A couple weeks ago, we highlighted 1660 Duvall Dr, San Jose, CA in our House of the Week. Our exact words: “This week’s house of the week redfines the term ‘over-listed.’ ”

Indeed. Listed at $665,000 we valued the property at $525,000 on 3/26/09 .

Then today, 4/14/09, the list price was dropped by more than 10% to $595,000. That’s a $70,000 drop for those keeping score at home.

Did they drop it far enough? We may soon find out …

Cirios Verdict: NO DEAL

This property is a well-maintained home in Mountain View, CA. Mountain View is home to Google, Yahoo and numerous other Internet and tech companies. Schools are good, crime is low and affordability, is, well, never mind. Prices, after holding up well relative to other parts of the Bay Area, are coming down. We are seeing buying activity in certain neighborhoods, as buyers look to pick up homes that were formerly out of their price range.

750 Telford Ave is in very good condition, although quite small for a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. It is staged, very clean with well-manicured landscaping, which indicates that the agent is putting in a fair amount of effort to sell the home. Unfortunately it’s over-listed.

The subject’s immediate area is seeing very slow sales activity, while homes in other parts of town are seeing strong demand. This indicates that homes in the subject’s area are priced too high, and buyers are content to wait for prices to come down. Even though this property is one of the lowest priced homes in Mountain View, at its current list price, it is certainly not a deal.

Address: 750 Telford Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043
Status: LISTED
List Date: 2/25/2009
List Price: $668,000
Cirios Value: $600,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 10.2% over-listed

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

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We’re changing up the Cirios House of the Week a bit — we want to know whether you think this is a DEAL or NO-DEAL? In other words, would you buy this house at this price?

In our results post, we’ll tell you what we think.

This week’s house comes to you straight out of rough suburban streets of Mountain View, CA. Mountain View is centrally located in Silicon Valley, with a short commute to the likes of Google, Yahoo and other tech firms. Property values are falling, foreclosures are creeping upwards but the tree-lined streets of Mountain View remain desirable for many young professionals and families. (click on images to enlarge)

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

Address: 750 Telford Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,104 square feet
Lot Size: 5,757
List Date: 2/25/2009
Original List Price: $668,000
Current List Price: $668,000
Average School API: 766
Zip Code Sales Last 3 Months (year-over-year): -43.0%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 0.43% (Low)
% Housing Inventory For Sale in Zip: 0.72% (Low)
MLS number: 80909740

Real Estate Agent Comment: Charming home w/lg living room featuring a wood-burning FP w/brick surround, hdwd flrs & open dining area. Open kit boasts ample counter/cab space and sep dining area. Wood-beam ceilings in bedrooms. Enclosed sunroom off kitchen leads to covered patio & large sunny backyard w/mature fruit trees. 2-car garage w/built-in storage.

This property is one of the many, many, many small condos for sale in Orange County. Santa Ana is centrally located next to what used to be the center of mortgage lending in this country, which has quickly turned into the center of a whole bunch of unoccupied commercial space.

All kidding aside, condos like this one are starting to make a lot of sense to buyers considering whether they should make the jump from renting to owning. This unit is nothing to write home about in terms of amenities, is not near the beach and the nearest Starbucks is more than a mile. That’s an eternity for Southern California.

But — at around $1000 per month after mortgage payments, insurance, taxes and HOA dues, it’s not a bad deal. The trouble, of course, is whether your $130,000 investment could quickly become a $100,000 investment, or worse. Sure, you may be paying less to own rather than rent — a market characteristic many cite as bottom-inducing — but if you’re losing $10,000 per year in equity, who cares?

This property is a short sale, and thus more complicated to buy than a foreclosure, and there’s a ton of similar supply nearby. That being said, activity is picking up as buyers are dipping their toes back into the market at new, lower prices.

Address: 2511 West Sunflower Ave, T15, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Status: ACTIVE
List Date: 3/14/2009
List Price: $139,000
Cirios Value: $130,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: +6.9%

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

Have a home you’d like Cirios to use for our next House of the Week?

Make a comment below!

This week’s House of the Week redefines the term “over-listed.”

While the house does have a number of things going for it — large living area, good curb appeal and a nice open layout, it’s just priced too high. But, like many sellers in the area, this one is yet to come to terms with the reality that home prices have dropped, even in middle class areas with good schools. The home is bank owned, and the bank is getting lousy market information from the listing agent.

Schools are very good in this area, but the subject’s street — close to the local middle school — is a bit run down and has several other properties listed on the same block. While the other houses are inferior, the a buyer would still need to put a solid $15-20k into this house just to make it livable, not to mention the kitchen needs serious attention. This fact is not mentioned anywhere by the listing agent, who, based on the comment we mentioned in the original post, doesn’t even appear to have been to the property.

This is a story we see all too often: Banks listing properties too high, with barely attentive listing agents. Unless the seller drops the list price significantly, this house will sit on the market for a long, long time.
Address: 1660 Duvall Dr, San Jose, CA 95130
Status: ACTIVE
List Date: 2/9/2009
List Price: $665,000
Cirios Value: $525,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 21.1% over-listed

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

Have a home you’d like Cirios to use for our next House of the Week?

Make a comment below!

For this week’s House of the Week, Cirios takes you down the coast from San Francisco about 500 miles to one of California’s hidden gems: Ocean Beach in San Diego. Ocean Beach (or “OB” as the locals call it) is a modest, middle class town free of the pretentiousness of many other beach towns in Southern California. As a result, home prices didn’t experience the huge run-up that has plagued other areas. To be sure, it’s not cheap down there, but it’s tough to beat the location. (click on images to enlarge)

Home prices have slipped in OB along with the rest of the state, but it’s relative affordability along the coast has led to a less severe drop. It’s edgy, grungy vibe keeps the yuppies away — which is just the way the OBecians like it.

Address: 4844 Coronado Ave, San Diego, CA 92107
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 2; Bathrooms: 1
Living Space: 942 square feet
Lot Size: 1,591 square feet
List Date: 11/10/2008
Original List Price: $675,000
Current List Price: $625,000
Elementary School API: 894
Zip Code Sales Last 3 Months (year-over-year): -35.0%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 0.1% (Very Low)
% Housing Inventory For Sale in Zip: 0.3% (Very Low)

Real Estate Agent Comment: Brand new Vintage Beach Cottage with 550 SF of outside living area, private yards & large roof deck with ocean views. Great location on a wide concrete street, 1 1/2 blocks to ocean. Quiet area where palm trees and greenery fills the view. The cottage is an eclectic mix of vintage beach cottage and Spanish villa style. Beautiful, elegant finishes, classic materials and beach cottage colors all add up to a beautiful cottage your buyers will love.

WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR THIS HOME?
Post a comment below to guess!

Need more information? Please post a comment and we will get back to you.

Brentwood, as we mentioned, was a poster child for California’s real estate boom and bust. A rural community turned boom town when homebuilders and speculators descended on its quiet shores. Ok, not shores so much as fields, but you get the idea.

552 Sassafrass is a gargantuan home, almost 5,000 square feet on a single story. A year ago, when it first went on the market at over $1 million, it was staged, well-maintained and in good condition. No buyers showed up and the house has since gone into disrepair and seen its asking price chopped in half. Now, with garbage in the back yard and empty halls, it will take an imaginative buyer to step up and buy this home.

Comparables were tough to find since this is a unique home, but some large new homes both on the market and recently sold can be found on the Cirios CLEAR report — click here (or on the image below).

Address: 552 Sassafrass, Brentwood, CA 94513

List Date: 12/26/07
List Price: $519,900
Cirios Value: $485,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 6.7% over-listed

The challenge for the seller is to find a buyer who would choose this home over the numerous other large, new, well-maintained and cheaper homes on the market. It’s uniqueness, however, does have value and for the buyer wanting a different home from his or her neighbors with a huge yard could pick up a modern-day Hacienda on the “cheap.”

Comments? Would you pay half a million dollars for this home?

For this week’s House of the Week, Cirios takes you on a ride to the formerly pastoral outskirts of Contra Costa County, an hour-long jaunt east from San Francisco. Brentwood, once a quiet farming town, became a poster child for the housing market’s boom and bust. Builders threw up development after development, buyers paying more and more with cheaper and cheaper loans.

Prices have fallen back to earth, but after more than a 50% decline in average sales prices, buyers are coming back into the market. Property values keep falling, but sales have been booming: In the past three months transactions are up over 300% from 12-months ago.

Address: 552 Sassafras Dr, Brentwood, CA 94513
Status: LISTED
Bedrooms: 4; Bathrooms: 4.5
Living Space: 4,678 square feet (yes, it’s that huge)
Lot Size: 21,911 square feet (0.5 acres)
List Date: 12/26/07 (421 days on market)
Original List Price: $1,200,900
Current List Price: $519,900
Elementary School API: 841 (High)
Zip Code Sales Last 3 Months (year-over-year): 331%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 9.3% (High)
% Housing Inventory for Sale in Zip: 2.6% (High)

Real Estate Agent Comment: Don’t miss out on a great opportunity to own a large home on an enormous huge lot! 4 bedrooms each with own bath! Large office with fireplace! Bonus/game room with fireplace! Large kitchen with granite counters! Great home to entertain!

(For all you aspiring agents out there, notice the perfect sentence to exclamation mark ratio of 1:1. Amazing work.)

WHAT WILL THIS HOME SELL FOR?
Post a comment below to guess!

Need more information? Please post a comment and we will get back to you.

Unlike Santa Ana, where last week we learned there is strong demand for attractively priced properties, Sunnyvale has seen sales volume decrease over the past 3 months. This is concerning, particularly as other, distressed areas experience pops in sales activity and the broader economy continues to weaken. Sunnyvale is in the heart of Silicon Valley which has been relatively immune to the downturn in the economy…so far. However, we see properties like this one experiencing significant value drops over the past few months.

Since the property did not sell in the last week, we are providing you with our value. Thanks to Lisa Friedrichs who is the only one who guessed (and got darn close by the way!!). The envelope please …

Address: 809 Muender Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086
List Date: 11/13/09
List Price: $509,900
Cirios Value: $390,000
List Price v. Cirios Value: 23.5% over-listed

The housing crisis has affected the entire country but certain markets have fallen faster earlier while others are only now seeing declines. The Sunnyvale market (and the Silicon Valley in general) has only experienced slight declines compared to some of the more distressed markets, which has a lot to do with the strong job market through the 3Q of 2008. As the job market has slowed down, the values of homes have begun to feel the pressure. The first homes to see declines are the ones that have a high level of negative obsolescence.

We believe a former “Old Fashioned Doll House” that is bank owned and backs up to a auto body shop is a prime example of a property that is going to see a significant decrease in value. This home sold for $605,000 in 2005 and to think it has only decreased in value by $95,100 or 16% since that time seems optimistic to us.

Beyond this property, we feel very strongly that properties like this one in formerly strong markets have severe downside risks associated with them. If you only take one thing away from this HOTW, it should be that “entry” level homes on the San Francisco Peninsula should not be viewed as properties that have very little risk.

As always, if you are looking for a property on the Peninsula and want to know what is the real value of the property, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Cirios Real Estate: Educating home buyers since 2008.

This week’s House of the Week comes to us from the suburban hamlet of Sunnyvale, a short 45 minute drive south from San Francisco. Sunnyvale is conveniently located near Silicon Valley job centers and also home to a Toys ‘R Us that’s allegedly haunted by a ghost named Johnny Johnson.

Address: 809 Muender Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Status: LISTED
Bedrooms: 2; Bathrooms: 1
Living Space: 851 square feet
Lot Size: 4,000 square feet
List Date: 11/13/08 (90 days on market)
Original List Price: $549,000
Current List Price: $509,900
Elementary School API: 809 (High)
Zip Code Sales Last 3 Months (year-over-year): -22%
% Homes in Foreclosure in Zip: 0.3% (Low)
% Housing Inventory for Sale in Zip: 0.5% (Low)
Real Estate Agent Comment: Bank owned REO. This was once an Old Fashioned Doll House. It could be a Doll House again! Wonderful community in Sunnyvale. Priced to sell quickly.

WHAT WILL THIS HOME SELL FOR?
Post a comment below to guess!

Need more information? Please post a comment and we will get back to you.