Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

The Coastside is known for spectacular Fall and Winter sunsets.  One of the most beautiful I’ve seen is in a photo taken by local photographer, Michael Wong, of Spring Mountain Gallery in Half Moon Bay.  That photo is in the header of my website.

I just happened to have my camera as I was leaving the office one night this week and caught this one from the building’s parking lot.

We have much to be thankful for, those of us who live here.

A great west side Half Moon Bay neighborhood with very easy access to the Coastal Trail!

• Just north of the Strawflower Shopping Center

• South of open fields, recreational horse-back riding, and westside Miramar

• Due east by a short distance of the Pacific Ocean, Coastal Trail and beaches

Streets within this neighborhood provide cozy ranch style homes and a few two-story contemporary style homes.  Most, not all, were built between 1968 and 1978.  Average square footage of these homes is approximately 1682.  There are a few cul-de-sacs - this home for sale is on Marie Court listed by Susie Hughey-Haas.  The last sale in this neighborhood was in our current Q4 with the sale in October and the close of escrow in early November.

 The homes along Pilarcitos, the oceanfront portion of this neighborhood, are newer with an average age of 19 years, and larger, with an average square footage of approximately 2400 square feet.  The last sale on Pilarcitos was in Q2 2007.  Two homes on Pilarcitos have been on the market within the last year but are currently not in the MLS.

In the last 30 days in this neighborhood only:

• 1 property sold - 14% off list price for cash offer - within first 90 days.
• 2 single family homes are available listings
• 2 residential lot is an available listing (1 R1 and 1 PUD)
• 1 property is in contract
• 1 property reduced price
• 2 properties became expired listings

This interactive Google Map has many Half Moon Bay area points of interest so you can see the distance from this neighborhood to businesses, like coffee shops, other neighborhoods, etc.
View Larger Map

Link to Homes for Sale in Kehoe - Casa Del Mar neighborhood right now.  (Note:  Hawser is in the Seahaven neighborhood, but the MLS shows it in this neighborhood.  It’s nearby but not the same neighborhood.)

This home was on Tuesday Tour last week for the first time - as were several new listings.  I usually try to see all of them, but that day I selected 2 or 3 that I really wanted to see in the Half Moon Bay area, and then focused the rest of my touring on Pacifica and Daly City for clients.

24 Ventura St., Half Moon Bay, CA was one of the ones I previewed. 

This new construction home definitely has curb appeal - to me it looks like a combination craftsman/California ranch, fitting in perfectly with the beach community feel.  There are other homes on this street in west-side Miramar that have a different look and are obviously older.  That is a very common finding here on the Coastside and contributes to the uniqueness and “non-cookie-cutter ambiance” (made that up) of several local neighborhoods.  To check out what the street looks like, you can go to “Home Search“, select the property, and go to the Maps tab.  There you will see the Google Hybrid View..

and the Google Street View…

What I most remember when I walked in was the very open and welcoming feeling and the very special master suite.  The 4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms, large open living area and island kitchen flow nicely over approximately 2700 square feet on a level lot.  The builder put in beautiful finishes and materials including walnut hardwood floors that bring a stunning richness and warmth to someone’s future home.  The main living area has a beautiful tile (easy maintenance) flooring.  No stairs wanted?…no problem…and there’s very easy access from the garage to the kitchen.  Oh, it’s also got a built-in vacuum and radiant heat.  Picture this home with the landscaping a bit more mature and this home will be a true oasis, yet only a short distance to the Coastal Trail, the Bach, Ebb Tide Cafe on the beach, and much more - not to mention it’s overall great location.

If you’re in the area, stop by this Sunday 9/14 or next Sunday 9/21 from 1-4 and we can chat in this beautiful setting.  Or we don’t have to chat, you could just walk through.  I promise I won’t make you chat.  Bring a friend or neighbor who may be contemplating a move-up to a larger home but with the ease of a single level.  Special thanks to Listing Agent, Deborah Cozzolino, for offering me the opportunity to hold open this beautiful home and showcase it for you here.

Miramar Market Snapshot

There are currently 9 active homes in the Miramar/City of Naples neighborhood of Half Moon Bay ranging in asking price from $750,000 to $1,849,000.  Of the 9 homes, 3 are new construction.  One Miramar home has sold in the past 3 months - in 5 days.  There are no pending home sales in Miramar as of this post writing.  Average Continuous Days on Market is 29; at least one is a re-list from a prior listing.  At an asking price of $1,350,000, this home is is in the 2nd quartile (the second highest range of list prices for Half Moon Bay) making it an ideal move-up consideration for a 3rd (median of approx. $1M) or possibly 4th quartile (median of approx. $750K) homeowner. 

To get email alerts of homes that you’re looking for, simply go to “Home Search” and set up a Log-In and password.  This is a new search system and it’s very interactive.  To be notified when I write a new post, you can subscribe to Coastside Real Estate and Lifestyles.

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.

 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.
 

This charming neighborhood is centrally located on the Coast even though it is in the city of Half Moon Bay.  There is a small neighborhood park, quite an enjoyable stop for the younger set.  The level lots are set around several streets with the French theme… Ruisseau Francais, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Touraine, and others.

I’ve seen a few different floor plans - with open floor plans, some with three car garages, wet bars that were popular in the 80’s - some with beautiful remodels and upgrades.  Across the highway is a path that takes you either to Sweetwood Group Camp, a part of the Francis Beach Campground where reservations can be made for reunions, birthday parties, campouts, and other gatherings.  You can also get to the Coastal Trail easily.

There are currently three homes for sale presently ranging from $969K-$1.1 million.  There are usually 2-3 homes for sale per quarter, occasionally there are none.  Prices are holding steady as seen in the graph below from the MLS closed sales trends report for Frenchman’s Creek by quarter between Q1 2002 - Q4 2007:

Francis State Beach, Half Moon Bay, CA

I’ll be hosting an Open Home on Ruisseau Francais on Sunday, Feb. 10th…

I attended the community workshop last night hosted by the City of Half Moon Bay’s Council to discuss and listen on the subject of the Beachwood lawsuit.  Very well organized except for the City’s attorney not being present to answer some key questions…not good.  In addition to the City Council, the lead counsel from Orrick, Herrington and Mark Kern from Piper Jaffray spoke.  The purpose of the event was to provide an update and to listen to the public’s questions, comments and concerns.  The key points I came away with:

• The City reassures the appeal process will have no adverse affect on the City’s day-to-day operations.
• The claim is against the City government, not individual homeowners, businesses or citizens.  Therefore, no lien or cloud on individual property owner’s title will appear as a result of this judgment.
• The City expects the resolution to take 18 months to 2 years.  There were two camps in the audience - those that wanted the City to settle as quickly as possible so that we can move on; and those who wanted the City to appeal.
• Filing a Chapter 9 bankruptcy has not even been discussed as an option at this point.  Currently, there are so many other ideas and thoughts in process that this is not currently a serious consideration.  We were told that it is much more difficult to dissolve a government agency than a business.
• If the City loses the appeal and a bond measure is proposed, it would require two-thirds voter approval.
• Half Moon Bay is a general law city not a charter.
• All the legal documents can be viewed without registration thanks to Darin Boville who produces montarafog.com.
• The City is working on a dedicated website to provide accurate and timely information, documents, etc.  That is in process.

Lastly, my own thoughts…This council did not create the problem but they are our current leadership and must deal with it.  I believe they mean it when they say they value the community’s support and ideas.  Last night showed that they really want to listen to constructive ideas and suggestions and a few were given that they said they would be looking into.  There is a fear that property values will be affected.  There is no indication of this other than the power of negative perception.  People are going to still buy and sell real estate.

I hope the City develops its tools to communicate directly with us via meetings, town forums such as last night, website updates, video recordings, etc.  Things spin out of control when our minds are left to wander to the dark side unchecked, unfiltered…  I expect good things moving forward.  I guess I’m an optimist.  The City is in a position to gain newfound respect by meeting this challenge head on and taking the high road.

During the 19 years that I’ve lived in El Granada, Pillar Point Harbor and the Princeton area has grown along with the rest of the coastside.  Coastal Lifestyles Health & Fitness Center moved in…The HMB Brewing Co. moved in…Mezza Luna moved in…Mavericks was “discovered”…  All these events have been adding height - and weight - to Princeton for many years.  It’s latest notch on the yardstick is the new Oceano Hotel and Harbor Village.  The Hotel is now open and Harbor Village is now scheduled to open April 1, 2008.

As I’m waiting for my friend near Cafe Classique yesterday morning, I decided to take a photo of the long-awaited development across the street.  We grab a corner table on the sun-drenched patio to catch up with a warm cup of coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls (half each of course - and to die for!).  Totally worth it but Must-Walk-Off.  Neither of us had been through Harbor Village so we decided to stroll over there to see what’s up.  We stumbled upon Christian Diggs, the Harbor Village Leasing Consultant, who was so gracious to show us around in spite of his busy day.

This place is going to be stunning.  I’m well aware of the mixed feelings of many locals; however, after my visit yesterday I’m pleasantly surprised and believe it will be an asset to our community.  It’s like its own little resort village with luxury hotel, a spa that will be run by Aveda, banquet room, workout room with enormous skylights flooding the room with natural light, richly appointed conference rooms, comfortable residence suites offering a 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom home-away-from-home or loft apartment.  There will also be a restaurant, shops & boutiques including a golf shop, a deli, a kitchen shop, a surf-wear/resort-style boutique, and a few yet still in negotiations….  Also planned is a wedding garden, and future tennis courts.

So with the roar of high-gear construction going on in the background, Christian pointed out some of the fabulous details that made me wish I was part of the extended KN family!  There are too many to mention, but one that stood out in my mind was the zippered bed topper which is laundered after each guest.

This development has the luxury of the Ritz but with a more “casually elegant” feel.  I really hope that tapping into the well known local talent is part of the long term marketing plan.  Development is always a mixed blessing - especially in a community like the Coastside and in my own backyard (well, my front yard)… Sure, traffic will increase, but so will jobs and revenues…and, I suspect, home values.  Here are a few photos from my tour with Christian yesterday.  When I have more time, I’ll try to post a few more on a separate photos page.

Additional articles in recent months:

A Grand Opening, 30 years in waiting, Oakland Tribune, 8/29/07

Harbor Village prepares for October opening, HMB Review, 9/5/07

Inside Coastal Real Estate & Lifestyles’ “Coastside” page:  Fun Visitor Resources

I have been asked by family and friends how the current judgment against the City of Half Moon Bay in favor of “over the hill” developer Charles Keenan might affect local home values.  The judgement itself and the future outcome of the appeal or any negotiations leaves the home value predictions as foggy as our weather can sometimes get.

As soon as the judgment was released I tried to reach the Mayor to get first hand facts.   Understandably she’s got a full plate right now, but I had to try.  Fortunately, the City just released a Press Release yesterday, January 3, 2008.  The Press Release letter addresses a summary of key points, such as confirmation that they are appealing, and announcement of a community meeting on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at the Ted Adcock Community Center.  This directly from her letter:

“…We are committed to keeping you apprised of important developments, primarily at our regular City Council meetings.  A workshop is scheduled for 7 PM on January 22, 2008 at the Community Center for the purposes of providing information, answering questions on the case, and listening to suggestions and opinions from the community.”

Here is the Link to the entire “Press Release 01/03/08″ directly from the City of Half Moon Bay’s website.  This link can be accessed any time from my website’s Home Page under the Category “Living in Half Moon Bay - City of Half Moon Bay.

Here is a Google map showing the location of the Beachwood property and the location of the upcoming meeting:
View Larger Map

I have an ocean view when I drive to the grocery store in Half Moon Bay. You may think - “so what?” Well, I agree… I certainly didn’t think it was important to me either. We all know the phenomenon of not appreciating what is right under our noses until it is no longer there. That’s my point - how do you put a price tag or a value on something like glancing at the waves or the mountains on a boring milk run? It’s a lifestyle that once you experience is hard to go back.

It wasn’t until I moved away from here and into real suburbia that I realized how unusual that was. At first the kids loved the idea of a movie theater five minutes away and a myriad of fast food stops within a one minute drive. Fortunately, we moved back and we were limited from being constantly drawn in by the ever-present consumerism.

If I want to stop at the beach on my way to an appointment, I can do that. If I find the time to catch up with a friend, we will sometimes take a short walk on the beach or a nearby trail. It’s amazing how refreshing this can be.

When the kids want to go to the beach it’s five minutes away. And we have taken short outings to the beach for years because it doesn’t have to be an all day affair when you live here. Grab a hat, blanket, book (or iPod these days) and you’re good to go.

What about going to an elementary school where one side of the playground is direct ocean views, another side is beautiful mountains, and the third view (across the street) is alpacas, yes alpacas? No wonder many local kids grow up happy, healthy and ready to take on the world - mine are right there along with the rest of their friends finding their way outside of the Half Moon Bay nest.

On the especially warm days when it would be 100+ degrees over the hill and 72-75 here, the well known beaches can sometimes be packed. It is always fun to know the back-road shortcuts thus avoiding Highway 1 heading into town. Especially when you need milk.

I don’t always have to go into Half Moon Bay to get milk. There are a couple of small markets close by within a mile for those emergency trips. The views for that short trip are spectacular as well.