Median List price for San Jose 95129

Cinnabar winery sign (Big Basin Way, Saratoga)

In many communities such as Saratoga, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Willow Glen, Campbell and Palo Alto, there is a high premium placed on homes which are close to the downtown area.  Many real estate agents advertise these as “walk to town” but the idea is simple: it’s nearby, you can stroll, skate, ride or bike, wheel yourself and forget the car.

Downtown Saratoga, also called Saratoga Village, welcomes residents and visitors to a charming, scenic area with fabulous shops, spas, wine tasting venues, restaurants and more.  This part of the city boasts top scoring schools as well as lovely older and historic buildings and a gorgeous park alongside Saratoga Creek. Whether you spend an afternoon or a lifetime in Saratoga, this part of town will call you back again and again!

What do you need to know about buying a house, townhouse or condo in downtown Saratoga?

There are a few points which you are well served to know when purchasing residential real estate in this upscale community. We’ll touch on a few of them here: historic homes, traffic & noise, natural hazards, parking, and special issues with condos, townhouses and PUDs (planned unit developments).

First, this downtown Saratoga Village zone is historic; while not every property is deemed historic, many are and that means that there will be restrictions on remodeling and expansion of single family homes or houses. For instance, original glass in windows may need to remain if you’ve got a Victorian house dating from the 1890s, and expansions may need to be off the back of the home so that the facade keeps its initial look and feel (just examples).  This can be frustrating if you buy a luxury home that “needs work” and you are surprised later. If the house was built before 1950 or so, double check the rules! (more…)

Some Silicon Valley home buyers do not want to have their own buyers agent, but instead expect that they can find properties in the San Jose area that they want to see and request that the listing agent show it to them in a private appointment.  These same potential buyers may be surprised that the listing agent may refuse to show them the listing outside of a regularly scheduled open house – that is, if the seller is permitting open houses.

What’s going on?

In earlier articles we’ve discussed the need for a buyer broker agreement (verbal at the least, but possibly in writing) and why you, as a buyer, ought to have your own representation at the negotiation table.  (If you missed these, see the links under “related reading” below.)   Today I want to dispel the myth that the listing agent is required to open up and show condos or houses for sale to anyone who calls and requests seeing them and explain why that’s the case.

Showings of homes for sale are determined by the listing agreement or contract between the home seller, the listing agent or Realtor and the broker

The most important thing for buyers to understand is that the accessibility of the home for viewings depends upon the agreement, verbally or in writing, between the owner of the property and the agent/brokerage hired to market, negotiate, and sell the real estate.   It’s not an “on demand” situation where an interested buyer can insist on seeing the property as desired. Here are some of the expected scenarios and reasons why showings are somewhat restricted most of the time: (more…)

What should you look for when buying a luxury home in Silicon Valley? Whether it’s a move-up purchase or a first home, there are a few tips which will be helpful for you to know going into it that will make the whole home buying experience smoother and easier.  We’ll hit on 3 areas: first geography & construction, second hyper local factors that impact market value, and finally qualities or features of the property or house itself.

It’s hard to assign an exact price tag on what constitutes an estate or luxury property, but in and near Silicon Valley, in most regions it’s the $2,000,000 and up price point (it will be less in Morgan Hill, Coyote and Gilroy – and likely more in Hillsborough).

1. Geography and Bay Area Construction: it’s different here!

The first and most important thing to understand is that real estate and housing construction vary from one region of the country (or the world) to the next.  This is true for all types of homes, actually, but perhaps more obvious in the priciest homes. Luxury real estate in Silicon Valley is a little different from similarly expensive homes in other parts of the country due to our climate, soil conditions, and natural hazards, such as earthquakes. What seems mandatory for a high end home (and might be ideal to have elsewhere) could be a problem here, so it’s helpful to literally understand the lay of the land before you get too far along the home buying path. A couple of quick examples:

• A fabulous home in Boston or anywhere in New England may be built of brick.
• Here, a brick house is seldom seen because of earthquakes – we need our houses to move and bricks are not usually too good at that!

I mention these two upfront because well intentioned friends and relatives may want to stress the importance of this or that in a property – and it may simply not apply here. (Please see article: Qualify The Advice You’ll Accept When Buying or Selling a Home in Silicon Valley)  If you are non-native to the San Francisco Bay Area, you may have assumptions about construction or architecture that may not work here. Please just be aware of that possibility.

2. Understand the importance of hyper local factors on the market value of a property

Schools can be a main driver for home values in the luxury market as all other segments.  Home buyers may not know that the town or city boundaries are usually irrelevant to school district boundaries. Here are a few examples:

• In Saratoga  there are 3 high school districts and 4 elementary school districts.  Before buying anywhere in Saratoga, then, you’ll want to know which district is which and where you’re buying.  If you want to utilize private schools, you may be delighted to find that you can buy more house for your money in one area of this lovely city than another.  Or you may want one school area over another for any number of reasons.
• In Los Gatos there are 2 high school districts and 3 elementary school districts.
• In the Almaden Valley area of San Jose, there are 3 high school districts and 3 elementary school districts

Often the lesser public school districts will have a lower lid on pricing than the very top districts or schools, so it’s important, when analyzing the pricing of an estate home, to factor in the weight of the school. (more…)

When I show homes in and around San Jose, often I will see things that my buyers don’t recognize and I will take that as an opportunity to educate them on some of the components of a house, townhouse or condo.  (The strangest question along these lines I ever got was when a Silicon Valley first time home buyer had never noticed or recognized antennae on houses before and wondered what they were!)

A whole house fan is a more affordable way to cool down a residence. How does it work?  In the evening, when the outside air temperature is lower than the indoors temps, windows are opened and the whole house fan is turned on for about 15 minutes.  The fan sucks all of the hot air out of the house and discharges it outside.  Since the windows, and maybe doors, are open, this vacuum sucks in the cooler night air.

This is a lot cheaper than air conditioning to install and also to run. According to one whole house fan installation website “installing a Whole House Fan is approximately 25% the cost of installing an air conditioning system and approximately 10% the cost to run.”

Alternatively, of course, if you do not want to have A/C, or if you don’t want to run the air conditioning every time it’s a little too warm, you can pull out fans for the windows and doors in your home and run them in the evenings to pull in the cooler night air.  But the whole house fan is easy and convenient – you simply turn a switch on and off – and is considered a very nice home improvement.

Whole house fans have been gaining in popularity across all types of markets, even among luxury homes, since they are more energy efficient and eco-friendly than air conditioning.  The only thing you might not know that’s important to understand upfront is that when it’s running, the noise is very loud.  Luckily it only goes for a few minutes – a perfect opportunity to step out onto your back porch and enjoy the cool evening air while it runs.

Our fall weather here in Silicon Valley is acting like spring weather – bouncing back and forth between warm, dry days and cold, wet ones.  Should this impact the way you present your home to the real estate market if it’s for sale?  Absolutely.

If you want to make the best impression on potential home buyers, your house, townhouse or condo needs to be inviting no matter what the weather may be doing.  In the heat of summer, sellers are tempted to close up all the curtains to keep out the sun and heat – it’s a mistake because buyers typically don’t respond well to dark, cave like homes.  The wet weather brings different challenges that also must be handled appropriately if you are to snag that best buyer!  Here are a few tips to make your listing the one that appeals to Silicon Valley home buyers who come out to see it:

1. Make sure that your downspouts are directing rain water away from your house or any structures (often 6′ or more is suggested); it is imperative that there be no “pooling” of water, especially near the home – this will cause buyers to worry about water in the crawl space and what it may be doing (foundation cracks, mold, etc.)
2. Trim bushes and vegetation back from walkways and sidewalks.  When it’s wet outside, these lovely bunches of greenery collect water and as visitors go past them, they can spill water onto the passers by. Not pleasant.  Look at your sidewalks, driveway, and walkway and make sure that wet bushes and branches won’t be hitting anyone coming up to your front door.
3. If your gutters leak, they’ll be noticed and will indicate that your property hasn’t been properly maintained, so repair or replace them.
4. Indoors, keep the heat on if the temperature would be below the comfortable range – cold buyers don’t linger, and buyers who don’t linger don’t buy! I suggest at least 66-67 degrees. (more…)

A real estate contingency is a provision that something must be overcome or approved to consummate a transaction.  In other words, it’s a condition, such as “I will buy this house IF (fill in the blank)”.

Silicon Valley real estate consumers are well aware that home buyers normally have a few contingencies during escrow.  The major ones are for property condition or inspection and loan or finance (to include appraisal).  But there are others too, such as approving the preliminary title report, obtaining and accepting disclosures etc. (On rare occasions, such as some tenant occupied properties, the buyer may have to make an offer first and then, after it’s accepted, view the home or apartment building. In that case it’s “write offer subject to inspection” – a contingency that you’ll accept it after you get into escrow! This is how apartment buildings and some multi-family dwellings are sold.)

What about seller contingencies?

Sellers, too, may be able to back out of the contract if certain conditions are not met.  The two we see most common are these:

1. In the case of a short sale, the sellers have a contingency for bank approval and for their acceptance of the bank’s terms.  If the bank doesn’t approve the short payoff, the seller does not have to sell the house to the buyer.
2. Sometimes sellers only want to sell their home if they can find another one which they wish to purchase.  This can be a contingency also: “sale subject to sellers’ finding a replacement property within X number of days“.

Some homes are part of a co-op (cooperative) and in a few areas around the country, I think mainly in New York City, a board must approve whomever wants to purchase the home or unit.  In those cases, there would be a seller contingency for board approval.  I have never run into it in the San Jose, Los Gatos, or Saratoga area but it is possible that you could see it somewhere in California.

How does a seller’s contingency impact value and desirability?

Seller contingencies usually make it difficult to attract buyers since there is a giant unknown in terms of the ability to close escrow and it’s not in the buyer’s control to fix it.  With short sales, that contingency must be in place for the seller, but not so for the “replacement property” clause.  When sellers invoke that contingency (which must be listed in the MLS), it will usually cut down on showings, offers, and ultimately the probable buyer’s value for the home – so normally this is not advisable.