For this home I sold in San Jose for $1,999,900 I was the agent for the buyers, who were referred to me by their brother, who I also sold a home to a few years ago. The home search was a journey. The market very hot and there were homes we competed for that had up to 45 offers! Insanity!
For this home, it’s located on a busy street, so the competition was much less fierce. The home itself is big and beautiful, really the only downside being on a very busy road. Even the competition for this home was fierce, we were neck and neck with another offer that was apparently the exact same offer, and apparently, the only difference was that we put in a 21 day closing, rather than a 30 day closing. I was told by the listing agent that was the only real difference between us and the competition and they chose our offer.
One thing I want to point out is the sales price, because this may be helpful for other buyers and sellers in the city of San Jose. San Jose has a luxury city transfer tax called Measure E. For homes sold over $2m, there is an addtional transfer tax added that the buyer and seller typically split 50/50. For $2m-$5m the additional tax is $7.50/1000. So, it’s not chump change. The balance of using sales price and this luxury tax calculation is only going to be a benefit when the sales price is very close to $2m for the numbers to be beneficial to sell under $2m, otherwise, it won’t even matter. So, there are some strategies that will work when the price is close to $2m to take advantage of maybe using some terms and such to avoid this luxury tax and still net out the same or better.
First and foremost, trying to close a transaction that needs a loan in 21 days is typically going to be a stressfest because frankly, even if the lender says it can be done, it’s very hard to get a deal closed with a loan in less than 30 days. Yes, it can be done, but it’s going to be a bumpy ride in most cases. And, this case was a roller coaster ride to the finish with the loan.
When you are buying a house, leave your money alone! It’s best not to move money around. Every single move to/from accounts needs to be tracked, explained, etc. And, that goes for within the US and also internationally, if you have money in banks and such outside of the US. Banks track every single penny and you have to explain every single transaction. And, for anyone that moves around money, that can turn into a logistical nightmare.
Also, a loan preapproval that is “underwriter preapproved” can be really essential in these strange times with banks being pretty picky in our current environment, where the ‘standards’ are not so ‘standard’. In this case, the underwriter decided not to use bonus income, which was quite a shocker, and can impact the loan amount.
The loan part of this transaction was quite stressful and it was just one thing after another with the underwriter overseeing this file, but at the end of the day, we got it done and now the buyers own this beautiful home!
Just Sold in San Jose for $1,999,900!
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