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Thinking of buying 1423 MARLIN Ave Foster City, CA 94404

By peninsulabuyer   Follow   Thu, 23 Feb 2012, 10:20pm   4,445 views   30 comments
In San Mateo CA 94404   Watch (0)   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike  

Any suggestions for offer price.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foster-City/1423-Marlin-Ave-94404/home/1837781

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1. Smartrenter Follow Befriend 1 comments

   1   10:37pm Thu 23 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Foolish to buy at that price as your rent would appear to be one third of your outlay if you bought. No offense, but the place is not attractive, sold as is, and overpriced.

2. peninsulabuyer Follow Befriend 7 threads 11 comments

   2   6:55am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   Yes, but Foster city is overpriced. Isn't it location location location?

3. AJ1201 Follow Befriend 1 threads 31 comments Shrewsbury, MA

   3   7:12am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   If you move to MA, you can get a 2500 sq house new/relatively new with a basement for that price in a very good school district :) with no monthly hoe fees lol

4. freak80 Follow Befriend (4) 52 threads 4,416 comments Corning, NY Premium

   4   7:57am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   If you move to upstate NY, you can get a mansion for that price, and the weather isn't any worse than in MA. You might not find a job in your field, though. ;-)

5. tclement Follow Befriend (3) 8 threads 48 comments Oakland, CA

   5   9:38am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (1)   Before buying there, I'd find out what the elevation of the property is. What would a 3 foot sea level rise + a storm do for your property value? More tactically speaking, I'm still of the opinion that you should continue waiting.

6. freak80 Follow Befriend (4) 52 threads 4,416 comments Corning, NY Premium

   6   9:48am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   Also, I'm no geologist, but... That area looks like it was "reclaimed" from the bay. What about earthquakes and soil liquefaction?

7. freak80 Follow Befriend (4) 52 threads 4,416 comments Corning, NY Premium

   7   9:50am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   From Wikipedia: "Foster City was founded in the 1960s on engineered landfill in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay, on the east edge of San Mateo."

8. pkowen Follow Befriend 30 threads 555 comments San Carlos, CA

   8   10:48am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   WAY overpriced. Ridiculously overpriced. Compare to this one, half the price, at a glance is nicer, and still it hasn't sold after 124 days. http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foster-City/661-Portofino-Ln-94404/unit-74/home/1040819

9. pkowen Follow Befriend 30 threads 555 comments San Carlos, CA

   9   10:53am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   wthrfrk80 says From Wikipedia: "Foster City was founded in the 1960s on engineered landfill in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay, on the east edge of San Mateo." Yep, although engineered fill *hypothetically* stands up well. I'd say the bay stink would be more of a day to day issue. Better than it once was, but when it stink, it stink.

10. pkowen Follow Befriend 30 threads 555 comments San Carlos, CA

    10   10:56am Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Or how about this one? http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foster-City/126-Albacore-Ln-94404/home/1601908 And still it's on Redfin: 108 days

11. leo9 Follow Befriend 11 threads 38 comments

    11   2:06pm Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike (1)   I would recommend not to buy marlin. I have seen this house personally a year ago. It was on the market for very long time. Didn't sell. The remove the listing put it back. The plumbing is galvanized plumbing not copper. There was big crack in the backyard. Not sure if they fixed it. House itself was old. I think they were selling it "as is". Way too overpriced.

12. leo9 Follow Befriend 11 threads 38 comments

    12   2:08pm Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   pkowen says Or how about this one? http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foster-City/126-Albacore-Ln-94404/home/1601908 And still it's on Redfin: 108 days Piece of junk. Think of all possible issue and this house has it. Foundation issue. Water in the basement. Etc

13. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,234 threads 6,169 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA Premium

    13   2:12pm Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   pkowen says WAY overpriced. Ridiculously overpriced. I agree. My calculator estimates it's worth about $434K http://patrick.net/housing/calculator.php?uaddr=1423+Marlin+Ave%2C+94404

14. pkowen Follow Befriend 30 threads 555 comments San Carlos, CA

    14   3:04pm Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (2)   Dislike   leo9 says pkowen says Or how about this one? http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foster-City/126-Albacore-Ln-94404/home/1601908 And still it's on Redfin: 108 days Piece of junk. Think of all possible issue and this house has it. Foundation issue. Water in the basement. Etc Well, the OP property was also a piece of crap, so I was just showing you can get an equal piece of crap for less. And at least this one had some lipstick (for $200k less).

15. peninsulabuyer Follow Befriend 7 threads 11 comments

    15   5:32pm Fri 24 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Thanks everyone for your responses. Much appreciated. I guess I and my wife are scared that the Facebook IPO will make these houses appreciate even higher than what they are now. We do not want to be losers if that happens. Frankly the Facebook IPO is scaring the shit out of us!

16. peninsulabuyer Follow Befriend 7 threads 11 comments

    16   9:48am Sat 25 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   leo9 says I would recommend not to buy marlin. I have seen this house personally a year ago. It was on the market for very long time. Didn't sell. The remove the listing put it back. The plumbing is galvanized plumbing not copper. There was big crack in the backyard. Not sure if they fixed it. House itself was old. I think they were selling it "as is". Way too overpriced. Leo, how did you know about galvanized plumbing? Did you do a property inspection yourself? The seller does not have any inspection report and just has a standard disclosure. We did not notice any big crack in the backyard. Do you know of any other major issues? We will negotiate hard with the seller and see if he is realistic.

17. misc_login Follow Befriend 2 threads 10 comments

    17   10:06am Sat 25 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   There is a good thing I see - HOA at $220 seems really low for that area.

18. RentingForHalfTheCost Follow Befriend (8) 40 threads 2,062 comments Pleasanton, CA Premium

    18   10:43pm Sat 25 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   tclement says Before buying there, I'd find out what the elevation of the property is. What would a 3 foot sea level rise + a storm do for your property value? More tactically speaking, I'm still of the opinion that you should continue waiting. Yup, Foster City has always been dangerously close to losing the FEMA insurance. They just the last 2 years had to work with the city of San Mateo to pump millions into improving the levee system. It was so outdated that if they didn't act it would surely have been lost. They just completed the work about 6 months ago, and I haven't heard any rumblings lately, but it will keep resurfacing every few years for sure. I rent a house (much larger) in this neighborhood for much less than the cost of ownership of this townhouse. Things are still dropping around here, so my advice would be to hang tight for a few years and pick up that place for less later. There are more and more open homes in foster city this year than I have ever seen. Hardly any buyers at the open houses either. It is like when you walk in that you are waking up the realtor. ;)

19. RentingForHalfTheCost Follow Befriend (8) 40 threads 2,062 comments Pleasanton, CA Premium

    19   10:49pm Sat 25 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   peninsulabuyer says Thanks everyone for your responses. Much appreciated. I guess I and my wife are scared that the Facebook IPO will make these houses appreciate even higher than what they are now. We do not want to be losers if that happens. Frankly the Facebook IPO is scaring the shit out of us! Here is my prediction for the Facebook IPO. Big big news when it happens. Stock takes off out of the gate and soars. However, once everyone gets to look at the real financial books of the company and questions the real profits and profit growth things settle down. At about the 3 month period when the insiders get the right to start dumping, the price will be back to about the IPO value. Then the real test begins where they have to make themselves be that 100 Billion dollar company. Good luck. If you are really worried about Facebook killing your chances, then rent and take some of that downpayment money you have saved and buy some stock. Facebook will survive, but the question is if the company is a 10B or 100B enterprise. If the answer is 100 or 200B then you just made a killing, if not then you still hold stock in a reasonable company that is growing, and the housing jump didn't really happen anyway.

20. RentingForHalfTheCost Follow Befriend (8) 40 threads 2,062 comments Pleasanton, CA Premium

    20   11:00pm Sat 25 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   pkowen says wthrfrk80 says From Wikipedia: "Foster City was founded in the 1960s on engineered landfill in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay, on the east edge of San Mateo." Yep, although engineered fill *hypothetically* stands up well. I'd say the bay stink would be more of a day to day issue. Better than it once was, but when it stink, it stink. Yes, it is. I know many people here that were around during the engineering fill. They have pictures of what it really was. Junk and lots of it. There was old bridge parts, car parts, building materials of all kinds and shapes dumped here along with immense amounts of dirt. Don't get me wrong, I actually love it here. I think the city is great, especially if you like water sports. The schools are great, neighborhood is safe, good people, etc. I just wouldn't buy here right now even without the risk of going underwater, literally. ;)

21. leo9 Follow Befriend 11 threads 38 comments

    21   9:59am Sun 26 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   peninsulabuyer says Leo, how did you know about galvanized plumbing? Did you do a property inspection yourself? The seller does not have any inspection report and just has a standard disclosure. We did not notice any big crack in the backyard. Do you know of any other major issues? We will negotiate hard with the seller and see if he is realistic. This house is also pretty old. If you end up buying it, you will keep on spending lot of money fixing on or the other thing. If it was worth I would have bought it.

22. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,234 threads 6,169 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA Premium

    22   2:00pm Sun 26 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   peninsulabuyer says We do not want to be losers if that happens. Frankly the Facebook IPO is scaring the shit out of us! Usually the way you lose is by making some rash decision because you're afraid. Just be slow, deliberate, and non-emotional and you'll probably do OK.

23. David9 Follow Befriend (3) 28 threads 772 comments Tarzana, CA

    23   6:00pm Sun 26 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   peninsulabuyer says Frankly the Facebook IPO is scaring the shit out of us! I don't think everything you read is the truth. How many people will get millions and billions? This will change the entire landscape of the Bay Area RE market? Gee, the dot com bubble burst over a decada ago and there are still townhomes in Foster City for 700K at over $450 a square foot. ;-)

24. GlobalRoamer Follow Befriend (1) 17 comments

    24   7:16pm Sun 26 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   House would require income of $230,000. When I broke the $200,000 salary level, I couldn't imagine myself living in a town home - and just an average one at that. Why work hard? And the Facebook IPO won't effect prices on town homes - just million dollar mansions. Rent. Rent. Rent. Or move to Phoenix and buy a city block of houses.

25. leo9 Follow Befriend 11 threads 38 comments

    25   8:33pm Sun 26 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   GlobalRoamer says House would require income of $230,000. When I broke the $200,000 salary level, I couldn't imagine myself living in a town home - and just an average one at that. Why work hard? And the Facebook IPO won't effect prices on town homes - just million dollar mansions. Rent. Rent. Rent. Or move to Phoenix and buy a city block of houses. In Phuket Thailand. Totally agree. I do not think Foster City will get much effected by facebook IPO. If you have millions of dollar why buy in Foster City ? There are so many other options. Realtors are just using facebook ipo to scare buyer and are forcing them to buy. It's all BS.

26. FortWayne Follow Befriend (13) 106 threads 3,860 comments

    26   11:27am Tue 28 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   $457 / sq. foot is not even close to negotiable range. That's very very high.

27. AJ1201 Follow Befriend 1 threads 31 comments Shrewsbury, MA

    27   11:47am Tue 28 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   How much does it take to build a new home ....max $150 per sqft. is my guess on the west coast. Anyone know rough estimates?

28. everything Follow Befriend (2) 3 threads 563 comments Madison, WI

    28   5:47pm Tue 28 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Try comparing that place to this place. I know it's junky, well everything is junk. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/W2064-Trails-End-Dr-Mercer-WI-54547/2124488281_zpid/

29. RentingForHalfTheCost Follow Befriend (8) 40 threads 2,062 comments Pleasanton, CA Premium

    29   1:10pm Wed 29 Feb 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   GlobalRoamer says House would require income of $230,000. When I broke the $200,000 salary level, I couldn't imagine myself living in a town home - and just an average one at that. Why work hard? And the Facebook IPO won't effect prices on town homes - just million dollar mansions. Rent. Rent. Rent. Or move to Phoenix and buy a city block of houses. In Phuket Thailand. Feel the same. If you are making 200K income then don't live in a crappy townhouse built under sea level. Save a bit over a couple of years and then buy something decent that reflects your hard work. I grew up in a town house for low income single families that was much better than any townhouse I have seen in the bay area. I'll live on the street before going back to a townhouse. It would feel like I failed myself.

30. WaryBuyer Follow Befriend 1 comments

    30   10:22am Wed 11 Jul 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   There is now a listing for this townhouse going for rent on Trulia for $1400 (http://www.trulia.com/rental/3089475351). The response e-mail looks fraudulent. I have reported it for a suspicious fraud. Please be wary.