Lenore Wilkas

Divorce. It's always there and especailly considered, in tough financial times like these, as an option for solving all of your finanial woes. If you are even beginning to consider it, do me a favor and get in touch with me first so we can talk about the impact of divorce will have on you, your family, and most important, your finances.

If you have children the first thing thought about is keeping the house for them to live in, and allow them to continue to go to their neighborhood school. This may not be the best thing for you, your spouse, or children. In fact, it might very well be the worst thing you could do financially. If you are serious about getting divorced you need to do it completely, 100%, and that includes financially. Keeping the house keeps you and your soon to be ex-spouse financially connected. You may need to divorce the house,too.

Want to learn more about this? I'm easy to reach. Give me a call or email me and I'll be happy to meet with you. The sooner you do this, the better it is. Once you have signed your settlement agreement, it's likely too late. Divorce may only solve some problems but not all, and if you don't consider all of your options you may make some drastic errors that will effect your finances for years.

I am a RCS-D and have been educated and certified to help you and your legal team. I work in San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara County only. Your house might become a money pit. Divorce your house and your spouse.

I have a question for you today: Can you buy anything in San Mateo County for $200,000 that is in an area you might want to live in? The answer is, YES! Last year I wrote about a client looking to buy something for no more than $350,000 and I took on that challenge, and yes it was a challenge. We did find some condos that were available and some, not all, but some were inhabitable, too. Almost all of them were bank owned.

This year my challenge is now $200,000 and so far we have found several condos in that price range in communities that offer loads of ammenities for the residents and are in fairly good condition. I'm talking about San Bruno's Shelter Creek and Daly City's Crown Colony. Both of these complexes are FHA approved, too. Sure, we are looking at Short Sales or REO's (Bank Owned) properties but these are 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom condos, not studios.

If you are currently a renter in San Mateo County and are paying $1800 a month for your apartment, why are you doing that? If you have money in the bank, a good job, and plan on staying in the area for a while you may very well qualify for an FHA loan that allows you to put down 3-1/2%, or about $7000 for a $200,000 condo. Your payments will be about $1800 and that includes your property taxes, insurance, and home owners association dues. If you qualify, you may also use the $8000 first time home owner's tax credit for your closing costs. Now, there are strings attached to the first time home owners credit, so your lender needs to explain whether you even qualify by income, but if you do, it is free money!

Think of it, you can own your own home for the same money you pay for your rent. Home ownership offers amazing tax savings bringing down your costs below what your actual payments are and these include tax deduction of the interest on your loan and on your property taxes.

If you are an investor what are you waiting for? This is a cash positive position to be in on some of these. Shelter Creek does not allow investors but Crown Colony does.

<!-- Post Body Copy -->

April 4th starts the fun

In South San Francisco head over to Orange Memorial Park, on Orange Avenue by 10 AM where there will be two egg hunts taking place. One just for Pre-Schoolers 3-5 years old and the second one for Elementary children 6-8 years old. Bring your own basket. While you’re there tell the South San Francisco Women’s Club thank you for sponsoring the event. Questions? Call 650-829-3800.

If you prefer warmer weather for your egg hunting then down in Los Altos you’ll find a hunt starting at 10 AM at State & 2nd Streets. This is for 1-10 year olds with their own baskets. It is a free event right in the downtown area of Los Altos.

If you don’t mind driving down to Los Gatos, there’s a hunt on the front lawn of Los Gatos Hight School between 10 AM and 1 PM. There will be a carnival taking place as well and tickets will be for sale during the egg hunts. The hunts are free and held by age groups. 10:15 AM - under 2; 10:45 AM - 2-3 years; 11:30 AM - 4-5 years; Noon - 6-7 years; 12:30 PM - 8-10 years.

Now Hop to April 11th

Burlingame’s Annual Lion’s Club Easter Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast starts early.Breakfast is served between 7:30 AM to 11 AM and costs $6 for adults and $3 for children. The egg hunt begins at 9 AM, and again at 11 AM. Be sure to have your baskets with you and you can call 650-348-0799 for more details.

The Grand Daddy of the Easter egg hunts is the Eggrtravaganza held in San Mateo’s Central Park at 5th Avenue and El Camino Real. This is the 32nd year of for this Easter Egg Hunt. The event begins at 9 AM and runs until 1:30 PM. Have questions? Call 650-522-7470. Don’t forget to bring the baskets for the eggs and candy!

Belmont is hosting their hunt at Twin Pines Meadow off of Ralston. Be there at 9 AM SHARP. It’s a free event for 3-10 year olds and all will get eggs, candy and other surprises. Bring your own basket and thank the Belmont Park & Recreation Department to hosting this event.

San Carlos is hosting their hunt at San Carlos City Hall Park. It begins at 11 AM SHARP. Hunts are divided both by age and gender; 3-4 years, 5-6 years, 7-8 years. It’s a free event but bring that basket for your child. There will be hot dogs, chips and drinks available for only $2 for sale by the San Carlos Lions Club.

Menlo Park has their egg hunt at Burgess Park between 10 AM and Noon. This is a joint venture with the Menlo Park Firefighters Association and the Easter Bunny arrives on an antique fire truck. This is for children 8 and younger. Bring a basket for the eggs.

Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos is bringing in the Bunny on a Helicopter and your children can greet the Bunny at 10:30 AM. The Bunny will be giving out eggs to all children there and face painting will be offered by the Magic Princesses.

Easter Sunday’s Hunts

Foster City’s Lions Club hosts the annual Easter Egg hunt held at Leo Ryan Park on the corner of East Hillsdale Blvd and Shell Blvd. It begins at 2 PM and is free. Just remember to bring the empty basket. The Easter Bunny will be there ready for your camera. In fact, be sure you have your camera with you any time you take your children to one of these events. It is so cute to watch the children running around the grass and something you don’t ever want to miss!

If you know of an Easter Egg Hunt that I’ve missed in San Mateo County or for that matter, in Santa Clara County, please let me know so I can add it here.

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.

I can't say it often enough - when it comes to buying a house, first impressions are everything. If you're selling or getting ready to sell your home in the coming months, one of the easiest and most dramatic ways to enhance that first impression is through paint. Fresh paint makes your house look clean, bright, and inviting.

Painting inside and out is quick, inexpensive, and gives a huge ROI (return on investment). If possible, hire a colorist to help you pick the right color for your house exterior and interior rooms. If not, talk to your local paint store and find out what colors are selling. Go to open houses annd look around to see what's being used.

Try to keep away from bright or unusual interior color. This can be a turn off to prospective buyers. The buyer needs to think about how their furniture will look in your home so pick more neutral color. Stark white isn't a good choice either because it makes a room cold.

If your budget won't allow for a complete repainting of the outside of your house, then repaint the trim around doors, windows, and roof. If you can, paint the front door a bright, inviting color. It's the first impression a buyer gets of your home. If you live in a condominiium or townhouse where painting is done by the homeowners association and it's needed, ask what paint colors are being used and buy the paint yourself to paint the front door. Just that one thing can really spruce up your entry.

Whether you paint yourself or hire someone, make sure all the prep work is done. Power washing will help get all dirt away and something it's all that's needed. Don't forget patching and repairing any necessary areas on the surface before it is painted.

Fresh paint is a great incenetive for buyers and will be mentioned in ads, flyers and online by the listing agent. Homeowners and buyers place a high value on the painted appearance of a home. Include the date the paint job was completed and the quality of paint that was used. Don't forget to leave any paint you use for the new owners. They will really appreciate it.

If you're thinking about going with a different color, the experts say you should consider the architecture of the home. You should also consider what the house is made of. You can easily paint wood, brick, masonry, or aluminum siding. But if you have vinyl siding, it should only be painted the same color or a lighter color. Dark paint will absorb the heat and ultimately cause the vinyl to warp in the heat.

Be sure to have all your painting done before potential buyers view the house. It is important to have all your repairs and painting done before listing your home and the virtual tour pictures will really be enhanced. You need that sparkling curb appeal from day one on the market. Anything less than that and you're just helping the other homes in the neighborhood sell first.