Category Archives: just sold

Just Sold in Los Gatos for $1,350,000…

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For this townhome I just sold in Los Gatos for $1,350,000, I was the agent for the sellers. This is our FOURTH transaction together over the years and I actually sold this townhome to them as buyers over 10 years ago.

Talk about timing…when we initiated the discussion of selling this townhome, they had tenants living there. And, at that time, it was a bit before COVID started to become a hot topic. But, at that time, townhomes were selling for high prices in the community and still moving.

As weeks went on, shut downs were starting to happen and news was getting more intense. The renters found a place to move, and at that point, weren’t interested in staying, since the idea was to sell this home. Although, as COVID was the news, we thought it may be good if the tenants would just stay and put this idea on halt.

Well, the tenants moved out because they had already found another home, and since the place would be vacant, went ahead with the plans to sell. However, by that time, this community had practically come to a complete halt, and nothing was selling at all. There was another listing that was the exact same model and even same street, just doors away that was just sitting on the market with no activity at all.

At this point, the complete shut downs were happening, that mid March timing, when contractors could not even go do work, and when even us realtors could not show homes. Once the tenants were out, we actually had to wait for some time until the contractors were able to work again. So, we just kind of waiting around a bit.

And, all the while, the other listing was sitting there, as well as a few others. Once we were ready to list the home, there were quite a few  others on the market as well in the same community, and really the only way to differentiate ourselves was price, to list at an aggressive price under the other listings, to spark something.

And, it worked! We had an interested buyer within days of listing the home who was very interested in buying, but needed to do a 1031 exchange. And, to our misfortune, at that time, the rentals in the community were tapped out. My clients could still rent out their home, but if they were to sell, the buyer would need to live their as their primary residence, because there was a waiting list to rent. What a major buzzkill to say the least! Trust me, we tried to see if there was any way this buyer could still buy, but nope, wasn’t going to happen.

We then really had no other serious interest at that point, and more inventory came on the market as competition, plus, other homes stole our idea and lowered their pricing too, in order to compete with us. The other downside that seemed to be an issue in this COVID environment when it was all new and scary, were that buyers seemed to be backing off due to the high HOA dues of $760/month. It didn’t seem to be much of an issue before COVID and when the market was super hot, but buyers seemed to be more conservative and really looking into all factors and seemed more cautious about this community due to the high HOA dues.

At this point, there are a LOT of homes in the community for sale, basically, none of which were selling, unless there was some unique feature to it, like on the view side, or something that just really stood out as a big difference. Otherwise, there were PLENTY to choose from, all of which competing with eachother. So, we made one last effort to lower the price to differentiate ourseives yet again, and hit yet another price point that additional buyers would fit into, and that worked!

We received an offer shortly after that price reduction. A buyer that waived ALL contingencies (loan, appraisal, and inspections) and we grabbed it! Once we went pending, a few of the other homes also reduced their pricing similar to ours, so thank God we did it first, to grab the next buyer looking in the lower price range, before we had more competition yet again, with homes similar in price.

The transaction itself was decent, a little bumpy only because the buyers didn’t seem to understand they bought in ‘as is’ condition and kept going back to the property, time and time again, to find one thing after another, to ask the seller to fix, want a credit, etc, etc. I was personally kind of baffled as to why they didn’t see all they needed to see before they made the offer, and they also had all the inspection reports as well. The various trips back to the property to report additional items every time they went, was a little troubling, but we got through it. They wrote an offer with NO inspection contingency and in ‘as is’ condition, so I don’t really get why they kept going back and asking the sellers to address anything. And, to top it off, the requested items were just so small and picky. I didn’t get it, but…we got it done! Meanwhile, to this day, there are still quite a few of the other townhomes sitting on the market in this community, so I am VERY thankful we got this home sold!

Just Sold in Los Gatos for $1,350,000!

Just Sold in Los Gatos for $1,350,000!

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Just Sold in Morgan Hill for $1,275,000

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For this home I sold in Morgan Hill for $1,275,000, I was the agent for the sellers, and this is our 2nd transaction together! Historically, this general neighborhood doesn’t have ‘quick sales’, in that it’s pretty far out in Morgan Hill and the more rural area. For years, buyers have wanted the shortest commute possible, so this area in Morgan Hill has been more of a niche market. Homes often sit on the market for even up to a year.

Well, times have drastically changed largely due to COVID. Buyers want to stretch out and roam and do not seem to care as much about commute and being close to work. This home was HOT and there was a lot of interest in this home. It even surprised me! I told my clients that once I listed the home for sale, likely there would be the most action on the weekend. I knew we would get the home sold quickly, but I didn’t expect SO much interest and so quickly.

Well, to my surprise and theirs, as soon as I listed the home, I had calls to show the home that very day! It was incredible! We knew we priced the home very well, but we still did not anticipate this type of action. The sellers weren’t even sure we would get it sold quickly at all. But, things went very well indeed!

We had interest and offers within days. We debated over continuing to show the home or just go ahead with the buyers eager to buy the home. The sellers decided not to hold off and continue to show the home to more potential buyers, and take the bird in hand, since it overall was a good offer and buyers that really loved it.

The buyers that made an offer wrote a very lovely letter and their extended family was going to also live close by. So, it just seemed to be ‘the one’ for these buyers and their letter was partly the slam dunk because it just seemed so right for them.

We went into contract at a time when the interest rates were very good and the banks were inundated with purchases and also refinances. So, that made our transaction a bit stressful.

The buyer agent was very aggressive with the loan contingency removal, to do it in only 7 days, but he said that he put that in the contract because that’s exactly the time he needed for another transaction he recently did. Well, I guess in that time, times really changed for how long the bank needed to approve a loan and close it.

So, the main ‘stress’ to the sellers for this transaction was the unknown of getting the loan approved. It just dragged on and on, although, in the end, we were able to close on time. But, just the daily and weekly checking in with the loan officer, who seemed to really have no info on when this would get done, was the main issue of this sale. It was practically an every day follow up with the loan officer asking for updates and when we would get the green light. The other aspects of the sale went very smoothly.

Just Sold in Morgan Hill for $1,275,000!

Just Sold in Morgan Hill for $1,275,000!

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Just Sold in Saratoga for $900,000…

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For this condo I just sold in Saratoga for $900,000, I was the agent for the seller. I have now sold this very same condo 3 times! The condo market is definitely not as hot as the SFR market, so it’s a little more questionable for how things will go with a condo in this COVID world we live in. Fortunately, there was a buyer that really loves this community, and was actually waiting for another condo to pop up, so we likely got lucky in that sense. Once we listed the condo, the buyer made an offer right away, and based on the overall activity and such, we felt it was best to take the bird in hand and not mess around.

This buyer was super solid, large down payment, made an offer over the list price, and waived ALL the contingencies (loan, appraisal, and inspections).

The transaction itself was super smooth…until it wasn’t…towards the very end of the transaction, the seller got a letter from the HOA that they noticed the sellers had hard flooring and are an upstairs unit, which does not comply with the HOA rules and regs. Well, firstly, in the community there are a number of upstairs condos with hard flooring, AND for this particular unit, the ONLY hard flooring is in the entry and hall, and is a VERY small part of the overall flooring.

Secondly, this owner did NOT even install the flooring, they bought the condo this way. Not only that, but even the previous owner did NOT install the flooring and bought it the same way. The flooring was put in over 8 years ago and 3 owners ago. Apparently, the HOA was looking at online pictures of the inside of units while they were on the market and that’s how this all came about. They never even had a complaint from the downstairs owner.

So, there was a lot of back and forth about this flooring issue, which probably takes up maybe 4% of the overall flooring and never a complaint from any other owner or neighbor, just the HOA actively seeking out violations on the internet. Wow!

The owners were able to get an emergency board meeting, since we were seriously close to closing the transaction. This notice came very close to the closing of the sale, so the timing was really crazy. And, the HOA decided to let the flooring stay as it is, as long as the neighbor below has no complaints. We talked to the neighbor below and she had no issue with the flooring and even advocated for the sellers that it was no problem for her.

So, in the end, after all of the back and forth, and this notice coming out of nowhere just maybe a week before the transaction closing, the end result was to do nothing and just let it be.

Most people don’t even read all of the rules and regs of the HOA docs, especially to the level of what type of flooring is permitted. And in this case, this condo had been passed on from owner to owner now 4 times (to include the most recent buyer), without any of them even aware there was an issue until this came up. There are currently a number of upstairs units with hard flooring in most of the space, so it’s a rule that not too many seem to be aware of. But, now I know…and NOTED!

Sold in Saratoga for $900,000

Sold in Saratoga for $900,000

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Just Sold in Livermore for $680,000…

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For this home I sold in Livermore for $680,000, I was the agent for the seller. This was our 2nd transaction together. This sale was a JOURNEY to say the least! A major roller coaster of the worst kind!

I listed this home back in early March, in which the word on COVID was just starting to hit the news. I listed the home the weekend before COVID became big news, but the concern was circling. I held an open house the very weekend before the Shelter in Place happened on March 17th, having no idea at the time that something called Shelter in Place was even a reality!

At the time, since this thing called Coronavirus was in the news, and people were nervous for good reason, the open house was very slow and hardlly anyone showed up. Usually an open house will generate a buyer, but not in this case, due to the COVID situation. Come the very next Tuesday, Shelter in Place happened, at which time, this listing went completely ice cold, in that no one could view the home in person.

Initailly, when Shelter in Place first went into effect, everyone stayed home, nothing could really happen. So, essentially, we weren’t going to be able to sell this home, if no one could view it. Then things lightened up in which buyers could see vacant homes. This listing was occupied by the owners, and they were not in a position to move out so that the home could be vacant for showings. So, basically, again, it just sat there, ice cold, since no one could come view it.

Then May 4th came along, in which guidelines were loosened a bit more, and occupied homes could be viewed under strict circumstances. So, basically from mid March until early May, this home just sat on the market and no one could view it in person.

Come May 4th, I started to get phone calls and showings, and within days, we had our buyer! This buyer needed to sell her condo in order to buy this home and the transaction was contingent on that sale. The buyer was willing to pay OVER the listed price if we would work with her through it.

The buyer already had a buyer for her condo and was about to go into contract. So, we felt pretty good about the situation, plus the seller was not in a hurry to move at the time, just as long as our transaction was solid.

The transaction itself was smooth between the seller and our buyer, but was a mess for the buyer that was buying our buyer’s condo. It was just one thing after another for the condo buyer and the transaction just lagged, and lagged, and lagged on for weeks.

Our parties were ready to close on time, but our buyer’s buyer had all kinds of delays and such with their loan. Their loan was just one delay after another and it was maddening and held up our transaction.

We were confident both transactions would close, but it was a matter of when, and in the meantime, just the day to day question of when is this going to happen? We had multiple extensions but finally got it closed.

Just Sold in Livermore for $680,000!

Just Sold in Livermore for $680,000!

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Just Sold in Sacramento for $485,000!

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Talk about getting more for your money outside the Bay Area! This home I just sold in Sacramento for $485,000 would sell in a typical San Jose neighborhood for triple the price! I was the buyer’s agent with a client that bought a home with me in San Jose back in the market crash of 2008ish and was looking to move out of the Bay Area where he could get more for his money, and yes he did!

This sale was like a dream come true for any buyer. The home was a flip and the seller was SO accommodating that I just simply could not believe it. The seller had already put a ton of money into remodeling and upgrading the home and landscaping, and then offered the buyer a 1 year warranty if anything goes wrong!

The seller also repaired all of the important items that were noted on the home inspection, roof, pool, and termite report, which you basiclaly never seen done. I was just amazed at how much this investor was willing to do to make the home as perfect as possible for this buyer and still yet offer a 1 year home warranty through his own company.

Even after closing, the buyer saw a few very minor items and reached out to the seller, and the seller sent someone over to repair even small items. The seller even did a few things he did not commit to do, just did them!

It’s hard to even explain to a buyer how lucky they are to come across such accommodating sellers, because that just rarely ever happens, practically never, and unless you are a seasoned agent as myself, that sees it all over many years, buyers just probably can’t relate to how incredibly lucky they are to run into this type of seller. But, I appreciate it! 🙂

The loan was a bit bumpy in that the buyer was using a loan officer that actually lives in Hawaii, I prefer local loan officers so that you can track them down much easier and everyone involved understands the local markets best and I feel things are a little more fine tuned when a buyer uses a local loan officer. In fact, we were waiting for the appraisal, and then come to find out, when they are following up on it and asking when it will be in, came to realize that the appraisal was never even ordered! So, there were a few dropped balls and such, but we got through it.

Sold for $485,000 in Sacramento!

Sold for $485,000 in Sacramento!

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Just Sold 8plex in Marysville for $860,000…

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For this 8plex investment property I just sold in Marysville for $860,000, I was the agent for the buyers who were doing a 1031 exchange. This deal was quite the roller coaster ride from beginning to the end. Initially, there were multiple offers, and my clients needed to sell a property in order to buy this property, and it was contingent on that happening. So, I wasn’t so sure we would have a great shot at locking in this property, with having to sell a property that was not even on the market yet. So, we offered a little higher in price to try to make up for the risk. And, the buyers agreed to very short contingency periods to show the seller that we were serious. And then just basically begged and pleaded, that we were the offer to pick, that my clients were super serious and committed to THIS property, that they weren’t locking in multiple properties with the 1031 exchange, that THIS was THE ONE…we promise!

Praise God, we convinced the seller to go with our offer, and then I just got to it. We put the other home on MLS ASAP and was able to sell that home with an all cash buyer who closed in 7 days.

In an investment sale, it’s pretty normal not to be able to see all the units before going into contract, although, it is a contingency of the sale to see them during the transaction period. Well, the pictures online were basically of the nicest unit they had of all 8 units. And, frankly, some units were not as up to par as expected. Also, there were some things that came out of the home inspection, also not anticipated. So, off to the negotiation table again. We were able to shave off $15,000 of the inital agreed upon price once we went back to the table with the inspection reports and also the notes of the units that were not up to par. So, the buyers were very happy with the end sales price. There were some other hiccups along the way, but everything ended up getting resolved one way or another. I think that’s just the norm for commercial transactions when you are dealing with many tenants, property managers, sellers, agents, banks, etc…just a lot of cooks in the kitchen.

Also, this transaction started before COVID really hit the news, and then ended up being right smack in the middle of it all, when people were really freaked out. In fact, there was some concern about the commerical loan, in that I was hearing the commerical brokers were cancelling loans and closing up shop. And, commercial transactons were falling apart left and right. So, although, this transaction was super solid with a huge down payment, there was still some concern that the bank would do something crazy, so our goal was to wrap it up and close the sale ASAP before the commercial bank changed their mind about giving the loan at all.

During the midst of the madness, the commercial bank for the first time in their history, added a guideline at the 11th hour due to COVID, which was to take 6 months of mortgage payments upfront. That was pretty shocking to have come up at the final moment, but the buyers just rolled with the punches, since overall, this property was a sweet deal and has a great cash flow. And, with the COVID environment, they just wanted to get ‘er done…so we did!

Just Sold for $860,000

Just Sold for $860,000

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Just Sold in Union City for $830,000…

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For this home I sold in Union City for $830,000, I was the agent for the sellers who were doing a 1031 exchange. The timing could not have been more perfect in regard to getting this done before the COVID 19 pandemic. I had an open house the very weekend before the unexpected (at the time) Shelter in Place, but the word was out about Coronavirus, and people were a little leary about being out and about. The open house was actually busier than I expected with what was happening in the news, and praise God, the buyer walked in that day and well as other interested parties. I did have multiple offers for this home and the buyer that prevailed was an ALL CASH buyer that closed in SEVEN days! Woo hoo!

Shortly after going into contract, things started getting pretty real with the virus, so again, praise God, he was a cash buyer and closed in a week. There were no appraisers, or loans to deal with, etc. If this would have been a 30 day closing with a loan required, who knows what would have happened? At that very time, appraisals halted and loans were hard to close in the very beginning of the Shelter in Place.

To top it off, we closed on the VERY day the Shelter in Place went into effect, and once again, a big praise God, because even though Alameda County office was closed to the public, they were doing e-recordings, so we were in fact able to close the transaction on time. And, that was something even the day before, we didn’t know could/would happen. The day before closing, the title company and county offices didn’t even know if the county would be open or able to do recordings, so we were so relieved and thankful, especially since this is also a 1031 transaction and affects another sale as well. Wow, what another roller coaster ride! Persistence pays off!

Sold in Union City for $830,000!

Sold in Union City for $830,000!

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Just Sold for $7,700,000 in Los Altos Hills…

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For this home I sold in Los Altos Hills for $7,700,000, I was the agent for the buyers. This is our THIRD time working together, and they have also referred me a number of clients over the years. I so greatly appreciate their support of my business over so many years!

We negotiated for weeks for this home. The seller initially was determined not to sell this home for under $8m, and the buyers were pretty set on the max price they were willing to pay. We weren’t very certain this deal would ever come together for price and terms that both buyer and seller could agree on, but with patience and persistence, and the fact there were no other buyers bidding on this home for a higher price, we managed to chisel the price down from the seller’s ‘minimum’ price to a price that the buyers were willing to pay. This home had been in contract for a higher price with another buyer, but the deal fell through, and the seller was having a hard time taking a price under what it had been in contract at with the other buyer.

Something that was very important to the buyers was that they will be able to build a pool and that the cost would not be outrageous, since the property is sloped where they would want the pool to be built. After 25 years as a realtor, I am still learning!!!! Go figure! Wow, building a pool is no joke! We had to get a Geotechnical report just to see if a pool could be built in that location, and that ain’t cheap! Plus, all of the grading, permits, pre-work, the actual pool construction, access to the site, etc, etc. I worked on the pool information practically every day during this entire transaction to get all the info needed in regard to simply (or what I thought was simply) building a pool.

We did have a bit of a surprise toward the end of the transaction, in which the loan officer wasn’t giving the buyers the warm and fuzzy to remove the loan contingency. She would verbally tell both of us that the loan was fine and basically approved, but would not put anything legitimate in writing, and also would tell us that the file wasn’t officially approved by the underwriter. She would say not to worry, but then not really follow through with some things in regard to the loan, so it made the buyers nervous to remove the loan contingency, since they weren’t quite sure if they could trust her, and being that this is such a large amount of money at risk, decided to wait for the final loan approval which took a couple more days past the loan contingency. It was fine, and the seller understood their dilemma, but it made for some stress at the end, just not really having 100% confidence in the loan officer.

Lastly, we closed this transaction not even a week before the huge news broke out about the virus and the Shelter in Place orders took effect. The news was out, it was becoming more and more prominent each day. In fact, one of the sellers was in CHINA of all places, and the American Consulate was closed, and the seller had to jump through all of these hoops to even sign his papers and FedEx over to America in time to record the sale per the contract. We were literally counting hours at that point, because in China, things were already going on lockdown, or in lockdown, so we were uncertain that the seller could even get the docs signed and over to us in time to close on time. Thankfully, he was able to get it done, and we did, indeed, close on time.

So, this was quite a roller coaster ride…and the timing was just totally surreal. Life was just moving right along in the beginning of this transaction, and then toward the end, the news of the virus starting to become more and more prominent, day by day, things were changing, and all of the sudden things started changing quickly every single day. Unbelievable!

The good news is…this is an incredibly beautiful forever home on a very private and serene property…so this is an amazing home to Shelter in Place with no need to leave…a home that you don’t even want to leave…no doubt!

Just Sold in Los Altos Hills for $7,700,000!

Just Sold in Los Altos Hills for $7,700,000!

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Just Sold in San Jose for $1,170,000

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For this home I sold in San Jose for $1,170,000, I was the agent for the sellers, who were referred to me by another client. I sold this home before any news of the Coronavirus and the market was quite hot at the time. We had multiple offers and high levels of competition for this home. The sellers actually met these buyers when the buyers went through the home and made a good connection with them. The buyers also wrote a very heartfelt letter, and it really did make a difference, in that the sellers really wanted to sell their home to this particular couple. The buyers offered well over the listed price, waived contingencies, and gave the sellers a FREE rent back. The transaction itself was very smooth and everything went very well. Both parties were very excited to work together and it was just a wonderful experience for all involved. I am sure my clients are quite thankful that they got their home sold before this global crisis took place. They are likely thanking their lucky stars!

Sold in San Jose for $1,170,000

Sold in San Jose for $1,170,000

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Just Sold in Newark for Over $1,400,000…

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For this home I sold in Newark for over $1,400,000, I worked with the buyers, who bought a home with me a number of years ago and initially wanted to buy a home in a top rated school district, and we looked for many, many, many months in top rated school areas, which are very competitive. They are also very specific in regard to the floor plan and direction of the home, so it was a very long journey of not only finding the right homes, but also the right schools, and then dealing with  the high levels of competition for those that were actually a fit. After many, many, many months of searching and such, they completely flipped the script and decided to buy in a brand new community of Newark, so a complete 180 of the search for top rated schools. The transaction itself was pretty typical for buying in a brand new community, so nothing really noteworthy to say about it. This picture is not of the actual home, it’s just a model from the community as an example.

Just Sold in Newark for over $1,400,000

Just Sold in Newark for over $1,400,000

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