Redwood City Real Estate

Archive for the 'Redwood City Real Estate' Category

Tranquil Retreat – 2/3 acres Emerald Lakes – 2/2 – $699,000

June 14th, 2012 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: Cool Listings, New listings, Redwood City Real Estate

I have just listed a very “unique” property in Emerald Lakes.

Located at the end of Park Rd – a cul-de-sac, the parcel is a sloping 2/3 acres and has excellent bay views from large redwood deck and interior rooms.

Main level: 1 bedroom 1 bath kitchen dining room living room and “den”.

Lower level: Outside entrance only to another bedroom and bath.

Happy to answer any questions about property.

Or just come by and take a look:

Tour: Tuesday June 12, 2012 morning

Open House: Saturday and Sunday June 16 and 17, 2012. 100PM to 400PM.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 81221903 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

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Single family home inventory extremely low Palo Alto Menlo Park Redwood City San Carlos

February 5th, 2012 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: Menlo Park Real Estate, Palo Alto Real Estate, Redwood City Real Estate, San Carlos Real Estate

The local real estate market often “kicks off” after Super Bowl Sunday.

As of today, the inventory of available homes on the San Francisco Peninsula is extremely low.

Inventory generally drops towards the end of any year and then increases until a peak is reached late spring or early summer.

Inventory in all four mid-peninsula communities is lower than it has been in the past three years.

At the current time, there are plenty of buyers looking for homes. The limiting factor on sales is the number of homes for sale.

If local inventory is going to increase in 2012, we should start to see the increase in the next month or so.

If inventory does not start to increase, home buyers from Palo Alto to San Carlos could be in for a long and competitive home search.

Please leave a comment.

Deadline for San Mateo County Property Tax reductions is Feb. 15

February 7th, 2011 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: East Palo Alto real estate, Helpful Sites, Menlo Park Real Estate, Portola Valley Real Estate, Redwood City Real Estate, San Carlos Real Estate

If you believe your home’s value is below the assessment provided by San Mateo County, you may petition the County to reduce your assessment and thereby reduce your property taxes.

If you have purchased a home within the past 3 or 4 years, its value may very well be below your purchase price.

If this is the case, please go to: http://smcare.org/assessor/homeownerresources/form_declineapp.asp

I need to be clear – just because your home’s value has dropped, you are not automatically entitled to a property tax reduction. So if you bought your home 10 years ago for $800,000 and at the peak it was worth $1,100,000 and now is worth $950,000, you WILL NOT be entitled to a reduction.

One is only entitled to a property tax reduction if the San Mateo County assessment is above what you believe the current market value is.

The request can be made over the web and if you need any comparable sales to bolster your case, just let me know.

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Transfer Taxes upon sale of real estate

May 25th, 2010 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: East Palo Alto real estate, Menlo Park Real Estate, Mountain View real estate, Palo Alto Real Estate, Portola Valley Real Estate, Redwood City Real Estate, San Carlos Real Estate, Sunnyvale Real Estate

Transfer taxes on the sale of real property are collected by San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Francisco Counties.

These transfer taxes are paid in escrow and are part of buyer and seller closing costs.

Typically, the County transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of value and are generally paid by the seller.
So upon sale of a $500,000 house, the seller will pay a transfer tax of $1.10 x 500 or $550 to the County.

Some cities also have City transfer taxes.
On the San Francisco Peninsula; San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mt. View and San Jose have City transfer taxes.
Generally, city transfer taxes are spilt 50/50 between buyer and seller.

The City transfer tax in Palo Alto, Mt. View, and San Jose is $3.30 per $1000 of value.
So on a $500,000 sale in these cities, the City transfer tax is $3.30 x 500 = $1650.
Buyer pay $825. Seller pays $825.

The City transfer tax in San Mateo is $5.00 per $1,000 of value.
So on a $500,000 sale in San Mateo, the City transfer tax is $5 x 500 = $2500.
Buyer pays $1250. Seller pays $1250.

So if you are buying or selling in those cities, be sure to take into account these City transfer taxes.

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Real Estate Market to Rebound in 2011

March 1st, 2010 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: East Palo Alto real estate, los altos real estate, Menlo Park Real Estate, Mountain View real estate, Palo Alto Real Estate, Portola Valley Real Estate, Redwood City Real Estate, San Carlos Real Estate

so says Warren Buffet…………

The Real Estate Bloggers report that Warren says:

“within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us”

“prices will remain below “bubble levels”"

“many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well with their means”

Click here for full article.

I would say Don’t bet against Buffet.

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The real estate market on San Francisco Peninsula has heated up

September 17th, 2009 by Arn Cenedella
Topics: East Palo Alto real estate, First-time home buyers, los altos real estate, Menlo Park Real Estate, Mountain View real estate, Palo Alto Real Estate, Portola Valley Real Estate, Redwood City Real Estate, San Carlos Real Estate, Sunnyvale Real Estate

In my previous few posts, I documented that the number of homes sold in San Carlos Menlo Park and Palo Alto during the second quarter of 2009 was TWICE the number of homes sold in the first quarter of this year.

The numbers tell the story – but stories also illiminate the numbers.

I recently wrote an offer for a buyer client of mine on a property listed listed at $619,000.

My clients offered $670,000 “as is” - had a solid pre-approval and a 35% cash down payment.

This offer had only an appraisal contingency and would close in 30 days.

The buyers had read and approved all reports, inspections, and disclosures.

So basically the offer was as clean an offer as any seller could want.

Offers were due earlier this week in the early afternoon of the offer day.

In the morning, I checked with seller agent and was told there were 8 offers.

By the end of the day, there were 25 offers on this property!

I am not sure what property sold for but it was over $700,00 and I suspect closer to $750,000 by the time the dust settled.

I have heard of other properties priced in the $400,00 to $500,00 range in Redwood City selling for $100,000 over list.

So if you are waiting for the bottom, I think we may have already hit bottom and have started back up.