The Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

Stop listening to the national news, it will only guarantee that you will not get the property you want because you will ignore the advice that your agent gives you on your local market.  Forget everything you hear on the news about this being a buyer’s market, the Silicon Valley is not like other markets.

In the Silicon Valley it is now a seller’s market for most markets.  The seller has their pick of offers and they can cherry pick for the best terms and best price.  

Strategies to win the offer

Go in at your best and final price.  When sellers get as many offers as they are getting right now there usually will not be counter offers.  Do not lose the house you love trying to save a couple of thousand dollars. Do not follow Suze Orman's advice on never paying more than 80% of the list price on a condo.  Suze does not know this market; her advice might be sound in another market. If you want the winning offer please read the first sentence of this blog again.

You cannot take more than a week to remove property contingencies, if you even have property contingencies.  If the seller has already done the inspections using a reputable inspector you may want to consider not having any other inspections.  Review the inspection findings carefully and if you have questions about the findings in the inspections have a qualified contractor review them with you on the property.  You may also consider not having an appraisal contingency if you have the cash to cover the difference in the appraised value of the property and purchase price. 

Before you even start looking for a property make sure you are pre-qualified for a loan and have proof of funds in the bank. Your offer will be ignored without it. 

Be open to properties that need a little love and affection.  Anyone can fall in love with a property that has been staged to sell.  In this market you will pay a heavy premium for the staged move in ready property. Look for a property with good bones but that needs a little cosmetic updating.  Educate yourself about the comparable costs of a kitchen or bathroom refresh. 

Paint and new carpet are relatively inexpensive updates and many buyers cannot see past green shag carpeting and orange faux paint. Watch every HGTV episode you can on getting a house ready to sell so you can see how easy it is to update a house with paint, carpet and few strategically placed new door handles.

Last but not least, be ready to look at property the MINUTE it hits the market, if you can only see property on Saturday afternoon from 3 pm to 5 pm you will remain a renter for the foreseeable future.

If you have any questions about other deal winning strategies I use with my clients please feel free to contact me.

Happy House Hunting!  

First published:

http://siliconvalleyrealestateandlifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-you-need-to-win-in-silicon-valley.html

I decided to make my marinated beets for a potluck I went to over the weekend and the recipe for marinated beets was one of my first blog posts.  I try and post many of my favorite recipes so I know where they are!

http://siliconvalleyrealestate-blog.com/post/1298902/recipe-fresh-marinated-beets-

After marinating the beets I had all these beet greens sitting on my counter top and felt like I should do something with them. There were so many of them that I did not want to just throw them in the garbage.  So I sauteed  them Southern style like any other green.  

Almost anything tastes good cooked in bacon fat with onion and garlic!  Beet greens are no exception!  However what looked like a ton of greens on my counter turned out to not be much once I cooked it down.  It seems to have the same magical shrinking qualities of spinach, so what looked like enough to share turned out to be lunch!

2 pieces of bacon diced

1 med onion diced

3 cloves of garlic chopped

4 C of washed and chopped beet greens (or any green)

Saute the bacon until almost done, add the onion cook until tender add the garlic and cook for about 5 mins. Add the greens and cover.  Cook for about 20-30 mins on low heat and serve.  It smells as good as it tastes.

Add a little vinegar and/or red pepper at serving if you like that extra kick.

Here is a picture of beets two ways!

Sometimes it feels like everyone in the Silicon Valley put buying a home at the top of their New Year's Resolutions.  Unfortunately for buyers, it would appear that not as many people put selling a home at the top of their New Year's Resolutions. This is especially true in certain markets like Palo Alto, CA.

When you have many more buyers than sellers the prices go up.  In this market it is not just up a little bit but the increase in price resembles a hockey stick.  This has created a strange market where prices have just sky rocketed but it has happened so fast that appraisals are still back in the dark ages.  So what does that mean for a buyer?

It means that you have to a great deal of cash in order to win over the other 10 plus offers. If you really want the house you better have all cash.  Or at least act like you have all cash and put in an offer with no contingencies! Yikes!  This feels so late 1990's....

 Feb 2012 Palo Alto, CA Single Family Homes Sales *

24 homes sold

Average list price just under 2,000,000

Average sales price just over 2,080,000

Average days on the market- 39 days

Closer look at the numbers

25% of homes sold for 200K over asking, one house sold for 605K over asking price

38% of homes sold for 90K or above over the asking price!

This is what the market looks like  

 * Data from MLSListings, Inc. reliable not guaranteed

I have lived in the Downtown area of Mountain View, CA for almost 5 years now. One of the things I have heard many times is that we need a grocery store on Castro Street.  Funny but there has been a grocery store on Castro Street for years but for many people the traditional Asian grocery store did not fulfill what they were looking for.  Downtown Mountain View has finally gotten their wish, what used to be the Castro Market is now Ava’s Downtown Market and Deli. 

Ann and Juan are doing an amazing job of keeping some of the standards that the Asian market carried and adding a lineup of items that feels like a “Farmer’s Market” every day at Ava's Downtown Market and Deli.  They carry lots of fresh local produce and local meats.  Plus meats you don’t get other places like rabbit and goat, which are big in my house.  Someone has already posted a recipe on Ava’s website for a rabbit dish with prunes that sounds quite good.  I am planning on making rabbit in a red wine sauce this weekend.

So I want to challenge my neighbors and friends to walk over and shop at Ava’s Downtown Market and Deli instead of driving to Whole Foods or Safeway.  I have nothing against the chain stores but I love having fresh produce, bread and meat that I can pick up every day and not have to drive.  With gas over 4 dollars a gallon it is great to not have to drive to the grocery store.  I already had California Market for the essentials; toilet paper, salsa and tamales.  Now with Ava's Downtown Market and Deli I can get most of what I want without getting in a car.

Local businesses need the support of the community.  Ann and Juan took a leap of faith that those of you that live in the area will really support a local grocery store you said you always wanted. 

So this week instead of driving to another grocery store, grab your reusable bag and walk down to Ava’s.  The blood oranges are amazing, I highly recommend trying them and they are much better priced at Ava’s than Whole Foods.

I hope to run into you in the aisle!

http://avasdowntownmarket.com/

I want to say I love Zillow, I have been a Premier Agent with Zillow for over a year and I have met some amazing clients through Zillow.  Zillow attracts clients in my area that are a perfect fit for me.   I was a huge Zillow user before I became a real estate agent.  I like their statistical data, I am a numbers driven person and so are 99% of the clients are work with.  However, some times the numbers are hard to follow and they lead to more questions than answers in the real estate markets I work in.  

Let me explain why there is some confusion on house valutation especially in the Silicon Valley.  Unlike many areas in the country, the Silicon Valley does not have large developments of recently built homes that are very similar in size and ammenities.  Most of the large developments of houses occured in the 1950's to the 1970's here in Silicon Valley.  Many houses have been replaced, added onto and or remodeled.  A few of them have not been touched in since the day they were built.  So the variance is large in any one neighborhood 

If you go to Zillow and look up the accuracy of their Zestimate it explains very well about their estimation process but it seems that very few people bother to read this page:-)

http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracy.htm

One of the things I love most about my job is the unexpected. There always are many things that can happen on the journey to buy a new home. This morning I had the opportunity to go with a client to put an offer on a new condo under development. We were told that there could possibly be more people interested in the condos that were being released than there were condos available. Even with this warning we were not prepared for the wall to wall number of people wanting to have a chance to buy a new condo nor were we prepared for the way the selection process was carried out. 

There were a few lucky owners to be that got their first choice condo. They were given their paperwork and sent on their merry way. I am wondering if they were happy to be the one and only or if they are second guessing that they picked an ugly condo…

The majority of potential condo owners had their ownership determined by a Condo Bingo. 

Condo Bingo works like this:

You wait for the unit you gave as your first choice to be called out. Then you and the other condo contestants go to the front of the crowd and pick out which bingo ball is going to determine if you get to buy a new condo today or not. Some condo contestants agonized over which bingo ball was going to be lucky enough to bring them a home. Others like my client just asked to be given a ball so they could get the silly process over with. The balls were placed into the bingo ball spinner and whoever’s ball dropped out the other end got the condo. 

My buyer was a Condo Bingo winner, but this was the strangest way to get a new home I have been a part of so far. 

Would you play Condo Bingo? 

Also published at:

http://siliconvalleyrealestateandlifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/02/condo-bingo-anyone.html

Stop by my Open House at 50 W Edith Ave #5 in Los Altos, CA 94022 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm today

See why the Village of Los Altos is one of my favorite lifestyle neighborhoods.

This 2 bedroom 2 bath home is a great place to entertain friends and enjoy the downtown Los Altos lifestyle. 50 W. Edith boasts a WalkScore of 86 and includes two parking spaces in the garage for your cars to vacation.

Sit on the balcony and watch the world go by.  

50 W Edith Ave is just minutes from all the wonderful shops and restaurants in Village of Los Altos.

New to Los Altos?

Let me make some suggestions of a few of my favorite places;  

For pampering yourself visit Le Petit Salon on Plaza Central.  Owner Nancy Tran has been treating Los Altos to the best manicures and pedicures for about 20 years.  Schedule a facial for your next visit, your face will love you for it.

Want to show off that new pedicure? Head to Main Street and go to Crismon Mim for a great new pair of shoes.  Check out the great selections of clothes while you are there.

Getting hungry? Draegers is a great place to pick up a custom gourmet sandwich & something special for dinner tonight.  Don't miss their amazing wine selection.

Want to go out to dinner?  I love the old school experience of eating at Beasejour on State Street.  Their coq au vin is outstanding, save room for the chocolate souffle.

AND??

Well some local secrets are meant to be kept, but if you visit my Open House I may be willing to share...

Come see why the Village of Los Altos is one of my favorite lifestyle neighborhoods.

A while back I had a friend out visiting and I had them share their grandma's Chile Verde recipe.  I love Chili Verde and I did not have a recipe I loved.   They shared Grandma’s recipe and I have been playing with it ever since.  I am the kind of person that even if Julia Child had prepared a recipe just for me I would be fiddling with it the minute her back was turned. 

I added roasted tomatoes & red pepper to this recipe.  I had already decided that I liked about 75% Anaheim chilies and about 25% Poblano, which were not in Grandma’s recipe either.  I also added some chicken broth to this version.

I wanted to have something to eat with the Chili Verde with so I decided I would try making Spanish rice.  I like really good Spanish style rice but I have to say not many Mexican places do it very well, even some of my favorites.  I again used the roasted tomatoes and red peppers in the rice plus tomato paste and lots of garlic.

I decided I better hurry up and share this on my blog while I could still remember what I did differently! 

Chili Verde

2 Tbls olive oil

3/12 lbs of pork butt roast, cubed, remove excess fat

6 Anaheim peppers roasted and chopped

2 Poblano peppers roasted and chopped

1 small red bell pepper roasted and chopped

3 medium tomatoes roasted and chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

1 med yellow onion chopped

2 C low sodium chicken stock

Salt/Pepper to taste

I roasted the peppers and tomatoes at the same time I sautéed the meat with the onion and garlic.  I salted and peppered the meat before adding it to a warm pan with olive oil.  I browned the meat in batches and returned to a large soup pot.  I then added the chopped peppers and tomatoes to the pot.  Simmered for about 15 minutes and then added the chicken stock.  Cook the dish for at least 2 hours on low heat with the lid on and then simmer for about an hour with the lid off.

Spanish Rice

1 Tbls olive oil

2 C long grain white rice

1 large tomato roasted and chopped

1 small red bell pepper roasted and chopped

1 clove of garlic chopped 

1 small yellow onion chopped

1 Tlb tomato paste

3 C of chicken stock

Salt/Pepper to taste

Sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil until clear add the tomato and pepper, cook another 5 to 10 min add the rice, stir to mix.  Add the chicken broth.  Let the mixture boil on the stove and then reduce to a simmer and cover. The rice will take about 30-40 mins to cook.

Serve with tortilla's, lime wedges, sour cream, avocado and salsa.  A beer or two would not be a bad addition.

First posted on:

http://siliconvalleyrealestateandlifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/01/chili-verde-and-spanish-rice.html

I think even if you do not make official New Year Resolutions many of us reflect on the what happened in the past year and what we want to happen in the year that is about to unfold.  One of the things I enjoyed most last year was when clients turned into neighbors.

Last year I decided that I was going to really concentrate selling homes in my own neighborhood.  In fact my first blog post as part of the ActiveRain community was about my neighborhood, the Shoreline West neighborhood in Mountain View, CA

http://siliconvalleyrealestate-blog.com/post/1283658/homes-for-sale-in-shoreline-west-mountain-view-ca

One of the greatest things that happened in concentrating on my own neighborhood is that I have clients that have turned into neighbors.  I tell everyone that one of the greatest perks of my job is picking out new neighbors.  After I say that almost always they lean in and ask me; “What do you do if you have a client you don't like?”  Lucky for me I have not had that problem.  I have however had wonderful clients that I would have loved to have as neighbors and we were not able to find them the right place in Mountain View.  Some other community has gotten lucky and has them as new residents.

So as 2012 starts to unfold I am happy for my new neighbors that moved into the neighborhood in 2011 and I am excited to meet new clients that will be new neighbors in 2012!  

I love the idea of reflecting on what an honor it is to live in this country, the sacrifices made by those who first came here from Europe; especially with all the flaws and shortcomings being brought up in the news every day.  Those of us in the 99% have a great deal to be thankful for compared to those who live in other places. 

In addition, we can never gather family and friends around our table often enough and enjoy their company. We seem to get busier and busier every year on less and less important things.  This is a great Holiday to reset what is important.

The food served on Thanksgiving is not my favorite.  A slice of turkey is more than enough and don't get me started on what a bad idea I think marshmallows and yams are. Then there is just the sheer quantity of food eaten in such a short period of time.  So I have my own traditions that do not include turkey and candied yams.  To me it is about spending time with friends and family not the food.

This can be a tough time for many people because they cannot go home to be with family for various reasons.  So if you know someone that may be facing the day alone invite them to your house.  Do not worry that you are not the best cook nor about the dust bunnies that are breeding in the corners of the living room.  Enjoy their company, your family, and friends and let the day unfold.

I am not going to kill myself to provide a meal that Martha Stewart would envy but I am preparing a few dishes I think my family and guests will enjoy and I am looking forward to sharing bread and laughter and being thankful and grateful for what I have.

I hope you enjoy the company and laughter of your family and friends on Thanksgiving as well.

Also posted

http://siliconvalleyrealestateandlifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-love-idea-of-reflecting-on-what-honor.html