Burlingame, CA

So you have decided to put your property up for sale, now it is time to meet with your favorite realtor. Be very careful when setting the price point, be realistic in what you expect to get at end of closing. Be very careful examining the comparable properties in your neighborhood. Investigate the type of repairs made; consider closing costs by using a net sheet, etc. Your realtor should never over-quote what the real market price is just to get the listing, because he will never be able to sell your property for more than the offer received by the highest bidder.

Work out a schedule with your realtor in advance as to when you'd like to go over how your listing is performing compared to the competition including unique visitors and open houses. Reports should be provided to sellers on a regular basis and reviewed to adjust price point if needed.

For your copy of a free report called "Getting the Highest and Best Price" write me at Andrew@batesrealestategroup.com.

Visit www.BatesRealEstateGroup.com for a look at available properties, including foreclosure properties in the area and for other real estate related issues.

This past week the City of Burlingame had 54 houses for sale. The Median price was $1,484,444 (an unlucky number in Chinese numerology). The average price, which is always higher than a median was $1,595,334. The least expensive house for sale last week was for $695,000, a Short Sale, and it's now a pending sale. Believe it or not, this is good new, kind of... The median price has gone up but so has the average number of days on the market it is taking to sell that house which is 99! Almost half of the houses listed have seen a price reduction. You may wonder why Realtors seem to get price wrong and let me tell you it is an inexact science and changes by the minute and is something for a later post.

Now, this data is from last week, and I just went on the MLS to see what, if anything, had changed from the chart. Right now, as I am writing this, Burlingame has 40 houses on the market. When a house is for sale over the holidays you can be sure you are dealing with a serious seller, and there are 40 of these in Burlingame right now. The difference between the two sources has to do with time and additional data that Altos Research uses, including For Sale By Owner.

Altos Research likes to break down the real estate market by Quartile. Quartile 1 is the top quarter of the market with a median price of $2,350,000 and for this you likely will see a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom home likely in Easton Edition or the Hills, and somewhere around 3000 square feet in size. Quartile 2 sits below in the middle-upper half and sees a median price of $1,695,000. This house will also likely have 4 bedrooms but only 3 baths and is around 2700 square feet in size. As we move to the lower half of the market, Quartile 3 sees a median price of $1,317,750. For this you also might get 4 bedrooms but only 3 baths and a smaller home just around 2000 square feet in size. The bottom of the market, Quartile 4 sees a median price of $918,500. These are the smallest houses with a median size of 1300 square feet and 2 or 3 bedrooms and 1 bath.

What I love about the Altos Research charts is how clearly they show the market. Looking at the Median Price, you can clearly see that prices were at bottom right at New Year 2008. Then they moved up and then bounced at another low around the second quarter of the year. Prices have risen since then. So you ask, What Gives? I know you're thinking that the news media says prices are dropping everywhere so how can this be happening? Perhaps, since I am not an economist, it has to do with the high desire of Burlingame, the great schools, the proximity to both San Francisco and the Silicon Valley and the very present shortage of housing in San Mateo County. Now don't get me wrong, prices have declined in Burlingame, just like everywhere else, but just not as dramatically.

Burlingame is a Buyer's Market. It's been one for over a year and yes, if you can afford to buy here, you won't go wrong. There are several months of inventory to select from, we haven't seen any wild swings in the market for a very long time, and even though we're seeing prices going up, there's really no reason for it, and if you're serious about buying you will likely have a good chance at getting the seller to listen to a good offer and negotiate. The Market Action Index is something Altos Research developed to show the break between a Seller's Market and a Buyer's Market. The red line sitting at 30 is the delineator. It also shows the balance between supply and demand in a nice form.

If you like information like this, you too can receive it right in your email. Just let me know and I'll have it sent. There is money to lend to people who are qualified to get it. If you fall into that camp, we'd love to show you some of the beautiful houses for sale in Burlingame. Call me at 650-696-2820.

This weekend, August 9th and 10th, the Burlingame Chamber of Commerce will be hosting its annual Art & Jazz Festival. There will be food, drink, activities, and events for people of all ages.

Come visit us in the Fox Mall right by Baskin Robbins. We'll be giving out information about our new program for seniors; a no-cost, debt-free alternative to a reverse mortgage.

I hope to see you there!

There has not been much change from last week in either the mortgage market or the stats in the local home sale market.

Rates have not moved much this week. That could change tomorrow when the Fed announces their decision regarding the Federal Funds Rate at 11:15 Pacific Time. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that they will not change rates - the consensus is that they will cut .25%.

Burlingame has 54 single familyhomes for sale with 10 listed as pending - not much change from last week. The lowest priced listing is for $659,000. The highest priced listing is for $2,995,000, which is a $100,000 increase of the highest priced home for sale from last week.

Hillsborough has 55 homes for sale with 3 listed as pending sales, according to mlslistings.com. The price range is between $1,995,000 to $18,000,000. Once again, the highest priced home for sale is in the $2,000,000 price range. We'll wait another week to see if we can draw any conclusions about what is happening in the Hillsborough home sale market.

My client recently received a letter from Washington Mutual stating that they were reducing his equity line from $939,700 to $282,000. We hear about lenders reducing the amount of available credit on equity lines every day. This case, I believe, is an example of a lender taking advantage of a customer because of their own problems.

WAMU approved my clients for a 90% CLTV equity line based on an appraised value of $2,600,000. It was a fully documented loan, and it closed in January 2007.

After receiving this letter, my client and I had a conference call with a supervisor from the WAMU consumer loan division. He stated that the decision to reduce the equity line amount was based on the results of an automated valuation model (AVM) of the home that determined that the home had declined in value from $2,600,000 to $2,398,252. My rough math tells me that the value, based on their AVM, dropped 8 to 9%.

Because of a 8% to 9% drop in value, WAMU arbitrarily decided to cut the amount available by approximately 70%! Over one year later they decide to change the CLTV from 90% to roughly 70% based on a computer model of an expensive home, not even a full appraisal!

Both myself and my client understand that WAMU has the right to cut the available balance of the equity line based on their determination of value. What we do not understand is why they cut the CLTV from 90% of the perceived value to 70% of the perceived value.

My client is paying a rate based on a 90% CLTV. Did they offer to reduce his rate based on a 70% CLTV? No.

We asked the supervisor if he could change the amount available back to the 90% CLTV that the original loan was based on. This would reduce the available line amount from $939,700 to $760,000. He said no. He said my client could provide an appraisal from an appraisal firm of WAMU's choice, or a property tax assessment. Then they would consider increasing the line.

The actions of WAMU in this case stink! I truly believe that they are cutting my client's available credit because of their problems. What do you think?