The best things in life are free!  I first heard that when I went to see the movie with the same name with my Aunt B.  That was 1956.  The movie starred Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey and Ernest Borgnine.  I just remember the song and that there was a lot of singing and dancing.  I was in heaven!  Movies back then were almost free. My library happens to be the Menlo Park library.  The library is having a Book Sale on Saturday, March 2 from 10:00 am to 2 pm.  The books on sale have been donated and sorted and displayed by the Friends of the Menlo Park Library.  These books are almost free!  If you are going, get there early.  The best ones go quickly! The Menlo Park Library is also holding an eReading For Everyone talk the same day from 12 pm to 3.  Learn how to download lots of free books.  ... 02/28/2013

Atherton or Menlo Park residential land remains scarce, but if you’re looking for a home site to build on, we can help.  Atherton and Menlo Park are beautiful, vibrant communities in northern Silicon Valley, known for tree-lined streets, fine dining, and close proximity to Stanford University and many of the world famous companies that are Silicon Valley’s major employers. Here are this week’s Atherton and Menlo Park residential lots and land for sale as of February 15, 2013.  Click on a property’s Address to view photos and detailed information.     25 ISABELLA AV, ATHERTON, CA 94027               $7,950,000     1.98 acres                               1745 CRONER AV, MENLO PARK, CA 94025    $1,945,000     0.21 acres  Small rental cottage on lot                                        3... 02/14/2013

This is the first free e-waste collection in Menlo Park for 2013.   No matter how many times we take things for e-waste collection, we seem to have more for the next time.   I imagine this has been your experience as well. Free E-Waste Collection:                                                                                                        Where:  St. Denis Catholic Church, 2250 Avy Ave., Menlo Park, CA When:  Saturday, January 19, 9 am to 3 pm Why:  A portion of the proceeds to benefit St. Denis Youth Ministry   We often hesitate to take old computers for recycling because of all the personal information stored on them.  My understanding is that the hard drives will be erased. If your mouse has lost its mickeys, take it to the free e-waste collection on Saturday!  01/14/2013

Is this a good time to sell your Menlo Park Condo or Town Home? The answer is YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! I can not stress this enough. If you have a condo or town home in Menlo Park you are thinking of selling, don't hesitate! The market is screaming for you to get it done, now. There are currently 4 town homes/condos on the market in Menlo Park. I did not forget a zero. 4. In a seller's market there would generally be 15 units for sale. In a buyer's market you need to have over 25 units for sale. 4 is so low there are no words to describe the market. Apple, Facebook, and Google are growing like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors, and like the plant, would love to take over the world. The number of people moving into the area with good jobs and the need of a place to live is astronomica... 01/01/2013

  There is nothing I enjoy more than helping a family sell a Menlo Park home left to heirs through probate. I know, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, but I am who I am. Over the years I have developed a system to sell Menlo Park homes in probate and it works really well!    1. Look at a home and see if there are valuables that are worth selling in the Menlo Park home in probate. Many homes are left with enormous amounts of personal property, sometimes with value and sometimes not. For example crappy cars have value, but beautiful over stuffed furniture does not.   2. If there is something of value to sell I usually recommend calling an auction house to come and take over the job of selling the personal property they believe will sell. I like DGW, but there are others. They sell the... 11/26/2012

Atherton or Menlo Park residential land remains scarce, but if you’re looking for a home site to build on, we can help.  Atherton and Menlo Park are beautiful, vibrant communities in northern Silicon Valley, known for tree-lined streets, fine dining, and close proximity to Stanford University and many of the world famous companies that are Silicon Valley’s major employers. Here are this week’s Atherton and Menlo Park residential lots and land for sale as of November 8, 2012.  Click on a property’s Price to view its MLS listing, request more information, or to schedule a site visit.  Note: there are no lots for sale in Atherton this week.   City Location Price Acres Notes Menlo Park 1360 Arbor Road $2,750,000 0.49 Back on market   Check back next week for updates or subscribe to this ePu... 11/08/2012

Swim in Menlo Park!  The water's fine all year long. If you haven't tried it, you should visit the Burgess Pools in Menlo Park.  There is something for every swimmer at the pool starting with the little ones and going on to .... well, I hate to say senior citizens ........... because I might be in that category. First of all, I said Burgess Pools because there are two pools.  The larger pool is called the instructional pool where the kids and others go for organized swimming.  The other pool is called the performance pool.  I almost forgot there is a third pool, the baby pool.  It is closed for the season now and will reopen in the spring. I have just returned from taking part in the Aqua-Fit class at the instructional pool.  It is open to any adult who would like to add water to their ... 11/01/2012

Investors, here are northern Silicon Valley multi-family properties for sale with 5 or more units as of October 19, 2012.  This area includes the towns of Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. This is the lowest sales inventory of units in a long time, due primarily to increasing home prices and rents throughout Silicon Valley.  If you would like to be contacted immediately when a property that fits your investment criteria comes on the market, drop me an email. Click on a property’s Location to view photos and the property’s MLS listing information.   City Price Location Units Notes Mountain View $5,790,000 1960 San Ramon Ave 7   Mountain View $2,500,000 1187 Boranda Ave 8   Menlo Park $1,075,000 1129 Willow... 10/20/2012

Atherton or Menlo Park residential land remains scarce, but if you’re looking for a home site to build on, we can help.  Atherton and Menlo Park are beautiful, vibrant communities in northern Silicon Valley, known for tree-lined streets, fine dining, and close proximity to Stanford University and many of the world famous companies that are Silicon Valley’s major employers. Here are this week’s Atherton and Menlo Park residential lots and land for sale as of October 19, 2012.  Click on a property’s Price to view its MLS listing, request more information, or to schedule a site visit.  Note: there are no lots for sale in Atherton this week.   City Location Price Acres Notes Menlo Park 1360 Arbor Road $3,075,000 0.49   Menlo Park 0 Bay Laurel Drive $2,295,000 0.31   Menlo Park 439 O’Connor ... 10/20/2012

Investors, here are northern Silicon Valley multi-family properties for sale with 5 or more units as of September 26, 2012.  This area includes the towns of Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. This is the lowest sales inventory of units in a long time, due primarily to increasing home prices and rents throughout Silicon Valley.  If you would like to be contacted immediately when a property that fits your investment criteria comes on the market, drop me an email. Click on a property’s Location to view photos and the property’s MLS listing information.   City Price Location Units Notes Mountain View $5,790,000 1960 San Ramon Ave 7   Mountain View $2,500,000 1187 Boranda Ave 8   Menlo Park $1,075,000 1129 Will... 09/25/2012

Investors, here are northern Silicon Valley multi-family properties for sale with 5 or more units as of August 22, 2012.  This area includes the towns of Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. This is the lowest sales inventory of units in a long time, due primarily to increasing home prices and rents throughout Silicon Valley.  If you would like to be contacted immediately when a property that fits your investment criteria comes on the market, drop me an email. Click on a property’s Location to view its MLS listing, request additional information, and to schedule a site visit.   City Price Location Units Notes Mountain View $5,900,000 2033 Latham Street 26   Mountain View $2,500,000 1187 Boranda Ave 8   Mount... 08/22/2012

This week, there is only one Northern Silicon Valley REO foreclosure home for sale.  The combined communities of Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos/Los Altos Hills, Mountain View and Sunnyvale only a year ago averaged 40 to 50 foreclosed homes on the market at any time. Here are Northern Silicon Valley REO foreclosure homes for sale as of August 17, 2012.  To see the MLS listing for the property, request additional information, or to schedule a showing, click on the property’s Price.   Atherton REO Foreclosure Homes For Sale Type Price Bed/Bath Sq. Feet Notes None           Menlo Park REO Foreclosure Homes For Sale Type Price Bed/Bath Sq. Feet Notes Single family $549,900 2/1 660     Portola Valley REO Foreclosure Homes For Sale Type Price Bed/Bath Sq. ... 08/17/2012

The Menlo Park Market and the real estate market for the rest of the mid-Peninsula area has been very exciting.  Think roller coaster!   As the graph shows, properties in Menlo Park have been selling consistently for more than the list price since late February, 2012.  This graph also has the results of sales from July through December, 2011. In addition, it shows that November of last year was a very good time to buy.  It has been my sense that this has been the case through the years. The bars on this graph show the average number of days to sell. It is very clear that the first half 2012 was a very good time to sell if you owned property in Menlo Park.  The ratio has leveled off a little, but  a sale price of 3 or 4 % over asking is not bad.   As for July, there are currently 56 prop... 07/18/2012

In Menlo Park from Jan 1, 2012 until June 30, 2012 there were: 9 closed short sales 9 closed bank owned homes Total sales during this time period were 227 Total % Short Sales: 4% Total % REO Sales: 4% Total Percentage  Menlo Park Distressed Properties: 8% 8% of all Menlo Park sales being distressed is not enough to have any effect on the overall market. This is evidenced by the appreciation and high activity level of the market. If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures in San Mateo Clara County please feel free to contact me. Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty www.marcymoyer.com marcy@marcymoyer.com 650-619-9285 DRE  01191194 07/08/2012

The Menlo Park Clock Tower has been a landmark in Menlo Park, CA for the past 25 years.  It's a relative newcomer compared to the original Menlo Park Train Station that was built in 1863.  The station has since been updated and upgraded a few times through the years. Menlo Park was a train stop for families coming down from San Francisco.  The wealthy families fled San Francisco during the summer to enjoy some warmer weather.  As Mark Twain supposedly said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  Menlo Park and Atherton still retain many of the homes that were built for summer residences during the late 1800's and early 1900's.                                                                                       The City of Menlo Park will be celebrating the 25... 06/02/2012

The main library in Menlo Park, CA is closed.  I can see the headline now!  But the truth is the main library in Menlo Park, CA is closed for renovations.  The front desk is being remodeled, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system is being installed and new carpeting will be laid down.   I'm sure the person who was behind me when I was trying to check myself out of the library a few months ago will be thrilled to know there is a new system.  I'm hoping this new RFID system will be easier to figure out than the old system.  I know exactly how Mark Zuckerberg felt when he was trying to make the Italian ATM machine work with all the world watching.  Just plain dumb!!! What you can't see in this picture is the stained-glass window above the door to the library.  You need to be inside... 06/01/2012

As a Menlo Park Short Sale Agent I get asked this a lot. My answer is a definitive sort of, especially if it is a Chase short sale.  Here is how it may make a difference. Some homeowners owe more on their homes than the home is worth, the definition of being underwater. The home is not going to sell for what it is worth, it will sell at or around market value. The bank generally understands that. The bank as representative for the investor on the loan wants to lose as little money as possible, but knows there is going to be some loss. The banks have procedures in place to approve short sales. At Chase they have the number of people who have to approve a short sale broken down by the amount of loss, not by the value of the house.  So if the loss is $250,000 or less, only one lowest level... 05/20/2012

Short Sale Agent - Another Short Sale in Menlo Park CA- By Experienced Short Sale Realtor Mayra Espinosa (San Mateo County-San Francisco)    I am thrilled to announce that one of my short sale listings in Menlo Park, CA has been approved after waiting for three months. Obtaining short sale approval from Bank of America took a little longer than normal because the short sale had to be submitted to the mortgage insurance agency, senior bank management, and/or investors for approval.             Just as we were listing the property, the homeowners found the trustee sale notice (NTS) posted on their door; it was scheduled within 17 days so we had just 17 days to market and sell the property. We immediately listed the property for sale and asked Bank of America to postpone the foreclosure, w... 04/25/2012

The Menlo Park real estate market is picking up and lately there have been very few Menlo Park foreclosure homes for sale.  Of 72 homes on the market in Menlo Park today, there is only 1 bank owned. Here is the only Menlo Park REO foreclosure home for sale as of April 20, 2012.  To see the MLS listing for this property, request additional information, or to schedule a showing, click on the property’s Price.   Type Price Bed/Bath Sq. Feet Notes Condo $415,000 2/1 875     Note:  I usually list Atherton REO foreclosure homes for sale in this list, but there are no REO homes on the market in Atherton at this time. Check back next week for updates or subscribe to this blog. Visit Silicon Valley MLS Searchto find current listings for properties of all types anywhere in San Mateo, Santa Clara,... 04/19/2012

Atherton and Menlo Park are beautiful, vibrant communities in northern Silicon Valley.  They’re known for tree-lined streets, fine dining, and close proximity to Stanford University and many of the world famous companies that are Silicon Valley’s major employers.  If you’re looking for a home or home site to build on in Atherton or Menlo Park, we can help. Here are Atherton and Menlo Park residential lots and land for sale as of April 19, 2012.  Click on a property’s Price to view its MLS listing, request more information, or to schedule a site visit.   City Location Price Acres Notes Atherton 25 Isabella Avenue $6,950,000 1.98 Zoned R100 Menlo Park 746 Hermosa Way $2,600,000 0.50 Zoned R100 Menlo Park 374 O’Connor Street $1,150,000 0.45 Zoned R100   Visit Silicon Valley MLS Searchto fi... 04/18/2012