In 2007 the Sunnyvale market was very competitive for buyers,
especially for homes in the Cupertino School District. Many homes were
getting multiple offers (like today) and nerves were often frayed (like
today). I was working with a very nice couple who were looking for a single family home with Cupertino schools. They made several offers before one of their offers was finally accepted.
One
house came on the market in the Birdland neighborhood and the agent
said we could submit an offer right away and she would present it to the
seller. So my buyers wrote a very good offer which was submitted on a
Friday evening, but the agent said she could not get a hold of her
clients and would get back to me. There was an open house on Saturday
and my clients went to the open house but did not tell the listing agent
who they were. They stood there as the listing agent told the visitors
to the open house that she had an offer, exactly how much it was, and
what they would have to do to make a better offer.
I was shocked,
and my clients not happy, escpecially when they did not get the home.
But they said at the time, they felt the agent was trying to get the
best deal for the seller.
When my clients finally got an offer
accepted and closed escrow on a great home I helped them find some
contractors to update the kitchen and baths. When this was done, they
were ready to put their town home on the market. Much to my amazement
they asked the agent who told other potential buyers what their offer
was to list their home. Their reasoning was they felt that agent was
going to get them a better offer even if it was not done fairly to the
buyers.
Wait, it gets better. Right before the home went on the
market the client called me to tell me the home was listed and please
feel free to bring in a buyer. I said, while trying very hard not to
laugh, "After what this agent did to you, I would never subject another
buyer to their unethical treatment. It would be totally unfair to my
buyer." Their town home did eventually sell, but for 5% less and in 6
times as long a time period as most other homes at that time. The old
client was shocked.
So the point to all this is that a Sunnyvale Short Sale Agent
must have an impeccable reputation with other agents. It is not enough
to have a well priced home to sell. If you hire an agent who does not
play well with other children (or other Sunnyvale short sale realtors)
you will make a complicated transaction even more complicated. Short
sales, even more than traditional sales, need everyone to work together,
sort of like a synchronized swim team. If one of the team members is
trying to drown the other team members no one wins.
So do your self a favor, when looking for a realtor for your Sunnyvale Short Sale find someone who is experienced, well educated in the process, and has a great reputation with other agents.
If you have any questions about buying or selling a short sale in San Mateo or Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Friday, June 29, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Don't Be Afraid to Sell Your Palo Alto Home Even if It Is Different
A few weeks ago I spent some time at my aunt and uncles house in
Great Falls, Virginia. It is a beautiful place, that reminds me a little
of Portola Valley or West Atherton. Big lots, big houses, rolling
hills. Most of the homes in Great Falls are traditioal. That is they
have brick exteriors, but also the insides have a lot of rooms and do
not have the open kitchen family rooms or walls of windows. The
kitchens, family rooms, and living rooms are all separate and very
distinct rooms.
When my aunt designed their house 7 years ago she wanted fewer bedrooms (only 4 in 7000 square feet) but an open feeling, and came up with a floor plan that looks very much like the homes being built today in and around Palo Alto. As a Palo Alto resident and REAL ESTATE AGENT I feel very much at home in their house.
So, I was very shocked when they said that they knew that since their house was so different from the other homes in Great Falls they would have trouble selling it. Well, as a PALO ALTO REAL EASTATE AGENT of course I know better. People come here from all over the country as well as the world and universally they almost all say the same thing.
I WANT OPEN SPACES! So, I know that the same demographic of buyers on the other side of the country wants my aunt and uncle's floor plan.
Ok, so why am I wasting your time talking about a home 3000 miles away? There actually is a point. If you are worried about selling your home because it is not like all the other homes in Palo Alto, don't be.
1. You may be surprised that your home is actually appealing to home buyers even if you think it has a fatal flaw or 2.
2. The inventory is still so low buyers are willing to compromise on many issues just to get a home in our great town and are often willing to spend the time and money to make the changes they want.
So, if you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
When my aunt designed their house 7 years ago she wanted fewer bedrooms (only 4 in 7000 square feet) but an open feeling, and came up with a floor plan that looks very much like the homes being built today in and around Palo Alto. As a Palo Alto resident and REAL ESTATE AGENT I feel very much at home in their house.
So, I was very shocked when they said that they knew that since their house was so different from the other homes in Great Falls they would have trouble selling it. Well, as a PALO ALTO REAL EASTATE AGENT of course I know better. People come here from all over the country as well as the world and universally they almost all say the same thing.
I WANT OPEN SPACES! So, I know that the same demographic of buyers on the other side of the country wants my aunt and uncle's floor plan.
Ok, so why am I wasting your time talking about a home 3000 miles away? There actually is a point. If you are worried about selling your home because it is not like all the other homes in Palo Alto, don't be.
1. You may be surprised that your home is actually appealing to home buyers even if you think it has a fatal flaw or 2.
2. The inventory is still so low buyers are willing to compromise on many issues just to get a home in our great town and are often willing to spend the time and money to make the changes they want.
So, if you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Friday, June 22, 2012
What To Do If You Can Not Afford To Pay Your Mortgage
Don't be an ostrich!
If you have an questions about short sales in The Silicon Valley please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
marcy@marcymoyer.com
www.marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
If you have an questions about short sales in The Silicon Valley please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
marcy@marcymoyer.com
www.marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Why I Love Living in Palo Alto
I love being a Palo Alto real estate agent, but I particularly love living in Palo Alto. There are many reasons why, but here are a few that come to mind today:
1. In 30-40 minutes I can get to the beach and watch my dog swim and catch balls endlessly
2. Every Fourth of July there is a Chili cook-off
3. Sunday morning California Avenue Farmer's Market
4. Running to Stanford in the mornings so Demi can chase squirrels
5. Nice neighbors from all over the world
6. Panda Express and Rice
7. The Dish
8. Trader Joes and Piazza's Grocery Stores
9. Hoover Park in the early mornings
10. Fabulous weather.
Sure there are great schools, high tech companies, great medical facilities, etc. but it is also the little things that make the quality of life here so wonderful.
So if you have any questions about living in Palo Alto, feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
1. In 30-40 minutes I can get to the beach and watch my dog swim and catch balls endlessly
2. Every Fourth of July there is a Chili cook-off
3. Sunday morning California Avenue Farmer's Market
4. Running to Stanford in the mornings so Demi can chase squirrels
5. Nice neighbors from all over the world
6. Panda Express and Rice
7. The Dish
8. Trader Joes and Piazza's Grocery Stores
9. Hoover Park in the early mornings
10. Fabulous weather.
Sure there are great schools, high tech companies, great medical facilities, etc. but it is also the little things that make the quality of life here so wonderful.
So if you have any questions about living in Palo Alto, feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Almaden home open Saturday (6/23) and Sunday (6/24) 1-4pm
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012
It's Perfect But My Table Won't Fit in This Palo Alto Home
After 17 years as a Palo Alto real estate agent I have heard more times than I can count the house is perfect but.....
Today I got a call from another agent on my beautiful listing in Almaden at 1523 Oak Canyon. She said she has clients who are looking for a home where they can park their RV and she wanted to show this listing in case they could drive their RV through one of the 3 car garages to the back yard. Then she said the most profound thing I heard all day. "If they would just find a place to store the RV I would have so many more choices to show them."
So to cut to the chase, inventory is at historic lows all over the Silicon Valley. There are just not enough homes for all the people who want to buy them. If you find a home that meets your needs and is great in many respects, then if there is one or two aspects that do not fit your expectations, maybe you should think about a compromise. If your furniture won't fit would it be less expensive to buy new furniture, or a bigger house? If the RV won't fit, maybe you should store it some place. If the living room sofa is the wrong shape should you maybe buy a new sofa?
I am not saying you should buy a house that is a bad investment or that you do not like because the inventory is low, but I am suggesting that it is easier to change furniture than it is to change a floor plan.
So if you want to buy a home in Palo Alto, or most other areas of the Silicon Valley, maybe you need to be flexible about some of the details while not compromising on what is really important, like the condition, floor plan, and neighborhood.
If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Today I got a call from another agent on my beautiful listing in Almaden at 1523 Oak Canyon. She said she has clients who are looking for a home where they can park their RV and she wanted to show this listing in case they could drive their RV through one of the 3 car garages to the back yard. Then she said the most profound thing I heard all day. "If they would just find a place to store the RV I would have so many more choices to show them."
So to cut to the chase, inventory is at historic lows all over the Silicon Valley. There are just not enough homes for all the people who want to buy them. If you find a home that meets your needs and is great in many respects, then if there is one or two aspects that do not fit your expectations, maybe you should think about a compromise. If your furniture won't fit would it be less expensive to buy new furniture, or a bigger house? If the RV won't fit, maybe you should store it some place. If the living room sofa is the wrong shape should you maybe buy a new sofa?
I am not saying you should buy a house that is a bad investment or that you do not like because the inventory is low, but I am suggesting that it is easier to change furniture than it is to change a floor plan.
So if you want to buy a home in Palo Alto, or most other areas of the Silicon Valley, maybe you need to be flexible about some of the details while not compromising on what is really important, like the condition, floor plan, and neighborhood.
If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Inventory Changes in Palo Alto
As many people know the inventory of homes for sale in Palo Alto has been at historic lows. For most of the year there were somewhere between 30 and 34 homes on the market at any given time. Today there are 54 and it has been running between 50 and 60 for the last few weeks.
So what happened?
Well, it seems to me what happened is that after 5 straight months of multiple offers and appreciating prices more owners decided they would sell their homes. I am sure more than a few decided that doing this at the time of the Facebook IPO was a good idea. Somehow their agents must not have told them that the money from the IPO would not be available to most of the employees for 6-12 months but that is another story. In any case the homes under 2 million are still selling quickly with multiple offers. However, the homes over 2.5 million, and especially those over 4 million do not have enough buyers to garnish multiple offers on most of these homes and they are sitting around longer.
So why the increase in these more expensive homes. Well, I can't believe it is all people who were waiting for the Facebook IPO because they did not know better. There is a bigger issue on the horizon. In 2013 there is supposed to be a 3.5% capital gains surtax placed on the gains above $250,000 for single owners and $500,000 for married owners. So if a couple has a 2.5 million gain on a home they will have to pay 3.5% tax on 2 million or $70,000 in addition to the capital gains tax on the 2 million on a rate that is still to be determined.
I believe that the intelligent Palo Alto seller who has large gains on their home is looking at the capital gains changes and was not bamboozled by the Facebook hype. Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook, but it's effect on real estate was grossly over rated. If your interested watch my interview with CBS from last March where one agent said the market was all Facebook, and I said the opposite. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/14/upcoming-facebook-ipo-drives-up-silicon-valley-home-prices/
If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
DRE 01191194
So what happened?
Well, it seems to me what happened is that after 5 straight months of multiple offers and appreciating prices more owners decided they would sell their homes. I am sure more than a few decided that doing this at the time of the Facebook IPO was a good idea. Somehow their agents must not have told them that the money from the IPO would not be available to most of the employees for 6-12 months but that is another story. In any case the homes under 2 million are still selling quickly with multiple offers. However, the homes over 2.5 million, and especially those over 4 million do not have enough buyers to garnish multiple offers on most of these homes and they are sitting around longer.
So why the increase in these more expensive homes. Well, I can't believe it is all people who were waiting for the Facebook IPO because they did not know better. There is a bigger issue on the horizon. In 2013 there is supposed to be a 3.5% capital gains surtax placed on the gains above $250,000 for single owners and $500,000 for married owners. So if a couple has a 2.5 million gain on a home they will have to pay 3.5% tax on 2 million or $70,000 in addition to the capital gains tax on the 2 million on a rate that is still to be determined.
I believe that the intelligent Palo Alto seller who has large gains on their home is looking at the capital gains changes and was not bamboozled by the Facebook hype. Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook, but it's effect on real estate was grossly over rated. If your interested watch my interview with CBS from last March where one agent said the market was all Facebook, and I said the opposite. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/14/upcoming-facebook-ipo-drives-up-silicon-valley-home-prices/
If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
DRE 01191194
Friday, June 15, 2012
Large Almaden home open this Saturday & Sunday, 1-4pm!
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Friday, June 8, 2012
Open this Saturday and Sunday, 1-4pm!
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