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San Mateo, CA Real Estate News

By Marcy Moyer, Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist
(eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales)
If you are the Personal Representative for a  San Mateo Home in Probate that has a delinquent mortgage, but there is equity in the home, DON'T BE AN OSTRICH!!!!!!   It is now very common for San Mateo homes that are in Probate to have mortgages. Many homeowners were enticed to refinance in the last decade because of easy money or low interest rates, many seniors have reverse mortgages on their  San Mateo Probate homes, and some people did not refinance because of low interest rates, but because they were helping out family members. When a mortgagee dies the mortgage still needs to be paid. Death does not eliminate the obligation. So what do you do if the mortgage is late, the home is in foreclosure, and the estate has no money to pay the mortgage? It is very common for San Mateo Probate...
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By Mayra Espinosa Realtor San Mateo Pacifica Homes, San Mateo County Real Estate | Buy | Sell | Invest
(Mayra Espinosa Broker- Realtor | Call 650-996-8961)
 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was extended. Good news for a homeowner who were worried about paying tax after a short sale, if the short sale was not complete until December 31, 2012. Fortunately, the Congress has extended the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act for another year. The extension of this new law will protect distress homeowner from paying huge tax bills on the amount of money forgive by the bank as a result of a short sale. I have three short sales in San Francisco and one in San Mateo waiting for bank approval. Most for of delays occur by the interaction of the holidays and some due to buyers’ delays obtaining loan approval. I wrote a letter our Congresswoman, Jackie Speier. She replayed to my letter saying that she was very confident the Congress will extend the...
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By Chris Eckert Real Estate Team, Selling the Mid-Peninsula Realtor
(KW Advisors )
    After exchanging several emails, I found out that both the Mother-in-law and the house were 100 years old when she passed away. I was told that there had been very little updating done to the house in the past 50 years. The various family members were at odds over whether they should do some work to the house, or just sell it in its current condition. When you see the video, you will see that the house was in very poor cosmetic condition. It’s too bad that I waited a few days to take the initial photos. I really wanted to show the 1970’s artificial grass laid over a concrete slab in the front yard. In the middle of this fake grass was one of the biggest, most overgrown junipers that I have ever seen. By the time that I took the photos, the landscaper unfortunately had already remove...
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By Marcy Moyer, Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist
(eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales)
There is nothing I enjoy more than helping a family sell a San Mateo 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 San Mateo 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 San Mateo 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 prope...
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By Chris Eckert Real Estate Team, Selling the Mid-Peninsula Realtor
(KW Advisors )
OK, I’m not sure that Short Sale’d is correct grammer and the Nuns from my grade school might disapprove, but you get my point. I recently sold this condo and the Seller did get $10,000 from the Lender: http://homesite.obeo.com/viewer/default.aspx?tourid=740014&refURL=http://admin.obeo.com/edit_tour.cfm?fn=Save&HouseID=740014&NextSection=Desc&SavePage=General&locale=en-US The owner of this condo called me a few months ago to ask if I would list their condo for sale. The problem was that they were underwater. (The mortgage was higher than what would be netted from the sale of the property.) The only reason that the Seller needed to sell was because they had to move to another city for work. Normally, I would recommend a Short Sale, but in this case, the Seller had never missed or been l...
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By Mayra Espinosa Realtor San Mateo Pacifica Homes, San Mateo County Real Estate | Buy | Sell | Invest
(Mayra Espinosa Broker- Realtor | Call 650-996-8961)
938 Shoreline Dr, San Mateo, CA 94404 - San Mateo Condo for sale. Just Listed Harbortown Condo! Open House Sunday.San Mateo Fabulous Harbortown 2 bedrooms two baths! Spacious Master suite with full bath. Ground floor attached one car garage with access to the unit. Cozy Wood Burning Fireplace in the living room. Living room/Dining Combo. Updated kitchen, lot of cabinets space, elegant plantation shutters. Two Small private patios, greenbelt & water views, relaxing garden & Water pond ideal for outdoor living. Alarm system, in-unit laundry. Clubhouse, pools, spa, tennis court, and trails along the water. Close to shops. Easy access to 92, 280 & 101.  Resort living a great price!! Features: 2 Bedrooms 2 Baths Built in 1979 Updated Kitchen HOA 495 Dishwasher Refrigerator Elegant plantatio...
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By Mike Young, FHA 203k Consultant 916-758-1809
(203kOnLine.com, covering the USA)
Americans have traditionally be pretty wasteful as a group when it comes to water conservation. As an appraiser for years I would walk into some homes where the occupants were way ahead of the curve and nearly always find a five gallon bucket in the shower. This was to catch water while warming it up so as not to waste it and they will water their flowers with it house plants and so forth. This is more commonplace than you might imagine. There are a couple of very good websites one in San Francisco where the city of San Francisco offers a gray water system design manual about 75 pages that seems very thorough and in-depth. University of California Davis  has some information on their website. In any case we are finding more and more people wanting to add gray water systems to their 203K...
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By Mayra Espinosa Realtor San Mateo Pacifica Homes, San Mateo County Real Estate | Buy | Sell | Invest
(Mayra Espinosa Broker- Realtor | Call 650-996-8961)
San Mateo CA -Central Park Music Series -Free Every Thursday Nights.If you are like many of us who like to enjoy activities outdoors, you will like to attend to San Mateo Central Park Musical Series. It's free - Presented by the City of San Mateo. Every Thursday Night San Mateo Central Park is proud to present the Central Park Music Series from June 15, 2015 – August, starting at 6:00 pm and end at 8:00 pm.  Mayra Espinosa Realtor  The San Mateo Central Park Musical series is a San Mateo signature summer event held every year. It is one of my favorite outdoor concerts. Every year I invite all my family and salseros friends. We are a group of salsa lovers, all over the Bay Area that love this type of outdoors festivities. We get together to share our passion for salsa. For more informtio...
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By Chris Eckert Real Estate Team, Selling the Mid-Peninsula Realtor
(KW Advisors )
      Sellers often think that there is little risk in “trying a higher price, just to test the market”, rather than following their agent’s advice on a List Price. In this situation, the Seller assumes that they can “just come down in price in 2 weeks if we don’t get any offers”. They assume that they can still get the same price after 2 weeks as if they had priced it correctly in the beginning. In order to explain this, the best analogy to use is that of a Bus Full of Buyers. The most serious buyers load up the Bus and go looking at all of the new listings on the market. If a home is priced right, all of the buyers on that Bus fight over who is going to get it. This pushes the sales price for that home UP. If a home is priced too high, that Bus full of Buyers drives on to the next ho...
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By Chris Eckert Real Estate Team, Selling the Mid-Peninsula Realtor
(KW Advisors )
The City of San Mateo Presents 2012 Central Park Music Series June 21, 2012 - August 9, 2012  Every Thursday Evening 6 - 8 PM     June 21: Take 2  Top hits from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s to current chart toppers.   June 28: Stompy Jones Vintage Rhythm & Blues   July 5: Pure Ecstasy  Motown, R & B, Jazz, Soul & Classic Standards   July 12: Rebel Yell   Ultimate Party Band. Plays top hits from the 80’s   July 19: Julio Bravo  Salsa & Dance Tunes   July 26: California Cowboys   Country-western band   August 2: Bud E. Luv Orchestra   Hottest Hits from Vegas   August 9: Busta-Groove    Party Band Playing Hits from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s & Today       Central Park Music Series  Annual Sponsor   Chris Eckert  Representing Buyers & Sellers on the Mid-Peninsula 650.274.1129 Chris@ChrisEckert.us www.Chr...
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By Ray Avanzino
(Stearns Lending)
Fences should not be considered an indication of property boundaries. Legal property boundaries are demarcated by surveyor pins or stakes. These are typically 1/2" to 3/4" round iron pipes flush or buried slightly below land surface. Newer pins might have yellow or orange caps that indicate the surveyor's license number. Locating property lines can be challenging. Older surveyor pins tend to erode. Older property markers could be metal posts, rebar, pipes or car axles. Those having difficulty locating their surveyor pins, also called corner pins, should contact their city or county government and get a copy of their plat map. A plat map will identify each specific lot located in a subdivision — as well as the shape and dimension of the lot — and where the surveyor pins are located. If ...
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By Glen A. Mitchell, Broker, CDPE, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay,El Granada
(Keller Williams Peninsula Estates)
Glen Mitchell | (650) 260-4536 811 Wharfside Rd, San Mateo, CA Close to everything! Very convenient Bay Area location! 3BR/2+1BA Single Family House $3,550/month Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Sq Footage 2,100 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy No pets Deposit $3,550 DESCRIPTION Beautifully updated town home in San Mateo's Harbortown community. This home has many great amenities including: vaulted ceilings, 2 skylights, custom kitchen cabinetry, custom counter tops, hardwood and granite flooring, two fireplaces and a 2 car garage. An abundance of community facilities... 3 pools, sauna, club house, 4 tennis courts and boat dock, among others. Around the block from popular restaurants and stores. 2 minute drive/10 minute walk to Bridgepointe Parkway Shopping Center. - Restaurants inc...
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By Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist, Probate Real Estate Services
(KD Realty - 408.972.1822)
Home & Patio Show - February 11th - 13th in San Mateo Friday, February 10, 2012 – from 12noon to 6pm Saturday, February 11, 2012 – from 10am to 6pm Sunday, February 12, 2012 – 10am – 5pm Patio Furniture Giveaway – over $5,000 over the weekend “How To” Seminars: 12:00pm - 4:00pm on Friday, February 10, 2012 11:30am – 4:30pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012 11:30am – 3:30pm on Sunday, February 12, 2012 Friday – Saturday from 12 – 3 pm – Free antique appraisals There is Free street parking at the event.  Event Center parking lot charges $10 for parking. Read More
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By Marcy Moyer, Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist
(eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales)
It's the end of the year so time for the round-up of distressed property sales in San Mateo. So here's what happened:   Single family and condo townhomes : Total sales:  887 Short Sales: 130 REO:           111 Distressed sales as a percentage of total sales: 27.17% Compare to 2010 Total sales:   859 Short Sales:   103 REO:            110 Distressed sales as a percentage of total sales:  24.8%   My conclusion: The percentage of distressed properties in San Mateo is a higher in 2011, 27.17% as compared to 2010, 24.8. Also, 27% of sales being distressed does start to have a downward effect on the overall price of homes in the city. If you have any questions about short sales or bank owned homes please feel free to contact me. Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty www.marcymoyer.com marcy@marc...
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By Maryellen Curtis, Broker/Owner - Hillsborough, San Mateo & Burlingame
(Alain Pinel Realtors)
Luxury Homes in Aragon, San Mateo, California The Aragon neighborhood in San Mateo, California is the perfect location for luxury homes.   Buying luxury homes is a large financial commitment and you have to make sure that not only the home meets your expectations, but the neighborhood exceeds your demands and desires as well.  I can strongly say that Aragon has everything that buyers are looking for and more when it comes to luxury homes. This neighborhood is located just south of downtown San Mateo and is known as a quiet and safe community filled with many luxury homes. Nearby is more than 16 acres of open play grounds, tennis courts and baseball fields at Central Park.  There is never a shortage of happenings at the park including summer BBQs and the City's summer evening music conce...
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By Pacita Dimacali, Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA
(Alain Pinel)
Last night was the 3rd Annual Pacific Grand Ball held at the Marriott in San Mateo CA. Active Rainers Antonio Cardenas, Kathleen Daniels and I and went to watch the evening competition that consisted of so many heats at various levels of proficiency and ages. If you have an appreciation for ballroom dance, and if you have never attended one of these events, then GO! My favorite part was when the junior dancers competed. There was a couple of kids that were probably 6-8 years old that captivated the audience. They competed with older kids in the mid-teens, but all eyes were on these kids. At least, mine were. This is a picture (from the movie I took with my iphone) What I think these kids learn are grace under pressure, discipline, drive to succeed and appreciation for beauty, I will see...
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By Marcy Moyer, Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist
(eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales)
Today I had lunch with my favorite Trust Officer from one of our local banks.  We were talking about the state of the economy and how it is effecting trusts she administers as well as the real estate in those trusts. My good friend said she used to administer trusts that had a few hundred thousand dollars in cash and a home that was fully paid for.  The home would be sold and the heirs would split a million dollars or more. Those were the good old days. This year she has had a lot of trusts where there was no cash, and the homes had large mortgages on them.  This makes her job harder because it costs money to administer an estate and not having any cash till a home is sold is hard.  However, the fact that so many homes belonging to people who were in their 80's have outstanding mortgage...
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By Chris Eckert Real Estate Team, Selling the Mid-Peninsula Realtor
(KW Advisors )
  Selling a home with City Building Code Violations, by Chris Eckert   On Tuesday, we FINALLY close escrow on one of my listings in the North Shoreview neighborhood of San Mateo. 1514 Monroe Ave – San Mateo Staging by Kerry Roth – Décor Staging   It only took us 6 days to sell it, but 3-1/2 months to close escrow, and it isn’t even a short sale. The property was listed for $475,000, and we received 8 offers, all for over asking. We took the best offer, which was $503,000. Everyone was congratulating me on selling it so fast, until I got that dreaded call from the City of San Mateo Code Enforcement Officer saying……..”Chris, this is Officer xxxxxx from San Mateo Code Enforcement. We received a complaint about an illegal in-law unit at the property that you have listed. You are going to ha...
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By Mayra Espinosa Realtor San Mateo Pacifica Homes, San Mateo County Real Estate | Buy | Sell | Invest
(Mayra Espinosa Broker- Realtor | Call 650-996-8961)
Bank Owned Auction! OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 8/28, 1-3PM. OverviewMapsPhotosFeaturesOpen House $495,000 Townhouse Main Features 2 Bedrooms2 Bathrooms1 Partial Bathroom110 UnitsInterior: 1120 sqft Location 321 N San Mateo Drive110San Mateo, CA 94401USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below: Mayra Espinosa Banegas (650) 996-8961mayraespinosa@gmail.comhttp://www.mayraespinosarealtor.com     Listed by: McGuire Real Estate Our recent listings Auction Bank Owned! OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 8/21, 2-4PM.Single Family Residential for $395,000 in East Palo Alto, CACupertino CA Home for sale-19731 Wheaton Drive2bedroom 1 bath Equity sale great locationHome For Sale in Novato CA-4 Bedrooms 2 baths plus 2 bounus Rooms, Short Sale Approved for $505,000 Sub...
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By Mayra Espinosa Realtor San Mateo Pacifica Homes, San Mateo County Real Estate | Buy | Sell | Invest
(Mayra Espinosa Broker- Realtor | Call 650-996-8961)
Again, last June 2011 the city of San Mateo started the 2011 Central Park Musical Series!Staring last June 23, 2011 through August 11, 2011, every Thursday Evening from 6:00pm to 8:00 P.M. Each year the city of San Mateo sponsors these events.   The events are Free and fun.  It's a great excuse to dance the night away and at the same time socialize with friends, meet new people and share a free and fun evening with your family.   The San Mateo Central Park Musical series is a San Mateo signature summer event. It is one of my favorite outdoor events. Last year I invited the “Bay Area Latin Culture & Salsa SABOR” We are a group of salsa lovers, all over the Bay Area. We get together to share our passion for salsa.  All the events are great, but the Salsa and Samba Nights are my favorite  ...
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