Are you thinking of buying a home? Do you know which city you want to live in? Have you narrowed it down further? Do you know which neighborhoods you might want to live in? If not, check out my top five tips to help you find your perfect neighborhood.
As a home buyer, your likely to have many questions: Is now a good time to buy a home? What are my financing options? What type of home, remodeled or fixer upper, should I buy?
With almost 20 years experience of working with home buyers, there probably isn’t a question that I haven’t been asked. Below are articles that address many of the questions that home buyers may have about buying a home in Silicon Valley.
If you prefer to search for homes on your mobile device, click on Mobile MLS Search. All you’ll need to do is download the app from the Apple App Store or Android Market and input the activation code. It’s that easy!
Should you have any questions about buying a home in Silicon Valley please contact me directly at 650 917-4250.
Low property appraisals can occur in any real estate market. In a rising market, multiple offers can create a final contract price higher than current comparable properties. In a declining market, appraisal values may not come in at value. Both buyer and seller want the home to appraise for the negotiated price, but sometimes it doesn’t. What can a buyer or seller do if a property doesn’t appraise at or above the negotiated purchase price?
1. The buyer can bring in additional cash to make up the difference between appraised value and contract value.
2. The buyer and seller can re-negotiate the contract price down to the appraised value price.
3. The seller can hold true to the purchase contract price and possibly carry a 2nd note for the difference between the appraised value and purchase contract value.
4. The lender could order a second appraisal that might come in at value and/or request to appeal the original appraisal. The appeal could be based on the appraiser using wrong or outdated comparable properties, the appraiser’s lack of knowledge of the community (comparing two homes from different school systems etc.) or the appraiser using incorrect information about the home (i.e. size, age amenities etc).
5. The buyer can kill the loan with the original lender and start fresh with a new loan and subsequently new appraisal. The seller must agree, this will take time and it might not yield different results. If there are questions about a property’s ability to appraise, one might double app with two lenders so you have a back-up in place should the first lender (do to low appraisal) not be able to perform.
6. Both parties can agree to cancel the transaction.
Since 1994, I have seen almost all of these strategies in reaction to a low appraisal value used. Renegotiating the purchase price and/or having the buyer bring in more cash seem to be most frequently used strategy for keeping the deal together. However, it really depends on the buyer, seller and real estate agents having a meeting of the mind to make it work.
Should you have questions about buying or selling a home, please call or text me directly at 650 465-0755.
A home came up on last Friday’s Los Altos Hills Broker tour that is one of the finest estates that I have ever toured. The Address is 25893 West Fremont Road. It is listed at $12,750,000. by Tim Anderson of Alain Pinel Realtors.
Why do I love this house? It is very much a visceral feeling and difficult to put into words. But as soon as I walked up the driveway and saw the home, I just knew it was something special.
To me, it is a soothing blend of architectural styles, modern and contemporary yet with touches of Prairie Style’s use of horizontal lines and open spaces. It has clean lines, flowing interiors spaces and beautiful details that are confirmation that one can build a substantial home, but it need not look ostentatious. It doesn’t dominate its space, but rather blends nicely, almost snugly, on its 1-acre parcel.
The inside spaces are nicely proportioned, tasteful and beautiful. Within this 11,425+- square foot home consists a total of 5 bedroom suites, 3 half baths, beautifully appointed gourmet kitchen, intimate living room, elegant dining room, family room, multiple offices, luxurious master suite, home theater, fitness center, elevator, an outstanding lower level wine cellar and tasting room and two garages that can house up to 6 automobiles.
The large retractable ground level doors bring the outdoors in. Enjoy the beautiful swimming pool and spa, kick a soccer ball around on the large grass area, relax in a hammock, or a play a little beach volleyball. The backyard has it all.
Not only is the home beautiful, it is a GREEN certified Smart home that features geothermal radiant heating, multiple zone A/C, and a Crestron home automation system that controls heating, light, security, video and sound.
According to Leslie Appleton Young, the Chief Economist for the California Association of Realtors, California’s home sales should increase approximately 2% and the median home price, which dropped 4% in 2011, should be up slightly. Click on CAR’s 2012 Housing Market Forecast for a 2-minute video snap shot.
That’s nice information, but it doesn’t really tell us the true story about what’s happening in our local real estate market. It is a statewide forecast, not a Los Altos or Mountain View Forecast. Below are our local numbers.
Single Family Home Sales In Los Altos – 2011
Los Altos saw 308 single family homes sell in 2011, a 7.8% drop from 2010 (334). One would think that because the number of sales are down that sales prices would also be down. However, this is not the case. Median sales prices were up 6.3% from $1,550,000 (2010) to $1,647,000 (2011). Sales were brisk, with the average days on the market down from 53 (2010) to 40 (2011). Lastly, the list price to sales price ratio was also up, from 98.1% (2010) to 99% (2011). Sellers were more realistic in their asking prices.
Condo/Townhome Sales in Los Altos – 2011
Forty-nine Condos/Townhomes close escrow in Los Altos in 2011. That is up 19% from 2010 (41) and 25% from 2009 (39). The median sales price was also up 5.3% from $760K (2009, 2010) to 800K in 2011. The number of days on the market for condos/townhomes was cut in half from 103 days (2010) to 52 days in 2011. Lastly, the list price to sales price ratio jumped two percentage points from 96% to 98.3%, indicating that sellers are realistically pricing their properties.
The graphs below show the numbers. Note: all data was taken from MLSListings.com our local Multiple listing service provider.
Are you curious to know what that Los Altos home sold for in 2011?
Click on 2011 Los Altos Residential Summary Report for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the all the single family homes that closed escrow in 2011 in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Are you curious to know what that Los Altos Condo or Townhome sold for in 2011?
Click on 2011 Los Altos Condo:Townhome Residential Summary Report for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the all the condos/townhomes that closed escrow in 2011 in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Should you have any questions about selling your home in today’s market or you wish to purchase a home, please call or text me at 650 465-0755.
Back in the early 1970′s when I went to Oak Avenue Elementary, the school was a small neighborhood school. My kindergarten class lasted all day, there was no after school child care like the YMCA Kid’s Place and there were just 12 classrooms. There was no multipurpose room or computer lab (what were computers). Kick ball, basketball, and “Kill the Pill” were the games played during lunch and recess and half of the field consisted of weeds and gopher holes.
Many of the teachers taught classes with combined grades. Students might be in a 2nd/3rd grade class or 3rd/4th grade class. Hot lunch consisted of McDonald’s hamburgers or Der Wienerschnitzel hot dogs. Mrs. Finch was our Principle and 6th graders, with their “safety” sashes and stop signs, did the cross walk duty.
Things have certainly change over the years and the school and it’s facilities have grown. Amy Romem is the Principle (although she’ll is out on maternity leave) and enrollment is up. This video shows why our south Los Altos community loves the “newer” Oak Elementary School.
One of the questions that buyers frequently ask when they are getting closer to finding the home of their dreams is “How should I hold title to my new home?” This is a great question and one I would love to answer. However, just as each home is unique, the way one holds title is also unique to that homeowner. And since I am not an attorney and can’t give legal advise, this question is best answered by seeking the advise of a qualified real estate attorney. If you don’t have one, I would be happy to refer you a few names.
For those of you who would like to research ways of holding title before you talk to your qualified real estate attorney, Kelly Collishaw and Cornerstone Title have provided me this handy chart on Ways to hold title in California.
Should you have any questions about buying a home locally, please call or text me at 650 465-0755 for a confidential discussion of your needs.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are twenty-two single family homes for sale in South Los Altos. Thirteen homes are active listings and the remaining nine homes are under contract. Lower price properties are currently driving our market. We can see this by looking at the average list price for active properties ($2,558,615) and comparing that with the average list price for homes under contract ($1,778,321).
November Home Sales Activity For South Los Altos – Home sales are steady.
15 single family homes (SFH) closed escrow in South Los Altos in the month of November. Since 2007, the average number of SFH sales in November has been 11.
Only four properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. Properties priced between 1.3 million and 1.6 million continue to receive the most buyer activity.
Are you curious to know what that South Los Altos home sold for?
Click on South Los Altos Residential Summary Report for November 2011 for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the thirteen properties that closed escrow in September in South Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Median Sales Prices in South Los Altos are inching up:
Year to date, the median sales price for single family homes sold in South Los Altos is $1,540,000. The graph below shows the last seven years of median sales prices in South Los Altos. You’ll note that the median sales prices in South Los Altos have steadily increased since 2009. It looks like we’re back to 2005 – 06 prices.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to find your South Los Altos dream home, click here?
Should you have any questions about selling your home in today’s market or you wish to purchase a home, please call or text me at 650 465-0755.
Earlier this month a home in South Los Altos closed escrow. Nothing new or exciting given that approximately 12 homes a month close escrow in South Los Altos each month. What is interesting is how this home was “marketed” and how much money the seller left on the table. Let me explain.
Back in May/June of this year, this South Los Altos home was put on Craigslist as a “for sale by owner” listing for just under 1.2 million dollars. The owner knew that he could sell the family home quickly (“because everything in this neighborhood sells quickly”) and reduce his selling expenses (by not having to pay a listing agent side commission). Selling by owner is a viable option for sophisticated sellers who have the knowledge, time, energy and resources. Unfortunately, the “for sale by owner” route didn’t work out as well as I think the seller would have wanted.
The house sold quickly and closed escrow in early July. However, the sales price of $1,140,000 was substantially below market given the recent comparable sales.
The new buyer-investor did a modest remodel (a flip kitchen – looks nice but not something an owner would put in for themselves, interior paint, patio and landscaping etc.). The home was listed with an Realtor, placed on the multiple listing service and sold in one week for over 1.36 million. I estimate the net gain (after all expenses and fees) to the new owner-investor at approximately 100k.
Had the original home owner’s heirs marketed the home correctly, they would have received more money. Instead an investor bought the home under market and sold it for a substantial profit. It is sad, but a sizeable amount of the investor’s profit was the equity that this family had earned over it’s 30+ years of home ownership. It should have gone to the original homeowner’s heirs, but instead it went to an investor who owned the home for less than 4 months.
Yes, the remodel added value but as all investors who buy a home in order to flip it for profit understand, the big money is earned on the initial purchase and subsequent value is added with any remodeling.
By the way this remodel was very limited in scope relative to the usual flip that happens in Los Altos. Usually an investor will remodel the kitchen (with median-higher end finishes), remodel all bathrooms, change out all windows, add crown molding, change out the baseboards, change out lighting, re-finish the hardwood floors and/or replace carpeting, paint and landscaping.
Two reasons I think the flip was limited in scope:
Time constraint issues. A complete remodel would push out the date the home would hit the market to late fall when typically there are fewer buyers
They made a sizeable profit when they bought it “for sale by owner.” Further remodeling would have reduced the profit margin percentages. They could have just painted and landscaped and still made 70k profit.
Lessons Learned:
“For sale by owner” properties attract buyers who are probably more sophisticated than the average home seller.
Selling real estate to maximize one’s profit is not as easy as it may appear.
Get advice from experienced and trusted sources.
Exposing the home to the largest pool of buyers generally yields better results
Taking the emotion out of the deal usually yields better results.
It is early November. Does it make sense to buy a home now or wait until next spring when housing inventories are typically higher. Although there is no definitive answer, this video points to a few things that buyers should think about before making the decision to buy now or wait.
Note: There are properties that are currently for sale but not listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). As we get later on in the year, more properties will be taken off the MLS and re-introduced to the market in February. These are opportunities to buy a home in town at a discount. Make sure your agent has access to these listings or you may be missing out on a good buying opportunity.
If you don’t have an agent working for you, I would be happy to sit down with you to discuss your housing options. Please call me directly at 650 917-4250. Thank you.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are fifty-six single family homes for sale in Sunnyvale’s zip code 94087. Thirty-one homes are active listings and the remaining twenty-five homes are under contract. The average list price for the active properties is $959,597. The average list price for those homes under contract is $858,374.
September Home Sales Activity For 94087 – Home sales are steady.
25 single family homes (SFH) closed escrow in 94087 in the month of September. Since 2007, the average number of SFH sales in September has been 28.
Eleven properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. Properties priced between $900k and $999k received the most buyer activity.
The median sales price of single family homes in 94087 has remained fairly steady (at around $930k – $940k) throughout 2011. Lastly the price per square foot has also remained steady at around $520/ft.
Should you have any questions about selling your home in today’s market or you wish to purchase a home, please call or text me at 650 465-0755.
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