.

It’s good to know that with all this rain we are having that at least our roads are in fairly good shape.  

Is it me or does it seem that most of our traffic problems are centered around highway 280 in Los Altos Hills?

The median list price of single family homes for December 2007 as compared to December 2009 dropped 13% from $2,150,000 to $1,869,000. The median sales price dropped 10% from $1,750,000 to $1,582,895.

Finally, the list price to sale price ratio for the month of December 2009 is 96.07%.

Our market continues to favor buyers, especially in the higher price points (half the homes that closed escrow in Los Altos in December sold at or below $1,500,000.).  Fortunately, prices are firming up a little and sales are up.

Could it be that we are starting to see a little real estate rebound locally? I think our real estate market is still slightly Bearish but the statistics indicate that the market does appear to be getting a little more active.

Click on the link below for a 20 page summary of Los Altos real estate market statistics for the month of December 2009 (information provided by Clarus MarketMetrics®).

Los Altos Real Estate Market Update for December 2009

Los Altos Cravery – Chicken chipotle meat pie

Originally uploaded by David Blockhus

One of my favorite lunch spots in downtown Los Altos is simply known as “The Cravery.” The Cravery is a meat pie shop that not only serves excellent meat pies, but also soups, salads, sandwiches and Gelato.

The place is clean, including restrooms, and has outside seating when the weather is warm.

A meat pie (with a little fruit salad) and soda will set you back about nine to ten dollars. The portion size is about right, not so large that you can’t eat it and not so small that your still hungry when your done. My personal favorite is the Chicken Chipotle (see photo above).

Having developed my taste for meat pies while living in Brisbane Australia, I wish they would serve sausage rolls as well.  Hint, hint! Enjoy!

The Cravery is located at 378 Main Street in Downtown Los Altos.

View The Cravery in downtown Los Altos in a larger map

I know it’s hard to believe, but my favorite house was also the most expensive.  It was 255 Lyell Street near downtown Los Altos.  Listed at $3,350,000 by Ivan Margaretich of Intero Real Estate, this home reminded me of an old English Estate, however slightly more compact and lacking a large yard.  The beautiful woodwork really stood out.

I also liked 846 Clinton Road.  This new construction home, built by Schiller Construction Inc., is Green Certified and sides up to McKenzie Park.  Listed at $2,995,000. by Scott Fleming of Pertria Real Estate Investment Group, the home flows well and the finishes look great.  I’m not sure the value is in the price.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

1557 Plateau Avenue, listed by Denise Welsh of Intero Real Estate, offers a lot of home for the money ($2,249,000).  This 4 bedroom, 4+ bathroom home packs in almost 3,600 square feet of comfortable living space on an almost 9,600 s.f. lot.  The only downside is a lack of yard space and some buyers think Plateau Avenue is an inconsistent street.

Two of the toured properties stunk, literally.  One smelled of a dog and the other of Chlorine – yes Chlorine!  It appears some brilliant builder thought it a good idea to build/enclose a house over a swimming pool.  Nothing better than the smell of fresh Chlorine greeting you when you wake up in the morning.  I love swimming, but I don’t understand the logic in it. 

Most of the other homes on tour were nice, but not super exciting.

If you have any questions about any of these (or other) properties, feel free to shoot me an e-mail or give me a call directly at 650 917-4250.

I arrived around 5:00 p.m. to take some pictures.  I also wanted to see how parade enthusiasts creatively “reserved” their viewing spots. 

In the past, families would show up a day (or so) early and place chairs out on the sidewalk to “reserve” their favorite spot.  Since the chairs, duct tape, tarps etc. clogged up the sidewalks , viewing guidelines were created.  FYI, I don’t think the guidelines are being followed all that closely and that’s O.K.

This year the parade started at 6:00 p.m., which is an hour earlier than in prior years.  I like the 6:00p.m. start because it allows younger families to stay through the entire parade before the young kids crash/get cranky. ( Note: the parade lasts about an hour.)  It also helps the downtown restaurants and merchants.

Outside of a few large gaps between exhibits, the parade was excellent.  It also appeared that attendance was up as well.  See below for a few pictures from the evening.

I paid $1,400,000 and I need $1,650,000

Whenever I go over a  home pricing analysis with a seller, I ask them what they think their home should be listed at and why.  Invariably, their answer comes back to what they paid for the home, what they put into the home (upgrades, remodeling etc.) or what they need to get out of the sale in order to get to where they want to be.  I call this “needs” based pricing.  I need to get “X” amount because I paid “Y” and I need “X+some amount” to get to my next place.

In an ideal world this would be great.  The value of the home always go up and it always sells for more.  However, our recent real estate market has exposed the flaws in this thinking.  If you bought your home 2 years ago, it is worth less today.  It’s unfortunate, but it’s where our market is at.  

When sellers want to price their home based on need versus market value, they invariably overprice the home which results in a home that is likely not to sell.  Should it sell, it is only after numerous price reductions.  The end result is the seller nets much less than they could have if the property was correctly priced in the first place. 

Remember, the market value for any property is what a willing and able buyer will pay for the house given that it has had proper exposure to the market.   Pricing a property based on what the seller wants or “needs” is a bad and costly home pricing strategy.

Should you have questions about pricing your home to sell in any market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential analysis.