1SiliconValley - Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Silicon Valley Housing Market Update (April 2007) Continued
2007-04-15 08:29:00
I mentioned in my Silicon Valley Housing Market Update - April 2007, that the recent 9.2% increase in single-family home prices year-over-year in Santa Clara County wasn't necessarily bad news for most buyers.  Then I left a cliffhanger for Sunday. I've updated the article with the reasons why and where there are softer areas that ...
More About: Icon

Bedford Square Models Open Saturday, April 14
2007-04-13 21:50:00
Bedford Square is a townhome community located on the border of Mountain View and Sunnyvale, close to 237.  Pulte, the developer, is sending out messages about the grand opening of the model homes there this Saturday.  Their phone number is 650-625-1850.  Before visiting, you can have a look at our previous write-up, find homes ...
More About: Ford , Models , April , Open , Turd

Silicon Valley Housing Market Update - April 2007
2007-04-13 09:36:00
Blame Palo Alto, Mountain View and Saratoga.  One of the ways I try to help my clients make the most of their money is to look for statistics that are out of place.  Sometimes a good Silicon Valley neighborhood has an increase in housing inventory, which causes prices there to soften up, other times you'll ...
More About: Icon , Market , April , Housing , Update

How a Win-Win Saved My Client $25,000
2007-04-11 09:14:00
Arm wrestling.  A zero-sum game where you have to beat your opponent in order to win.  There are times when I need to take this approach to get the best deal for my clients.  But in this case, there was a different opportunity. This wasn't the first offer during our search.  We'd made an offer on ...
More About: Save , Client

Credit Surprises That Damage Mortgage Applications
2007-04-10 08:28:00
Suppose you were just a month late paying a bill a couple of months ago (the bill got lost in your desk).  When it comes to your mortgage application, that's not such a big thing, compared to a bankruptcy or people who have a history of late payments, is it? Stories Affecting Your Mortgage Application A ...
More About: Applications , Credit , Cat , Hat

Happy Easter! Mortgage Monday on Tuesday
2007-04-08 05:11:00
Hi folks, hope you're having a great weekend and Monday !  Okay, great weekend at least.  Just wanted to let you know that this week's Mortgage Monday is on Tuesday this week.  See you soon, or by email or phone!
More About: Easter , East , Happy

The Hidden Beauty of Cupertino Wine Country
2007-04-06 14:33:00
On cue, he hopped up onto the wine barrel and struck a pose.  He was the photogenic one.  A friend of his was laying in the shade preening himself and another went roaming the grounds for bugs, but that wasn't him. No, he'd been following some of the other visitors around the winery but he ...
More About: Beauty , Country , Wine , Cupertino , Hidden

Real Estate FAQ Recap
2007-04-06 08:57:00
I'd like to take a moment to thank all my readers and subscribers.  Over the past couple weeks, we've covered a lot of ground, and since many of the recent articles are longer narratives, I wanted to pull out some of the key points from those essays.  You'll find answers to questions like: - What ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Recap , State , Real

AMC Cupertino Square 16 Coming Together
2007-04-06 08:17:00
Going up?  Cupertino Square pulled the wraps off the construction they're doing on the AMC theater set to open in April.  Stairway to heaven?  Normally an escalator wouldn't be that interesting, but in this case it's the visual centerpiece of the Vallco revitalization. The entire area had previously been cloistered away behind thick plastic wraps to ...
More About: Together , Ming , Pert

Why Some Houses Don?t Sell: A Buyer?s Perspective
2007-04-04 21:16:00
It was the right neighborhood near one of Silicon Valley's up-and-coming downtown areas.  I paced the angular stairwell looking carefully at the stained hardwood while my client measured out the living room.  "It's good," he said, sizing up the empty canvas beside the fireplace.  I smiled and made a left into the downstairs guest room. Theoretically, ...
More About: House , Houses , Buyer , Sell , Ouse

Silicon Valley Monopoly: The Consumer Carnival of Real Estate
2007-04-03 09:03:00
Welcome, have a roll of the dice and a thank you to the two dozen people who sent in their great content.  Here we go… A deuce and a one: hop, hop, hop and onto the purple tile of Juniper Networks.  Coming in with the fifth largest market cap in this game, $11.44 billion, ...
More About: Icon , Carnival , Estate , Real Estate , Consumer

How Lenders Analyze Income
2007-04-02 09:24:00
Different lenders interpret income in different ways.  But there are some general parameters that lenders tend to adhere to and that you should know about before your refinance or buy a property.  We'll discuss both people who are self-employed and employed by others. Self-Employed If you are self-employed, you must have been in business for ...
More About: Income , Come , Ender , Lend , Lenders

National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Resigns
2007-04-02 00:38:00
Bubble bloggers everywhere rejoice as their lightning rod David Lereah, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors resigned today.  "I'm leaving to spend more time with my family," he is quoted as saying.  Pat Verdevoogd Combs, President of the National Association of Realtors announced in her press release, "We appreciate the service and dedication ...
More About: Soci

Silicon Valley School Rankings Relative to Housing Prices
2007-03-31 10:28:00
The California Department of Education (CDE) has released the updated 2006 Academic Performance Index (API) scores for California schools, including data for San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.  The API is a statewide benchmark based on standardized achievement tests which is primarily used to rank schools relative to one another and relative to schools ...
More About: Icon , Rank , School , Rice , Housing

A Sunset at Muir Beach
2007-03-30 07:23:00
[ed.  Welcome to our Fun Friday feature!  Please join us all week, including Mortgage Mondays for lending information and Realty Reality on Wednesdays for Silicon Valley real estate stories and tips.]  There was nothing I could do at that point.  The rain was coming in over the horizon and the only choice I had left was ...
More About: Beach , Sunset

How Identical Properties Are Apples and Oranges, or Just Apples
2007-03-28 13:40:00
[Welcome to our Realty Reality Wednesday feature!  Please join us all week plus on Fun Fridays for interesting things to do in Silicon Valley and Mortgage Mondays for lending info.] I figured it was worth a call.  After all, they were out-of-town listing agents who might not have known what the usual conventions were in ...
More About: Apple , Just , Orange , Apples , Range

AMC at Cupertino Square Set to Open in April
2007-03-28 09:49:00
Mike Rohde, general manager of Cupertino Square (formerly the Vallco Fashion Park) reports that the AMC movie theater is set to open April 27.
More About: Open , Pert

Heavy Metal (Medals?) for the Carnival of Consumer Real Estate
2007-03-27 22:18:00
The festivities — nay, the grand spectacle — of the last two Carnival s of Consumer-Oriented Real Estate were hosted at Larry Cragun's Olympic medal ceremony on MortgagesUndressed and Jonathan Greene's ever-opinionated RealOpinionated.  Okay, most folks don't come here for hype so here's the skinny. This week, 1SiliconValley.com has the honor of hosting the Carnival.  Past ...
More About: Metal , Real Estate , Medal

Four Factors in a Lender?s Loan Decision
2007-03-26 09:09:00
[ed. My friend David Marx joins us again for this week's edition of Mortgage Monday.  He is principal of Dacor Financial and brings us his multiple decades of expertise as a mortgage broker.  Please join us all week, including War Story Wednesday and Fun Friday!] When evaluating a loan, our lenders consider four major factors.  What's ...
More About: Loan , Fact , Actors , Decision , Four

Mortgage Rates Are Low Without Exclamation Points
2007-03-24 11:18:00
There are three key facts to note about current interest rates.  These facts are based on the data the Federal Reserve has published on the internet for the period from April 1971 to February 2007.  The statistics are for 30-year fixed mortgages. 1/  The average interest rate over that period was 9.26%.  The median was ...
More About: With , Mortgage , Point , Points , Gage

One Lazy Saturday at Shoreline Park - Mountain View
2007-03-23 10:04:00
[ed. Welcome to our Fun Friday Feature!  Join us on Mortgage Mondays for financing info and War Story Wednesday for real cases and advice.] I'd completely forgotten and now I was regretting it.  I pulled in past the gate to Shoreline Park , which hasn't been manned in years — or at least I hadn't ...
More About: Mountain View , Turd , Saturday , View

Determining Your Must-Haves When Buying a Home
2007-03-22 23:50:00
As we stood under the cathedral ceiling looking over the stone-tiled patio, we could hear the owner and his son playing their XBox in one of the bedrooms.  It was penned off from the rest of the house so that Cujo wouldn't get loose.  I thought the top-level townhome was in pristine condition considering they ...
More About: Buying , Mining , Home , Your , Mini

The Price of the House Across the Street and Its Long Shadow
2007-03-20 08:54:00
We were looking at a Silicon Valley estate sale which was "priced to sell" according to the listing, and when you're searching for tangible information, words like that (along with vague adjectives like "quaint" and "charming") eventually lose all their meaning!  Instead, they become signals of things to look out for: little tooltips that say, ...
More About: House , Cross , Rice , Street , Shadow

Loan Rates Based on Mind-Boggling Number of Criteria
2007-03-19 09:02:00
[ed.  Hello!  My friend David Marx joins us for this week's edition of Mortgage Monday.  He is principal of Dacor Financial and brings us his multiple decades of expertise as a mortgage broker.  Please join me in welcoming him!] How is your rate determined?  The process is based on a myriad of criteria, with that ...
More About: Loan , Mind , Numb , Rates , Teri

Silicon Valley Farmers Markets
2007-03-17 22:41:00
One great way to spend weekend mornings is to check out the freshest produce, delivered right into your town by the local Northern California farmers.  Not only do you get to pick from the best fruits and vegetables the area has to offer, but you also help your dollars go back into the local ...
More About: Icon , Market , Markets , Silicon Valley , Mark

Walking Tour of Santana Row
2007-03-16 12:09:00
Who says startup companies are the only reason Silicon Valley is glamorous? Who says you need to go to San Francisco for the urban scene? Santa na Row is a uniquely Northern Californian fusion of design, culture and accessibility, recreating the atmosphere of Paris' Champs Elysees using a distinctly Silicon Valley neo-Mediterranean architecture. A bustling farmers market lines the ...
More About: Tour , Walking , King , Walk

10 Things About Me, 9 True: Tagged by Real Opinionated
2007-03-15 20:51:00
Jonathan Greene over at Real Opinion ated blog tagged me for 10 things people didn't know about me beforehand.  The spin is that one of them is a complete fabrication, bogosity incarnate!  So without further ado… 1/  My middle name is Dominic. 2/  I've had brain surgery. 3/  Jonathan got better SAT scores than I did. 4/  I'm searching for ...
More About: About , Tagged , True

Being Upside-Down: Not Just for Mortgages
2007-03-14 08:28:00
The beauty of real estate is that you can apply a lot of its concepts to other areas.  In this case, Money Crashers writes about being upside-down on a car loan and bootstrapping your way out of a situation where you owe more on the loan than your car is worth. Traditionally it's been easier to go upside-down with cars because of the massive upfront depreciation once you drive it off the lot (and personal finance gurus will say that you should let someone else take the hit on the first two years of depreciation and buy used). But being upside-down with negative equity in your house is happening more often because of housing depreciation in many areas as well as the negative amortization on many subprime loans.  Many people in that situation just take the credit hit and walk away.  Some have to.   I heard a joke (at least, I hope it was a joke!) that Washington Mutual is going to be the biggest land owner in the U.S. over the next few years.  Th...
More About: Just , Mortgage , Down , Mortgages , Side

Buying a Home in the Bay Area With or Without a Six Figure Income
2007-03-13 08:35:00
Now that the bloom is off the predatory lending rose for this real estate cycle, it seems impossible for people in the Bay Area without a six-figure income (and challenging even for those with) to purchase their own home.  After all with a February 2007 median sale price for single-family homes of $790K in Santa ...
More About: Buying , Home , With , Income , Come

A Requiem for the Loosest Mortgage Terms
2007-03-12 09:42:00
"No."  It's a simple word but one that hasn't been heard from a lot of mortgage lenders over the past few years.  Beginning with a period of historically low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve which dovetailed into the [ed: snark alert] almost artistic creativity in developing high-margin products for people with marginal credit ...
More About: Mortgage , Terms , Gage , Requiem , Term