If you have a favorite “off street” location that you think is worth exploring, you can make submissions here. 

I submitted a recommendation for the Street Views trike to visit Rancho San Antonio.  Can you see Google’s cyclist climbing up the PG&E trail?  On the other-hand maybe walking the trike will work as well.

The study looked at “towns” with populations under 100,000 residents and ranked them according:

 ”to median income; average commute; distance to highways and airports; per capita venture capital funding; per capita number of small businesses, sole-proprietorships and start-ups; the percentage of the population with bachelor’s degrees or higher; the share of professional-level workers as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); the percentage of young and educated people, or those 25-34 with a bachelor’s degree or higher; and the percentage of foreign-born residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher. We also measured the per capita number of restaurants, bars, museums and cultural institutions. “

Below is what Forbes said about Mountain View:

Population: 70,960
Location:South of Palo Alto on the Bay Area peninsula.
Median income: $88,736

Strongest categories: While there’s plenty more to Mountain View, the average commute time of 20 minutes is a rarely found pleasure of Bay Area living. Credit Mountain View’s standing as our most active venture capital markets, for an abundance of entrepreneurs running their own businesses, which in turn means they don’t have to commute to bigger cities like San Jose and San Francisco.

Drawbacks:There aren’t a lot of restaurants, music venues, museums or cultural attractions in Mountain View, though it isn’t too far for residents to trek 15 miles into San Jose.

Below is what Forbes said about Cupertino:

Population: 50,572
Location: South of San Francisco and west of San Jose.
Median income: $128,149

Strongest categories:A great start-up environment in the heart of the Silicon Valley and home to a number of semiconductor and technology companies, most notably Apple, Cupertino succeeds as a mix of a place for established businesses and small shops. It ranks in the top 10 for sole proprietors and small businesses per capita.

Drawbacks:While you certainly can’t complain about the warm climate, Cupertino simply didn’t do as well as the top cities on our list even in the categories considered its strengths.

In San Mateo County, Foster City was ranked 10th, Belmont 11th, and Hillsborough 12th.

These homes are:

18840 Newsom Avenue, Cupertino

18900 Newsom Avenue, Cupertino

10210 Johnson Avenue, Cupertino

10187 Byrne Avenue, Cupertino

From Interstate 280 in Santa Clara County, exit #16 El Monte/Moody Road and drive west on Moody Road. Go straight through the stoplight at Foothill College, and at a stop sign at about 0.6 mile, turn left to remain on Moody. Drive about 0.5 mile more on Moody, then turn left onto Rhus Ridge Road. Drive about 0.2 mile on this narrow road, then bear right into the parking lot.

This trailhead has parking for about 12 cars; no parking on Rhus Ridge Road. No entrance or parking fees. No toilet facilities or drinking water. No designated handicapped parking, and trails are poorly suited to wheelchairs. Maps available at information signboard.

The following is a link that describes the hike:

Mile:
0.0: Begin at the gated entrance to Rhus Ridge Trail.
0.5: Path departs on the left. Continue straight on Rhus Ridge Trail.
0.9: Crest and junction. Turn right onto Black Mountain Trail.
1.6: Junction with path to Hidden Villa. Continue straight on Black Mountain Trail.
1.8: Second junction with path to Hidden Villa, on the right. Continue straight on Black Mountain Trail.
3.4: Near a high-tension power line, the narrow path widens to a fire road and begins a steep, relentless climb.
4.5: Gate.
4.5: Junction. Turn right.
4.6: Junction. Turn left onto Monte Bello Road.
4.7: Hilltop. Turn right onto an unsigned path, and head a few feet to a rocky viewpoint.
4.7: Turn-around point.
9.4: Back at the trailhead.

Sorry I couldn’t respond directly, I was on another call.

In conjunction with the basketball tournament, the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) was holding its Dads and Daughters program at 10:30 before the first game. A large crowd of mostly dads and their daughters gathered to hear words of wisdom from some of our greatest local female athletes and a couple of famous sport dads.

(L to R) Juli Inkster, Jennifer Azzi, Brandi Chastain, Bill Laskey, Brent Jones, Mark Purdy

Cal and Stanford each had a table full of “freebies” and women sports schedules, there was plenty of food and drinks, and two basketball shooting booths.  However, everyone was there to hear from the speakers. 

Brandi Chastain spoke of her military father who ended up coaching her soccer team and initially taught her how to run laps and do sit ups.  He knew nothing about soccer, so he and Brandi would go to the library to get “how to play” soccer books and watch “Soccer made in Germany” to learn the game.  

Jennifer Azzi talked about how her father would take her to every basketball practice, scrimmage and game.  Her family wasn’t wealthy so her father built her a basketball hoop out of scrap materials.  When Stanford won the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, Jennifer’s father stenciled onto the backboard, “Stanford #1.”

Juli Inkster’s father, who was as fireman, wanted her to play golf and was always asking Juli to go hit balls with him.  However, growing up Juli wasn’t a big golf fan, preferring to play basketball, baseball and other sports.  It wasn’t until Juli began working at Pasatiempo did she find the love for golf.  

When Bill Laskey and Brent Jones retired from professional sports, they wanted to help their daughters get involved in sports.  They figured the best way to be involved with their daughters was to coach them. 

What I took home from the program is that girls need to play sports and it is up to us as parents to encourage our daughters (and sons) to get involved in organized sports.  Spend time with your child because being involved in sports helps participants learn sportsmanship, team play, and competitiveness.  Organized sports also helps to build leadership skills, confidence and it promotes healthy lifestyles for all involved.  I would definitely attend another BAWSI event.

The Results:

Cal wins 65-61

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Cal beat Arizona State, Stanford beat UCLA.  In the finals last night, Cal got buried by a stronger Stanford team.  Good luck to both teams in the NCAA tournament.  Go Bears!

Me and my kids (Bear fans) surrounded by the Stanford women’s basketball team.  (Jayne Appel is waving, Candice Wiggins has headphones on).

Market Value is defined as the price a buyer who is ready, willing and able will pay for a home that has been fully exposed to the market.  The key phrase is ”fully exposed.”  On the buy side, buyers must be recently pre-approved for their loan and educated about the local market.  On the sell side, the seller must have the home prepared for sale, price correctly for the market and fully exposed to the market. 

What makes a “good buy?”  Most buyer’s want to purchase a home as far under market value as possible.  Most don’t succeed.  I have yet to find a client who wants to pay above market.  How can buyers position themselves to buy a home under market?  Here are 6 tips that will increase your odds of getting a better value in Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino.

1. Buy a home off market.  Homes that aren’t fully exposed to the market sell for less.  Note: there are only a few homes (usually in the higher price ranges) each year that sell off market, so don’t hold your breath!
2. Look for homes listed by out of area agents.  These agents tend to be relatives or long-time friends of the sellers.  They know just enough about our market to be dangerous,  dangerous to their own client’s/friend’s pocketbook.  They rarely understand the intricacies of our local market, neighborhoods, comparable properties, pricing and trends.  This is a great example where knowledge is power.
3. Buy a home that is listed too high.  Homes that are listed too high tend to sit on the market too long and eventually, after several “price adjustments,” sell for less.  The longer the home sits on the market the more unattractive it gets, the better the value for a buyer.
4. Look for a home that isn’t properly prepared for the market.  Try to find one that isn’t staged and/or looks and smells like a dump.  Cosmetic repairs are the least expensive to do and bring in the most value.  Although most of are homes locally are staged, there is still a fair amount of them that aren’t.  You don’t need to look hard (or breathe too deeply) to tell which homes aren’t prepared well.  FYI, studies shown that staged homes sell for more than homes that aren’t.
5. If you can time your purchase, buy during the the winter months of December/January and the summer months of June-August.  If you analyze the annual real estate sales cycle, the market conditions in these months tend to produce better results for buyers.
6. Buy properties where the sellers haven’t completed pre-sale inspections.  When Sellers don’t get pre-sale inspections, they open themselves up for potential re-negotiations down the line.  These negotiations tend to favor the buyer.

If I had a crystal ball, a Ouija board or could read palms, I would be better able to advise clients on a specific time to buy a home.  Given that our market is strongly driven by the amount of inventory available, now is a relatively good time to buy.  Our market in select neighborhoods still favors sellers, but not as strongly as in March/May 2007.

For your information, Salt Lake City tops the list of the top ten cities for bargain house hunters.  Listed below is the complete list with links to real estate professionals and/or lenders who can help you find a bargain in their city:

1. Salt Lake City Utah     Salt Lake City Real Estate Blog 
2. Raleigh North Carolina     Raleigh Real Estate Talk
3. Orlando Florida     Blog Orlando Avenue
4. Charlotte North Carolina     Chad Huck Real Estate Blog
5. Phoenix Arizona     Phoenix Real Estate Guy
6. Seattle Washington     Rain City Guide
7. Las Vegas Nevada     Very Vintage Las Vegas
8. Jacksonville Florida     Krista Fracke Real Estate Blog
9. Richmond Virginia     The804 Richmond Real Estate Blog
10. Houston Texas.    Fine Homes Houston

The Cupertino Veterans Memorial is located a short stroll from the main parking lot at Memorial Park.