Mary Pope-Handy's Silicon Valley Real Estate Commentary

Forget the Car! This Los Gatos Home is Close to Schools and Shops!

2008-06-16T20:00:19Z

With gas rapidly approaching $5 per gallon in Silicon Valley, a close-in location is prized now more than ever! The home at 120 Magneson Terrace in Los Gatos offers incredible proximity to Blossom Hill Elementary School (just a couple of blocks away), Fisher Middle School (about a half mile away) and a fabulous array of shops and restaurants within a half mile.

Details on 120 Magneson Terrace, Los Gatos:

Updated, single story ranch home
Located on quiet cul-de-sac
Home appx 1800 SF, Lot appx 8700 SF
Three Bedrooms
Two and One-Half Bathrooms
Step Down Living Room with Fireplace & Art Niche
Formal Dining Room
Extra Room - Library, Study, or Music Room
Kitchen Updated with Newer Cooktop
Air Conditioning and Great Insulation
Hardwood Floors Throughout (except bathrooms)
Laundry Room
Tons of built-ins
Upgraded Lighting System
Large Windows Bring in Oodles of Natural Lighting
Wysteria-Covered Trellace in Back Yard
Attached 2 Car Garage
Double Door Entry Way
Home and Pest Inspections Completed and Available.

If you'd like to see more images of the home, please enjoy viewing the Virtual Tour.
To check out the location, view the map.
And for even more details on this great home, visit my website, www.PopeHandy.com or use this direct link for 120 Magneson Terrace, Los Gatos.

OPEN HOUSE:

Sat, June 21 (host Deena Westergard)
Sun, June 22 (host Mary Pope-Handy)
Both days 1:30-4:30pm

Who Handles Foreclosure Proceedings on Private Loans in California?

2008-04-19T20:34:23Z

A friend of mine here in Silicon Valley is in the unhappy position of needing to foreclose on someone's house for unpaid debts. His attorney told him that there are foreclosure services out there, and since I'm in real estate, he asked me. I am unfamiliar with this business model. Anyone know anything about it?

I appreciate any tips or leads very much.

Here's to happier business in the future!

Introducing Mary Pope-Handy's new Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog, "The Valley of Hearts Delight"

2008-04-12T11:25:42Z

Blogging has become my primary source of meeting new clients in recent months (from my Real Town blog, www.LiveInLosGatos.com), so I have decided to expand what works (and cut what doesn't) by replacing a non-performing website with a blogsite that I believe will do great things for my business and my clientele.

The old site can still be viewed at www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com. It is a Best Image site, which is quite expensive at $60 per week! A year or two ago, it was a great source of leads. Now it is merely a budget drain and a source of amazing quanties of spam. (There is no test before forms are submitted to keep bots from spamming.) The Valley of Hearts Delight URL will be directed by the end of this month to my new site.

For now, you can have a sneak peek, even though it is not 100% done (and I'm still learning how to use many features of it myself). For instance, I asked them to please put in the MyBlogLog widget, but no luck after 3 weeks, so unfortunately I can't tell easily if any of you who are members pop by yet. Soon, I hope. That is a fav of mine.

The long URL is www.SanJoseRealEstateLosGatosHomes.com. This is an RSS Pieces site and Mary McKnight suggested this URL. I find it long, but defer to her knowledge of SEO and what pleases Google. I know real estate, and I know writing. I don't really know (or want to know) the finer points of the SEO wars. So I will take her professional advice here.

I've begun adding posts, and you may not be surprised that the first batch of them are long. I've tried to start with what my friend (and blog coach from Project Blogger, the managing editor of Real Town) Frances Flynn Thorsen calls "evergreen posts" - the ones that are always timely. Shorter posts will follow soon!

I hope you like the new site and welcome your feedback.

Project Blogger - A Year Later - Where Do We Stand Now?

2008-04-05T00:05:34Z

A year ago, about a dozen of us Project Blogger Apprentices were typing our fingers off in a fast paced, intense, super-scrutinized contest. We were all working hard and were more than a little stressed.

I thought it might be interesting to do a retrospective on the experience and to see how things are going for all the apprentices now, a year later. I'm hoping they will chime in!

For me, it was an incredible learning experience but I'm far from done learning. This week I bought "Blogging for Dummies", and while I don't need every word in every chapter, there's a whole lot of value for me in that book despite my crash course in blogging last year.

One of the most important things I did learn in Project Blogger was that it's all about relationships. As bloggers we form relationships with our readers, and also relationships with other bloggers (who are possibly going to be our friends as well as our competitors, just like in the "real" real estate world).

A year later, I'd say the most important stuff I learned about blogging successfully is this:

Keep it visually appealling (photos, some italics, bold, not huge paragraphs)
Make it interesting and relevant to your target audience
Invite feedback
Variety is the spice of blogs! Vary things! (style, content, length of posts etc.)
Read other folks' blogs and share with them, leave comments, etc. Get connected.
Write using "keyword rich" phrases so Google and other search engines can find you
Follow your passion - if you are bored, you won't be able to sustain the blog

In addition to what I learned about blogs, I look back with gratitude on the very cool people I got to know (or got to know better) because of Project Blogger. That would include Joeann Fossland and Frances Flynn Thorsen (my blog coach) as well as most of the apprentices and blog coaches from Project Blogger, and also several helpful and encouraging souls on the sidelines who were sort of indirect mentors for many of us. (I'd be afraid to list them all for fear of missing someone.) Two Project Blogger apprentices and one coach even assisted me with posts on my hobby blogsite, http://www.hauntedrealestate.com/ by sharing their stories of showing or trying to sell spooky houses. How cool is that?

How About Business? Is It Paying Off?

Of course, the point in all this was to make blogging a viable part of our marketing, right? Is it working? I know it is for several of the apprentices because we email back and forth about it!

As for me, yes, it's paying off. I have found that it's a bit like other marketing methods - it takes time, and it's best if part of a concerted whole approach to marketing. I do have closed business from my blogs and the pace has been picking up exponentially lately. Right now I'm working with some fabulous buyers who found me specifically from my Live in Los Gatos blog, for instance.

With the market changing, I have lots of clients who are committed to me, and who found me from my LiveInLosGatos blog, but who are waiting. Some are waiting to save more money since now they cannot buy the next home with 10% down but need 15%. Others see the market in Los Gatos appreciating slowly and need it to go up a little more before they can do the move they want. But I regularly get about 100 visitors a day to my site and am picking up at least a lead a week from my blogging efforts at this point. No complaints!

What About Niches?

I am having fun with my niche markets overall. (Too bad that writing about ghosts doesn't pay - but my Haunted Real Estate blog IS fun.) Over the last year I experimented with a variety of niche blogs: relocation, first time homebuyer, move up buyer/seller in Silicon Valley.

Know what I found? I found that even if you want to do it, it's very hard to manage 6 or 7 blogs at once. It might be a nice idea, but it's not practical without a staff. I will be paring down in the coming months.

What's Still to Go?

So there are still lots of things where I'm learning, growing, and changing my business in response to what I have learned from Project Blogger. Here are some changes that are underway or that I anticipate:

I'll be getting rid of one of my "main" websites and migrating that URL to a blogsite
I have been getting rid of boilerplate content on my websites and rewriting (to give custom content) and adding extra content - this is working in terms of Google so I will likely do more of it
Recently my friend and real estate colleague, Steve Leung, invited me to participate on his blog, the absolutely excellent 1SiliconValley.com. I supplied all of one post there so far but am looking forward to doing more.
I want to learn how to podcast. (It can't be as hard as Wordpress.)

Anything else?

Yes. I have not yet managed all the technical stuff for SEO (I can write good keywords, but I do not know, nor do I really want to master, how to do the coding, the high tech aspects etc.). I hired someone to do that in January 2007. If I had to learn that part of blogging, I'd never have gotten anything else accomplished.

I hate Wordpress. I *know* it's "open source", I know the smart, skilled people love it. I know it's got great potential but it's like driving a stick shift on a rainy day in San Francisco when all you really want is a basic car to get you to your destination without sliding into a death drop into the San Francisco Bay.

In other words, I'm one of those people who really don't want to build a blog from the ground up, one brick at a time. I want to write and personalize without having to learn a ton of code.

The neat thing is, if you make friends in the blogosphere, you will have infinite resources for everything you want to do with your blog. Bloggers can be very generous in sharing what works for them.

Learning this may be one of the most enduring benefits of Project Blogger.

Thank you again, Active Rain and Inman News!

It's A Buyer's Market in Silicon Valley: Why Won't The Seller Take Your Offer?

2008-03-22T13:17:37Z

Home buyers are surprised when they make an offer and it is rejected or countered high. After all, this is a buyer's market in Silicon Valley, isn't it? Shouldn't the sellers be thankful that there's an offer at all? Shouldn't they just take any offer they get?

That's how a lot of buyers view the "lay of the land". But even if only one in five homes is selling in Los Gatos, those homeowners do not want to feel like they are "giving away the home". And they'll tell you so.

Buyers want a bargain and sellers want top dollar. Somewhere in between, there's "fair market value". That's a reflection of no undue pressure on either buyer or seller, and also a reflection that both have a normal amount of motivation.

What can you, as a buyer in San Jose, Saratoga, or Los Gatos, do to make sure that you write an offer that can result in a sale (and not just an upset seller with a ridiculously high counter offer)?

There are several things to consider, such as current market conditions, recently sold comparable properties, and what the seller needs for this sale to make sense. With the right approach, you can make it a win-win situation. To view a complete list, please see my Los Gatos blog. The ideas will work anywhere in California (and for that matter, in any market).

Want to Buy a Home in Los Gatos? Some Tips to Get Your Home Purchase Offer Accepted!

Los Gatos Real Estate Market Update for March 2008

2008-03-17T23:31:33Z

How is the Los Gatos real estate market doing?

Well, it is a bunch of micro-markets, really, even among the single family homes:

the mountain areas (zip code 95033) are not really part of "The Town" (rather, county)
in town, the area closest to downtown is the 95030 zip code and it has all "Los Gatos Schools"
further out, the 95032 zip code is mostly non-Los Gatos Schools (and sells for less)

Once you add in townhomes and condos, it gets even more confusing!

In a nutshell: the mountain areas are selling pretty slowly and are usually not considered as part of Los Gatos proper. The 95030 and 95032 areas are a buyers market overall, with only one home in five selling. That said, the turnkey home "in the schools" that's between 1 and 2 million is selling pretty decently IF it's priced right.

What's not selling? That would include the very high priced homes (over $3 million it stalls out), odd architecture, oversized homes, expensive condos.

Want more? Please visit my Live In Los Gatos blog to see charts and graphs.

Are Your Listings in a Real Estate Coma?

2008-03-12T12:40:21Z

I have had way too much experience with hospitals, with emergency rooms and with intensive care units. Oftentimes I've found that medical professionals don't always "tell it like it is". Maybe they don't always know. But sometimes they do know and just don't want to say.

This is true with the word "coma" for some reason, among other things. "Deep sleep" is the description. "Is it a coma?" I'd ask - only to get a fuzzy answer. You figure it out later when the ill person simply doesn't wake up.

In real estate, sometimes we know or see things, as the professionals in the transaction, but have a hard time saying them. Perhaps we don't want to upset the client. Perhaps we're worried that we'll get fired. Or maybe, like the client, we're in denial as to the situation.

"It's not overpriced, it's just the market" is like describing a coma as only a deep sleep when we know better ourselves. When doctors know that the dying person isn't going to awaken, it's best to call it a coma (even if that's not a medically precise word - it does convey to the family the level of seriousness, which "sleep" alone doesn't do). When homes don't sell and everything that can be done has been done for staging, marketing and accessibility to the property, there's usually only one thing left: price.

Say it. The sellers need you to risk making them unhappy. You need to risk telling the truth, even if they do cancel the listing.

You and I are no more the cause of the current market than the doctors and nurses are the cause of a patient's sickness. And we have an equally important duty to tell it like it is. No one is really helped by tippy-toeing around the subject.

When my mom was dying, there was a wonderful ICU nurse who did what no one else in that department was doing. She told us the truth. She explained things kindly and compassionately so that we understood. I have often thought how wonderful she was but did not make note of her name.

It is important for people to truly understand the situation, even if it's bad news, if they are going to make good decisions. As real estate professionals, it is our fiduciary duty to speak the truth. This is true whether the discussion is about price, about staging, or anything else that may be keeping a home from selling. It is possible to be frank, to be direct and clear, and still be compassionate and kind. In fact, often they are the same thing.

On TV Today: Wish I'd Said "Real Estate Blogger" Instead of Just "Blogger"

2008-03-06T22:23:30Z

You never know what a day will bring. Or a week.

Last Sunday, my husband and I took Bella, our big black lab, out for a walk in our east Los Gatos neighborhood. I noticed some tagging - very unusual for our Silicon Valley community - so snapped a couple of pics and sent them off to the Los Gatos Police Department. I also copied my pal Alastair Dallas, who runs the online news journal, The Los Gatos Observer. (He has a great book, Los Gatos Observed.) Anyway, the Observer carried a piece on this - graffitti in town and how fast it was cleaned up on Wednesday evening. Today, Thursday, I got a call from NBC 11's Daniel Garza asking if they could interview me on this subject. Of course I said yes (those of you who speak DISC, I'm a "high I".)

Daniel and his camera operator, Mark (Marc?) did a great job. I had explained my penchant for snapping pics and getting them online as being that of a blogger, but in retrospect wished I'd said "real estate blogger". There's the advantage of the written word: you can edit it!

If you'd like to see the graffitti piece on San Jose's NBC 11, here's the link:
http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=226658 I'm not sure how long they will keep it up.

See what can happen when you have the habits of a blogger?

Simple Landscaping Rules to Help Sell Your Home

2008-03-01T10:19:21Z

Most people who are thinking of selling their home realize that "staging" is important. What many don't realize is vital this concept is to the front yard especially. When buyers see the exterior of your home, they decide whether or not to go inside. Or as the saying goes, "you only get one chance to make a first impression".

Right now in my town, Los Gatos (which is next to San Jose and is also within Silicon Valley), only one home in five is selling. Sellers need help to make sure that buyers want to see their home! So today I created a list on my "Live in Los Gatos" blog which consists of simple rules of thumb for home sellers to use when preparing their yards to be viewed by buyers.

The list includes these items:

what to do about juniper and ivy?
is new sod critical?
decorating the front porch
flower power

And more. Stop by to get the simple rules for landscaping to sell today!

How Buying a Short Sale Can Be a Lot Like Buying in a Red Hot Seller's Market

2008-02-24T15:59:05Z

This week I wrote more offers for short sale buyers in San Jose. My clients, who must be the nicest people on the planet, commented that they felt badly that I had to write so many offers to try to get them a house.

Right then it struck me how very similar this experience is (in some ways) to when buyers are trying to get into a home in a hot seller's market.

In Silicon Valley, a lot of entry level single family homes are coming on the market at $500,000 or so. These same places were purchased by their current owners a year or two ago for perhaps $600,000 or $640,000. If the condition of the home is really good, and the seller and listing agent have priced it aggressively, the home will get multiple offers.

What should happen is that the listing agent and seller work out the offers until there is one best deal that the seller accepts - subject to lender approval. An entire short sale package, complete in every way, should then go to the loss mitigation department of the lending institution(s). One accepted offer should go forward. If better offers later come in, they should be sent to the lender too - but not signed by the owner.

In some cases, though, the seller's agent doesn't respond to ANY of the offers that come in, but instead sends them all to the bank. My buyers' offer was one of six that went to Countrywide two weeks ago. We had no response from the seller (we allowed the contractual 3 days in the form), so our offer is technically dead. My buyers are more than in limbo - if their contract had been accepted conditionally by the seller, at least they'd feel like there was a chance of buying that home that they really like. But with no word, and no sense if Countrywide was even on task with doing what's needed next (having a BPO, broker's price opinion, like an appraisal or CMA, ordered or on schedule), it's hard to see the end in sight.

So the buyers move on mentally (if still hoping that a miracle will happen and they can buy that first home) and view and chose more homes. Since short sales are a slim chance of success, what else can you do but keep trying? Write another offer. And another. And another. Sooner or later, you'll actually be able to buy a house!

When it's a strong seller's market, buyers write offer after offer in the hopes that one will be accepted.

Now, too, buyers are having to write a lot of offers in hopes of just buying a house.

This time, though, the playing field is muddy. Even if your offer is accepted by the owner, you, as a buyer, are never sure if the bank is going to be asleep at the wheel or able to respond quickly enough to get the deal to close. The uncertainty causes a lot of anxiety, and a lot more work, than is necessary.

But there's a silver lining in all this for the hardworking buyers: right now, the longer it takes, the more house the buyers are getting for their money. That's the good thing going on. In a sellers market, prices rise so fast that buyers can be "priced out of the market" because they can't get ahead of the curve quickly enough. This is the same situation in reverse that banks are facing now. If they can't respond fast enough, prices continue to fall and buyers will not be willing to pay in 45 or 60 days what they were willing to pay today.

As in the overheated sellers' market, in this insane market where in some areas virtually every property for sale is a short sale or banked owned (REO) property, buyers and sellers are anxious and afraid - afraid of leaving money on the table, afraid that a better deal would be had "if only...." (fill in the blank r.e. timing, staging, or anything else).

In both markets, agents are working very hard and often aren't getting paid. Or they work twice as hard or three times as long before they can successfully close a transaction.

There are a lot of similarities in these polar opposite market conditions. In both it can be, for agents anyway, "all work, no pay". For buyers or sellers, time is money - lost or made! There's a sense of a loss of control.

Luckily, these kinds of extremes don't last forever.

Can a Realtor, or other Real Estate Professional, Help You to Buy a Distressed Property in Los Gatos?

2008-02-24T15:25:16Z

The whole arena of selling distressed properties feels like a quagmire to most people. We all know it's tricky, and difficult, and have heard that it's frustrating, but also that it's doable.

People wanting to buy homes that are in foreclosure, or have been foreclosed on, or are in a short sale situation may have more questions than answers. What are the risks? Can I inspect? What is a short sale?

Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Almaden Valley and the other "west valley communities" are all highly desireable. Lately I have had inquiries from bargain-hunting buyers who'd like to scoop up a "good deal" in these areas. With such highly prized real estate, low crime, and good schools, those buyers are hoping to pick up a house, condo, townhome or other residential real estate for pennies on the dollar.

Can it be done in Los Gatos?

In my post today at "Live in Los Gatos", I addressed how and under what cases a realty professional can assist a buyer in purchasing one of these distressed properties. But let me tell you, there are not a lot of them to be had in the more expensive areas of Silicon Valley! The lowball prices of 20% off a year or two ago are found in areas with lower prices (Blossom Valley, South San Jose, Santa Teresa, etc.). There are a few in the more upscale areas, and many of them are listed on the MLS (multiple listing service). So if you'd like to know more about the question, Can a Real Estate Agent Help You to Buy a Distressed Home or Pre-Foreclosure in Los Gatos?, please stop by Live in Los Gatos today!

Mary Pope-Handy
Keller Williams Realty
877 397-5391

(CRS) Certified Residential Specialist
(ABR) Accredited Buyer's Representative
(ASP) Accredited Staging Professional
(e-Pro) Internet Marketing Specialist
(SRES) Senior Real Estate Specialist
(RECS) Real Estate Cyberspace Specialist
(ACRE) Accredited Consultant in Real Estate
(CNHS) Certified New Home Specialist

Los Gatos - A Tale of Two Vastly Different Real Estate Markets in One Small Town

2008-02-19T09:37:51Z

Los Gatos is a charming town nestled into the base of foothills of the Coastal Range. It's an upscale community in Silicon Valley, with good schools, low crime, and well maintained homes overall. In general, the market is "fair" in town. But real estate is always local, and things aren't always as they seem.

Recently I looked hard at the numbers in town and learned that the real estate market's performance in one zip code, 95030, is entirely opposite that of the other, 95032.

How could that be?

Here, schools drive real estate values more than any other factor. And here, the school boundaries don't follow the town (or city) boundaries - it's very confusing for newcomers! By and large, the 95032 zip code does NOT have the highly prized "Los Gatos Schools", but instead very good schools that do not score quite as highly.

In summary, the 95030 market is seeing rising list prices and other indicators of a strong market, while the 95032 market is doing the exact opposite!

If you'd like to read more on this disparate situation in the two zip codes in town, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog and read Understanding the Los Gatos Real Estate Market Trends fore all the details.

Spent Saturday Showing Short Sales

2008-02-11T11:50:22Z

Saturday was my 15th anniversary of selling real estate, and what a memorable day it was! My new buyer clients and I visited six houses in three adjoining districts in San Jose: south San Jose, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valley. They are looking to buy a single family home for close to a half million dollars - for Silicon Valley real estate, this is truly "entry level" housing. Not intentionally, every single home that we decided to view on Saturday happened to be a short sale.

I did some short sales in the early 90s, so I thought I was prepared.

I expected to see homes that were messy. Not staged.

What I wasn't prepared for was seeing most of the sellers in bed (in four out of six homes). Or rather, finding locked doors so that we didn't see them. Usually. In one case we nudged open an ajar door, only to see a bed with an occupant cocooned in a sea of blankets.

I'd called the day before and either left a message (when the instructions were to do so) or actually made an appointment so that people knew we were coming and approximately at what time. At the door, once inside, I always announce myself loudly with "Hello, real estate!" As Holiday Inn used to say, "the best surprise is no surprise".

But the Grand Finale of the day was not the messy homes, the locked doors, nor was it the sleeping teenager we got to see. No. Rather, in one of the homes, as we walked down the hallway to the bedrooms, the bathroom door opened and we met a resident - a damp man wearing only a towel around his waist.

Memorable day!

15 Years in Real Estate Today - What a Change Over the Years!

2008-02-09T19:34:40Z

Normally I don't keep track of my real estate licensing anniversary, but to make sure I don't forget to do my continuing ed requirements (due a year from today), I have the date on my home office whiteboard. So the impending date is hard to miss: I was first licensed to sell real estate in California fifteen years ago today.

What a change over the years! The "old timers" can top my stories of change (my mom was a Realtor from 1956 to 1996 so I did grow up seeing a lot of the changes too).

What I recall from those early days of 1993 and the way we practiced real estate then in Silicon Valley:

The market was very tough, not unlike the current market, with some short sales and few transactions.

The saying was "Keep it alive 'til 1995!" to cheer on depressed Realtors.

We didn't use cell phones or email at all. Fax machines were not used much due to cost and quality issues. We drove paperwork to where it needed to go! Agents pretty much always presented their offers in person.

We did use thermal paper, and it was a bear because if it got in the sun or got hot, it turned dark.

We did not create our own flyers or postcards - we took our ideas to professionals (and usually glued on one photo to our flyers).

Rider signs with agents' names were considered somewhere between crass and controversial.

We relied heavily on newspapers, but also on Open Houses to generate business. (We did also work FSBOs, Expireds, do door-knocking and cold calling. I would not call them "the good old days"!)
Prices have changed tremendously since then, of course. Single family houses that sold for $220,000 are now selling for $700,000!

Some things never change, of course. This is still a people business, reputation and referrals are still gold, and knowledge and service continue to rank highly. The way we convey information has changed more than anything else - whether it's reading a lockbox remotely, emailing listings, providing virtual tours or video, or obtaining signatures on Tablet computers.

I wonder what changes the next 15 years will bring?

Cheers!

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, ePro, ASP, SRES, RECS, ACRE, CNHS
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes in Silicon Valley Since 1993
Co-Author, "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Keller Williams Realty (Cupertino/San Jose/Los Gatos/Silicon Vally)
877 397-5391 (direct/toll-free/fax); 408 204-7673 (cell)
http://www.DelightHomes.com http://www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
visit my blog at www.LiveInLosGatos.com

What do those designations and certifications mean?
(CRS) Certified Residential Specialist
(ABR) Accredited Buyer's Representative
(ASP) Accredited Staging Professional
(ePro) Internet Marketing Specialist
(SRES) Senior Real Estate Specialist
(RECS) Real Estate Cyberspace Specialist
(ACRE) Accredited Consultant in Real Estate
(CNHS) Certified New Home Specialist

Want to Sell Your Home in Silicon Valley?Here are the Four Biggest Mistakes for Sellers to Avoid

2008-02-09T18:51:46Z

It is a buyers' market in Los Gatos, and a strong buyers' market in most of San Jose, California. There is an 80-90% chance that any given home that is listed will NOT sell this month. Even so,  sometimes, you want or need to sell despite the market. If that's the case, what are some basics to pay attention to so that your home get sold and not just listed?

A frank discussion of the most common seller errors is the focus of today's post at Live In Los Gatos. Please visit and share your feedback!

If you're local and thinking of selling, call me for a confidential consultation, and receive a copy of my book*, "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley" as my gift to you. Or if you'd like to receive information online, via email, request a value range by visiting my website, DelightHomes.com and completing the request form.

Best regards from Silicon Valley,

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS, ACRE
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993
Co-Author: "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
(*Ken Deshaies, co-author. Visit www.SnowHome.com!)
Keller Williams, Cupertino, CA (Silicon Valley)
877 397-5391 (Direct/Toll-Free/Fax);   408 204-7673 (Cell)
www.PopeHandy.com    www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
emailto: Mary@PopeHandy.com
Blog: www.LiveInLosGatos.com

The Smallest Home in Santa Clara County is in Los Gatos

2008-01-16T21:52:26Z

Los Gatos is an upscale town nestled into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The perception sometimes exists that folks who live in Los Gatos are all wealthy, live in huge homes on enormous lots (and many envision oversized pools, vineyards, and views).

While that is accurate for a portion of the area's homes, it's certainly not reflective of all or even most of them. There are many modest homes that are small, tract ranchette homes, for instance, as well as the gracious old Victorians that line the streets near downtown.

We've got variety.

We've got the smallest house, on the smallest lot, in Santa Clara County. (Can you guess HOW small?)

To learn more about this fascinating home (with its unusual history), please visit my Smallest Home post on my Live in Los Gatos blog!

Mary Pope-Handy
Keller Williams
http://www.LiveInLosGatos.com
http://www.popehandy.com/
Search All Listed Properties in Silicon Valley - No Registration! Click Here!

Market Update for San Jose, Santa Clara County, and Silicon Valley

2008-01-09T22:54:32Z

The numbers have been crunched for December and for all of 2007 and it's not a lot different than what we expected.

Overall, sales are WAY down. And overall, prices are UP.

How does that work?

In a nutshell, only the best homes are selling - homes that are in ideal locations (no busy roads, no high voltage power lines, you get the idea), nicely updated and priced aggressively. Homes that aren't all of these things go on the market, get a little attention, and then proceed to NOT sell.

You can read a very detailed report, complete with charts and graphs, for San Jose and its districts (Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen, West San Jose, Blossom Valley, etc.) as well as the cities and towns that make up Santa Clara County (Los Gatos/Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Cupertino, Campbell, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, etc.) by visiting my online Real Estate Report. Want more? I've also got an 18 page pdf with oodles of info and commentary! Have a look: http://rereport.com/scc/print/MaryPopeHandySCCannual.pdf

It's really not a bad time to sell or to buy. Buyers need to understand that sellers aren't giving away their homes, and that interest rates are favorable. This is as good as it gets. What are you waiting for??? Sellers need to understand that while prices are rising, most homes are not selling, so they still need to be ultra-realistic about their home's condition and pricing.

Please call me if you'd like to chat. I do offer a free one hour consultation to prospective clients.

Best regards,

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS, ACRE
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993
Co-Author: "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Keller Williams, Cupertino, CA (Silicon Valley)
877 397-5391 (Direct/Toll-Free/Fax); 408 204-7673 (Cell)
www.PopeHandy.com www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
emailto: Mary@PopeHandy.com
Blog: www.LiveInLosGatos.com

Report: How To Buy The MOST Home for the Money
How to Attract More Buyers With Seller Financing
RELOCATION KIT

The Los Gatos Real Estate Market: Is Now a Good Time to Sell or Buy a Home?

2008-01-04T10:58:22Z

It's January, it's pouring rain and the wind is howling here in Silicon Valley as a giant Alaskan storm is dumping water by the bucket. This is the largest storm since 1995. We are thankful for the water since precipitation has been low and there's talk of a drought and rationing by next summer.

But how does this, or even "normal winter weather", impact real estate sales? Does it make this a better time to buy or sell? The obvious answer may not be the correct one! With the inclement weather, there's an opportunity - for both buyers and for sellers of homes in Los Gatos and the west valley communities of Santa Clara County generally.

Today I blogged about this at Live in Los Gatos. Pop by if you'd like to learn more!

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, ePro, ASP, SRES, RECS, ACRE
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes in Silicon Valley since 1993
Co-Author, "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Keller Williams Realty (Cupertino/Silicon Vally)
877 397-5391 (direct/toll-free/fax); 408 204-7673 (cell)
http://www.PopeHandy.com http://www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
visit my blog at www.LiveInLosGatos.com
Mary@PopeHandy.com

What do those designations and certifications mean?

(CRS) Certified Residential Specialist (held by only 4% of all Realtors)
(ABR) Accredited Buyer's Representative
(ASP) Accredited Staging Professional
(ePro) Internet Marketing Specialist
(SRES) Senior Real Estate Specialist
(RECS) Real Estate Cyberspace Specialist
(ACRE) Accredited Consultant in Real Estate

How's the Realty Market for Single Family Homes in Los Gatos?

2007-12-15T11:22:32Z

Silicon Valley has a bifurcated market, and has for many months now. Some areas are hot sellers markets. In other areas, you can't seem to give away homes.

What about Los Gatos?

The market is cooler than is seasonally normal.

Last week I did some serious numbers-crunching at my Live in Los Gatos blog. You can see the data there:
http://www.realtown.com/LiveInLosGatos/blog/los-gatos-homes/hows-the-los-gatos-real-estate-market

And for even more info, see my Real Estate Report, which details info on the whole of Santa Clara County, including San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, etc.

How is the real estate market for Los Gatos condos and townhomes?

2007-12-15T11:10:58Z

The Los Gatos market for condominiums, townhomes, and similar clusters of homes is experiencing a seasonal slowdown - and then some. Recently I put a detailed post about this subset of the housing market on my Live in Los Gatos blog. If you'd like to see the hard numbers and get some historical perspective, please swing by!

http://www.realtown.com/LiveInLosGatos/blog/los-gatos-homes/the-condo-market-in-los-gatos-how-is-it

Change Your Focus, Change Your Mood

2007-12-14T11:18:44Z

The holiday season is well known as a time when suicide rates go up. When seemingly everyone is happy, and you're not, it just makes the gap between where you are and where you want to be feel even more immense.

This can happen to us in our businesses, too. With a challenging market and the financial pressures that can come with being more strapped than usual, it's easy to focus on what we don't have instead of what we do have.

And it can be hard to get excited about buying holiday gifts (or throwing a party, if you are in charge of your company or office) when there's not much money to put into it.

What to do?

Change your focus.

Take a break. Get out a little!

Go window shopping to do nothing but collect ideas for other people.

Sometimes just "getting out" and "getting some fresh air" can be the biggest boost to your outlook - and to your productivity, whether it's for sending out holiday cards or getting in touch with clients and friends.

Make Contact!

This is a great time of year for just phone people and simply wish them happy holidays, happy New Year. Ask them about themselves (think the FORD topics of Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams). It doesn't have to be a long call, but it can be an upbeat call. That alone will improve your day and theirs!

Do a Good Turn!

Another thing to boost sagging spirits is to do some volunteer work, whether it's at a Christmas tree lot for charity or a soup kitchen. Spend a few hours serving others and you can't help but return home counting your blessings, and getting in touch with the real spirit of giving that characterizes the holidays.

Wishing all of you a very happy (and even productive) holiday season, and all the best for the new year!!

Arrange Your Business So You Can Move

2007-12-14T00:35:41Z

No one ever likes to change brokerages or offices. But depending on the way you run your real estate practice, it can be more or less difficult to make that change should it become necessary. (Why would you want to change? Possibly new management, a buyout or takeover, new practices that you don't agree with, a change in the feel of an office, new opportunity, or a whole host of reasons.)

Four years ago, I left one brokerage and joined another. At that time, I was starting to understand the concept of branding - that is, of branding oneself as opposed to the brokerage. This was a big AH-HA for me and it's one I hope to impress upon you. From that point until today, I worked at branding myself first, at being interdependent instead of dependant, and today I'm more free to do what I want without fear of losing business than I was 4 years ago. I do not feel held captive by the branding or technology.

Of course you want to make use of your brand's strength, but when you advance the company's brand and don't do the same for your own personal brand, you ultimately make the company stronger and yourself weaker. Brokerages know that agents come and go. But if the company name is always biggest and first, then every agent who does anything helps to strengthen the company's name - and ultimately that stays in the consumer's mind, not you, the lone practitioner.

In an earlier post, I mentioned co-branding as an important part of one's business plan.

But now, let's talk practical. What to do to remain independent enough that you can "walk" if need be? (Did you ever read the book, "A Girl Needs Cash"? It's the same concept. You need some strength to have any freedom.)

First - and most importantly - have your own contact info that is totally distinct from your company. That means phone numbers, email and web addresses.

It's OK to use an office number, but ALSO include either a toll free number that you OWN or control, or a cell number that you OWN or control.

Do NOT use a company email address. Get your own permanent, professional email address (not agent@currentbroker.com or agentx@earthlink.com or agentx@aol.com - but agent@agentsbrand.com). If you left your current company today, make sure that at least your email and one phone number would go with you no matter what. We're talking permanence here - it is crucial!

Less crucial, but also important, is to not rely too heavily on your brokerage's technology. If your website is part of the company's site, and your database is locked into the company's web arsenal, you will have a much harder time extricating yourself if you should be thinking of leaving your current firm. YES, it is true that while you hang your license there, you are paying for those systems - but they can also hang you.

Better is to be interdependent - use what you can while not actually relying upon it.

I'm in the middle of a brokerage change now, going to Keller Williams as of Monday. For many years, I've had my own email account and website (and recently multiple sites and even multiple blogs). I've been using my cell phone and toll-free (non-company) numbers. If my clients contact me in most of the normal ways, they'll find me. If anyone were to "Google" me, he or she would find an abundance of entries (thousands) - so I'm findable. I did use my current company's technology, but never put all my data there. And I'm glad. I'm close to being "portable".

That said, I don't recommend moving if you can help it. It's a huge headache. But sometimes it's what you need to do. It's the right thing to do.

So brand yourself. Don't be overly dependent. Have the ability to walk - even if you never chose to exercize it. You will be in a better negotiating position and will be more confident and stronger overall if you do.

Thinking of Selling Your Silicon Valley Home? Wondering What It Might Cost to Prepare Your Home to Sell?

2007-12-03T13:39:41Z

Home selling is a big undertaking, particularly in a buyer's market when you can anticipate buyers expecting your house to be in absolutely top condition. It can seem overwhelming. In Silicon Valley, the market varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, but overall, buyers will expect your condo, townhouse or single family home to be in great shape.

Where do you begin? How much is it going to cost to get your San Jose area home market-ready?

This morning I posted about this at my Valley of Hearts Delight Homes blog. I invite you to stop by to get a little information on typical seller expenditures on pre-sale repairs, improvements, and staging.

Photos from the Los Gatos Holiday Parade

2007-12-01T23:50:40Z

Today was a bit chilly so perhaps you didn't get out to the annual Los Gatos Holiday Parade. Have no fear - there are photos you can enjoy at my Live In Los Gatos Blog! (I wasn't there either but have attended many of them over the years. My husband, Jim Handy, is a volunteer parks commissioner and he shared the photos he took with my readership. Thanks, Jim!!!)

So please take a peek over at Live in Los Gatos and have yourself a little holiday cheer!

Make 'em feel special!

2007-12-01T16:40:06Z

Real Estate 101: which is more cost effective - keeping your current clients or finding new ones? Most of us learned quickly that it's easiest and cheapest (and more fun) to keep your current clients than it is to constantly have a high turnover in your client base. For managers of real estate offices, this principle is also true in terms of your agents: it's cheaper and easier for you to keep your current agents happy than it is to lose them and have to prospect out new ones.

So why is it so hard to do?

When we get busy, we can forget to prospect and keep in touch. These two things, prospecting and following up or keeping in touch, need to be Priority Number 1.

It helps a lot if certain things you do to this end are on "auto pilot". Like what?

As an agent...

(1) you can set your work week up so that every Monday you call 25 of your best clients and just check in with them. See how they're doing. Offer to do a CMA on their home (even if they don't want to sell). Offer to meet them for coffee. Go through the FORD list of asking them about their Family, Occupations, Recreation, and Dreams.

(2) you can send monthly newsletters or postcards out to your circle of influence with something useful and interesting to them - it can be by email or print or both (I suggest mixing the media). I send Home By Design Magazine every other month to a core group of clients and each month this group gets a couple of email newsletters from me, plus holiday CDs in December. This part is really on "auto pilot" so it's easy - but the stuff they get is all good.

(3) take a client to lunch, or meet for coffee, a day or two each week

(4) when you take a new listing, invite your clients who live nearby to see you at the open house. They care about their neighborhood

(5) program your clients into your cell phone so that if they call you back, you can answer the phone saying hello and their name. (Doesn't it make you feel special when you call someone and they pick up the phone and know it's you already? You know you MATTER enough to be in their phone! This is one of my favorites, though I do all of the above.)

For a manager...

(1) agents need to know you care about them as people and not just part of a numbers game. Walk the office and "check in" with them. Take 30 minutes at some point each day and just walk around and visit. It may feel like a waste of time, but it's not. You are letting them know, collectively and individually, that you are there for them.

(2) do keep your office door open at least an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Agents may not want to bother you when the door is closed and they may not have time to make an appt for 3 days from now. Be there for them.

(3) return calls and emails quickly, just like you want the agents to be quick in getting back to their prospects and clients. When you make an agent wait 8 hours, it's frustrating and it erodes the manager-agent relationship.

(4) public praise - spread it around. Most offices have an issue with "managers favorites" (where certain agents seem to get all the referrals and attention). Find a way to commend the good stuff that agents do at office meetings, from new agents getting their first listings to near retirees staying in the game or anything else that can be found praiseworthy.

Whether you're an agent dealing with leads, prospects, or clients, or managers dealing with agents in your office (or those you'd like to have in your office), it is very important to "Make 'Em Feel Special". Sometimes it's the emotional disconnect that can open the door to a professional break in the relationship - so don't let it happen! Better to keep your key people on your team with planned attention than to be 100% busy with prospecting and lose the good folks you had.