Hillsborough, Burlingame Luxury Homes Real Estate

What's up with the summer weather around here?

People visiting our area for the first time during the summer are often surprised at finding cold weather.  "What's up with the weather around here?" they ask.  Oh, The Fog?  It's 60 degrees!  It's the middle of summer!   Cold winds!  Burr!  Welcome to Northern California and specifically to the San Francisco Bay Area.  Our world is affected by the cold Pacific Ocean and the hot Central Valley of California.

San Francisco is at the tip of a peninsula.  To the west is the ocean.  To the east is the bay.  Across from the bay is a body of land that extends on to the east and the Sierra Mountains.  In our area, you can pick your weather like you pick your clothes.  Some like it warm.  If that's you, you can live anywhere but San Francisco.  Some like it hot.  Is that you?  Go east, or south, or north, my friend.  And, some like it cool.  If that's you, stay near San Francisco and the bay or into the city itself if you complain when it gets hot. The picture above shows fog hugging the coast between Daily City and Half Moon Bay while the tip of the peninsula, San Francisco and the rest of the bay is clear. 

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San Mateo is the largest city in the mid-Peninsula with about 90,000 residents.  Prices for San Mateo spread far and wide.  Last week the range went from a low of $300,000 to a high of $3,395,000 - quite a spread and significantly different kinds of houses.  Today I am going to write about the entire city and then talk about the individual zip codes tomorrow.  With such a dramatic spread of prices the median priced house drops to $749,000 and it's likely to be a 3 bedroom 2 bath rancher with about 1400 square feet sitting on a lot of around 6000 square feet.   It was probably built shortly after WWII. 

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Plan Your Move with Tiny steps

I'm reading the book "One Small Step Can Change Your Life - The Kaizen Way"by Robert Maurer.  The book talks about making small, sometimes tiny steps to make major changes in your life.  I began to think about this in how real estate could use this book.  One such way is to use this happens when someone needs to sell their family home.  You know the one, it's the one that they have lived for 40 or 50 years; the one that's loaded with possessions, let alone memories, of those many years.  What often stops people in their tracks is the thought of having to sift through everything.  It is overwhelming. 

By taking  tiny steps, changes can be made in our mental thought patterns according to Maurer.  Why not do the same thing with your house? When we have too much to tackle it's easy to become paralyzed with fear and the thought of selling the family home can be frightening. 

Where to begin? 

You begin with one small step.  Start with one room at a time. Take one corner of that room and begin.  Sort your items and make four piles of things.

• Pile One: items to keep
• Pile Two: items to give to family or friends
• Pile Three: items to donate
• Pile Four: items to throw away.

Before you throw anything away bring the family in and let them see what you want to throw out, just in case.  There might be a treasure in there that someone wants, even though you don't. 

This first small step, and first corner may take a while to complete.  No worry.  Take your time and once you've finished that corner, move to the next and the next and finally the last corner.  Hopefully, the middle of the room is now filled with the four piles and then you take the next step.

Throw out the junk.  Donate the items in that corner.  Have the family take their items away with them.  Finally pack the items you want to keep into boxes.  Label the boxes and have them put into your garage for the move.

Repeat this process with each room of your home. As you move around your house it will become a little easier with each room.  You'll have a clear idea of what is in that space.  What you want to keep and what you don't.  Continue on with the same four piles and clear out each room as you go.

Be ruthless.  If you are downsizing you can't take everything with you so you must decide exactly what it is you want to keep.  What furniture will fit in your new home?  What pictures and knickknacks.  What will go and what will not. 

The two year rule

A good rule to follow in this process of thinning down your life is the two year rule.  Have you used this item, garment, kitchen utensil, pot or pan within the past two years?  Yes?  Keep it.  No?  Out it goes into one of the three piles for family, donation or garbage. 

This whole process takes time.  If you are getting ready to sell the family home, begin this process well in advance of putting your home up on the market.  Your friendly Realtor will tell you to get rid of clutter and the earlier you can do this the more you'll be able to do this with thought and consideration .  If you can have another pair or two of hands to help, a child or friend or spouse, it may go a little faster.  But more than that, it will be a wonderful time to reminisce about old times when you used that thing and tell family stories.

One small step at a time in the house clearing process not only makes it more manageable but relaxing and maybe even a little fun.  Sure you may shed a tear here or there, but you also will have laughter and conversations about your life's memories in your family home.

After all, this move will allow you to shed the burden of things and possessions and let you move into your new home with everything you really want and that really means the most to you.  What an uplifting feeling!

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Listen Up Bargain Hunters!  Now is the time if you want to buy in Hillsborough, California.  Prices are down, number of days on the market is way up and there are 52 homes to select from.  What more could you ask for?  Hillsborough, with the finest public school system in San Mateo County, offers exclusion, privacy and large properties.  All of this, of course, comes with a price tag.  Last week the median price for a home in Hillsborough was $3,645,500.  The least expensive home on the market was $1,895,000 and the most expensive is going for, drum roll please, $18,000,000. 

So, what do you get for all of that money?  A minimum half acre of land, likely with many trees and privacy. The median sized house has 4,733 square feet and comes with 5 bedrooms and 4 baths.  It's likely about 50 years old, redone to today's standards with a first class kitchen, fabulous bathrooms and lovely gardens.

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Last week Burlingame had 55 homes for sale and saw 5 homes sell.  The market in Burlingame has been rather static, inventory of homes for sale has stayed pretty even while the median price has gone up.  Last week, the median price was $1,388,000.  This house was probably a 3 bedroom 2 bath home sitting on a 6000 foot lot and was about 67 years old.  That's the median house in Burlingame right now.  Homes in the Easton Edition are often much older than that.  More than half of all homes listed have had price reductions telling us that prices have adjusted downward and perhaps there might be some negotiation room.

Median Price

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