The inventory keeps growing as well as the number of transactions. Many short sales, Foreclosures and REO (homes that were foreclosed, were not purchased by an auction on the Court house stairs and remained in the banks’ possession) are being sold, some of them with multiple offers. Even the foreclosures in Stockton are being sold out.

There are still many people who can afford to purchase homes. Los Altos and Mountain View and Sunnyvale are getting more balanced, with less multiple offers and more negotiations and concessions toward the buyers. Palo Alto, Cupertino and Saratoga are still holding tight. When I see a nicely remodeled house in a beautiful street and good schools I know it will attract many buyers and sell for more than asking price but the rest of the homes are being sold with negotiations, more contingency times and demands from buyers to fix things. This is the sign of a balance market where supply and demands are the main drivers. I did manage to get a “deal” for one of my clients in Mountain View. A similar house, in the same street, is priced for sale at $175,000 more. When you see a for sale sign standing for a long time it’s because the house is on a busy street or it was priced too high. Pricing right is very important especially in a down turn market. If you price it too high you end up chasing the market down by having to lower the price. The house becomes “stale” as we say in the real estate jargon. This is the time for bargain hunters.

Sunnyvale CA is one of the largest Cities in the Silicon Valley, next to San Jose, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Mountain View and Los Altos. About 140,000 people enjoy the stability, the clean air, clean environment, abundance of parks and recreation facilities, beautiful community center and senior citizen center, great schools and fantastic Police & Fire department who shows up in less than 5 minutes when called.

The elementary schools in Sunnyvale attend 3 school districts according to geographic boundaries. Sunnyvale has 4 elementary schools that belong to the Cupertino School District

You can click on the link and view the location. Montclaire, West valley, Stocklmeir and Nimitz

Cupertino Union School District elementary Attendance Boundaries

The kids from the Northern neighborhoods, North of Fremont Ave attend Sunnyvale School District

Some of the schools are as good almost as prestigious as Cupertino schools. Cherry Chase Elementary

and Cumberland Elementary

are very desirable. Columbia middle school is known for the high math achievers. A high percentage of kids who attend Columbia middle finish Algebra before they get to high school. The school received grant from Juniper, a high tech company nearby.

The kids on the East side neighborhoods of Sunnyvale, East of Wolfe Road attend Santa Clara School District in Sunnyvale. Laurelwood Elementary is one of the best elementary schools in that area. The day care before and after school hours enables working parents to leave their kids at school after hours or early in the morning , knowing that they are in good hands.

In a meeting with Larry Stone the Santa Clara County assessor he explained that home prices are determined by the designated school for that property. There could be a considerable price difference between homes in the same street or adjacent street, just because they belong to a different school. The Real estate market is affected directly by the schools. While most of the country is affected by the mortgage market and prices are going down, Sunnyvale is holding tight. The prices are solid. Until now you can still see multiple offers and high home prices.

We are back in full action. Inventory is growing as fast as expected in the spring. The “for Sale” signs are springing up like mushrooms after the rain. If you drive through the neighborhood during the afternoon time you’ll see ‘open house’ signs pointing in all directions. Homes are being sold fairly fast, especially in desirable areas with good schools.  Some homes in the most attractive areas in Sunnyvale, close to Helena and Wright Ave, were sold under or at the asking price. The agents told me that they were very surprised. Other homes, near Ortega Park in Sunnyvale, were sold with multiple offers way above (18%) asking price. All these homes in both areas needed a lot of work (what we call TLC “tender love and care”).

People always ask me “how much do you think this house will sell for?” or “how much this property is worth?” I run the comps (homes that were sold lately in that neighborhood) and even though I really know all these homes, it’s hard to predict. Who knows how desperate the other bidders are, how many homes they lost out on by trying to offer just enough to get the house and not too much. Who knows what other motivations the buyers have. Some are being vacated from their rentals and are sick of moving, some want to invest their savings in real estate instead of a rocky stock market.  Sometimes we have the chance to raise our bid and win the house but the buyers are not ready to pay so much more than the asking price. Buying a house is not just mathematics. Feelings and emotions play a crucial part in the decision to buy and pay the outrageous sum of money for a hut in the Silicon Valley.

Take your typical 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch, in its original condition, clean it nicely and poof, like magic, you turn it into millions of dollars. It was purchased for $28,000 45 years ago. Back then it was expensive. The neighborhood was very quiet and modest, there were cherry and apricot orchards around, in the heart of the Silicon valley. Now the magic word is Cupertino schools. This is the melting pot of the world. Immigrant from India, China, Japan, France, Germany, Finland, Israel, Iran, and many other countries, come to live the American dream. They want to get education, freedom and money. They are willing to pay $140,000 above the asking price for this 1600 s.f. house that has $30,000 termite and foundation damages. Additional $50,000 might be enough for basic remodeling. Yes, you need at least $1,1M to own a modest house in Sunnyvale, Cupertino School District. Last week a nice ranch house was sold with 18 offers and this week a similar house got sold with only 7 offers but the end price was higher. How high can it go?

My client won the house, competing with 3 other buyers. The seller was so happy. The offer was:”as is”, no contingencies, 3 weeks free rent back, great price, all that for the luxury to own home in Sunnyvale. My client shopped around for the best loan. First he was going with a mortgage broker who promised him the best 30 year fixed conforming loan he could get. Then he found a B of A lender who was willing to get him 5 year arm for 5% (with 1 point). What a deal! The mortgage broker could not match that rate and my client was going to do the loan with B of A. 2 days later the original mortgage broker found a 30 year fixed  for 5.25% with a 1 point buy down. They locked that rate which disappeared that afternoon. The B of A lender could not match that loan and the buyer, being a conservative borrower preferred the 30 year fixed.

A diligent broker has to be on top of things, check the rates a few times a day and be in touch with many lenders.