Some home sales over the past week just from my Palo Alto Alain Pinel office:

• Downtown Palo Alto condo, listed for $995,000: 8 offers
• Palo Alto small home, listed for $1.195.000: 6 offers
• Midtown Palo Alto home listed for $2,000,000: 2 offers
• Los Altos home listed for  $2,000,000: 4 offers
• Los Altos home listed for $1,600,000: 7 offers
• Palo Alto home listed for $3,595,000: 7 offers
• Palo Alto home listed for $949,000: 16 offers

Last week in Palo Alto my office had a listing in the Community Center neighborhood priced at $2M that received 6 offers–
4 were all cash and it sold for over 10% above the asking price. Another home in the Downtown North neighborhood listed
for $1.2M had 7 offers—this one sold for almost 10% over list price. The competition is fierce for buyers and I don’t anticipate any let up soon…

The open houses I was at last weekend were swamped. Other agents I spoke to confirmed that open homes in almost every neighborhood and community had the same level of traffic. A new listing price at $2.2M in the Barron Park neighborhood of Palo Alto had 100+ groups go through on each day. Our Los Gatos office is reporting big numbers again meaning that the level of competitiveness for homes is starting to spread…stay tuned.

My input: If you’ve run the numbers and buying income property is an investment you’d like to move forward with, location is the MOST important thing to consider. The tip in the WSJ article about buying rental properties in your immediate geographical area is a good one, I think. Even though prices can be lower elsewhere, maintaining properties remotely can be very difficult. Safe neighborhoods near good schools and public amenities like parks, public transportation, and shopping districts are especially attractive to renters. What type of property are you interested in buying? Condominiums can be a good choice for first-time investors. But they appreciate more slowly and command smaller rents. Single-family homes tend to attract longer term renters. Also, don’t forget duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes which are great investment opportunities.

This is what I absolutely love about living here on the Mid-Peninsula. We have many, many strong points of view about important topics such as education in a very small geographic area. The intellect that surrounds us locally is just amazing. Our choices in education here range from excellent public schools to a variety of independent school models—whatever your views on childhood education may be, it’s almost certain that an option exists here which will work for you and your family.

If you are thinking of buying a home, my advice is to find a good house and make an offer so you can lock in a low rate now. Prices in this area are not going down, so don’t wait for the “bottom of the market.” At least that’s my opinion. The deals I see being made now are going to pay off long term for those who step up. While prices may not see any solid appreciation for another year, the reward of a relatively low tax base and historically low interest rate on a trade-up property will pay off both sooner and later, making the joys of Mid-Peninsula home ownership all the greater. Expect new listings coming on the market in the coming weeks to be realistically priced, but be prepared to compete with multiple offers.

If you are considering selling your Mid-Peninsula home (Palo Alto, Menlo Park or surrounding areas) the traditional fall selling season would have started in earnest right after Labor Day with lots of new listings hitting the market. So far this hasn’t been the case and sellers that have chosen to list now have benefited from the low inventory and high demand. If you’ve been thinking about selling, the time may be right for you.