Today consumers have a lot of choices as to where to search for properties for sale in Silicon Valley (the South Bay area, Santa Clara County, San Jose, Los Gatos, Almaden etc.).  But not all “find a home” sites are equally accurate.  Some websites display listings that are sale pending, sold & closed or even withdrawn.

The very best, most accurate and most often updated site is the public branch of our agent-supported Multiple Listing Service or MLS, which is MLSListings.com.  You can find it at www.MLSListings.com. (If sending your own agent info a house, it is helpful if you provide both the street address and the MLS #.  By the way, the first few digits of the number imply the year that the listing was put into the system.  811 = 2011.  810 = 2010.)

Why is MLSListings.com the best source for finding Silicon Valley homes for sale?

It is updated constantly.  Within a few minutes of whenever a real estate agent or broker changes the listing status, comments, photos, showing instructions, open house information,etc., the new information is displayed on MLSListings.  While it’s not instantaneous, most changes appear within 5-10 minutes (photos being the slowest to load).

MLSListings is syndicated out to some other sites, but some don’t update often (or at all).  Other sites rely upon the listing agent to go to that one site and update the status.  Realtors and other licensees get busy and this task may slip through the cracks, making you believe that a home is available when it’s not. MLSListings.com is the source.

You don’t have to register. Some of the portals that you might consider visiting to view the MLS info may not include the virtual tour or all pics – or might show them to you only if you register.  You do not need to register to view houses, condos, townhouses, multi units etc. on MLSListings.com. (more…)

Selling and buying homes can be exhausting and emotional, even overwhelming.  This level of stress can rise when children are involved as parents also “run interference” to a degree to help make the transition smooth for their kids.  Another added stresser is relocation to a new community far away.

What can parents and their real estate agents do to help the youngest members of the family to move as peacefully and contentedly as possible?

Communication about the moving process is key

Few of us like surprises that come on a big scale and change the way our lives are lived on a day-to-day basis.  This is also true for our offspring, for whom routine can be a comfort.   Just as you wouldn’t begin a vacation without explaining to your three year old that it’s only a trip and that you will later return home, so too it helps to explain to your child that the family is staying together, the toys, furniture and pets are coming along, but that the house or condo will be “new”.  Providing a sense of security and reassurance first can enable the process to be possibly even fun. (Young kids will think that the furniture and toys go with the house so will likely vocalize their preference for a new place with the most fun stuff unless they understand that their toys will move with them.) (more…)

Silicon Valley home buyers sit on pins & needles once they have written their contract to purchase property.  They wait and wonder and may have trouble sleeping while they expect a response. This is normal, of course. It’s hard to wait.

What happens after the Silicon Valley real estate contract is signed?

Sometimes, offers are presented in person by your buyer’s agent directly to the listing agent and sellers and there may be a nearly immediate response, or at least something soon after – within a few hours.  More often, though, now offers are presented by email to the listing agent, who in turn gets it to the seller either at a personal meeting or also by email.  Most of the time there is a counter offer, but sometimes there was enough communication ahead of time between the agents that in fact an offer is written in an acceptable fashion and is simply accepted by the sellers without any counter (or there were multiple offers and one was good enough to accept without a counter).

Some real estate trainers insist that every offer should get a counter offer – sellers should never simply accept the contract presented by the buyers

Some real estate trainers (who are teaching Silicon Valley real estate agents what to do) insist that every offer should always be countered so that buyers do not later worry that they overpaid. “Make them work for it” so they don’t have buyer’s remorse is the theory.  The bigger the fear of “buyer’s remorse”, the more likely that the agent will further negotiate the offer – at least a little. (more…)

Historically Low Interest Rates!

Each person, couple, family is different and the best timing to buy a home in Silicon Valley may vary wildly from one to the next.  But with interest rates this low – low 4s – it’s a good time to be thinking about making use of “cheap money”, get off the fence if you’ve been waiting and plunge in (or if you are already a homeowner, consider refinancing or purchasing investment property).

I believe that the last time mortgages were this inexpensive was in the very early 1960s or late 50s.   (I recall my grandfather having a VA loan from the late 50s or early 60s that was in the fours.) But you don’t have to take my word for it.  Please have a look at this historical mortgage interest chart – scroll to the very bottom of the page.

These incredibly affordable rates are, in my opinion, very likely a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for home buying.  Today I had a look at the average interest rates for mortgages each year going back to 1972 on the FreddieMac site. At the right, please find the average interest rate for each year, and the average points paid.  This year isn’t over but I’m ballparking us at 4.5% (though as of right now, rates are even lower than that at 4.35% and less than one point).

At the risk of sounding old and self-focused, I want to add that when Jim and I bought our first house in 1989, we got a loan at 10.25% and paid 2 points to get it that low. We were ecstatic when a few years later we could refinance all the way in the 8s!  The 7s seemed impossible and when it got into the 6s and 5s, who could believe it!

Right now I have home buyer clients with 20% down who are getting a 30 year fixed mortgage for about 4.25% and 1 point.  Incredible.

Home buyers often focus on the price of the home to decide affordability. But the truth is that when you purchase real estate, unless you buy “all cash” you are buying two things, not one: you are buying a house or condo and you are also buying a loan product. It is important to consider the cost of BOTH.
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Wheneever I have new home buyers, there are always components in houses for sale (or condos or townhomes) which need explaining. There are so many things which Silicon Valley home owners take for granted as known and understood, but sometimes they aren’t so obvious to new home buyers. So today I’ll share a few photos and simply explain what each is.

Ever see one of these (photo below) protruding from a garage on your way up to a front door? It’s the dryer vent!

Recently a friend asked me about the way in which vendors are selected when people buy and sell homes.  In some cases, Silicon Valley home buyers or home sellers know which title company, home inspector, home waranty provider or other vendor to hire.  Most of the time, though, they don’t. They are hoping that we real estate professionals can put them into contact with good providers.

When working with my clients, for most vendors I provide a trusted  list of sorts.  For the various inspections (roof, chimney, home, pest, etc.) or other service (lender, home warranty, title company) there might be as few as two or as many as six resources listed.  Most often, my clients ask me if I have one or more which I prefer, and most of the time it is one company for each category (I have a favorite termite company, favorite home warranty company, etc.).

The home buyer or seller in Santa Clara can pick or hire anyone or any company he or she pleases for these various jobs. We agents can and will assist with sharing the names and numbers of those whom we know, like and trust, but at the end of the day, it’s the client who chooses. So really it’s up to the client – he or she can do some research or not.  But if they tell me (as they most often do) to go with my preferred vendor, there’s one in each category and I don’t tend to “spread the business around”.  Over the years, agents tend to build relationships with people in these companies and get a sense of whom they can trust and want to work with. (We agents would hate it if a client with six homes to sell picked six different Realtors to rotate through, too. We tend to want and also to give loyalty.)

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If you read a termite or pest report, you may bump into the phrase “cellulose debris“. What does it mean?

Usually cellulose debris means that there are scraps of wood, sawdust, or bits of wood (possibly paper). It’s any kind of material made of wood.   Most often, cellulose debris is mentioned as found in the crawl space of a home.  Sometimes it’s infected (meaning there is a wood destroying organism such as termites present), other times it’s simply an invitation for “wood borers” such as termites to come and feast on the wood members that are laid out as a buffet for them.

In our Silicon Valley area, pest reports are normally “separated” into Section 1 and Section 2 findings.  If the cellulose debris is called out as Section 1, that means that there’s an infestation of termites or other wood-destroying organisms present.  If it’s Section 2, that means that it’s not yet infected but is an invitation to trouble.

Pest control operators will suggest that cellulose debris be removed so that termites and other wood eating oranisms aren’t attracted to the crawl space or other areas of the home.  It’s a nuisance to get rid of it, but much better to prevent a problem upfront than to wait and have to solve it later.