Located on a beautiful street in west Los Gatos, 247 Prince Street is a tastefully remodeled home which is sure to please, inside and out.  The front and back yards have been landscaped like something out of a designer magazine!  Inside will not disappoint!  With remodeled kitchen and baths, dual pane windows and plantation shutters, fans, hardwood floors, air conditioning and so much more, this is not just a house but a very comfortable home.

I invite you to have a look at the slideshow introduction, below.  If you are interested, read more with the MLS information on this lovely home posted below it. (The MLS information will be removed once the house is under contract with no contingencies.)   Silicon Valley home buyers, call your Realtor to set up a private showing! (No open houses planned.) Pre-approved buyers only, please.

247 Prince Street, Los Gatos, CA

For more information, please continue reading the MLS information, below!

247 Prince St, Los Gatos, CA 95032 (MLS # 81219289)

View Virtual Tour

Fabulously remodeled home & yard on beautiful street! Kitchen with maple & granite, Viking range & oven, GE Profile fridge. Entire house features dual pane windows, plantation shutters & hardwood floors (except baths).Central A/C. Gorgeous baths! Yard are extensively remodeled & upgraded with incredible hardscape: fire pit, built in seating, water fountain, more. Beautiful driveway & landscaping!

Property Type(s): Residential, Detached Single Family

Last Updated	5/22/2012	Tract	n/a
Year Built	1961	Community	Los Gatos/Monte Sereno
Garage Spaces	n/a	County	n/a
Total Parking	n/a	Walk Score ®	42

Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Listing provided by Mary Pope-Handy, Sereno Group

(view all details for MLS #81219289)

How is the Monte Sereno real estate market? Because the city is small, with just about 4000 residents, there usually are few homes listed for sale or selling, and with small numbers we can get seeming volatility.  Here are the quick statistics for the closed sales in the last 4-7 weeks to give a sense of how things are going. Sales data for April comes from my Monte Sereno Real Estate Report  and data for the last 30 days comes from me via the MLS (I crunched them this morning).

Median sales price of houses sold in Monte Sereno in April was $1,415,000.  For the last 30 days, it was $2,169,857.

Average Days on Market of houses sold in April was 97.  But for the last 30 days, it’s 78.

The sales price to list price ratio in April was 95%.  The last 30 days it’s up to 97%.

The market is better all around for home sales in Monte Sereno than it was just a couple of months ago. Next, let’s look at the live charts from Altos to see how active listings reflect the market as seen from viewing the solds.

Live Altos Charts for the Monte Sereno Real Estate Market

The median list price of all homes listed on the MLS in Monte Sereno and in San Jose – an interesting comparison!  San Jose has far fewer dips and jumps than Monte Sereno….Good improvement showing recently, though.

Pricing in Monte Sereno, California, by price quartile – the high end took a nose dive on its list pricing for a few months, but now is in recovery too!

Average days on market in Monte Sereno, CA, by price point Interesting that the most expensive homes are not the hardest to sell:

Inventory for all Monte Sereno listings over the last few years (back to 2005) – quite a jump in homes on the market in 2010 compared to normal for this small city:

About Monte Sereno, CA

Monte Sereno is a lscenic, upscale residential community of about 4000 people. It’s located adjacent to the town of Los Gatos and the city of Saratoga, California. There are no businesses in Monte Sereno – just Daves Avenue School, homes, the post office, and the city office building along Highway 9.  It is semi-rural. Some folks mistakenly think that whatever is happening in Los Gatos with the housing market is also reflective of the Monte Sereno real estate market. They are sometimes quite different, particularly as prices are higher in Monte Sereno and about 1/3 of Los Gatos is served by the Campbell or Union School Districts (while only a tiny sliver of MS is in those districts). A couple of years ago, I listed and sold a lovely home on in this city.  You can check out the information on my popehandy.com website (link above).

More info on this city: Official Monte Sereno city website Wikipedia article on Monte Sereno

Monte Sereno Real Estate

With very few exceptions, Monte Sereno consists of houses and estates or luxury homes (there are a few townhouses). Most lots are larger, usually at least a quarter acre lot.  One neighborhood enjoys a shared stable and horseback riding trails (those homes are on about 1/2 acre lots). As of this writing, properties currently available (listed on our MLS) range from about $1,300,000 to more than $5,000,000.  This can vary tremendously.  A move-in ready house will not likely be found in Monte Sereno for less than one million dollars.  (Last year a fixer on a busy road did sell for $750,000, though.) It is not uncommon to spend upwards of $1.5 million in home buying there.

Find Homes for Sale in Monte Sereno, California

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 9. See more city of Monte Sereno real estate.
(all data current as of 5/24/2012)

1. $3,999,999 : 18090 Daves Av, Monte Sereno
   
   6 beds, 6 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 7,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 43,560 sqft
   
2. $2,295,000 : 15630 Michael Ln, Monte Sereno
   
   5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 3,924 sq ft

   Lot size: 9,583 sqft
   
3. $1,599,950 : 16172 Rose Av, Monte Sereno
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 2,212 sq ft

   Lot size: 17,327 sqft
   
4. $1,799,950 : 16215 Rose Av, Monte Sereno
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 3,508 sq ft

   Lot size: 9,147 sqft
   
5. $4,500,000 : 16036 Greenwood Rd, Monte Sereno
   
   7 beds, 7 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 7,336 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.17 ac
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Please stop by a Sereno Group office in Los Gatos, Los Altos or Santa Cruz to take part in a FREE e-waste, e-recycling
collection event on   Sunday April 22    9:30AM- 3:30- PM.

Metech Recycling has an incredible 95% success rate with getting these items securely recycled for manufacture!

Items accepted:
Monitors/TVs
Computers/Laptops
Cell phones/Telecom Equipment
Wire/Cable/PC Boards/Scrap Metal
Video tapes
Mice/Keyboards
Printers/Fax/Copy Machines
Stereo Equipment, Speakers
DVD/CD/MP3 Players
Microwave Ovens

Please, No Household Appliances:
Vacuum Cleaners, Toasters, Ovens, Etc.
Also no lights of any kind, no batteries

Where to go to drop off the approved items?

Los Gatos/Saratoga
214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd.
Los Gatos 408-335-1400

Los Altos/Palo Alto
369 S. San Antonio Rd.
Los Altos 650-947-2900

Santa Cruz
2407 Porter St. #150
Soquel 831-460-1100

Service Provided by
GreenMouse, Inc. a CA State Approved Col lector , CEW ID# 103153
442 Reynolds Ci rcle, San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 464-9999
www.greenmouse.com

How common are “all cash” transactions for Silicon Valley real estate right now?  Throughout Santa Clara County, they were 25% of all sales, up from 20% in October 2011,  among houses, duet homes, condominiums and townhouses (class 1 and class 2, does not include mobile homes, 2-4plex or apartment buildings or raw land).   What’s trending? Lots, including more cash offers.

Some areas and some types of sales are more frequently all cash than others.  Here are a few quick stats for the last month (last 30 days from today – numbers from MLSListings, crunched by me – disclaimer on good intentions but no guarantee). Also, please note that this is for CLOSED SALES. As of this writing, we are seeing a huge uptick in multiple offers in all price ranges in many parts of the valley, and it seems that many are all cash or very large cash downpayments.

• Santa Clara County: 25% all cash
• San Jose (entire city): 27% all cash
• San Jose short sales: 27% all cash (down from 33% in Oct 2011)
• San Jose bank owned or REO sales: 39% all cash (38% Oct 2011)
• Short sales & REOs were 52% of all sales in San Jose in last 30 days (was 48% Oct 2011)
• Of SJ homes listed at $300,000 or less: 44% all cash (was 48% Oct 2011)
• Of SJ homes listed at/under $500,000: 33% were all cash (didn’t track in October 2011)
• Los Gatos: 9% all cash
• Saratoga: 8% all cash
• Almaden Valley area of San Jose: 10% all cash

Some of these sales will have no financing and the new owners will occupy the home.  Particularly in lower priced homes, though, these are investor buyers who will be renting out the property.  This is often the case with the lower price distressed properties in particular.  In higher priced homes, some new owners will put financing on the property after close of escrow.

With the crazy new demands that keep coming at us from banks and new requirements being imposed on appraisers, now more than ever, cash is king.  That doesn’t mean that the cash buyer will get a deep discount, but there will be a slight one in most cases and certainly preferential treatment that will create a great advantage in multiple offer situations.

Learn more about buying and selling Silicon Valley real estate with cash offers:

Cash offers: what do you need to know if buying “all cash”?

Q & A: Making an Offer

What’s My Silicon Valley Home Worth? Estimating the Probable Buyer’s Value  (financing impacts market value)

Today we’ll have a look at the most recent closed residential realty sales numbers and then also view “live charts” which are updated weekly for Los Gatos real estate.  This segment of Silicon Valley real estate can be viewed from many angles: zip code, school district, sale type, view or no view, acreage, luxury home or basic home type…. This post will serve as a brief overview only. For information on YOUR Los Gatos subdivision or neighborhood, please contact me!

February 2012 sales numbers for Los Gatos real estate are in via my Real Estate Report.  Have a look:

(1) Houses and Duet Homes

Prices are going way, way up!  And yet the market is cooler – more homes are on the market, the list price to sales price ratio shrank a little.  The rest of the west valley areas are seeing multiple offers, overbids and rising prices – and we are hearing of them here, also.  That may not be reflected in the stats for another 30 days or so.

(2) Condos and Townhouses

More skyrocketing prices!  The LG condo market has been very challenged – but now there seems to be a great turnaround. Have a look at the chart below!

Next we’ll have a quick look at the town by zip code and will use Altos Research charts and graphs (using list prices, not sold ones) to get a pulse on the market.  Disclaimers aside, here’s the broad overview by zip code – hope you find this helpful!  I will be using “live charts” here so they will always be current!

95030 stats:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in LOS GATOS, CA95030 as of May 18, 2012
Median List Price:	$1,963,038	Average List Price:	$2,754,730
Total Inventory:	45	Price per Square Foot:	$734
Average Home Size:	2,812	Median Lot Size:	33,335
Average # Beds:	3.74	Average # Baths:	3.29
Homes Absorbed:	3	Newly Listed:	3
Days on Market:	205	Average Age:	50

Continue via link for more information on Los Gatos real estate trends and statistics.

95032 residential real estate statistics:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in LOS GATOS, CA95032 as of May 18, 2012
Median List Price:	$1,335,885	Average List Price:	$1,892,544
Total Inventory:	66	Price per Square Foot:	$618
Average Home Size:	2,180	Median Lot Size:	10,517
Average # Beds:	3.83	Average # Baths:	3.12
Homes Absorbed:	7	Newly Listed:	7
Days on Market:	109	Average Age:	47

And a look at Los Gatos “in town” as a whole:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in LOS GATOS, CA as of May 18, 2012
Median List Price:	$1,301,496	Average List Price:	$1,828,065
Total Inventory:	184	Price per Square Foot:	$554
Average Home Size:	2,405	Median Lot Size:	26,674
Average # Beds:	3.67	Average # Baths:	3.01
Homes Absorbed:	13	Newly Listed:	15
Days on Market:	149	Average Age:	45

 

95033 (Los Gatos Mountains) real estate info:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in LOS GATOS, CA95033 as of May 18, 2012
Median List Price:	$803,585	Average List Price:	$1,207,157
Total Inventory:	73	Price per Square Foot:	$364
Average Home Size:	2,344	Median Lot Size:	110,877
Average # Beds:	3.49	Average # Baths:	2.75
Homes Absorbed:	4	Newly Listed:	5
Days on Market:	153	Average Age:	39

 

Monte Sereno shares many services with LG so I will share these stats also:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in MONTE SERENO, CA95030 as of May 18, 2012
Median List Price:	$2,447,077	Average List Price:	$2,648,285
Total Inventory:	18	Price per Square Foot:	$688
Average Home Size:	3,429	Median Lot Size:	37,139
Average # Beds:	4.16	Average # Baths:	3.64
Homes Absorbed:	2	Newly Listed:	2
Days on Market:	171	Average Age:	40

Los Gatos is a very complex real estate market because there are so many variables, including:

• proximity to downtown (“walk to town” always a huge plus)
• school district (“Los Gatos Schools” usually strongly preferred)
• historic nature of homes & neighborhoods
• slope and usability of the land
• views
• neighborhood amenities (cabana, nearby park, walkability)
• access to popular venues and locations (parks, shopping, schools)
• negative features such as busy roads, high voltage lines, being too close to freeways/trains, natural hazards such as earthquake faults etc.
• type of sale (distressed or regular sale)

Often homes in Los Gatos will have some positive and some negative features, and the same goes for the location.

The annual market report is out at popehandy.REReport.com and we can now learn how 2011 compared to 2010.  The median sales price for houses in Santa Clara County was off 5.3% overall.  But from one part of the valley to the next it varied wildly with 6 cities or areas finding themselves in positive territory while others were off by double digits.

In the image to the left, I’ve put into bold the cities where the median sales price of houses which sold and closed escrow in 2011 were ahead of 2010′s pricing.

What is it that makes Gilroy, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Mountain View and Palo Alto “in the black”?

Most of these cities/towns are upscale, west valley communities.  But so are Saratoga, Cupertino, and Monte Sereno.

Gilroy was especially hard-hit with the housing downturn so perhaps in that case, it’s just coming back into more of a balance. (Then again, so was Morgan Hill and it’s still off by 12%.)

The LinkedIn IPO and others in the Palo Alto area drove prices up for some parts of the housing market nearby and it’s likely that this explains the positive growth for Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos Hills.  That said, it would seem that Los Altos, and perhaps even Sunnyvale would have seen stronger numbers on the same account.  Perhaps school scores are the key driver here.

Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno often behave somewhat similarly as they are adjacent to one another and often attract similar home buyers who want good schools, a nice downtown area nearby and scenic beauty with the hills.  The annual numbers show Monte Sereno down 6.7%, Saratoga down 2% but Los Gatos up 6.4%.  With Monte Sereno, there are very few sales each month and each year (only about 4,000 residents), so there can be a wider swing without it necessarily being accurate. Saratoga and Los Gatos each have about 30,000 people who call these areas home, though, so the data is much more helpful.  Saratoga and Los Gatos both have multiple school districts, views, homes with better proximity to “downtown” and more variables – I think we’d have to dig a lot deeper to learn why these two neighboring markets are so diverse.  We might also have to look at multiple years of data to see if Saratoga spiked while LG slumped to explain the difference.

Coming in at last place: the Santa Cruz Mountains or Los Gatos Mountains area (zip code 95033), where the median list price of houses sold slipped 17% from the year before.  This beautifully scenic region covers a lot of territory and several quite different neighborhoods, some more convenient and others more remote.  It often takes much longer to sell a home in the mountains than on the valley floor but it can be a great “bang for your buck” for great schools, clean area, less crowding, etc.  The remoteness of some homes, the increased rain and other challenges generally make this part of the valley a more challenging real estate market most of the time, and in a down market that’s even more true.

Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos each have regions which can be tracked in addition to the cities as a whole. If you’d like to see these numbers, please visit http://popehandy.rereport.com and then click on Yearly, then select the city, then the neighborhood and you can see how Baron Park or other areas are faring in particular (also for their monthly or quartly reports).

Areas within San Jose, like PA, MV and LA, can be tracked. Since I am very active in several of them (Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen, Blossom Valley and others on the west side), I want to share those next.

The median sales price of houses which sold & closed in 2011 in the City of San Jose was down 5.9%, lower than the county as a whole.  Most of San Jose was worse off than the prior year – all except Alviso!

Alviso, which was a separate town until not so long ago, sold with a double digit increase in the median sales price – a whopping 10.6% higher than in 2010.  Affordability and investor activity are most likely the cause – more demand and less inventory than the year before. (I suspect either fewer distressed properties or that they were gobbled up quickly. Knowing would require more research.)

Downtown or central San Jose took a beating with the median sales price down 9.6%.  Why did it fall from grace?  Not everything in this area is affordable – consider that it includes Naglee Park, The Rosegarden, and a few other tony areas. I suspect it’s the number of foreclosures (REOs) and short sales but I don’t have that information at hand.  It would require a much closer look that our brief survey here to uncover what’s happening.  (We know that there are many unsold, new condos in downtown San Jose but those should not be impacting the sales of single family homes.)

In future articles or posts I hope to look at a few of these areas more carefully to see what is causing the great diversity between the areas showing improvement over 2010 such as Alviso, Palo Alto, Gilroy, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos and Mountain View versus those which are really hurting: downtown San Jose, the Los Gatos Mountains, Evergreen, Morgan Hill, Milpitas.  Very likely it’s a combination of the distressed market activity in some areas, school scores, the pricing tier (i.e., homes between 1 and 2 million near Palo Alto) and more factors.  With real estate, it’s always local – and that’s just the starting point.

Recently I was speaking with a neighbor of mine in Los Gatos who’s a high powered lender with decades of experience all over Santa Clara County.  In the last year or two she’s been doing many more FHA backed loans, rather than conventional ones, as smart home buyers, especially first time home buyers, try to get into a house while both home prices and interest rates are at record lows.  This makes a lot of sense as it can take a long time to save 20% or more and in that time, both interest rates and real estate prices in Silicon Valley could go through the roof.  (If my kids were out of college and working, I’d be encouraging them to buy a home using FHA backed financing too.)

FHA backed mortgages do require a lot more work, though, so I extended my sympathy that she’s having to jump through so many hoops and that they are for much smaller sales prices (many areas of San Jose have dropped 35 – 40% since the market collapse).  Mortgage brokers often make about 1% of the value of the loan as their compensation, so I imagined this great loan officer spending twice as much time with FHA paperwork as on a normal loan, on a smaller priced property, resulting in “half the pay for twice the work”.

Apparently that’s not the case with FHA loans!

“It’s better for me when the buyer uses FHA”, she assured me.  Really?  “Instead of getting 1 point, we are often paid 2.5 points when we close an FHA loan.”   That didn’t seem unfair to me since there’s a lot more paperwork involved.  But consumers probably don’t realize that their banker or mortgage broker will be paid much more if the loan is FHA backed rather than conventional.

If you have saved enough money for a conventional loan product but your lender is pushing FHA, be doubly careful before deciding what to do. There are pros and cons to each loan product you buy (you are “buying” or “paying for” a loan).  Make sure that you aren’t getting FHA financing only because it is more profitable for your lender.

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!

Today we’re looking at the real estate market for houses in some of the “west valley” communities along the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains – areas where schools are good, crime is low, residents enjoy scenic views of the hills (or of the valley from the hills, depending on the location) and overall, a highly educated population not too far from Highway 85.

Of the four municipalities, three are really very similar to each other in several regards.  Cupertino has the largest population – about 58,000 people – but Los Altos, Los Gatos and Saratoga are all similarly sized, somewhere between 27,000 and 30,000 residents.  The latter three also enjoy a traditional “downtown” area which is popular with pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists alike. (Monte Sereno has 4,000 residents, which is so small that the statistics are very easily thrown from month to month, so it is omitted in this quick study.)  Of the four, Cupertino, then, is the least similar due to size and lack of a central downtown area.

We’ll take a quick look at these areas now in terms of the real estate market trends and statistics for each area, considering just “class 1″ (houses and duet homes).  The charts used below are from Altos Research, to which I have a subscription, and they will be automatically updated each week.

(1) Median List Price (per Altos Research):

Los Altos and Saratoga are neck and neck for most expensive areas in which to purchase a house. Over the last year, though, Los Altos has seen a rise in the median list price. There has been a corresponding rise in demand with the success of several local companies in the region (Apple, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook), some of which have gone public and others of which are on the verge of doing so. Los Altos is more convenient to most of these.

Los Gatos, which is a little more affordable than Saratoga and Los Altos, has seen a very noticeable increase in pricing also, while Cupertino’s prices have declined a little.

(1A) Median list price of the bottom quartile of all four:

(1B) And, very interestingly, same data but for the top quartile – the luxury market:

Here we see Los Altos clearly overtaking Saratoga! And also that Cupertino’s pricing is significantly lower than Los Gatos in this tier, and also that it has lost a lot of ground in the second half of 2011. 

(2) Inventory:

The inventory patterns are pretty consistent over the last year across all four cities and the town of LG.

(3) Average days on market:

It is really interesting to see the days on market by city or area. Los Gatos (the furthest from the high tech giants mentioned above) has had the hardest time with home sales, and Cupertino the easiest. Cupertino is not the closest to all of these firms (though its home to Apple, of course), but it is the a very good value for people who are buying homes based on school performance tests. As others have said, if you’re buying for high API scores, Cupertino offers the most “bang for the buck”.

(4) Median MAI – Market Action Index:

What’s hot?  Everything is under 30, which is the cutoff between buyers’ and sellers’ market – all of these are buyers’ markets when the areas are taken as a whole:

But tease it out by price quartile, and we can see that Cupertino was a seller’s market for the most affortable houses for awhile last summer, but it has crashed back into the buyers’ market range again:

And among the most expenses homes or luxury estates, Cupertino has the “best market” but not by a huge margin:

Right now, Los Gatos has the most inventory and is the deepest buyers’ market – making it an excellent time to purchase a home there!  Of course it always depends on the micro market – the exact neighborhood, condition of the home etc. but overall it’s a very favorable time to purchase a house in all four of these areas, but Los Gatos in particular.  Cupertino is a little more affordable and remains a great bargain in the west valley areas of Santa Clara County.  High end housing or luxury homes are the softest market of all – a tough time to sell but a great time to buy.

Interested in buying or selling a home in Silicon Valley’s west side or nearby? Please call or email me and we can discuss your plans & goals – no obligation.  mary (at) popehandy (dot) com or 408 204-7673

What should you look for when buying a luxury home in Silicon Valley? Whether it’s a move-up purchase or a first home, there are a few tips which will be helpful for you to know going into it that will make the whole home buying experience smoother and easier.  We’ll hit on 3 areas: first geography & construction, second hyper local factors that impact market value, and finally qualities or features of the property or house itself.

It’s hard to assign an exact price tag on what constitutes an estate or luxury property, but in and near Silicon Valley, in most regions it’s the $2,000,000 and up price point (it will be less in Morgan Hill, Coyote and Gilroy – and likely more in Hillsborough).

1. Geography and Bay Area Construction: it’s different here!

The first and most important thing to understand is that real estate and housing construction vary from one region of the country (or the world) to the next.  This is true for all types of homes, actually, but perhaps more obvious in the priciest homes. Luxury real estate in Silicon Valley is a little different from similarly expensive homes in other parts of the country due to our climate, soil conditions, and natural hazards, such as earthquakes. What seems mandatory for a high end home (and might be ideal to have elsewhere) could be a problem here, so it’s helpful to literally understand the lay of the land before you get too far along the home buying path. A couple of quick examples:

• A fabulous home in Boston or anywhere in New England may be built of brick.
• Here, a brick house is seldom seen because of earthquakes – we need our houses to move and bricks are not usually too good at that!

I mention these two upfront because well intentioned friends and relatives may want to stress the importance of this or that in a property – and it may simply not apply here. (Please see article: Qualify The Advice You’ll Accept When Buying or Selling a Home in Silicon Valley)  If you are non-native to the San Francisco Bay Area, you may have assumptions about construction or architecture that may not work here. Please just be aware of that possibility.

2. Understand the importance of hyper local factors on the market value of a property

Schools can be a main driver for home values in the luxury market as all other segments.  Home buyers may not know that the town or city boundaries are usually irrelevant to school district boundaries. Here are a few examples:

• In Saratoga  there are 3 high school districts and 4 elementary school districts.  Before buying anywhere in Saratoga, then, you’ll want to know which district is which and where you’re buying.  If you want to utilize private schools, you may be delighted to find that you can buy more house for your money in one area of this lovely city than another.  Or you may want one school area over another for any number of reasons.
• In Los Gatos there are 2 high school districts and 3 elementary school districts.
• In the Almaden Valley area of San Jose, there are 3 high school districts and 3 elementary school districts

Often the lesser public school districts will have a lower lid on pricing than the very top districts or schools, so it’s important, when analyzing the pricing of an estate home, to factor in the weight of the school.

Geography can be surprisingly important.  Sometimes being on one side or the other of a major road or landmark can swing value 3% – even if it’s the same city, same zip code, same schools!  I see this in Los Gatos along both Blossom Hill Road and again at Los Gatos-Almaden Road: people prefer to be closer to the foothills and prices jump noticeably just for being on one side of these roads than the other.

Walkability is key for many Silicon Valley home buyers, though perhaps less so for some luxury buyers since the larger parcels that often come with them preclude much walkability.  Not always, though – in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos and other Bay Area spots like Burlingame or San Mateo, some of the premier homes are not on acre lots but are “in town”.

3. What to look for in the estate property or high end home itself

At this point it’s a little trickier as each home buyer may have different priorities, likes/dislikes and tastes – so these are general guidelines only.

1.  Buy with selling in mind – you may have this property for 2 years, for 20 or more, but if you purchase an expensive home that is just too bizarre for the general consumption, you may be stuck with it when you are ready to sell it.
2. Location, location, location is so overstated that it’s nearly effete, but it bears repeating anyway.  Do you want to buy a $3 million house in a $1 million neighborhood? No, you probably don’t because it will really kill your resale value later.   So too if you buy raw land or a “dozer” – don’t overbuild for the neighborhood.  Try to be mid-range but don’t find yourself in the top 25% for home values in your area.  (NB: in some areas, like Menlo Park, neighborhoods are fairly irregular or non-conforming and you find little houses that need work next to McMansions.  It may not be possible to find conforming neighborhoods.  If you love the area anyway – go for it – but realize the risks.)
3. Quality construction and laoyout or floorplan matter.  Many home buyers care about Feng Shui and the orientation of the home and its elements.  But beyond that there are certain things that most buyers want or don’t want, and if your property violates these “rules” it can be harder to sell later.  Here are a few:
• It’s considered poor to be able to see a toilet from the front door
• The layout is less desirable  to have to go through a room to get to another room or to part of the house (such as going through the family room to get to the bedrooms)
• It is better to have a formal entry than to come straight into a living room, especially in a high end home
• The master bedroom should have its own private en-suite bath (this might seem obvious but you’d be surprised how many expensive houses have 2 bathrooms but neither dedicated to the master bedroom)
• Best to have the master bedroom face the back  yard and not the street
• Better to have more land in back than in the front yard
• If you like to entertain, look for a large kitchen that includes 2 dishwashers, at least 2 regular ovens plus a microwave, a vegetable sink as well as the regular ones, and if possible, also a “butler’s pantry” between the kitchen and formal dining room.
• If the house has 2 stories, look for at least one bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor (and possibly a half bath as well so the guest bath is private)
• The nicest luxury homes may have 2 laundry areas: one on the first floor and one on the main floor, if it’s a 2 story home.
• Most home buyers looking at properties over $1.5 million want to find the master bathroom equipped with a large soaking tub, separate shower, and dual vanities. Jetted tubs are not as popular as a few years back due to concerns over bacteria lingering in the plumbing, so more often the tubs are “soaking” and not “jacuzzi” types.
• The master suite often includes a small wet bar or coffee bar as well as a fireplace, walk in closet(s) and private deck or balcony.  In recent years these rooms have gotten bigger (and sillier – how much time do people spend there?) – a trend I believe will change over time.
• Luxury homes or estates usually have a minimum of a 3 car garage. (I’ve seen properties with as many as 10.)
• For the ultra luxury estates, usually there are guest or servant quarters (and likewise, in 2 story homes, a back staircase too).
• Pools tend to be found among high end homes, but sometimes also tennis courts, game rooms, indoor bowling alleys or other sports outlets (indoor golf driving or rifle shooting ranges too).
• Other rooms: libraries, offices, media rooms, hobby rooms may be included. Sometimes the home office or library may have a full bath nearby – a hint that it can double as a guest room.
• Green building: a growing trend is toward making high end homes eco-friendly or green.  This may include the types of materials used in construction (a percentage recycled or of easily renewable sources), heating & cooling systems that can close off or turn on various parts of the house so it doesn’t all need to be heated or cooled, high levels of insulation to make the home “tight” and not have energy losses. Possibly solar panels to warm the water in the home or pool.
• Years ago there was a lot of focus on wiring for computers in estate properties.  This is still the case but with the advent of wireless for everything, it’s not so critical. However, wiring for TV or movie viewing as well as musical entertainment throughout the home is very common with luxury properties – many owners want to be able to begin watching in one room and seamlessly move to another if so desired.
• In the luxury market it is very common to find security systems which include cameras at various locations.  In the ultra high end houses, there may be “safe rooms” too.

At the end of the day, much of what is included should reflect your values and the way you want to live.  Some luxury homes will have a private bath for every bedroom – but I’ve had clients say “why do I want that? I don’t want to spoil my kids or have more bathrooms to be cleaned”. How do you want to live?

There’s a balancing act between buying the home you want to enjoy and either overspending on a house or area or making a poor choice on an expensive ticket item that could be a great asset instead. It will help a lot to get good, local guidance from a trusted resource who’s got your back.  Looking for that helpful real estate adviser? Give me a call or email me and we can chat at my office, yours, a coffee shop, park, or anywhere convenient.

As an aside…this is the 500th article on this site, the Valley Of Hearts Delight blog or www.SanJoseRealEstateLosGatosHomes.com. ….  Thank you for reading!

 For more reading:

Cracked Foundations, Adobe Clay Soils and Water in Silicon Valley

What To Consider When Buying a Hillside Home in Silicon Valley

Where are Santa Clara County’s Earthquake Faults and Flood Plains?

The Silicon Valley Luxury Home Market (view a list of homes for sale, read more on criteria for location, amenities etc.)

Halloween is almost here and it is time to get creative! Sereno’s in on the spirit too.   Each year, Sereno Group Real Estate offices in the San Jose and Silicon Valley area have a Halloween pumpkin decorating contest for kids.  Winner’s pumpkins (and names of winners if parental permission is received) will be advertised in our local papers after the contest is finished.

Contest Rules:

No Carving

Decorate your own small pumpkin, or pick up a complimentary pumpkin at one of our offices in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Soquel/Santa Cruz, Los Altos, or Palo Alto.

3 age groups: toddler, early elementary, late elementary

All contestants will receive a gift goodie bag

One grand prize per age group, per office, will be awarded

Any carved or punctured pumpkins will be disqualified due to rotting

All entries must be dropped off at your nearest Sereno Group Office by Friday, October 21st at 5pm.  Judging will happen the week of October 24th during our regular real estate marketing meeting.

Where and when can you drop off a pumpkin?  Please find the office locations and hours below.  We are looking forward to seeing some wonderful kids’ creations!

Selling a house or home is usually very challenging and emotional, even under the best of circumstances.  It’s all the worse if the folks on the other side of the transaction – the buyers, their real estate agent or both – are difficult, rude, hot headed, verbally bullying, not performing on time or otherwise making the escrow and sale more upsetting than is necessary.  What can a seller or listing agent do about it? Can the seller cancel the contract and boot the bad guys out?

If there is a seller contingency, it may not be hard to do this at all. (For example: home sale subject to seller finding replacement property – they can just not look!) But that’s rare. Most of the time, only the home buyer has contingencies.

In Silicon Valley, we have 2 different contracts in use – the CAR and PRDS.  Before we can answer the question of how to get rid of nasty buyers or agents, it’s important to know and understand the contractual agreement clearly.  So the first question is “what does the contract say?“  Often the sellers don’t have an easy way to boot obnoxious agents out of contract.  But it may be possible to catch the buyers in a default (that is, not performing) via some subtlety in the contract and that may eventually enable the sellers to cancel the contract.

Both of the purchase agreements used in Santa Clara, San Mateo and nearby counties include a list of rights and responsibilities for both sellers and buyers.  They also include time frames: buyers and sellers must do these certain things within a specified number of days (some are boilerplate and others are written in and variable). So these contractual “technicalities” may be time frames which have been ignored inadvertently.

It’s no slam dunk most of the time, though, to get rid of buyers and their real estate representatives.  Usually it will be necessary to put the other side on notice that they are out of contract and to give them a chance to get back on track.  This official notice that they are at risk of having the sale cancelled is called a “notice to perform“.

At what point can you give a “notice to perform”?  There’s a little debate about this, so before electing to send over that kind of missive it might be good to have your agent check in with his or her manager or broker.  Some agents and sellers, if feeling harassed, may issue one before a deadline is even missed by the other side.  Normally this is taken as hostile – it is – and can seriously worsen the relationship between buyers and sellers without having any practical or helpful impact on the problems. In other words, it’s a bit like waving the red cape.

It’s not fair, having to deal with rude, nasty people who say untrue things, who bully others and seem to be just emotionally playing with the folks on the other side of the transaction.  I know.  Sometimes there’s not much you can do about it in the immediate sense.  But nastiness finds its own punishment, eventually – even if you never see it.

Rude, nasty agents (and agents who encourage or allow their buyers to be that way) risk every future transaction in the area since their colleagues will talk about them – a lot!  There are a few Realtor bullies in the Saratoga and Los Gatos market areas, but who they are is no secret to other real estate professionals in the area.  Agent reputation is so important! When there are multiple offers, the loathed agent and his or her clients will be at a huge disadvantage. So too with some homes that don’t sell – it can be that the agent community is literally boycotting a jerk. In the long run, it doesn’t pay to be obnoxious.  Call it karma, but other agents remember the guy who took advantage of a typo for personal gain, who showed the love of bullying at every turn or who controls to the point of choking out everything and everyone.  So too on the other end of the spectrum – a well liked agent who “plays fair”, communicates and performs without drama or game playing will find doors open that might otherwise be closed.

This is also true of everyone else we deal with too – title companies, inspectors, repair people.  A bad turn will be told to the entire agent community, but so will a good turn or going the extra mile. Reputation eventually is its own reward or punishment.

Got a nasty situation on your hands? One of the best things you can do is to keep a calm head. As a seller, you can say no to unreasonable demands.  If the buyers shoot you an addendum, even if it is reasonable but you want them to back out of the sale, you can say no. You are not obligated to do more than make the home available for inspections, provide your disclosures in a timely manner, keep the house and property up and any other contractual requirements.

Sometimes the listing agent is so frustrated at the inability to protect sellers from rude buyers’ agents or buyers that he or she gets emotional too. This doesn’t help.  If you’re angry or upset, don’t leave a voice mail or shoot over a snarky email.  Let yourself calm down first.  If the other agent is doing it to get a reaction out of you, don’t give him or her the pleasure.  Let calm heads prevail.

Sometimes a  friend will call or email me and say that he or she is buying or selling a house, has a Realtor but wants my advice about the real estate purchase contract nuances, analyzing comps, or any other real estate related question. Usually it’s someone out of my Silicon Valley market area, though a few times it’s been someone closer to home.

Most professionals don’t want to be asked to give professional advice when they aren’t going to be compensated – this is true for lawyers, doctors, and many others.  But it’s also true for real estate professionals, too.  The problem, though, is not really that some folks overstep the bounds of asking for a favor. Instead, it is a matter of ethics.

I cannot interfere or meddle if you or they have a Realtor.  This is part of our Realtor Code of Ethics:

Code of Ethics
The Code establishes time-honored and baseline principles that come from the collective experiences of REALTORS® since the Code of Ethics was first established in 1913. Those principles can be loosely defined as:

• Loyalty to clients;
• Fiduciary (legal) duty to clients;
• Cooperation with competitors;
• Truthfulness in statements and advertising; and non-interference in exclusive relationships that other REALTORS® have with their clients.

Non Realtor real estate licensees also have boundaries on what they can and cannot do, too.  One big area is that we are not supposed to advice outside of our areas of competency.  I feel pretty good about a lot of areas ranging from Santa Cruz to the south to Redwood Shores to the north and Fremont, Pleasanton or Livermore on the east bay plus all of Santa Clara County.  But I don’t know Sacramento real estate, Santa Barbara Real Estate or San Diego real estate, so it would be wrong for me to suddenly delve into those arenas.  Even more so if that friend or relative asking “for a favor” were working with a Realtor or other real estate licensee and my commenting would constitute interference.

If you are shopping for a Silicon Valley condominium, townhouse, loft or other property that’s part of a home owners association or “HOA”, you may find yourself flabbergasted at some of the dues being charged in San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all over Santa Clara Valley.  A question I hear all the time is this: “Why are those HOA dues so high?”

HOA dues may cover a number of things, including:

• common areas, such as driveways, parking, pool, fitness center, rec room, elevators, landscaping, etc.
• insurance: regular homeowners or blanket insurance but perhaps also earthquake or flood insurance
• reserve funds for planned improvements (repainting, termite work, reroofing, repaving, pool replastering etc.)
• covering the defaults from units where the owners are in or about to be in foreclosure

What is the range of pricing for HOA dues in Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley?

Depending on the age of the property and the amenities, the dues may run between $150 and $250 on the low end (newer, no amenities) to close to a thousand on the high end (The Villages retirement community has extraordinarily high dues but they may include membership in the golf course too).

“Normal” is anywhere from $350 to $400 per month for a typical condo or townhome community.

Dues over $400 per month will deter investment buyers.  Dues over $500 per month will deter almost everyone!

There are several things to beware of when buying a condo or townhouse.  First, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll want to learn how many of the members are in default, because this may ultimately cost you with special assessments.  A friend of mine, Laurie Manny, was a Realtor in Long Beach and wrote about this very eloquently (she passed away after a brief illness in August 2010, though her blog or website makes it look like she’s still selling real estate in Long Beach). Check out her timely post, which is still correct today: Long Beach Condo Buyers Beware! Long Beach Real Estate Condos and Lofts.

Second, you’ll want to check out the grounds and common area items to see if it looks like the community is being well maintained.  Do the buildings have peeling paint, patches of grass without lawn, and overgrown shrubs? If so, those are “red flags”.

Finally, if you’re serious about purchasing a home in that community, read the minutes, newsletters and the rest of the Home Owner Association paperwork. Yes, it’s tiresome and probably 2-3″ thick but it’s important.  (Imagine buying the home and not reading these but later discovering they don’t allow dogs – and you have a large lab!  Bad all around. )  The HOA docs will give you insight on the budget and whether any special assessments may be needed down the road.

Malibu Grill in San Jose - menu

Malibu Grill is a Silicon Valley sports bar and hamburger place (and more, of course – baby back ribs, chicken, pizza, pasta) with the dual themes of surfing and all things athletic.  Jim and I occasionally pop over there for lunch or dinner as it’s just a few blocks from our neighborhood, Belwood of Los Gatos and we like the food, service, ambiance and prices.  Today we did again and happened to be there for Monday Madness Hamburgers, which save patrons a couple of bucks. That’s always nice!

A casual but friendly and comfortable restaurant, the Malibu Grill features a broad array of tasty burgers, sandwiches, and other items from the grill. It’s not all fried or carby food, though.  Today I ordered the Malibu Burger (basically a cheeseburger) with a side green salad rather than the fries (for $1 more or I could have had cole slaw, potato salad or fries at no extra cost).

Malibu Grill dining area includes views of sports on TV

Prices are reasonable.  You order at the cash register and pay, and the food is brought to your table. If you are following a game on one of the many televisions, you’ll be happy to not have to get up to retrieve your order.

This eatery has a huge collection of surfing and sports memorabilia and a lot of televisions.  Kids would find plenty to look at here, and with the classic menu items, it shouldn’t be too hard to feed the young set either. It would be a great place to dine after a kids’ or school sporting event as well as ideal to catch the NFL or other game you can’t view at home or online.

Malibu Grill beverage area

Adults will be pleased to know that Malibu Grill offers a very nice selection wine and beer on tap, including at least a couple of “light beers” too.

No matter where you sit, there will be at least one flat screen television in view.  At our booth, I was facing one but Jim could see three adjacent screens over the bar, all with different sports programs showing. (Since the Patriots were being shown on one of those, I quickly joined him in facing the multiple TVs.)

Malibu Grill in San Jose has plenty of flat screen televisions!

Located along Camden Avenue in San Jose, Malibu Grill is technically in the Cambrian area but on the edge of both Almaden and Los Gatos.  It’s easy to get there – just a few blocks off of Blossom Hill Road, not far from Hwy 85 too.

If you’re looking for a fun, unpretentious restaurant with good food and very fair prices, Malibu Grill is your match.  Read more about them on their website, or just drop by and give it a spin.

Malibu Grill
http://www.malibugrill.com/
5735 Camden Avenue, San Jose, CA