Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog - 1SiliconValley.com

Recently, reporter Kate Thompson of KRON 4 contacted me to get our on-the-ground experience with how home values and school qualities in Silicon Valley relate to one another.  We’ve put together a number of articles on real-life stories as well as an entire section for schools, dedicated to statistics and tips for understanding what those school rankings really mean.

We sent agent and Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog writer Alex Wang to talk about the details of a recent transaction he was a part of and he recounts how the demand for good schools pushed that sale to go faster and for a higher sales price.  And you can see what he had to say starting at 01:30 of the KRON 4 report below:

You can also see the report through its direct link.

August 22, 2008 | Filed under: Silicon Valley News

The July issue of The Registry, the popular Bay Area real estate magazine, features the Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog, 1SiliconValley.com saying:

"…the site offers many well-written articles on a variety of relevant subjects, from school API scores to new developments built or approved in a particular neighborhood."

"…a great source of information for South Bay first-time buyers."

Our own Alex Wang is featured in their Residential Market Report on page 40, "Boom and Bust Still Exist Side by Side".  In an interesting anecdote about the lending crisis, he offers a story of a self-employed client with a $200,000 annual income who had to endure a complete third-party audit before his loan could close.

July 19, 2008 | Filed under: Silicon Valley News

Home photos can deceive. Depending on the photography, great houses can seem ho-hum and ho-hum houses can seem great. 
 
And though professionally-photographed homes on real estate sites aim to woo you, don’t allow oh-ah photography to limit your choices. By ruling out a house just because it’s less photogenic than the competition, you may lose out on some truly terrific finds.
 
For instance, a client relocating from Canada was living in corporate housing while he searched for homes, and he’d been sending web links to his wife to preview properties.
 
It seemed like they’d found the right house. The photos were knock-outs and really showcased the property well. Before the wife arrived, I prepared a contract so we could put in an offer right after she saw it. But the property didn’t show well. The sellers hadn’t staged it and the home wasn’t in top shape.
 
I recommended that we take a look at some other comparable houses that she’d seen online. Its images weren’t heart-stopping, nor did they do the home justice. They didn’t, for instance, help people to envision the space and layout.
 
But when the client saw the property, she loved it. For one thing, it featured 400 square feet more than the first house she’d seen. The extra square footage was ideal because the couple had two children. We ended up writing an offer on this second, larger house.
 
Had the client automatically eliminated this home because of iffy pictures or I, as their agent, had discouraged her from even visiting it, the family would have lost out on a spacious property that turned out to be ideal. 
 
As you’re choosing properties to visit, do weigh the images in your decision-making process, but don’t make them the sole criteria. And be sure the agent you’re working with is open to showing you homes that may not feature the most striking photos.
 
Sellers’ tip: Buyers do place a premium on good photos. Sometimes you won’t get an opportunity to make a second impression, so be sure those first images wow viewers. 

Related: Choosing a Home Inspector in Silicon Valley

July 08, 2008 | Filed under: Home Buyers

High density developments are becoming the wave of the future.  Perhaps the most prominent "high density" development in the Bay Area is Santana Row with trendy shops & exclusive restaurants, and contemporary residential lofts tantalizing the progressive bay area resident to be a part of this movement.  

This has become desirable for many bay area residents that want to have entertainment, shopping and a social outlet waiting just outside their front door.  Many downtown businesses sense the high demand of residential-retail zoning, which is alluring many business districts to take advantage of this commercial high density epidemic.

The public concern for high density zoning is that it will bring unmanageable traffic and cars and high taxes and noise to the community.  On the flip side, some residents have voiced excitement and acceptance that it will bring money to the city, restaurants and better quality entertainment.  Moreover, it will lead to higher economic activity and productivity, save tax dollars, and increase property value.  As worrisome or exciting as it may be to the community, there is hardly an area untouched by this new wave of high density development; San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Campbell, Los Gatos and even Willow Glen are all conforming to this new way of life.

An example of high density development that has majority of public acceptance is Sunnyvale Town Center’s new urban development project.  It has been underway for some time but the ultimate outcome will be 991,000 square feet of retail space, 315,000 square feet of office space and 292 ownership housing units.  There will be a 14-screen movie theater and a 200 room hotel located at Murphy and McKinley Avenues.  The 184-acres project encompasses a large block bounded by Mathilda, Washington, Sunnyvale and Iowa Avenues, known as the Town Center Mall.  The shops are planned to start opening in early 2009.  The vision of this new development is for a lively people-friendly place for shopping, working, living and entertainment. 

Sunnyvale residents are actually quite pleased with the new development, as it will bring in revenue for the city, increase visibility to the area, bring in restaurants, and retail and ultimately boost their home values.  Some residents of other neighborhoods are not quite as pleased.

Continue Reading »

July 02, 2008 | Filed under: Sunnyvale, Santana Row, San Jose

Please join our own Sara Greenwood at the Grapevine in Willow Glen on Wednesday, July 9th at 6pm. 

She’s hosting a neighborhood mixer in her home town with plenty of food, wine and non-alcoholic beverages too.  For more information and details on the event, please visit her page on Willow Glen 2.0.

July 02, 2008 | Filed under: San Jose

Rep. Honda’s office contacted us about the workshop the Congressman is hosting on protecting your home from foreclosure.  This is a mainstream topic even for folks in Silicon Valley where we have a high average income and many people who are generally financially savvy. 

Here are some details of the event they’d like to publicize:

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Berryessa Branch Library
Community Room
3355 Noble Avenue
San José, CA 95132

Attendance is free and open to the public.

Please RSVP by email at Honda.RSVP (at) mail.house.gov

For more information please contact Christine Pham or Chris Schwarz in the Campbell office at 408-558-8085.

June 30, 2008 | Filed under: Silicon Valley News

A contingency in a real estate purchase contract is a way in which a buyer (or seller) could get out of the contract within a set period of time for a particular reason. For example, if there is a buyer contingency that the home must appraise to purchase price, but the appraisal comes in low, the buyer can get out of the agreement because of this - as long as the buyer has not already signed for the removal of that contingency. A seller might have a contingency that the sale of the home is contingent upon the seller finding a replacement property.

Most home buyers and sellers in Silicon Valley understand that ordinarily, home purchases are contingent upon or "subject to" their approval of the property’s condition and upon getting the desired loan. Under the broad umbrella of property condition and financing, though, there are other relevant or supporting issues, and consumers may not be aware of them.

For instance, with a loan or finance contingency, there are several key steps to go through in order to be assured that the lending institution will extend the loan as planned.

A pre-approval means that the buyer has turned in bank statements, pay stubs, copies of recent income tax forms, debt information, and so on - and all of it has been submitted to a lender (not just the person taking the loan application, who has conditionally approved it). With that approval, the lender then should require only a ratified purchase agreement, a preliminary title report, and a satisfactory appraisal.  Actually, though, there’s a little more to it than that. What other issues could there be?

• if loan rates change substantially and the buyer has not "locked" the loan, it may not be guaranteed
• if there’s a delay in the close of escrow (rain forcing a delay in fumigating the property, for instance) and the buyer’s loan lock rate expires, the lender may not grant the loan
• many lenders require an "outside appraisal review" and if it doesn’t get through that step unscathed, the buyer may not get the loan
• natural disasters such as fire or earthquake can cause lenders to pull the loan until the property is reinspected and/or reappraised

So buyers and sellers will want a little more information than simply "the buyer is preapproved". Here’s what they need to know.

Continue Reading »

June 27, 2008 | Filed under: Silicon Valley News

It’s a sweet day when homeowners discover they’re getting multiple offers on their property. But for buyers competing for a house, it’s a nail-biter.
 
Over the years, I’ve developed two novel strategies to help buyers win bidding war.
 
First, I aim to be the last presenter. Why? I can often gauge what offers sellers have already seen and probe them to identify their concerns. Also, by that time, they’re ready to make a decision.
 
In addition, I always try to bring my clients when I present offers to the listing agent.
 
If my clients are sitting in the same room, we can often cut the negotiation time from a couple days of phone calls down to a matter of minutes—something desirable for eager sellers. It’s an enormous strategic advantage to be able to discuss and ratify changes on the spot.
 
The other benefit is that buyers are humanized when sellers can meet them and talk with them.
 
Such was the case in a recent negotiation for a highly desirable Sunnyvale property. When I discovered there were two offers on the table, we opted for a full-price offer.  
 
At the presentation, one offer was rejected immediately, and the listing agent let me know our competitor’s offer was better than ours. So we countered with a higher price–an additional $5,000 over the asking price–and removed our contingencies. I later learned that our competitor’s offer was still better than ours.
 
Yet, the sellers had met my clients, an engaged couple enthusiastic about buying their first home together. It turns out that the groom-to-be and the husband of the seller both worked for the same high-profile technology company, though neither knew one another. Nonetheless, that shared experience created something of a bond. My buyers were no longer just a generic couple. The sellers, rather than seeing just figures on a page saw faces and personalities and had some insight into the buyers’ aspirations.
 
The result: My clients won the bidding war. And the sellers even decided to give the house to them for a thousand dollars less than our final bid as a courtesy.
 
Had my buyers not been at the presentation, I’m convinced the competitor’s offer would have been accepted.

Related: Not Overpaying for Buying a Home

June 21, 2008 | Filed under: Home Buyers

California’s 2007 Base API scores have been released and, looking at the complete list of Santa Clara 2007 Base API scores, congratulations need to go to Los Altos, Saratoga, Cupertino, and Palo Alto elementary school districts for maintaining district API averages above 900.  While this is par for the course in these districts, to put this achievement in perspective, the overall state API for all grades is 728.

There are two other metrics in the report, statewide rank and similar schools rank, both ratings from 1 to 10.  Each number represents a decile, with 10 being the top 10% of all schools in that category.

This metric compares schools that have similar characteristics, based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, teacher credentials, and (about a dozen) other factors.  So which number matters more: the state or similar schools rank?

By far, the state number.  Let’s look at some of the Cupertino Union figures for examples. 

The third column is the state ranking and the fourth is for similar schools: Blue Hills is 10/8, Collins is 10/7, and DeVargas is 8/2.  Eisenhower and Muir (not shown) are both 10/2 with API scores of 906 and 894 respectively.

The difference in API between 10/8 and 10/7 is only 10 points, but the difference between a 10/2 and 8/2 is about 60 points.  The reason is because schools that are alike tend to have similar performance.  When you group those schools together and rank them, some turn out to be the best of the group and others the lowest-rated of the group.  

So if a 10/10 school is the best of the best, should parents be worried about a 10/2 school like Eisenhower or Muir elementary?  There is room for improvement, but a 10 means the school is in the top 10% of all schools in California.  At that level, I’d be more focused on what programs, classes and activities a school has to offer than beating other quality schools in standardized tests.

May 23, 2008 | Filed under: Schools, Silicon Valley News

If you have elderly relatives or friends who live in San Mateo County, you may be interested in this announcement from the office of San Mateo’s Fifth District Supervisor Adrienne Tissier. 

They asked if we could pass along this information to the consumers and real estate agents who read and subscribe to the Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog.  The event they want to publicize is the free Livable Communities for Successful Aging forum:

It will be held on May 30th at the San Mateo County Events Center.  The purpose of the forum is to allow members of the community to identify characteristics of developments that will be attractive to residents as they age and remain in San Mateo County.

By the year 2030, the county’s health department estimates that about 30% of all residents will be 65 years of age or order (about 160,000 persons). 

The forum will focus on what people would like to see developed along the El Camino Real– not only what types of buildings but also the services that would be attractive enough that people would decide to move to the El Camino and to remain in San Mateo County. 

From that vision we hope that we can offer principles of a livable community that will be adopted by city councils and the county.  The forum is sponsored by the County of San Mateo, the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, and Samtrans.

For more information, please visit the Successful Aging website.

May 22, 2008 | Filed under: San Mateo