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East Bay Real Estate: Some Housing Recovery Solutions!

If I was in charge of making the decisions as to how our Bay Area housing industry could speed up its recovery it would be much different than what the Feds and the Banks are currently doing.  The challenge is some Bay Area communities are recovering much faster than others – Silicon Valley being one of them.  The East County of the Bay Area will take five or more years to work out of homes that are underwater.

Remember, all markets are local. It is amazing that we have the lowest home prices in most of our communities since the early 2000’s,  the lowest mortgage rates in 40+ years – under 4%, and the lowest January inventory of homes for sale in my memory!  AND, Buyers are still sitting on the sidelines not taking advantage of this perfect storm.  What a great time to buy instead of rent!  However, some buyers still believe prices will come down further in 2012.  Some are not able to secure a mortgage.  And, some believe that it makes more sense to rent than to buy for the next several years.

Yes, there are some fundamental changes that would make a difference for all of our communities regarding housing.  (We will see if President Obama has anything new up his sleeve as he promised in his State of the Union Address to do MORE to be aggressive on housing.  Whatever ‘new’ is, it will require aggressive action as opposed to his past policies.) 1) Write down mortgage loan balances for specific borrowers whose house is underwater instead of foreclosure.  2) Design a way for local real estate investors to purchase more than 10 rental properties.  3) Finally, fix the lending institutions lending practices.

1)      If I was in charge of the Feds housing policies four years ago, I would have focused on how distressed home owners who were underwater on their mortgages could stay in their homes instead of foreclosing on them.  There would have to be some basic rules as to who could qualify.  And, it would require a write down on debt.  The first group to qualify for the write down would be the ones who have not missed a mortgage payment. (At some point in the future this group will just stop making payments because of throwing good money against bad.) The next group is the ones who are current on their mortgage payments and have lost their jobs. The third group is the ones who should have never been provided a mortgage in the first place.  The banks need to consider being their equity partners and see if a restructuring of their debt would allow them to stay current.  The final group is the one whose home will be taken back by the bank because there is no other alternative.

2)      Local investors are a key to buying up the ‘shadow inventory’ of bank owned homes.  Did you know that nationally, there are almost 450,000 bank owned homes and another 2 million loans that are in various stages of foreclosure?  Staggering numbers!  And, investors in rental housing cannot finance more than four rental homes. (Fannie Mae is up to 10.) Today’s local investors would love to add to their rental portfolio. What if they could buy up to 30 rentals,  put up a 35% down and get financing.  Do you think our ‘shadow inventory’ would dramatically shrink?  You bet it would.  These are smart investors, looking for value, and knowing that the rental market will support their costs.

3)      Fixing the lending institutions lending practices may be the biggest obstacle to accelerating the housing recovery.  I am not suggesting that we even get close to what was going on pre-2007.  However, today’s rigid loan qualification practices are keeping Buyers out of the home ownership when this rate is dropping and rentals rates are dramatically rising.  The housing market equilibrium needs to be re-established.  I am not confident that lending issues will be addressed in an election year, however there needs to be a focus by Congress on revamping the stingy mortgage policies by our nation’s lenders, or we will be stuck in this mess much longer than need be.

OK, I am sure you may have some other suggestions on how we can shorten our housing crisis.  I am all ears!  CONTACT me today if you would like a FREE price evaluation of your home.  Until next time…Jim Walberg.

The Tobin Clark Estate: Interior Designer, Syrie Maugham’s Finest Work!

The Tobin Clark Estate was completed in 1931, designed by the re-nown architect, David Adler.  Upon completion, the Estate was filled with interior decor by Syrie Maugham (wife of Somerset Maugham), paintings by Van Dyke and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Queen Anne paneling, eighteenth century Chinese wall coverings, a rare Dubois writing table and over two hundred other items sent from England and the Continent were selected by Syrie Maugham.  Celia Tobin Clark learned about Syrie’s legendary interior decorating from a dear friend in Chicago.  Syrie is credited for designing the first all-white room.  At the Estate, The Music Room, is a perfect example of her work using ‘white’ as the primary color.

At the Estate,  Syrie’s crowning glory were the Music Room and the Library. The Music Room, which is 55 feet long and is crowned by 15 foot ceilings with exquisite three dimensional decorations, features antique parquet-de-Versailles floorings, triple gold-gilt moldings, matching fireplaces, Bay Windows and French doors leading to the Grand Terrace was an example of her extraordinary work.  You will notice that it has all shades of white.

The Library is where she brought in dramatic colors of green.  As you walk into The Library you discover pine carving attributed to Grinling Gibbons, woodcarver to St. Paul’s Cathedral under Sir Christopher Wren, and matching eighteenth-century pine bookcases.  This room is featured in Helen Comstock’s “100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America.” And, as you peruse the book you will find several of the rooms listed were designed by Syrie Maugham.

Born in London in 1879, Syrie opened a shop on Baker Street in 1922. As her reputation exploded, she took on interior decorating projects in Palm Beach and California.  The expansion of her design business caused her to open shops in Chicago and New York.  The prices for her pieces were high.  Victor Afia is credited for say, “She knew what she could get away with.  It wasn’t the stuff so much as her talent she was charging for.”  And, Celia Tobin Clark spent a fortunate over the next several years with Syrie as her guide.  In the 1930’s Syrie would say to Celia, “If you don’t have $10,000 to spend today don’t bother.”

Furniture was Syrie’s specialty.  As you wonder through the Tobin Clark Estate, your breath will be taken away with the French provincial antiques and accessories from all over the Continent, plus her own designs.  Each of them receiving the ‘Syrie treatment’. They were pickled or stripped, painted, or finished with a secret craquelure technique. “Cut it down and paint it white,” she would order her craftsmen.

The extraordinary rooms she designed and decorated influenced almost every interior designer, the most notable being –  de Wolfe, Jean-Michel Frank and Frances Elkins.  However, after Syrie closed her shop in New York in 1932, it was Rose Cumming who offered the finest tribute from them all.   It was suggested that Rose take on filling the white furniture gap left behind by Syrie’s exit.  Rose said, “No, white was always Syrie’s.

Syrie Maugham’s interior design has lived on for more than sixty years at the Tobin Clark Estate.  The Hillsborough Mansion with the unassuming name “House-on-Hill”, is still regarded as one of the most spectacular private residences ever created, and one that is certainly without peer in its fine antique English Cotswold style.  Once in a lifetime one is able to acquire a true architectural masterpiece.  That opportunity has now arrived.

For a private viewing of this 35,000 square foot mansion nestled on 6-acres, and host to Presidents and World Leaders,   CONTACT US TODAY. Only fully qualified buyers need to inquire.  The Estate is offered for sale at $29,000,000.  Until next time…Jim Walberg.

East Bay Real Estate: 2012 Real Estate Predictions

My predictions for 2012 are now ready for your review.  And we will review how my predictions for 2011 turned out now that we are able to be ‘Monday morning quarterbacks’.   Last year’s predictions were;  #1 – Jobs = Unemployment;   #2 – Bank Foreclosure Delays;  #3 – Our Federal Government;  #4 – Interest Rates and Mortgage Loan Criteria.  So, how did I do on my 2011 predictions?

2011 Results: Unemployment has taken a turn for the better.   We are not out of the woods yet, however the unemployment rate is going in the correct direction – down;  Bank foreclosures were delayed last year, however not as much as predicted.  Short Sales increased in 2011 and Bank Owned REO sales decreased;  The Fed’s continued as a dysfunctional aspect of our economy in 2011, both from a legislative standpoint and from just not having many options to stimulate the economy;  We were completely wrong on the interest rate prediction of being in the 6% by the end of the year.  Mortgage interest rates ended the year even lower than when the year started – 4%!

2012 Predictions: #1 – Consumer Confidence;  #2 – Distressed Sales Continue – 20% of the market;  #3 – Rents continue to increase;  #4 – Foreign investors will make up 25% of home purchases.  These are some of the factors that we will be watching through 2015.

Consumer Confidence: In spite of all the conditions in place to motivate Buyers to take action, consumer confidence will stand in the way of Buyers – end of the housing crash and record low interest rates.  And, even with interest rates today being 3.85%  Buyers are still considering renting instead of buying because of FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. There has been so much wealth lost by U.S. consumers in the past four years that they still don’t believe we have hit bottom.  We are in a slow and deliberate recovery in the Bay Area with the tech sector leading the way and home prices will start to rise – 2%.  Home prices are hovering around the 2003 levels.  With current prices and record low interest rates,  home Buyers should be taking action now.

Distressed Sales: Our East Bay corridor will have around 20% of home sales be from Short Sales and REO’s.  The banks created a moratorium on foreclosures that last few months of 2011.  The moratorium is now lifted and we will see Short Sales increasing and REO’s decreasing with a continued impact on families. The era of banks allowing homeowners to stay in their homes without paying the mortgage is over.  However, banks are improving the Short Sale process and even helping homeowners to stay in their homes.

Rental Markets Increase: The rental market will continue to thrive in 2012.  With people exiting distressed properties and potential Buyers deciding to postpone a home purchase, it is a perfect storm for those who own rental properties to get premium rents.  In past markets a landlord could expect rents of $1.25 per square foot.  Today landlords are getting rents in the $1.40 to $1.50 per square foot.  Investors are still securing homes to add to their pool of rental properties.  Often times investors are direct competitors of home Buyers and they are generally all cash buyers so they have the advantage when presenting a home purchase offer.

Foreign Investors – 20% of the Market: In the Bay Area the #1 foreign buyer is from China.  The next group of foreign buyers is from India and the Middle East.  Russians buyers are also in the mix of Bay Area homes.  The main reason for the large number of foreign buyer purchases is the motivation to get money out of their countries and place it in safe investments – Bay Area real estate being one of the best.

So, in order to speeding up our National economic recovery the following will be required;  Create more jobs; Refinance underwater loans;  Have the banks create sound, reasonable mortgage lending standards;  Have accurate home appraisals;   and, Improve the foreclosure and Short Sale process.

NOTE: Here are the home sales results for the San Ramon Valley in 2011 – 1,974 home sales compared to 1,963 sales in 2010 – Alamo, Danville, Blackhawk and San Ramon.  There was a decrease in sales prices of about 4% in 2011 compared to 2010 prices.  The “HOT” market is still the homes priced between $700,000 and $900,000.  In this price point there were a total of 527 sales in 2011.  This represented 27% of all home sales in the San Ramon Valley; Alamo 29 sales; Danville 238 sales,  Blackhawk 24 sales; and San Ramon had 236 sales.

The $1 million+ market in the San Ramon Valley represented 16% of sales and it continues to be where price stability has been the challenge.  We expect 2012 to be the year where prices finally stabilize in most of the San Ramon Valley, remembering that all markets are micro-local.  Million dollar+ sales results;  Alamo – 91; Danville – 120; Blackhawk – 51; and San Ramon – 60.

The message is, buy now if you are going to purchase a home in 2012.  CONTACT ME TODAY for more information about selling or buying a home in the Bay Area.  Until next time…Jim Walberg

The Tobin Clark Estate: David Adler – Architect’s Crown Jewel of San Francisco Estates

The Tobin Clark Estate was considered one of architect David Adler’s finest works during the height of his stunning career.  He was designing homes during what is still called the era of “the great American house”, between 1911 to 1949.   In the 1920s, Mrs. Celia Tobin Clark, an heiress to the Hibernia Bank fortune, commissioned David Adler to create a Cotswold Tudor Mansion on a secluded hilltop of some four hundred acres just south of San Francisco.  Her husband was the owner of the Montana Mining Company. The Tudor – Costwold influence is present in the exterior, but the interior is an amazing array of styles.  And, it somehow all works.  I am sure he had a unforgettable time designing the home in the exclusive San Francisco Bay Area community of Hillsborough. At one time, the 35,000-square-foot home rested upon 400 acres.  It now is situated on the remaining secluded six acres of the original estate.

David Adler graduated from Princeton in 1904.  And, similar to our oldest son, after graduation Adler travelled extensively in Europe studying all of its varied architectural styles.  He returned to the United States in 1911 and began his illustrious architectural career.  In the late 1920’s Celia Tobin Clark contacted Adler with her dream of building a Cotswold mansion.  She was very involved in every aspect of the design and the building of her breathtaking estate.  Because of Adler’s time spent in Europe, he loved the building materials and the craftsmen of the Continent.  The description of what Adler created can only be appreciated by a firsthand tour.  It is a gift to spend a day at the estate and noticing every little detail of what has been created.

For example, as you enter the hand carved front door you are standing in the gallery with a floor that is marble, laid without mortar, point to point, to create a deep pattern of optical illusion. The walls are dowel-joined Jacobean paneling, purchased through Stair and Andrew in London. Eighteenth-Century English oak surrounds the gentleman’s cloak room, where special shallow cupboards were fashioned to hold shaving mugs. For the master sitting room, the owner and architect chose oak paneling, circa 1724, from Royal House Cononley; and the chandelier, constructed a few years later, is Waterford, purchased from a descendant of the actor Edmund Kean. Pine carving attributed to Grinling Gibbons, woodcarver to St. Paul’s Cathedral under Sir Christopher Wren, and matching eighteenth-century pine bookcases grace to library, which is featured in Helen Comstock’s 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America.

For more than sixty years, the Hillsborough Mansion with the unassuming name “House-on-Hill” has been cited as one of the most spectacular private residences ever created, and one that is certainly without peer in its fine antique English style.  After its construction, full-grown trees were transplanted from as far away as the Monterrey Peninsula, rose terraces and formal courtyards were laid out amid the oak groves and lawns, and multiple-trunk olive trees were pruned to dip low over matching reflecting pools set in a stone terrace. Completely by hand, an architectural treasure was built – all mellowed brick, Carmel stone and half timbers on the outside, with 35,000 square feet of honey-colored woods, silver, crystal, leaded glass and four hundred year old parquetry on the inside.

It has been written that for several years prior to building the Mansion, Mrs. Clark had been collecting ideas, clippings, photographs and other inspirations for her home. And it is known that during its somewhat lengthy construction, the estate pulled many local laborers and one failing planning mill right through the Depression. In two years alone, more than one million dollars was poured into the local economy, and at least three area firms were spared from bankruptcy.   Once in a lifetime an estate of this magnitude becomes available for sale.  That opportunity has now arrived.  The Mansion is priced at $29,000,000.  For further information contact Jim Walberg. Until next time…

Tobin Clark Estate: Historic Tobin Clark Estate Host to Presidents and World Leaders

For more than sixty years, the Tobin Clark Estate,  Hillsborough Mansion with the unassuming name “House-on-Hill” has been cited as one of the most spectacular private residences ever created in the San Francisco Bay Area in its fine antique English style.  And, it has been the host to every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.  Some of the world leaders that have stayed at the Tobin Clark Estate since 1990 are, Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, as well as King Hussein and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

In the 1920s, Mrs. Celia Tobin Clark, an heiress to the Hibernia Bank fortune, commissioned architect David Adler to create a Cotswold Tudor Mansion on a secluded hilltop of some 400 acres just south of San Francisco. Full-grown trees were transplanted from as far away as the Monterey Peninsula, rose terraces and formal courtyards were laid out amid the oak groves and lawns, and multiple-trunk olive trees were pruned to dip low over matching reflecting pools set in a stone terrace. Completely by hand, an architectural treasure was built.

Upon completion in 1931, the home was filled with interior decor by Syrie Maugham (wife of Somerset), paintings by Van Dyke and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Queen Anne paneling, eighteenth century Chinese wall coverings, a rare Dubois writing table and over two hundred other items sent from England and the Continent.  With a prized view overlooking San Francisco’s Lower Bay and the rolling landscape far to the west, ‘House-on-Hill’ now rests on a more manageable six acres, without the original Adler-designed sixteen-stall stables, ten-car garage and “laundry group”.  Little else, though, has been sacrificed, and the house remains quietly tucked away behind the espaliered magnolias and majestic pines of a cherished Hillsborough setting.

In the gallery, the floor is marble, laid without mortar, point to point, to create a deep pattern of optical illusion. The walls are dowel-joined Jacobean paneling, purchased through Stair and Andrew in London. Eighteenth-Century English oak surrounds the gentleman’s cloak room, where special shallow cupboards were fashioned to hold shaving mugs. For the master sitting room, the owner and architect chose oak paneling, circa 1724, from Royal House Cononley; and the chandelier, constructed a few years later, is Waterford, purchased from a descendant of the actor Edmund Kean. Pine carving attributed to Grinling Gibbons, woodcarver to St. Paul’s Cathedral under Sir Christopher Wren, and matching eighteenth-century pine bookcases grace the library, featured in Helen Comstock’s one 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America.

The Tobin Clark Estate is now available for sale offered at $29 million.  For a private tour of the estate CONTACT US today – only fully qualified Buyers.  Until next time…Jim Walberg

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