Currently Housing Inventory is Low -

The Los Altos real estate market has always been inventory driven.  Typically, when single family home inventory spikes above 100 active listings, it is a strong buyers market.  Conversely, when inventory drops below 30 homes for sale, it is a strong sellers market.  Right now we are hovering around 45 active listings or a little over 2 months supply of salable homes.  It is strong seller’s market currently.

If enough sellers “time the market” by waiting until the newly minted millionaires cash in on their stock windfall, we may actually see a huge increase in inventory resulting in an unforeseen buyer’s market.

Continued Strong Buyer Demand -

Buyer demand is higher than previously seen.  More than two-thirds of the homes that closed escrow in Los Altos in the Month of April had multiple offers.  Most of the over bids were in the 100k-130k range but a few topped 300K.  Since January, multiple offers have become the norm rather than the exception.

Rather than wait, some of those who will benefit from their company going public have already joined the ranks of home buyers – only increasing the current demand for good homes.

Continued Low Interest Rates -

Twenty-six of the homes that closed escrow in April in Los Altos had financing.  Even buyers who can pay cash, are financing.  If they used cash to make the initial purchase, they are refinancing because the cost of money is historically low.  Buyers are cashing in on the low interest rates by buying and/or refinancing now.

Today’s newly minted millionaires have learned from the “Google Effect” era millionaires.   They aren’t going to rush out and buy a house just because they can.  Sure, there may be a few who aren’t familiar with having and/or managing large amounts of money who will go out and buy a trophy house.  But my bet is that those are few and far between.  Many will buy, but when they do, it will be a careful and well thought out lifestyle or investment decision.

Interested in Selling your home?

Give me a call at 650 917-4250

I’ve been licensed and actively selling residential real estate locally since 1993

April Home Sales Activity For Los Altos – Red Hot Active:

35 single family homes (SFH) closed escrow in Los Altos in the month of April.  This is the highest number of sales over the last 6 years in April.  The 5 year average number of SFH sales in April has been 24.

Twenty-one properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price.  Homes in all prices ranges received tremendous activity due to a scarcity of good homes for sale.

Prices Are up Big Time Over Previous Years:

The median sales price for single family homes that closed escrow in April 2012 was $1,950,000.  This is 20% higher than that of a year ago and 28% higher than April 2010.

Below is a five-year history of sales activity for single family homes in Los Altos:

If you are interested in selling your home give me a call at 650 917-4250.  You will need a lot of information before you decide on who to list your home with.  I’ve been licensed and actively selling residential real estate locally since 1993.

The heart of the home (figurative and literally) is the kitchen which features granite counter tops with eat-in bar, stainless steel appliances (however, the ovens are older), and an abundance of cabinet space.  Adjacent to the kitchen is a great workspace area that currently is being used as an office.  The spacious living room is highlighted by the wood burning fireplace.  Skylights provide additional light and a few open to provide air circulation.

The backyard is exquisite.  Imagine relaxing on a lounge chair with a good glass of wine and looking out onto your own private oasis.  Follow the strolling path as it meanders around Japanese Maples, fruit trees, redwoods and the beautiful Koi pond.  The second bedroom has its own private deck with raised garden box.

Pending availability, school aged children would attend Fairmeadow Elementary School (API 950), Jane Lathrop Stanford (JLS) Middle School (API 927) and Gunn High School (API 909).

We will be holding the home open this “Earth day” weekend from 1:30 -4:40 p.m.

See photos and virtual tour below:

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If you are thinking of selling your home “off market” as a pocket listing, you should watch the following video.

If you are looking for a great family friendly event to get your children introduced to the sport of triathlon, the 2012 Silicon Valley Kids Triathlon is for you.  The event promotes a fun and healthy way for kids to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and encourage self-esteem.  Although they are older now, my kids participated in this event several times and had a blast.  From a parent’s perspective this is a very well run and safe event and the volunteers do a great job.

The Silicon Valley Kid’s Triathlon raises money for the Silicon Valley Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that benefits foster children in Silicon Valley.

More than 1000 children between the ages of 4 and 15 are expected to participate. The event begins at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday June 10th at De Anza College’s swimming pool.  The distance of the race depends on your child’s age group and ranges from a 25 yard swim, 1-mile bike ride, 1/4 mile run for those 6 and under to a 200-yard swim, 6 mile bike ride, 1-1/4 mile run for ages 13-15.  See route information below:

Click Silicon Valley Tri For Kids route map.

Come on out and make it a great day!

The public portion of the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Egan Junior High (note: not the district office or the Covington multi).

Per LASD website, background on the  is below:

On February 1 the district presented a preliminary offer of facilities for 2012-13 to Bullis Charter School.  On March 1 the charter school delivered a response to the district’s offer.  The district is required by state law to take into account the charter school’s response when making its final offer on or before April 1.

In light of the charter school’s response and objections to the preliminary offer, and the recent Court of Appeals decision, the Board will explore as a possible solution an offer to share a K–6 campus with the charter school’s K–6 students, specifically the Covington campus, and leave the charter school 7th and 8th grade students at the Egan site.  Below is a DRAFT example of a shared Covington campus, with portable buildings added to provide enough space for both Covington and BCS students and staff.  It is important to note that this is just one of many possible configurations the Board is considering and will be discussing in open session as part of this agenda item.  Also below are maps of Egan and Blach showing the placement of classrooms under the district’s preliminary offer.

Click for LASD Board Meeting Agenda 3:19:2012

Click for LASD Press Release over facilities sharing

See below for photos of the proposed site changes:

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In this particular flyer, the buyer’s terms were clearly spelled out:

• I will buy the property in “as is: condition
• I will pay a fair price
• I will pay cash
• You can remain in the home for a while after we close
• I am not an agent
• I will pay all closing costs
• I will make this transaction easy and smooth

The second paragraph reads…

“If you are thinking of selling, please let me know and I will be happy to meet with you and make a fair offer.  I am not a real estate agent.  I am interested in property in this neighborhood.  I look forward to hearing from you….  “

The bottom had a first name, phone and e-mail address.

From a quick glance it appears as if this is just a guy who wants to move into my Los Altos neighborhood.  How flattering, he likes my neighborhood and wants to be my neighbor.  I did a little research and this is what I found out.

The buyer is a real estate investor.  He wants to buy a house if he can make money on it.  I’m not going to see him doing yard work out front.  His kids aren’t going to play with mine.  He won’t be at the neighborhood block party!

His flyer makes it look as if he is really interested in buying in the neighborhood for personal use, but the reality is he buys and sells homes off market for a profit.  It is a pretty sophisticated system whose success is based in part on the lack of knowledge or sophistication of the homeowner.

Here is how it works

After targeting a neighborhood with flyers (apparently his neighborhood is the entire peninsula), he receives a call from the unsuspecting home seller.   He offers a substantially below market offer but makes it sound better by making the process easy on the seller (buying “as is,” pay cash (really does he?), pay closing costs, allow the homeowner to stay in-house etc.).

The contract puts him and/or an assignee as the buyer (this allows him to assign the buyer’s contractual rights to a third-party).  Either before or while in contract, he secures an investor/buyer who will take over the purchase, he removes himself from the contract and a new investor/buyer becomes the buyer.  He walks away with a large fee for setting up the deal (does he need a real estate license for this?).  The new buyer gets a home below market and the seller is left wondering what happened.

The investor doesn’t want a real estate professional, real estate attorney, or anyone else who might scrutinize the deal involved.  The more eyes that look at the deal the less likely the deal will go through.

Why is this a bad deal for the home seller?

1. The investor will only purchase properties that are sold substantially below market rate – seller is leaving a large sum of money on the table.
2. The investor will only purchase properties “off-market” because he knows a house exposed to the market will cost him substantially more money, thereby reducing his profit – again, seller leaves money on the table.
3. By assigning the contract to another, the seller doesn’t know who the buyer really is or what the buyer’s qualifications are – there is a much higher probability that the deal won’t go through.
4. The investor is not a licensed real estate sales person yet acts like one (are these activities illegal?) - could potentially involve the seller in future legal problems.
5. The investor can tie up a property for months (until he/she finds a buyer) – thereby preventing the seller from selling the home to anyone else.

Note:  I don’t believe the investor’s activities are illegal.  However, his flyers are misleading and his success is directly related to the seller’s lack of market knowledge.

If you receive one of these flyers and are curious, make sure you fully understand the deal and the person behind the deal before committing to anything.  You must know that if you choose to sell your home off-market or as a pocket listing, it is highly likely that you will net less money than if you sold it with full market exposure.  If approached, contact your local Realtor or a real estate attorney who specializes in these types of transactions to see if it is in your best interests to sell your home in this manner.

If you have questions about what is in your best interests when selling your home in today’s real estate market, please call me directly at 650 917-4250.

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.

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.

The home was built by Custom Dreams Construction Group in Los Altos.  For pictures detailing the home’s construction click 25893 West Fremont Road Construction.

If you are interested in buying or selling a dream estate, please call or text me directly at 650 465-0755.

It is totally understandable that seller-agents want to sell their own home.  I’ve done it myself – once.  Why would I pay someone else to sell my home?  After all, that’s what I do for a living.  I know the real estate market.  I know the comparable properties.  I know the neighborhoods and what buyers like.  Lastly, I know my home like no other agent could.  And that is where the problems begin.

Dealing with for-sale-by-owners is difficult enough, but dealing with one who also is a real estate agent can be extremely difficult for the following five reasons:

1.  Agent-owners lack the objectivity to view their home as a buyer would.  That rust colored shag carpet does not make the home retro and worth more.  Rather, it makes it look old and tired and worth less.  Successful home sellers understand the need to look at the home through the eyes of a buyer.

2.  Agent-owners think the price they paid for their home is related to its current value. Too often agent-owners behave like traditional home sellers.  Even though they know there is no cause and effect relationship, agent-owners believe (or hope) that their home is worth more than the amount they paid for it. Hello, just because you paid $$$ for the home, doesn’t make it worth $$$ plus $.  This is especially true in today’s real estate climate.  Current market conditions determine a home’s current market value.  In a buyer’s eyes, your ownership does not add or detract value from the home.

3.  Agent-owners can be irrational.  This usually becomes apparent during negotiations.  Comparable homes sales are just that, comparable.  Agent-owners use comparable home sales when establishing market value for their client’s homes.  Yet this same process gets skewed when they are dealing with their own home.  I love it when you go over comparable sales with agent-owners, they invariably believe that their home is worth more because it has “potential.”  Hello, ground control to agent Tom, potential means nothing!  Look at the numbers.

4.  Agent-owners sometimes throw ethics out the window when they are dealing with others on the sale of their own home.   Is this intentional?  No, but it happens.  Do they fill out the disclosure documents thoroughly or is some information lacking?  Agent-owners understand the process of selling a home, yet often disregard these processes.   For example, an agent-owner may tell agents that offers will be looked at “as they come in.”  Then when only one offer is presented, they change the rules and tell the real estate community that they are holding off looking at offers until a certain date in the future.  Meanwhile they “shop” the original offer to interested buyers and their agents.  Changing the rules midstream usually bites the agent-owner in the backside by scaring off solid buyers and their agents.  Unlike when a traditional home seller enlists a Realtor to sell their home, there is no second pair of eyes to oversee the process when an agent-owner sells his/her home.

5.  Agent-owners can scare off potential homeowners with their “over-exuberance.“  Ever go to an open house hosted by the owner?  That owner follows you around, pointing out everything they like about the property.  Kind of irritating.  Agent-owners do this to the “Nth” degree.  They’ll meet you at the door, want you to “sign-in” and then walk two feet behind you pointing out the lovely fireplace mantle and how much it means to them.  C-r-e-e-p-y!  Back off and let the buyers take a look at the house at their own pace.

It really comes down to the fact that anyone selling their own house can be far too emotionally invested in the home to make good real estate decisions.  There is no objective filter, no second pair of eyes.  That is one of the benefits of hiring a Realtor to sell your house.  A Realtor will look at things objectively and give you the perspective needed to achieve your real estate goals.

If you need someone to give you real answers to your real estate questions, call or text me at 650 465-0755