The deal almost fell apart….

The deal did fall apart because the for sale by owner didn’t understand the contract correctly. The time for a response came and went without a response from the seller. I called the seller the following day to ask for my clients offer package back. The seller wondered “where did your buyers go?” “They haven’t gone anywhere”, I said. I said we waited for your reply. In that moment he realized that he was not as capable as he thought to go through this transaction on his own. I talked with my clients. They loved the house and wanted to purchase it as their first home. Without further ado we went back into contract. The seller was happy to still have us in the ballgame.  With lively skills of negotiation and a desire to get my clients the house of their dreams I was on a mission.  After another 24 hours of negotiation’s the contract was signed.  Granted we did have a 55 day close to escrow, but what a great close it was!! The seller was happy and the buyers thrilled!! My clients had their first home and the sellers were able to move out of state.  And now my clients are a very happy family and have increased by one baby girl since they moved in!! Welcome home!

The joys of Birdland living.

I really enjoy living in the Birdland neighborhood in Sunnyvale.  Down our street there are huge ginkgo trees. At this time of the year the leaves all turn yellow and start to fall off the trees.  This is as close to fall colors as we get here in Silicon Valley.  Panama park is filled with kids playing soccer, baseball,  or maybe a pick up football game on the weekend.  In the early evening at Panama Park the dogs come out to play.  The dogs and their owners are a quite an inviting group of people.  The diversity of people is wonderful.  We walk, run and play with a world of nationalities all in our Birdland neighborhood.  Most of the homes owners have been there for 10+ years.  It is a very settled community.  With Cupertino Square building adding a 16 screen movie theater and bowling alley…well fun has just moved in down the street.  Come by…. enjoy the park and the feel of home!

Top Ten Ways to Not Sell Your Home!!!

1. Lack of motivation to sell your home.

2. Over pricing

3. Not listening to your trusted Real Estate Agent/Consultant

4.  Being to attached to your upgrades.

5. For Sell By Owner???

6.  Not understanding the market of today…right now.

7. Not listing your home with a proactive real estate agent

8. Not wanting to put money into the home to make it more appealing to a buyer.

9.  Not being open to negotiating.

10. Again….Over pricing…..

Living the the Bay Area…Bubble!

Today in the San Jose Mercury newspaper (yes newspaper) there was an article about Lawrence Yun. He is the chief economist for the NAR. He states the housing markets here in San Fransisco and Silicon Valley are stronger than other places in California and across the nation. We did not have a big hit by the sub prime market lending woes here. With the prices of our homes here sub prime lending was very low compared to other areas in California such as Riverside, Sacramento and other outlying areas. There is still speculation weather the market will get better in the spring or continue on the slowing trend. What do you think?

He goes on to say that he thinks that we are still suffering from the dot-com bust. I disagree. There are new companies up and coming again here in Silicon Valley. There is money to be given to start ups by venture capitalists. The jobs are being created and in turn housing will continue to come out of the slow down. Sub prime market is gone. Yes there is still a price to be paid for those loans that are coming due and the short sales that are out there, but this does provide for a great deal for qualified buyers.

As we are coming to the last 6 weeks of 2007 there will be many reflective moments. The mortgage practices of this past year will be a cloud in history, but we will see the true resilance of the people here in Silicon Valley and around the country pull out of yet another hole. I hope that Mr. Yun and others will see that we will turn the corner for a more secure future in the housing industry and our nations economy.

Eichler Living

What is the Eichler homeowner mentality all about. For those of us who love and live the Eichler style is about our freedom of choice to be open, clean and straight (strong straight lines I mean). I’m always amused by those who have happened upon an Eichler home and bought it and then “remodeled” it with country cabinets and the wagon wheel window front door. Joesph Eichler would be rolling over in the his grave if he was seeing what has happened to many of his homes. Eichler homes are not for everyone. Most people feel that they are cold and uninviting. I recall when we bought our Eichler. I told a friend that we had our contract accepted on a house, she was thrilled until I told her it is an Eichler. “oh, I’m sorry” was her response. It has been 7 years and we couldn’t be happier. We look forward to making our Eichler energy efficient and greener for many years ahead.

Our tar and gravel roof had seen better days and we had one big leak. Yes the flow of water down the wall into the dressing area of our master bathroom at 3 AM on morning was not good. After checking out different types and kinds we decided to go with a Dura-Foam roofing material This past summer we noticed that it was about 20% cooler in the summer. We had the installers pitch the roof in several places so that water flows off the roof in a more efficient manner cutting down on the standing puddles that a tar and gravel roof will tend to develop. There are other options for roofing material check out the article “Keeping the Lid On”. You’ll find there some great information and picutres about the differnt types of roofing materials that are out there for your home.

Glass and more glass. This is what is great about Eichlers all the glass windows. How you can be inside out of the elements and enjoy all the outdoors by peering through the huge glass window and sliding glass doors. We still have the original windows and doors in our home. We are looking into having them changed within the next year. There are options for what to do. One can cover the existing window with a UV film or replace the windows and doors with double pane glass. We are lucky that our home faces south and being a courtyard model we do not get any direct sunlight into our home, but with so much indirect light coming in we do need to keep the UV rays out. I’ll keep you posted as to what path we decide to take and how much the cost will be. stay tuned…

It is getting easier to be Green!

The song that Kermit sings talks about how it is not easy to be green. Well Kermit would be pleased by the progress made in the green space of today. There are many options of green out there for the consumer. If you go the grocery store you can by the reusable grocery bags for about ninety-nine cents. If each household were to have 10 reusable grocery bags for shopping, there would no question as to paper or plastic. Grey water…now what about that is green. Grey water is what is the water used in your home that goes down the drain but is not really used for anything…such as letting the water run to get hot. If you were to catch the water in a pitcher you could then water your house plants with this water. This would save about 10-20 gallons of water a month. Other easy green ideas… can be found at different websites.

Making your home greener seems to be an overwhelming task. Living here in Sunnyvale we have many options and helps to transform our home into greener living spaces. There is a volunteer group here in the bay area that put on solar roofs so that the underprivileged or the limited income can be free from electric bills. GRID has installed 112 solar electric systems since 2004. This has help to reduce the cost for these homeowners by 75%. What is great about GRID is that you can go get trained to volunteer and see how the process works and then put a solar electric system on your home and start saving money. GRID is really making a difference in the our surrounding communites.

If you want to really get a big dose of green technology, vendors and suppliers check out the Green Festival. Anything you want to know from the best orgainc teas to green lenders. Yes, green lenders for your home. If your home has been green energy rated and falls into the green category of lending you can offer that up when you go to sell your home, or if you were to buy a home with a high energy rating you could qualify for green lending. Check out Green Mortgage to see how the green lending is starting to come to life in the lending industry.

As the green living begins to grow and take hold in your city do your part. It is easy to be GREEN!!