San Jose’s Cambrian Park neighborhood offers a variety of home types, sizes, and price ranges, from small condos to large houses on big lots. Below, please find virtually all MLS listed properties currently for sale in the Cambrian Park Area with zip codes of 95124 and 95118. The info is updated automatically, so please check back often! (You can narrow your search by selecting only certain home types, sizes, etc. Below are four groupings, by zip codes and home types, to cover all residential real estate available right now in 95124 & 95118.
It has become the norm for Silicon Valley residential real estate contracts to be emailed from the buyer’s agent to the listing agent. In years gone by, that wasn’t the case – “live presentations” were the norm instead. The buyer’s agent would ask the listing agent to set up an appointment and the two of them plus the seller(s) would meet, usually at the listing agent’s office but sometimes at the seller’s home, for this offer presentation. There are many advantages of presenting and receiving offers in person, despite its current lack of popularity.
The shift came with the prevalence of email and the privacy presumed to accompany it. For awhile before email took off, some real estate professionals were faxing offers. That saved time but seemed risky on a couple of levels. It never seemed very secure until efax came along (taking faxes directly to one’s email). Most faxes in the early days of using that machine belonged to the office. Anyone hovering by the fax machine could see very well the paperwork coming through. Just as seriously, though, it took away the ability to read the situation in person, to answer questions or to make a positive impression that would help the buyer’s odds of success. It was cold and impersonal.
Today, most Realtors presume that offers should arrive by email. The better ones will ask: “How would you like to receive my offer?” The openness to dropping off a sealed offer, present to the agent, present to the agent and seller, email, fax, or have delivered by courier pigeon – ok, kidding on the last one – indicates a willingness to go the extra mile and to get it done. (more…)
You’re browsing through the online list of Silicon Valley homes for sale and only want a turnkey home. How can you tell, from the description, what the home’s true condition is? (Photos are often the biggest help, but some agents don’t post enough of them, or the quality is poor.)
Often it’s not what the Silicon Valley real estate agent says, it’s what he or she doesn’t say.
For example, when a home’s been remodeled, normally the agent will try very hard to convey this in the allowed words in the public remarks section. If anything has been replaced or updated, it will be in the remarks unless the agent is really not good at marketing the home. The comments should say “remodeled kitchen and baths” if that’s the case. If the kitchen and baths aren’t mentioned at all, normally that means that either they are original or are otherwise in need of remodeling now. (more…)
A common buyer question right now is whether or not the real estate market in Silicon Valley is overheated, if we are experiencing “another bubble”. If you visit open houses in places like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and in many parts of the Peninsula, you may see droves of buyers and be convinced that the market is, in fact, overheated.
Silicon Valley encompasses a large area, primarily Santa Clara County and some of San Mateo County, but a few sections of neighboring counties as well. Generalizing about huge regions is tricky. Overall, though, it is a deep seller’s market throughout Silicon Valley. But there is a great deal of variation from one city or town to the next, as well as between ages of homes, quality of schools and neighborhoods, and price point. Today we will focus primarily on a couple of statistics: the ratio of sales price to list price for houses in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, and ratio of new listings to sold and closed ones of houses in these counties.
First, though, a look at the two counties combined to show the broadest common real estate trends for Silicon Valley in relation to the sales price to list price ratio and “days to sell”.
Santa Clara County and San Mateo County sale price to list price ratio and average days to sell
The chart above gives a snapshot of the Silicon Valley market, which appears to have had a peak in about October – November 2012. likely reflecting sales 45-60 days earlier, when the days to sell hit a yearlong low. Since that time, though, things appear to have calmed down.
New listings of houses for sale versus sold homes in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
A few days ago, before getting the stats for closed sales in January 2013, I wrote about the trends for new listings of houses in relation to the closed sales in Santa Clara County in late fall 2012. What we were seeing was that homes in escrow were closing or finalizing the sales faster than new inventory was coming on the market. The closings in January, though,reflecting sales which began in December, a trend reversal, back to a more normal ratio, in both Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. December is often the softest month of the year, with few listings relative to the rest of the year and sales at lower price points. Looks like this December followed that pattern to a point. Have a look at the charts for both counties and notice the trend reversal, below.
Santa Clara County New Listings vs Sold Houses last 12 months
Are there a lot of off-MLS, secret sales in Silicon Valley? In my experience, there are some, but not very many. For real estate agents with buyers seeking a hard-to-find house, networking can be one method of locating the off MLS property – and probably the most important one.
Why do some sellers chose to sell their homes off the multiple listing service, out of public view? And why do some agents want them to do it?
Many home owners are afraid that if they put their house on the market at their desired price, it won’t sell AND, worse yet, will become a “stale listings” with long “days on the market”. By offering it privately, by word of mouth only, if the house doesn’t sell, there’s not so much harm done. There’s no public DOM. They can always go on the market publicly later, they reason.
What these sellers don’t know, though, is what they may be losing if they do take an offer that comes to them privately. They won’t have seen what the maximum exposure might do for them.
Some Silicon Valley Realtors push their sellers to first offer the home privately (perhaps with their agent holding it open, even), then if it doesn’t sell that way, go onto the MLS and make it public.
Should it sell privately, especially through an open house, there’s a very good chance that the listing agent will also represent the seller (or “double end the deal”). Who is benefiting the most here?
Conversely, those real estate licensees who sell a significant percentage of their listings ‘off market’ also tell potential buyers that they have a secret inventory – that’s their special sauce, their point of distinction. There’s drama and intrigue there, but at the end of the day, the big question is this: did their sellers net the most possible, or did they have a less risky sale that most likely netted them less – but increased their Realtor’s paycheck?
Networking can also be a huge help when there are problems to be solved. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel! Whether new or highly seasoned, no licensee or broker knows it all and most can benefit significantly by discussing problematic real estate situations with others who may have been down that path before. When that happens, you, the client, benefit not just from what your own agent knows, but what she or he can tap into as well.
Smart, experienced Realtors don’t have to work in a vacuum, but they can learn about hidden inventory and potential problem solvers by staying in touch with the agents and offices which are most active in the desired markets. That’s networking. It can help buyers and sellers both if their Realtor reaches out to others in the local real estate community to find out who knows what, who’s selling what or who needs to buy what. When you interview your potential Realtors, be sure to ask them about the role networking plays in their day to day work.
A real estate contingency is a provision that something must be overcome or approved to consummate a transaction. In other words, it’s a condition, such as “I will buy this house IF (fill in the blank)”.
Silicon Valley real estate consumers are well aware that home buyers normally have a few contingencies during escrow. The major ones are for property condition or inspection and loan or finance (to include appraisal). But there are others too, such as approving the preliminary title report, obtaining and accepting disclosures etc. (On rare occasions, such as some tenant occupied properties, the buyer may have to make an offer first and then, after it’s accepted, view the home or apartment building. In that case it’s “write offer subject to inspection” – a contingency that you’ll accept it after you get into escrow! This is how apartment buildings and some multi-family dwellings are sold.)
What about seller contingencies?
Sellers, too, may be able to back out of the contract if certain conditions are not met. The two we see most common are these:
In the case of a short sale, the sellers have a contingency for bank approval and for their acceptance of the bank’s terms. If the bank doesn’t approve the short payoff, the seller does not have to sell the house to the buyer.
Sometimes sellers only want to sell their home if they can find another one which they wish to purchase. This can be a contingency also: “sale subject to sellers’ finding a replacement property within X number of days“.
Some homes are part of a co-op (cooperative) and in a few areas around the country, I think mainly in New York City, a board must approve whomever wants to purchase the home or unit. In those cases, there would be a seller contingency for board approval. I have never run into it in the San Jose, Los Gatos, or Saratoga area but it is possible that you could see it somewhere in California.
How does a seller’s contingency impact value and desirability?
Seller contingencies usually make it difficult to attract buyers since there is a giant unknown in terms of the ability to close escrow and it’s not in the buyer’s control to fix it. With short sales, that contingency must be in place for the seller, but not so for the “replacement property” clause. When sellers invoke that contingency (which must be listed in the MLS), it will usually cut down on showings, offers, and ultimately the probable buyer’s value for the home – so normally this is not advisable.
If you don’t see the MLS printout on your property when it’s on the market, you could be missing errors and typos that have slipped past your agent. Or you may simply prefer that certain elements be emphasized over others. I’m convinced that many Silicon Valley home sellers never view or critique the agent report or comments though – if they did they’d probably have a bit of a heart attack.
Errors and typos are not uncommon. Once I helped a buyer to purchase a 3 bed, 2 bath home which was incorrectly represented in the multiple listing service as 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. This of course was to our advantage, but the seller probably had less traffic, and ultimately a lower sales price, because of the data entry error.It should have been caught by the agent, of course, but the seller too should have been more responsible. No one knows your home like you do!
Sometimes the typos are funny, if unintentionally so. I saw one house which boasted dual pain windows (makes you wonder!). A walk in pantry was once said to be a walk in panty. This happens not just on the mls of course. One friend mentioned to me reading a termite report that said that the wood debris in the crawl space of a home was called “cellulite debris” instead of “cellulose debris”. Mistakes happen. If you’re the seller, try to find them before they go public – or worse, viral!
The comments sections (most for everyone, but a few for just real estate licensees and members of the MLS) are crucially important to a successful sale – almost as important as having a lot of high quality photographs. Let me give you an example. Would you rather have your home described by the first or second set of comments?
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Nice home in great area!!!
Classic, updated & remodeled Victorian on tree lined streets close to SJSU. Large formal entry, remodeled kitchen with granite & profession 6 burner range, large living & dining rooms. Newer furnace. Foundation upgraded in 2005. Big front porch & private back yard. (more…)
My Sereno Group real estate colleague and friend Lorraine Combs has some extremely gorgeous land listed for sale in Morgan Hill. Many of us have the dream about building a home somewhere in Silicon Valley and getting more space – and this south county acreage is so scenic that I really wanted to showcase it here. It’s a nice piece of the California heritage with views of the hills, trees and water all in one place. What a great place to enjoy horses or a vineyard!
So, take a few minutes, enjoy the photos and details, and see if these riverside lots might be just the thing for you or someone you know!
Two Riverfront Morgan Hill Lots For Sale: Some General Information
These two properties were recently subdivided, so share the same address, which is 12575 Watsonville Road, Morgan Hill. The area is close to town and also near to the wine growing region.
One of these parcels is just shy of 3 acres and the other is 3.45 acres. They are contiguous so two lots can be purchased together if you are looking for an even larger piece of land to call your own.
Both properties front the beautiful Uvas River, which runs year round. And both are equestrian properties, zoned for horses.
Seller financing is possible for your real estate purchase – this is an enormous plus, especially given the current lending climate!
A well is shared between the two addresses. One lot has a P, G & E pole and the other has an electric easement.
One of the parcels has an existing structure and a new house can be built on that site, which includes views of the Uvas River. The other does not currently have a building on it but does enjoy frontage on the river (and plenty of level land upon which to build).
Please note: do not go to these listings without an appointment! It is imperative to call and make an appointment first to view this prime land (contact info will be listed at the end of this article).
Now let’s go over each parcel individually. (more…)
Find a home in Los Gatos! There is no need to register and two ways to browse listings of properties for sale in Los Gatos, the upscale, vibrant and scenic Silicon Valley town nestled into the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
1. Find a Los Gatos home for sale by map
Get a bird’s eye view of what’s for sale, and for how much, in different parts of Los Gatos (including 95030 and 95032 zip codes and the ability to navigate to neighboring communities in San Jose, Saratoga, the mountains, Monte Sereno, Campbell, Cambrian etc. too). Search by home type (condo, house, townhome, rental), size, number of bedrooms and other criteria. The “shop by map” feature is available on my PopeHandy.com website. Have a look today!
This page loads a little slowly, so if you click on the link above, please be patient will all of the mls info and images fill the screen.
2. Browse listed properties in Los Gatos by home type
Additionally, you can browse Los Gatos homes for sale here, without leaving the page! Below please find groupings of listings, primarily by the type of property (house & duet home, townhouse, condominium, multi-family and rental) but the top set of listings is for the ever popular “lowest cost” houses in the town.
Most affordable Los Gatos houses for sale – priced up to $1 million only
These lower cost houses will be shown from least to more expensive.
Sorry, but we couldn't find any results in the MLS that match
the specified search criteria.
Houses for Sale in Los Gatos – all prices, view list
The listings shown will be in the order of “newest first”.
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. (more…)
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”
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