The Silicon Valley real estate market is a mixed bag and home buyers and sellers here may read the headlines and wonder why things seem so different in the news than in their own personal reality!

Here are a few quick facts and observations about the San Jose and Santa Clara County real estate market for houses, condos and townhouses:

• It is a seller’s market for both houses and condominiums in Santa Clara County (homes are selling well and very close to list price on average)
• The average and median sales price for houses & duet homes is down month over month and year over year (properties that are selling are those which are priced lower)
• For condos and townhomes, prices are up month over month (but down year over year).  The condo market here has taken a huge beating in recent years.
• The market is not equally hot everywhere!  It’s red hot in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Cupertino, and areas nearby (Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View).  It is also hot where there are low priced foreclosure houses which can be bought at bargain rates.  The move-up market has been tough entry level houses in the best school areas are very sought after right now.  (The market is decidedly cooler in Los Gatos and Almaden Valley.)
• Homes that are selling best are completely remodeled and have no “issues” (such as high voltage lines, poor floorplan, proximity to something undesirable etc.) and priced aggressively  OR are distressed sales with great pricing

In the best areas, or those with the hottest markets, we are seeing some multiple offers with overbidding.  At the same time, we are finding homes that look great but languish on the market due to some issue or another or pricing that’s not as competitive as it needs to be for today’s market (or both).

Sellers: if your home isn’t selling and it’s had good exposure, plenty of photos etc. and been on the market for a month or more, see if there’s an issue that you can fix or mitigate.  Obviously you cannot move high voltage lines or a freeway, but if there are odors, clutter, or landscaping issues, it would be wise to fix them.  That failing, to get your house sold it will probably require a significant price cut.  The longer it’s been on the market without a price change, probably the deeper the adjustment will need to be.

Buyers: tired of losing out on multiple offers?  That “perfect home” is the one that gets all the attention – but sometimes, just around the corner, there’s a property that with a little fixing could be just as sweet and that one can be purchased without so much competition or overbidding, so ultimately will cost you a lot less.  Every other buyer wants what you want: a turnkey home that needs nothing (inside or out).  But if you will push yourself a little and buy one which only needs one or two changes, you will find that your offer would be most welcome!

For instance, we know that right now (in these frugal times), many buyers do not want a pool – probably because of the ongoing maintenance costs.  An in-ground pool can be filled for anywhere from $8000 to $20,000 or $25,000, depending on a lot of variables.  If you want to buy a home with less competition, find the house with a pool and be willing to take on removing or filling it and re-landscaping.   This is a fixable issue!

For more reading see:

A summary of tips for multiple offer situations in Silicon Valley real estate contracts
(links to multiple posts on various aspects of competing in multiples)

Silicon Valley real estate tip: pinpoint the pricing, beware common buyer mistakes and fears

I recently have gotten more busy with my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/popehandy) and this evening I was surfing that site to see what sort of things I could find in our Silicon Valley area, beginning with Los Gatos since that’s where I live and where my office is. Found this and it’s a gem – I hope you enjoy it!< br>

Situated on a small knoll in the prestigious Los Altos Country Club neighborhood, the home at 1557 Plateau Drive features many of the most highly regarded elements which make a house a luxury property and a joy to see.

The Los Altos Country Club Neighborhood

Younger, Elegant Mediterranean View Home

The property at 1557 Plateau Avenue is younger, just 18 years old, constructed by a builder who was making it for himself and his family.  As you might imagine, the owner-builder utilized the land to make best use of the view opportunity.  He also created it with many extra features & finishing touches which distinguish a quality, custom home from tract housing.

The floorplan is flexible. There is a 2 car garage at street level, but a third which is accessed from the rear of the property – ideal for RVs, boats, and extra cars or vehicles. The 3rd garage can be used as built, or as a rec room, extra storage, or a number of other options.

A week or two ago I stopped by to see a luxury home on the real estate broker’s tour in Los Gatos – a fantastic estate on an enormous parcel with an expansive view over Lake Vasona County Park, the hills and so much greenery.

It was an overcast day with some intermittent drizzle and sprinkles, but clear enough to provide visibility for this infrequently enjoyed vantage. Take in this vista of the lake, the dam and Mount Sombroso in the background which is seldom seen except by a small group of fortunate residents perched on Wild Way.

Vasona Lake from Hillside above University Avenue from backyard of residence on Wild Way - view spot not open to the public

This afternoon I was driving along Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, with my destination being the salad bar at Whole Foods, when my cell phone rang.  A woman who did not identify herself or her location said to me, after noting that she called the number from the blog/site, “a house was termited four years ago. Do we really need to do it again?“  She needed professional, unbiased real estate advice, and figured that since I had nothing to gain either way, I’d tell her the truth.

I asked her what she meant by “termiting”.  Was it an inspection, a fumigation, or some other treatment that was done 4 years ago?  She elaborated that the house was tented for (drywood) termites four years ago.  She didn’t want to waste her money “termiting” again (to use her words).

“Are you buying a house?” I asked her.  “Yes” she confirmed.  I continued, “then you probably should get a termite inspection from a licensed and reputable company because drywood termites can come right back after the treatment.  Not only that, but the inspector will look for other things, like subterranean termites, dry rot, fungus, boring beatles, and more.” (I did explain that you don’t just tent for drywoods – they may or may not be a problem. What you want is an inspection to see if there’s anything that does need treating. The inspector might find cellulose debris, for instance, and will note whether it’s infected or not.)

“Do you have a Realtor assisting you?”  “Sort of” was the confused sounding response.

I suggested that she go to her Realtor and ask for help in finding a good, licensed pest control operator to inspect the house.  “Do not just pick one out of the phone book – they are not all the same”.  Like everything else, reputation matters.”  I explained one story where a national chain had missed $10,000 worth of work on a Cambrian area home that could only have been seen in the crawl space, so it was pretty evident that the first inspector didn’t go in there as he’d claimed.

I don’t know her name, I don’t know where she lives except that it’s in California but I do know that it’s a good idea to have your house inspected for termites every 3-5 years.  If you are purchasing a house, townhouse or condo, it’s one of the biggest expenses you’ll ever have. It is reasonable to try to fully understand the condition of the property, and if there are big issues (such as termites or other “section 1 items”), to fix them.

For further reading:

How often should you get a termite or pest inspection? (Guest post on my Live in Los Gatos blog by Janet Thrasher of Thrasher Termite & Pest Control in Los Gatos)

What happens when inspectors disagree about the property? (Post on this blog site.)

Free report: your role in the home inspection (as well as other reports – all on Sereno website)

“Why isn’t my Silicon Valley townhouse selling?” wonders the home owner. Real estate agents know why the home isn’t getting any offers, or worse yet, any traffic at all. In fact, local Realtors who’ve seen it probably wonder if the owner of the property has seen the MLS printout at all.

1. Terrible  photos (or not enough of them): in our San Jose area MLS we are allowed 9 photos.  How many are in your listing?
2. More on photos: Would it be so hard to turn the lights on in the home when photographing the property? Real estate looks much better when well lit than when dark.  Even beautifully remodeled kitchens can look so-so if the lights are not all on!  A bright room will make you money…a dark room will cost you!
3. Is there a video or virtual tour?
4. Is the listing syndicated so that buyers can find it on multiple websites?
5. How is the pricing? Did you price a 2 bedroom townhouse as if it’s a 3 bedroom? That’s a very common but huge mistake!  Compare apples to apples – the buyers are doing that, and when you bought your home, you did too!  Did you price the home using comps from 6 months ago, or comps from 3 miles away, or a different school district? Huge mistake!
6. What’s your competition?  If you’re a short sale, you need to be competitive against other short sales.  Don’t be satisfied that your home is less expensive than a “regular sale”. They are two entirely different things!
7. MLS description and comments: what kind of comments are in the precious few words allowed to describe your home in the multiple listing service? I have seen inane things use up that space.  It is imperative that the descriptions be strong.  For example, not “nice kitchen” (that could mean almost anything), but instead “slab granite countertops” – specifics that buyers want to hear about!
8. Commission rate: if your townhome is a “regular sale” and everything in your area is selling with a buyer’s agent commission rate offered at 2.5% or 3% but you’re offering 2%, guess what happens? Little or no traffic, that’s what!  Remember that agents are selling homes as their livlihood, and while many will overlook a low commission, many others will not.  (When I list homes I run the CR of similar homes so that my sellers can make an informed decision on this point.)

There are many reasons why Silicon Valley townhouses might not sell. It is hard to sell a short sale listing, for instance, but many do sell and close despite the odds. If yours isn’t selling, have a look at the price, the photos, and the description and see if anything is amiss. These are the most important areas to consider.  Other issues may be at play, but if these are correct your home should sell despite other challenges.

My townhome did not sell & I am thinking of trying again with another real estate agent.

If your Santa Clara County home was for sale, is now “off market” and you’re thinking of relisting it with an agent who can get it sold, please talk with me. 

Why talk with me as opposed to any other agent?   My services, tools and experience are online and transparent.  With me you’ll be hiring a realty veteran, someone who’s dedicated to the highest levels of excellence and communication, and someone who’s weathered more than a few market ups and downs.

 If you want to read my pre-listing book first, you can download it online (it’s a pdf file). Additionally, I have co-authored a book, “Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley“. If you decide to meet with me to discuss your home, my book will be my gift to you! (I specialize in the west valley communities such as San Jose’s Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, West San Jose plus Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell and Monte Sereno) but work all of Silicon Valley.) So if we meet, even if we decide not to work together, you will have the book to help you proceed in your home selling plans – it’s a win!

Wishing you every success!

Normally I do not reference other Realtors’ blog posts on any of my blogs or sites, but this morning I read one worth calling out because it raises a good issue that home buyers and sellers often never consider: the ongoing exposure of sold listings’ information, videos and photos on the web will continue to be present long after the home sale is closed.

The post, by Norma Toering of ReMax Palos Verdes Realty, is entitled “Please remove my home from the internet” and can be found on the Active Rain website at the link provided above.  This conscientious Realtor sold her listing and got it closed last week.  Now the buyer, the new owner, wants all traces of the listing removed from the internet.  Many people are private and may be uncomfortable with videos and pics of their home online (even if with the last owner’s consent, decor and furnishings).  But it is nearly impossible to remove all online photos because they are syndicated or pushed to other sites where we agents have no control. 

One commenter suggested that perhaps we need another disclosure so that buyers know and understand that what’s out there on the internet cannot be removed (and for that matter, that agents don’t want to spend many hours to remove them – a challenging task for which there is no compensation).  Having photos on the web is part of marketing and once it’s done it simply cannot be undone (at least not fully and certainly not easily).  I don’t think a new disclosure is a bad idea.  Our purchase agreement forms or contracts inform buyers and sellers that there will be dissemination of information on the MLS regarding the sale status and later the closing price and terms.  It wouldn’t hurt to also warn the parties that once images are disseminated on the internet, they are very likely to remain online a long, long time.

Twelve Silicon Valley Doors, shown as black & white sketch(photo by Mary Pope-Handy)

Thinking of selling your Silicon Valley home?  When your house or condo is for sale, curb appeal is crucial because if buyers don’t like what they see on the outside, they will not bother to see what’s on the inside!

It’s hackneyed but true:  “You never get a second chance to make a first impression“.

This is no where more true than with front doors! Staging begins on the front porch.

In my real estate practice, I usually see at least 10 or 15 San Jose, Los Gatos or Saratoga area homes per week – usually many more than that too.  A good, clean front door with nice paint or varnish, no dust, clear glass and sparkling hardware gives a good welcome to your home’s visitors, whether they are coming as prospective buyers or simply as guests.  Amazingly, though, not every home seller gets this basic principle quite right. Very often, front doors are dusty, dirty, in need of paint or perhaps even in need of replacement.

And we’re just scratching the surface!

A home's front door sends a message. What message does yours give off? Photos by Mary Pope-Handy

Here (to the right) are some doors I’ve encountered recently in my work as a Silicon Valley Realtor.  What do you think of each of these?

The first one has a “security screen door” in front of the regular front door, which is mostly obscured.  What message does this kind of strong grill give?  If it’s the only one on the street, it might imply that one person nearby has concerns about safety. But if there are several doors like this on the same street or nearby, it screams, “Danger, high crime district!”

The next front door is perhaps a typical or average San Jose or Santa Clara County door.  It has a painted exterior and a fan light window on top, which allows some light into the home.  It’s a little more inviting than something solid or without side panel windows.  This type of door is not super expensive, but it does come across as at least fine, if not “good”.

Next is a door which we agents were required to use to enter a home in west San Jose.  It’s not the front door, but the key to enter the house required us to use this dirty, scratched up door (which actually faced the back yard).  I shared this image, but a larger version, on Facebook and Twitter and my agent & client friends were all appalled.  Several asked if it was a short sale or bank owned property.  To everyone’s amazement, no, it’s a “regular sale”!  This kind of introduction to the property, though, is anything but regular!  It is a discredit to the agent and the seller to put a home on the market with such a terrible first exposure to a property.  It was completely unnecessary as the regular front door was infinitely less offensive than this.

Assuming that the door of your home is functional, you should not need to replace it in order to market your home for sale.  In most cases, the door should be cleaned (power washing the exterior of the home is usually a good idea for most sellers), and in some cases it should be painted too.

If you do need to paint your home and/or door, please know that some colors ARE better than others.  A natural wood, black or deep red are all good feng shui colors.  Many buyers also respond well to dark brown and white front doors.  Far less accepted are colors such as light blue, pink, purple, orange, and green.  (Yes, one of the doors in the above collage IS orange.)

Need to replace your front door?  Before doing it, take into account the architectural style of your home, its orientation and need for light or need for privacy. For the sake of resale value, you don’t want the cheapest, ugliest door, but you don’t need to buy the most expensive either (because you won’t see a return on your investment).

Also, don’t forget the hardware!  Things like grimey hinges or a missing threshold can register with a buyer that “something’s not quite right”.  Make it shine & make it complete.

Finally, finish off your front door preparation with a nice mat and pleasant annuals near the front door for a splash of welcoming color.

Now you’re ready to roll – at least on the front porch.  But remember that front doors, like the rest of your home, won’t stay clean by themselves.  Be diligent about looking after it while your home’s for sale.  Hose it down, or, better yet, take a feather duster to it every few days to make sure it maintains that welcoming, turnkey look.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of working with some past clients in purchasing a home in downtown San Jose’s Japantown neighborhood.  Their street is full of bungalows and  gracious 1920s or 1930s Spanish Revival style homes. With a wide road and an enormous “sidewalk strip” and beautiful trees, just a look down the street is like a look back in time.

The home that my friends bought had a lot of wonderful  exterior touches and a few interior ones that are reminiscent of the era.  (This is fun real estate to see and sell!)  A walk into the bathroom, though, really just takes your breath away if you love older, historic homes.  In this post I’ll share a few large photos of this very cool, classic tiled bathroom and indicate why a bathroom like this is so special.  Please continue on to see several photos!

First, here’s a look at the room as a whole – at least most of it is visible here:

This room is 99% as it was initially built. The toilet is off to the right, by the window, in its own small cove.  Please note the abundant use of tile in this room!  The floor is intricately tiled, the walls are also extensively tiled, and there’s a strong use of tile to define the elements of the room (shower, tub, etc.)   One change, though: originally, there would have been a wall sink rather than the pedestal sink here – thus the row of black tiles as a backsplash by the current sink.

Now let’s have a closer view of the different parts of this beautiful bathroom.  First, a look at the tile trim.  The almost Moorish design is very typical of Spanish Revival homes, and the builder found a way to weave it into the bathroom plan without it becoming overwhelming. Luckily, after almost a century, it is still in near perfect condition.

Now the floor.  No easy, large tiles here!  Instead, it’s as if the tile were woven into the floor. This was very labor intensive and is as much an art as the work of a trade.

And now the arch by the bathtub. In today’s homes, there would be no arch or sense of enclosure.  Here, though, the builder didn’t just create an arch, but made it a scalloped arch – again a hint of the Moorish style love of shapes is here in this bathroom.

Finally, the shower enclosure.  Again, this was not designed for mere functionality and was not built expediently. Rather, this shower stall was crafted with extra effort to create a fully tiled  arch here as well.  The detail is well beyond what was necessary to make a shower, and to have tiled an arch could not have been the work of a tile apprentice.

In the shower you notice one other modification for usability: a grab bar. Other than that, though, it is very much as it was originally constructed.

This magnificent bathroom was built for both style, functionality and form.  It is a tribute to the builder and to the tradespeople who created it that nearly a century later, it is still prized.   With so much effort, and countless years of service, it continues to work well and is perhaps appreciated today even more than when it was first built.

Last Sunday, my husband, Jim, and I had the pleasure of attending the Stanford University Historic Homes Tour, which happens annually.  The last house we visited was the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Hanna House, built in 1936.

This property is private and may only be visited during guided tours, but it’s worth the planning to enjoy the setting and the unique architecture!  I hope you will enjoy the photo show I put together.  There are additional pics too, after the 90 second slide show, in case you want to see more.  Enjoy!

If you want to sell your Silicon Valley home, you need a good amount of qualified traffic coming through your doors. That is, you want people who really do want to buy a home and who are capable of doing so to have a look at your condo, townhome or house inside as well as out.  Should the photos in the MLS and online be non-existent, scarce, or poor, those buyers may reject your home without ever seeing it.  It is imperative that your home’s photos nicely showcase your property so that buyers want to come and see more in person. 

In this post I’ll share a few tips on how to make the front of  your home show well for the photos (and for in-person visits of real estate agents and home buyers), a few things to do or not to do.  This will help you even if someone else is in charge of taking the photos – you can propertly set the stage before the photographer ever gets there.

For our purposes, let’s assume your home is in good condition, with fresh paint and decent landscaping and is not in need of a major overhaul. It needs to have “curb appeal” before we ever get the camera out.  If not, that needs to happen first!   So some of these tips are really “staging tips”.

In general, you want to think about what you want the viewer to see when looking at  your home.   Look at your house or condo and ask yourself what should matter to a buyer?  Usually it will be the front door, the windows, the roof, and the landscaping.  Make the view of these things unobstructed and uncomplicated. 

In general, a major goal in preparing for home photos is to remove any distractions from the scene if they don’t enhance it.   For instance:

• No cars or bikes in the driveway or anywhere in the picture
• No garbage cans, gardening tools, toys
• No obstacles on the walkway, porch or sidewalk (the hose should be hidden, for instance)
• If bushes obscure the door, path or windows, trim them back to allow a clear view of these
• Garage doors need to be closed (if it’s open, that’s where the eyes will focus!)

What other things should you do, if possible?  Here’s a short list:

• Have the sun shining on the home so that the photo appears inviting (not in darkness or with harsh shadows) – if there are problems with large trees and big shadows, sometimes a slightly overcast day will be better to soften the contrast
• Usually mid morning or mid afternoon is better than high noon
• If you are taking the photos, allow for several attempts on different days/times  – sometimes the lighting is better at other times of day, or weather conditions may be better/worse
• Have curtains open on the inside of the home
• The front door should be visible (if at all possible) in the photo
• Photograph the home so that the lawn area, if there is one,  is more prominent than the driveway, if at all possible
• If your driveway and walkways are “super white”, they will dominate the photos if you don’t work to negate their brightness. You can do that by watering down the driveway and walkways just before the photos are taken. They won’t reflect as much and will be significantly less bright in the pics.
• make sure that you have color by the front door, even if you need to add “color pots”

These are the basics – but in some cases, a little more “prep work” may be required.

Painting may be advisable as a pre-requisite to getting an inviting pic:  Sometimes the driveway and garage door are so prominent that whether you view the home in person or in photos, it’s hard to not have your eye drawn there.  It’s worse if the whole house is one color (say, tan) and the garage door is white – your eye will naturally focus on that huge white garage door.  Better to have only the garage trim be a different color from the rest of the home and make the door match the house. 

A little color does a lot to draw buyers in: 
If your home is nicely landscaped but the yard is really “all green”, adding a splash of color, especially close to the front door, can make a home more appealing both in person and in photos.   If your home is a townhouse or condominium, consider adding a pot or two of colorful annuals near the walkway or door, if possible.

Photos of the beautiful blooms at Heritage Grove in Los Gatos – enjoy!

Recently I was showing a buyer of mine a San Jose house which was vacant.  Often a home is occupied and the garage, in particular, is full of stuff so it’s hard to see the walls very well.  In this case, though, we could easily view where the walls in the garage meet the floor.  And this is what we saw:

Only a qualified, licensed Pest Control Operator can diagnose termites and pests, but this looks a lot like subterranean termite tubes to me.  When you see “mud tubes” such as this, it is time to call a good termite and pest control company for diagnosis and treatment.

Why do termite & pest companies insist that the garage be largely free of personal possessions when they inspect? It is so that they don’t miss things exactly like this. 

When buying or selling a home, understand that the inspectors arent being difficult if they won’t warrantee a garage as free of pests when they cannot view the walls or floor.  Bookshelves and personal storage can obstruct the view of things like this.  If you’re selling, be ready for the inspectors – have all your items away from the walls or even better, entirely out of the garage. If they have to call a packed garage as an “unknown further inspection”, it’s likely to cause you problems later, when there’s a time pressure.  Best to know upfront, for everyone’s sake, what the score is.

San Jose’s Almaden Valley offers a great deal of scenic beauty, much of it enjoyable on foot or by bicycle.  The Alamitos Creek Trail also includes a hint of the region’s past.  Recently I took some photos of the Pfeiffer Stone House, a storage shed for the Goodrich’s Free Stone Quarry that was built around 1875.

You’ll find this curious bit of history at the corner of Graystone Lane and Pfeiffer Ranch Road, along the Alamitos Creek Trail.

View Pfeiffer Stone House in a larger map

This is water district land and the stone hut sits behind a chain link fence together with a plaque put up by the Mountain Charlie Chapter of E Clampus Vitus.

The creek is to the right of this photo, and the Graystone area is off to the left. (To see a few more photos, please click on the link below.)

The plaque is unfortunately a little hard to read with the chain link fence, but it explains the purpose of the stone house as being storage of food and tools for the Goodrich Quarry.

I could get all of it in one shot, unfortunately.

The plaque states that the Goodrich Quarry provided the brownstone used for the Hall of Justice, Post Office, St. Mary’s Church original buildings (I believe it means the original Jesuit mission in Los Gatos – the current St. Mary’s building in Los Gatos is a block or so away from that first site), buildings of Stanford University & the Carson City Mine. 

The other day I was previewing for clients all over east and south San Jose: Berryessa, Alum Rock, Evergreen, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valley. It was one of the hundred degree days and I was glad my car has a strong air conditioner. I stumbled upon Canyon Park near Silver Creek as I was obeying my car’s navigation system, and stopped long enough to take a few photos since the views were just perfect. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Canyon Park is located across from the intersection of Larkspur Canyon Drive and Stoney Creek Place (off San Felipe) in San Jose’s 95109 zip code (near Silver Creek).

Like what you see? Read more about Canyon Park on Yelp & see reviewer’s comments.

Photos, by the way, are not retouched. They were taken with my new Blackberry Tour (as you can see, I have not yet figured out how to focus the pictures!) – these were my first attempt at using the camera function.