Looking to purchase real estate in the next few months? Most interested home buyers are doing their house hunting online. Today we’d like to share some tips to help you make the most of your search.
House hunting online basics
1) The local MLS is MLSListings.com. That is the most complete database of information for house hunting online in Silicon Valley. (Some sellers and listing agents will not syndicate their listings to Zillow, Redfin, or Realtor.com.)
2) Not everything on the MLS is visible to the public. MLSListings has 2 databases: most of it can be seen by the public and of those the majority are syndicated, but there are some that are not displayed on MLSListings.com or Realtor.com and other portals, and may never be displayed there while they are for sale. These are the Members Only listings, and at times they can be 15-20% or more of the total inventory of homes for sale. Here’s what you need to know about Member’s Only:
The Members Only listings by design won’t be seen on the public listing database, only by active members of the MLS (such as an agent) and their clients. That said, Members Only listings may still have a For Sale sign, or an ad in the local paper, though most will not.
There are 2 types of Members Only listings.
Members Only: Show status means that your buyer’s agent can get you in to see it (but it’s not online other than the MLS)
Members Only: Do Not Show. These are essentially a “coming soon” situation. You can’t see it in person yet, but at least you get advance notice.
Many homebuyers want access to off market listings – and these Members Only opportunities are pretty close to being off market! Especially those with no public marketing (no yard sign, etc).
Buyers who want to get access to all Members Only listings, make sure that you are working with a real estate professional who is a member of the local MLS. (Even with public Active listings there may be details that are not visible to the public, such as disclosure packets and offer due dates, that your Realtor may also be able to tell you about.)
3) Redfin “hot home” labels lets you, the consumer, know that a property is getting a lot of attention and is more likely to sell fast and over list price. Once in a while a house or condo is listed as “hot” and then it’s not. Sometimes the delisted from the hot list homes do still sell for more than list price, though. It’s one factor of many to tell you how likely a home is to get multiple offers.
4) Syndication errors can happen. With syndication, some listing info that you see on one of the large portals, or perhaps through another MLS organization (not MLS Listings, Inc.) may have old or outdated information. Best to always check the MLS local to the market where you want to buy, and talk with your agent if you still have questions or concerns.
5) The listing status may not be updated immediately. If a property still shows active after a due date, it doesn’t necessarily mean that no one bid on it, or that no offer was accepted. Listing agents are allowed a couple of business days to change the status from Active to Pending once an offer is accepted. Many will wait for the buyer’s earnest money deposit to reach the title company. Typically that happens the next business day.
For the same reason, the “days on market” on sold or pending properties could be a a little longer than what actually happened, particularly if the sale ratified on a Friday or a day before a holiday weekend and the check or wire could not go to title until the next business day.
One Part of Your Home Buying Strategy
If you are working with a local Realtor who knows the market and is partnering with you in your house hunting online, you are less likely to be surprised either when a home goes pending or closes if it’s your target.
The above tips are good info for locating homes to see, but of course the process is much bigger than simply identifying properties of interest.
What are your next steps, beyond scanning listings online? Before jumping in your car, you may want to consider other big picture items that can be investigated online.
Several times a year, people want to find rental housing reach out to me by phone or email, asking for help in locating rentals of various sorts. When I explain that most Santa Clara County real estate agents do not work with rentals or leases, myself included, the reaction runs from surprise or even disbelief to anger.
In many areas of the U.S., real estate agents routinely handle leases or month to month rentals. Why not here?
Why would Realtors not do rentals in Silicon Valley?
In the Silicon Valley or San Jose area, most leases or rentals are offered “for rent by owner”. The owners choose not to hire realty professionals to represent them, and they elect not to want to pay commissions. So while in many areas of the country, landlords employ real estate licensees to help them to rent properties, here that is seldom the case – at least in terms of offerings made available to the public.
Bottom line: owners may hire agents to manage properties, but historically haven’t wanted to pay commissions to the Realtors or sales people working with people trying to locate rental housing. The end result is that most real estate sales people do not do rentals here. (But it could change.)
Most homes for rent can be found on Craigslist or Zillow, but there are a very, very few offered on our local MLS (MLSListings.com). How few is few? Just now I ran ALL of the rentals available in all of Santa Clara County – apartments, condos, townhouses, attached homes, detached houses. In a population of 1.8 million people, can you guess how many rental homes are on the MLS this moment? It’s 158 as of November 20, 2024. Just single family homes = 78. (more…)
Hunting for more Campbell’s most affordable homes for sale? It can be argued that nothing is either inexpensive or affordable, however we want to consider the Campbell real estate options relative to other Silicon Valley communities and their prices. There are always higher and lower priced properties.
Campbell’s most affordable homes: beware the price mirage
Sometimes the lowest listing price of a home on the market is not actually going to be the lowest selling price. It could just be bait. Some sellers and their listing agents vastly underprice houses, townhouses, and condos on the market in order to get an avalanche of offers. I refer to that as a price mirage – it looks good but isn’t real.
Don’t be fooled be an artificially low list price. Often a quick check of the property on Realtor.com can provide some decent pricing input. The pages for listings usually include a RealEstimate section that features up to 3 auto comp values. These automatic valuations aren’t foolproof, but if a house is listed for $900,000 and the Realtor.com page suggests a value of $1.6 to $1.8, you are put on notice that it may be grossly underpriced. You can check the other large portals, too, as a reality check on values.
Elements that create opportunity to get more home for your money
Every city, town, and community has more and less affordable pockets and properties. Campbell’s most affordable homes for sale may have one of these elements at play.
The pricing variation often has to do with a few major areas: (more…)
The scenic Strathmore neighborhood of Los Gatos lies close to the foothills, including both Blossom Hill and the coastal range rising behind it. Homes here in east Los Gatos enjoy that very beautiful backdrop and access to the park and trails, but many other benefits too.
Enduring qualities that make this area highly favored include:
scenic area with close proximity to the foothills plus tree lined streets
community pool & nearby park
strong public schools
good location for commuting, shopping, and easy access to downtown Los Gatos
It’s a pedestrian friendly area with sidewalks and tree lined streets, so it is not uncommon to see people out enjoying a stroll, a jog, a bike ride or otherwise taking in the peaceful region.
Additionally, Strathmore residents share a community pool (or cabana) with a neighborhood swim team. As of 2022, dues for the HOA are approximately $400 per year.
One of the biggest draws of all is that on top of these features, kids in Strathmore get to attend highly rated public schools too. The profile on this neighborhood is overwhelmingly positive!
The Vista del Monte neighborhood is a gem within the town once known as The Gem City. It enjoys tremendous convenience as it’s close to town, but also is set back far enough that the area is quiet and tranquil. The hills are close in and the roads gently curve, are tree lined, and scenic.
Add to this the highly regarded Los Gatos schools, quick freeway access, and a nearby park and you can quickly see why this area has a big draw!
Many of the homes were built in the 1960s – 1980s. It’s not an historic neighborhood, and the architecture is mostly ranch style. There are a few others, though, such as Colonial, Mediterranean, and others.
Home prices in this corner of town have risen dramatically over the last year and generally are up about 20 – 30% from this time last year. This is all part of the COVID induced buyer frenzy to purchase larger homes with larger lots across the country (and around the world).
Are you interested in Los Gatos real estate and Los Gatos neighborhoods? Over on my Live in Los Gatos blog, I’ve been reworking articles about the various residential areas of town, digging into the county records for subdivision info, shooting video as I’m driven through various neighborhoods and adding MLS information. Today I completed a whole new article with video on the Vista del Monte neighborhood in east Los Gatos.
Clair and I enjoy getting to know the many neighborhoods here in town. The majority of our posts on the neighborhoods in LG can be found on our Live In Los Gatos Blog, so if you love the town and want more info, that’s the best resource.
Homes for sale & recently sold in the Vista del Monte neighborhood
This will give a sense of pricing, but as of this writing in early 2022, many homes are selling for 10 – 20% ore more over list price.
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Can a real estate professional help you to buy a foreclosure? There are some nuances to this answer, but in short, it depends. We haven’t had many foreclosures in recent years, but once in awhile we find them popping up here and there.
There are several stages in the foreclosure related sales in California. Often, homes somewhere in this quagmire are listed on our Silicon Valley area MLS or multiple listing service. If a property is listed in the MLS, then yes, we Realtors can help home buyers with a distressed sale purchase.
The stages of foreclosure
Pre-foreclosure (where payments have been missed and a Notice of Default or NOD has been filed – sometimes these homes are on the market and included in the MLS.If they’re in the MLS, I can help.If these properties are for sale, often these are short sales (but short sales are not always in pre-foreclosure – they may not have missed any payments).
Trustee’s sale, or actual foreclosure on the courthouse steps. This does not involve the MLS or Realtors at all. There is literally no role for the real estate agent here unless you, as the buyer, want to pay the commission (most buyers don’t in this circumstance).There are some big caveats and warnings!First, often what’s owed against the home is more than it’s worth and the only way to purchase a home here is to pay off all the debts (so it may not be much of a deal!). Some buyers who “bought” a home actually have only purchased the second deed of trust, not the first, and are left empty handed.
Second, if you buy here, you get NO inspection contingency and must pay cash for the house. End of story – no backing out. Worse, you cannot inspect it ahead of time!
Third, you are likely to be bidding against flippers and builders who can more affordably rehab the home than you or I could do.
There are a lot of risks, so buyer beware!
Bank owned or REO. REO means Real Estate Owned (by the bank).These are usually listed on the MLS and if so, I can help you with it. Sometimes banks hold onto them between the trustee’s sale and prior to listing them with a broker. Often this is only for a month or two but sometimes it’s longer. If it’s not on the MLS, it’s very very hard, or maybe impossible, to buy it.
Want to buy a foreclosure? Want professional help to do so?
While it’s not hard to locate homes where owners have missed some payments, it should not be assumed that these houses are either for sale or that the owners have any intention of selling them. In my opinion, it would be harassment if consumers showed up on their doorsteps trying to purchase a house where a payment has been missed.
Most, maybe all, of the residents there would be offended. They may be trying to get a loan modification (it does happen, I’ve known people to work through it that way) or have family & friends helping them to get back on track. If it is not listed in the MLS (which you can find at MLSListings.com – the public portal of our agent multiple listing service), the odds are overwhelmingly against it being available to you.
The short answer to the question “Can a real estate agent help you to buy a foreclosure?” is that the answer is generally NO if it’s an auction on the courthouse steps.
Did you do the repairs outlined when you bought your home?
Recently I showed a home where the owners had been there 7 or 8 years but never did any of the suggested repairs from their pre-sale inspections when they purchased the home “As Is“. The As Is part means that no repairs were provided by the sellers, with the idea that buyers would do whatever was needed later. Desperate to get in when prices were appreciating fast, it seemed that most home buyers said “we’ll take care of it after we own it“.
But many of them forgot.
Today, with the whitest hot market I’ve ever seen in my career, most sellers fix the major items because they understand that it will net them a higher sale price. They fix the foundation, electrical, plumbing, waste lines, roof leaks, pest items, safety issues, and do whatever other repairs would make a buyer pause.
Some, though, don’t do any repairs at all – none! Often they are the same sellers who won’t stage their homes, or for whom scheduling a showing is a big effort, and maybe the disclosures aren’t so thoughtfully done. (In recent weeks I saw a disclosure package in which the sellers wrote on every page, “AS IS SALE” and refused to answer each question.) It’s a giant red flag that these may be difficult sellers.
If you want to maximize your profits, don’t let that seller be you. As Is certainly is the norm, but it’s As Disclosed. Wouldn’t buyers pay more if they weren’t worried about needing to do a lot of expensive and time consuming repairs? You bet. Confident buyers pay more. Let that be your mantra, home sellers.
Pull out your old file, find your inspection reports and review them, especially if you are preparing to sell your home
“Why isn’t my Silicon Valley townhouse selling?” wonders the home owner. Even in a seller’s market some properties struggle. Real estate agents know why the home (or townhome, or condo) isn’t getting any offers, or worse yet, any traffic at all. In fact, local Realtors who’ve seen it might wonder if the owner of the property has seen the MLS printout at all!
Why isn’t it selling?
Whether your home has been on the market for a while or you’re just about to list it, here are some of the most common culprits to look out for:
Terrible photos (or not enough of them): in our San Jose area MLS we are allowed 9 photos. How many are in your listing?
More on photos: Would it be so hard to turn the lights on in the home when photographing the property? Real estate looks much better when well lit than when dark. Even beautifully remodeled kitchens can look so-so if the lights are not all on! A bright room will make you money…a dark room will cost you!
Is there a video or virtual tour? **
Is the listing syndicated so that buyers can find it on multiple websites?
How is the pricing? Did you price a 2 bedroom townhouse as if it’s a 3 bedroom? That’s a very common but huge mistake! Compare apples to apples – the buyers are doing that, and when you bought your home, you did too! Did you price the home using comps from 6 months ago, or comps from 3 miles away, or a different school district? Huge mistake!
What’s your competition? Luxury homes will almost always take longer than a mid-priced home nearby – they’re in entirely different markets with entirely different demands. You’ve got to know what market you’re in and what buyers will be comparing your home against! If you’re a short sale, you need to be competitive against other short sales. Don’t be satisfied that your home is less expensive than a “regular sale”. They are two entirely different things!
MLS description and comments: Don’t waste this valuable space! What kind of comments are in the precious few words allowed to describe your home in the multiple listing service? I have seen inane things use up that space. It is imperative that the descriptions be strong. For example, not “nice kitchen” (that could mean almost anything), but instead “slab granite countertops” – specifics that buyers want to hear about!
Commission rate: if your townhome is a “regular sale” and everything in your area is selling with a buyer’s agent commission rate offered at 2.5% or 3% but you’re offering 2%, guess what happens? Little or no traffic, that’s what! Remember that agents are selling homes as their livelihood, and while many will overlook a low commission, many others will not. (When I list homes I run the CR of similar homes so that my sellers can make an informed decision on this point.)
There are many reasons why a Silicon Valley townhouse might not sell, but marketing correctly will give you the best odds for success and, in a sellers market as we are in, may bring you a higher sales price. If yours isn’t selling, have a look at the price, the photos, and the description and see if anything is amiss, and check what’s happening with comparable properties in the market. These are the most important areas to consider. Other issues may be at play, but if these are correct your home should sell despite other challenges. (more…)
Listings with few photographs or none at all typically are skipped by most home buyers. The reason is simple: if it’s not showing, the room (or yard, or whole house) is assumed to be in terrible condition.
The seller’s loss, though, is a buyer’s gain. The poorly marketed house can be an opportunity for home buyers who are having trouble in multiple offer situations. With few or no images, the odds of having multiple offers go way down.
Why would there be few photographs, or none at all, in an active listing?
The home may have no or few photographs for other reasons: the seller is extremely private, the home is occupied by tenants, the seller has not yet decluttered or made the home show ready, etc.
It’s also possible that a photographer will be at the home at some point, but has not yet been available.
The bottom line is that a property with no or few photographs online presents a possible opportunity for the home buyer who would like to purchase a home that not so many others are vying for. The home may not show as well as one that is properly staged and marketed, but it could be the thing that gets you into your next home sooner rather than later.
Frequently the multiple listing service has typos and errors regarding homes for sale (and poor or missing photos too). I have to wonder if sellers even look at the comments, description or photographs online at all – because I am sure that if they did, most of the mistakes would be caught and the marketing would improve significantly.
Just now, I saw in one description that a house features “walking closets”. Let’s hope not – that’s the stuff of nightmares. It also claimed that the kitchen is “specious” (which means misleadingly attractive) rather than spacious. The same real estate agent also misspelled the name of the Silicon Valley subdivision.
When I put a listing on the MLS for my seller clients, I always ask them to check for errors (or misspellings etc.) since they know their home better than I do. I do not want to represent that fireplaces are served by gas jets if they aren’t, or omit them if they are, as just one example. Even our most diligent notes can sometimes miss a detail. Accuracy is important both so that buyers and their agents understand the property well but also so that the home’s features aren’t accidentally left out. So home sellers: always ask to see the MLS printout on your property. Do not ask only for the standard consumer version, but request the “agent full” version so that you can also check the private comments aimed at Realtors and other salespeople.
Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno, Los Gatos, CA 95030 408 204-7673 Mary@PopeHandy.com License# 01153805
Clair Handy, Realtor
GREEN
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno 214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd Los Gatos, CA 95030 ClairHandy@sereno.com License# 02153633
Mary & Clair sell homes throughout Silicon Valley: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. with a special focus on: San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park.
The real estate search
Use this link to browse properties which are for sale, under contract (pending) or sold. Want to view only homes which are available now?
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, AHWD, CIPS, CRS, SRES Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
Clair Handy, Realtor, GREEN Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #02153633 408-721-6160 clairhandy@sereno.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley”
This is the Valley of Heart's Delight blog , covering Silicon Valley real estate - Santa Clara County, San Jose, Los Gatos, Cupertino, and nearby communities in the South Bay Area and lower Peninsula. Find info on neighborhoods, disclosure issues, buyer and seller tips, and housing market conditions in the west valley and most of the county.Please also see my other websites and real estate market statistics site, which are listed in the sidebar, above.
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Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com
“Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
Did you do the repairs outlined when you bought your home?
