Time to (google) Juice Up the MLS-2 Blog

We've been stocking the pond over at the MLS-2 blog. Come by to check it out (spiders welcome!) at MLS Listings on Maps - the blog (http://www.mls-2.com/blog)

More play on the big Z

Today we switched the profile over from North Fair Oaks Menlo Park real estate to reflect the greater service area of MLS-2.com - see it here
MLS listings on maps, MLS-2.com

Experimenting with Zillow

For a bit now I've been experimenting with Zillow and their advertising features. Here is a link to my North Fair Oaks Real Estate Profile on their service.

There is an ongoing discussion between myself with our MLS Listings on Maps service MLS-2.com, and others in the real estate 2.0 space about whether Zillow will stick with advertising only or will move into a transaction business model. I personally think they will move to transactions (and that's our model at MLS-2), and based on their advertising effectiveness, they'd be well advised!

Sale Pending -433 Encina Avenue "Sold in 3 days"

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Pending do not show
List Date: 05/07/07
Price: $2,095,000
Last Modification Date: 05/10/07
Location: 433 ENCINA AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms Full: 3
Bathrooms Half: 1
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 3765
Approx. Lot Size: 10,500sf
Approx age: 5

Sale Pending - 640 10th Ave.

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Pending w/o release
List Date: 04/14/07
Price: $849,000
Last Modification Date: 05/15/07
Location: 640 10TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms Full: 1
Bathrooms Half: n/a
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1010
Approx. Lot Size: 6,429sf
Approx age: 63
MLS#: 719392

Closed Sale - 715 18th Avenue

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Sold
List Date: 03/24/07
Price: $829,000
Sale Price: $839,000
Close of escrow: 5/10/2007
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms Full: 1
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 920
Approx age: 57
MLS#: 714999

Closed Sale - 663 17th Avenue

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Sold
List Date: 03/11/07
Price: $898,000
Sale Price : $921,000
Close of Escrow : 05/08/2007
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms Full: 2
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1690
Approx. Lot Size: 5,350sf
Approx age: 67
MLS#: 712051

Closed Sold - 655 14th Ave. "Sold in 9 days"

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: SOLD
Sale date:5/2/2007
List Date: 04/09/07
List Price: $995,000
Sale Price : $1,150,000
Close of Escrow 05/02/07
Location: 655 14TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms Full: 2
Bathrooms Half: n/a
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1900
Approx. Lot Size: 5,350sf
Approx age: 66
MLS#: 717902

Sale Pending - 523 Encina Avenue "Sold in 11 days"

Status: Pending do not show
List Date: 04/20/07
Close of escrow : 05/16/07
Price: $1,249,000
Location: 556 ENCINA AV, Menlo Park, CA
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms Full: 2
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 2001
Approx. Lot Size: 11,603sf
Approx age: 55
MLS#: 720837

Sale Pending - 3420 Edison Way

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Pending w/o release
List Date: 04/13/07
Close of escrow: 05/25/07
Price: $669,000
Location: 3420 EDISON WY, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms Full: 2
Bathrooms Half: n/a
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1050
Approx. Lot Size: n/a
Approx age: 52
MLS#: 719266

Closed Sale - 523 Encina Avenue

Type: Detached Single Family
Status: Pending w/release
List Date: 01/03/07
Price: $2,350,000
Sale: $2,135,000
Close of escrow :4/23/2007
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 4
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 3500
Approx. Lot Size: 8,100sf
MLS#: 700220

Derry Project Update

The O'Brien Group (representing the Derry Project developers) and a separate group of individuals representing the organizers of the petition to stop this development have been negotiating privately in an attempt to come up with a compromise for this mixed-use commercial and housing project which was originally approved last year for development near the Menlo Park train station.

Look for an update in the coming weeks. At that point, the whole Derry Project and its related referendum matter will likely come back to the City Council for action. With or without a compromise by the two parties above, the ultimate decision will come back to staff, the Planning Commission, the City Council, and the public. If the two private parties do reach a compromise, it will only be a starting point from which the public process will begin. If a revised plan is submitted, the public will most certainly have an opportunity to review it and add their comments.

City and School Decide Against Synthetic Turf Field at Encinal

As reported in early March, the Menlo Park City School District informed the City that they planned to redevelop the athletic field at Encinal School this summer. They had asked Menlo Park to consider paying for the incremental cost of using a synthetic turf instead of traditional turf. Installation of synthetic turf would have been quicker (enabling use as early as this Fall) and would have helped meet the need for a city-wide, full sized, multi-use sport field. The synthetic turf, with it's reduced maintenance requirements would have allowed increased usage (up to 38% more days of availability) and would have eliminated the need for watering and fertilization.

However, many local residents were not in favor of this proposal, and there was a significant, organized effort to block the use of synthetic turf at Encinal. Key arguments against it included claims and concerns about health, environmental impact, traffic, and appropriateness of a full-sized, synthetic field at an elementary school where young children would have limited other grass fields on which to play.

This was a difficult decision given the desperate need in our city for more playing fields set against the concerns noted above. In the final analysis, I felt that, based on the data that I had received from various experts, many of the health and environmental claims against modern synthetic turf were unsubstantiated (and in fact, arguably favored synthetic turf) and that the "pros" outweighed the "cons" in this case. Rich Cline and I voted to authorize a financial contribution from the city (pending development of a mutually agreeable design and use plan). The majority of the council, however, voted against any subsidy from the City for a synthetic field at Encinal. Based on Council's decision, the school board decided the next night to move forward with a smaller, grass field.

It will be a great field, but outside use for non-school activities will be limited due to its reduced size and the normal requirements for "down time" that natural grass fields require. We will also be without any usable sport field at Encinal this Fall since the natural grass field is expected to not be ready for use until at least December or January.

On the Road ....

I've received lots of questions about various transportation projects recently. Here's a quick update:

1. Valparaiso. The north side of this road is in Atherton and the south side is in Menlo Park, so the repaving work has been a shared responsibility. Atherton just finished their work on the base on their half (the road fully re-opened today!). Menlo Park will be patching our side of the road probably in late May or early June (it is out to bid right now). After our patching is done, Atherton will have responsibility for repaving a final 2 inch top over the entire road (both sides) to ensure a smooth, seamless finish. The job is expected to be completed before the end of the Summer.

2. El Camino Real. The work currently being done near Middle and El Camino will result in a new left turn lane and access into the Safeway off of north-bound El Caminon Real. This new access will be similar to the north-bound turn lanes into Stanford Shopping Center off El Camino in Palo Alto. They will help off load traffic and delays on Middle.

3. Willow Road. This work, currently underway, will provide for improvements to sidewalks, paving, and landscaping on Willow Road, Durham St., and Chester St. The objective of the improvements is to enhance the local area and provide for a more visually appealing entryway to the City. Estimated completion date: May 2007.

4. Sand Hill Road. Work is scheduled to begin in late April for a resurfacing project for most of Sand Hill Road, from Santa Cruz to I280. The road will receive an new 2 inch topping made of a rubberized asphalt blend that is expected to reduce noise and provide a longer life. Since it utilizes ground up tires that no longer find their way to our landfills, it's also an environmentally sound solution! We are benefitting from federal grant money to help subsidize this project which should also be completed before the end of Summer.

Road Improvements (Or Not?)

Here is a guest post from a concerned neighbor on 8th:

Hi Neighbors,

Great to see you at the meeting Monday night.
I promised to send a link to the road improvement schedule to some
people and I've done a bit of reading on the county web site so
thought I'd circulate that information to help us move forward.

Here's a link to the North Fair Oaks road improvement list, with
priorities and dates as they were apparently set in 2002:
http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/smc/department/dpw/home/
0,,5562541_5562593_784436660,00.html

From the county site, I learned something interesting by I following
this link: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/smc/department/cmo/home/
0,2242,1909_222285,00.html
and reading document A-1 (County Manager's Budget Message) pages A5-
A6 on Roads.

Basically, the county is well aware that certain roads in North Fair
Oaks are "below minimum standards". Interestingly, the repair money
comes from a gasoline tax rather than
property taxes. The state has been "borrowing" this money and for
this and various other reasons the county road fund has been
consistently losing money.
Something called "Measure A" allocated an additional 1/2 cent tax
that many other cities (like Foster city and San Carlos) have been
able to use to re-surface almost all their roads.
We however have more rural roads with bigger problems and I guess
there hasn't been enough money (i.e. enough hasn't been allocated to
our area) to repair many of the roads in need.

If the county really will have some extra money coming in that they
can be persuaded to use on North Fair Oaks, then it's all going to
come down to focusing on priorities and getting some funding
allocated to those. We haven't been told yet what the budget is. But,
we do know that the roads in many parts of North Fair Oaks are in
terrible shape with dirt, dust, debris, potholes, flooding and even
sewage. It might be most beneficial to us to frame this as a health
and safety issue. In any case, I think we need to be clear with them
that the current schedule for improvements is completely unacceptable
and that we are demanding additional funding/highest priority for
these long overdue improvements.

I'd like to come up with a plan for next steps to address this and
other immediate concerns we have. I know funding for our local park
is another major issue, and one that FOBA should be representing at
these meetings considering they have the task of raising the funds to
keep the park open. I was surprised to see so few residents from our
part of the area were at the meeting. I *think* we all have similar
concerns. We can at least let as many neighbors know as possible
through word of mouth.

I'd be happy to get a petition going for road repair on 8th and/or
take pictures of the various streets in disrepair in our neighborhood.

Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Thanks!
- Katie Grandy
8th Ave

Pending Sales now updated if SOLD

look below for the older posts of pending sales if you want to see how they turned out. We simply updated the old post to be "Sold" rather than make a new post.

Things are picking up in the ol' 311!

Close Sale - 652 San Benito Ave.

Status: Pending do not show
List Date: 02/09/07
List Price: $1,099,000
Sale Price: $1,075,000
Close of escrow Date:04/3/07
Location: 652 SAN BENITO AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 2140
Approx. Lot Size: 5,350sf
Approx age: 31
MLS#: 706587

Closed Sale - 555 8TH AV, Menlo Park

Status:
Sold
List Date: 02/16/07
List Price: $829,000
Sales Price: $856,000
Close of escrow Date: 03/02/07
Location: 555 8TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1390
Approx. Lot Size: 5,300sf
Approx age: 70
MLS#: 707760

Closed Sale - 658 11TH AV, Menlo Park

Status: Sold
List Date: 01/18/07
List Price: $585,000
Sale Price: $570,000
Close of escrow Date: 04/15/07
Location: 658 11TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 920
Approx. Lot Size: 2,675sf
Approx age: 53
MLS#: 702612

Closed Sales - 612 12TH AV, Menlo Park

Status: Sold
List Date: 02/11/07
List Price: $899,000
Sale Price: $935,000
Close of escrow Date: 03/16/07
Location: 612 12TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1270
Approx. Lot Size: 5,136sf
Approx age: 73
MLS#: 706938

Closed Sale - 491 9TH AV, Menlo Park,

Status: Sold
List Date: 01/22/07
List Price: $799,000
Sale Price:$$816,000
Close of escrow Date: 03/07/07
Location: 491 9TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1210
Approx. Lot Size: n/a
Approx age: 99
MLS#: 703150

Closed Sale - 638 16TH AV, Menlo Park

Status: Sold
List Date: 02/25/07
List Price: $1,449,000
Sale Price: $1,551,000
Close of Escrow Date: 03/16/07
Location: 638 16TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 2541
Approx. Lot Size: 5,500sf
Approx age: 13

Closed Sale - 646 9th Ave. Menlo Park

Listed for $849,000
Sold for $857,000
Closed 3/2/2007
County Area/Fair Oaks Ave
(Area 311)
Detached Single Family (Class 1)
Bed/Bath: 3/2
SqFt: 1090 (County)
Lot: 5,350 sq ft
Age: 56 years
Parcel #: 060-116-150

Closed Sale - 635 17TH AV, Menlo Park

Status: Sold
List Date: 02/18/07
List Price: $858,000
Sale Price: $1,000,000
Close of escrow Date: 03/14/07
Location: 635 17TH AV, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (map)
Area: 311
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Approx. Sq. Ft.: 1310
Approx. Lot Size: 5,350sf
Approx age: 35
MLS#: 708197

FOBA Bigwigs