With fabulous views, exceptionally high ranking schools and beautiful newer construction, the Graystone and Pfeiffer Ranch neighborhoods in San Jose’s Almaden Valley are perennially desireable.

Today I was in the neighborhood and took a photo of Mt. Umunhum from there. 

The neighborhood also enjoys a park along the creek with a playground to enjoy on days with better weather.

Not sure if you’ve been to this scenic part of San Jose’s Almaden Valley?  Here’s where to find it (this is where I took today’s picture):

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How can you get the most “bang for your buck” with Silicon Valley homes when schools are your top priority?

Santa Clara County Realtors know that the performance of local schools is often the leading factor which drives housing values. Different families have different wants and needs, so sometimes it’s not all (or just) about the API scores. (On a related note, consumers please note that real estate agents aren’t API experts and we will not have the exact scores of all schools memoriezed, but we do know how to obtain that information online and elsewhere.)

Because school district boundaries are not identical to city boundary lines, often times there’s confusion about which neighborhoods belong to which school. By understanding this small quirk, you may be able to save many thousands of dollars.

For instance, Cupertino Schools are very highly regarded. But you may not have to be in Cupertino to enjoy the benefits of the district! Part of San Jose (in the 95129 zip code) is part of the Lynbrook High School area. Prices are noticeably lower with the San Jose address.

Likewise with the highly esteemed Los Gatos Schools, the boundaries of the district don’t line up with the town’s boundaries. Hard to imagine, but one little corner of San Jose (in Almaden Valley, off Guadalupe Mines Road) actually belongs to the Los Gatos School district. Homes are less costly in Almaden than in Los Gatos, so this is another great bargain if schools are the most important thing to you.

There are less dramatic examples too, such as homes with a Los Gatos mailing address belonging to Saratoga schools, or Los Altos homes being in the Cupertino school area.

Experienced agents, like those of us at Luxor Real Estate Group, know about some of these “fine points” in Silicon Valley real estate and our knowledge can provide you with a distinct advantage in home buying. Please call us today for help in getting started or continuing your homebuying.

How’s the San Jose real estate market for condos in Cambrian Park?  Let’s have a look at some of the numbers from my Real Estate Report):

As you can see, inventory is way down year over year - it’s down by 2/3!  The market is largely about supply & demand.  Right now, home buyers know that interest rates are poised to rise (one half to one full percent) sometime this year, so many are finally jumping off the fence and wishing they’d done this a year ago. 

Sellers, meanwhile, are not happy about the new, low prices so are holding off on selling.  Hence, we are experiencing a shortage of supply. 
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A lot of angst is caused by computer generated estimates of home values. Most buyers realize that “auto comps” are seriously flawed. Some sellers worry a great deal about the impact that one of these sites might have on their home’s chances of selling at a fair price.

What is the difficulty with these sites (such as Zillow)? Why are they unreliable?

Real estate professionals know that a great many area-related things can impact home values, such as school districts, city boundaries, zip codes, or even being on one side or another of a somewhat main road. Most often, the computer generated estimations of value do not factor these things in.

Additionally, these automated systems rely on county records, which are often incorrect. They don’t “see” remodels, they don’t “compute” deferred maintenance! They cannot factor in a view - good or bad.

To ascertain a home’s probable market value, it’s best to find recently sold homes (pendings and closed sales) that are related to the subject property as follows: within a mile, within 10-15% of the size of the home, similar lot size, similar age, similar condition, and close proximity of time (preferably within the last couple of months). Additionally, the “comps” should be in the same school district and have the same city or town name and have the same zip code.

Many things can “throw” value: odors in the home, high voltage power lines, an overcrowded or unkempt street, noisy neighbors & dogs which bark too much, having apartments too close, being adjacent to freeway walls, train tracks etc.

If you view these types of market analysis sites online and get a “value” provided, please remember that these sites are extremely limited. Please understand that the number you see could be far higher or lower than market value. It is not uncommon, in my experience, to have them off as much as 20%.

What’s the solution? If you read these online valuations, do so with a large “grain of salt”. A better approach is to contact your Realtor and ask for recent comps and if you need to know the precise valuation, ask for that. Your real estate professional can help you to get a handle on your home’s current value, whether it’s to petition for lower property taxes or to decide if you can refinance or sell.

No, sorry, there aren’t a lot of distressed homes for sale in the Saratoga and Los Gatos areas.  Would be bargain hunters email me regularly, hoping to find lots and lots of short sales and bank owned (REO - real estate owned by the bank) houses for sale in high end west valley neighborhoods.

There just aren’t many of them!

As of today, in Los Gatos (95030 and 95032 zip codes) and Saratoga (95070) , there are 185 single family homes (houses, perhaps a few “duet homes”) for sale.  Of the 185, a mere 14 of them are distressed properties (6 bank owned, 8 short sale).  That is just 7.5%!  For those who want Los Gatos or Saratoga Schools (not Campbell, Union, or Cupertino), the odds are even worse.  Only two of those homes go to the Los Gatos-Saratoga High School District. (Prices of all distressed properties currently available in these areas range from $699,000 to about $3 million.)

There are some good deals to be found in addition to this very small pool of bank owned properties and short sale listings in Saratoga and Los Gatos.  Often the best deals are found among homes which have been on the market a long time but aren’t selling due to cosmetic issues.  Homes which need changes such as fresh carpet, paint, or “easy” updating and remodeling (like new countertops, light fixtures, etc.) can be the best bargains around, particularly if the seller is truly motivated.  So don’t lose heart - just broaden your strategy a little and you’ll be far more able to locate a suitable home.

How’s the market in Saratoga?  Your view of the market will be influenced by whether you’re looking at the homes that have sold, the ones on the market, or the ones that are sitting and not selling. 

Here’s a look at the numbers from my Real Estate Report for single family homes: 

Among the sold homes, the median price has been slipping.  This is an “overall” number though, not reflecting price points, location, or school districts.

Here’s the same info for condos and townhomes in Saratoga:

As you can see there were no sales of condos in Saratoga in November - hence all the zeros.   What is managing to sell are the very least expensive homes - not the luxury condos.

Now let’s turn our attention to what’s happening now amoung the active or for sale homes in Saratoga (using Altos Research, to which I have a subscription).

Here’s a graph displaying the overview of list prices for condos and single family homes in Saratoga:

Oddly, list prices appear to be up even though the median sales price is clearly down.  Are sellers out of touch, or what’s happening?  We’ll need more data to answer that.

Here’s a similar graph but just of the single family homes, and this time with a breakdown by price quartile. (Please note that the info would be even more precise if broken down by school district, but this particular program doesn’t yet filter by schools.)

Interestingly, the middle quartiles showed upward movement in pricing over the last 12 months. I have buyers in the lower 3 quartile and it seems that there’s not much inventory among thouse in Saratoga or Cupertino Schools, and when the home is nicely fixed up and has no issues (problems), prices seem to be inching up. 
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San Jose’s Almaden Valley offers a great deal of scenic beauty, much of it enjoyable on foot or by bicycle.  The Alamitos Creek Trail also includes a hint of the region’s past.  Recently I took some photos of the Pfeiffer Stone House, a storage shed for the Goodrich’s Free Stone Quarry that was built around 1875.

You’ll find this curious bit of history at the corner of Graystone Lane and Pfeiffer Ranch Road, along the Alamitos Creek Trail.

View Pfeiffer Stone House in a larger map

This is water district land and the stone hut sits behind a chain link fence together with a plaque put up by the Mountain Charlie Chapter of E Clampus Vitus.

The creek is to the right of this photo, and the Graystone area is off to the left. (To see a few more photos, please click on the link below.)
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