Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

What a weekend for my friend Sam Benson of Benson4Homes to be spending in Half Moon Bay!  He notified me of this a few days ago and we’ve been chatting about it on LinkedIn, where we are mutual contacts.  However, we originally met through Homescopes.

He’s going to be enjoying a relaxing weekend here on the Coastside with his group from Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda.

So if you see windbreakers or polos with their logo around the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club and the rest of the Coastside this weekend, I hope you will welcome them.

Sam is already aware of my Coastside - Visitor Fun page.  Here’s more resources if you’re sailing or driving in this weekend.

http://www.visithalfmoonbay.org/

Restaurant reviews on Yelp

You can see them all over the Half Moon Bay Coastside this month.  Here they are on neighborhood sidewalks and providing color to an otherwise bare residential lot in Miramar. 

I first noticed them a few weeks ago on a walk with my friend along the Coastside Trail in Half Moon Bay.  She would like them in her yard, she said.  Every since then, I’ve been noticing them everywhere. 

While I do know the names of a few local varieties, I don’t know the name of this one.  I’ve heard these called “painted ladies”.

Their vibrant pink color is starting to fade now that it is almost September.  If you missed them this year, look for them next August.  They are stunning as a blast of color on a foggy day.

The Half Moon Bay Coastside is brimming with inventory!… so it may be a little too easy to miss the perfect home.  We skim over homes on the web (there’s hundreds of sites), or on a list (have some more paper), or driving by (gas & time, although it is fun), or looking at a house-hunting mobile application - hoping that something is going to jump out at us, shake us, and say, this is the ONE.  So allow me to focus your attention on one home for just a minute…

Open today, Sunday, Aug. 24th.  Stop by to preview and chat, I’ll be there 1-3 p.m.

Here’s my opinion on the ideal buyer for this home.  As a top quartile* property on the Coastside, this home will be attractive to a buyer looking for…

• beautiful finishes
• architectural details
• An open and accessible kitchen for the chef-enthusiast, or wants to look like one
• Kitchen and family room toward the back of the house which is not visible to the formal entertaining areas
• The formal dining room and living room at the front part of the home ideal for business/formal entertaining
• a unique combination of tradition and the “coastal living factor”**

* top quartile’s median stats: list price is $1,799K; 3820 sq; 4br, 3ba, age 19 yrs., DOM 112. (note:  this home is $1,699K; 4br, 3.5ba, 3 yrs., CDOM 343).

** “coastal factor”explained (my definition):  home also offers features to maximize coastal living, such as open floor plan, lots of windows, sun exposure, mud/laundry room off the garage — for the sandy feet, of course.

And a couple other features it’s got going for it…

• Location! on the street, within the neighborhood, and in the area - it’s got it all.

• It has a ground level bedroom!  This is huge,  some of the new construction homes don’t have the ground level bedroom, or it’s set up as a guest room/office with no adjoining bathroom.  This one is a suite.

Thanks to Bill Mahar, Listing Agent for this home, for inviting me to showcase this one for you and hold it Open today.  As you can imagine, I’d love to find the perfect buyer for it.  Aside from the fact that this is my chosen career (i.e. livelihood), I simply love helping people find the perfect home to suit their goals.  Do you know someone who’s been waiting for a great price for a stunning home in the Miramar area of Half Moon Bay?

To read about more showcased homes, subscribe to Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles.

A question appeared on Coastsider, a local news source, a couple of days ago that caught my attention.  It was real estate related, of course.  I thought about what I could contribute that wasn’t already provided.

As we try to keep up with an always-changing market, using new tools that offer us speed and variation to get the needed market information, we now look to companies like the MLS - Pro.MLSlistings; RealtyTrac, Foreclosure Radar, Altos Research, The Real Estate Report, DataQuick, and Broker or Agent Metrics - along with our own brokerage-provided reports.  Real, factual, consistent information is available.  Unfortunately, it ’s not available all in one place!

One tool this site, Coastside Real Estate & Lifestyles, uses is Altos Charts.  You see it on my home page all the time.  The charts are live and updated weekly with real-time analysis for the cities at the top of the chart.  Anyone can do a quick check of the market this way, which is fun to do if you are just watching.

Altos Research is a company I like to use because they track listing data, providing complex information from various sources in a readily understandable manner, and they are well respected in the industry.  Listing data is as important as the historical data (i.e. what has happened…pending, pending with release, pending show, sold, expired, etc) which we obtain from MLS or reports from other companies.

I sometimes wonder if you may feel like Realtors keep information from you…  It really can be information overload unless you’re needing to buy or sell at that time.  Realtors walk a fine line between wanting to be transparent, fiduciary duty to our clients, and knowledge sharing.

Here’s what this week’s Altos Report Market Update for Half Moon Bay single family homes shows:

• Half Moon Bay (as a whole, not specific neighborhoods) list prices have been coming down from the peak of 2005. 

• The quartile with the lowest days-on-market is the lower-middle 25% of homes with a median price of $877,000. . . at 70 DOM.  The other three quartiles of homes currently for sale all average over 100 days on the market.

• 55% of listings have reset their days-on-market.

• 30% of properties on the market this week have price reductions.

• Average price per square foot for listings is $475.00.

Whether you should buy or sell either now, this Fall, or next Spring, will depend on your goals, timing, finances and financing, and probably other issues.  If your timing is within the next 12 months, talk to a real estate professional sooner rather than later.  The continuation of a buyer’s market may indicate further price reductions or properties coming off the market.  The better prepared you are the smoother the transaction = less stress.

If you want to receive this week’s complete Coastside Real Estate Market Update Report showing the City Overview, Characteristics per Quartile, price trends, price per square foot and inventory trends, Altos’ Market Action Index for Half Moon Bay as a whole and by Quartile, contact me.

For more market update posts like this and articles related to neighborhood market activity, subscribe to Coastside Real Estate and Lifestyles.

Altos Research provides various kinds of trends data, updated weekly, about cities that is based on public LISTING data, not sold data.  It can be viewed from 7 days to 360 days.  This is a good compliment to the MLS sold data because it shows leading indicators about a local market.  Altos’ site explains it this way:

A city’s data can be viewed as one market, or broken down by quartile - in essence 4 micro-markets within a city, as shown in the Half Moon Bay reports below.  Quartile 1: Most expensive 25% of properties; Quartile 2: Next 25%; Quartile 3: Next 25%; Quartile 4: Least expensive 25% of properties.

This post will show, graphically, why some market activity appears different from others and can sometimes be confusing.  As we see below for Half Moon Bay, currently, the entry level markets continue their correction.  The higher end of the market is holding its own.  Half Moon Bay does have some distressed properties, but - to date - the number remains small compared to other counties.  They do, however, affect local values.  Value = that’s a topic for another post!…discussed following the first half of 2008 in this post.

A very clear listing price trend viewed by quartile over the past 12 months…

If you thought you were confused by Days-on-Market before…  It looks like we’re trending back to where we were about a year ago, but the last year has seen DOM all over the place - a transitional market?

To see median prices for the cities of Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara, Pacifica, Pescadero, South San Francisco, San Bruno, San Mateo and Burlingame, check the Local Stats widget on my home page.  It is updated automatically by Altos every Monday.

To see more reports like this -  for condos, inventory tracking, price per square foot, median and average prices, as a whole or by quartile, subscribe to this blog or contact me. 

 Average Sales Prices for Ocean Colony, attached and detached single family homes - Quarter 1 over 8 years:

•  2008 - $1,250,000 (approx. 12% depreciation than in 2005; approx. 44% appreciation since 2000.)
•  2007 - $996,666
•  2006 - $1,176,500
• 2005 - $1,399,277
• 2004 - $1,371,900
• 2003 - $1,155,00
• 2002 - $1,003,920
• 2001 - $1,294,954
• 2000 - $694,750

The graph showing inventory (blue) and closed sales (red) spanning the last 8 years highlights a consistent trend in the earlier part of the decade and then a downshift in inventory and sales since 2004.  As expected, there is an uptick in available homes during the first half of the year.  Fewer sales have followed fewer available homes.  Inventory is very good right now, but it may continue to be somewhat limited if we continue to see sellers accept pre-emptive offers.
01 = January to June; 02 = July to December

This is what the current market looks like when we break down the four price points within Ocean Colony.  There are eighteen total properties for sale…

Spyglass homes

One active home for sale $1,850,000; 1 recent closed sale with 0 Days-on-Market for $3.5M.  Large ocean view homes 4-7 years old.

Detached homes

Thirteen single family homes for sale. - Average List Price $1,486,000; approx. 18 - 31 years old.

Attached homes and townhouses

Two active homes for sale - Average List Price $900,000; approx. 20 years old.

Ocean Corners condominiums

One condo for sale for $499,000.  (on market over 200 days; just reduced again, now 5.8% off original list price per MLS Listings).

Thirty day activity:

• 5 new listings that are still active; 2 of those have reset days on market
• 3 pending contracts (Eagle Trace - 54 DOM; Greenbrier - 0 DOM; Cypress Point - 1 DOM)
• 1 price reduction (Troon)
• 1 expired listing (Fairway)

Ocean Colony has experienced approximately 12% reduction in overall value over the last few years.  However, there are homes in this neighborhood that are garnering offers at List Price, minimal days on market and short escrow periods.  This contrarian activity has contributed to an overall slight increase in the sale price trend line within the last 12 months (Aug 07 to Aug 08). 

The other trend happening in this neighborhood is very quick or pre-emptive offers.  Of the seven (7) sales between January and August 14, 2008, approx. 40% (3) went into contract within one day of showing on the MLS - which means they were being negotiated before market exposure.  That will skew a days-on-market trend as shown in the graph link below.  Average days-on-market for Ocean Colony sales within the past 12 months is almost 5 months (144 days).

12-Month Ocean Colony Average Sale Price to Days on Market (DOM) trend.

MAP-BASED RESULTS PAGE OF OCEAN COLONY HOMES FOR SALE OR RENT.
 

Thank you to local Realtors Barbara LaVey and Mary Ascher for providing us with this very sad update.  Carol Icard passed away today.  We don’t have details about a Memorial Gathering yet, but will keep you informed.

8/14/08 update: If you knew Carol and are able to attend, there will be a memorial for her next Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at the Harbor House in Princeton.  Call or check back for confirmation.

If you would like to help the family with medical expenses, checks should be made payable to “Friends of Carol” and mailed to:

Jan McCorkle

COLDWELL BANKER

248 Main Street, # 200

Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

If you want to write a note to her family, call the office, 650-726-1100, for the Icard family mailing address.  You can also post a comment or check for additional updates on the Friends of Carol website.

I will post the date of a memorial service when we have details.

Related article:  “Friends of Carol” Launched

If a mom has said it once, she’s said it many times before…”No More Pets!”  As moms know, sometimes we stick to our guns and sometimes, well, it just doesn’t work out that way.  No criticism allowed if you have not walked in these shoes.

The familiar mantra seemed like an echo…over and over…I repeated this to my animal-crazed daughter.  This was while we were in our Michigan house during the entire first two YEARS there.  I weakened when the local humane society asked us to foster - just for 3 weeks - a litter of 4 kittens that had just arrived from local police officers who had found them near the side of a road.  They were too young to be adopted at 4 weeks.  Oh the agony in that decision!  ok, I was weak.

Next thing I know I’m setting up the spare bedroom with litter boxes, towels, and water bowls.  They were too young to jump on the bed, yet….  I managed to get the powerful two-letter word out frequently enough, but apparently only semi-convincingly, until the last minute before we packed up the little furballs 3 weeks later to take them back to the Shelter for adoption.  We packed only 3 kittens.    Yes, “Tiger” won over our hearts and I did the thing I said I would never do - bring an animal home to the Michigan house. 

Tiger was just that - a wild thing, and the ultimate entertainer.  The kids’ friends couldn’t wait to see Tiger’s antics, the likes of which no one had ever seen in a cat.  He must have been a circus acrobat in one of his prior lives.  Then, the day came that we planned to move back to our Half Moon Bay house.  He was now over a year and quite content with his routine and limitless territory.

We read up on the rules:  set up his space right away, keep doors closed when movers arrive, keep him indoors for a month.  We got him vet checked for travel,  got the appropriate carrier, had his health and travel papers, and reluctantly handed the wobbly carrier over to the airline attendant on travel day.  We picked him up at SFO and brought him back to my aunt’s house.  He was not a happy camper…mad as h***, and was not microchipped.

It happened in an instant.  In a moment of distraction one evening before the moving van arrived, the back door was briefly opened, he was loose and over the fence in a flash - never to be seen again.  Signs, ads, talking with the neighbors, nothing.  What could we say to each other at a time like that…we were in denial…he would come back…yeah, of course.  We ate dinner in silence.  I added an extra serving of guilt to my plate just for good measure.  None of the four of us wanted to talk about it.

How to Move Your Pet Safely from Humane Society of the United States.

• Plan Ahead so as to maintain your pet’s normal routine as long as possible.
• Notify your pet’s current veterinarian that you will be moving and tailor the list to your own pet’s needs.  Tell them you’d like to take a copy of their records with you to the new location.
• Get the appropriate pet carrier for the type of travel ahead of time and slowly introduce your pet to it, gradually encouraging your pet to get familiar with it and even spend a little time in it.
• As soon as you have your new address, get an updated ID tag if moving a dog.
• Find out a reputable veterinarian in the community you’re moving to and find out their location and hours in case of an emergency upon your arrival.  (We use Half Moon Bay Veterinary on Main St., HMB).
• Moving day is tough for a pet owner.  I can only imagine that it’s more difficult for them.  Place your pet in its carrier in a safe, quiet place with a “Do Not Disturb - Pet Inside” sign on the door.  Remember* Assign someone to check on your pet regularly throughout the day for bathroom and water/food breaks.
• Pack a separate Moving Day Pet Kit to include the water bowl, food, pet’s medications, leash, litter & litter box if a cat, and a recent photo - just in case.
• And something not on their list but very important…clip those sharp little nails.

* my edit.  Who has a fully functional memory when you’re moving?

Whether it’s for a break or some other reason, in the last seven days, 18 listings came off the MLS (either withdrawn, cancelled or expired). 

Yet fifteen new listings came on the market.  Of those 15, 12 were in Half Moon Bay, 1 in El Granada, 1 in Moss Beach, and 1 in Montara.  Of the 12 in HMB, 5 of those are in Ocean Colony; the other 7 spread among the various neighborhoods.

Also this week, ten listings went into contract (contingent/pending).  One of those is an Ocean Colony home that was on the MLS only one day.

Nine listings had price reductions.  Eight are residences and one is a lot.  Of the eight sellers with residences reducing their list prices, the average Continuous-Days-On-Market (CDOM) is 166 - minimum was 21 days and maximum was 325 days.  Homes with price reductions this week spanned all quartiles with slightly more price reductions in the higher priced homes.  The average square footage of homes with price reductions this week is 3,135 on an average lot size of 10,224 square feet.

Four properties closed escrow.

These include single family homes, condos, multi-family properties, and lots.  The only group excluded is rentals, of which there are very few input into the MLS.

This was one of several pearls of wisdom this week from our local CB Half Moon Bay office’s, always dynamic guest speaker, Carol Rodoni of Bamboo Consulting and well known real estate expert.

As the market continues its twists, spins, and capricious nature, let me help you understand what market you are really in, Mr/Ms Seller.  In other words, you must know who is YOUR buyer.

1. Is it the lifestyle market, where buyers can pay all cash to get THAT home in THAT location?

2. Is it the lender/developer market where sales are increasing but prices are decreasing?

3. Is it in an area where sales are decreasing and prices are also decreasing, i.e. no investors yet?

4. Is it the “soft” market where it’s a little bit up or a little bit down and values are all over the board?

If you don’t know where you stand, how can you compete?

Bringing it back to our Half Moon Bay-Coastside market, we MOSTLY (not all areas) fall into the fourth category.  So I’ll address the the most important points for this type of market:

As a seller, your ideal position is to enter the market at the best possible price.  Let me add in the caveat that while price is not everything when listing your home, it is definitely the lion’s share of the equation in this (#4) category.  Back to “best possible price”…What does that mean?  It means you understand what is happening on that street, neighborhood, town around you, know about the 2-4 most comparable homes, and set your list price accordingly.  Otherwise, a seller will begin to get into the “discount business”, according to Carol, and that’s not where you want to be!

Instead of continuing to reduce the price…offer buyers a reason to pay attention to your home.  Does yours stand out in the sea of listings?  If not, why not?  Is your Realtor not discussing ideas with you or are you rejecting them?  Sellers benefit when they can be flexible.  Flexible is a state of mind, an attitude; not carte blanche.

From my own experience, a story.  I went on a listing presentation.  We discussed everything.  This couple planned to interview 2-3 real estate agents.  I went over my price range recommendation and why, along with the marketing plan, the market, etc., etc.  Can an agent guarantee that a listing will sell at the price they recommend…no.  Why, because the market changes daily.  I had an arsenal of ideas…one idea was consider buying down a point as part of the strategy…I think the seller thought I was a little “out there”.  I did not get that listing.  The seller chose another broker, had their home on the market for many months, reduced the price, still no sale, then took it off the market.  Much time and money was lost for all involved.  I smiled to myself when I heard Carol say we could suggest to our sellers that they offer “buy-down” solutions instead of reducing the price.

Buyers and sellers are confused and it is our job to bring clarity, creativity and calm.  Thanks for reading.  More to come…