"What is the API score for the school?"  This particular question gets asked of me more and more now.  Some clients are eliminating certain homes based solely based on these scores.  However, when questioned further as to what the API measures and why it is important, the responses I get vary greatly.  Everyone seems to think it is an important criterion in their home purchasing decision, so I will try to summarize why it is significant and also try to put things into perspective.     What exactly is an API score?  Simply put, the Academic Performance Index (API) measures the academic performance and progress of individual schools and establishes growth targets for future academic improvement.  To accomplish this, the state uses an index which ranges from 200 - 1000.  A school's score ... 05/29/2007

This is a follow up to the previous Heard on the Street post. This little gem received 13 offers after only being on the market for 8 days.  It was listed at $789,000 (consistent with the selling prices in the area) and sold for $858,000 or 9% over list!     A comparable home in the same area, listed by an agent not from the area, was priced at $839,950 (obviously higher that the competition); they were both on the market at the same time.    One was priced right and the other obviously was not; one sold for way over while the other still remains on the market and facing a price reduction.  Who was better represented?   Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtorhttp://www.stevemun.com/ 05/21/2007

Single Family Market The inventory increased a bit while sales decreased slightly as well.  The market seems to be following a predicable pattern when comparing it to a year earlier.  Not a dramatic  difference between the two Aprils; relatively consistent.  Here in Campbell, the sub-prime market seems to have had little or no effect at all.    DOM (days on market) has been consistently dropping for the past couple of months and now below 30 days, while maintaining the list price at 100%.    The average price per square feet rose to $487 (annualized) for the 12 months ending with April 07, an increase of $6 from the same 12 month period ending with April 06.   Condo/ Town homes Market  Same consistent and seemingly uneventful pattern this month: slight increase in inventory and slight i... 05/17/2007

Single Family Market The disparity between the number of homes coming on the market and the homes selling continues to grow as we approach the summer months.  Clearly, the number of homes sold is lower this year compared to last.  The fascinating thing is that despite this disparity and the lower sales numbers, the prices are continuing to rise as we will see (one would expect the opposite).  What does this tell us?  Buyers certainly have a wider selection of properties from which to choose overall, however, there is still competition for the ‘prime choice' properties in great condition and excellent school districts.  Location becomes extremely important in this market place.  Again, depends on where your home is located.....  Why is there a continuation of homes coming on the market o... 05/17/2007

  It is sad, but it has finally happened, a potential client was referred to me who has clearly been deceived and mistreated by a mortgage professional whose job was supposed to provide them with the best product to fit their needs.  Unfortunately, we read about this type of thing in the newspapers but sometimes we get to face them in person.  This particular client was given a Negative Amortization Loan or an Option ARM Loan but the details and the pitfalls were not fully explained to them.   Option ARM was not designed for a regular salaried worker like this prospective client; it was designed more for business owners or commissioned employee like Realtors who  may come into large sums of money or may have stretches with no income.  Consumers sometime have no idea what they are being ... 05/15/2007

 It sounds so simple, and it works time and time again, when applied correctly: price the home correctly and it will sell quickly.  Of course, the house has to be in good condition.  But even if the house is not in tip-top condition, pricing it accordingly will make it move.  Here is another example of a nice home that was priced correctly and resulted in multiple offers.  This little gem is located near  Primary Plus Day Care Center in the Campbell district of San Jose.  The house is a normal sized 3 beds 2 bath with a little over 1700 sq. ft. of living space on a 7400 sq. ft. lot (the lot size in this area is a little larger compared to other neighborhoods) for a 49 year old home and it was priced at $789,000.  The house was in good condition with granite counter upgrades in the kitch... 04/19/2007

Single Family Market The market seems to be reacting predictably compared to last month.  Coming from increased listing activities and flat sales activities through the past summer and winter months, we are entering the upswing into the spring and summer season.  There is no appreciable difference between March 06 and 07 in the area of homes going into contract (pending).   That is quite surprising, considering all of the brouhaha about the collapse of the sub-prime lending market we all have heard so much about in the past few months.  I suppose that is a testament to Silicon Valley's belief in its robust economy and the shortage of housing.        DOM (days on market) dropped noticeably from last month, while the list/sold ratio continues at 100%.     The average price per square feet... 04/12/2007

 I was communicating with a client who has been "gauging" the market by sitting on the sideline and just watching for nearly a year.  He just wrote to me asking about the impact of the sub-prime market on the local market.  In responding to him, I asked him a question about his plan, since we hadn't communicated in a while.    My response was edited to leave out personal detail.Buyer:  I've been hearing a lot about the "crisis" with the sub-prime lenders/borrowers... has that started to effect the market yet?  Negatively?  Positively?  I haven't seen any prices going down recently or a real flurry of activities; just a lot of panic.  Any feedback you can provide would be appreciated.Silicon Valley Realtor:..... I know you are trying to gauge the market and figure out when is the best ti... 03/30/2007

 Reminder for everyone.Please remember that the 2nd installment of your property taxes is due by April 10.  If you pay after the aforementioned date, you will incur penalties, so please make sure you take care of this matter, if you have no done so already.  Who wants to pay penalties?    For those of you living in Santa Clara County, if you have any questions, you may  contact the County Tax Assessor's office.   Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtorwww.stevemun.com   03/30/2007

Everyone wants to make money.  How do investors make money in Real Estate?  By using the power of leverage!   Best ways to make money are 1) deferring payment of taxes on your capital gain and 2) taking said tax-deferred money and re-investing it into a larger or more properties, so you can further leverage to gain equity.  This is what is known as a 1031 (IRS code) Deferred Exchange.  As the property is an investment property and not your primary residence, you cannot avoid paying taxes on your gain.  However, because you are able to utilize this IRS code, you can defer (not avoid) paying taxes over and over until you decide at some point to cash out.  There are four basic requirements (simplified for explanatory purposes) to keep in mind when doing a 1031 exchange:•1.      Like kind ... 03/23/2007

Earlier today, I wrote about receiving a scam email from Africa promising me $1.9M if I am kind enough to help a minor come into a fortune left by his parents.   All I had to do was provide me with my bank account.  JI get home tonight and turn on the T.V. to see an investigative report on Dateline NBC with Chris Hansen, the same reporter who has been doing exposes on adult predators on the internet.  How apropos; I had to write about this.  Tonight he was tracking down and trapping scam artist conning Americans out of millions of dollars.  One person on the show was relieved of over $70,000 of his own personal money and was in the process of giving up more than another $100,000 of local government money to these people, when he was arrested for embezzlement.  There was a similar story... 03/20/2007

You heard about them on T.V. and you read about them in the newspapers or on the internet, and you wonder (at least I did): do they really think that people will fall for those idiotic scams?  Well, I was the recipient of such a scam spam recently.   Lucky me..... J  In case you are not fortunate enough to have received one, I wanted to share my experience with you.    Here is the email.  This is not the traditional Nigerian scam but an offshoot of it coming from Ivory Coast apparently. Of course the hook for me was that the wealthy African young man is supposed to buy real estate through me and also offer 20% of the $9.5M as compensation for acting as guardian and all in exchange for my bank account information.  What a deal!  Who wouldn't jump at such a sure thing?  Why bother buying ... 03/20/2007

Single Family MarketNo dramatic change since last month.  Inventory has increased slightly but the accompanying pended/sold activity also increased in similar increments, following the predicted path from January to February.  Historically, March is when sales activity goes into higher gear in Silicon Valley.  Weather is warmer and more people are out looking for homes.     Interestingly, DOM (days on market) remained hovering at 49 for 3 consecutive months but the sold/list price rose from 98 to 100% for the first time in over 6 months.     The average price per square feet rose to $486 for the 12 months ending with February 07, an increase of $10 from the same 12 month period ending with February 06 ($476).    Previous month's graphs Condo/ Town home Market The results are similar to ... 03/17/2007

I am a data driven guy.  I don't  much care for stories or opinions unless they are supported by supporting good data and graphs and charts.  That is why I am excited that now I can finally use Pending Sales data.  Pending status measures the duration "under contract" or the pre-sold phase of the sales process.  When a house is said to be sold, it first goes into Pending status (typically 30 days) before it can be labeled sold when the deed is recorded.  For our purposes, it is recorded the moment the seller accepts the offer.  This way, we get to see the moment the house is, for all intents and purposes, off the market.  Whereas sold shows us when the deed is recorded, not when it is taken off the market, hence, a more timely measure of the activities in the marketplace.  Single Family... 03/17/2007

 The newspapers are at it again, proclaiming that the real estate market gloom and doom headlines like: "February Bay Area Home sales at 11 year low, prices flat."  Trumpeting this bit of news it as if it were the gospel truth.  But look closer at the sub-headline in small print:  But Santa Clara County resale home prices up 4%.  Now why would they put the second part of the headline  in tiny print like they did?  To sell papers through sensationalism!   They are not mis-reporting the news, but rather, they are just focusing their attention on the bad news and down playing the good news (or bad news, depending on whether you are a buyer or seller).  If you read the full article you will learn that not only Santa Clara, but San Mateo and Alameda Counties also enjoyed increase in sales pr... 03/15/2007

  The results are out.  I wrote about a couple of hot properties a few weeks ago on Heard on the Street.  They both have closed, so I can reveal the sold prices now.  The property on 5095 Elmwood was listed at $749,000, it sold in 11 days for $815,000 with 18 offers.  The property on 5119 Yorkton was listed at $750,000, it sold in 6 days for $821,000 with 10 offers.  Both of these homes fit right in the heart of the medium price point for single family homes in this area.    As I mentioned previously, both of these properties are located in Moreland School District, an excellent school system sought out by buyers with young children and were in good condition.  This is not to say that the market condition is like this everywhere in Santa Clara County.  Only those with exceptional school... 03/15/2007

Well, well, so far, I've been writing primarily about market conditions and what's heard on the street.  Definitely important and relevant information for the local real estate market, as most would agree, but I'll be the first to admit that it can get pretty dry.  And that is why sometimes it takes me a few days to think up something about which to write.People read blogs (I certainly do) to learn but also to get entertained.  You can only stare at your computer for so long and read about sales volume and dollar figures.  I've been thinking about how to freshen up and liven up the content of my blog for some time now.  The other day, my wife was watching one of her shows and I overheard for the umpteenth time about the crazy antics of Britney Spears and about Anna Nicole Smith's death ... 03/01/2007

Join us in Downtown Campbell where local talent creates a fun, festive, and family friendly atmosphere in the monthly First Friday events. As the name suggests, First Fridays are held on the first Fridays of each month and usually feature sidewalk music and other performances. Each month there's a different theme and for each month we're looking for different acts to put on. This Friday its: Luck o' the Irish Fri, Mar 2nd (5:00pm - 9:00pm) at Downtown Campbell Luck o' the Irish, an evening of Celtic music and fun for the whole family! 03/01/2007

Please join us June 16, 2007 for the 29th AnnualCampbell Highland Games & Celtic Gathering Held at the Campbell Community Center, Campbell Ave. at Winchester Blvd., in Campbell CA. Click for a map. For more info:http://www.campbellgames.com/Come enjoy the Scottish traditional dancing and events.  (We especially like the Caber Toss and Stone-Put!)Bring your friends and family for this annual tradition. 02/26/2007

It is imperative that you learn what is happening out in the streets in order to determine what is truly happening out there.  It is often old news, by the time the newspapers pick up on things.  Who get information quicker than the practicing Realtor who is out there with his ears on the ground listening and sometimes participating in the transactions taking place?To give you an idea of what is happening with Campbell Real Estate right now.  There are two starter homes in the 95130 zip code that are in the price point for my client.  One is on Yorkton and the other is on Elmwood.  Yorkton is a 4 bed 2 bath with 1300 sq. ft. on a 6100 sq.ft. lot, while Elmwood is a 3 bed 2 bath with 1250 sq.ft on nearly 8000 sq.ft lot.  Both were listed at or near $750,000 and were in good condition, no... 02/21/2007