Highlights of May 22 Willow Glen Realtor Tour

WOW victorian on CHERRY Ave and huge house on Peregrino

Every Thursday I attend a realtor tour of all the new listings in Willow Glen. It’s a great way for realtors like me to stay on top of the market, and a fantastic way for sellers to get their property seen by all the top local realtors. The tour . is organized by Mike Gains of REMax, and usually includes 25-50 realtors. Every week I’ll report back on highlights from this tour – a summary of what’s going on in the Willow Glen market, exceptional new listings, stuff like that. If you ever have any questions about what I put here, or would like to see me take a different approach with this weekly summary of the tour, please let me know!

Here’s the second installment…

The first home we saw was the most amazing house on market right now. It is 1252 Cherry Ave. This amazing Victorian was built at the end of the Civil War in 1865. You look out the leaded glass windows and you can feel the history, almost hear the horse drawn carriage and picture the view of miles of open land. The house is perfectly restored down to its ornate matching door hinges on every door and mother of pearl light switches. The soaring ceilings are oozing charm and history with period wall paper, stunning curtains and furniture. The current owners did a wonderful addition that make the house even more amazing and useable for entertaining and family. The house is listed for $2,475,000 with 3 bedrooms 2.5 bathrooms and 3814 sq ft on a 13,041 sq ft. lot.

I noticed a dichotomy while on tour this week. On the one hand the smaller homes on tour tended to be tight and I heard several comments about how the owners needed to remove several items to open up the space. Then we went to 1951 Peregrino Way and at 6000 sq ft. the comments were the opposite. The house was staged yet, if felt ‘empty and lacked the wow factor’ were the comments I heard. ‘The staging does not fit the style and scale of the house’ was another comment I heard. The lesson there is you have to find that ‘staging’ balance to appeal to the emotions of a buyer (and the realtor working with those buyers).

From speaking with various agents and lenders, it appears that buyers are starting to be less afraid and are starting to buy. They understand that interest rates are low and prices are low! As I tell my clients, everything is on sale, now is the time to buy!

Here are some interesting numbers about this past week in Willow Glen’s real estate scene:

· 17 sales last week in area 10

· 225 active listings in Willow Glen this week 5/22/08

· 238 active listings in Willow Glen last week 5/15/08

210 active listings is the gold standard for a sign of a healthy market for this area. The fact that we are consistently in the 230-240 range (225 this week!) indicates Willow Glen to be a stable market.

Holly Barr Coldwell Banker San Jose, CA

www.hollybarr.net