Power Lunch Discusses the Midas 100 Venture Capitalists

Forbes Editor, Nicole Perlroth

on CNBC's Power Lunch
with Michelle Cabruso Cabrerra

WATCH THIS:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xi15iy_nicole-perlroth-of-forbes-talks-to-power-lunch-about-vcs_news

The Forbes Midas 100

Check out the Midas 100
2011's Top Tech Investors

Source: Forbes Magazine, Editor Nicole Perlroth

http://www.forbes.com/lists/midas/2011/midas-list-techs-top-investors.html

Fascinating local angle on this story --

30 of the top 100 live in Menlo Park, California

23 of the top 100 live in Palo Alto, California

2 of the top 100 live in Woodside, California

1 of the top 100 live in Atherton, California

High-end Housing Sales in Silicon Valley are Booming...

The Menlo Park Office of Alain Pinel Realtors
just had their

BEST MONTH EVER!!!

The following article appeared in the Sunday
edition of the San Jose Mercury News --

Sales of houses in that price range were up 9 percent in January and February from the same period last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The same trend isn't showing up yet in San Mateo County, where DataQuick shows sales in that range are down from a year ago. But DataQuick hasn't captured complete March figures yet, and agents are reporting a surge of activity in the past three weeks.

Beyond that, not every high-end sale gets into public records or the listings service that real estate agents use. The $100 million paid by Russian investor Yuri Milner for a home in Los Altos Hills on Feb. 3 wasn't known until Wednesday, when Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone released official records that had been confidential until then.

"The high end of the market is doing better than it has for the last several years," said Richard Calhoun of Creekside Realty in San Jose.

Twice as many sales

The highest end seems especially hot. Calhoun found that in the first three months of this year, twice as many homes were sold for $5 million or more in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties as there were during the same period of 2010.

Most of those sales for both counties took place in February and March,

Calhoun said. The number of sales in that price range is more than for any similar period since 2000, he said.

And most are taking place in the cities you'd expect: Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside.

"People feel like they have money in their pockets," said Wendy McPherson, manager of Coldwell Banker's Menlo Park, Woodside and Portola Valley offices.

Wait-and-see stance
The trend is being repeated around the state. In January, DataQuick reported that the number of California homes sold for $1 million or more in 2010 rose for the first time in five years while overall sales dropped by 9 percent.

Catherine Marcus, who specializes in high-end valley properties for Sotheby's, said "the market right now on the high end is probably stronger than we've seen since 2007."

"Things that are coming on the market are selling," she said. "We're seeing a lot of foreign buyers, a lot of money from China. There are properties we've had where nothing had happened for six months, and all of sudden there are multiple offers."

The high end is "definitely picking up," said Diane Kneis, a Coldwell Banker agent who is listing the Atherton home of 49er football legend Jerry Rice -- 16,000 square feet, not counting a seven-car garage -- for $13.9 million. "There's a lot of interest from agents with qualified buyers who are looking for large homes that are well-built and can accommodate large families," she said.

McPherson of Coldwell Banker said that "all of a sudden in Menlo Park in the last three weeks, we had six sales over $3.5 million. In Atherton, we just had a $17.5 million listing and an $11.5 million listing sell," she said.

She said recent sales in Palo Alto include one for $9 million, two for more than $6 million and "lots and lots of sales" between $2 million and $3 million.

"There's been quite a few recent sales," said Gary Campi of Campi Properties in Los Altos. "It's been pretty promising." Campi is listing an equestrian facility on 11 acres in Los Altos Hills, with plans for a 15,000-square-foot home and eight-car garage, for $26.8 million.

At this point, DataQuick is taking a wait-and-see stance. "It's really early to know how this is going to shape up for the year," said Andrew LePage, an analyst for DataQuick. "In the next two or three months, we'll get a better idea."
Source: By Pete Carey, pcarey@mercurynews.com

Atherton Apparently Not on Obama's Circuit, but Woodside May Be

Rumors that President Obama would be stopping by Atherton during his Bay Area visit today (Feb. 17) are apparently unfounded.

However, there are other reports that he might make a stop in Woodside. If so, that could result in the closing of parts of Interstate 280 near or during the rush hour.

The White House says the president is due to arrive at San Francisco International Airport at 5:45 p.m. and will meet with business leaders at 6:45 p.m. at an undisclosed private residence.

With respect to Atherton, Police Chief Mike Guerra said that no roads would be closed off in the town and no presidential visit is in the cards.

He said that, in connection with the president's visit, one police officer from Atherton's force would help staff a police unit in Redwood City or Millbrae as part of a mutual aid agreement with other Bay Area jurisdictions.

Below are the guests expected to dine with Obama tonight. Many are residents of Atherton or Woodside:

- John Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
- Carol Bartz, president and CEO, Yahoo!
- John Chambers, CEO and chairman, Cisco Systems
- Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter
- Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO, Oracle
- Reed Hastings, CEO, NetFlix
- John Hennessy, president, Stanford University
- Steve Jobs, chairman and CEO, Apple
- Art Levinson, chairman and former CEO, Genentech
- Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO, Google
- Steve Westly, managing partner and founder, The Westly Group
- Mark Zuckerberg, founder, president, and CEO, Facebook

Source: Almanac Online

Home of the Week --

WOW! This home has it all

Light and bright with French Doors to the garden and expansive windows allowing the sun to fill the rooms.

A fine 1.25 Acre parcel in West Atherton with Heritage Oaks and a level garden area that could accomodate hundreds of guests for outdoor entertaining. 

Six Bedrooms with all the amenities...extra-wide hallways, high ceilings and gracious rooms for gathering...

Priced at $6,900,000.


Please call me at (650) 888-6628 if you would like to see this or other fine properties in the Mid-peninsula area --

Forbes Magazine List of Most Expensive Zip Codes

America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes
Francesca Levy, FORBES

2 94027, Atherton, Calif.

15 94022, Los Altos Hills, Calif.

15 94022, Los Altos, Calif.

18 94024, Los Altos Hills, Calif.

18 94024, Los Altos, Calif.

20 94010, Hillsborough, Calif.

31 94028, Portola Valley, Calif.

38 95030, Los Gatos, Calif.

41 94062, Woodside, Calif.

73 94301, Palo Alto, Calif.

83 95070, Saratoga, Calif.

84 95030, Monte Sereno, Calif.

92 94123, San Francisco, Calif.

151 94306, Palo Alto, Calif.

Newly Renovated Folger Stable in Woodside Opens to the Public September 19th

One of the jewels of the Peninsula’s Great Estate period of a century ago stood dying of benign neglect until a remarkable public/private partnership was formed. Now thanks to the efforts of the Folger Estate Stable Committee the barn built by coffee heir James Folger II has been restored to its glory days.

Read full story on inmenlo.com   

Source: www.inmenlo.com

Photo by Chris Gulker