The February 2010 Completed Sales Report for Los GatosSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 11 sales receiving 94.94% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $1,180,000 and an average price of $1,425,195. There were 46 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $15,677,150
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for Monte SerenoSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 4 sale receiving 93.48% of list price. These closings represented a median price $1,947,500 and an average price of $1,948,750 ?* There were 14 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $7,795,000
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for SaratogaSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 10 sales receiving 93.88% of list price. These closings represented a median and an average price of $1,568,500. There were 50 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $19,987,750
February 2010 ~ Los GatosCondos/Townhouses had 5 closed sales receiving 98.83% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $527,000 and an average price of $548,800. There were 13 new listings reported for February. Total Sales: $2,744,000
February 2010 ~ SaratogaCondos/Townhouses had 3 closed sales receiving 98.03% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $440,000 and an average price of $465,000. There were 8 new listings reported for February. Total Sales: $1,395,000
KAPOWICH REAL ESTATE derives many benefits from its
memberships in the National Association of Realtors, (NAR),
the California Association of Realtors, (CAR), the Silicon Valley
Association of Realtors, (SILVAR), and the Santa Clara County
Association of Realtors, (SCCAOR). Not the least of which is
their statistical information on real estate transactions.
Q: We have sold our home to a young couple who keep requesting visits for everything under the sun: room measurements, vendors, showing friends and family, etc. Our listing agent told the buyer’s agent that since their inspections and contingencies have successfully passed, any more access to our home would be an inconvenience. According to our agent, that announcement is unacceptable to the buyers. We have to move in two weeks and do not want any more interruptions. At what point can we as sellers close our doors to outsiders and get about the business of moving?
A: When you are unpacking your belongings at your new home, that’s when. Selling your home is an inconvenience. Having a sale fall apart because of perceived seller slights is a tragedy. Sellers can have a beautiful transaction in progress and the smallest thing can and will create real or imagined problems with unpleasant ramifications. That can include renegotiating or canceling the sale outright. And homes that go back on the market after a sale fails are rightly or wrongly stigmatized. Closing your doors to a buyer and her/his friends, family and vendors will only produce ill feelings toward the seller, the transaction and even the property.
Buyers and sellers are at an anxious time in their lives and bilateral goodwill is critical to demonstrate at every opportunity. Buyers tend not to file claims against people they like and/or purchases they feel good about.
The solution is this: Simply limit the number of these buyer visits, and make sure one or both agents involved in the transaction is or are present. It should be explained to the buyers that because the process of moving has begun, the home is no longer in showroom condition. Do yourself another favor and go one step further: Be present and helpful at a buyer walk-through. You’ll be finishing the sale the same way it started in good faith.
12-5-09
E-mail questions to Pat at
pat@siliconvalleybroker.com
The February 2010 Completed Sales Report for the city of San JoseSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 387 sales receiving 100.66% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $485,000 and an average price of $553,393. There were 890 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $214,163,300
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for the city of MilpitasSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 24 sales receiving 101.93% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $462,500 and an average price of $506,964. There were 36 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $12,167,145
The February2009Completed Sales Report for the city of CampbellSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 14 sales receiving 101.91% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $647,500 and an average price of $655,214. There were 33 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $9,173,000
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for the city of Santa ClaraSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 23 sales receiving 101.28% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $572,000 and an average price of $580,804. There were 59 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $13,358,500
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for the city of San JoseCondos/Townhouses saw a closing of 123 sales receiving 100.38% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $285,000 and an average price of $302,280. There were 335 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $37,180,450
TheFebruary 2009Completed Sales Report for the city of MilpitasCondos/Townhouses saw a closing of 7 sales receiving 100.28% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $380,000 and an average price of $340,490. There were 24 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $2,383,430
The February 2009Completed Sales Report for the city of CampbellCondos/Townhouses saw a closing of 10 sales receiving 99.17% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $495,750 and an average price of $495,750. There were 25 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $4,881,750
The February 2010Completed Sales Report for the city of Santa ClaraCondos/Townhouses saw a closing of 17 sales receiving 103.06% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $340,000 and an average price of $427,000. There were 45 new listings reported reported for February. Total Sales: $7,259,000
KAPOWICH REAL ESTATE is a leading real estate brokerage for buyers and sellers in Silicon Valley, providing an unparalleled level of research, education and service. The father/son team has extensive experience in single-family and townhouse/condo buying and selling. Their specialty is “move-up” and “down-size” transactions for clients who wish to sell a home and buy a replacement simultaneously.
Q: We’ve made a couple of offers on homes that were not accepted. Each offer was accompanied by a deposit check of 1 percent of our offered price. We since have decided to settle in a neighboring county closer to my work. We stumbled upon a property that seems too good to be true. However, we are now working with a new agent who is insisting that we provide a 3 percent deposit check with our offer. Why the difference between the amounts? The first agent never made a big deal about the size of the deposit. Since it’s all going toward the purchase price, who cares?
A: The seller cares as do the realty agencies involved. Deposits are critically important in any transaction, hence its name earnest money. In fact, had you provided a 3 percent deposit in your other offers, you most likely would not have subsequently found the “too good to be true” property. However, the deposit will take a back seat to its big brother, the down payment, unless the savvy offering party offsets that trend.
A larger deposit is the simplest gambit a buyer can employ to strengthen his or her offer to purchase. It’s all too often underused and unfortunately this powerful selling tool is never explained to potential homebuyers. That’s especially the case now, since most offer presentations are not personally presented, but instead faxed or e-mailed to ill-advised sellers per their reps’ insistence.
Granted, the customary deposit amounts are what I refer to as agent driven. There are 58 counties in California, not to mention the often-overlapping real estate associations in a particular county. The standard of practice within each group and its geographical territory can be polar opposite. Interloping licensees further complicate matters with conflicting board procedures.Regardless whether one is negotiating from a position of weakness or strength, a healthy deposit should always be in play. Also, should a buyer’s potential deposit monies be temporarily tied up, one can use the often-ignored mechanism of an Additional Deposit within so many days of acceptance. The benefits of a large deposit cannot be overstated. There is an old saying: The best offer is not necessarily the best price. (Terms, conditions, buyer representation, etc., enhance the best offer.) Some sellers and their reps know this; many do not, so it’s up to you and your agent to remind them.
5-2-09
Pat Kapowich, SiliconValleyBroker.com, owns Kapowich Real Estate in Cupertino. E-mail questions to him at pat@siliconvalleybroker.com
Q: We are planning to sell our home and the agent we’ve chosen to represent us requested a couple of weeks to sell it herself as an exclusive listing. She claims fewer people will trample through our home, etc. My wife loves the idea. I think it is a waste of valuable time and we should get the house on the market and be done with it. Are there any other advantages of this arrangement besides avoiding looky-loos?
A:Rarely. Some sellers will opt for a low-key selling process by eliminating yard signs and open houses; they choose to rely on the Multiple Listing Service and its co-operating real estate professionals to individually show the home to their respective buyer-clients. However, by reducing a property’s exposure to the real estate industry and its Web sites (not to mention word-of-mouth in the immediate neighborhood), the sea of potential buyers shrinks to a very small pond. The one fishing that pond is the agent whose bright idea it was to double the brokerage fee by representing both the buyer and seller while simultaneously ensuring that the absolute best buyer, price, terms and conditions are excluded. In some of these cases, real estate attorneys are more than happy to point out how the agent breached his/her duty to protect the client’s best interest.
Granted, when and if a seller requests an exclusive listing it’s either because a member of the family residing in the home is ill, or a property is so expensive it simply becomes a looky-loo destination.
The January 2010 Completed Sales Report for Willow GlenSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 30 sales receiving 98.54% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $651,250 and an average price of $666,380. There were 73 new listings reported reported for January. Total Sales: $19,991,400
The January 2008 Completed Sales Report for Willow GlenSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 22 sales receiving 96.56% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $533,000 and an average price of $581,654. There were 94 new listings reported reported for January. Total Sales: $12,796,400
The January 2010 Silicon Valley Real Estate Sales Report for CambrianSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 36 sales receiving 101.25% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $583,500 and an average price of $597,899. There were 71 new listings reported to the MLS during January.Total Sales: $21,524,388
The January 2008 Silicon Valley Real Estate Sales Report for CambrianSingle-Family Homes saw a closing of 32 sales receiving 97.45% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $505,000 and an average price of $532,367. There were 80 new listings reported to the MLS during January.Total Sales: $17,035,775
January2010~Willow Glen Condos/Townhouses had 5 closed sales receiving 97.88% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $420,800 and an average price of $392,358. There were 14 new listings reported for January.Total Sales: $1,961,790
January2008~Willow Glen Condos/Townhouses had 6 closed sales receiving 95.98% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $405,000 and an average price of $411,083. There were 13 new listings reported for January.Total Sales: $2,466,500
January 2010~Cambrian Condos/Townhouses had 4 closed sales receiving 100.64% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $263,500 and an average price of $281,750. There were 19 new listings reported to the MLSduring January. Total Sales: $1,127,000
January 2008~Cambrian Condos/Townhouses had 8 closed sales receiving 95.82% of list price. These closings represented a median price of $344,450 and an average price of $350,612. There were 18 new listings reported to the MLSduring January. Total Sales: $2,804,900
January2010~Single-Family Homes in Willow Glen had an average of 92 days on market (DOM). Condos/Townhouses had an average of 53 DOM.
January2008~Single-Family Homes in Willow Glen had an average of 106 days on market (DOM). Condos/Townhouses had an average of 241 DOM.
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January 2010~Single-Family Homes in Cambrian had an average of 34 DOM. Condos/Townhouses had an average of 17 DOM.
January 2008~Single-Family Homes in Cambrian had an average of 122 DOM. Condos/Townhouses had an average of 62 DOM.
KAPOWICH REAL ESTATE derives many benefits from its
memberships in the National Association of Realtors, (NAR),
the California Association of Realtors, (CAR), the Silicon Valley
Association of Realtors, (SILVAR), and the Santa Clara County
Association of Realtors, (SCCAOR). Not the least of which is
their statistical information on real estate transactions.
Q: I thought buyers paid for inspections, why does my listing agent
keep insisting on us paying for seller inspections?
A: Your astute agent knows your home will sell better and faster with
a full disclose package, which includes inspections. Moreover, pre-sale
inspections also tend to keep a seller out of legal disputes.
3-1-08
Do you have a question for the new real estate Q&A Market Wise column in the SJMN? If so, please email them to: pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com
