Many, many years ago, when I was a new agent, a friend of mine (who wasn’t a Realtor) suggested to me that being a listing agent takes knowledge and skill but “anyone could drive buyers around in their car”.  I was stunned that she could think that buyers’ agents do nothing more than drive from house to house and unlock doors for people. 

Lockbox and Keysafe Set

Last weekend I held a listing in Saratoga open and a young couple asked me if I could work with them in writing the offer on that home.  This happens a lot – buyers are out searching on their own, independent of any professional real estate guidance, and when they find a home they like they just “use” the agent who’s got the listing.

Apparently, the old view and the current one aren’t so different from each other.  It amounts to this: who needs a buyer’s agent?
(more…)

“Red flags” are clues that something is wrong or potentially wrong. They’re the hints that we need to investigate something further, the sign that we should be on alert.

Some parts of San Jose, and Silicon Valley generally, enjoy beautiful older homes with classic styling and beautiful finishing work.  These properties and neighborhoods are prized because they are not cookie cutter, not ranch, not too new.  They may be Victorian, Craftsman, Spanish, or any number of other interesting architectural styles.

One area of Santa Clara County that is well known for both charming historic homes and unfortunately also some stuctural issues among those older houses is the Willow Glen district of San Jose.

On Saturday I showed some clients about a half dozen homes, all in Willow Glen, and we saw a lot of “red flags” which hinted of foundation problems, among others.  I thought I’d share a few pics I snapped at one of them with my treo camera here.  All of these were taken on the front porch of this house – all visible structural  “red flags” before we ever set foot into the house.
(more…)