I was able to film a video tour of my listing at 1780 Monument Blvd in Concord, CA.
The property is 4,180 Sq. ft. and includes lifts for multiple cars. The shop repairs mufflers and is one of the only radiator repair shops in the East Bay Area.
Price: $1,500,000
Address: 1780 Monument Blvd
City: Concord
State: CA
ZIP: 94520
MLS #: 40895930
Square Feet: ±4,180
Layout of the Concord Reuse plan as adopted in February 2010
The Contra Costa Times has an update on the Concord Naval Weapons Station.
In January of 2014 the City of Concord requested a statement of qualification from interested master developers for the massive project in March. They received eight responses and had the responses reviewed by a third-party firm to score the responses. It appears that they have now narrowed the list down to four developers.
The developers are interested in the prospect of developing the weapons station. The proximity to the North Concord/Martinez BART station allows them to build low-density, single-family housing that has access to mass transit.
For more information on the Naval Weapons Reuse Project you can head over to their website www.concordreuseproject.org. To see plans of the proposed development you can view this pdf.
The San Francisco Business Times published an article this week about the slowing growth of Bay Area apartment rents. According to the article apartment rents in San Francisco grew by 9.9% in 2012. Apartment rents in the East Bay increased by 6.9%. A leading apartment advisor predicts that growth will be 3.2% in San Francisco and 3.3% in the East Bay.
I believe two factors are contributing to the slow down in rental growth. First, we have seen the residential real estate market take off and a lot of buyers have gotten off the sidelines and are buying homes. This means that a lot of renters are moving to be homeowners. Second, a number of new rental projects are being constructed. Both of these items are increasing the supply and causing rental rates to slow.
Existing apartment owners have benefited from the increased rents (the exception may be in rent-controlled areas like San Francisco, Oakland, & Berkeley). Cash flow is up and sales of apartments are at record low cap rates.
What does the tapering of rent growth and the increase in interest rates mean? Well, it probably means that the market is reaching the peak of the value cycle. Interest rate increases mean that buyers will have to pay less for properties to cover rising financing costs.
If you have questions about your apartment complex, please give me a call at (925) 385-8798.
If you have been attempting to buy a single family home in Contra Costa County as a personal residence or as an investor, you may have noticed that the competition is tough. Homes priced under $350,000 are receiving multiple offers, and some are all cash offers.
Currently, there is an inventory shortage in Contra Costa County. The image below from the August 2012 Report from the Contra Costa Association of Realtors shows the declining supply of homes for sale in Contra Costa County.
From the chart we can see the downward trend in inventory from the peak in October of 2010. We also see that inventory dropped below 2 months’ supply in February of this year and hasn’t gone above that level.
What is causing the lack of inventory?
An article in the Wall St. Journal from September 12, 2012 points to the trend of institutional investors buying foreclosed homes: Firms Flock to Foreclosure Auctions. Firms like Blackrock and Colony Capital have begun buying up large blocks of foreclosed homes at the auction steps in communities across the United States. While private investors generally want a return above 10%, the investment firms are willing to accept lower returns for their institutional investors.
As well, Bloomberg reports that Fannie Mae Sale of Florida Foreclosures Gets 96% of Value. Fannie Mae sold 699 homes in Florida to Pacifica Companies, LLC a San Diego based firm. The homes were valued at $81.5 million and sold for $78.1 million.
Another factor is the number of individuals that are underwater on their mortgage and don’t have the option of selling their home. These home owners would have normally sold and moved up to their next home. However, they don’t have the cash on hand to make a down-payment for the move and the lack of equity in their current home precludes them from selling and moving up.
So how do you buy a home in the current environment?
In the competitive real estate environment, it is key to have a good real estate agent on your team. If you need help meeting your real estate goals, please feel free to contact me by phone at (925) 385-8798.
Two new properties came on the market. Both of them are bank foreclosures or REO. The property in Walnut Creek is listed at a higher price, but has fewer units. Either property could be suitable for an investor or for an owner occupant.
For the owner occupant it is likely that the concord property will provide a more favorable arrangement.
Call me at (925) 385-8798 to view either of these units.
The first property is a Walnut Creek duplex. It is located in the Saranap area of Walnut Creek, 94595. The duplex has two bedrooms and 1 bath on each side. The garages for both units have been converted to living space.
This is a walk-through I did on the property.
Here are the property details:
We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 40574517 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.
Here is a fourplex in Concord, CA. The listing states that it has four (4) 2-bedroom/1-bath units.
We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 40574726 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.
Peter Maclennan is a real estate broker focusing on investor clients in Central Contra Costa County. Head over to http://www.maclennaninvestments.com for more information. Sign up for our newsletter here.
