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
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How’s the Saratoga California real estate market?

Today we’ll look at the monthly sales numbers for Saratoga, CA 95070 and also view live charts reflecting homes listed for sale on the MLS. Both houses and condos/townhomes will be considered as will varying price quartiles via the live charts.

Monthly Real Estate Update for Saratoga – prices of houses rising:

As with much of the “west valley”, the Saratoga, CA real estate market is a seller’s market, but it does not appear quite so overheated as neighboring – and far more affordable – Cupertino right now. Unlike many other areas, though, inventory is a little looser and is up month over month (which is seasonally expected) and year over year (not a seasonal issue, of course). 

Here are the real estate sales statistics for closed sales in March 2012 among houses in the 95070 zip code (click on link to read the full Saratoga Real Estate Report for houses):

And February

The median sales price, which is the number indicating that half of the homes sold for more and half less than this number, has risen almost 8% from a year ago.  This implies that more expensive homes are selling – and possibly that home values are rising too. The average is also up about the same amount year over year.

Next, please find the basic statistics for closed sales in February 2012 among townhouses & condominiums in the 95070 zip code (see the Saratoga Real Estate Report for condos & townhomes):

And February

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)

Silicon Valley real estate’s market madness is back -in case you weren’t looking, this is what we are seeing in places like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Saratoga – or anywhere in which there are great schools (especially with a shorter commute) or some other reason why a neighborhood is very highly desirable:

• multiple offers, bidding wars and sky high overbids
• non-contingent offers
• buyers willingly paying costs that the seller normally would cover
• pre-emptive offers

If this all sounds vaguely familiar to you, then you were here in the South Bay or San Francisco Peninsula and involved in real estate in 2000 (and to a lesser extent in 2005).  Whether you’re a Realtor, lender, or consumer trying to sell or buy a house or townhouse/condo in a great area, you knew it was happening.

One of the elements for this madness is the pre-emptive offer.  What is it?

When the real estate market in Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties runs red hot – in the seller’s favor – often the listing agents will direct that there is an offer date or deadline. Most of the time it’s about a week after the property is listed for sale on the MLS.  The reason for the wait time, of course, is to provide enough exposure so that all interested parties have a chance to tour the home, review presale inspections and to write up a purchase contract for it.  Otherwise, you have a foot race and only the swift have a chance. The lack of multiples will limit the sales price, so savvy Silicon Valley home sellers will usually set an offer date if multiples appear to be likely.

A pre-emptive offer is one in which the home buyer doesn’t wait for the offer deadline, but submits a purchase agreement ahead of time. Sometimes it’s even “sight unseen”! Obviously the latter will be considered shaky since the buyer could easily get a bad case of buyer’s remorse.

Smart listing agents will warn their home sellers about the temptation to accept a pre-emptive offer.  That Siren Song can be tempting!  But those would-be home buyers are unlikely to disappear if made to wait a week, so in many cases, it’s best to stick to the plan.

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. (more…)

Cinnabar winery sign (Big Basin Way, Saratoga)

In many communities such as Saratoga, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Willow Glen, Campbell and Palo Alto, there is a high premium placed on homes which are close to the downtown area.  Many real estate agents advertise these as “walk to town” but the idea is simple: it’s nearby, you can stroll, skate, ride or bike, wheel yourself and forget the car.

Downtown Saratoga, also called Saratoga Village, welcomes residents and visitors to a charming, scenic area with fabulous shops, spas, wine tasting venues, restaurants and more.  This part of the city boasts top scoring schools as well as lovely older and historic buildings and a gorgeous park alongside Saratoga Creek. Whether you spend an afternoon or a lifetime in Saratoga, this part of town will call you back again and again!

What do you need to know about buying a house, townhouse or condo in downtown Saratoga?

There are a few points which you are well served to know when purchasing residential real estate in this upscale community. We’ll touch on a few of them here: historic homes, traffic & noise, natural hazards, parking, and special issues with condos, townhouses and PUDs (planned unit developments).

First, this downtown Saratoga Village zone is historic; while not every property is deemed historic, many are and that means that there will be restrictions on remodeling and expansion of single family homes or houses. For instance, original glass in windows may need to remain if you’ve got a Victorian house dating from the 1890s, and expansions may need to be off the back of the home so that the facade keeps its initial look and feel (just examples).  This can be frustrating if you buy a luxury home that “needs work” and you are surprised later. If the house was built before 1950 or so, double check the rules! (more…)

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.  (more…)