Mulitple Offers? Know Thy Market.

The First Commandment.

It’s always great for shock value when you hear about a San Carlos home that got some obscenely high number of offers.  It sends the rumor mill into overdrive, and makes for great conversation around the (virtual) water cooler.  Speculation always runs rampant in situations like these:  “I think somebody from Facebook bought it,” or “I heard the winning buyers threw in a free vacation”… you get the idea.

But aside from all of the juicy gossip and rumors, in situations like these when there are a double-digit number of offers there’s usually a very good lesson to be learned when you actually dissect the pile of offers and look at the price distribution.    Why?  Because here’s a little secret — regardless of whether there’s 5 offers or 25 on a house,  only 2-3 of them will rise above the crowd and become the ones that will be seriously considered by the sellers.  Yep, the other 2-22 offers quite often don’t even get a second look.

What’s is the lesson to be learned here?  It’s simply this:  If everyone involved in the transaction truly understood the market they were dealing in and acted accordingly, there should never be that many offers on a house in the first place.

Let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios that illustrate what I’m talking about. >>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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What’s Happening with 3BR Home Prices in San Carlos?

The Bread and Butter.

If the reaction and blog statistics are any indication, then yesterday’s post “The $1.3M Bombshell” really hit a nerve with many people in San Carlos.  Between the comments on the post and the emails that I received, it’s pretty clear that this particular home sale is symbolic of a real estate market in San Carlos that has left home buyers, home sellers, and even seasoned Realtors reeling.

This reaction is certainly understandable, because the 3-bedroom home configuration is really the bread and butter of the San Carlos housing stock.  There are far more 3-bedroom homes sold in San Carlos than any other configuration;  for example, over the past 5 years, the number of 3-bedroom homes that sold in San Carlos was nearly double that of the next most popular configuration, the 4-bedroom home.    So it’s not a stretch to say that the performance of the 3-bedroom home market in San Carlos can be seen as a bellwether of the market as a whole.  And this is what has people freaked out right now.

By the Numbers.

It’s always important in a volatile and emotional market like this to take a look at the underlying data to better understand what’s really happening in the market, and to rationalize whether the market hype is well-founded.   Below, I’ve included a couple of high-level charts that show the pricing trend of 3-bedroom homes in San Carlos over the past 5 years.  One chart is based on average sales price, and the other is normalized on a price-per-square foot basis.   Both charts tell an interesting story. >>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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The $1.3M Bombshell.

Reverberations.

A couple of weeks ago, the sale of the 3BR/2BA home at 148 Chestnut Street in San Carlos closed escrow. It was a hotly contested listing that generated 22 offers, so everyone was naturally expecting that it would fetch significantly higher than the $999,000 asking price.   And why not?  The house itself was quite charming — nicely updated with a spacious, remodeled master suite and located on a quiet stretch of Chestnut Street.   And at the time the home hit the market, there were no other “entry-level” 3-bedroom homes on the market in San Carlos.  The only other 3BR home on the active list was the much more expensive home at 1364 Crestview Drive — different house, different part of the city.

As the days clicked by after the home went into contract, many eyes were anxiously watching to see what the final sales price would be.  I certainly was, because I was preparing to bring my listing at 278 Vine Street on the market just two blocks away, and I was anxious to see how the closing price of 148 Chestnut might affect our entry to the market for Vine.   And many others watched it as well, because it would serve as a pretty good measure of where the bar would be set for the entry level, 3-bedroom housing market in 2013.

So when the escrow closed and the final sales price of $1,301,000 was posted for the public to see, it hit the local market like a bombshell, sending shock waves rippling throughout the real estate universe of San Carlos. >>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Are you ready to step up to the most comprehensive data available about the San Carlos Real Estate market? Then subscribe to the White Oaks Blog for free by clicking here. Be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/WhiteOaksBlog , and on Twitter @WhiteOaksBlog.
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The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 2-23-13.

San Carlos Real Estate Summary.

What started out as an already challenging week for home buyers in San Carlos turned out to be one sheer impossibility as the numbers tilted even more in favor of home sellers.   Over the course of the past seven days, 7 homes went into contract with only 2 new listings to counter-balance the depletion to the inventory.  This resulted in a precipitous drop of 38% in the number of homes for sale in San Carlos, which means we’ll start the week off with a grand total of 8 single-family homes for sale in the entire city.

These numbers are unprecedented, and border on being nonsensical.  With a single digit inventory, and an active/pending ratio of 0.32 (2 or above is considered to be normal), and some of the eye-popping prices that homes are fetching, it’s enough to put some frustrated buyers back on the sidelines to wait for more favorable conditions.

Here are the numbers from last week:

By The Numbers.

Below is a high-level snapshot of the market performance for single-family residences in San Carlos. This data is for the week ending 2-23-2013:

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Are you ready to step up to the most comprehensive data available about the San Carlos Real Estate market? Then subscribe to the White Oaks Blog for free by clicking here. Be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/WhiteOaksBlog , and on Twitter @WhiteOaksBlog.
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The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 2-16-13.

San Carlos Real Estate Summary.

Sorry for the delay in getting the report out this past week.   If you need hard evidence that home prices are rising in San Carlos, just take a peek at the sold numbers below.   For the homes that closed escrow this week, they fetched an average of 11% over the asking price, led by the stratospheric performance of 148 Chestnut Street, which sold for a whopping 30% over its asking price.    And there are more eye-popping sales that will be registered in the coming weeks.   This means that buyers are really having to dig deep to land their home in this ultra-competitive seller’s market.    And with only about 11 homes to choose from in the entire city of San Carlos, it’s going to remain this way for the foreseeable future.

Here are the numbers from last week:

By The Numbers.

Below is a high-level snapshot of the market performance for single-family residences in San Carlos. This data is for the week ending 2-16-2013:

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Are you ready to step up to the most comprehensive data available about the San Carlos Real Estate market? Then subscribe to the White Oaks Blog for free by clicking here. Be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/WhiteOaksBlog , and on Twitter @WhiteOaksBlog.
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Sheriff Issues Another Burglary Warning for San Carlos

Increase in Break-Ins.

Yesterday, the San Carlos Bureau of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department issued a city-wide email alerting residents to a sudden uptick in residential burglaries in San Carlos.  According to the email, which is included in its entirety below, four homes have been victimized in San Carlos the past 48 hours alone, and thieves appear to be brazenly hitting these homes in broad daylight.   Once they determine that nobody is occupying the home, they are simply gaining entry by kicking in doors or breaking through a window.

These four burglaries are just the most recent that have been reported.  Just last week, good friends of ours on Wildwood Avenue came home to find their house ransacked and valuables stolen, and there are other recent instances of this occurring throughout San Carlos.  So sadly, this deplorable behavior appears to be on the rise.

Be Vigilant.

It’s more important than ever to keep a close eye on your home and your neighborhood.  These situations seem to be happening with more frequency, and broad daylight does not seem to deter the burglars.   If something looks out of place, don’t hesitate to contact the police.   And don’t worry about feeling bad if you called for no reason — you’ll feel even worse if you didn’t call and should have.

Here’s the bulletin from the Sheriff’s Office in its entirety:

San Carlos has experienced four residential burglaries in the last 48 hours. All involved residences have sustained forced entry via door kicks. Property stolen includes electronics, jewelry, camera equipment, money and other various items of value. The victim residences are located in: 100 block Northam, 900 block Woodland, 1900 block Eaton and 200 block Clifton. The Sheriff’s Office is strongly urging residents to be vigilant in recognizing suspicious persons and vehicles. Suspects are likely knocking on front doors first, as means of determining whether the occupants are home. Side and rear doors appear to be preferred. However, front doors which are primarily secluded from the street are being kicked in. Beware of solicitors or other subjects making contact at your home. These burglaries are occurring during the daytime; between 8am and 5pm. The Sheriff’s Office asks that ANY suspicious activities or vehicles be immediately reported by calling 911.

Let’s be careful out there.
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The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 2-9-13.

San Carlos Real Estate Summary.

It didn’t start out that way, but it turned out to be a very good week for buyers looking in San Carlos.  There were 8 new listings that made their debut last week, which is easily the biggest one-week showing so far this year.  Open houses were very well attended the past 2 weekends, and buyers seem eager to pounce on the new inventory that’s coming on line as was evident by the 6 listings that went into contract during the same period.    Despite the surge in inventory, we’re still sitting at 16 SFR listings in the entire city, which is still very low.  Keep a close eye on new listings throughout the coming weeks — it will be a very dynamic market going forward.

Here are the numbers from last week:

By The Numbers.

Below is a high-level snapshot of the market performance for single-family residences in San Carlos. This data is for the week ending 2-9-2013:

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Are you ready to step up to the most comprehensive data available about the San Carlos Real Estate market? Then subscribe to the White Oaks Blog for free by clicking here. Be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/WhiteOaksBlog , and on Twitter @WhiteOaksBlog.
Get the best coverage on the San Carlos real estate market delivered right to you!
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New San Carlos Listing: 278 Vine Street.

Charm Galore.

I am very pleased to announce my new San Carlos listing at 278 Vine Street, which is making its debut on the market today.  This remarkable 3BR/2BA home has been recently updated throughout, so it’s ready for the next owners to move right in!    I will holding it open this Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 PM on both days, so I hope to swing by and see this amazing house.

278 Vine has some really key features that are going check a lot of boxes for prospective home buyers in San Carlos.   When you drop by and see it, you’ll see what I’m about to tell you below.

Location, Location, Location.

278 Vine Street is located in northern portion of San Carlos,  referred to as Cordes in the real estate zoning lingo.   And this charming home is located on the 200 Block of Vine, which is the much flatter portion of what is already a fairly quiet street.  As I have discussed numerous times on this site, Cordes has long been a hidden gem in San Carlos.    Although adjacent neighborhoods like White Oaks and Howard Park are much better known and tend to command higher prices than Cordes,  there are a few things that make this a very desirable place to live.

First, despite what you may believe, most of Cordes is closer to the red-hot northern stretch of the downtown San Carlos shopping district than much of Howard Park, and it’s definitely closer than White Oaks.    That fact alone seems to escape many prospective buyers.    Second, Cordes boasts what many will argue is the top school combination in San Carlos.  Based on the current school boundaries, Cordes is served by Arundel Elementary, Tierra Linda Middle, and Carlmont High Schools.   (Of course, school boundary enrollment is not guaranteed anywhere in San Carlos, and interested buyers should confirm enrollment criteria to their satisfaction.)

And as home buyers are finding out with some recent sales in this area, Cordes is no longer a hidden secret in San Carlos.

All the Right Stuff.

Aside from the outstanding location, there’s lots of good stuff happening with 278 Vine Street.  The house has been completely updated throughout, so you don’t need to do anything to it.  This means you can just move in on a Saturday, and go back work on Monday!  As I mentioned above, this home checks lots of boxes for San Carlos home buyers:

• Master Bedroom Suite:  The spacious master suite boasts an updated master bath with separate tub and shower.  There’s a really nice private sitting area, which is a great place for a nice little retreat.  There’s even separate his-and-hers closets.
• Kitchen: This also has been tastefully updated with granite counters, tile flooring, stainless steel appliances, and even a built in wine fridge!
• Bedrooms:   They’re spacious, and very centrally located in the house.   They’re also nicely finished out with hardwood floors and dual-paned windows.
• Bonus Room:   Above the garage, there’s a handy bonus room that can be utilized as a home office or extra storage.  That’s a huge plus!
• Yard:  The back yard is simply spectacular, with an expansive lawn, redwood deck, and even a barbecue area at the top.

Here are some pictures of the home.

Want to See More?

The complete virtual tour can be seen at 278Vine.com.  And the house will be open this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday from 1-4.  Hope to see you there!
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Are you ready to step up to the most comprehensive data available about the San Carlos Real Estate market? Then subscribe to the White Oaks Blog for free by clicking here. Be sure to follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/WhiteOaksBlog , and on Twitter @WhiteOaksBlog.
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