The Oaktree Park neighborhood in San Jose is a scenic residential community with wide appeal to home buyers due to good Almaden schools, close proximity to large parks and is one of only a few areas in Almaden Valley which includes a cabaña and swim team.  Additionally, this area is very convenient as it’s  close to schools, shops and commute routes to downtown San Jose and much of Silicon Valley. It is a fairly intimate neighborhood with 156 homes.

Where is the Oaktree Park neighborhood?

The Oaktree Park subdivision is within the boundaries of Meridian Avenue, Redmond Avenue and Mcabbe Road on three sides and the Jeffrey Fontana Park on the north side.

The census bureau (and perhaps also the city of San Jose) has attributed names to some parts of Almaden and this neighborhood falls into the Crossgates section.  I do not believe that most residents refer to this area that way, though.  Perhaps more likely they’d call it part of the greater Fontana Park neighborhood.

Oaktree Park Neighborhood in San Jose (Almaden Valley area of SJ) - click on image above to go to live Google Map

What schools serve the Oaktree Park neighborhood in San Jose?

The public schools for Oaktree Park are within the San Jose Unified School District:

Los Alamitos Elementary School (API 916 in 2010)
Castillero Middle School (API 806 in 2010)
Pioneer High School (API 823 in 2010)

Los Alamitos Elementary and Holy Spirit Elementary (Catholic) are both just a couple of blocks from Oaktree Park.  Additonally there are 2 preschools really close too:  Precious Preschool and Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Preschool.

For more information and links for schools, school districts, API scores and maps of boundaries lines for schools in the Almaden area of San Jose, please also read:

Schools, API Scores & Maps of School Boundaries in San Jose’s Almaden Valley

What are homes like in Oaktree Park?

Homes in Oaktree Park are single family dwellings – all detached houses (no townhouses or condominiums).  These are primarily ranch style or two story ranch style houses, built in the early 1970s  on lots of about 8000 to 9000 square feet, though a few are more than that.  Interior size runs between about 1600 square feet to about 3000 square feet (if added on). Prices may be in the mid 600s for a smaller home, needing work and a less desirable location (such as on a busy road or immediately adjacent to the high voltage power lines that run through the park) to perhaps a little over a million dollars for a beautifully updated or rebuilt larger home in an ideal location within the neighborhood.

Oaktree Park Neighborhood Home for Sale: 6064 Ostenberg Drive

This week I put a fabulously remodeled and expanded Oaktree Park neighborhood home on the market!  This exquisite house has an awesomely open floorplan with an amazing kitchen – a gourmet’s delight!  Have a look at the details! Open Sat/Sun, April 21-22, 2012 1-4pm.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 81213394 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

More information on the Oaktree Park Neighborhood!

Oaktree Park Neighborhood fun: the cabaña, clubhouse, swim team and parks

The cabaña and community grounds are located on Crestoak Court (where a large oak tree did once stand).  The swim team, the Sharks, serve children up to age 18.

The HOA has a “welcome new neighbors” page with some great information on nearby amenities.

There’s a huge amount of open space and parkland adjacent to Oaktree Park, with both trails for walking, biking or rollerblading as well as expanses of lawn and natural open spaces which invite deer and other indigenous wildlife.  Nearby parks include the Jeffrey Fontana Park, the Guadalupe Oak Grove Park  just beyond that and the TJ Martin Park a little to the west of these two.  These three parks are connected and provide a fabulous network of trails.

Turnover is pretty low in this neighborhood as residents appreciate the access to the community pool, the parks, schools, shops and commute venues.  In many ways, this tidy little neighborhood offers the very best of Almaden: community, multiple reasons to be outdoors and a pretty location with lovely views.

If you’ve ever had the experience of selling your car, perhaps you’ve also had someone phone you who’s never even looked at your vehicle and ask you “what’s the lowest price you’ll take?”  Most of the time, auto sellers aren’t too happy with that question: the caller is low balling without even looking at what’s for sale.

That happens in real estate sometimes, too.

Today I got a phone call from a Silicon Valley condo buyer who asked me, without having seen my listing, “will the seller take less?”

Not a great question, for a whole lot of reasons.

First of all, part of a real estate agent’s duty is to protect the seller – and that means not telling consumers the lowest amount that a seller would take, or even if a seller would take less at all (unless, of course, the seller gave express directions to do so, which is very rare indeed).

Secondly, it is a little insulting to call on a property you’ve never viewed and start to verbally bargain down the price, or fish for the lowest possible price. What that does is make the listing agent feel “on guard” from the very beginning. Guess how that impacts your position if there are multiple offers?  You will have made an impression – but not a good one!

Most of the time, a home buyer is better served to not call the listing agent directly at all, but instead to have his or her buyer’s agent place the call to get some information.  There are better ways to figure out if the seller is motivated,  how the pricing looks, whether there will be multiple offers etc. – and Realtors and other real estate licensees are usually pretty practiced at getting the information without damaging the buyer’s position for offers or even potential multiple offers later.

Most of us wouldn’t try to represent ourselves in court, but sometimes don’t appreciate that these same principles apply with real estate; that is, the value of having a fiduciary, an agent, helping us not just when the offer is presented but every step of the way.   Let your agent represent you from earlier stages, and you will likely find that you are presented in a better light than you could do yourself.  Think before you pick up that phone and call the listing agent directly!

What is a “cool air return“?  Silicon Valley home hunters are very likely to encounter both heating vents (also called heat registers) and cool air returns in houses, townhouses and condos across the South Bay Area.  They are found wherever a home enjoys central forced air heat with ducts and vents.  (Some Victorian houses have forced air heat but it is only brought to perhaps one main room or area in the house!)

The purpose of a cool air return is to feed the furnace with a supply of cooler air to be heated ad then circulated back into the rest of the dwelling via the heat registers or vents.  Often the cool air return is found near the floor.  This makes sense when you consider that the hottest air will rise, leaving cooler air nearer the ground. Heat registers are often near the floor (and near a window), but if the home is on a slab foundation and has forced air heat, the vent will be on the ceiling.

How can I tell the difference between the cool air return and a heat register or vent?

Generally speaking, the vents for warm air are long and narrow, and the cool air return is much larger and boxier in shape.  Below please find an image of heating vents.

The first example of a heating vent is probably the most typical you’ll find in Silicon Valley: it’s metal, kind of a dark gray color.  Older ones (homes from the 50s) have an even narrower shape but still tend to be metal, sometimes painted dark brown.

The next example is usually found where the property has hardwood floors.  The idea is to make the vent blend in and be less noticeable. Naturally, the wooden vents come in a variety of colors to match the many types of woods that might be found in a residence.

By and large, cool air returns and heat registers are pretty ugly. The wooden vents are a nice step above the usual offerings.  Several companies sell nicer cool air returns and heat registers or vents, though. So if you are remodeling and want to get away from that “tract housing feel”, a few custom touches might be just the ticket for a more unique feeling home.

What else can be done, besides changing the material from metal to wood, to improve the look of my home?

An entire industry seems to be rising out of the desire for more attractive finishing touches in homes, offices and public spaces.  With a little searching, you’ll find that in addition to the basic vent style shown above, there are other types too.  For instance, ornate brass  (or other finishes), may be found in Victorian homes which do have heat in every room. Restoration Hardware advertises several of these, some of which would look great with a Craftsman style home or other distinctive architectural styles. (Click on the link to see their offerings and images of these vents.)

A quick search on Google images will reveal that there are lots of choices out there!  I’ve seen just about every type imaginable.  One website, called BuyAirVents.com, has a nice selection of cool air return covers as well as warm air register covers.  Another site, Beaux-Artes, features exquisite grille work which looks fabulous in a variety of settings – check out the return air page!  My own home is Spanish style – so now I’m on a quest to find vents that will match the look of our house too.

Both buyers and sellers in Silicon Valley find themselves having to compromise in order to purchase or sell homes in today’s market. In a red hot seller’s market, the buyer usually makes most of the concessions. In a deep buyer’s market, that can be said of the sellers. Right now, though, it is fairly balanced in the sense that homes are selling fast – but only if they are priced aggressively. In some areas, such as the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, prices continue to inch downward.  Sellers often feel as though they are compromising left and right before they even get their property on the market! What kind of compromises might you expect when buying or selling a home in Santa Clara County now?

Silicon Valley Home Seller Compromises

Most sellers want to sell for full price and to not have to do any repairs – that is, they want to sell “As Is”.  Unless they get multiple offers, though, often that’s not the case.  Often sellers must compromise on both price and terms, and may find themselves providing a pest clearance or do other repairs in order for the property to sell.  In some cases, though, the compromises are larger still: they may need to pay points for the buyer’s loan, provide credits, re-roof or do other work to make the transaction work. A suggestion for most sellers is to do pre-sale inspections. One of my clients this last year objected, asking why they needed to spend money (the cost of the inspections) to find out that they needed to spend money (the cost of the repairs)?  But in truth, by doing this, the seller can take care of some items up front, create a more secure feeling for the buyers and then maximize the sales price in most cases. It is a compromise, though, to do these inspections upfront. That said, it’s a worthwhile one because normally it will net the sellers more money in the end! A word to the wise: selling As Is often means not getting top dollar for the property (most sellers want Top Dollar with NO WORK – it doesn’t work that way).  To get the most money out of the sale, usually a hoe owner will need to make the property worry proof: do repairs upfront, before a buyer ever even sees it.

Silicon Valley Home Buyer Compromises

Most San Jose area home buyers want to purchase a home for 10-20% less than what the sellers think it’s worth.  The main compromise is on price!  It’s sticker shock every time, but especially for real estate purchasers who are coming from out of the area. Additionally, buyers tend to want homes in turnkey, perfect condition.  That is, they don’t want issues with permits, repairs, health and safety hazards, termites, and so on. They want to move in and “not have to worry” for a few years. So moving from this position to a purchase where they take on some responsibility for repairs or updating is a major concession or compromise right there. A word to the wise for buyers: demanding every little repair and home perfection will not usually work UNLESS you pay “top dollar” for a property. If you want the best price, be prepared to take on some of the responsibility upfront. For buyers and sellers to agree on price and terms it’s going to involve compromises on both sides. With proper planning, though, these compromises will result in a win-win for all.

Each year, Inman News sponsors a “people’s choice” voting for the most influential person in real estate.  Inman nominates 100 strong candidates but voters may also write in someone not listed.  This week, I was very deeply honored to have been included on such a prestigious list of real estate leaders nationwide, and I’d be thrilled if you would consider voting for me.

Where to vote:  follow this link and the fields for entering your desired winner’s name and info will be about 20% of the way down (midway through the article and just after a large ad) – deadline is Dec 1, 2011:

http://www.inman.com/news/2011/11/2/2011-peoples-choice-real-estates-most-influential

What is Inman looking for with this people’s choice voting?  I’ll quote a couple of passages and then comment.

“It’s time to vote for a leader who you believe has had the most substantial impact on the real estate industry in the past year. “  

“The Inman 100 list recognizes those whose voices and actions have the power to change the industry. Among them are individuals who embody strength, common sense, innovation, ingenuity, perseverance and progress. They include the industry’s brain trust and dealmakers, and those outside the industry who impact the business of buying and selling homes.”

So how did I, Mary Pope-Handy, a Silicon Valley Realtor with Sereno Group in Los Gatos and not a CEO of a big brokerage or large vendor, get named with realty’s best & brightest? It’s very humbling. But I think I have a few ideas as to why I’m getting the national spotlight. I’ll break it into a few bullet points, for those who may only know me from local blogging or home sales.

• In 2007, together with Frances Flynn Thorsen, I won the Project Blogger contest (sponsored by Inman and Active Rain) and have been a leader in blogging and web marketing circles ever since.
• In 2011 I was named “the best real estate agent in Silicon Valley” by the San Jose Mercury News. (Many of my clients now come to me from my blogs.)
• Speaking & training: In addition to residential real estate sales in the San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga and greater Silicon Valley area (Santa Clara County and nearby), I do speak at real estate meetings, trainings and classes on blogging, social media, real estate and related topics; to keep it short, I’ll post a link rather than list my involvement:
  Read more about my speaking & training on my Valley of Hearts Delight website.
• While blogging is the most important part of social media for me, I am engaged on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedn, YouTube and other venues too. Through these, I have a pretty good reach or impact on the web.  This is good for my realty business generally but also good for the owners of homes I list, as they get fantastic exposure when listed for sale with me.
• I don’t just have one website or one blog, but rather a network of them.  I may be a little crazy for embracing blogging to this extent (yes, it is time consuming), but I  hear time and again how much the info I put out there is helping people, both consumers and other real estate licensees alike (and not just folks buying & selling homes).  I’ve had agents at Sereno Group thank me for blogging, saying that it raises the bar in the industry, makes the company look good, and in one case, by association, apparently I helped a colleague to gain a listing (he told me that I make him look good because it shows the strength of our firm).  That’s a positive influence too.
• When I train, speak to or blog for a real estate agent audience, I try to provide helpful tips and encourage authenticity and transparency and to skip the games, the slick closing techniques or any smoke & mirrors. In other words, I really do try to raise the bar on our standard of practice.   I can be outspoken on what I believe is right or wrong with either the way the business is worked or, perhaps more of interest at the moment, the way social media is being employed to help agents to run their business. Sometimes I hold positions that aren’t popular but I hope that at a minimum, it helps agents to reconsider putting their values into action for the betterment of consumers as well as the real estate community.

Who, then, is a big real estate influencer?  I suspect that everyone on this highly esteemed list really is one.  Heads of brokerages directly impact how those companies work, their standards and requirements, how they hire and train and so on.  Real estate coaches (and there were several of them on this collection of super stars) directly impact their clients – agents and brokers – and help them to improve the way they work, suggest how those individuals can best use their time, etc.  I could go through the list and indicate why each category matters.

Only about a dozen of us on the list are simply Realtors, in the trenches, selling and networking and changing to meet the changing demands of the industry.   My hat is off to each person named, whether a real estate agent, vendor, CEO, manager coach or any other category.  And there are many other great people who weren’t there in writing who also deserve kudos as well.  I think it’s fair to say that everyone listed this year or in recent years past has been a highly influential force in the real estate landscape today.  We can’t vote for them all.  I do hope that you will vote for me!

Many of us cheered to hear that some of the large banks (who have not been wonderful to deal with regarding loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures or bank owned property sales) were getting sued by federal regulators for various types of malfeasance.

Most recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, filed a lawsuit against 17 major banks, including Bank of America, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, and several others (see a complete list here).

So how does this impact you, the Silicon Valley real estate home buyer or seller?

Imagine you’re on the board of any of these institutions.  What do you do to protect your shareholders when something like this happens?  Perhaps first of all, you make sure that whatever you’re accused of doing cannot happen in the future.  You hand down new policies and get them implemented immediately.  No exceptions.

Some of my buyers got caught in this situation, without warning, when their lender informed us that there will be a week-long delay in closing due to new procedures which are mandatory for every file, bar none.  Our loan contingency was removed awhile ago (with the lender’s assurance that all was fine).  We will still close escrow, but late.  This never makes anyone happy.

Right now, if you are trying to buy a house and will be relying on lender financing, I suggest you find out if your bank or lender is involved in a big lawsuit and if so, how this may be impacting real estate purchase contract deadlines.  Most lenders do need 17 days to get you fully approved if you go into the escrow pre-approved (with a real pre-approval, not a pre-qualification only) and 30 days to close the sale.  But if your lending institution is in a messy legal battle, it could take longer, and it could be a surprise.  In escrow, no one likes surprises, especially if they cause any sort of default.

This situation will probably benefit the credit unions and banks which did not misstep with the subprime loans.  Got a great bank that performs fast and is free of legal battles? Please share it here!

Are you thinking of selling your Cambrian Park home? If you live in San Jose’s Cambrian neighborhood (primarily zip codes 95124 and 95118), I have a resource for you: a page I created with TONS of information and links specifically for Cambrian home sellers. 

The page is Cambrian Home Sale (www.CambrianHomeSale.com). There you’ll find:

• current Cambrian real estate market activity
• Cambrian homes for sale
• recent sales of homes in Cambrian Park
• information on finding out your home’s current market value
• Cambrian real estate market trends & statistics
• FAQs by Cambrian home sellers
• links to relevant posts on the Cambrian market
• downloadable (pdf) pre-listing packet
• and tons more!

Please visit Cambrian Home Sale for loads of helpful information specifically provided for Cambrian Park home sellers.

You keep reading that it’s a “seller’s market” in Silicon Valley real estate.  You hear about multiple offers and home prices getting pushed up.  There are tax credits which cause buyers to fight to buy homes.

Should you jump in as a San Jose area seller now? 

Maybe, but if you do it, do it right!  The dirty little secret that no one talks about is that most Santa Clara County homes for sale are not selling.  They sit on the market, popping up on MLS searches for month after month.

There are quite a few common myths that home owners believe about selling their property. Believe these, and act accordingly, and your chances of selling are dramatically damaged:

• my price is high, but buyers can always “make an offer”
• it’s a seller’s market, my home does not have to be perfect
• if I fix up the home to sell, the buyer may not like the changes
• it was like this when I bought it, so I don’t have to improve it now
• I have lived with (fill in the blank) forever, there’s nothing wrong with it

Getting the staging and pricing right matter tremendously.  Today let’s just focus on staging.

Buyers often spend everything they have to get into a new home, and usually they can’t afford to improve it once they move it.  So the first thing to understand, if you are selling your home in Los Gatos, Saratoga or San Jose, is that your home needs to look “turnkey”.  This is what 90% of the buyers need.  If your home isn’t move-in ready, you will automatically eliminate most of your home buying audience!

Let’s look at some photos to drive the point home.  I won’t say where these were taken, only that it’s a Santa Clara County home for sale right now.

When buyers and their Realtors first arrive at your home, they get a first impression of what kind of shape your house is in.  What does the landscaping say? What does the driveway say?

This driveway has a lot of cracks.  Buyers view it as money they’ll have to spend to make it look right.  Real estate agents know that this is a “red flag” that the foundation may also be damaged and cracked.   Either first experience of your home is not positive.  If they’re doing a drive by, they may or may not come back to see what’s inside.  Usually a cracked driveway alone won’t kill showings, but if the rest of the front of the home is bad, that may be enough to stop traffic.  If they don’t see your home, they won’t buy your home – so getting good, qualified traffic is top priority.

The next impression isn’t better.  Here are the windows which also face the street on the same home. Are they dirty?  Has the seal on the dual pane windows failed?  No matter what – it’s a horrible “first impression”. 

Sure enough, when I went inside, it was consistent: the inside what just as bad as the outside.  The kitchen was “beat up” looking.  It had been cheaply remodeled and was treated badly by its owners.  Whoever buys this house probably will have to gut and replace the current kitchen. Below is a large, closeup of a kitchen drawer that exemplifies what’s seen in the home. 

What to do?  A seller could have refaced the cabinets (and replaced the countertop with an attractive formica or Corian countertop) to clean it up.  Few buyers worry about the inside of the cabinets – it’s the outside that they care about.

The back yard is the least important of all the areas to worry about, since buyers are braver about tackling a part of the property that isn’t visible to the world and that they can avoid going through for awhile if needed.  Even so, it’s best to at least cut down the tall weeds!

Most homes are not this bad, of course, and it doesn’t take nearly so much effort or money to really get a home in shape to sell.

Are there any general “rules of thumb” for preparing your home to sell? Yes! The vast majority of times, these items are needed to be done to maximize your home selling price:

1. Decutter – often we live with too much stuff in our homes, in our garages, in our bookshelves, closets and cabinets.  How much? Usually, to sell, about 1/3 of everything must go!  (Donate it, sell it, store it, but get it out of the home!)
2. Repair – if your door sticks, your bathroom fan’s too noisy, your faucet drips, get them fixed.  Small annoyances add up to a bad impression.
3. Clean – this is no time for dirt, rust, streaks or mildew!
4. Make it light – trim back bushes that grow in front of windows, pull back curtains (or perhaps eliminate them), add lights to dark rooms. Whatever the need is, make sure it’s handled so your home is light. Dark homes are a turnoff to buyers.  They often cannot imagine what it will take to lighten up the house.
5. Focus on an inviting front of the home, add color, make the pathways clear of hoses, debris, etc.   Declutter.  Add colorful annuals near the front door.  Make sure your front door is impeccably clean (it may need refinishing, repainting or replacing). 

I co-authored a book, “Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley“, and would be happy to give you a copy of it when we meet to discuss selling your home (no obligation).  Or you can find it online or in local bookstores.  The book contains many more ways to get top dollar when you sell your Silicon Valley house or condo.  Please email or call me today to discuss selling your home in Los Gatos, San Jose, or Saratoga.

The Campbell real estate market appears to be “past the bottom”, as is the case with much of the Silicon Valley housing market. In some parts of San Jose, “the bottom” was in February or March of this year.  Campbell may have hit that point sooner – but in any event it is now heading back toward a balanced market (30 is the balance point for this formula). (Images and charts from Altos Research, to which I have a subscription and permission to use these, as well as the RE Report, another subscription service of mine. Altos uses list prices, the RE Report uses sold data as well as list prices.)

Let’s look at the data for October in Campbell – actives, pendings, and closeds (care of the RE Report).

While in many parts of the greater San Jose area the Days on Market (DOM) are lengthening, they are shortening in Campbell! Sales are up, but prices are still declining a bit (in several areas of Santa Clara County, prices are again inching up – this tends to happen in less expensive areas).  Pending sales are up and inventory is down.  So there are some mixed indicators but Campbell appears to be at or near “the bottom”.

The real estate market in Campbell, like in all of Santa Clara County, varies from one price point (and specific location) to the next. Have a look at the recent numbers, broken down into quartile:

Please note in the above image what a big difference there is between the top quartile and the other three price points.  Interestingly, the “hottest” market of the three is the second from the top – a good sized (but not too small) home of about 1800 square feet is the part of the housing market most likely to sell in Campbell right now.  Here are those “days on market” numbers in a graph, blended into rolling averages (7 and 90 days).

Curious that the four quartiles were behaving fairly similarly in terms of the days on market (DOM) until 2009.

What about home values? It looks as though, from the following graph, list prices hit bottom and coasted there for a bit earlier this year prior to having a bit of a rally – and then fell again recently. This could be due to the time of year – or not. We’ll really only know when we get through the winter and look backwards to see where we’ve been. “Hindsight is 20/20″ applies here, too.

Now I’ll insert some “live” charts that will stay current even into the future.

If we look at the median  list price of Campbell, CA, single family homes for sale, with all prices combined (not separated by quartile), it really looks rather bleak:

Separate it out by price quartile, and it’s less alarming (if no less true):

Let’s view them individually, then. First, the most affordable, entry level houses for sales in Campbell, California:

These (above) took a big hit, but then “skated along the bottom” for awhile.

The lower middle quartile has had a less pleasant ride:

The upper middle’s list prices have fallen more constantly – no respite, no plateau, anytime recently:

And the most expensive Campbell homes for sale experienced a good rally in summer before falling again.

A longer view of history, extending back to 2005, shows us that the top tier of homes for sale in Cambpell tends to have the most erratic path – the least predictable, the most tumultuous.

If you are a Campbell homeowner, take heart – many of the indicators point to this being close to the bottom of the market.  If you are a home buyer, interested in purchasing a house in Campbell, now is a fantastic opportunity. Prices have “rolled back” about six years in many segments of this market.

For more information, please visit the Campbell pages on my RE Report for single family homes and also for condos and townhomes.  Or contact me for a confidential, no-obligation consulation on your real estate wants and needs here in Silicon Valley.

CC & Rs are “Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions“  (sometimes “Covenants, Codes & Restrictions).  They are a set of rules drawn up for a neighborhood or subdivision by the builder or by a board comprised of the builder and a few others who want to set the neighborhood standards to keep property values up.

The C, C & Rs  are put in place, usually for a set number of years such as for 30 or 35 years, and most of the homes in Silicon Valley do have CC & Rs and most of them are now expired.   It’s always for a finite period of time, though usually extendable if the neighbors vote it in again (which I have never seen done), but sometimes gauged by something perhaps not so predictible.  The weirdest time line I ever saw referenced something like “until the death of the last living great grandchild of…” and it mentioned one of the Kennedys. Odd, but apparently legit.

What are the CC & Rs about?

Here’s a peek at part of one -

Usually the CC & Rs dictate the minimum size of a home (e.g., the home must be at least “X” number of square feet)  that may be built in the subdivision, the setbacks (homes must be so many feet from the street and property lines), what kind of signage may appear (only for sale and for rent signs, for instance), and normally there’s a restriction on farm animals so that people may not raise goats, sheep, chickens and so on in their backyards or breed animals professionally.

Many years ago, some C, C & Rs also had restrictions on who might buy or live in a neighborhood (racial, religious and other restrictions).  This is illegal today, of course, and so the first page of any C C and R document you see now will have a large disclaimer stating that any fair housing violations are illegal and are null & void. Since the C C & Rs “run with the property”, they supposedly cannot be amended (though I have never been convinced that they couldn’t be – just that the government chooses to require the disclaimer instead).

Do the C C & Rs matter?

For the most part, they are irrelevant because in most of Santa Clara County, they have long since expired.

They can be a little helpful, though, as sometimes the setbacks (which may still be enforceable) may be stated more clearly than in the preliminary title report or elsewhere.

Often, too, they hide some historically interesting tidbits. Today I read the C C & Rs for a Leep built home (a very good builder of tract housing in the Santa Clara Valley) in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose.  I know that there’s an area of Campbell (that has a Los Gatos mailing address) with Leep homes;  one street in this area near the Saratoga and Los Gatos border is named Elwood and another Bearden. Today I learned that there were two builders of these homes, Elwood J. Leep and Leonard Bearden, Sr. So that was a fun tidbit – I have sold many “Leep homes” over the years, have known them to be well built but never had the builders’ first names before.

To summarize, in most cases, the C C & Rs won’t provide you with a lot of helpful information, but do try to obtain them anyway when buying a home in Santa Clara County. There may be information that is interesting, if not necessarily useful – and you never know, there may be a tidbit of helpful information buried in there along with the strange admonitions that homes not cost less than $10,000 when sold. That’s the least of our worries today!

Homes in Saratoga, especially in the Saratoga or Cupertino schools areas and in the lowest price ranges, are selling at an improved clip from a year ago. 

Below please find charts indicating the overall residential real estate trends for houses on the market and sold over the last year in Saratoga, California.   Of course the “market heat” will vary from home to home and area to area due to neighborhoood quality, price point, newness of construction and condition of home, school district (especially), and acreage, among other things.  So these general comments may not apply to your unique house, but will be a good indicator of the housing market in Saratoga generally.

First, supply and demand in Saratoga over the last year.  The number of Saratoga homes on the market is up 31% year over year and the number of sold properties is up 72%.  The trend line indicates a rise in both homes on the market and those sold.  June’s inventory was a bit smaller than May’s. Will inventory continue to contract? If so, it will put pressure on home buyers because prices may begin to rise as the inventory gets better absorbed.

Please note that while the market is improving very noticeably, there are still far more homes on the market than are actually selling. Sellers, take heart that it’s improving but do not believe that the selling conditions are so changed that your home doesn’t need to be priced aggressively and staged nicely to get sold. (Even in a hot sellers market, some homes never do sell because of price and condition, primarily.)

Months Supply of Inventory (absorption rate) in Saratoga for single family homes (houses) has been declining and is down 26.2% from a year ago at this same time.

Finally, a look  at homes between one and two million dollars in Saratoga (for sale, pending and sold).  I wanted an overview of what the market is like in this fairly hot segment of the market. 

This chart is helpful as it indicates price reductions and “days on market” as well as the current or sold prices. The clusters reveal that most homes that sell are selling pretty fast.  Very few homes languish on the market more than 6 months before they are sold, removed from the market, or repriced dramatically enough to get a new MLS number and position in the market.

Homeowners: it is a better time to sell now than it’s been in recent history, and the market is moving into your favor (esp in the lowest price ranges). To maximize your home’s value when selling, it needs to be postioned to sell fast while buyers have the most interest in it.   Buyers, the “shiney pennies” are being bought fairly quickly so if you see a good home in a good area with a good price, don’t wait too long to act.  If you can buy a solid home with “good bones” that needs a little work, you’ll have far less competition then if you buy the turnkey home that everyone wants.

If you are interested in selling or buying a home in Saratoga, or anywhere in the west valley communities of Silicon Valley, please contact me for more market information that is relevant to your homebuying or homeselling needs. I would be happy to meet with you personally and discuss your needs and the current climate for buying and selling.

Sale Pending!  Under Contract in 24 Days!

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16125 Francesca Court, Monte Sereno, CA        MLS # 80901346

Offered at $1,865,000

Wonderfully updated home – exquisite blend of traditional/Victorian with contemporary and open style!

4 bed, 3.5 baths (3 bed, 2.5 bath home plus studio apt with full kitchen and full bath) 

Quality craftsmanship in this custom-built home throughout!  Fine features such as hardwood floors, leaded glass windows, tall & classic baseboard, equisite crown moulding, many built-in bookshelves and cabints, and much more!

The kitchen alone is a masterpiece with a huge island, Thermador, Bosch and Sub-Zero appliances, Kohler sinks, cherry cabinets, and slab granite countertops. But that’s not all! The kitchen also includes a bay window, hardwood floors, recessed lights, a lazy Susan, some pullouts, and hardwood floors.

Light dapples through prisms in the leaded, beveled glass in the entryway and Master Bedroom. It is both elegant and understated, refined and warm! The effect, particularly in the master bedroom, is simply breathtaking!

More Information on this Classic Monte Sereno Home

LINKS

1. Virtual Tour Link: http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=474389
2. Map Link: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=16125+Francesca+Court%2C+Monte+Sereno%2C+Ca”>Map to 16125 Francesca Court, Monte Sereno
3. Link to More Photos of 16125 Francesca Court

SCHOOLS
Highly regarded Los Gatos Schools

OPEN HOUSE
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Sat  Jan 24  1:30 – 4:00   &   Sun Jan 25  1:30 – 4:00

For more information, please see www.16125FrancescaCourt.com