Author Archives: Karen

Just Sold in San Jose for $2,025,000…

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For this home I sold for $2,025,000 in San Jose, I was the agent for the buyers. This is my 3rd transaction with the buyers so we go way back! There were 3 offers on this home. One offer was actualy under the listed price, so that buyer was pretty much eliminated immediately. However, the other 2 buyers were in fierce competition to get this home, 1 of which was us.

My clients had been looking for a long time to find ‘the one’ and for them, this was ‘the one’. Apparently, the other buyers felt pretty much the same. And, apparently, both offers were quite similar in price, terms, and strength of finances. By the grace of God, I know the listing agent and we also go way back and worked together on a transaction many moons ago. So, he worked with me to make it happen for my buyers and swung it our direction. Yay!

The transaction itself was smooth overall and all went well. There was some frustration with the lender that was a bit annoying, especially since the lender was out of state. But, the buyers muddled through dealings with the lender to get it done.

After the many, many months of searching, the buyers are in their what can be ‘forever’ home.

Just Sold in San Jose for $2,025,000!

Just Sold in San Jose for $2,025,000!

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Just Sold in Fremont for $1,200,000

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For this townhome I just sold in Fremont for $1,200,000, I was the agent for the buyers, who were referred to me by clients that bought a home with me in the past.

This is a crazy story. The buyers had been casually looking at open houses and we chatted on the phone as our initial introduction. I sent them some listings and they went to open houses that weekend.

There were 2 townhomes in the same community that came on the market at roughly the same time that they liked, but both homes back to a street that is fairly busy, both were the same overall floor plan.

Although the market was not as crazy as prior months, there were still homes getting multiple offers. Both of these townhomes had offer dates within a day of eachother. For the 1st home, they were still deciding and let that one go. But, after taking more time to consider the busy street, driving by in the evening, getting a sense of the street, they decided to go for the 2nd one.

There was 1 other offer they competed with and our offer was actually LOWER than the other offer, but the agent was also the seller, and we had a lot of communication and I kept in touch and she just felt more comfortable with our offer and presentation, so rather than countering us to match the other offer, they accepted our offer at the lower price! Also, the other place received 2 offers as well and went for WELL over the one we went for, so the buyers ended up getting this home for LESS than the other one and also LESS than the very recent comp that has just sold. And this was their very first offer on basically their very first weekend with me as their agent!

The craziest part is that I never even met these buyers before they went into contract! Due to the circumstances and timing, and the fact they went to the open house weekend, then was casually there to see the neighborhood in the evening and the seller happened to be home and let them in for a second look, and then offers were due shortly thereafter, we had only talked on the phone and communicated via text and email! So…I sold a home to clients I never even met in person!

Even after 27 years of being a realtor, I still to this day have 1st experiences and this was a first to sell a home to clients I didn’t even meet in person first.

The transaction itself was super smooth and easy with no hiccups.

Just Sold in Fremont for $1,200,000

Just Sold in Fremont for $1,200,000

1,495 total views, 2 views today

Just Sold in Oakland for $760,000

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For this home I just sold in Oakland for $760,000, I was the agent for the seller who was referred to me by a gal I met at church! Praise God! 🙂

There were a lot of question marks for this home that made it a bit difficult to price and also know how things would play out. So, we priced it aggressively and let the market take it from there. The seller actually thought our list price was high at $649,000 and then when we were able to obtain a $760,000 sales price with 8 offers, she was just amazed! So, that was very exciting to get a price well beyond her expectations.

The ‘question marks’ for this home were as follows: The home is directly across from a cemetery, so we didn’t know how much of a role that would play. It makes for a lot of peace and quiet, but some people don’t want to live across from a cemetery.

Also, her father died in the home, hence the sale. That also can play a role in that some buyers do not want a home that someone passed away in.

And, there was quite a bit of work that needed to be done…like a lot…The home is adorable with so much character, but there’s a lot to do, it needs some foundation work, termite work, remodeling, etc, etc. So, again, we didn’t know how the level of activity would be especially with needing foundation work, that can sometimes scare away buyers.

On the flip side, it has a ton of opporunity and is a great home. Those were just the items that made it hard to know what would play out.

But, we had a huge success as noted, 8 offers, sold for WAY over the list price, ‘as is’ sale, the buyer waived ALL contingencies, and it was a VERY smooth transaction. The seller was elated.

One thing to know about Oakland is that when a seller goes to sell an older home, the city requires a sewer lateral AND sidewalk inspection and if there is work to do, it has to be done by either the seller or the buyer, there is no way around getting the work done. In this case, the BUYER is doing the work.

Just Sold in Oakland for $760,000

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Just Sold in Santa Clara for $3,650,000!

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For this home I just sold in Santa Clara for $3,650,000, I was the agent for the buyers, who were referred to me by their sister, who is a client that I have worked with 3 times in the past!

These buyers had been looking for about 6 months for ‘the one’. There were a few homes they almost made an offer, but this home ended up being the very first offer they made for a home.

The competition was FIERCE! There were a number of offers, but the top 3 offers, including our offer, were really determined to get this home and were battling it out.

I do have to say, the seller for this home was pushing the limit and the patience of the top 3 buyers. The seller actually wanted to keep trying for more money, even after all the offers were in, and the seller did NOT reach the price they hoped to reach.

The seller sent a counter to the top 3 offers, of which all 3 were not that far off from the price the seller wanted, I think it was more the principle of the matter of asking for a higher price than any of the offers even came in at.

And, frankly, the buyers almost bailed due to the seller’s approach to being so greedy and wanting more than any of the buyers even offered.

But, at the end of the day, they did love the home and the location, knew what it took to get this home, and for the delta between the price the seller wanted and their highest price offered, it wasn’t a huge difference and they decided to go for it and we got it!

The transaction itself was very smooth and seamless. The buyers are moving from Washington state, so mostly they were out of state during the transaction, except for the final walkthrough and closing to pick up the keys.

Just Sold in Santa Clara for $3,650,000!

Just Sold in Santa Clara for $3,650,000!

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Just Sold in San Jose for $1,025,000

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For this condo I just sold in San Jose for $1,025,000, I was the agent for the seller, who was referred to me by one of my clients.

Pricing was a bit tough in that there are very few units with this floor plan and none have sold for a few years. It’s a beautiful unit, it has 2 bedrooms and a huge loft. So, I was going back and forth with advertising as a 3 bedroom vs. a 2 bedroom, just wanting to make sure everyone would know there was that huge loft with a big closet, and someone could use that room as a bedroom, office, etc. I wanted to ensure no potential buyer missed that feature.

Since there was not a recent sale, it was hard to know how much ‘value’ buyers would give the loft as opposed to having a true 3rd bedroom. But, pricing a bit low, just ensures we will get the price that the market will cap out.

We had a huge turn out, lots of people through the open house weekend. Buyers loved the place itself. I thought for sure there would be a good number of offers. The only negative feedback pertained to the stairs to get to the unit. This is a “2nd” floor unit, but you actually climb 3 sets of stairs to get to it because the first floor is the garage level, and then there are 2 more sections of stairs that lead to this unit. Some buyers literally came to the door a bit out of breath, and about 90% of buyers through were in their 20’s and 30’s.

Come to find out, the number of stairs ended up being a deal breaker for more buyers than I anticipated, but we still did very well, we got OVER the listed price, the buyer waived ALL contingencies and the transaction itself was very smooth. The buyers used a program called Landed. The program is designed for essential workers, so any essential workers out there, you may want to look into it, buyers that are teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, etc.

Just Sold in San Jose for $1.025,000

Just Sold in San Jose for $1,025,000

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Just Sold in San Jose (Willow Glen) for $2,150,000…

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For this home I just sold in the Willow Glen area of San Jose for $2,150,000, I was the agent for the sellers, who bought this home with me as their buyer’s agent only 3 years ago, and decided to move out of the area.

The prepping of the home was the intense part, in that once I got the call to sell, the sellers wanted to move pretty quickly. I had to jump through some hoops and do a lot of begging and pleading to get some pretty booked up photgraphers and stagers on board. But, we made it happen.

We received multiple offers for this home and it went for well over the listed price and the buyer waived ALL contingencies. Overall, it was a very smooth and seamless transaction, not much to report, which is the best kind of sale!

Just Sold in San Jose for $2,150,000

Just Sold in San Jose for $2,150,000

1,213 total views, 8 views today

Just Sold in Sunnyvale for $1,600,000…

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For this home I just sold in Sunnyvale for $1,600,000, I was the agent for the seller, who was referred to me by an agent I know who lives out of the area. The seller interviewed me and a couple of other agents. In those interviews, at least one other agent pumped up the pricing pretty high, so it was a little tough for me to encourage the price I thought the home would sell for. It can be challenging when other agents do not know the market values and then I come along and have to nicely burst that bubble without actually losing the listing to another agent!

Since other agents had really pumped up the price, the seller was pretty set on those high prices, which is understandable. So, we did list higher than I thought was a good idea. But, it is a bit of a Catch 22 for me as an agent, in that if I don’t price it along those lines, and then the seller doesn’t get that pricing because they feel we priced too low, it looks bad on me. And, they feel we should have priced higher to get what they wanted, when in fact, it doesn’t work that way.

At some level, I have to price where they want to be and try my best to get that number, or higher, and then reconvene if things don’t go as the seller hopes they will. Most sellers go with my pricing, so this situation almost never comes up for me. But, because other agents were ‘off’, it just put me in a bit of a predicament this time.

We listed the home for the price range the seller hoped for and I did do my best to get that price, of course, but predictably on my end, we had no offers after the open house weekend, even in this crazy market.

The sellers were pretty surprised to see no offers after the open house weekend, asked me what we should do, I advised we go with the price I suggested, had another open house weekend, and woudn’t you know, I had an offer that was OVER the listed price I advised, and done deal! Sold! Frankly, the sale price wasn’t even that far off of what we listed in the first place, but it attracted the right buyers. It was a great offer, over the list price, waived all contingencies, and a super smooth transaction.

The reasoning behind my pricing is that the home is on a very busy street, plus the home is only 2 bedrooms. For sure, if the home was 3 bedrooms (and I did explain this to the sellers), then we would have gotten the pricing they wanted in the first place, but the buyer pool is MUCH lower for a 2 bedroom home than it is for a 3 bedroom home. There is just no comparison for buyers looking for at least 3 bedrooms, and FAR fewer buyers that are willing to buy a home that has only 2 bedrooms, especially at this price point. Plus, this home is unique. Bedrooms are downstairs and the main living area is upstairs. So, with all that in mind, that’s why price came in where it did. There is nothing I want to do more than to EXCEED price expectations of a seller client, but sometimes expectations are just too high…

Just sold in Sunnyvale for $1,600,000

Just sold in Sunnyvale for $1,600,000

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Just Sold in Fremont for $505,000…

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For this condo I just sold in Fremont for $505,000, I was the agent for the sellers, who bought this condo with me as their buyer’s agent about 3.5 years ago! They were ready to make the move from a condo to a SFR.

The condo market during the pandemic has not been as predictable as the SFR market, condos are not as ‘hot’ as they used to be, even though the SFR market is crazy. Also, this condo is technically a 1 bedroom, but has a great room upstairs that can be used as another bedroom/office/den/etc. I really wanted to make sure with the marketing and advertisting that buyers didn’t miss that there was indeed a 2nd room and would consider this condo who may need that 2nd room, but see the 1 bedroom in the main specs and just pass it by.

So, I advertised it as 2 bedrooms, but disclosed right in the listing itself that it was actually 1 bedroom with a 2nd room, and let buyer’s decide if that 2nd room worked for them if they truly needed a 2nd bedroom, or that the 2nd room worked for their needs.

It was a hit and success to advertise as such because it brought out many buyers who would have not even given it a chance if they would have thought it was just 1 bedroom with no other usuable 2nd room to utilize as a bedroom/office/den/etc.

We received multiple offers and sold for OVER the listed price, which is very impressive for a ‘one’ bedroom condo in the pandemic market! The transaction itself was super smooth and seamless. The buyer waived ALL contingencies and had a huge down payment. I feel we received a higher price than if we would have advertised just the 1 bedroom and hoped for the best, that buyers would actually look a little deeper to click on the listing and notice the 2nd room on their own…I was pretty doubtful buyers would do that if they were looking for at least 2 rooms.

Sold in Fremont for $505,000!

Sold in Fremont for $505,000!

610 total views, 6 views today

Just Sold in San Jose for $982,000…

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For this townhome I just sold in San Jose for $982,000, I was the agent for the sellers. They actually bought this townhome with me about 3 years ago as their buyer’s agent, and recently had the opportunity to buy their parent’s home who moved to Arizona. Lucky!

We received a very strong offer after the open house weekend and the sellers jumped on it. The buyers were really excited about this home and came in over the listed price and waived ALL contingencies. The transaction itself was super smooth and seamless. Such a wonderful transaction there’s actually not much to say. haha. The best kind!

Just Sold in San Jose for $982,000!

Just Sold in San Jose for $982,000!

670 total views, 4 views today

Just Sold in Hayward for $900,000…

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For this home I just sold in Hayward for $900,000, I was the agent for the buyers. The buyer’s father who I sold a home to 18 years ago referred me his daughter! I remember her as a young child and now she is all grown up and buying her own home! Amazing!

The search was intense because at this price range, it’s super hot and competitive and getting harder and harder to find a home under $1m. In fact, we started more-so in Fremont, and went a little East to Hayward to find the right price point in order to get the type of home they wanted and needed.

For this home we were neck and neck with another buyer. My clients wrote a very compelling letter to the seller and I feel that also helped us lock in this home. I also begged and pleaded with the listing agent to work with me since the search was so tough in this range and they had already lost out on a few homes.

The transaction itself was basically horrible when it came to the loan. The buyers chose Quicken and it was a nightmare. I am always concerned when buyers choose online lenders and lenders that are not local who bounce buyers around to different points of contacts throughout the process. I did warn them that I was concerned about this choice, but apparently, the person that referred them had good success and they were offering a great rate so they wanted to stick with Quicken.

They sent out a horrible appraiser, not even local to the area, and the appraisal came in low. We tried to fight it. I sent my own comps. I tried to go up the ladder, see if we could get a 2nd opinion, etc, etc. The buyers also tried to stand their ground. And Quicken would not budge. And, in fact, the buyers had to change around their loan program to not as good of a deal, in order for Quicken to close on the loan. I did offer for the buyers to talk to my loan officer, but at that point, they were just done and wanted to close and get their home.

It all worked out in the end, we closed, but the frustration and stress of working with Quicken Loans was an ongoing misery and battle until closing day. And, the original loan officer who initiated the loan and was the first point of contact, just completely disappeared from the scene and was no help at all, whatsoever.

They were excited to get their keys! They gave the seller a free month of rent back, so when we closed, they still had to wait a month for the keys. When they finally got into their home, they were really happy!

Sold in Hayward for $900,000!

Sold in Hayward for $900,000!

39,617 total views, 49 views today