How many of the Silicon Valley homes for sale are listed as short sales? How many are bank owned properties? This morning I did some time pulling the numbers out for my readers so that you can see the actual real estate figures.

What’s being counted below are homes for sale, including houses, duet homes, condominiums and townhouses (or townhomes) in the various areas of Santa Clara County listed below.

As was the case a year or two ago, most of the short sale activity is taking place in the most affordable price ranges. The higher priced areas are not immune, though – but because there are fewer distressed properties to choose from, they get purchased rather quickly, so we’d see a higher percentage of them among the pending sales rather than the available listings.

Today I did a post on this subject focusing specifically on the Los Gatos real estate market in terms of short sales today vs the last couple of years (and the question of whether or not the trend is to rising numbers of short sales available). To learn more, visit the article on my Live in Los Gatos blog.

For bargain hunting buyers of high end properties, then, it’s slim pickings!  In the entry level areas, there’s much more selection but also lots of competition.  Last week I was involved with some buyers in a bidding frenzy in a terribly underpriced Cambrian short sale: it got 43 offers!  (So please remember that the list price may be completely unrelated to the sales price.)

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Silicon Valley, it helps to have the assistance of a Realtor with a pulse on the market.  Please contact me for a confidential & no-obligation meeting today!

It is a fairly strong seller’s market in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose.  Sales are up, inventory is down, and the list price to sales price ratio is at almost 102%.  Days on market are down for houses (which make up most of the market).  Some indicators are still negative but most are improving.

 Here are the numbers from my online Silicon Valley Real Estate Report for single family homes – houses & duet homes (click on the link for the whole report):

And for the condo and townhouse market in Cambrian Park, things are looking up quite dramatically, with prices even higher than a year ago:
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Planning and Budgeting to Sell Your Silicon Valley Home

Preparing your San Jose area home to sell should be done enough in advance of when you want to have your home go on the market that any unplanned repairs can be completed first (without a lot of time pressures) so that you net the most money possible from the sale. It’s hard to know how much time to allow for the unknown, but my suggestion is to provide yourself a month or two, if possible. Three is even better.  If you want to sell this upcoming spring, it’s smart to get started on your plan now.

In Santa Clara County, we have very mild winters and it’s not usually difficult to get most repairs done even in winter (unless they are “outside” repairs and we’re in the middle of a rare El Nino year).  If you start now, you should have no trouble finding inspectors (presale inspections are more than just a good idea!)  and contractors. If you wait ’til February, you may not be on the schedule of your own choosing.

So where to start? What to budget?
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Things have been rough for first time home buyers in Silicon Valley. Lenders have been tightening requirements for months, demanding larger down payments and more perfect credit than at any time in the last 10 years.  This is true all across Santa Clara County, from Evergreen to Saratoga to Cambrian Park and South San Jose. Money is tight.

For those hoping to get into a single family home for under $500,000, which is possible in some parts of San Jose right now, there’s real improvement in affordability over the prices we saw a year ago. But that’s only true if you can buy! Don’t be discouraged – if you want to buy, now’s the time to begin planning.

What do you need to do to be able to take advantage of the soft Silicon Valley real estate prices?

• Cash is king, especially now – so save for that down payment
• If necessary, consider buying your first home with your parents’ help. They can put down some of the downpayment and be on title with you and you can pay them back over time. Of course, consult a real estate attorney to set this up!
• Check into the first time homebuyer programs available in your city or town
• Meet with a good lender (who comes to you by referral) to work out a plan to buy, clean up any credit issues, and investigate any other opportunities for assistance (such as programs for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other city or county employees)

Call or email me if you’d like to talk about the possibilities of buying a home in today’s Silicon Valley real estate market!