Heard on the street......

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 kitchen and nicely refinished hardwood on the floor.

The owners decided to wait a week before taking offers. The offers were accepted this afternoon. 13 offers came in; obviously it went over list price. I will reveal the price when escrow closes and the price becomes public record. Tune in……

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Cupertino Market Conditions 03 07

Single Family Market

Market conditions in Cupertino is drastically different than other cities in the area. Nowhere is this more evident than in the performance in the past three months. While everywhere else, inventory is outpacing sales on any given month (see Campbell and Santa Clara County), this city is actually seeing a reverse: decrease in inventory and increase in sales! In both February and March of 07, sales activity outpaced the listing activity. In the past two months, there was actually a shortage of housing (see story). The inventory from the summer months should be absorbed very soon.

Given it’s higher price-point, the whole sub-prime market hysteria had practically no impact in this city.

Continue.....

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Campbell Market Conditions 03 07

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.

Continue......

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Santa Clara County Market Conditions 03 07

Single Family Market

There certainly is not a shortage of homes coming on the market in Santa Clara County right now. The number of homes coming on the market continues to be greater in volume when compared to the same period last year: a glaring difference. Also, the purchasing activity did not kick into overdrive, but remained flat during the busy months (February through September). This is most likely the result of the sub-prime borrowers who were unable to keep up with their mortgage payments unloading their homes before going into default.

If we look at the past three months, surprisingly, there was no huge drop in the number of homes going into contract (pending) given all of the negative publicity of the sub-prime market (perhaps a reflection of the robust economy in the region). It will be interesting to see how we perform during the summer months.

Continue.....

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Heard on the street

I wrote about a house in Santa Clara with Cupertino Schools that received 42 offers a few weeks back. It was an average house, nothing special, on a semi-busy street and it did have an extra large lot, but mostly in original condition.

Continue......

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Bay Area Bargains

A 15,000 sq. ft., 6 story, 25 room townhouse in Manhattan is currently on the market for $59 Million. Apparently it has been on the market for several months. This famous mansion was once owned by Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse magazine. After defaulting on loans, he lost his residence to the bank. What do you think his mortgage payment was on that puppy?

Continued.......

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Heard on the street

The jokes we used to make to each other when I started in the business in 2001 was that soon every 3 bedroom 2 baths would cost a $1 Million dollars and we would all be out of business, because no one would buy homes. It was supposed to be ironic.

The good thing is we are not all out of business. Most of the colleagues with whom I started in the business are still here and doing well, thank goodness. The not so good and not so ironic news is that yes, the typical 3/2 house has hit a $ 1 MILLION DOLLARS! Hard to believe, isn’t it? But it is true, here in the north western corner of Silicon Valley better known as Cupertino.

Continue......

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
www.stevemun.com

Not too shabby.....

I was doing my Open House Sunday, when an elderly gentleman walked in saying he wanted to check out how the prices of homes were doing in the neighborhood. He was an original owner in the tract. He paid $17,500 for his 3 bed 2 bath unit 52 years ago. He is a very nice grandfatherly gentleman who apparently enjoyed watching the gasps and jaw dropping responses emanating from me (hopefully I wasn't drooling too). He said he could not afford the $17,500, on his Veteran's loan so he had to borrow more to make the purchase. He said he and his wife though they was getting in way over their heads. Sound familiar? It seems like every single first time buyer of mine repeats this sentiment.

He told me that there were possibly 3 original owners left in the tract. He just got through paying the second installment of his property tax and he paid a little over $700. Less than $1,400 a year in property taxes! This was all very interesting to me because you don't get to meet original owners very often in 50 year old neighborhoos.

His house is off Quito near Clemson in Saratoga. The same unit that he owns is now on the market for $1,179,000! By my calculation, his house is now worth approximately 68 times what he paid 52 years ago! Not too shabby.....

Steve Mun, Silicon Valley Realtor
http://www.stevemun.com/