The Emerald Hills Blog

The Economic Stimulus Plan of 2008 (aka HR5140) was signed over a week ago, with the key element for home buyers being the temporary extension of the conforming loan limit. Now that the dust has settled, is this really going to help the housing market in Emerald Hills? Click on this week’s Real Estate Minute podcast button below to find out.

Here’s also an excellent article from the Associated Press (via the Mercury News) that talks about it some detail:

Why Boosting Conforming Limits May Not Work

Two new listings hit the market this week in Emerald Hills, but there were no home sales during this period. Here’s the scoop — click on the address for more details and photos:

• 1029 Wilmington Way: $1,880,000 — 5BR/4+BA, 3,900 sq ft on a 15,942 square foot lot. MLS #779588, listed by Michael Roza, RE/MAX Star Properties.
• 531 Hillside Rd: $849,000 — 2BR/1BA, 1,080 sq ft on a 16,291 square foot lot. MLS #779191, listed by Michelle Glaubert, Coldwell Banker.

Let’s see if next week brings a little more activity…

…ironically rhymes with the word “dog.” According to this article in the L.A. Times, the blog is the becoming the single most effective marketing tool for today’s agent. One blogging agent is even quoted in the article saying:

“We believe you will eventually only use an agent that blogs. Why? Because . . . if they blog about a community they must know it. . . . You also learn more about them as they blog.”

That’s a pretty strong prediction, but you get the picture. This medium has been a tremendously effective way for me to keep my clients up-to-date, and for new clients to get to know me as an agent and as a person. I’m surprised more agents aren’t doing it….

Thanks again for being a loyal reader, and I’ll see you again in the next post!

OK, so you’ve been bombarded by news about the Economic Stimulus Plan of 2008, aka HR5140. (I’ve already heard jokes that it should have been called HR5150, but that would be crazy, wouldn’t it?)

Get a quick summary of what this means to you in this week’s “Real Estate Minute” Podcast, or click this great article from USA Today —> Economic Stimulus Plan

Emerald Hills is slowly shaking off the rust of a long, wet winter. New listings and home sales are starting to pick up, but not at the pace of the rest of the Peninsula. Here’s the scoop:

New Listings:

• 3872 Jefferson Ave: $2,499,999 — 6+BR/4+BA, ??? sq ft on a 15,805 square foot lot. MLS #777745, listed by Diana Tharp of Bay Area Estates. Interesting — no square footage listed, and no MLS pictures. That’s not that unusual in itself, but this appears to be an agent selling their own home, so the lack of marketing info is a bit puzzling, especially for a $2.5M home…minus that $1, of course
• 263 Ferndale Way: $1,449,000 — 2BR/1BA, 660 sq ft on a 39,204 square foot lot. MLS #777337, listed by Brian Donaldson of Lehr Real Estate. OK, I’m no PhD in math but doesn’t that comes out to ~ $2,195/square foot? I almost thought I accidentally logged onto the Manhattan MLS, but I guess the near acre of Emerald Hills land is the big draw here.
• 628 Lakeview Way: $1,299,950 — 4BR/3.5BA, 2,880 sq ft on a 6,478 square foot lot. MLS #778534, listed by Michelle Glaubert of Coldwell Banker.
• 748 Oakview Way: $1349000 — 3BR/2BA, 1,570 sq ft on a 7,315 square foot lot. MLS #778422, listed by Brandon Denman Pacific Coast Real Estate.
• 3534 Oak Knoll Dr: $1,095,000 — 3BR/2BA, 1,580 sq ft on a 10,080 square foot lot. MLS #777394, listed by Rico Bautista, RE/MAX Dolphin.

Home Sales:

This is pretty interesting. Two homes sold this past week, both for $1,350,000. But they arrived at that number from two entirely different directions and timeframes.

• 253 Sylvan Way: Original List Price: $1,558,900 Sales Price: $1,350,000. Diff = (- $208,900.) Days on Market (DOM) 93 days.
• 1759 Edgewood Rd.: Original List Price: $1,279,000 Sales Price: $1,350,000. Diff = +71,000. DOM: 9 days.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the San Francisco Peninsula boasts some of the best cycling routes on the West Coast. However, finding these routes and discovering new ones is a bit of trial and error, or getting a recommendations from fellow cyclists. The only official government sanctioned map of the bike routes is over a decade old and doesn’t factor in commute routes and details on the terrain.

Fortunately, that’s about to change. The Association of Governments just approved and funded a project to upgrade the maps. According to the article in the Redwood City Daily News (click here –> Bike Map in the Works) the map should be available by mid-summer. If it’s available in soft-copy and not too large, I’ll post in on the blog in a future article.

The weather’s turning nice…happy cycling!

Like every other industry today, real estate has become increasingly dependent on technology.  In fact, one could easily argue that the real estate industry has been chronically slow to take advantage of the latest advancements that come out of our own area.  Coming from a technology background, I couldn’t agree more.  The utility of technology in this industry is woefully inadequate.  With nearly 90% of all home buyers starting their home search on the internet, this is a recipe for disaster.

How will this change going forward?  Web 2.0 will change everything.   The increasing focus on video content will completely change how agents market themselves and their listings, and will greatly enhance the client’s real estate web experience.   While there are many companies, both large and small, from which we draw on every day, these 5 are the most important, and most heavily utilized:

1. Google:  Let’s face it..if you can’t find it, you can’t see it.  They own the majority of search traffic on the net, and they constantly change how that game is played.  With Yahoo now distracted with survival, Google will become increasingly important.  Watch how they will start eating into Microsoft’s cake soon.
2. Cisco Systems:    Since the vast majority of web traffic still flows through their routers, Cisco is still the king of the internet backbone.  They recently rolled out their vision of the “new web” bringing a much more personalized web experience to each user, and video is key to this experience.
3. Apple:    Talk about your “all in one” shop — this is it.  There is no other company that offers the ability to create, distribute and view video content more easily than Apple.   Without leaving your chair, you can easily create impactful video, post it onto a custom website or blog,  and then distribute it to the planet via ITunes.   It can then be viewed on an iPhone or a Nano…  You get the picture.  Clearly Apple does.
4. Research in Motion:   The maker of the Blackberry personal communicator.  They own the market for “smart phones” that allow users to make calls, surf the web, and send emails from anywhere.   Palm’s Treo is another choice, but more Treo users are switching to Blackberries than vice versa.
5. Hewlett Packard:  With all the excitement surrounding Apple, the reality is that the Windows world still rules the roost.  HP has quietly wrestled the PC crown away from Dell several quarters ago.  Combine this with the fact that HP owns the personal printer market, and their influence is huge.   They get the whole portability game too, with unique tablet PC’s, portable printers, and digital cameras.

Are these the only important companies to the industry?  No way…there are hundreds more, but these are the top.

Honorable Mentions:  Adobe (where would we be without pdf’s?), Microsoft, Intel, Palm, Yahoo, WordPress….

(This is the inaugural podcast for a new weekly podcast series that I’ll post on this blog. The Real Estate Minute is a quick, 60 second podcast on the latest in Real Estate. Enjoy!)

Are you planning on a quick pre-approval, or a fast escrow close? You’d better double-check with your bank. Some now have more work than they can handle. Click on the podcast below for the first edition of the Real Estate Minute — 60 seconds of real estate.

Business is slowly picking up in the Emerald Hills Real Estate market. While there were nearly 6 new listings posted this week, only 2 were truly “new.” The rest were re-treads that were on the market previously (for long periods of time. Here’s the update — click on the address for more details:

New Listings:

• 204 Upland Ct: $1,895,000 — 5BR/4+BA, 4,073 sq ft, on a 10,960 square foot lot. Good location on a cul-de-sac and close enough to Edgewood Road to make an easy commute. MLS #800112, listed by Greg Celotti of Alain Pinel Realtors.
• 28 Don Ct: $1,349,950 2BR/4+BA (yes, there are more bathrooms than bedrooms.) No square footage specified on the MLS (???) But this is a sprawling, multi-structure dwelling on a large ~18,000 square foot lot. It’s a good location at the end of Don Ct, and the home has potential with some updating. MLS #800127, listed by Dave Blewett of Intero.

Homes Sales:

No homes closed escrow this week.

Multiple offers? Are you kidding me?

They’re still happening, especially for nice homes in desirable areas like Emerald Hills. How do you succeed when you’re in a multiple offer situation? Here are 5 tips that may help. Click on the “Play” link below.