Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

Ah, the Pumpkin Festival!  Here’s a behind the scenes peek from this family, but first a brief background…

The Pumpkin Festival is a community fundraiser that started back in the early 70’s and is organized by the Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee.  The committee organizes the planning of each facet of the event - vendors, entertainment, food booths, contests, everything.

“Since the festival’s inception, the committee has contributed 1.3 million dollars to various civic projects and community service organizations. This year, over $80,000 was awarded to 23 non-profit, school and municipal agencies.”  From the HMB Chamber of Commerce.

The food booths are manned by local organizations who sell food (keep in mind we are a town that loves good food) to earn money for their cause.  You will find hundreds of local parents and kids “working” the Pumpkin Festival.  We’ve worked shifts for the elementary schools, clubs, and sports organizations.  Since my son is on the high school basketball team, we will be helping with that food booth. 

The Basketball Team sponsors the famous Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast, with pumpkin pancakes, sausages, OJ, coffee and all the trimmings.  Those “in the know” get there early because they know the line can back up for blocks during peak serving times.  And who is doing the serving?? - parents and the players!  Some very dedicated and organized parents work for months to make the serving of 1800 breakfasts over 2 days look easy.  Thousands of dollars is raised to help the HMB High Varsity Basketball Team get to know each other and their coaches better by taking a trip to a far away tournament during the Holiday Season.  This kind of trip only happens every other year.

Donations are flowing in to our fearless Team Chairperson, Debbie Silveria, including 400 lbs. of sausages, pumpkin mix, and this year’s much anticipated donation, Peet’s from the new Peet’s Coffee in town.  If you are inclined, Debbie still needs the following:  duct tape, paper towels, Clorox wipes, liquid hand soap, 45 gallon trash bags, large sterno, and small aluminum pans.  Make your donation via a comment here or call Debbie at 650-728-3135.  You can also contact me and I’ll get the goods or info to Debbie.

I’ll be there on Saturday morning the 14th probably up to my eyeballs in batter, juice, or sausages. If you’re around, come check out why the Pancake Breakfast is so popular!Pancakes, Yum!

p.s.  If you come, arrive early and be prepared to put on your “go with the flow” hat.  You won’t be alone.

Showerheads look harmless enough.

We were in escrow representing the buyer.  The home inspection found a leak in a shower/tub and a “staining” on a surface in an entirely different location on the property.  Hmmm, are they related or not? The negotiations began…after extensive conversations with our buyer client about the pros and cons of moving forward in escrow with the current information, the client decided that in order to proceed with the sale we wanted a mold inspection.  We researched companies and made an appointment asap.  Timing was a priority due to the contingency period.

The word “mold” has come to be used to describe a substance that might appear as dark, ugly, and where it is not supposed to be - whether it’s mold or not!  Until you are buying or selling a house with such issues, you may not think about this much, or simply consider the ”stains” mildew and go about your life, promising to get the bleach out at the next house cleaning.   All homeowners need to keep moisture away from their homes, but Coastsiders do live, after all, next door to the Pacific Ocean - a wonderfully dewey, coastal climate, with frequent invitations for moisture to settle in.

Mold can cause problems for people and houses according to the San Mateo County Environmental Health Division.  Neither a homeowner, a Listing Agent, a buyer, or your neighbor can correctly diagnose mold.  A great resource for identification of the substance is ProTech, based in Redwood City.   This company offers trained Industrial Hygienists.  We worked with Ron Mason.  He was professional and knowledgeable.  The test may cost in the $500-$700 range depending on what you have tested and how many samples are taken.  Within a day or two you will get a report detailing specifically what is going on.  The new knowledge about your property that you get from a report like this is worth the fee alone, especially if you suspect mold.

Okay, so let’s say you do have black mold (one of the types).  You then hire another company, such as Ideal Drying, to remediate the problem.  ProTech, or the company that does the initial testing, comes back to the property to retest and declare the property mold-free.  It may not be as destructive as one would think.  ProTech has some very cool, highly sophisticated tools to detect mold in places that are not easily reachable, thereby saving the homeowner from major destruction and reconstruction costs.  Before the contractor puts the house back together - e.g., the floor back in, the wall back together, etc., you will want to make sure the underlying problem that created the moisture/mold problem is also fixed!   The sooner you identify a potential problem, the less expensive it will be in the long run, and the peace of mind is priceless. 

m-o-l-d does not have to be a “bad word”.  If you have a mold story, share it here and help others. 

Sources:

Health Risks of Household Mold, by San Mateo County Environmental Health Dept.

ProTech Consulting & Engineering, Redwood City, CA  650-569-4020

Ideal Drying, South San Francisco, CA 800-379-6881

A million dollar sales price in Half Moon Bay will buy you a very nice home.  There may or may not be a compromise somewhere, such as one less bedroom in exchange for the location you desire, smaller home than you really want but with the great yard you wanted, the “perfect” house but without the view you hoped for, you get the idea.

There are 4 homes currently for sale between $1,000,000 and $1,050,000 in Half Moon Bay - 2 are walking distance to a children’s park, elementary school, the Coastal Trail, and downtown.   One is easy walking distance to the high school, and one is in Miramar, across the street (Hwy 1) from the beaches.  All are in suburban neighborhoods.

Two homes sold in HMB during the last 90 days in this price range.  Also, two homes sold in HMB during the same 90 days in 2006.  Four homes sold in HMB during the same 90 days in 2005.

For the entire Coastside, including Pescadero and Pacifica, there are 16 homes for sale in this price range.  All are 2-4 bedrooms, 1820-3500 square feet, 2 year to 43 year old houses, 5-225 days on the market!  Coastside real estate is VERY local.

As we begin to digest this week’s news of the half percent Fed Funds rate cut… Now what? 

On Tuesday afternoon, when I asked my Manager, Robert Ross, what he thought of the Fed reducing the funds rate, he said, “it probably won’t affect our area too much.”  Why, because we are San Mateo County, a bedroom community of tech-capital Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest areas in the country.  “Home sales are less affected by interest rate fluctuations here.”  I won’t know the real reason without further analysis, but I would speculate that available assets to contribute to downpayments enables many of our buyers to obtain very good loan programs.  The chart data, provided by Mortgage Consultants Ed Diaz and Jim Gallup shows the correlation between conforming interest rates and the NASDAQ.  When local stocks are healthy more cash is available. 

The Fed Funds rate (interest rate charges between banks) does not directly affect mortgage interest rates.  It does affect home equity lines.   The Fed’s interest rate cut will have the effect of diminishing fear and panic at the investor level, which will ease the liquidity, and cause larger amounts of money to begin flowing again soon.  What does this mean for you as a home buyer or seller now?

Home sellers - You may get a few more buyers back in the market, more due to confidence than any additional money.  The Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae conforming loans were never affected by our current mortgage situation; the jumbo loans will come back into the market once the the money flow has loosened a bit.  Experts I have asked in the last few weeks say it should take until at least mid November before more jumbo products are available again. 

Home buyers - Mortgage interest rates are tied to Bond market, not the Fed Funds rate.  Also, lending standards have tightened since early August.  Talk to your TRUSTED mortgage professional about your options.  Each buyer’s situation is unique.  Depending on where you are in the buying process and your timing, your mortgage professional will be able to explain what may be coming down the pike that you can prepare for following the Fed’s actions this week.

Sources and a couple articles of interest (tons of reading out there):

• Federal Reserve System website
• Gary Watts, Real Estate Economist (presentation on 9/20/07) - Email me for 8 page report
• Chicago Tribune, 9/21/07
• Business Week - “Vital Signs…” 9/20/07
• Jim Gallup, Mortgage Professional, MadysenAve.com
• Ed Diaz, Mortgage Professional, P-Shift Mortgage Solutions
• Susan O’Driscoll, Mortgage Professional, Princeton Capital

Autumn is one of the BEST times of year on the San Mateo County coast.  The weather pattern is such that our warmest and mildest weather is between September and November, I mean December, actually January can be good too.  Anyway, for anyone who knows me, I can get a little carried away with good weather - back to Fall…

 There is something in the air that is like a second Spring here…

Excitement is stirred into the pumpkin bread mix as we prepare to - reconnect with friends (this is my Part 1) - prepare for our volunteer jobs at the Pumpkin Festival (Part 2) - and perhaps take the time to check off a small home improvement project before the Holidays (Part 3).  So much to do, so little time.

Reconnect with Friends!  My “life” friends and I have just sent - or are sending - our first or last babies off to college this month.  What an experience!!!!  Once the spontaneous tears have subsided a bit I will be planning a get-together to eat good food (of course), and reminise about the days of baby mini-traumas, toddler playdates, birthday parties, sleepovers, crazy sports schedules and raising a horse-loving daughter.  The coastside is a fabulous place to raise a family and Fall brings it all back, even when the babies are now spreading their wings.  Ok, here I go… time out, getting tissue…Ok, I’m back.

So much has happened since I first came to Half Moon Bay 18 years ago.  A lifesaver was co-founding the Coastside Mother’s Club.  Its membership has grown by leaps and bounds since I and five other women started it back in the early 1990’s.  My kids were 3 and 1 then.  The other new moms that I met through that network are now my forever friends and we will be having that Fall dinner party soon.  One quick story for this blog, more in future blogs…

I will never forget the Thanksgiving when 4 young families - the young parents and each with our first child - attempted to have a “sit down” celebration when our kids were almost 1.  In addition to the 8 adults in our tiny dining room, there were 4 high chairs.  What I remember most was all of us taking bites here and there, getting up and down constantly and trying to keep food from the highchair trays from flying all over the room.  It was crazy and fun.  I think we managed to prevent any wine spillage, a good thing.

Reconnect with your friends this Fall.

They came from all over the Bay Area - Sunnyvale, San Francisco, San Bruno and as far away as Castro Valley.  While most visitors who stopped by our booth were Coastsiders, the several hundred who enjoyed the 2nd annual Eco-Energy Expo in Half Moon Bay did not go away empty-handed, either of knowledge or goodies!

Since this is a real estate blog, one of the most exciting features of this event is the Solar Home Tour.  Fifteen homes showcased their solar and other green home improvements.  These homeowners have grabbed ahold of the 21st century and are incorporating green products and services into their lifestyle.   Then they graciously allowed the rest of us to take a peek at the result of their research, work, and investment of time and money to improve their homes and community.

So what was our booth all about?…there’s an EcoBroker in town!  At our little table, we gave out compact flourescent lightbulbs from a beautiful recycled bowl, and offered a sheet with the www.ecobroker.com site so those interested know where to find out more.  Susie Hughey-Haas, my business partner, recently received this certification.  She had her well worn text books available for perusal and we talked to our curious booth visitors until our throats were parched.  We had so much fun that the 4-hour event flew by.

This is a new real estate continuing education designation within the last year or two.  Susie decided to take the course when we were asked to list a new construction “green” home last year.  We did anything and everything we could to learn eco-anything as fast as possible to market this incredible property.  One of the many exciting new developments that we learned from this course is a hopefully growing availability of Energy Efficiency Mortgages.  So, in the process of working on this Listing, in addition to everything else that we do to bring exposure to a Listing, Susie studied for this certification and I wrote articles from what we learned that were published in the local newspaper.

Go green!

p.s.  The house sold and was one of the showcase homes on the Solar Home Tour this year.

The towns of Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach and Montara make up the heart of the “Coastside”.  Even though I also include Pescadero - San Gregorio -  & La Honda for points south, and Pacifica - South San Francisco - & San Bruno for points north when looking at market trends, I took only Coastside numbers for this exercise.

So what is a normal market for this area? . . . Generally around 5 months of inventory.

I remember hearing people say last year that we were in a Buyer’s Market when we were at 4 1/2 months.  Some of the slowdown may have been partly due to our temporary (5 months) Devil’s Slide interruption.  How short our memories can be…  Beginning in 2000 inventory began to hover around 3 months.  if your listing didn’t sell after the first open house, something was wrong!  Last year, I knew it was trending in a different direction as the overall market correction began its slow descent, but, in fact, it was not a Buyer’s Market yet. It may now finally be the Buyer’s turn as we are clearly out of our normal pattern.  In fact, last month’s spike to 11 months of inventory, is quite a significant jump for this area and I would be interested to see how it compares to other areas.  We all know that part of the reason is recent lending woes.  Time to sit up, take notice, find your Realtor’s business card (or call me).  Carpe Diem - with your downpayment!

Is it a Perfect Storm? . . .

I cringed as I drove away from the perfect mid 70’s Half Moon Bay weather to head north to Folsom, CA for a family Labor Day BBQ. In the interest of full disclosure, the weather in HMB is not always “perfect” on Labor Day (or 4th of July or Memorial Day for that matter.) Aside from the anticipation of a really fun family party was the knowledge that I would have access to a swimming pool! And the pool got lots of use in the 100+ degree heat. I love to talk real estate - whenever - so reflecting on the various industry themes that came up at this family gathering, they were quite varied. This time, the hot (no pun intended) topics were:

Mortgages  (of course!)- My sister-in-law shared that her cousin and her cousin’s spouse, both mortgage brokers, were recently laid off by their employers, one worked in Marin and the other in Sonoma. They had bought a beautiful home in Sonoma County a few years ago and she fears that they may not be able to hold on to it.

Selling the Family Estate - Another sister-in-law is getting the play-by-play stories from her mother who is a beneficiary of inherited property along with other siblings. The siblings couldn’t agree on if or when to sell, so the property listing got continually delayed. Now it’s on the market. One brother hired the Realtor, but the other siblings don’t like that person. An offer came in but it was “a low ball offer”. . . not accepted. Frustration abounds in Butte County.

To fill in the family pool or not fill in the family pool - Does it increase your property value to have a pool or not have a pool (in Marin County)? The pool was built for my dad who loved to swim. Did we (the kids) get to enjoy the pool when we were growing up and actually lived there - ooh no! They put in this great pool after we all (4 of us) moved out. Dad is no longer with us (rest his soul) and mom never used the pool. The vote right now…drum roll…:  remove the pool and create a large grassy area because the “young families moving to Marin” don’t want the liability of a pool. Stay tuned for the final decision.

“We are thinking of buying a condo in Reno.” - A year ago my cousin and his wife almost bought a bigger house with the bigger mortgage. They decided to stay where they are. Then they went to check out Reno and found a great new condo with tons of builder incentives. They decided to wait a little longer for a few other family matters to fall into place and then off to Reno they may go. It will be there “last move”. They seemed concerned that perhaps a great condo like the one they wanted may be gone, but they are still waiting for the right time.

 Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of other topics…NOT real estate related.  Let’s see…everyone hoping that my brother wouldn’t overcook the chicken…the big sunglasses try-on…more college stories for the benefit of the 17 to 21 year olds…my brother’s chicken…the fish that was late being served because we thought there was propane, but really there wasn’t…did I mention the chicken?

I just love family parties.  There is so much to talk about.  Give me your opinion, the family is probably going to read this blog!  Yes, the only thing about Half Moon Bay in this blog is that we left it for a couple of days!

There are very few condo developments on the Coastside.  Condo developments are limited in part by restrictions due to our area’s vacancy rate.  Due to the limited number, their value has held or grown. 

They are Cypress Cove Townhouses and Amesport Landing in downtown Half Moon Bay, Ocean Corners Condos, near Ocean Colony in Half Moon Bay, and the Pilarcitos Park area, also in Half Moon Bay.  In the northern tip of town known as Miramar, oceanfront townhouses were built a stone’s throw from the Coastal Trail.  In El Granada (Princeton area) are the Beach House condos, a luxury condo/hotel with fractional ownership - when there are units available for resale.

When I was reviewing the annual median price results, which I did with June median sales prices, I started with single family homes and noticed that the results were trending with the greater San Mateo County statistics.  What surprised me was the condo/townhouse market (MLS term:  Common Interest Development) June median sales price of $760K, up 20% from 2006’s $555K, and up 12.5% from 2005’s $430K.  That’s quite a jump in two years for condominiums.  Also, while the Coastside’s single-family-home days-on-the-market has increased in the last year (taking longer to sell),  the Coastside condos “days-on-market”  has decreased 24% in the last year, averaging 25 days.

We all know that statistics don’t tell the whole story, as there are many variables involved; however, this trend in our local market I thought a worthy topic.  Here’s a little info about each of the Condominium/Townhouse developments:

Cypress Cove - located on the east side of Highway 1 near Stone Pine Center in downtown Half Moon Bay.  These are lovely townhouses with charming patios or balconies, high ceilings, beautiful landscaping and attached garages.  A major bonus is the close proximity to downtown - just a short walk to all that Main Street - and the businesses off Main - have to offer.  A couple of many fun spots close to these townhouses are It’s Italia for a fabulous pizza, pasta dish or salad (the Salmon Ceasar Salad is my favorite, but I think it’s on the lunch menu only), or HMB Coffee Co., for soup-of-the-day, coffee drinks served in glass mugs, indoor and outdoor seating, and a great local vibe.  The median 2 bedroom sale price in 2006 was $650K.

Amesport Landing - These condos, some single story and some two-story, are also located downtown, west of Main, yet still on the east side of Highway 1.  Built in the early 1990’s just one block away from the all the local buzz, this complex is tucked behind beautiful mature trees and landscaping.  Great escapes from this location include M Coffee and Cunha’s Country Store.  The median 2 bedroom sale price in 2006 was $600K.

Ocean Corners - Built in the early 1990’s, these charming beach condos are a short distance from downtown Half Moon Bay; a short distance to the oceanfront golf courses, the beach, coastal trails, and the Half Moon Bay Ritz.  While these are farther away from downtown than the others, it could easily be a short bike ride.  The median 2 bedroom sale price in 2006 was $540K.

Pilarcitos Park -  There are a few small condo complexes in this area on the west side of Highway 1 near the Kelly St. intersection.  These conveniently located condos offer easy access to Strawflower Shopping Center, Hatch Elementary School, Tres Amigos, well as the beaches.  The median 2 bedroom sale price in 2006 was $502K.

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There may be small 2-3 buildings in El Granada.  There are no condos that I am aware of in Moss Beach or Montara.  Many condos are in Pacifica, which I will save for another post