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Turns out that the Bay Area’s dwindling supply of home for sale under $500,000 isn’t just the talk of the Bay Area.

The whole country seems to have something to say about it.

In response to our story about June’s sales of relatively low-priced properties falling 17 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the fact that fewer homeowners want to take less than a half-mill for their homes these days, scores of readers commented on the trend. Some are former Bay Area residents who lived here when the real-estate market was a lot less insane than it is today, others describe real-estate markets where they now live.

Here are some of their comments, edited for clarity and length:

From “TheBruce:”

“When I was a kid in 1977, I lived in a 1,200 sq. ft. home in Milpitas, CA (SF bay area) with my mom, dad, and sister. That small house is now “worth” $800K according to zillow.com. That’s pure madness.”

From “bonestabone:”

“Even Vallejo is becoming overpriced, you’re still looking at $300k for an old fixer upper.”

From “idefix:”

“When the service workers give up and leave the Bay Area, one hopes that this region will finally be forced to confront its housing problems.”

From “John Romig:”

“I live in Rochester NY and I own two homes. Anybody can buy a nice four bedroom house here for $45k. Including a detached garage and off Street parking. Yes, $45,000. Rochester NY has a decent city school district. Violent crimes are also way down in Rochester NY. The weather is good from April through October and then it gets cold, dark and snowy for @ five months. I am shocked by the stats about housing costs in the Bay Area. Are you guys in California getting your dollars worth? I lived in the East Bay from 2001 through 2009. I saw housing costs high in 2001, @ $800. month for a one bedroom apartment without utilities included. In central Berkeley. By 2009 the construction sector was in the toilet, so I left. I feel for the ultra wealthy: how will you find poor people to take out your garbage walk your Presa Canario, stock your fridge, clean your house, wax your Range Rover, plant fancy flowers in your trophy garden?”

From “Bob:”

“A car detailer who moved out of the Bay Area, where is he going to work? Los Banos? The demographic there is poor, how will the car detailer make any business in Los Banos where he will be charging $300 for a detail session? So he will come back to the Bay Area for work, because people here can afford $300 detail sessions. Manhattan is the same way. Paris, the same way. London, the same way. People who have money will live in the central region (SF, SJ, Oak), and the people with no money will live outside, but will come into the central region for work, because the outside has no jobs.”

From “DontSpeakLibberish:”

“I find it so ironic that CA is a liberal bastion, so welcoming of the poor, down trodden immigrants, yet even modest homes get caught in a bidding war for more $, and you have to make well into the 6 figures just to survive.”

From “Walking Fool:”
“It’s like saying BMW doesn’t offer cars for under $25,000. You don’t have to buy a BMW you know. Buy a used Corolla. Can’t afford it here? Then move to a cheaper city or state.”

From “SamVaughn:”

“Calexit will cause an exodus to leave before it’s too late, then housing prices might come down.”

From “Battlespeed:”

“Looking for affordable housing in the Bay Area (for anything bigger than a postage stamp) has been a snipe hunt for years unless ‘Bay Area’ includes anything within a 2-hour commute.”

From “Mr Happy Man:”

“This article pointed to something I have realized for some time. The necessary service workers are being driven out of the Bay Area, which means it will be difficult to obtain those services when you need them. Yes, education is an important value in this area, and the well-to-do parents will want reasonable class sizes, but that isn’t going to happen unless you pay teachers a sufficient salary to buy a home – preferably a house – there. And who is a patent lawyer going to call when his toilet gets clogged? A plumber, of course. If there is one available. But that isn’t likely if one isn’t around – because he can’t afford a house in San Francisco.”

“So what is going to give? Wages of these middle-class service workers are going to have to climb dramatically – you will have to pay these workers $200k a year or so, simply for Bay Area society to function. Also, since resources are strained in California, especially water, this area is going to need to find new sources of resources. Especially water. The Bay Area is going to need massive desalination plants – whether they like it or not – to build in areas it isn’t building. To afford the necessary service workers. And the people of the Bay Area are going to need to be a bit more tolerant of development.”

From “relaxok:”

“One way to think of it though – if all the residents of an area are rich, a plumber can charge way more than he could in the middle of nowhere in Ohio.”

From “luke7478:”

“If you’re going to live on the other side of the bridge, then Fairfield is a far better option, and I believe possibly the last of the “somewhat affordable” options in that general area. Otherwise just move to Sacramento like many have done. I used to live in a large house with 9 rooms in El Cerrito, renting one of them, when attending Cal. One of my housemates had his own home and family back in Sacramento. He used to live there during the week, renting the room because he worked in Oakland, and went back to his family on the weekends! That’s how bad it’s gotten!”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/31/bay-areas-shocking-home-prices-are-the-talk-of-the-nation/

(KPIX 5) — The San Francisco Bay Area, one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, is also turning out to be a prime target for cyber-criminals who are hacking realtors’ email accounts and sending home buyers false instructions to wire money.

It happened to East Bay realtor Kristina Solovieva. Last year, criminals hacked her Gmail account, and waited for just the right time to strike. “The timing was impeccable, actually,” Solovieva said. Just when it was time for one of Solovieva’s clients to send the remainder of their down payment to close escrow, the scammers sent the buyers an email from Solovieva’s account.

The email, seemingly from Solovieva, instructed the buyers to wire hundreds of thousands of dollars to an account. Luckily, the amount was off by $30 – enough to make the clients suspicious. “They were very savvy, and they did the math, and it didn’t add up,” said Solovieva.

But some do fall for it. San Francisco attorney Matthew Borden is representing a buyer who wired over $500,000 to a scammer after allegedly receiving a false email from her realtor’s account. “She was crushed,” Borden said. “This was her life savings.” In this case, Borden blamed the realty company, Zephyr, for not protecting its accounts from intrusion. “First of all, they should have maintained good security themselves,” said Borden.

Zephyr denied it is responsible. In an email to KPIX 5, company president Randall Kostick called it an “unfortunate case,” and said “no one at our company gave instructions concerning the wiring of her deposit funds (that was the scam artist who did that.)” It also said the FBI is investigating and it’s possible that the hack took place “in the title company’s system” or perhaps, the buyer’s email account. Kostick did acknowledge the email the victim received “did appear to originate from our agent.”

Zephyr also said the problem is “much more prevalent than most people are aware of.” The National Association of Realtors and the FBI have recently issued warnings about sophisticated email scams targeting the real estate industry. The NAR’s warning advises “Start from the assumption that any email in your in-box could be a targeted attack from a criminal.”

Matt Fuller, President of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, said realtors aren’t the only ones being hacked. “It can be the agent’s email, it can be the title company, it can be a lender, It can be a transaction coordinator,” he said.

But the crime is always the same: impersonating someone involved in the transaction by sending emails from their account and provide instructions to wire money, at precisely the moment the client is expecting to make a payment. The Bay Area is particularly vulnerable because it’s a hot market and buyers are doing deals quickly, according to Fuller. “There is this urgency associated with transactions.”

Solovieva believes the scammers were “watching us all along and reading all our correspondence … It’s creepy.”

The California Association of Realtors is now advising real estate agents to include a “Wire Fraud Advisory,” in the mountain of paperwork presented to buyers. It says “While wiring funds is a welcome convenience, buyers and sellers need to exercise extreme caution.”

Solovieva, who has since added layers of security to her email account, shares her hacking experience with clients, hoping to make sure the message hits home. “It’s not being discussed a lot, but it’s out there.”

Article source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/08/02/scammers-target-real-estate-buyers-through-email-schemes/

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is selling his Alamo, Calif. mansion for $3.65 million, reports the Los Angeles Times.

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The 5,670 square foot home in a gated community has five bedrooms and five baths. It features a wrap-around porch, sweeping staircase and a large in-law unit among many other amenities.

Belt purchased the home in January for $3.45 million, according to public records. Bryan Hurlbut with Dudum Real Estate Group is the current listing agent.

Belt, 29, has been the subject of some trade rumors. His salary is scheduled to jump from $2.8 million this year to $16 million in each of the next four seasons.

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/02/photos-san-francisco-giants-star-brandon-belt-selling-sf-bay-area-mansion/

Turns out a half-a-million bucks is chump change these days when it comes to the Bay Area’s sizzling real-estate market.

While you can still find plenty of properties for a cool million or more, homes selling for under the $500,000 mark are getting increasingly hard to find. Throughout the Bay Area, sales for those relatively ”inexpensive” houses plummeted 17 percent in June from a year earlier, mainly because of lack of supply.

So while this phenomenon is pushing prospective buyers farther and farther out from the region’s core of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, what might you still be able to pick up for under that magic half-million?

Here are a few possibilities; check out our attached slideshow for the pictures:

Cute and Cozy in Pleasanton: $196,500

Sitting in space number 123, this little baby at 3231 Vineyard Ave. is a 1,526-square-foot mobile home with two bedrooms and two baths. A couple of caveats, says realtor Eva Deagen with Remax Accord in Pleasanton: it’s a 55-and-over community, and once you’ve moved in you’ll pay a monthly rent of $1,226. “These units were built in the early ’70s,” she says, “but they’ve been updated over the years and this one is in move-in condition. A lot of residents of Pleasanton like to buy these to bring their parents closer; it’s a great option.”

Backing Up in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Realtor Paul Zech recently reduced the price on this charming little three-bedroom home on Hoot Owl Way in the woodsy town of Boulder Creek, and it’s yours for a mere $439,000. “It’s been on the market longer than we’d anticipated,” says Zech, acknowledging the fact that the small lot size, lack of a usable yard and other issues may have given buyers cold feet. Still, he says, “you’d think that anything under $500K would fly off the shelf; this one has not flown off the shelf.” Another drawback: “A lot of properties in the Santa Cruz mountains don’t have garages, don’t have carports, don’t even have driveways. And while this house does have a driveway, if you pull your car down into it you have to back up 200 feet to get out. That’s a drawback. Otherwise,” he says with a chuckle, “three bedroom, one-and-half bath for under five — come on!”

Walking Distance to the After Hours Cocktail Lounge

Like they say, big surprises come in small packages. And while this Vallejo beauty’s got only 782 square feet of packaging, it’s priced at a sweet $319,888. The listing agent, Oscar Nunez, admits it’s not for everyone: “It’s small, with two bedrooms and a small kitchen,” he says. “And the neighborhood’s not a desirable area, but there’s nothing on the market for under $300,000, so we’ll sell it soon, I’m sure.” You’ll get two bedrooms and one bath and you can easily walk over each evening to After Hours, described by one online reviewer as “my go-to spot to grab a drink and relax. Hands down the best bar in Vallejo. Great pricing for the middle class working man and friendly attentive bartenders.’’

Living Large in Oakland (in a Very Small Space)

Yes, the listing agent’s phone number on Zillow seems to be out of order, but if you poke around you may be able to get a viewing of this condo at 245 Perkins Street in Oakland. But since it’s only 715 square feet, it will be a very brief viewing. Take a few steps around the one bedroom, walk into and out of the one bathroom, then head outside and enjoy the now-thriving neighborhood near Lake Merritt called Adams Point. Don’t think of this as a house — think of this as a crash pad to use when you’re not out and about at the nearby Whole Foods, Fox and Paramount theaters or Grand Lake farmer’s market on Saturdays. You can also hang out in your condo with your dog, assuming he/she’s under 25 pounds. All yours for just $435,000!

Enough Room for You and Your Checkbook

So you want to live in San Francisco, one of the priciest addresses these days in this corner of the solar system? Well, good news: Apartment A at 412 Green Street is listed on Zillow for $435,000, a mere pittance to get your foot in the door of high-end Bay Area real estate. Sure, there’s a small catch — the one-bath studio is just 232 square feet. But compared to, say, a phone booth, that’s like huge, right? Here’s part of the realtor’s pitch, which on its own is worth the price of admission: “This stylishly updated North Beach pied-a-terre is the perfect opportunity for the savvy investor or owner/user. Newly remodeled to maximize use of space, high end finishes were thoughtfully selected with luxury in mind. An elevator ride to the shared roof deck presents amazing views of some of San Francisco’s most iconic sites: the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, St’s Peter and Paul Church, and of course, the sparkling San Francisco Bay!”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/31/heres-what-500000-will-get-you-in-the-bay-area-housing-market/

Turns out that the Bay Area’s dwindling supply of home for sale under $500,000 isn’t just the talk of the Bay Area.

The whole country seems to have something to say about it.

In response to our story about June’s sales of relatively low-priced properties falling 17 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the fact that fewer homeowners want to take less than a half-mill for their homes these days, scores of readers commented on the trend. Some are former Bay Area residents who lived here when the real-estate market was a lot less insane than it is today, others describe real-estate markets where they now live.

Here are some of their comments, edited for clarity and length:

From “TheBruce:”

“When I was a kid in 1977, I lived in a 1,200 sq. ft. home in Milpitas, CA (SF bay area) with my mom, dad, and sister. That small house is now “worth” $800K according to zillow.com. That’s pure madness.”

From “bonestabone:”

“Even Vallejo is becoming overpriced, you’re still looking at $300k for an old fixer upper.”

From “idefix:”

“When the service workers give up and leave the Bay Area, one hopes that this region will finally be forced to confront its housing problems.”

From “John Romig:”

“I live in Rochester NY and I own two homes. Anybody can buy a nice four bedroom house here for $45k. Including a detached garage and off Street parking. Yes, $45,000. Rochester NY has a decent city school district. Violent crimes are also way down in Rochester NY. The weather is good from April through October and then it gets cold, dark and snowy for @ five months. I am shocked by the stats about housing costs in the Bay Area. Are you guys in California getting your dollars worth? I lived in the East Bay from 2001 through 2009. I saw housing costs high in 2001, @ $800. month for a one bedroom apartment without utilities included. In central Berkeley. By 2009 the construction sector was in the toilet, so I left. I feel for the ultra wealthy: how will you find poor people to take out your garbage walk your Presa Canario, stock your fridge, clean your house, wax your Range Rover, plant fancy flowers in your trophy garden?”

From “Bob:”

“A car detailer who moved out of the Bay Area, where is he going to work? Los Banos? The demographic there is poor, how will the car detailer make any business in Los Banos where he will be charging $300 for a detail session? So he will come back to the Bay Area for work, because people here can afford $300 detail sessions. Manhattan is the same way. Paris, the same way. London, the same way. People who have money will live in the central region (SF, SJ, Oak), and the people with no money will live outside, but will come into the central region for work, because the outside has no jobs.”

From “DontSpeakLibberish:”

“I find it so ironic that CA is a liberal bastion, so welcoming of the poor, down trodden immigrants, yet even modest homes get caught in a bidding war for more $, and you have to make well into the 6 figures just to survive.”

From “Walking Fool:”
“It’s like saying BMW doesn’t offer cars for under $25,000. You don’t have to buy a BMW you know. Buy a used Corolla. Can’t afford it here? Then move to a cheaper city or state.”

From “SamVaughn:”

“Calexit will cause an exodus to leave before it’s too late, then housing prices might come down.”

From “Battlespeed:”

“Looking for affordable housing in the Bay Area (for anything bigger than a postage stamp) has been a snipe hunt for years unless ‘Bay Area’ includes anything within a 2-hour commute.”

From “Mr Happy Man:”

“This article pointed to something I have realized for some time. The necessary service workers are being driven out of the Bay Area, which means it will be difficult to obtain those services when you need them. Yes, education is an important value in this area, and the well-to-do parents will want reasonable class sizes, but that isn’t going to happen unless you pay teachers a sufficient salary to buy a home – preferably a house – there. And who is a patent lawyer going to call when his toilet gets clogged? A plumber, of course. If there is one available. But that isn’t likely if one isn’t around – because he can’t afford a house in San Francisco.”

“So what is going to give? Wages of these middle-class service workers are going to have to climb dramatically – you will have to pay these workers $200k a year or so, simply for Bay Area society to function. Also, since resources are strained in California, especially water, this area is going to need to find new sources of resources. Especially water. The Bay Area is going to need massive desalination plants – whether they like it or not – to build in areas it isn’t building. To afford the necessary service workers. And the people of the Bay Area are going to need to be a bit more tolerant of development.”

From “relaxok:”

“One way to think of it though – if all the residents of an area are rich, a plumber can charge way more than he could in the middle of nowhere in Ohio.”

From “luke7478:”

“If you’re going to live on the other side of the bridge, then Fairfield is a far better option, and I believe possibly the last of the “somewhat affordable” options in that general area. Otherwise just move to Sacramento like many have done. I used to live in a large house with 9 rooms in El Cerrito, renting one of them, when attending Cal. One of my housemates had his own home and family back in Sacramento. He used to live there during the week, renting the room because he worked in Oakland, and went back to his family on the weekends! That’s how bad it’s gotten!”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/31/bay-areas-shocking-home-prices-are-the-talk-of-the-nation/