If you have just bought your first Silicon Valley home, you may feel very relieved to have survived the contracts, negotiations, the disclosures, the appraisal and the escrow and made it all the way to closing.  You are a successful home buyer!  You move in, unpack and then…. what? What do you do?

I have a few suggestions.

First, while it’s fresh in your memory, pull out the disclosures and inspection reports and (if you haven’t done this already) make a list of the items you must do and want to do.  I suggest you include at least 3 categories:

1. Health & safety items
2. Protecting the house from damage
3. Lower level items with aesthetic value (decorating and in some cases remodeling)
4. Ongoing projects you want to remember to do periodically around the house and yard such as changing the smoke detector batteries, cleaning out the rain gutters, doing a “walk around the house” to check for any issues with vent screens, roof tiles etc. (If you have bought a condo or townhouse, this is still important.)

It is too easy to focus on updating to dual pane windows (gratifying since they look nice) and ignoring foundation cracks, electrical problems and termites, so making this type of list will help you to keep on track with the better priorities (1 and 2 as opposed to 3).

Second, pull together all of the expenses you laid out in purchasing your home. Create a file with a spreadsheet of your costs and the receipts that go with it (include a copy of your HUD 1).   This will be helpful in establishing your tax basis and may protect you when you eventually sell the house from paying more taxes than you’re legally required to do.  Go over it with your CPA or Enrolled Agent or Tax Professional as some of them may be deductible on your taxes this year and some may not qualify as related to your tax basis. (more…)

I’ve been selling real estate for 18 years, full time, in Silicon Valley. Until recently I had never seen a dampwood termite in this area but a few months ago I caught sight of  a dead one at the Almaden Winery neighborhood (on the Cambrian and Almaden border) when our pest inspector, Miguel Torres from Thrasher Termite, noticed it.  Luckily there were no live dampwoods to be found! I thought it was a weird fluke.

Fast forward a few months, and  again this week I saw first the much smaller,  immature dampwoods (so I didn’t recognize them, but suspected that they were termites of some kind as they were coming out of rotting wood) and a few days later saw the large and now mature dampwood termites swarming in the same location in Belgatos Park, Los Gatos, close to where my family and I live. Initially I thought they were strange moths as there was a lot of flapping motion, but on closer look I could see that they were indeed termites and they were big!!! (more…)

The exquisite Saratoga Oaks neighborhood is nestled between downtown Saratoga and the beautiful coastal foothills, close to the famed Hakone Gardens.  With both pools and tennis courts and a location just a block or so from tony Saratoga Village (click to see slide show), it is resort living in Silicon Valley at its finest. But this is not just a place for retirees who want to downsize, though they are also drawn here – families with kids also move to Saratoga Oaks to make use of the top rated schools

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Which public schools serve this neighborhood?

Saratoga Oaks is within the very highly regarded Saratoga Union School District.  Although many other school districts in Santa Clara County assign children in homes to particular schools, Saratoga does not – it is an “open” school district. If there’s space and if the home is within the district, you may be able to chose which of the excellent Saratoga schools you wish for your student to attend. The nearest public school is Saratoga Elementary on Oak Street (API 958) but alternatively you may find enrollment instead at Foothill Elementary (API 943) or Argonaut (API 974).  The higher level schools are Redwood Middle School (API 972) and Saratoga High School (API 932).  All API scores listed here are from the 2010 County List of Schools. Additionally, there are two excellent private elementary schools nearby: Sacred Heart (Catholic) and St. Andrew’s (Episcopalian).

Where is Saratoga Oaks?

The Saratoga Oaks community is within the city of Saratoga, California, and is a part of Silicon Valley and what’s locally referred to as “the south bay” area.  It can be reached either via Springer Avenue, off of 4th Street in Saratoga or from Springer off of Big Basin Way (aka Hwy 9 or Congress Springs Road). This townhouse complex is literally where the town meets the hills – so it is not at all uncommon to find deer in the open spaces! Click on the map image to go to the live, interactable Google map. (more…)

This afternoon I was driving along Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, with my destination being the salad bar at Whole Foods, when my cell phone rang.  A woman who did not identify herself or her location said to me, after noting that she called the number from the blog/site, “a house was termited four years ago. Do we really need to do it again?“  She needed professional, unbiased real estate advice, and figured that since I had nothing to gain either way, I’d tell her the truth.

I asked her what she meant by “termiting”.  Was it an inspection, a fumigation, or some other treatment that was done 4 years ago?  She elaborated that the house was tented for (drywood) termites four years ago.  She didn’t want to waste her money “termiting” again (to use her words).

“Are you buying a house?” I asked her.  “Yes” she confirmed.  I continued, “then you probably should get a termite inspection from a licensed and reputable company because drywood termites can come right back after the treatment.  Not only that, but the inspector will look for other things, like subterranean termites, dry rot, fungus, boring beatles, and more.” (I did explain that you don’t just tent for drywoods – they may or may not be a problem. What you want is an inspection to see if there’s anything that does need treating. The inspector might find cellulose debris, for instance, and will note whether it’s infected or not.) (more…)

Silicon Valley is home to three great universities (Santa Clara University, San Jose State University and Stanford University), about a half dozen community colleges (Mission, Evergreen, West Valley, Foothill, De Anza, San Jose City, Ohlone,  Canada) plus smaller trade schools or polytechnic colleges for specific career-oriented individuals  (such as Cogswell in Sunnyvale).

Most of the smaller schools do not offer student housing while the larger ones typically do – though it may not be guaranteed for all four years.

If you are a parent of a college student in the San Jose – Santa Clara – Palo Alto area, should you consider purchasing a condo, townhouse or house for your son or daughter?  Does it make financial sense to do so? Over time, would this be a good investment? Would it be best for your son or daughter to skip the dorm scene?             (more…)

A key ingredient in understanding how the Silicon Valley real estate market is faring is the ratio of regular sales to distressed properties on the market (Bank owned or REO listings and short sale listings). Today we’ll study Los Gatos and four areas or districts of San Jose: Almaden Valley, Willow Glen, Cambrian Park, and Blossom Valley.

First, let’s look at the county numbers as a general overview.  In all of Santa Clara County, there are 3537 houses, duet homes, condominiums & townhouses for sale and available (“status 1″ for my Realtor readers) on our multiple listing service. Of those, merely 1964 are “regular sales” (56%), 1105 are short sales (31%) and 375 are bank owned homes or REOs (11%).

Now let’s drill down to a few areas: Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Willow Glen, Cambrian Park and Blossom Valley.  We’ll check out the ratio of regular sales of houses and condos in each of these areas.  How do these compare to the county average of 56%? Have a look:

This is helpful information for both home buyers & home sellers.  Home sellers need to understand the challenges that come with selling in an area with more short sales or REOs, if they are in one of those parts of the valley.  Or vice versa: if there are few distressed properties on the market, this makes it easier to sell (with less downward pressure on pricing).  Buyers need to appreciate that they will have better luck negotiating in areas where many homes are being sold under some pressure.

A quick disclaimer - if we narrowed this study by school district and even neighborhood school, we might find that these “general numbers” are actually quite different at the hyper-local level.  For example, if you visit a post of mine about the Los Gatos real estate market on my Live in Los Gatos blog, you’d find that when we separated out the various school districts, and even price points, the ratio of distressed properties and their absorption rates change very dramatically.  To see those, scroll down until you see the blue and yellow boxes.

The condo market in San Jose and nearby areas has taken a beating throughout our downturn.  Even so, condos in Los Gatos, Almaden and Willow Glen are faring pretty decently.

Now let’s hone in on each of these five areas and the two main housing types to see the ratio in each of regular sales, short sales, and REOs.
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Selling and buying homes can be exhausting and emotional, even overwhelming.  This level of stress can rise when children are involved as parents also “run interference” to a degree to help make the transition smooth for their kids.  Another added stresser is relocation to a new community far away.

What can parents and their real estate agents do to help the youngest members of the family to move as peacefully and contentedly as possible?

Communication about the moving process is key

Few of us like surprises that come on a big scale and change the way our lives are lived on a day-to-day basis.  This is also true for our offspring, for whom routine can be a comfort.   Just as you wouldn’t begin a vacation without explaining to your three year old that it’s only a trip and that you will later return home, so too it helps to explain to your child that the family is staying together, the toys, furniture and pets are coming along, but that the house or condo will be “new”.  Providing a sense of security and reassurance first can enable the process to be possibly even fun. (Young kids will think that the furniture and toys go with the house so will likely vocalize their preference for a new place with the most fun stuff unless they understand that their toys will move with them.) (more…)