Silicon Valley Real Estate Info

There were 27 properties on today’s Cupertino/Sunnyvale broker’s tour.  5 properties were being re-tour and 22 were new listings.  Although I was unable to visit every property, I did have a favorite.  Drum roll please…..

I liked 1537 Ashcroft Way in Sunnyvale.  Listed by the Levy Team of the Sereno Group, this 3 bedroom, 2 bath home was nicely remodeled with a huge lot (over 14K feet).  It’s located in a great neighborhood and backs up to the creek.  It is listed at $1,099,000 (it sold in 2005 for $1,100,000). 

The home has one large high voltage transmission tower in the backyard and one next door.  I wrote a post a few years ago about high voltage transmission lines and their affect on real estate prices that might be useful to any potential buyer of this property.

On Tuesday, the Mountain View-Los Altos School District approved placing a 41.3 million dollar bond on the upcoming June 8th ballot.  What is the bond about?

The district is estimating that enrollment will increase by approximately 25% (900 students) in the next 10 years.  That is about 450 new students per high school.  According to the district, there isn’t enough classroom space to handle this anticipated increase.   The bond would increase classroom capacity.

In addition, there is a “Green” element to the proposed bond.

According to the district web page:

“If approved, the bond would prevent overcrowding in district schools, support core academic programs such as English, math and science through improved classroom technology and facilities and upgrade fire and earthquake safety systems to meet modern standards.”

Additional details about the bond can be read in this press release.

Building Education for Students Together (BEST), has been formed to promote the issue and address questions that the community may have.  A (soon to come) BEST website, http://www.bestformvla.org/ will provide further information about the Bond.

FYI – The Ballot Measure requires a 55% voter approval to pass the bond.

MVLA Board of Trustees Approves Bond for June 8th Election

Originally uploaded by David Blockhus

MVLA Board members just approved the adoption of Resolution 10-29:
Proposing the establishment of General Obligation Bonds and
establishing specifications of the election order; ballot measure to
be place on the June 8, 2010, state primary election ballot.

Friday night was the Springer Elementary School Auction at Michael’s at Shoreline.  The theme…Caddyshack!  I have attended numerous Springer Auctions and based on my un-official estimates (number of attendees, donations, and the level of frenzied bidding) the auction was a huge success!

All of our local schools do some sort of fund raising during the year.  At Springer, the Auction and the Walk-a-thon are the largest fundraising activities.  Monies raised are used by the Springer PTA to achieve its goals which include offsetting reductions in funding to LASD from the State budget.  Without these fundraising efforts, many of the programs that Springer offers would be reduced or cut altogether.

A huge thank you goes to the Auction Chair, Brooke Schiller as well as all the volunteers who helped put the event on.

This is the first post in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to the mistakes that sellers make when they sell their home.  These mistakes are real and come from visiting homes that I have seen on our local broker tours.  Each of the homes described herein are located within the cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hill, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino.   Lastly, the mistakes are not ranked in order of importance, it’s just when I see them.

Mistake #1 – If it smells like %#@&, it will sell for %#@&

I went through a house on today’s Sunnyvale’s broker’s tour that smelled like a cross between an ashtray and a litter-box.  I’m not sure if the cat smoked, but it didn’t matter.  Relocate the cat, replace the carpets and paint the interior. 

It is very difficult to get the odor of cigarette smoke out of a house, but to do nothing is akin to giving money directly to the buyer.  FYI, other offending smells might include mildew, sweat, bleach and even curry or soy.

No matter how beautiful your home is, the condition of your front entry sets the tone for the rest of the showing.  What impression does your home’s entry make?  Do you think it might have an effect on your home’s sale? 

Is your front door in great shape or does it need a fresh coat of paint to brighten it up?  Does the door open and shut easily or does it stick/rub?  Do the keys lock and unlock easily?  You would be surprised how difficult it can be to get into a home when the hardware doesn’t work properly. 

To open the door, does it require a confusing set of instructions?   Insert key… pull door … jiggle key slightly to the left … pull door again (only harder) … a quick hard turn of the key to the right followed by a stern kick and bam, you’re in!   That was easy.

Do you think your agent will understand that?  More importantly, do you think a buyer’s agent will understand?  How about skipping the instructions and get new hardware.

Remember, a welcoming entry helps set the tone for the rest of the house and you may never have a second chance to make a first impression.

Below are pictures of front doors that I took on my recent trip to New Orleans.  They are from some spectacular homes located in the Garden District of New Orleans.  Note: they aren’t to be used as examples of properly presented front doors.  I just liked them (click on photo to enlarge)

Below are the real estate sales statistics for single family homes sold within the city of Los Altos going back to 1998.  These statistics go to prove that last year was a difficult year for local real estate.  Note:  all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

62 percent of all single family home listings sold in 2009.  This is about seven percentage points lower than the 12 year average of 69%.  Only 2001 and 2008 had a lower percentage of listings sell.  Listings also continue to be off relative to prior years.

Not reflected in the above stats yet indicative that the market may be changing is the increase of sales towards the end of the year.   An article in today’s San Jose Mercury News discusses this uptick in 2nd half sales.   

Only 27 homes sold in the 1st quarter of 2009.  That number jumped to 75 in Q2, 87 in Q3 and 80 in Q4.  Rarely have we had a Q4 with sales so strong.  Only twice in the last 12 years has Q4 had such strong sales (2006 and 1998). 

Based on this data, it appears that were back to about 2004 values.

Property is still selling, albeit at a slower pace.  Homes in the lower price ranges are selling better than higher end homes.  Homes properly priced and presented to the market will sell.  Unfortunately, we’re still seeing a fair amount of over priced listings that will continue to ”chase” the market down (somewhat skewing the stats).  This isn’t the time to “test” the market.  If you wish to sell, do it right or it will cost you in the long run.

As always, if you have any real estate questions please contact me for a confidential discussion of your real estate options.

If you’re looking for a bargain, one can be found in the foreclosure market.  However, it takes plenty of patience and solid market knowledge.  Oh, did I mention that you also need cash and lots of it – no loans or I.O.U.’s accepted.

Yesterday I went down to 190 N. Market Street in San Jose to check on a property that was scheduled to be sold at a trustee’s sale. I came home with this video that shows how the process works.  The video is longer than I hoped for and won’t challenge Avatar for best picture, but I think it accurately details the trustee sale process.

Note: the house that I was checking out was postponed to another day. It was one of many properties where the trustee sale was either cancelled or postponed until another date.

I’ve had a few clients ask me what I thought was going to happen with Jumbo Mortgage Rates in the near future.  I found this video by Dan Green of the themortgagereports.com that explains it much better than I could.  Hint…they are going up!