If you are shopping for a Silicon Valley condominium, townhouse, loft or other property that’s part of a home owners association or “HOA”, you may find yourself flabbergasted at some of the dues being charged in San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all over Santa Clara Valley.  A question I hear all the time is this: “Why are those HOA dues so high?”

HOA dues may cover a number of things, including:

• common areas, such as driveways, parking, pool, fitness center, rec room, elevators, landscaping, etc.
• insurance: regular homeowners or blanket insurance but perhaps also earthquake or flood insurance
• reserve funds for planned improvements (repainting, termite work, reroofing, repaving, pool replastering etc.)
• covering the defaults from units where the owners are in or about to be in foreclosure

What is the range of pricing for HOA dues in Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley?

Depending on the age of the property and the amenities, the dues may run between $150 and $250 on the low end (newer, no amenities) to close to a thousand on the high end (The Villages retirement community has extraordinarily high dues but they may include membership in the golf course too).

“Normal” is anywhere from $350 to $400 per month for a typical condo or townhome community.

Dues over $400 per month will deter investment buyers.  Dues over $500 per month will deter almost everyone!

There are several things to beware of when buying a condo or townhouse.  First, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll want to learn how many of the members are in default, because this may ultimately cost you with special assessments.  A friend of mine, Laurie Manny, was a Realtor in Long Beach and wrote about this very eloquently (she passed away after a brief illness in August 2010, though her blog or website makes it look like she’s still selling real estate in Long Beach). Check out her timely post, which is still correct today: Long Beach Condo Buyers Beware! Long Beach Real Estate Condos and Lofts.

Second, you’ll want to check out the grounds and common area items to see if it looks like the community is being well maintained.  Do the buildings have peeling paint, patches of grass without lawn, and overgrown shrubs? If so, those are “red flags”.

Finally, if you’re serious about purchasing a home in that community, read the minutes, newsletters and the rest of the Home Owner Association paperwork. Yes, it’s tiresome and probably 2-3″ thick but it’s important.  (Imagine buying the home and not reading these but later discovering they don’t allow dogs – and you have a large lab!  Bad all around. )  The HOA docs will give you insight on the budget and whether any special assessments may be needed down the road.

When you purchase a house on a corner lot, you may not realize that most likely there will be additional requirements of you regarding your landscaping compared to other properties which are not on the corner.  This is because corner lots need to provide a “line of sight” so drivers of cars can see what’s ahead should they round the corner.

In most parts of Silicon Valley (San Jose, Los Gatos and elsewhere), in the setback area of a corner lot you will not be allowed to have fences or landscaping that are more than 3′ tall – with the possible exception of a tree in which the branches really only fan out at a height of 7-8′ or more.

For properties which are not on a corner, drivers don’t really need to see through the property to get visibility on the road ahead, so the landscaping rules are much less restrictive.

These rules are not often or uniformly enforced from what I can tell, but you never know when a code compliance officer might show up with the requirement that you thin out or remove some landscaping or fencework, so keep that in mind if you buy a house on a corner lot that is heavily landscaped too close to the street.  Also, check with your own municipality (Campbell, Santa Clara, the county if not in an incorporated area, etc.) to see the residential real estate codes which apply in your specific property’s case.

If you arrived into Silicon Valley via Highway 101, driving south from San Francisco, you might believe that the Santa Clara Valley, the San Jose area and Silicon Valley as a whole has got to seem to be the ugliest place on earth. Although heavily traveled, that is not the “scenic route”.

So, too, if you are looking for a place to live and are groping to find a place that is reasonably priced, fairly safe and not a terrible commute distance. You might not even have “is nice looking” on your wish list. You might not think it’s possible if all you ever see are the ugly concrete tilt-up buildings in north San Jose, Santa Clara, Alviso, or anywhere along the 237 corridor.  That area is an architectural wasteland.

Let me assure you: there are a lot of beautiful places in Silicon Valley where you can rent or buy a home. But how do you find them? It helps a lot to have a local give you a few pointers.  I’ll give you some tips today on finding a scenic place to live.

Hills – An easy way to find a scenic location to make your home is to settle near the hills, especially those in the west valley (the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Coastal Range) as they are green year-round. Communities at the base of the west valley foothills include, in Santa Clara County, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, and the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. All of these areas are adjacent to the hills or mountains and offer far better than average schools (many of them qualify as great – compare costs between these areas).

Of course, if you go into the hills instead of just being near the base of them, there will be valley views as well.  If you go to the summit area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, you could really luck out and get a 360 degree view of the Monterey Bay on one side and the valley and San Francisco Bay on the other.  (But that would not likely be a short commute to most of Silicon Valley.)

In San Mateo County, there’s Menlo Park, Redwood City, Belmont, Hillsborough…most of these communities are more scenic as you go closer into the hills. Some even offer a view of the San Francisco Bay.

In the east foothills of San Jose, there are many lovely areas too. Among my favorite are the old section of Alum Rock (with beautiful Spanish style houses up near the country club), some of the rural areas of the Berryessa district in San Jose and the southern part of Evergreen (near Silver Creek and the Villages).

Other hills and knolls - the coastal range and east foothills aren’t the only areas with a higher elevation and views.  Think of the Santa Teresa Foothills Blossom Valley, Santa Teresa areas), Communication Hill (Blossom Valley, Willow Glen), or the occasional small little hill such as Lone Hill in the Cambrian district of San Jose.  You don’t have to get very high up to have a great view.  Look at the terrain maps for small elevations and check those areas out!

Waterways - In addition to the mountains, there are many scenic spots in Silicon Valley alongside rivers, creeks and streams.  When I was a newlywed (back in 1985), my husband and I lived alongside Stevens Creek – that is, the waterway, not the major road – in Sunnyvale.  The apartment complex had a number of units overlooking the creek and there were tons of trees providing a great, green view.  You can check out that apartment complex online – it’s called Brookside Oaks.

Back to the bayfront housing:  you can get waterfront homes in Redwood Shores and Foster City, which are on the north end of “Silicon Valley” on the Peninsula.  Many of those areas are on landfill, and although well compacted, that fill is sitting on old bay mud.  Some structures in those areas have had problem with an undue amount of movement.  Others have had salt water get to their foundations, which can cause the re-bar inside to rust (making the foundation far less strong).  Both communities are super clean and attractive (I have sold homes in both).

Not quite Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz does offer many really lovely places in which to live too – great views from many spots.  Adjacent to Neary’s Lagoon there are apartments, townhouses (some of which are for rent) and low income housing too.  It’s a very scenic part of Santa Cruz and just about a mile from the beach on foot.  A few high rise buildings, such as the condo complex on Broadway, feature views of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Monterey Bay.

Flatlands – not to worry if you strike out with the hills and waterways.  There are still many lovely areas in Silicon Valley that are not included in those areas.  One is the beautiful San Jose neighborhood known as The Rosegarden. It is centrally located, with a great wide open space at the park, and loads of lovely older homes with tons of character.

If you enjoy classic architecture, you might check out a few areas closer to downtown San Jose: Naglee Park, Vendome area and Japantown.

Outside of San Jose, there are scenic urban living or downtown areas in the Willow Glen part of San Jose, downtown Campbell, downtown Saratoga, downtown Los Gatos, downtown Mountain View, downtown Menlo Park, downtown San Mateo, downtown Los Altos and of course the great magnet of them all, downtown Palo Alto.

In some of these places, the downtown area is also right up against the hills – and that is truly beautiful!  (Think Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos, Menlo Park.)  One nice townhome community in Saratoga has both green views within the complex, is right next to the coastal foothills and is just steps away from downtown Saratoga.  The area has top rated schools too.  If interested, check out Saratoga Oaks.) And don’t miss either Japantown or Santana Row for urban living!

Silicon Valley has a number of neighborhoods with great ambiance despite the absence of either hills or a quaint downtown.  Santa Clara’s “old quad” neighborhood (located near Santa Clara University) is just such a spot.

And, of course, there are spots in Santa Clara County with stunning golf courses, parks or heavily wooded or open areas that may not belong to the public but which create lovely vistas nonetheless.  A few orchards still dot Sunnyvale, San Jose, Saratoga and other parts of the valley. (New townhouses on Bersano Lane in Los Gatos are on a hill overlooking Lake Vasona. Beautiful views!)

For scenic senior housing, a retirement home or residential care facility for the elderly (which can mean independent living, assisted living, nursing or other), quite a few spots enjoy scenic views also:  Belmont Village in San Jose looks out over Santana Row on one side and the Winchester House on another; the Atrium in San Jose’s Blossom Valley has views of Mt. Umunhum; Saratoga Retirement Community enjoys a lovely campus but also is in among gently rolling hills and has a view of the Santa Cruz Mountains; the Villages in San Jose’s eastside community of Evergreen sits among lovely rolling hills and a golf course in the middle.

Many people relocating to the San Francisco Peninsula or the South Bay come from areas where homes cost half as much and seem to be twice as big, where there may not be so much congestion and where there is more open space.  We do have places like that, but it’s important to let whoever’s helping you know that this is important.    Whether you’re here to rent an apartment or purchase a townhouse or condo, it can be in a scenic place.  You just need to find them!

What’s Are The Fun Places for Kids In and Near San Jose?

There are oodles of fun things for kids and the young-at-heart to do in San Jose and the greater Silicon Valley area. Here are a few of the more dramatic highlights!

California’s Great America in Santa Clara. Suitable for all ages but teens will like this best! This park does offer some water play areas and some little kid areas (but it’s expensive for that). Shows in air conditioned theaters will be welcome on warm days. Check out the Wow Card (or VIP Pass if you want to park close) if you’ll be back again in the same season.
Information on season passes & free return trips to Great America

List of Attractions Throughout Santa Clara County and Beyond

Gilroy (south of San Jose)

Gilroy Gardens (formerly Bonfante Gardens) Want to make a bigger trip of it to The Garlic Capital of the World? Gilroy offers great shopping to dress up those kids (or yourself)! Outlet Mall – List of Shops. And maybe when that’s all done, do some wine tasting. If you can take a tour, the kids may not even get bored. List of wineries (and breweries) in and near Gilroy. And lastly, don’t forget the Garlic Festival! It happens in late July every year. Yes, it’s hot. Yes, they do really serve Garlic Ice Cream. You need to try it at least once! The Gilroy Garlic Festival – information, recipes, calendar, fun stuff for kids.

Over “The Hill” – Mountains, Santa Cruz & Monterey Areas

The Mystery Spot (in the Santa Cruz Mountains)

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Summertime: free concerts on Friday evenings!

A fun way to trek to the beach & boardwalk is to park and ride – on a narrow guage train ride through the beautiful redwood forest! Or just take a train ride through the trees. It’s a trip back in time to our logging days in the 1880′s and I highly recommend it. Roaring Camp & Big Trees

Well worth the 90 minute drive from San Jose to Pacific Grove: The Monterey Bay Aquarium

On The San Francisco Peninsula

Kids love airplanes, and they’ll love the Hiller Airplane Museum in San Carlos. The Hiller Aviation Museum

North Bay

Six Flaggs Discovery Kingdom Theme Park.

It’s possible to live in Silicon Valley and have no idea that there are still some original adobe houses to be found right here in the San Jose area. Today, though, I hope to help some of our residents discover the past which is lurking right in front of us!

The historic Adobe Woman’s Club is just a block or two off the campus of Santa Clara University, tucked away on a side street now that The Alameda is re-routed as The El Camino.  Address: 3260 The Alameda, Santa Clara.  According to the state’s historical preservation site, this state landmark # 249 is one of the oldest in the Santa Clara Valley, was built between 1792 and 1800 and was one of many row houses built for the native Americans who worked at Mission Santa Clara.  Please note that this is private property and you may not enter without permission, but the adobe abode is very visible from the sidewalk.

Today the beautifully preserved adobe house functions as a nonprofit group with these objectives: “to promote educational, moral, social welfare, cultural, civic and community service.  Anyone who supports these objectives is welcome.”  This scenic place can also be rented out for private events.  The garden is quite lovely and the interior appears to be very modern.  You can see photos of the inside of the house at the club’s website: The Santa Clara Woman’s Club.

Not too far from the Adobe Woman’s Club is Santa Clara’s oldest structure, the Berryessa Adobe, located at 373 Jefferson Street, Santa Clara.  It is open Thursdays and Saturdays from 12noon to 4pm. It features early California artifacts. The Examiner has a great article, full of history on this site: read up!

The Peralta Adobe House in downtown San Jose close to San Pedro Square (at 75 West Saint John Street) can be toured if you pull a group together. (It is also very close to the Fallon House, and the two can both be seen on the same ticket.)  According to the History San Jose website, this is the oldest house in San Jose, built in 1797 and “the last remaining structure from El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe.”

A few years ago, I did a “client appreciation” event with a tour of the Peralta Adobe and Fallon House.  At the time, anyone could tour these at any time by just showing up and buying a ticket.  The website now says that they need groups of ten or more to tour, so it sounds like another casualty of the Great Recession.  Those who did join me for my event seemed to really like it and I thought it was a good event so would recommend it to others.

Roberto-Suñol Adobe (aka Laura House): Less obvious is the Willow Glen adobe building hidden behind a wooden facade at 770 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose.  Dating from 1870, this adobe house is now home to law offices.  Most of the adobe cannot be seen, but the owners have kindly made visibile a portion of the original adobe construction. Originally, of course, it was a one story house, built in 1836  (have you ever heard of a two story adobe? No!).  According to stoppingpoints.com, “The one-story dwelling was enlarged in 1847 by the new owner, Antonio Suñol, the second story and balcony were added in 1853 by Captain Stefano Splivalo.”

In Milpitas, you can find the The Jose Maria Alviso Adobe, which also began as a one story adobe house and was later added onto with a second floor. As it was expanded, it grew into the one uniquely California style of architecture, the Monterey style.  Also in Milpitas is the Jose Higuera Adobe and Park.

In my own town of Los Gatos, there’s a hair salon/barber shop called the Old Adobe Hair Shop of Los Gatos too – but I cannot find any historical info on it (just business info). In Mountain View, there’s another on Moffett Blvd (that can also be rented out).

If you slow down, you’ll find hints of our collective history all around us – in San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Mountain View, Los Gatos and all over the “south bay”.   These are easy to miss…and wonderful to find and discover!

The weather’s great and there’s plenty to do to celebrate Halloween in and near Silicon Valley! Here are a few events you might consider in our Santa Clara County area:

And if you like “real” ghost stories, please stop by my Haunted Real Estate blog.

Happy Halloween!
Mary

The real estate news is so mixed it’s mind boggling, whether it’s a national perspective, one specific to California, the San Francisco Bay Area, the “south Bay”, Silicon Valley or even San Jose in particular.  It is anything but a uniform, monolithic market. Even so, it’s good to look at the big picture along side the hyper local level, and that’s what we’ll do today.

Today’s San Jose Mercury News featured a front page article by Sue McAllister (an excellent reporter) on Santa Clara County housing values.  She shares that Zillow says that we’ve hit bottom here in Santa Clara County.  That is certainly good news to home owners accross Silicon Valley!  And I don’t disagree that countywide, we’re definitely looking up right now.  No guarantees for the future, but Zillow says that the threat of a second or double dip no longer seems likely. Whew!

Unfortunately, there’s another real risk to this recovery and it’s not the “shadow industry”. This time it’s homeowners walking away because they’re underwater (not because they can’t afford to stay, but because they choose not to).  Sixty Minutes did a segment on this phenomena of home owners walking away last night., which you can watch via this link.

But back to today.  Looking at the big picture, Santa Clara County’s median sales price is up about 5% over a year ago (for both condos and houses). That doesn’t mean that homes have all appreciated 5%, but rather that half of all homes sold for more and half less at a point which is five percent greater than the amount of a year ago.  It does indicate improvement, but most of that is due to more expensive homes which are selling now.

Some areas are “selling like hotcakes” when a good home comes on the market and is priced aggressively.  In those areas, home prices are trending upwards.  The myth is that it’s happening everywhere, in every price range, and in every type of residential real estate for sale.  It’s just not true.

I cannot cover every part of the San Jose area, or every type of home for sale, but will provide a few examples (again) of how terribly local “the real estate market” is.  In some areas it can change block by block! 

What follows are graphs from Altos Research (to which I have a subscription) displaying the median list price of homes for sale in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Saratoga – both condominiums & townhouses as well as houses & duet homes.  The historical period shown for all is the last 3 years.

The median list price of Sunnyvale houses for sale.

And the same data in Sunnyvale but by price quartile. Please note how very different the market has been from one price point to the next.  The least expensive homes hit the “bottom” more recently than the most expensive ones – the top quartile had its worst period in the winter of 2008 but the lowest quartile hit it a full year later.

What about condos in Sunnyvale?

Viewed broadly, it does not look like the townhouse or condominium real estate market in Sunnyvale has hit bottom for sure.  We see a tiny uptick at the end – but it’s hardly what you could call “sustained” at this point.

 When we look at the market for Sunnyvale townhomes and condos by price quartile, it appears that the most expensive ones may be trending upward in price.  Are they leading the recovery?  Perhaps.  But we’ll need to see more of this to know for sure.

I think I’ve made my point that real estate is hyper local.  Santa Clara County is clearly in recovery as a whole, but not every part of the market is recovering – some parts are still faring quite badly and are seeing further price declines.  But let’s continue on and have a look at the median list price of Santa Clara homes for sale next.

Santa Clara does not look like a market in recovery or which has hit bottom yet. Maybe – but we need to see the lack of decline continue on a lot longer before we could be comfortable declaring that the worst is over.

Here we can see that the lowest priced homes really do appear to be doing better than the rest of the Santa Clara market.  The bottom middle quartile, though, still appears to be having a slippage in list prices.  This is a much different “picture” than just viewing the Sunnyvale market as a whole.

Condominiums and townhouses for sale in Santa Clara next:

The movement upwards is encouraging, but it started so recently that we’re not yet sure if this is a blip or a new trend. Hoping for the latter.

The newness of the trend is affirmed when we look at the Santa Clara condo market by quartile: mostly what we’re seeing is that the declines have stopped. That is good news, at least!

Finally, let’s see what’s happening in the high end or luxury market of Saratoga. 

What a bumpy market it is in Saratoga!  While it looks like “the worst” was about a year ago, the current downward trend is not comforting.  Is more bad news still ahead?  Let’s see how it looks by quartile.

Now isn’t this odd? It doesn’t look nearly so bad in Saratoga when broken down by quartiles!  The most expensive properties in Saratoga are doing the worst, and the most affordable ones are appreciating, though.    Perhaps a closer look still would help – just the top and bottom price points by themselves.  Here’s a view of the top quartile of the median list price of Saratoga homes for sale.

The luxury or estate market in Saratoga is NOT yet in recovery.  In fact, it is still in decline with no evidence of a recovery even begun yet.

And the bottom?  This chart represents the most affordable single family homes (houses & duet homes) for sale in Saratoga over the last three years.

Anyone shopping in Saratoga (especially in the areas with the very best schools) knows that this is an appreciating market – homes in this strata of the market are going up every month, especially if the home is in good shape and priced right.  Although the recovery there is still rather new, I do believe that this part of the market has seen its bottom and is truly in recovery.

Saratoga condos and townhouses – how’s the market?

The condos and townhouses in Saratoga had a little rally last summer, but then it dropped down lower in the winter and had been rising until recently. Will it look different by quartile?

Here again it looks like the bottom quartile, or most affordable Saratoga condos for sale, is recovering .  The upper price points now appear close to flat but the most expensive ones have been behaving very differently from the rest of the pack since last summer.  Perhaps this was a vote of confidence among those who are comfortable?  The luxury condominium market in Saratoga is more than merely shelter, of course, and most Santa Clara County home buyers cannot fathom purchasing a townhouse or condo over a million dollars, let alone pay the hefty home owner association dues that goes with that lifestyle.

Saratoga CA luxury townhouses and condominiums – median list price of homes for sale (top price quartile):

Summary

Today we had a look at the real estate markets in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Saratoga – both houses and condos and in all price points.  We can see that while the whole of Santa Clara County does appear to be past the bottom of the market, there are still some segments of it which are declining in value, and others are rising.  To make the most of your real estate purchase or sale, it is extremely important to understanding what is happening in your part of the market.  Please contact me to chat about buying or selling a home within your area, budget and home type within Silicon Valley.

The Silicon Valley real estate “Spring Buying Season” has been very active among anxious home buyers, but there’s not a lot of turnkey, well-priced inventory for them to choose among. Yesterday I previewed four homes in San Jose and Santa Clara, and noticed the same young gal doing a drive by while I was touring. Not surprising: there are only a few homes that are on the “need to see” list. And most of them are disappointing (dirty, unkempt houses that were not even properly cleaned up or staged minimally to sell).

The federal government’s tax credits for home buyers expires at the end of April. To qualify for it, move up, move down or first time home buyers must be in contract on a property by April 30th, and must close between May 1st and June 30th.  This is a great motivation for many Santa Clara County home buyers – the tax credit can pay for new carpet, curtains, or sprucing up the landscaping on that new purchase.

The good news for residents of the Golden State, though, is that California has created a new $10,000 tax credit. There are plenty of conditions and footnotes, though, the biggest being that it must be a single family home, attached or detached (not an apartment building or investment property). A confusing element of this credit is whether buyers can use all of it, or if the benefit will be capped due to the amount of state taxes paid. To read about it first hand, here’s a link to the California Franchise Board’s statement about the home buyer tax credit. Bookmark that site as the info will be updated periodically.

Here’s the best part: get into contract on a California home in April and close escrow in May, and you may qualify for both of these tax credits!

If that doesn’t get buyers out and looking, nothing will!

So take heart, weary house hunters!  Though the federal credit is expiring soon, the state credit is about to kick in, and there are loads of incentives for buying ASAP.  If you want to consider getting into the market, you can send me a list of what you’re looking for in a home by completing the form at Silicon Valley Home Hunt, where, and what your budget is and I can send you the matching list of homes for sale in San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, or anywhere in Silicon Valley.  (The site says it’s automatic, and it is, but I have to do the initial setup so please allow time for me to do that – usually I set it up within a couple of hours. After that, it’s 100% automatic.)

Additionally, I have a page set up as a Los Gatos home buyer’s kit with links to tons of information, including pages you can browse Los Gatos homes for sale.   No forms to fill out – just loads of information and links to posts I’ve written about Los Gatos neighborhoods, for instance.

Today I was showing homes in Santa Clara to my buyers and saw one home with very “funky” (non compliant) strapping around the hot water heater. It was weird enough that I took a photo!

Unusual here – and confused – is the slanted lower strap that is in the top half as well as the bottom half of the water heater and goes around the ducting. Really bizarre!

What water heater strapping DOES require is a hefty strap in the top third and another in the bottom third of the water heater. Blocking may be required too. To see all of the requirements per the State of California, see the online directions for strapping water heaters (a how-to).

Almaden Valley in San Jose is comprised of many neighborhoods and subdivisions. One of them, close to the border with Los Gatos and Cambrian Park, is particularly popular: Oak Canyon.

There are many reasons for its draw among Silicon Valley homebuyers: the houses were well built by Shea Homes in about 1980, so they are relatively newer by Silicon Valley standards. They’re larger homes on comfortable lots, often 8000 sf or so but some as small as 6500 sf and others larger than a quarter acre.

Most of the homes boast a 3 car garage, which is a big help with storage of stuff, if not storage of cars. The roads gently turn, which makes a more pleasing look. It’s a very “conforming” neighborhood where everyone keeps up the homes and yards. Much of Almaden is viewed by consumers as somewhat remote, but this section, near the mouth of Almaden, is not too deep into the valley and is a better commute location for most. One of the largest pulls for the area, though, is the nearby elementary school, Guadalupe School, which has API scores in the 900s.

Where is the Oak Canyon neighborhood in Almaden Valley, San Jose?

Oak Canyon is found near the intersection of Camden Avenue and Coleman Road in San Jose but is bordered by Coleman on one side and the Guadalue Creek on the other sides. (The far side of the Guadalupe Creek at this point is Cambrian Park.)

 
And to provide some bearings, here’s a map of the Almaden Valley district of San Jose generally:

What Are Homes Like in the Oak Canyon Neighborhood of Almaden?

Most of the homes in the Oak Canyon neighborhood range between 2000 and 3000 square feet, though a few may be as small as 1700 or 1800 and if someone’s added on, it could be larger than 3200 – but those are the extremes. The floorplans are unusually well planned and open, particularly for homes built around 1980. They tend to have good, practical laoyouts that most buyers appreciate. Kitchens often face the back yard and are open to the family room (some with wet bar). A formal dining area normally sits adjacent to the living room. Ceilings are high and ordinarily there’s a good amount of built-in storage in Oak Canyon homes. One floorplan offers the master bedroom, which is upstairs, a private balcony overlooking the front yard. For many, that means a lovely view of Mt Umunhum.

Shea built a variety of elevations for different looks, with ranges from Spanish or mediterranean to contemporary or ranch. Some homeowners have renovated and made their homes appear to be Craftsman style too. This is definitely an upscale neighborhood, but still tract housing. It’s not hard to recognize the few floorplans as one walks or drives through the area. Something unusual is that the sidewalks are built directly against the street. The plus is that front
yards appear larger. The minus is that there is no uniform “tree lined street” feel since there’s no strip of land between the sidewalk and street where trees have been planted.

Special Concerns with Oak Canyon Homes

Every neighborhood has some issues. This one has very, very few!

Because of the proximity of Guadalupe Creek, and the closeness of the hills, wildlife can be a concern. For years there was an issue with large numbers of pigeons. More recently, hawks have become abundant and the pigeon population is down. It is possible that mountain lions, coyotes, skunks, possum and other wildlife will make their way into Oak Canyon as it’s an area close to the hills and close to a water source. However, I’ve never read of sightings of anything
scary in Oak Canyon.

Folks interested in Oak Canyon should view the natural hazards map to understand the proximity of the Shannon Earthquake Fault.

Water in the Guadalupe Creek should not be drunk or played with as it runs through areas with naturally-occuring mercury (there were mines for mercury up Guadalupe Road not far from this area).

Part of Oak Canyon is really close to high voltage power lines, which is a negative. Others back up to Coleman, so there’s a noise issue. Most, though, have no negatives in terms of location within the community.

What Does it Cost to Live in Oak Canyon?

Oak Canyon homes may be as inexpensive as the 900k range or run into well past a million dollars, depending on location, size of home, lot size, and condition. Large homes on large, interior lots with no “issues” will run 50% more than homes backing to Coleman or high voltage lines in need of updating. If you’d like more information on buying or selling a home in Oak Canyon or anywhere in the San Jose and Silicon Valley area, please contact me today!

Here in the Valley of Hearts Delight, aka Silicon Valley, the market continues to be a buyers market with downward pressure on prices, longer days on market, and bigger gaps between list price and sales price. What is happening area wide or county wide is not always exactly what we find in smaller market areas. Some parts of Silicon Valley, and some price points, are doing quite well relatively, while others are falling through the floor.

What is happening with San Jose real estate? Let’s look at four San Jose districts, mostly in the west valley area, by their zip code (or main zip): Almaden Valley (95120), Willow Glen (95125), Cambrian Park (95124) and West San Jose (95129).
Below, please find the trends for the median list price of single family homes for sale in these four areas of San Jose:
 
For the most part, it appears that the west valley area of San Jose real estate is continuing to experience noticeable declines in list prices throughout these districts. Interestingly, Almaden Valley and West San Jose (zip 95129) both saw improvement in spring before returning to the downward trend. By comparison, how is San Jose as a whole (the entire city) looking?
This time we’ll view all of San Jose by price quartile to see if the trends are price-point related.
 
It does not appear to be a price point issue – perhaps simply a location issue. The four areas we’re viewing today all appear to be faring much better than the city of San Jose as a whole. They are more expensive then others which are harder hit such as Blossom Valley, Santa Teresa, South San Jose and Evergreen.

Next, let’s have a look at the median list price for condominiums and townhomes in Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen and West San Jose:
 
This is not nearly so consistent. What’s happening? The Silicon Valley real estate market for condos and townhomes has generally gotten pretty beat up this year; the reason is that many who could afford only a condominium or townhouse before can now get into a single family home instead. The areas in which there’s an uptick in pricing are those with stronger schools. Willow Glen is extremely charming and centrally located, but the public schools generally do not perform as well ss those in the other three areas in which prices are holding up a little better. So perhaps it is that good schools are driving home sales.
Again, let’s compare the San Jose condo market in these four areas to all of San Jose and see it by quartile:
 
Again, the San Jose condo market, especially in the lower price ranges, has had a very steady downward trend in list prices. In Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen and West San Jose, there is decline noted, but not so severe.
What can we expect next? Economists vary on when they see recovery happening in Silicon Valley and San Jose in particular. As long as foreclosures are a large part of the resale market, it will put downward pressure on prices. As I see it, while there are adjustable rate loans continuing to adjust upward (which is happening now, particularly with the volatility in the indices used such as the LIBOR), there’s a threat of more short sales and bank owned sales pulling the market down. My sense is that things may improve a little after the election because the uncertainty has buyers additionally nervous. The market tends to go quiet as we enter November and December, even in “good years”, with the next burst of sales activity normally beginning again after the Super Bowl.

With prices declining and buyers nervous, it’s actually a good time for those who are a little more risk tolerant to buy now. This is especially true for investors as the demand for rentals is high and rents are climbing while sales prices have dropped. If you would like to investigate the possibilities of buying or selling, please call or email me today.

Silicon Valley residents are aware that Sunnyvale has a particularly low level
of crime, good schools, and a lot of strong businesses that call it home. Even
so, it’s nice to see that CNN took note too, and listed Sunnyvale in its top 100
of Best Places to Live .

Why Sunnyvale, as opposed to nearby Mountain View (a “contender"), Los Altos,
Cupertino (a “contender"), Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara (also a
“contender") or San Jose?

Apparently it’s the combination of affordability, schools, low crime, and short
commutes that did the trick. Sunnyvale does a lot of programs in a more
efficient way, such as the amazing public safety department there.

The award is well deserved. Congratulations, Sunnyvale!

The other day I was hunting for local maps of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) dating back 100 years or so, and although I didn’t find exactly what I wanted, I did find a treasure trove that I hadn’t expected to find at all.

Here please find a tiny snippet of a USGS Map from the late 1890s (actually part of the Palo Alto Map). According to my husband, who has a hobby of viewing and collecting maps, each “dot” on this image represents a house. If that is the case, you can see how sparcely populated Saratoga and Cupertino were at this time.

And what is that Azule Springs? Was it another hot springs type resort, like Saratoga Springs? A map like this raises a lot of questions!

If you love – or at least enjoy – history, I invite you to visit the USGS website and look at the historic maps there. One section includes Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and the coastal areas such as Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. Another section of the map includes Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Campbell, Almaden, Cambrian Park, Santa Clara and many parts of San Jose. 

It’s fun to see where things “used to be” and how they “used to be called”. Take a few minutes and enjoy!

There’s a lot for those of us in Silicon Valley to be feeling stressed out about lately. Between the stock market’s wild ride and sinking home values in Santa Clara County (and around the country), it’s a little nerve-wracking. These times are especially upsetting if you’re a senior and plan to retire soon. For years, people looked at their homes with the fond sense of “this is my retirement fund” – or at least a good part of it. Some of that value is now gone.

It’s also stressful for those of us who’ve put money into retirement funds or college savings plans and need it soon. Here in California, the 529 College Savings Plan is an “index fund”. That means it’s a combination of stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. In my house, we have one kid who’s a freshman in college and one who’s a senior in high school, and we’re seeing the 529 Plan shrink right when we need it.

The stock market, the financial crisis and the housing market are bigger than all of us. We are on the verge of a recession, if not already in one now. There’s a lot that’s beyond our control. But what CAN we do to maximize the current situation?

I cannot say what to do about the stock market, though my hunch is that when people advise “buy low”, they are talking about today. I can say something about the housing market in the San Jose area, though, because I’ve got experience with it, both professionally and personally. There are opportunities in this market for those who are able to act on them.

What are the available opportunities in the Silicon Valley real estate market?

Prices have rolled back several years, so for homebuyers who were priced out of the market previously, this is a great time to buy a home, whether as a first time home buyer or to purchase an investment property. Investment purchases are especially rewarding now as rents are high while purchase prices are soft. For the most part, this opportunity is for those who’ve had the discipline to put away savings for investment purposes – not for everyone. That said, though, FHA loans have arrived and it is possible to now buy some lower priced homes in San Jose with FHA loan funding. The FHA loans do not require a huge downpayment. Either way, though, prepare to have good credit and all your documentation. Cash is king. If you have saved a good downpayment, you may be able to negotiate a great price on your purchase.

For people needing more space, it may be possible to do a “move up” from an area that is not so badly hit to one that has been worse hit with price reductions and make a net gain. Awhile back, I was speaking with a homeowner in the Mountain View – Los Altos area who has a starter home that is now a little too small. This homeowner is considering selling a home in a “hotter” area and moving to one where there has been more of a price decline, such as to Cambrian Park or Campbell. Likewise, I’ve spoken with people in Los Gatos (a hotter area) who may move to the south county areas of Gilroy or Morgan Hill. Those are all great moves for getting more home for your money and maximizing the current market conditions.

What about seniors who planned to sell soon and move to assisted living? This issue is more complex so I would suggest talking to a tax advisor, but a couple of things do come to mind that might help. One possibility is to move to assisted living and rent out the home, having the rents supplement the cost of assisted living if possible. Rents are good and prices will likely come back up. If they come back up fairly soon, the better (tax consequences are different for selling owner occupied vs rental). Some areas are still fairly strong, too, so don’t just assume that if you live in Silicon Valley, your home has lost a ton of value.

Silicon Valley Real Estate is not a Quick Investment: Plan to Buy & Hold

What about those who are simply feeling queasy because they’re upside down in their house? I do know how this feels. We bought our first home in Cambrian Park in late 1989 and it wasn’t long before we would have lost money had we needed to sell during that period when prices were correcting. Luckily, we did not have to sell, but we were “upside down” for awhile and it was a bad feelilng. We stayed and improved the house and 10 years later sold it for 150% of what we’d bought it for – despite the fact that we purchased at the beginning of a correction – and made the jump to our move-up home in Los Gatos. “Buy and hold” is the sage advice. Perhaps “buy, improve and hold” would be even better.

So as an example, let’s look at the profile of a Cambrian starter home, similar to the one we first bought in 1989. For this exercise, I looked at a small section of Cambrian Park, cloe to Leigh High School. Homes for this view are around 40 years old and appx 1200-1300 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Below please see a 10 year view of such a home, with numbers taken from September of each year dating back to 1998. (To give a little more of a perspective, we bought our home in late 1989 at $180 per SF. Values dropped about 10-15% over the next few years – a long, slow slide in values – and finally recovered by the mid 1990′s and then took off. Prices doubled about a dozen years after we bought, but we had sold before prices rose that far – which was a good thing since we got into our next home less expensively.)

The above graph includes ALL the solds in Sept 2008. But below, see what happens in 2008 if we only consider the non bank owned properties:

And finally, a graph showing both all of Cambrian Park sales for this time of each year as well as this starter home subset of homes there over ten years (please excuse the numbers that sometimes land on each other):

The above graph only goes to 2001 since it’s difficult to get the price per SF data prior to that without spending a lot of time crunching the numbers, but you get the idea. The numbers are more generous when going back further in time, as the charts further up display. For the most part, thouse who “buy and hold” for a more than 5 years have done fine in this market. Those who bought 10 years ago have about doubled their investment. For those who bought and needed to sell soon after, it is a huge problem. But that is actually the case in most markets, whether a buyers or sellers market.

So to return to the original question, “what CAN we do to maximize the current situation?”, I would say that if possible, where real estate is concerned, look into ways you can “buy and hold” rather than buy and sell over short periods of time. This will not be possible for everyone, but just selling now (rather than also buying) could be a case of “selling low”. However, if you are doing a move-up, this could be an ideal time because even if you are selling low, there’s a good chance that you are more than making up for it on the next home – plus you get the lower price basis for taxes and other costs connected to sales price.

Thinking of buying a home in Silicon Valley? The old adage about location still holds. Buy the most home in the best area you can afford. What to beware? Disfunctional floor plans, homes in need of major renovations (foundation, roof, other big-ticket items). House in bad area vs townhouse in good area – go with the location, generally (but you’ll have to evaluate everything).

Of course, “don’t sell now” is the same advice our financial planner is giving us with retirement money in the markets. Retirement isn’t around the corner for us, so I’m just going to not worry about it right now. I wish we had the same luxury with the college fund! I am hoping that it will bounce back up before our kids have graduated from college, so we won’t have invested and taken a loss. I’ve been watching YahooFinance for a few weeks now and the market keeps bouncing within a range that’s far lower than where we bought into the college plan’s index fund before. “Big sale on college plan index fund!” is one way to look at it. I think one of the ways I’ll cope with this market is to buy more shares. Yes, they might go down further. But it seems to me that this is a “low” price point, and while it’s a little scary to buy in this type of market, it’s probably a great opportunity too.

Another blog post on the general state of things in Silicon Valley that is worth reading:
Silicon Valley: Financial Crisis or Opportunity by attorney Mark Radcliffe

Silicon Valley, which consists of San Jose in large part, is sprawling city. We have lousy public transportation (though it’s getting better) and one of the unfortunate hallmarks of San Jose or Santa Clara County as a whole is that you really need a car to get around here.

Don’t tell Walkscore. They just ranked a few San Jose neighborhoods on the “most walkable” list in the country. Walk – in San Jose? OK, we do have 300 sunny days a year and only about 20″ of rain per year, so walking is pleasant. But where can you really live and walk and not use a car?
Walkscore put San Jose’s Buena Vista, Rosegarden, and Burbank neighborhoods at #17 of the top 40 US cities for walkability. No, I’m not kidding.

Does this surprise you? It does me, and I’m a valley native.

Walkable areas: I’d have said San Jose’s Willow Glen area, the original Cambrian Village area of Cambrian Park (lots of homes near lots of shops) as well as other Silicon Valley neighborhoods. There are several walkable areas in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos, Santa Clara
(esp near the University of Santa Clara. There’s a lot of walk-to in downtown areas in San Jose such as Japantown and Nagelee Park, though in fairness they are needing a large grocery store there.