Our agents constantly swap intelligence on the Peninsula real estate market, especially at our weekly all-hands meeting. Each week, I recap their collective intel. Remember, this is banter, not a perfect representation. It reflects many individuals’ different opinions and thoughts.
Sotheby’s global reach: proof points
Use this messaging when competing: We are local and international. Here are some proof points:
- A buyer in Manhattan called about a Woodside listing off an ad.
- Stanford seller: “I want to talk to you because you sell the nice stuff on campus and because you’re with Sotheby’s, which has international reach and exposure.
- Atherton seller with a vacation home in Hawaii: “The buyer is going to come from the Bay Area or Manhattan. We want you to sell our house in Hawaii instead of a Hawaii agent.”
- “Three of my clients saw my listings in Berlin. They were reading the International Herald Tribune while they were away.”
Q: “You’re Sotheby’s. Do you handle the low end?”
A: Yes. And, there is no low end anymore! People buying an entry level house must earn at least 300,000 a year to get into a house here. That puts your entry level buyer in the top 1%. Your entry level buyer is highly affluent. And that’s what Sotheby’s marketing is designed to reach – the most affluent all over the world, both locally and internationally – who are buying homes at all price points on the Peninsula. Second, we reach reach international markets. That’s especially important for small stuff, with international investors buying here in droves.
Selling the big stuff: How to motivate buyers to act
decision is discretionary. need a decision driver or they will wait until the moment they have to act. two ways to catalyze buyers: (1) get someone to write an offer, even if it’s low. interested buyers respond to competition, it focuses them on the property (2) drop price in the face of interest, so interested people get scared that others will buy it.
Last Week’s Real Estate Market Action
Atherton
-
notable sales: three sales last week, including a $5M contract for land value.
- notable new listings:
- contemporary home on Stockbridge. Aggressively priced. Sold for $4.6M about four years ago. List: $5.298M
- coming soon: Prime West Atherton. 2660 sq ft, 19,200 sq ft lot. Original two-story home. Perfect for remodel. Sunny lot. $3,495,000. Listing agent: Mary Jo McCarthy.
Menlo Park
-
summary: Market is moving. More houses are popping on. Prediction: The Willows is the next neighborhood that will break $2M.
-
notable sales: Claire set a new high. New construction, nice house, smaller lot.
-
new listings: 11 new listings, including one in The Willows.
-
coming soon: McKendry in The Willows. 3 BA, 3 BR. 1090 sq ft. Nice lot. turney, but tight. Listing Agent: Summer Brill.
Palo Alto
-
summary: Homes are selling for $1290 – $1350 per square foot.
-
notable sales: 435 Coleridge sold over asking with two offers. Metro Circle landed at $2.2M. The land is what it’s about. Expensive land. One off-market in South PA sold with a preemptive.
-
new listings: a historic house on Lincoln, similar to the one that just sold on Kingsley.
-
coming soon:
-
a Crescent Park home for $9.5. Discretionary sellers.
-
589 Coleridge: a 4800 sq ft house on a 12,000 sq ft lot.
-
-
off market: Spanish revival courtyard house by Jordan Middle School. Great family house.
Portola Valley
-
summary: a fair amount of activity last week. The momentum is in Ladera and Portola Valley Ranch.
-
notable sales:
-
Ladera is hot. It’s the perfect solution for young families. It’s a super family community: schools, close in, the shopping center right there. Little ranchers are going crazy. A few broke through the $2M glass ceiling. 230 S Balsamina, listed at $1.625, sold over $2M – and it wasn’t nearly as nice as La Mesa, which went for $1.995M last month.
-
a lot sale on Mapache got two offers, just barely above list price. 2.5 acres for low 3’s looks like a great deal, compared to the skyrocketing prices on little ranchers in Ladera.
-
-
new listings:
-
Vista Verde: nice house, really big. 7 minutes to Ladera. Lot of brass. Brass is back! List: $2.7M.
-
3BR on Cervantes: slightly awkward, half original, half new, unpermitted work.
-
Joaquin and El Ray: fabulous views, but you must be a billy goat to get up there. People in the hinterlands are coming to the market now because they know it’s a good time.
-
Redwood City
-
notable sales:
-
developer who’s recently bought several properties way over the market bought a teardown in Edgewood Park. 9600 sq ft lot. List: $949. Sold: $1.3M.
-
a Palo Alto buyer bid up 1179 Grand, located in a pocket of Eichleresque houses. List: $1.5. Sold: $2.05M.
-
a nicely done 2/1 with 1400 sq ft. List: $799. Sold: $987.
-
-
new listings: a big number on a funky floor plan in Edgewood Park. List: $2.025M.
-
active listings:
-
1519 Hopkins by Grand. 3500 sq ft house on 8020 sq ft lot. Pro: a great little pocket – big houses on big lots. Con: a busy street: List: $1.7M.
-
someone’s pushing the price on Poplar up by Virginia. A nice pocket in transitional neighborhood – and a big number for that little area. List: $1.275M.
-
- coming soon: Edgewood Park, 3,000 SF home on large lot. Stunning 2-story 4 bedroom remodeled home in gated community. Listing agent: Jenny Liske.
Woodside
-
summary: pretty quiet last week. A bunch of new inventory last week, none of it’s moving. When something good comes along, it stands out. It gets multiple offers and goes fast.
-
new listings: a well-done house, but sloped, came on MLS. List: $7M.
