Fri 9 Jul 2010
Posted by Anne Arjani under Eichler Homes
No Comments
After World War II, there was a high demand for homes in America for the many newly formed and growing families in our nation. The solution to this problem by most home developers was to quickly produce large tracts of duplicated housing. These homes were often cheap in materials, hurried in production and unoriginal in design.
There was an exception to this, however. In Northern California there was a real-estate developer who had a radically different concept of what the mid-century tract home and neighborhood should provide, while still being affordable to the average American family. This developer’s name was Joseph Eicler, and his vision of standards, combined with his company, Eichler Homes, changed and shaped the face of houses in the Bay Area and residential American architecture forever.
This will be a series of articles about these award-winning, period homes, known to most simply as ‘Eichlers’, so unique and recognizable is their design. Many of the features that make these houses uniquely Eichler cannot be reproduced in new construction today, due to materials and lot availability, and today’s coding and building regulations. These remaining, artistically beautiful homes, truly are, the last of their kind.
An exceptional Eichler home in Palo Alto, maintained in it’s original beauty by it’s sole owner, will be coming onto market and listed by Anne Arjani in mid-September.
Wed 16 Jun 2010
I went to the Mountain View CA AT&T store today at 9:25 in order to get in line to pre-order an iphone. I was the 9th person in line. It took over one hour from the time the store opened until I was allowed to come into the store and start the ordering process. About 45 minutes into the process, when we had completed the paperwork, and the AT&T representative pushed the “purchase” button on the screen, the cart mysteriously ”emptied” just as the AT&T representative wanted to finish the process. Apparently there were so many AT&T stores ordering the phones that most of the representatives reported this problem. 15 minutes later after re-filling out all of the information, the order did go through.
People in line reported that it was impossible to get through on the website, and the AT&T representatives indicated that the queue for calling AT&T was over 1000 people long.
This was the day the Mountain View Store was having their air conditioning fixed, so employees went out an purchased fans in order to keep customers cool.
They also handed out glasses of water to people in line, and provided seating for those who were tired form standing in line for so long.
Although I had visited the store a week ago, they neglected to tell me that the primary person on the account HAD to be present and a part of the ordering process. I called my husband and he came down while I was still in line.
People in line were very civilized.
Mon 4 Feb 2008
Posted by Anne Arjani under Real Estate Trends
No Comments
Menlo Park Real Estate continues to be an outstanding place to have a real estate investment or home, particularly in neighborhoods that have either the high scoring Las Lomitas Schools or the excellent Menlo Park City Schools. Since 1998 an averaged price home in Menlo Park has gone from $665,329.00 to $1,436,329.00: a real estate home appreciation increase of 215% over 10 years! Downtown Menlo Park is a big draw, with the greatest appreciation in the very desirable Downtown Menlo Park and Allied Arts Neighborhoods. The “Starbucks effect” can be seen in that home buyers crave an easy walk to a diversified, yet charming downtown district for meals out, simple errands and even grocery shopping. The following chart shows us that while prices have been trending upwards, appreciation was flat in 2007. You can see detailed home appreciation charts at graphs for all area cities by clicking on Market Trends. (more…)
Thu 31 Jan 2008
Palo Alto CA has outstanding home appreciation rates compared to other communities, even in the generally excellent cities of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is by far my favorite city to for purchasing and listing homes for sale. Why? A few years after my clients have purchased their homes, they always comment something like, “We would never be able to afford this home now.” Home Sellers comment “Even I didn’t think my home was worth so much in so little time…” For more detailed statistical information on Palo Alto area home prices go to the Home Appreciation section of this website. All cities in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County have their own statistical reports. However, Palo Alto also has the most expensive property PRICES per square foot and per square foot of lot size. Palo Alto’s square foot prices for both homes and lots frequently exceed those in the very exclusive community of Atherton CA. In other words, Palo Alto is astonishingly expensive, and just a few miles away in San Carlos and Belmont, the prices are far more reasonable. (more…)
Wed 23 Jan 2008
I interviewed four successful Real Estate flippers in the last month, and was surprised at how they all operate based on more or less the same “Real Estate Flipping Rules“. These flippers were working in the Greater Palo Alto communities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and San Jose California, and typically completed their projects in 4-12 weeks. All had at least two “value added” skill sets including the following: Real Estate license and marketing expertise, contractor’s license, ability to make repairs and do simple tasks such as paint or tile the property, staging skills, furniture and accessories, and in some cases, a mortgage broker license. One person was the designated “interior designer”, and spent considerable time and effort in selecting and sourcing attractive materials at reasonable prices. All partnerships involved value added skill sets, and no partnerships had a partner that just brought money to the table. Successful flipper partnerships split costs, risks and value added skill sets. All flippers staged their properties, most with their own staging furniture and accessories. (more…)
Sat 19 Jan 2008
A pristine Eichler Home for sale came onto the market in Palo Atlo’s Greenmeadow neighborhood this week. MLS # 772403. The 1648 Sq ft home of 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms is located at 4072 Scripps Avenue is on a large (by Palo Alto Real Estate standards) 7045 sq ft lot (per co. assessor) in Palo Alto’s Greenmeadow neighborhood. (more…)
Sat 5 Jan 2008
Posted by Anne Arjani under Featured Listings
No Comments
Fri 4 Jan 2008
Posted by Anne Arjani under Mortgage Center
No Comments
Mortgage Rate Report For January 4, 2008
Rates on a 30 year mortgage fell this week, to 5.57% from 5.59% one month prior.
The average rate on a 15 year mortgage slipped as well, to 5.11% from 5.16% one month prior. (more…)
Fri 7 Dec 2007
This second installment on the Vantage of Palo Alto “green” community will focus on some of the interior features, issues, and increased expenses new home buyers should be aware of when purchasing a home in a new home community in Palo Alto CA and Santa Clara County CA. (more…)
Thu 6 Dec 2007
I visited Vantage of Palo Alto which is touted as the most progressive “Green” Townhome Community, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was quite impressed. Vantage is located at 928 East Meadow Drive in south Palo Alto, on the former campus of Loral Space Systems and the Stanford Graduate School of Psychology. (more…)
