Do pools enhance property value in Silicon Valley back yards?  Do they make homes easier or more difficult to sell in Santa Clara County? What’s the impact on resale value?  The common wisdom is that it depends on the amount of yard or lot size, the price point and the location of the residence. When a pool takes up the majority (or virtually all) of the back yard, most often it makes the property undesirable to buyers – at least to most home buyers – and that, in turn, causes the sales price to slip a bit. It used to be that pools were almost a given on more expensive residential real estate, particularly if there is a lot of land.  Today I ran the numbers, though, and it appears that things have changed.  Below please find the “months of inventory” for homes with and without pools and note that it is very consistent, in the fields I checked, that it’s now harder to sell a home with a pool than without

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Pools appear to make it harder to sell a home in Santa Clara County right now.

Truthfully, this came as a bit of a surprise to me since many of the luxury properties in Almaden, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and nearby areas do include pools, especially if they’re on a half acre lot or more.  In the past, I remember high-end buyers not wanting to purchase a larger, estate home if there wasn’t already a pool in place since it’s such a mess (and noisy, and expensive) to go through the construction of one. Lately, though, my high-end buyers (properties upwards of a million dollars) are fairly adamant that they do not want a swimming pool. Many of them don’t want the upkeep costs or chores and have told me that they would not use it enough to make it worthwhile.

What about luxury home buyers and pools in Silicon Valley?

I wanted to see if it changed when the data was viewed in light of pricing and not just acreage or lot size, so to finish up this study, I looked at regular sales of houses listed at over $2,000,000 in Santa Clara County (the San Jose area) – these are considered luxury homes here.  For houses without pools, the months of inventory was 5.4 (not terrible, still less than the 6 months which NAR calls a balanced market) but for homes with pools, it was up to 6.8 months of inventory. That’s a significant difference and is in line with what we saw when the question was put with the amount of land involved.  Generally speaking, buyers would prefer to not have a pool, even in the higher priced subsets of the market.  (My advice: run the numbers for your own home’s micro market and see. It’s possible that this may not apply in your case.)

This still didn’t sit quite right with me since I’ve known the most expensive homes to all have pools, so I spent some time looking at homes in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. I was interested to know if homes with pools were still harder to sell and had a lower resale value, as appears to be the case in more normally price houses.

First I looked again at larger lots – half an acre to about an acre and a half – in all three areas combined.  It was inconclusive but basically there were 102 of them for sale now and 12 which have closed in the last month (so 8.5 months of inventory).  Of those on the market, 56 had pools and 46 didn’t. This was too broad given the variety of zip codes and school districts, so I narrowed it to just Saratoga with only Saratoga schools.  For those in this area, just 3 have sold and closed in the last month with no pool (averaging about $1,850,000) but 9 have closed with a swimming pool (averageing about $2,735,000).  The average square footage of a house without a pool was 3482, but the average house size of places with a pool was 4309. It does appear that homes with pools do sell for more, but also that in general, these are larger homes.  Since 3/4 of those sold in this segment of the Saratoga market do have pools, it would be hard to say that buyers are rejecting homes with pools.  Of course, a 4300 SF house in Saratoga with Saratoga Schools is much different than a house in Willow Glen with San Jose schools – just underlines the fact that the real estate market is comprised of many micro markets.  What is true for the county as a whole may not be the case for luxury properties in Los Altos, Saratoga, or Almaden Valley.

Why do pools hurt the odds of selling for most houses in the San Jose area?

Bigger studies would need to be done to thoroughly address the question of why swimming pools appear to hurt saleability for most residential real estate (the very high end excluded).  But I will venture a couple of guesses.  First, there are weather issues.  Last summer was cool and this winter doesn’t seem to want to end. Pools are probably a lot more appealing when there’s significant doses of hot weather.  Second, we are still recovering from a very tough recession, so the new frugality which is currently fashionable and which has become a way of life for so many of us may be impacting the perceived value of in ground pools, too.  This may change as we move more into the recovery and when our unemployment isn’t just over 10%.

Selling a home with a swimming pool

Home owners, it’s important to realize that although you may have enjoyed and treasured your pool, for buyers it may be viewed as a liability – an expense to have it removed or to maintained. To get the best deal for your home, you’ll want to try to mitigate the buyer’s concerns since worried buyers will pay less and confident buyers will pay more for your property. Solar panels make it less expensive to maintain, and therefore more acceptable to consumers worried about power bills.  Families with small children may be concerned about safety issues, so having a great child-proof fencing system may provide them peace of mind.  You could, as a negotiation strategy or selling bonus, throw in one year of pool service from your favorite provider too, since they may feel ill-equipped to take on the maintenance of a pool as soon as they move in.  A home warranty with pool coverage will also provide peace of mind and a sense of a safety net should things go wrong.

Selling a house with a pool? Make sure it's clean!

Pools, like every other element of the house and yard, need to be in pristine, sparkling condition if you want to maximize the sales price of your property.   When home buyers, especially first time home buyers, see missing tiles, obvious rust stains, rampant algae, leaking pool equipment or other problems, they see both work to be done and dollar signs.  This is even more true if there are no pre-sale inspections.  Don’t provide reasons for your home’s buyer to be worried – buying a home at all is worrisome enough!

Should you remove the pool before putting your house on the market?

Filled pool: what not to do

Some home sellers may opt to get rid of the pool before selling. That can be a good idea, especially if the back yard is really small, but it needs to be done correctly. Recently I was house-hunting with some clients in the Almaden Valley area of San Jose and we saw a backyard where the pool was left completely in place, but filled with dirt and planted with grass. I assure you, that was a terrible idea because now buyers see it as twice as much trouble (and cost) to rectify. Home buyers, if you are neutral on buying with or without a pool, you may find it far easier to purchase property that has a pool as it seems that there will be less competition for it. If you want a pool, you are in luck right now!  Market conditions change and three or four years from now, when we are in a more recovered economic status, pools may again be the hot ticket.  This is a great opportunity to buy a house with a pool while there’s less competition! Want to talk about buying or selling a home with a pool?  Call or email me today!

One of the many reasons the Almaden Valley of San Jose is so popular is the wonderful public schools.  Almaden, like the rest of the county, does not have “easy” school district boundaries.  Instead, it’s complicated – Almaden is served by several different public school districts and various schools within one of them.  It can be very confusing for home buyers to figure out which areas belong to which elementary, middle and high schools. Today we’ll address this broad topic, looking at both the districts and the individual schools, providing links to both.  We’ll include API scores and maps of district and school boundaries too.

Disclaimers about schools of attendance:

First, schools – especially the most popular ones – are sometimes impacted, or full.  If you move into an area it is likely that you can have your students attend the neighborhood school but it is NOT GUARANTEED.  For example, if your nearest or assigned school is Williams but it’s full, your child may be assigned to Simonds or some other elementary school.  You will remain in the same district but may not have the nearest school.  This is particularly a problem when moves happen in the middle of the school year.

Second, sometimes boundaries change between schools in the same district.  This usually only happens after a lot of public debate and discussion, but it can happen. (This is also true for some designated natural hazard zones such as flood plains – those maps can and do sometimes change!)

Third, the San Jose Unified Schools in the Almaden Valley did have court-ordered busing from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s to help with desegregation. This practice ended in 1996 and the court order was lifted in 2003.  You can read about the history of the San Jose Unified School District online.  Although it appears unlikely that busing will happen again, I cannot guarantee that it won’t.

These are the three broad regions and their schools:

1. San Jose Unified School District covers the majority of Almaden (it includes schools at all levels).
2. The Union School District and Campbell Union High School District is the next largest school district for Almaden – this is the northwest corner of Almaden
3. The Los Gatos Union School District & Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District. This covers just a very few properties on or near Guadalupe Mines Road (Via Saronno, Via Lugano, Via Fortuna, Via Maggiore, part of Via Campagna)

The Santa Clara County Office of Education oversees all of the school districts in our county.

Public High Schools serving Almaden (you can check the API scores of these and all Santa Clara County public schools online):

1. Leland High School (SJUSD) follows Almaden Expressway and is the school for the southern part of Almaden Valley. API scores are high (890 in 2010) so many home buyers prefer to be within this area.
2. Pioneer High School (SJUSD) is not located in Almaden, but rather in Blossom Valley, but is the school for a significant number of Almaden homes east of Almaden Expressway (API 823 in 2010)
3. Leigh High School (API  817 in 2010) and Branham High School (API 781 in 2010) (CUHSD) are both options for most of the northern part of Almaden which is close to Los Gatos
4. Los Gatos High School (API 873 in 2010) (LGSUHSD) serves a tiny sliver of homes just off Guadalupe Mines Road.  It must be at least a 20 minute drive for these students to get there, but the school boundaries were drawn long before the city of San Jose and the town of Los Gatos finalized their limits.

Public Middle Schools for Almaden Valley – all of these Almaden middle schools or junior high schools exceed the county’s target number of 800, and most of them can boast API scores of over 900.

1. Bret Harte Middle School (SJUSD) – prized school with APIs over 900 (909 in 2010) – adjacent to Leland HS
2. Castillero  Middle School (SJUSD) – a good school, APIs just over 800 (806 in 2010)
3. Dartmouth Middle School (Union School District) – highly regarded with 2010 API at 900
4. Fisher Middle School (LGUSD) – highly regarded with high scores (910 in 2010)

Public Elementary Schools for Almaden Valley students: every public elementary school in Almaden has excellent API scores, all over 900

1. Williams Elementary (SJUSD)  -  incredibly high scoring with 972 API score in 2010
2. Graystone Elementary (SJUSD) – highly regarded, 958 API in 2010
3. Simonds Elementary (SJUSD) – another high powered school with 968 API in 2010
4. Los Alamitos Elementary (SJUSD) – also over 900 APIs, in 2010 it was at 916
5. Guadalupe Elementary (Union Schools) – also over 900 APIs, scored 930 in 2010
6. Blossom Hill Elementary (LGUSD) – 956 API in 2010

To which school is a particular Almaden Valley home assigned?

It can be tricky to find out which property belongs to which district or individual school.  Within the San Jose Unified School District (which covers much of San Jose and some of Santa Clara), you can use the School Finder site online to see where an address falls. For other areas, there are maps of school boundaries.

Regarding the Almaden Valley luxury home market, most are in the San Jose Unified School District and feed into Bret Harte and Leland High.

Which part of Almaden Valley has the very best schools?

If you are basing the idea of “best schools” purely on API scores, which may or may not be the best approach, the area you’ll be aiming at will include Williams Elementary as it has one of the highest scores in the state (though all elementary schools in Almaden have over 900 scoring), Bret Harte Middle and Leland High.  The next section of this post includes the maps for each of these schools.  If you are in the Williams area, it automatically continues on to Bret Harte and Leland (just remember my disclaimer, above, that if those schools are full they could, theoretically, send your student to the other nearby public schools in the district).

I. San Jose Unified School District Area Maps: maps of  each of these institutions’ coverage area

Pioneer High School – primarily the northwest part of Almaden, mostly west of Almaden Expressway

Leland High School – appears to be almost 50/50 on both sides of Almaden Expressway – includes some very nice areas east of Almaden Expressway such as the Shadowbrook area (maybe slightly more homes on the west side?)

Brett Harte Middle School – mostly southern part of Almaden

Castillero Middle School – largely northern and central Almaden

Graystone Elementary – most of the area east of Almaden Expressway as well as the far southern parts of Almaden

Los Alamitos Elementary – north central Almaden

Simonds Elementary – middle of Almaden

Williams Elementary – southwestern Almaden, 100% west of Almaden Expressway

II. Union School District & Campbell Union High School District Areas

Map for Guadalupe Elementary & Dartmouth Middle School areas – Map of Union School District with school boundaries shown. Please also see the Union School District “School Finder” online.

Leigh High School area map – much of this is a “free area” where students and their families can decide if they want to go to either Leigh or Branham – see bottom right corner of map.

III. Los Gatos Union School District & Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District

Most homes in Silicon Valley come with some type of parking space for cars beyond street parking.  Home buyers want to know that there will be a place for their vehicles (and often their “stuff” too).   Garages and parking are sometimes under-appreciated aspects of evaluating real estate, so it will be the focus of today’s topic. 

Because a real estate purchase is a big ticket item, it is always important to consider the ability to sell it later.  (Always buy with selling in mind!)  Will it be hard to sell it in the future if it is not a red-hot sellers market?  Parking can greatly impact “resale value” and overall desireability to a large portion of consumers.   If you are evaluating a condominium, townhouse, or planned unit development home with private roads and parking, there will be some special concerns that may be a little different than if you were purchasing a single family home. We’ll consider both.

General principle:  In all types of housing in the San Jose area, usually the most highly desired type of parking arrangement is an attached garage.  This is not true in all cases but is generally true.  You would not find homebuyers interested in historic homes (Victorian, Spanish, Craftsman) wanting a prominent two car garage at the front of the house, commanding the lion’s share of the view from the street. (So don’t expect to see that in Japantown, Naglee Park, or the the Rose Garden.)  But for the typical buyer of the more common ranch style home, the attached garage is expected and appreciated, and if it’s missing it’s a challenge to sell the property later because as sellers you’ll be appealling to a far smaller pool of buyers.

Parking at Townhouse and Condominium Homes in Silicon Valley

For condo and townhouse purchasers there’s often a parking wish list with some ranking attached to it.  What do condo buyers want?At a minimum, condominium buyers will want:

• assigned parking for two vehicles (their unit has certain spots)
• enough guest parking (which residents do not use)

Most condo or towhnhome buyers will expect:

• covered parking
• a sense of security – a quiet area to park away from a public road, perhaps gating

Depending on location and buyer preferences, some condo buyers in Silicon Valley will not buy unless the parking situation is better. These consumers demand:

• a secure garage – either a large communal garage or, preferably
• a private garage for only that unit’s car or cars and also for the owners’ belongings

Many complexes or communities have storage faciities for residents, and this can be a huge help when there’s no private garage.

Having a private garage does not always mean it’s attached, though. I’ve sold a few condos in Sunnyvale which offered garages, but they were fairly remote from the homeowner’s units. So for security conscious people or those concerned about lugging things into the home from the car in bad weather, simply having a private garage may not be enough. These folks will be looking for a townhouse or condo which offers at attached garage, private or communal, which offers shelter from the elements and a higher sense of safety.

If you are looking to buy a condominium or townhouse with the broadest appeal to the largest audience, factor in buying a home with an attached garage, if possible.  You will need to weigh that against other important things, though, such as schools, commutes, noise, crime, property condition (and the condition of the complex as a whole since assessments for repairs are always a possibility), and not overbuying in the area.  You do not want to buy a home that is worth lots more than the majority of properties in the area if the main difference is simply parking.  Better to be more conforming to local values to maximize the home’s resale value.

Planned Unit Developments and Parking

In planned unit developments, normally the homes and townhomes are situated on private roads with no “street parking” but instead small parking areas for guests and sometimes residents.  In these communities, one of the most important things to watch for is overcrowding and the general availability of guest parking.  There’s one condo complex in east San Jose that has wonderful buildings but virtually no guest parking (perhaps two spots for fifty units).  Guests must park on the street – which is not close by – and hike in.  Event Realtors trying to show or preview homes there have a difficult time.  

Sometimes the guest parking will look sufficient by day, when most likely everyone’s at work.  Check back on evenings and weekends to see if there’s still enough so that it’s not an issue. (And if you do purchase a home in a condo complex, townhouse development or PUD, be sure to read that large stack of homeowner documents to understand the rules. Read the newsletters and the meeting minutes to see if there are any issues with parking. )

One final word on vehicle related concerns for condo, TH and PUD home buyers in Silicon Valley: also learn what the rules are for washing your vehicles at home and for moving vehicles periodically.  Some communities allow  car washing in certain spots, some are very flexible, and some prohibit it altogether. Finally, investigate too any rules about garage doors remaining open.  There are some developments with strict rules about garage doors remaining closed except when vehicles are entering or leaving.  You may have a preference on this one way or the other (I do not think it impacts resale value, but it may impact the way you utilize your garage.)

Garages, Parking and Single Family Homes in the South Bay Area

For Silicon Valley single family home buyers, the issues discussed above may be ancillary, but there are other areas to probe:

• how important is a two car garage? will one be enough?
• how imprtant is it to have the garage be attached? useable?
• how’s the storage situation?
• is the garage “finished”?
• is there room for a workbench?
• if the laundry area is in the garage, is there a sink nearby? (this should only be the case in an attached garage)
• often the water heater and furnace are located in the garage, if it’s attached: are they safely positioned so that cars won’t hit them?
• is the water heater on a raised platform, 18″ above the floor? Is it strapped for earthquake safety?
• have the current owners put too much storage onto the garage rafters? This will cause sagging, which is visible from the street – look for the garage door frame to sink a little in the middle

What is the Impact of a Garage Conversion on a Silicon Valley Home?

Sometimes the buyers of Silicon Valley homes consider converting their garage to living space – sometimes a family room or bedrooms.   Homes with garage conversions can and do sell, but they are more difficult to sell because most buyers want (or even need) a garage.   

If, however, you really do need to convert your garage to interior living space, please make sure that you work with a licensed contractor and get all permits and finals on this project. Make sure that you, as a homeowner, understand the rules and do not rely on a contractor to tell you if a permit is or is not required. You are ultimately responsible, so check this out with your city, town or county – whatever jurisdiction your home is in.  Not getting the permits and finals can cause innumerable headaches.

Also, if you elect to convert your garage to living space, plan in a place for vehicles – preferably at least a carport.  It would be most ideal to locate a potential spot for a future garage if so desired.  When selling your home, even if you do not have a garage now, showing that one can be built will be a big help. 

Storage is an issue for Californians too. Since most of us do not have basements, the garage tends to be the place for gardening tools, holiday and seasonal decorations, old records, and much more.  If you convert your garage to a family room or other living space, factor in either some room for all of this “stuff” in the former garage space or consider getting an outdoors shed, if allowed (you may also need permits and finals for that) to take up the slack with storage.

Depending on where you live, a major remodel may kick in new requirements and upgrades to other elements of your home, so do a lot of research before undertaking this type of project.

Historic Homes and Garages

Historic homes sometimes have garage issues not seen with other properties, so I want to give a few words of caution on this topic.  When many of the lovely older homes were built 80 or more years ago, we did not have the same “setback” requirements that we do now. Typically in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, and in most parts of Santa Clara County, there’s a requirement of a certain amount of open space between structures on the property and the property line.  It is usually different on the sides of the home vs the back of the home.  In many areas the setback on the side of the house is eight feet.  So between your home and your neighbor’s, there are probably sixteen feet – perhaps more, perhaps less. 

With historic properties, garages were sometimes built either right on the property line or extremely close to it.  They are now “grandfathered in” so that they may remain for now.  There’s a big, big “gotcha”, though.  If such a garage is destroyed (fire, wind, termites), most often it cannot be rebuilt in the same location, but would have to be rebuilt to accomodate the current setback laws (or possibly not be allowed to be rebuilt at all, depending on the configuration of the lot and home).

High End, Super Garages

On the other end of the spectrum, there are a few rare homes in which the garage is clearly a palace of sorts. One of the most interesting properties I ever sold was a Cambrian Park house with 1200 square feet of “living area” and a massivly expanded garage that started as a typical two car garage but ended up being a 5 car garage with lots of bells and whistles. Not only was it a “finished garage” but it had skylights, compressed air, a bathroom, a studio, and amazing space.  Outside, there was room for several more vehicles.   The house was not bad, but the garage was a jaw-dropper.

These homes are special and cannot be marketed like other homes because the MLS simply doesn’t have a way to showcase them.  There are buyers, though, who are looking for a property with room for a recreational vehicle, historic cars, dirtbikes, motorcyles, trucks – and a welcoming space to care for these vehicles.

Although I do not suggest dropping a disproportionate amount of improvement money into the garage (I have seen homes where they’ve gone too far, putting slate flooring into the garage in one luxury home, for instance), having it be finished, with additional storage, and a comfortable place to spend time will be appreciated by many hobbiests who will use the garage for any number of projects.  Getting ready to sell your home? Make sure that the garage is clean and inviting.  Staging it to sell is a good idea.

Generally, having a safe, functional two car garage will be very important to most home buyers and it will be helpful to your home’s desireability when it is time to sell it.  (A three car garage is often viewed as a wonderful luxury – more than three is usually too much for the vast majority of consumers.)  Making the garage a pleasant place to work (as a garage, not as a conversion) will be a plus for many home buyers and is likely to be an enhancement with rewards in your real estate’s resale value down the road.

What kind of residential lots will hold value the best in Silicon Valley? There are corner lots, flag lots, cul-de-sac lots, other irregularly shaped lots and standard lots. If you are concerned about resale value and appreciation, it’s helpful to know what most of the buyers will ordinarily prefer.

While some people prefer a corner lot (more light, fewer adjacent neighbors), for most, the extra traffic and noise outweighs the plusses. The most-desired lot for homebuyers, generally, is a normal, interior, standard lot.

Cul-de-sac lots are also highly valued among many buyers, though not all. With the court location comes a lack of street parking, especially at the end, and a lack of exit routes. Recently I held a listing open in Los Gatos that was on a cul-de-sac and the idea of only one way in or out spooked one buyer who otherwise really liked the location, which was close to Los Gatos schools. Homes at the end of the court also have irregularly shaped lots, and they tend to be harder to utilize as well but offer large backyards. So there are plusses and minuses, especially at the end of the court.

The key or flag lot is usually considered the least desireable location for the majority of homebuyers in Silicon Valley, because those lots are fairly “hemmed in” by other lots all around them. If you aren’t familiar with a flag lot, you can visualize a lot shaped like a flag on the flagpole – the flag itself is the lot, and the pole is the driveway.

All of these generalizations, of course, are dependent on all other things being equal. A flag lot with a great view will be far more desireable than a standard lot with neighbors who don’t keep up their yards! Keep this tidbit of information as just one of many in your arsenal for determining what adds up to the best investment you can make in today’s Silicon Valley real estate market.