A question posed to me recently was whether or not houses with solar panels sell faster and for more money.  We would tend to think so, because solar panels make paying for electricity considerably less expensive, especially here in sunny Silicon Valley.  Conversations with buyers reveal that solar is highly valued.  Placing a dollar amount to that value isn’t so easy right now, however.

The difficulty is in the lack of data.  Recently, in my Belwood of Los Gatos neighborhood, we’ve seen a lot of houses getting fitted with solar just in the last year.  I believe that 3-4 years from now, we’ll have a larger pool of closed sales in which solar was part of the equation, but at the moment, only a tiny fraction of closed escrows were houses with these energy efficient features.

Here’s what I’m seeing as I pull the numbers from our MLS:

All of Santa Clara County, all houses which have closed escrow in the last 30 days: 916

All of SCC, all houses with solar panels on the grid which have closed escrow in the last 30 days: 13

This is a mere 1.4% of the sold properties in the last month.   Read the rest of this entry »

How is the Campbell real estate market?   First, here are some quick stats, care of my RE Report for Campbell:

and the month prior: Read the rest of this entry »

Now that many home owners in Silicon Valley have equity again, the possibility of selling and moving has opened up once more.  Seniors have special needs and in many cases could use a little extra help.  Here are a few resources:

AARP.com – this is the # 1 advocacy group for seniors and this website has a tremendous wealth of information.

AgeInPlace.com – find info on creating a safe environment that’s easier to live in, plus monitoring services.

MoveSeniors.com – a resource for downsizing, moving and remodeling plus other helpful avenues.

RetirementHomes.com – a senior living directory for North America (from independent living to assisted to memory care and nursing).

SilverPlanet.com – help with “aging in place” options and more.

TheSeniorList.com – ratings and review site for a wide range of sernior services and living arrangements.

As a Seniors Real Estate Specialist, I enjoy working with and assisting seniors.  Please call me for help with seniors selling (or buying) homes anywhere in Silicon Valley!

A sign from Saratoga: “Education is a journey, not a destination” – well said!

Where will you see this?  It’s on the reverse of the one below.

Today, in addition to the regular Cambrian Park real estate stats, we’re going to drill down to the months of inventory by zip code and school district.  The numbers can be different based on how the statistics are gathered. For our purposes today, I’ll be using both “Area 14″, the MLS defined area for Cambrian, plus an overlay of the 95124 and 95118 zip codes as well as the school districts.

For the figures below, HSD = High School District (473 = Campbell Union HSD and 482 = San Jose Unified School District), Active = for sale, not yet pending, Sold/30 = sold and closed escrow in last 30 days and MOI = months of inventory.

First, if we just consider the 95124 and 95118 zip codes within Cambrian, what’s hottest?  (The lower the months of inventory, the more of a seller’s market it is.)

Overall, there’s less than one month of inventory in “area 14″ or Cambrian.  But tease it out a little and it’s evident that 95124 is a little more in demand than 95118 generally. But that’s not the whole story.  What if we consider just the high school districts, and omit the zip codes?  Let’s see:

Here the disparity is even greater, hinting that perhaps the biggest driver in the Cambrian market is schools.

Now let’s factor in both zip codes and public schools to see if it’s only about the schools (95118 is a little less expensive than 95124).  Disclaimer: very few 95124 houses are in the San Jose Unified School District.

Properties in the 95118 zip code but with the Campbell HSD are flying off the market at a half a month of inventory!  We can see plainly that the best selling homes have the Campbell Union HSD but are in 95118 – a more affordable part of Cambrian.  This suggests that the hottest part of the Cambrian real estate market is that with the lowest price for the better schools.  In other words, it’s “the most bang for your buck” when it comes to education.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Los Gatos real estate market is up about 10% year over year, but down even more month over month. Homes are flying off the market, even if prices aren’t up – for houses sold, the “days on market” was a mere 17 in May!  Here are the current numbers, per my Los Gatos real estate report (click on the link for full information).

and April 2013:

Read the rest of this entry »

Fabulous opportunity to purchase a spectacular view home with a close-in location on gated lot in Los Gatos!  Ideal for entertaining with oversized rooms, most with valley views.

110 Alerche Drive, Los Gatos – view at twilight

Unique find!  Very spacious, sunny home with open floor plan on gated lot in an easy-to-access location. Nearly all rooms enjoy expansive valley views! Ideal for entertaining!

• 4 bedrooms
• 4.5 baths
• Living space approx. 5,326 SF (per county)
• Lot size approx. 41,382 SF (.95 acre, per county)
• Year built: 1991
• 3 car garage + 2 car carport
• Gently sloping lot with room for pool

SEE VIRTUAL TOUR

Main floor includes
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