Silicon Valley Real Estate Guide

The purpose of the single story overlay zone (or in builder speak, R1-S district) is to modify the height and number of stories permitted in any R1 zoning district to preserve and maintain single-family neighborhoods of predominantly single-story character.  Note, the definition of 1-story does not include basements.  Most of our local cities have some […]

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Earlier today, President Bush announced that he had reached a bipartisan agreement with House leadership on an economic package designed to bolster the U.S. economy.  An integral part of this package is an increase in Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s conforming loan limits from $417,000 to $625,000.  How will this impact our local Real Estate market?
For most […]

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My family moved to south Los Altos in 1964, having lived briefly in Sunnyvale and before that in Minnesota.  My parents bought a 4 bedroom home on a quarter acre that backed up to Awalt High School (renamed Mountain View). We were the second owners of the home.  The first owners having lived there for only about 2 […]

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Tonight the Los Altos City Council will decide whether to adopt the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and whether to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our community.  The meeting will be held tonight (Tuesday) at 7pm at the Community Meeting Chambers, Los Altos City Hall, One North San Antonio Road.

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The Federal Open Market Committee met last night in an unscheduled meeting.  The result of this meeting was a cut in the federal funds rate of 75 basis points.  The federal funds rate went from 4.25% to 3.5%.  This marked the biggest one-day rate move by the central bank since it cut its discount rate by a […]

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In this brief 5 minute video, Dan Green of The Mortgage Report gives insight into mortgage lending and how mortgage guidelines are changing.  It’s a clear, concise, and maybe simplistic, but it clarifies how guidelines in the mortgage market change and how these changes affect everyone.  Good video, good information.
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Its Mid January and we are slowly starting to see inventory come on the market.  At this time of the year, the inventory make up is a blend of homes from last fall that didn’t sell as well as new listings.  One of the benefits of being a Realtor is the ability to tour many homes during […]

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I recently sat down with a potential relocation buyer.  He was thinking about moving north and wanted to get an idea about our local real estate market.  Coming from San Diego, he was familiar with the steady and sometimes huge years of appreciation.   He was weary of a downturn similar to the one that has affected the San Diego […]

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For those of us who missed out on the fun of Crush last fall, there are plenty of wine related events coming up in the next several weeks.  Including drivetime, each event can be done in an afternoon.
Next Saturday (January 19th) is the first “Passport” event of the year for the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association.  The Passport […]

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Mountain View’s Varsity park neighborhood is one of the best housing values on the peninsula.  Varsity Park, built between 1952 and 1957, consists of three subdivisions: Varsity Park, Varsity Park 2 and Varsity Park 3.  In total, 245 single family homes were built.  Homes originally were constructed as either 3 bedroom, 1 bath homes or 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes […]

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