Many newcomers to the San Jose & Silicon Valley areas want to buy new homes (or newer ones).  Santa Clara County, though, had a big “building boom” after World War II ranging from the 1940s through the 70s.  At the end of the building frenzy, most of the land was taken.  More importantly, most of the really good land was built up.

How old is the “average” San Jose home for sale?  Probably about 45 – 50 years old, on average.  Depending on where you’re looking, precisely, the homes could be younger or older on average. 

There are some nice communities of new and younger homes in Silicon Valley, but there aren’t a lot of them.  Most of the new home communities have houses on small lots.  Some are near high voltage power lines (homes on Taft in San Jose’s Cambrian Park area) or next to freeways (Summerhill development off Samaritan Drive in San Jose). 

It’s easier to find newer homes in Morgan Hill, Evergreen, Milpitas, and areas that held onto agriculture longer. Pockets of newer homes exist throughout the valley, and some of them are on good land (such as the Willows neighborhood of Willow Glen or the Almaden Winery area in Cambrian/Almaden). There’s a beautiful subdivision of luxury homes in Saratoga where the homes enjoy gracious, large lots.  That land used to belong to an order of Catholic sisters (Notre Dame de Namur).  Good land!  Much of the other good land was either horse property, orchards, or vineyards until somewhat recently. Small pockets of that remain, including the “North 40″ in Los Gatos – which I understand has been sold and is soon to be developed.

Several parts of our South Bay community have roots that go back into the 1800s or earlier: downtown San Jose, old Santa Clara, Willow Glen, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, Alum Rock Park… many of these neighborhoods have Victorian era houses.  Japantown, in San Jose’s downtown area, has some beautiful Spanish style homes dating from the 1920s. (There are only a few of original adobe houses left that date to the late 1700s.) 

Don’t rely too much on the age listed in the mls!

One thing to be aware of is that some homes that are said to be 60 or 80 years old may have been virtually rebuilt and “like new”.  Sometimes the MLS will show the older number but only reveal the drastic remodel in the comments. So if you’re looking for a younger home, don’t just search by the age listed in the MLS – it may not be a true representation of the home’s condition!

A plat map comes with your preliminary title report (provided by your title company when you purchase or sell a home in California), tucked away at the back and somewhat mysterious with lots of numbers in small print.  It holds quite a bit of helpful information if you know what it is you’re seeing.  Today we’ll view a sample of one of these – breaking down the plat map shown as a small thumbnail image on the right to more readable parts so that you can learn how to “read” or understand a plat map.  By the way, this example we’re using is for a lovely San Jose neighborhood in the Cambrian Park district which borders Los Gatos and is near Carlton Avenue, Los Gatos-Almaden Road and Union Avenue.

First have a quick look at the thumbnail image on the right.  You can tell it’s some sort of map with official looking writing in the lower corners.  Perhaps most salient even in the smallest image, one important feature of the plat map is that it provides the orientation of the properties (north/south/east/west).  That info is now readily findable online, but this used to be the easiest way (and most accurate) to answer the question “which way does the home face?” Look at the map, find the parcel and you’ll know its orientation.

The plat map also provides the Tract Number (and often the name given by the builder for the subdivision – in this case, Carlton Terrace). Along the right side, you can see the source of this information: the office of the county assessor for Santa Clara County.

Let’s look a little closer still.

Looking at an individual address or lot, you’ll note that there’s more information.  The house number for each parcel is listed, the shape of each property given (parcel boundary) and the approximate lot dimensions are provided too.  When a dimension is the same on both sides or as with the adjoining property, it’s not listed.  In the case of these homes, most of them have 60′ to 61′ wide lots and approximately 110′  to 113′ deep lots -  very typical lot size for a Cambrian Park home.

What about the large numbers in the middle of each property?  One of them is the builder’s lot number and the other is the parcel number assigned by the to the property by the county assessor’s office. The parcel number should be underlined and more prominent (bolded, italicized etc.).

The assessor’s parcel number, or APN, for each property is created by referring to the Asessor’s Book Number, the Assessor’s Book Page Number plus the individual parcel number, with each of these sets separated by hyphens.  To find the book and page number, look in the corners of the page with the plat map – they will be listed clearly.  In our sample, note the lower right hand corner.

So for the homes on this plat map, the APN will be 421-18- whatever the parcel number is for that particular home (the bolded, underlined, italicized number).

Can this information be really useful to you? You bet it can.  Sometimes we see homes for sale in which the lot size is said to be a certain amount, say 6000 SF, but having seen the yard, it appears much, much larger (or smaller). By studying this page, you can check the dimensions and see if the number quoted as the lot size is correct or not. 

Several times in my career I have found a lot size to be under-estimated or under-reported in the county records.  This is especially true with irregularly shaped lots (such as pie-shaped lots or lots with many sides to them – more than four).  If a builder primarily subdivided with 6000 SF lots, that number may be inputted to the county records for every parcel, even if the one you’re looking at buying or currently own is much, much more.

I won’t say it’s a fun geometry project, but learning that a home is sitting on a 9000 or 10,000 SF lot rather than 6000 is money in the bank if you’re buying or selling such a home.  Many Realtors will not get the lot measured in person or referencing the plat map, but this extra step is extraordinarily helpful in understanding a home’s true value.   So first we must understand how to read a plat map, then know and act on what we see if there’s anything that does not look correct.

Plat maps are so important that if there’s a small typo in them, the lender for a buyer will not fund the loan until it’s corrected. (I know, it happened to me about 10 years ago on a Willow Glen home I listed and sold on Arata Court.)  When you get the preliminary title report, whether you’re buying or selling, don’t ignore it!  The rest of the contents of the prelim are also important, but for today I want to encourage agents and consumers to take the time to look also at the parcel map at the end of the prelim and see if everything looks correct.  It may save you both time and money to catch any errors upfront.

Almaden Valley in San Jose is comprised of many neighborhoods and subdivisions. One of them, close to the border with Los Gatos and Cambrian Park, is particularly popular: Oak Canyon.

There are many reasons for its draw among Silicon Valley homebuyers: the houses were well built by Shea Homes in about 1980, so they are relatively newer by Silicon Valley standards. They’re larger homes on comfortable lots, often 8000 sf or so but some as small as 6500 sf and others larger than a quarter acre.

Most of the homes boast a 3 car garage, which is a big help with storage of stuff, if not storage of cars. The roads gently turn, which makes a more pleasing look. It’s a very “conforming” neighborhood where everyone keeps up the homes and yards. Much of Almaden is viewed by consumers as somewhat remote, but this section, near the mouth of Almaden, is not too deep into the valley and is a better commute location for most. One of the largest pulls for the area, though, is the nearby elementary school, Guadalupe School, which has API scores in the 900s.

Where is the Oak Canyon neighborhood in Almaden Valley, San Jose?

Oak Canyon is found near the intersection of Camden Avenue and Coleman Road in San Jose but is bordered by Coleman on one side and the Guadalue Creek on the other sides. (The far side of the Guadalupe Creek at this point is Cambrian Park.)

 
And to provide some bearings, here’s a map of the Almaden Valley district of San Jose generally:

What Are Homes Like in the Oak Canyon Neighborhood of Almaden?

Most of the homes in the Oak Canyon neighborhood range between 2000 and 3000 square feet, though a few may be as small as 1700 or 1800 and if someone’s added on, it could be larger than 3200 – but those are the extremes. The floorplans are unusually well planned and open, particularly for homes built around 1980. They tend to have good, practical laoyouts that most buyers appreciate. Kitchens often face the back yard and are open to the family room (some with wet bar). A formal dining area normally sits adjacent to the living room. Ceilings are high and ordinarily there’s a good amount of built-in storage in Oak Canyon homes. One floorplan offers the master bedroom, which is upstairs, a private balcony overlooking the front yard. For many, that means a lovely view of Mt Umunhum.

Shea built a variety of elevations for different looks, with ranges from Spanish or mediterranean to contemporary or ranch. Some homeowners have renovated and made their homes appear to be Craftsman style too. This is definitely an upscale neighborhood, but still tract housing. It’s not hard to recognize the few floorplans as one walks or drives through the area. Something unusual is that the sidewalks are built directly against the street. The plus is that front
yards appear larger. The minus is that there is no uniform “tree lined street” feel since there’s no strip of land between the sidewalk and street where trees have been planted.

Special Concerns with Oak Canyon Homes

Every neighborhood has some issues. This one has very, very few!

Because of the proximity of Guadalupe Creek, and the closeness of the hills, wildlife can be a concern. For years there was an issue with large numbers of pigeons. More recently, hawks have become abundant and the pigeon population is down. It is possible that mountain lions, coyotes, skunks, possum and other wildlife will make their way into Oak Canyon as it’s an area close to the hills and close to a water source. However, I’ve never read of sightings of anything
scary in Oak Canyon.

Folks interested in Oak Canyon should view the natural hazards map to understand the proximity of the Shannon Earthquake Fault.

Water in the Guadalupe Creek should not be drunk or played with as it runs through areas with naturally-occuring mercury (there were mines for mercury up Guadalupe Road not far from this area).

Part of Oak Canyon is really close to high voltage power lines, which is a negative. Others back up to Coleman, so there’s a noise issue. Most, though, have no negatives in terms of location within the community.

What Does it Cost to Live in Oak Canyon?

Oak Canyon homes may be as inexpensive as the 900k range or run into well past a million dollars, depending on location, size of home, lot size, and condition. Large homes on large, interior lots with no “issues” will run 50% more than homes backing to Coleman or high voltage lines in need of updating. If you’d like more information on buying or selling a home in Oak Canyon or anywhere in the San Jose and Silicon Valley area, please contact me today!