Most homes in Silicon Valley come with some type of parking space for cars beyond street parking.  Home buyers want to know that there will be a place for their vehicles (and often their “stuff” too).   Garages and parking are sometimes under-appreciated aspects of evaluating real estate, so it will be the focus of today’s topic. 

Because a real estate purchase is a big ticket item, it is always important to consider the ability to sell it later.  (Always buy with selling in mind!)  Will it be hard to sell it in the future if it is not a red-hot sellers market?  Parking can greatly impact “resale value” and overall desireability to a large portion of consumers.   If you are evaluating a condominium, townhouse, or planned unit development home with private roads and parking, there will be some special concerns that may be a little different than if you were purchasing a single family home. We’ll consider both.

General principle:  In all types of housing in the San Jose area, usually the most highly desired type of parking arrangement is an attached garage.  This is not true in all cases but is generally true.  You would not find homebuyers interested in historic homes (Victorian, Spanish, Craftsman) wanting a prominent two car garage at the front of the house, commanding the lion’s share of the view from the street. (So don’t expect to see that in Japantown, Naglee Park, or the the Rose Garden.)  But for the typical buyer of the more common ranch style home, the attached garage is expected and appreciated, and if it’s missing it’s a challenge to sell the property later because as sellers you’ll be appealling to a far smaller pool of buyers.
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What kind of residential lots will hold value the best in Silicon Valley? There are corner lots, flag lots, cul-de-sac lots, other irregularly shaped lots and standard lots. If you are concerned about resale value and appreciation, it’s helpful to know what most of the buyers will ordinarily prefer.

While some people prefer a corner lot (more light, fewer adjacent neighbors), for most, the extra traffic and noise outweighs the plusses. The most-desired lot for homebuyers, generally, is a normal, interior, standard lot.

Cul-de-sac lots are also highly valued among many buyers, though not all. With the court location comes a lack of street parking, especially at the end, and a lack of exit routes. Recently I held a listing open in Los Gatos that was on a cul-de-sac and the idea of only one way in or out spooked one buyer who otherwise really liked the location, which was close to Los Gatos schools. Homes at the end of the court also have irregularly shaped lots, and they tend to be harder to utilize as well but offer large backyards. So there are plusses and minuses, especially at the end of the court.

The key or flag lot is usually considered the least desireable location for the majority of homebuyers in Silicon Valley, because those lots are fairly “hemmed in” by other lots all around them. If you aren’t familiar with a flag lot, you can visualize a lot shaped like a flag on the flagpole – the flag itself is the lot, and the pole is the driveway.

All of these generalizations, of course, are dependent on all other things being equal. A flag lot with a great view will be far more desireable than a standard lot with neighbors who don’t keep up their yards! Keep this tidbit of information as just one of many in your arsenal for determining what adds up to the best investment you can make in today’s Silicon Valley real estate market.