Public Meeting Tonight on San Carlos Wheeler Plaza Project.

Still Alive.

The Wheeler Plaza redevelopment concept is something that has been discussed in quite a bit of detail on this site over the past two years.   There have been several posts, lots of comments, and even a poll that gauged the public’s opinion on the concept (most were positive on the idea.)  There’s even an entire sub-category dedicated to Wheeler Plaza on this site.

Even though there hasn’t been much in the news about the Wheeler Plaza concept lately, don’t think that work hasn’t been going on behind the scenes.   The City of San Carlos along with their development partner Silverstone Communities have been working diligently to create an Environmental Impact Report, and has now drafted up potential options for redeveloping the entire Wheeler Plaza parcel.  If you’ve read through the EIR, there are some very interesting graphical renditions of how the project may look when it is completed, like this one (elevation from San Carlos Avenue)…

Wheeler Plaza conceptual sketch - Laurel Street/San Carlos Avenue

Public Meeting Tonight.

Tonight, the City of San Carlos is holding a meeting to solicit public feedback on the project.  If you have strong feelings one way or the other on the proposed project, or just want to find out more about what’s planned, this would be a great meeting to attend.  Here are the details:

Wheeler Plaza Development Concept Meeting
When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Where: San Carlos Library, 610 Elm Street, Second Floor Meeting Rooms
Time: 7:00 PM

Funding Challenges.

One challenge that is likely equally as large as all of the design considerations is how this project is going to be funded, and the purse strings for this extend all the way to the California Supreme Court.   According to Mark Sawicki, Economic Development and Housing Manager for the City of San Carlos, the pending Supreme Court litigation on AB26 and AB27 will play a significant role in funding options for this project.   If the decision does not result in the San Carlos RDA being dissolved, then the Planning Commission want to have consideration of the Wheeler Plaza project ready to move forward as soon as possible.  If the San Carlos RDA is dissolved (if AB 26 stands while AB27 is struck down) the City and the developer will have to look at alternative options for funding, and determine if the project is even financially feasible.
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Feeling Un-Lucky in San Carlos.

Debit Card Skimming Reported.

Thanks to James Lanares of the Bay City News Service for breaking this story.   If you patronize the San Carlos Lucky Supermarket, and you have used your debit card at those convenient self-checkout aisles, then you’ll definitely want to pay attention here.  Save Mart, the parent company of Lucky Supermarkets, reported that they have discovered that some of the card scanners that are located in the self-checkout lanes in 20 of their Bay Area Lucky stores have been rigged with card skimming apparatus.

These devices allow thieves to capture the account number and PIN number from unwitting shoppers, which then allows the crooks to freely steal money from their checking accounts, or make unauthorized purchases.    The bad news here is that the Lucky Store in San Carlos is on the list of stores where skimming devices were found.   Wonderful…

How Can This Happen?

That was the first question that popped into my head.   After all, aren’t these self-checkout kiosks located right in the very front of the store??  In front of all of the employees??   And right under all of those little blue security cameras?    Ummmm… Is anybody minding the store, so to speak?   This kind of breach is something you might expect at a remote ATM machine, or a dumpy gas station — NOT where you buy your groceries.  Shame on Save Mart for not having better security in place.

What Should You Do?

According to Save Mart executives, the skimming appears to have taken place during the months (months!!) of October and November of this year.   In response to this breaking scandal, an executive from Save Mart issues the following statement:

“At this time, we strongly recommend that anyone who used our self-check terminals in the affected stores during the months of October and November consider closing their bank account and opening a new one”

– Stephen Ackerman, Save Mart CFO

Before you take such a drastic step, you should call your financial institution first.  According to the rep at Wells Fargo Bank, closing your entire checking account is an unnecessary step for this situation.  They recommend cancelling your debit card and getting a new one issued — one that has a new account number and new 3-digit security code on the back.   But again, call your institution and get their advice on how to proceed.

The bottom line is that even getting your debit card re-issued creates a whole series of headaches.  If you use your debit card for automatic bill pay, or for online purchases, you’ll need to go onto each and every website and load in the new card information once your new card is issued.  That’s what I will be doing today…

Thanks, Lucky.   Safeway and Whole Foods just got one new customer….
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San Carlos and the 500 Most Expensive Zip Codes in the Country.

Forbes Special Report.

Compiling lists of the biggest, best and most expensive things in the world has become the trademark of Forbes Magazine.  Want to know who the top 400 richest people in the country are?  They have that.  How about a list of the most powerful women in business today?  Got that one covered too.

In keeping with that theme, Forbes recently published a rather interesting list of the 500 most expensive zip codes for residential property in the United States.  It’s interesting because some of the results might not be what you’d expect.  But before we dive into some of those details, it’s worth noting  a couple of things in this list.  First, Forbes uses median sales price as their metric for ranking the zip codes.   Some statistical purists may argue that average sales price might be a better metric to gauge the relative worth of a neighborhood.  But regardless, they chose to use the median as the yardstick.

Second, when you succumb to the temptation to compare San Carlos to other nearby communities, it’s important to bear in mind that many nearby communities have multiple zip codes, so it’s difficult to make that comparison.   Redwood City is a great example — 94062 is the zip code that covers Emerald Hills, and it ranked well at 212th place.  But  it was the only one of the 5 zip codes within Redwood City to make the list.

Where’s San Carlos?

A number of questions jumped into my head when I first found that this list existed.   Did 94070 even make the list?   If so, where was it?    How did it compare to other communities of similar size such as Belmont or Foster City?   So, what do you think — did the City of Good Living make the list of ALL of the Cities of Good Living?   Here are the results….(drum roll please)

• Ranking:  San Carlos ranked 411th on the list of the 500 most expensive zip codes in the country with a median sale price of $742,089.
• Belmont:  Not only did Belmont make the list, but it stomped San Carlos in the ranking by a whopping 144 places, coming in at 267th and a median of $899,000.
• Other local cities:  Burlingame ranked high at 144 — Menlo Park hit 156.  Foster City came in at 459.

Here’s the List.

If you’re interested in killing a few hours and perusing the entire list of 500 zip codes, here’s the link:  Forbes’ List of the 500 Most Expensive Zip Codes.

So, Belmont is more expensive than San Carlos?  Who woulda thunk it….
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The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 12-3-11.

San Carlos Real Estate Summary.

We’re heading into the final weeks of 2011, and sales activity continues to chug along in San Carlos.  Four more homes went pending sale during the past week, and there were six new listings to enter the market — a surprisingly high number for early December.    Typically at this point in the year,  sellers will opt to test the market in early January as opposed to competing with the holiday season.   But sellers are reading the market correctly, and they’ve sensed that home buyers are continuing to search in earnest through the holidays.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the inventory of San Carlos single family homes as of 12-3-2011:

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Home Disclosures – What’s Missing Here?

I Forgot to Remember.

Having a selective memory may be OK for certain things, but not when it comes to filling out the disclosure packet when you’re preparing to sell your house.  One of the less glamorous roles that I have as a Realtor is to read disclosure packets — LOTS of them.   If you’ve ever read through a complete disclosure packet, you know what I’m talking about.  But I am constantly amazed at how many times I see obvious things that should have been included in the owner’s disclosures, and they’re simply not.    These omitted items can be things that I see that are obvious about the condition of the house, or that pertain to the location of the home that I know from living in this area for so long.

Are these owners simply forgetting to disclose these items, or is “selective memory” coming into play.  Well, as we’ll discuss below, neither is a valid excuse when it comes down to resolving a dispute after the sale.

Ample Opportunity to Disclose.

When a home is listed for sale, there are a whole slew of forms that the seller is legally obligated to complete.  Two of these in particular focus solely on the past and present condition of the home, and the characteristics of the neighborhood around the home:  These are commonly known as the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), and the Supplemental Seller’s Checklist (SSC).   These two forms together comprise 12 pages of very detailed questions about the house and the neighborhood — and it’s written in nice teeny-tiny font, so that they can continue to cram more questions in every year.  There’s even a section where the listing agent can put in their own additional 3 pages of wisdom — the Agent’s Visual Inspection Disclosure (AVID).

Those 12 pages of questions lead the seller through an entire dissertation about the condition of their home;  what improvements they’ve done to the home (with or without permits), and problems they’ve encountered with the home, neighborhood or environmental issues, etc, etc…. You name it, it’s in there.   And if you’re playing close attention, you’ll notice that some questions are essentially re-phrased and posed again in different sections of the statement — just to help jar that darned selective memory.

So what issues seem to be commonly missing in these disclosure statements?

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Support the San Carlos Education Foundation on SCEF Day.

Thursday, December 1.

In an effort to focus donations to the San Carlos Education Foundation toward the earlier part of the school year rather than relying on a big push at the end of the campaign, the San Carlos School District has designated Thursday December 1 as SCEF Day in San Carlos.   With the challenges that face the school district with the impending state budget cuts, it greatly helps the district to have visibility to their available funds earlier in the school year rather than later, so they’re asking for those who plan to donate to the foundation to submit their donation on this day.    Here’s a note from Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker:

Dear San Carlos School District Community:

Please join me for “SCEF Day,” on Thursday, December 1st, in support of the San Carlos Education Foundation!

SCEF Day is a district-wide event to encourage your participation in SCEF’s Annual Giving Campaign. The San Carlos Education Foundation helps us maintain programs that support our overall mission to educate the whole child. Last year, thanks in great part to SCEF, we were able to pass a budget without significant cuts to programs or staff.  We are incredibly fortunate to live in a city where schools are highly valued and where continued support from the community allows us to provide an excellent education for all our students, despite these difficult times of diminishing funds from the state!

Our District can better forecast and plan for the future if SCEF donations are submitted sooner rather than later. Donating now versus in the spring is even more essential this year, as mid-year state education budget cuts are almost a certainty.

I sincerely hope you will support your San Carlos Education Foundation’s “SCEF Day” on December 1.

I thank you for your numerous and ongoing contributions to our schools.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Regards,

Craig Baker, Superintendent

For more information on the San Carlos Education Foundation, or to donate directly to the Foundation, please visit their website.  The link to donate online can be found here.
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The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 11-26-11.

San Carlos Real Estate Summary.

As expected, the shortened Thanksgiving week kept activity pretty light in San Carlos — the numbers below reflect that.    The notable exception, however, was  387 Elm Street .  We noted last week that this new listing seemed to pique everyone’s interest, and from Friday afternoon throughout the entire weekend, this house saw a non-stop stream of  agents and buyers.    It ended up selling after only 5 days on the market, reportedly with multiple offers well above its list price.   This just shows how strong the San Carlos market remains, despite the time of the year, and also is a testament to how many buyers are still out there looking for the right San Carlos house to call home.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the inventory of San Carlos single family homes as of 11-26-2011:

>>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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Safety Tips for Black Friday Shopping.

Going Shopping Friday?

If you’re one of those shoppers who is crazy enough to get up before the sun and jump headlong into the frenzy that is holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving, then the Redwood City Police want to make sure you do so safely.  They’ve taken the time to compile a list of some good, common sense precautions that you should take if you venture into those shark-infested sales waters on Friday, because the bad guys will be working overtime that day too.

Oh yeah, and one tip that’s NOT in the list below?  SHOP SAN CARLOS!!!!

Holiday Shopping Safety
From the Redwood City Police Department!

With the holiday season such a hectic time of year; people tend to forget that they must be aware of their surroundings while shopping. Please take a moment to ensure that you and your family remain safe and have great holiday season.

BEFORE YOU SHOP

• Carry only small amounts of cash
• Shop during daylight hours whenever possible—or go with a friend if you shop at night (or the pre-dawn sales).
• Carry keys, credit cards and cash separate from each other.
• Be extremely careful and watchful when using ATM machines.
• Wear conservative, comfortable clothing, and minimal jewelry.
• Carry a cell phone, if you have one.
• While driving, keep your doors locked and windows rolled up – including in the parking lot.
• Maintain at least half a tank of fuel

WHILE SHOPPING

• If you have to carry a purse, carry it close to your body and keep it zipped.
• Park close to where you are going and park in a well-lit area.
• Heighten your awareness – be aware of your surroundings and who is nearby.
• Grip carried items firmly and do not leave them unattended.
• Do not overload yourself with packages to maintain visibility and freedom of motion, and to avoid mishaps.
• Pay for purchases with a check or credit card when possible.
• When hurried or in a crowded shop, make sure you get all forms of ID and credit cards returned to you before leaving.
• Notify the credit card issuer immediately if your credit card is lost or stolen.
• Keep a record of all credit card numbers in a safe place at home.
• Keep a close eye on children while shopping.

AFTER SHOPPING

• Leave the mall before closing time; it is safer to walk out of the mall with other people.
• Be aware of strangers approaching you for any reason. At this time of year, “con-artists” may try various methods of distraction with the intent of taking your money or belongings.
• Use an escort or mall security if you have a lot of packages or if you are leaving the mall after closing.
• When returning to your vehicle, carry your keys in your hand and be ready to unlock the door and enter as quickly as possible.
• Check under your car as you approach it; this is a common spot for criminals to hide.
• Check the interior of your car before entering.

AT HOME

• After opening gifts, break down cardboard boxes of expensive electronics and put them in plastic bags to hide the fact you have new high-value items in your home.

Wishing you a very safe and happy holiday season, from the Redwood City Police Department!

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