I am suprised that this house is still for sale! So much charm, old world feel, history, beauty, LAND, details. Love this house!

Check out this link for more information about the historical aspect of the house! Historical 1252 Cherry Ave

People often ask how sales are and how Willow Glen is doing. In a nutshell, Willow Glen had 8 sales in the last week. The week before it was 6 sales. There were two sales over a million $. The first one was at 1115 Carolyn Ave. with a list price of $1,979,989 3,825 sq ft. The other was at 1821 Campbell Ave. listed at $1,689,000. So sales are still happening.

The count of how many houses are on market in WIllow Glen is a bit higher than most realtors would like at 259. Healthy number is 225 for WG.

The rose garden realtors tour is in its infancy right now with about 12 realtors touring all the new Rose Garden listings every first and third Wednesday morning. The week of Oct. 15, our first house was A STUNNING home at 915 Chapman St. 6077 sq. ft. house with Four bedrooms and 3.5 baths tennis court, pool and huge game room. Priced at $2,850,000 this house really has it all! I know I could live there and be happy!

Check out this amazing bonus room being used as an artists room. This picture does not do it justice!

Today was the first tour for the Rose Garden area of Willow Glen (especially close to my heart as I got married at the Rose Garden). Here we are at Zanato’s at Naglee and Bascom.

The tour consisted of 9 homes and was organized and led by Nora Sandoval with the well respected Sereno Group. For the first tour, I was impressed with the fact that close to 20 agents attended. We were all seasoned agents and were really looking to bring value to our clients through knowing the newest properties on market.

As always there are some amazing properties available in San Jose. The total inventory for Santa Clara County is 6360 (4823 single family homes and 1537 for condos). Sales for the Willow Glen area of San Jose have dropped to 7 from 13 last week. The count of how many houses are on market for Willow Glen (area 10) is 256 (last week it was 249). A balanced healthy number is 225 for Willow Glen, so as suspected with this crazy economy, we are still out of balance and it is still very much a buyers market.

Two houses that peaked my interest on the Willow Glen (San Jose) tour Thursday. The first was 1302 Mildred Ave.

A beautiful colonial home- unusual for the Willow Glen area. This 2850 sq ft. home has a wine cellar, 6534 sq ft lot, beautiful details and finish work and a 1000+ ft basement (imagine the possibilities!!). Walk to town on a prime street! Listed at $1,699,000.

My other top pick is listed by one of my good friends at Coldwell Banker Anne McDonough at 1015 California Ave.

Most realtors thought of this house as a tear down as it needs a lot of work and has some serious foundation issues. It is a 2 bed 1 bath 1200 sf ft home on 8300 sq ft. lot. PRIME tree lined street, walk to town and parks. It is listed at $800,000. I will be keeping my eye on this one as $800,000 may be a bit steep for builders right now.

What is your favorite listing? How much do you think builders will pay for a tear down on a prime street in Willow Glen?

My pick of the week is 1169 Norval Way in San Jose (Willow Glen).

Beautiful home on a PRIME street!

Listed at $835,000, this house is 1237 sq ft. with a 6240 lot, 2 bed 1.5 bath. The 1/2 bath is in the master and there are options to make it to make it into a full bathroom. The kitchen has been remodeled and the home has a nice easy flow in addition to tons of CHARM. The lot is nicely landscaped and has space for expansion. Open house Sun. 9/14/08 1:30-4:30. I will be bringing clients for sure!

BBQ, fireplace and custom iron gate.

WILLOW GLEN UPDATE

Sales in Willow Glen have dropped slightly this week to 13 from 14 and the count (of how many houses are on market in Willow Glen) is up to 249 from 241. It is typical for September to have more houses come on market. As people come back from vacations and realize the holidays are upon us (Christmas items can already be found in Costco!!) sellers tend to want to get their house on market asap.

With the economy down, gas prices and everything else going up it is no suprise that we are seeing more petty crime. Over the last week I have heard from several clients and friends telling me about crimes where someone broke into their car and took what they could. In one story they were loading up the car to go on a trip. Items were taken while they were in the house getting a few more things they wanted to take on the trip!

The local burglar who is known locally as the Cambrian Cat Burglar will go into a house with the people home and steal what cash he can from a purse or wallet left on the counter. According to the newspaper the tally is 27 homes he has hit (that have reported or noticed). He goes through an open window or garage door.

Fight back though locking windows and doors and organizing a neighborhood watch and call the police about anyone who looks suspicious.

It is important to not only hire a local realtor who knows your neighborhood, but someone who works for a company you recognize. Here are the reasons why:

1) A local realtor will have access to local buyers and sellers!

2) Typically, a local realtor will attend local events and real estate tours. That knowledge will help buyers be more comfortable with your home as they can learn about local events, discuss the local listings and areas of interest easily from the knowledgeable realtor doing the open house.

3) A realtor who is with a company you recognize generally has more resources, more contacts and more training. I work for Coldwell Banker, one of the largest companies in the country. I am offered training 5 days a week, a weekly tour of new listings, access to thousands of agents that I can ask questions of and obtain resources such as the best plumber or someone who restores barrel ceilings.

I highly recommend, whether you are buying or selling, that you always interview at least two realtors to find the best fit for your needs.

The market this week seems to be a smidge better than last week (yes, smidge is a technical term ;).  The count (how many houses on market) last week was 262 and this week it has dropped to 245 for area 10 (Willow Glen). What I find interesting is that it looks like more sellers are accepting contingent offers- There are 7 contingent out of 14 sales for the last week.

Translation: HALF of the pending sales are contingent on that buyer selling their house first…

My pick of the week is 901 Pine Ave. It is a house that I remember when it was on market about 5 years ago. It is quite memorable!! Right across from River Glen Park no windows yet, AMAZING skylight, open plan with in-layed hardwood floors 3 bedrooms 3.5 baths for $900,000!!!

1830 sq ft. and 7100 sq ft. corner lot. Beautiful Asian inspired gardens! Roman showers in two of the master suites and a private hottub off one of the master bedrooms as well! Open house this Sat and Sun with Coldwell Banker’s Chris Conklin.