Silicon Valley Real Estate

Do you want or need to sell your Silicon Valley home this year? If so, you ought to take the staging of your home very seriously. Often homeowners hire a Realtor (or other real estate licensee), ask for their advice on preparing the house and yard for sale, and then proceed to disregard all or most of the guidance given.

Why do would sellers hire an agent and then not take the professional advice offered?  Especially in THIS market? The result is frustrating for both the homeowner (who will not realize the best possible price) and for the agent (who cannot control the condition, but who is hampered in selling the home because of it).

To be candid, the odds are that you will not be able to sell your home in San Jose, Los Gatos, or Saratoga this year. Countywide, most homes are NOT selling. Actually, let's look at the numbers for just a moment - you will see that it's fairly sobering.

In the Cambrian Park area of San Jose (zip codes 95124, 95118 and a little of 95008), there are 241 single family homes and condos or townhomes for sale (the "active listings"). In that same district, just 109 are pending sales. This refects about a 45% chance of selling.

In Almaden Valley, an upscale collection of neighborhoods comprising the 95120 zip code area of San Jose, it's much worse. There are 121 houses and townhouses or condominiums for sale, and a mere 34 which are under contract to sell. The odds here are 28% that you'll sell.

For Los Gatos (95032 and 95030), it's 203 available vs 50 pending. Down to 24% opportunity to sell.

Saratoga (95070) has 152 active listings and just 33 pendings, or a 21.7% sales success.

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I am a full-time, second generation, award-winning & enthusiastic Realtor. (My mother, Pat Pope, was a highly regarded & successful Realtor in the San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino and Saratoga areas from 1956 until her death in 1996.) Real estate was my second career after I'd worked happily in the area of religious education (in Catholic high schools) & ministry for several years. Economics necessitated an employment change, and real estate was a natural fit as it really is a "helping profession" and I'd grown up with it. I like to joke that my first words were "raised foundation".  

An area native, I was raised in Santa Clara and Saratoga, attending public and Catholic schools, and graduated from Saratoga High in 1977. As an adult I lived in several parts of the valley, including 10 years in Cambrian Park, and since 1999, in Los Gatos.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts from Gonzaga University in Spokane (a Catholic university run by Jesuits - in Religious Studies, 1981) and thanks to my parents' generosity, was able to enjoy a fabulous Junior year abroad at Gonzaga-in-Florence, Italy (1979-1980), which cemented my love of travel and all things Italian. (With some refreshing, I can still manage a simple conversation in Italian - which is fun!) After some teaching, I earned a Master of Arts (in Systematic Theology, 1986) from The Graduate Theological Union/Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Afterwards I returned to teaching religion in Catholic high schools, a very rewarding career, for a few years, until our children came onto the scene. I did a lot of related volunteer work too, with my favorite being as a volunteer chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital in the early 90's. Additionally, I worked in the Rainbows Program at our parish, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Los Gatos. Rainbows is a peer-to-peer ministry/support group for kids suffering from any major loss, such as the death of a parent or divorce.

My husband, Jim Handy, analyzes the semiconductor market. He grew up in many places due to his father's line of work and speaks French and he too loves to travel; eons ago we honeymooned in Tahiti on Bora Bora where he got to practice his language skills (between their Polynesian French and his Belgian-Swiss-American accent it got interesting at times). We have been very happily married since 1985. Jim has been a Parks Commission volunteer in the Town of Los Gatos for years, so I get a lot of interesting information about the town's doings from him!

Our two children, Brian & Clair, are now teenagers. Real estate is inescapable for them, as it had been for me, and when Clair was in second grade she said, "uh oh Mommy, we have termites!" and had correctly spotted the telltale drywood termite pellets on our hardwood floor; I suspect she was the only second grader with the ability to correctly identify termite activity. So, real estate is a little contagious! The kids do some assisting for me in summers and are a big help. Like their parents, they love to travel and together we've been in much of the US, plus parts of Mexico, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Japan.  Brian is now a freshman at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, having graduated from four happy years at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose. Clair is currently a senior at Notre Dame High School in downtown San Jose.

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"How long will it take to sell my home?"  This is a perenial question among home sellers in Silicon Valley.  Real estate professionals can look at the statistics and, when experienced and active in your local market, tell you what they believe will happen based on the absorption rate and days on market numbers.

We know that the national average is that for approximately every ten showings, a home should get an offer. It may or may not be an offer that results in a sale. Today's market in the San Jose area is more sluggish than usual, but homes are still selling in many areas within a month if all is right when it's offered for sale. One thing is for certain, though, and that's that sellers have to see offers to be able to sell a home, and there are no offers if there's no qualified traffic.

What kind of traffic is good enough? Three showings a week is decent after the initial flurry of a new listing. There will be more visitors to your property in the first week or two, both in regular showings and in open house visitors who are serious about buying. If you are not getting three showings a week (and it's not a major holiday, a heat wave, or something along those lines), you have a problem. There are three most likely culprits to the problem: price, conditon, and marketing.

The feedback from showings and open house visitors is of key importance and will help you and your agent to understand the public's reaction to your price and condition. Agents can ask (without being pushy) questions about how the buyers think or feel about the home.  Or ask their agents. (I use a system called HomeFeedback.com that requests feedback by email with a very short 5 question survey. Normally I get about a 65% response rate from agents.) When most of the consumers or agents tell us "the home is dated" or "it needs too much work", we know it's an issue. Or perhaps the home is turnkey, but is priced 10% too high. Sometimes the condition issue is fixable but sometimes the only way to address it is in lower, more attractive pricing (when huge renovations appear to be necessary or there's a time or money issue for the seller).

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Pet rats - the kind you buy at the pet store - can make the most adorable friends. Pookie was our daughter's pet and a close family member for years.

But rats in the roof, attic, crawl space, walls and landscaping are not so adorable. They wreck havoc and can cause damage to home and health.  Wild rats gnaw on wood and wires, and they carry fleas that can spread disease. Bubonic plague is not an issue in Santa Clara County now, but it is in Tahoe and other areas, so it's a risk to take seriously.

What kind of rats exist here, in The Valley of Hearts Delight?

In Silicon Valley, the predominent type of wild rat is the Roof Rat (also known as the Black Rat or Tree Rat). The Roof Rat's eat ivy, fruit, pet food, nuts and other goodies found in neighborhoods. They are identifiable because their tail is longer than the head and body together.

A lesser seen rat in the San Jose area is the Norway Rat (also called the Wharf Rat, the Sewer Rat, or the Brown Rat). This rat has a shorter tail and is usually seen in less developed areas, creekbeds, and farm areas, which are rapidly disappearing here in the South Bay.

Recently a neighbor of ours found a dead rat in his yard, and he called The Santa Clara County Vector Control District office to come out and help him identify if there was a problem with rats getting into his home or not, and to shed light on the issue of why this critter recently appeared in his home. The officer came out and performed this service for free, enlightening my neighbor as to access points and providing a helpful brochure about rats and what attracts them.

I'd heard that Italian Cypress trees, juniper and ivy were all bad - that is, that they attracted rats. What I did not realize is how many other things do too.

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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.

San Jose's upscale suburb, Almaden Valley, features gorgeous hillside views, great schools, low crime, and consistently nice neighborhoods.  Home prices range from a little higher than average to very expensive.  How is the real estate market faring in posh Almaden Valley?

Here's a snapshot view of list prices over the last year in Almaden of both single family houses and condos or townhomes.

It is curious to note that condo prices seemed to have an uptick while single family homes had a downtick around March first of this year. Condo and townhouse prices in Almaden appear to be slipping overall since then, while home prices have risen generally, though slipped again a little since July 1st.

Next let's have a look at asking prices for single family homes, or houses (as opposed to condominiums or townhomes).  Below, find the data broken down by quartiles.

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