Congratulations, you’re moving to Silicon Valley!  You will be pleased to know that we get 300 sunny days and only about 15″ of rain each year (more or less - more if you live in or near the Santa Cruz Mountains, and less if you are closer to Milpitas or east San Jose).  Our subtropical climate, diverse population, abundant parks & cultural opportunities, high level of education among the residents and low crime rate all make this a very desireable place to live.

If you are coming from out of the area, or even out of the country, how can you choose where to live?

Some of your parameters will be decided by your budget, and others by your wants and needs.

Want a “close to town” type area where you can find coffee shops, restaurants, stores and a bustling area nearby? Perhaps you should consider Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen, downtown San Jose, Santana Row or possibly Santa Clara. Many of these “downtown” areas near residential parts of Silicon Valley feel more “European” than the large areas of suburbia.

Do you put a priority on great schools and low crime? Then have a look at Cupertino, Saratoga, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, the Los Gatos Mountains, Almaden Valley, and the Silver Creek area of San Jose. Also there are parts of Cambrian Park  and the San Jose Mission District of Fremont with very fine public schools. One section of Santa Clara enjoys Cupertino schools, as does part of west San Jose.

If lower cost utilities are important to you, have a look at Santa Clara!

Some folks really want a cabana with a swim team nearby. There are a few in Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all over the Santa Clara Valley, but the highest concentration of neighborhood pools and swim teams seem to be in Santa Clara.

How about unique, older architecture? Then check out the Japantown, Vendome, and Naglee Park areas of downtown San Jose. Or, if the budget allows, consider the old Alum Rock area of San Jose, or parts of Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen, Mountain View and Saratoga. The charm is enduring!

Relocating is a lot of work. If you would like help finding where you’d be most comfortable once you arrive here, please contact me and I’ll give you a few points to consider, even if you are not ready to buy (or sell) just yet.

Known for engineers and high tech or bio-tech, Silicon Valley is actually much more than tilt up buildings full of well educated, hard working people. There is a ton of scenic beauty here in this sub-tropical area with 300 sunny days each year. I hope you will enjoy this slide show I put together to help introduce you to “The Valley of Hearts Delight", now known as Silicon Valley. Below, please find images from San Jose (Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park and Willow Glen, and downtown Vendome areas), Campbell, Saratoga, Santa Clara and Los Gatos. Enjoy!

Moving horror stories abound - damaged and lost furniture, huge delays, and final bills that barely reflect the initial estimates are not all that uncommon.

Some of my clients have been the victims of bad moving companies.  One couple I worked with here in Silicon Valley did not get enough bids (only 2) and chose the mover based on the low, low price that was quoted. (By the time it was all over, the bill paid was considerably higher than the quote and the amount of work my clients had to do was far higher too.) I had suggested that they take more bids, including from a reputable company that I know and trust, but in the interests of time, they only spoke with two movers which they’d found on their own.  Some other clients of mine had an unlicensed mover not only hurt their furniture in a move a year or so ago, but damage the deck stairs while handling the move. Surprising? I’ve heard of some companies simply hiring day laborers when they find themselves short of hand.

You don’t want that to happen to you!

The California Moving and Storage Association (CMSA) has a number of informative articles on its website that I want to recommend to those planning a move. One is about the low-bidding but unscrupulous bandit movers, and another is about how to select a mover.  They wisely advise to be wary of chosing a mover based on an extremely low price. In my fifteen years of selling homes in Silicon Valley, I have found that when most of the bids fall into a range and one is very, very much lower or very much higher, it’s a red flag that something may not be right. 

When planning your move, always get at least 3-4 written quotes from reputable companies who are licensed and preferable referred to you by people who have worked with them (in the local branch) or from Realtors such as myself who have had positive professional experiences with them. I am happy to give you the names of companies and individuals I have found to be fair, honest. and trustworthy.

For more information on relocating to or from Silicon Valley, please see Move2SiliconValley.com.

Buying homes in Silicon Valley during a “buyer’s market” takes courage. Doom and gloom grace the cover of the newspaper and online articles. Everyone has a bad story to share about someone else who lost a home, or had a bad experience trying to buy a short sale or distressed property. Perhaps most of all, at work or in social circles, friends and coworkers will advise you “if you wait, you will get it for less".

This is what always happens in a buyer’s market. Folks who are themselves afraid of taking the plunge talk loudly about why buying a home in San Jose, Campbell, Monte Sereno or nearby is not a good idea right now. 

When would all of these people say is the “right time to buy"?

Everyone wants to buy low and sell high, whether it’s in the stock market or in real estate. Timing the exact bottom or exact top is impossible. In fact, we only know we’ve hit it once it’s past. Once the bottom has been identified by the populus, guess what? All the fence sitters jump in. Demand rises faster than supply. Prices go up.

Now may or may not be the right time for you to buy. It may not be the right time to buy certain types of homes in certain areas. An example that comes to mind of what NOT to buy is in parts of the distressed market. Buying in areas & pricepoints where foreclosures are rising would not be my professional advice to anyone. As those numbers swell, prices will be pushed down.

But there are many healthy markets and pricepoints where there’s simply a soft spot in the zone where you want to buy. In recent days I’ve looked at the condo and townhouse market in several upscale parts of the valley such as Los Gatos, Saratoga, and Almaden Valley. For some reason, townhomes and condominiums in these lovely areas are taking a bit of a beating right now compared to the single family home market. This appears to be a nice buying opportunity. Real estate in these west valley neighborhoods is usually beyond reach for many people. Right now, though, you may be able to get your foot in the door.

Additionally, there are some markets in which single family homes are selling very well (especially in Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View). For Silicon Valley seniors who’d like to downsize, this may be an ideal market. Sell the home in a strong market, buy the retirement condo in a buyer’s market. What more could you want?

It is also a very good time for buyers who are bringing their money in from Europe as the exchange rate makes a home buy anywhere in the US a great bargain. This is even more true if one is a renter now, as rents are going up!

There are no easy answers as to when the best time is to buy or sell for everyone, because each person and each market is unique. Your individual circumstances, from your available savings and credit report to your job situation, will have a huge impact on how the market looks to you.  That said, the current market presents great opportunities to the saavy consumer who’s willing to study and weigh the precise market situation that they are in as buyers or as sellers.  Rather than sitting on the fence because that’s what most everyone seems to be doing, it might be the perfect time to plunge in. Only with a little research will you know if this is what’s best for you and your financial future.

When you hear the easy answers, whether it’s “buy now!” or “sell now!", know that Silicon Valley real estate never has been so simplistic as to warrant a one-size-fits-all answer. Get good data and good counseling to make a good decision.

Santa Clara County Parks 

Here, please find links and a little info on the wonderful county parks in and near Silicon Valley.

A word of caution: in the grassy, hilly areas especially, please hike or jog with friends and pay attention as you walk or run the trails. Rattlesnakes tend to sun themselves in the clearings - which means on the path!  Mountain lions, also known as pumas, are not commonly seen but they are indigenous to the area, as are ferrel pigs, bobcats and coyotes. Any of these could ruin your day with a wrong encounter, so please go in groups and pay attention to your surroundings!

Almaden Quicksilver  this was once the largest mercury mine in the world, named after a similar mine in Spain. The mine shafts extended all the way into what is now Los Gatos (off Hicks Road) This is a great spot for field trips. Don’t miss the split graveyard on Bertram Road- and look the grave for just Bert’s arm (nope, I’m not kidding).

Alviso Marina they stopped dredging this years ago but it is now a park. Eventually there will be a trail ringing the bay. Awesome place to birdwatch and take photos.

Anderson Lake waterskiing destination in the east foothills over Morgan Hill

Calero south of Almaden toward Morgan Hill.

Chesbro Reservoir west of Morgan Hill - fishing & non-power-boating. No trails yet.

Chitactac Adams Heritage County Park  now this is cool - it’s a 4 acre site just outside Gilroy and Morgan Hill which is all about the Ohlones who used to inhabit this beautiful valley of ours. Free park. Open from 8am til sunset. Self-guided tours available.

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 Natural Hazard Reports are included in the disclosures when homes are bought and sold here in Silicon Valley. Those reports will indicate whether or not the property is located in areas with known natural hazards, including 

• Flood Plains
• Liquifaction Zones
• Earthquake Fault Zones
• Unstable Soils Areas

But wouldnt you like to know where those places are before ever writing an offer?

Many Realtors utilize a tool that combines this natural hazard information with other boundaries that may be of interest to you, such as zip code lines, town boundaries, school district boundaries, district names within San Jose (like Berryessa, Cambrian Park, Evergreen, etc.) and so on. This is the Barclays Locaide and you can buy it online or in Realtor stores in the San Jose area. They arent cheap at just under $60, but they are extremely helpful and worthwhile for having a sense of where the issue areas are in Santa Clara County.

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For people relocating to Silicon Valley, there can be some significant surprises (beyond the ˜sticker shock of our home prices in the San Jose area). Here are a few pointers to help you in your transition:

• The school district boundaries do not follow the boundaries for the city or town
  • For instance, in the Town of Los Gatos there are 3 school districts
  • So being in Saratoga could mean having Cupertino Schools or Moreland Schools or  Saratoga Schools. Part of San Jose has San Jose Unified Schools, but in some areas its Union Schools or other districts.
  • The reason for this confusing situation is that the school district boundaries were drawn before all the cities and towns in Santa Clara County were clearly defined (or the boundaries expanded)
• The mailing address city or town may not be the ˜actual location of the property
  • This is a rare situation, but sometimes the mailing address will say ˜Los Gatos when in fact the home is part of San Jose or Campbell. This has to do mostly with postal routes or with unincorporated areas using a mailing address for a long time and then being incorporated.
• We have ˜expansive clay soil here and water is a big issue. (Please see related post on buying hillside homes in Silicon Valley.)
• Most of our housing is ranch style tract homes. Were sorry about that. Developers went nuts in the post WWII boom and created massive urban sprawl, one of the only things that isnt so delightful in the Valley of Hearts Delight.
  
  And just a few non-real estate surprises too:
  

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