The left side  Sunnyvale Bank owned home garage converted to a big living room. The right side of Sunnyvale REO home garage coverted to 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. The non-permitted construction is an issue in any home sale. The bank owned home sellers do not disclose anything and it will only sell it “AS IS” condition also. On top of this some lenders don’t even give loan to  the homes with non permitted construction, so many those homes end up sold to the all cash buyers. 

The new buyers will assume all the responsility. If the neighbors complain to the city for this addition. then  the city  building code inspector  would decide if the structure stays or goes. Some of the cities will require the buyer to convert the garage back as an orginal garage. Some cities will allow you to  retrofite up to the current building code and issue you a code compliance.

Buying a Unpermitted alternation homes do have some risk involved.

Wow! Is it possible to buy a home without money?
As the loan guide line is tough now, it is very difficult to buy any home without down payment. Today I come across an interesting infromation that city of Santa clara. This city of Santa Clara Below Market Price Housing Program administered by neighborhood housing services silicon valley (NHSSV). It offers a 5 year deffed secondary loan of $125K with zero interest during the deferrment period, for the first time home buyers. You may contact NHSSV for a list of preferred lenders.

The applicants must not exceed the following income limits:

• Household of 2 persons = $101,300
• Household of 3 persons = $113,900
• Household of 4 persons =$126,600

Income limits are  based on the total gross before taxs annuyal income per household
You will need the proof of employment, residency and other list of preferred lenders, The applicants must submit a pre-qualification or preapproval letter froma direct lender for a 30 year fixed rate conventional loan.

Have you heard of the REO homes? It is also known as Bank Owned property; and they are the investor’s golden dream. These Bank Owned properties (REO) offer many financial advantages while lowering the risk associated with the purchase of a foreclosed property. The REO property offers quick equity due the purchase price is low. You may check a home in SC the investor walked away $108,000 gross in three months of owning this REO home. Those properties will always be vacant. They are ready for rehab, rent and home ownership. There are one in Cupertino, CA. The address is at 10524 S TANTAU AV, Cupertino 95014 (Cupertino)
$579,000 Beds: 2 bedrooms Baths: 1 bath. It was listed by Lydia Kou Alain Pinel Realtors. If you like to buy the bank owned home in Silicon Valley, Please contact me.

Let us look at the Sunnnyvale Real Estate market from July 2008 to January 2009. The inventory dropped from 187 to 150. A month of July 2008 was sold 62 homes and January this year sold only 28 homes. The average Sunnyvale homes dropped from $851,510 to $676,263  The mediam price dropped from $875K to 579K. Those numbers told us the market is slowing down. It takes longer to sell a home.

Grace Keng, Silicon Valley real estate agent,  member of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) and memberships in the National Association of Realtors, (NAR),
the California Association of Realtors, (CAR) and PhD of Realtor - Certified Residential Specialist (CRS).

 (Bordueaux photo is from it’s web page)

Many buyers asked me how to find new homes? Yes! the Brand New homes.

You may check out the local Newspaper: San Jose Mercury News real estate section, NewHomeSource.com , or contact your local realtor who is specialize the area. I know at least 3 new homes projects:

1). Oak park in Cupertino: They are condos right on the De Anza Blvd. near 280 for around $600,000. There are 8 floor plans from 1 bedroom to 3 bedrooms.

2). Cherry Orchard in Sant Clara: It is off Homestead Rd near Lawrence Expressway. There are 14 single family homes. The price range is from $799,888 to $849,888.

3). Bordeaux in Sunnyvale: It is a large townhouse project by KB homes which is a 80 units 3 levels townhouses project. It is located  near  Evelyn Ave and Fairoak Ave. The price start from $561,000.

4). 1244 Poplar Av. Sunnyvale: There are 3 brand new homes. It will be finished around February 20 2009. It is near El Camino Real and Lawrence Expressway.

5). 831, 835, 855 Monroe St. Santa Clara: There are 3 brand new homes from the price of $699,950 to $739,500.

If you are looking to buy new Silicon Valley homes, you may contact me:

GraceKeng1@gmail.com.

Grace Keng, Silicon Valley real estate agent,  creator of www.GraceKeng.com , member of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) and memberships in the National Association of Realtors, (NAR),
the California Association of Realtors, (CAR) and PhD of Realtor - Certified Residential Specialist (CRS).

Before                                                                     After

A Santa Clara  investor  flipped a home in 3 months and walked away with profit.This home is 1865 CABRILLO AV, Santa Clara 95050. It was a bank owned home on May 30, 2008 which is an extremely lowed price for $375,250. It was a clean flat-top roof home with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath the 1 car garage converted to another living quarter with living room and 1 bedroom plus1 bath. The lot size is 7140 sf. I showed it to my client. He did not like the add on. Little I know…It sold in 3 days with 38 offers for $382,000 and it closed on July 2 2008. Two months later the house is painted in and out with new window covering. It is back on the market again for $499K on September 4 2008. It is sold again and closed on October 10 for $490,000.

Let me put the dates as follows:

5/30, 2008 listed $375,250

7/2/2008 closed & closed $ 382,000

9/4/2008 listed again $499,000

10/10,2008 sold & closed $490,000

It is pretty good for an investor to walk away $108,000 (before the cost) in short 3 months. I see the investor are flipping the house but the buyers are waiting.If you are have questions, please email or contact me.

Grace Keng, CRS, Silicon Valley, Northern California Real Estate Residential Specialist 408 733-8887

Rated number #2 featured Cupertino Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com. California relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun! For more information on Grace Keng Silicon Valley homes

The biggest financial news from yesterday and today is Fannie Mai and Freddie Mac takeover by government. In another words that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been placed into “conservatorship” and will be overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This takeover means that the government will temporarily run Fannie and Freddie until they are able to recover. As a consumer you may wonder what is going to do with me?

I found an excellent video made by California Association of realtors. I like share this video with you: ” Fannie and Freddie: Why they matter to you “ You may click the link to see and hear this video.

Today I received a call from a home owner, he said “ I want to sell my north Sunnyvale home and move to the south Sunnyvale. This year my home price tanked! The price has dropped at least 17% from 2007. How can I move up?”

I told him:” The homes from more desirable areas go up faster in good times and go down slower in bad times. On the other end. The areas are not so desirable,they go up slower in good times and go down faster in bad times. No matter what tomorrow holds the gap in prices will

Today I received a call from a home owner, he said “ I want to sell my north Sunnyvale home and move to the south part of Sunnyvale. This year my home price tanked! The price has dropped at least 17% from 2007. How can I move up?”

I told him:”The homes from more desirable areas go up faster in good times and go down slower in bad times. On the other end. The areas are not so desirable,they go up slower in good times and go down faster in bad times. No matter what tomorrow holds the gap in prices will

always continue to grow. Since you still own your home. You may use that value to buy in the best neighborhood that you can afford. If you have a reasonable down payment, you can still buy in a good neighborhood, but maybe not the one you really want. I think that you could move into Cumberland Elementary or Cherry Chase elementary areas. Those neighborhoods offer the best of the Sunnyvale elementary school district and Homestead high school.

Two Cupertino almost identical homes but sold for a lot difference in price.

Yes! There are two Cupertino Rancho homes both are located at the same street Wunderlich Dr.

A street with mixed sized of homes some are about 2000 sf for 1.2 millions and the other tiny homes are about $650,000 range.

The 10415 Wunderlich past owner applied the building permit and approved by city of Cupertino for an addition to become a 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Will this city permit costs $55,000?? I don’t think so.

The rencent NY time reports that, “Allegations that granite counter tops may emit dangerous levels of radon and radiation have been raised periodically over the past decade, mostly by makers and distributors of competing counter top materials.

The Marble Institute of America has said such claims are “ludicrous” because although granite is known to contain uranium and other radioactive materials like thorium and potassium, the amounts in countertops are not enough to pose a health threat. “

The Silicon Vally Chris form the Holmes & Watson Inspection answered some of questions about the possible dangers of radon emitted from the granite counter tops. He said: “Granites often contain trace amounts of material that can produce measurable amounts of radon gas but the key word is “measurable”. As an illustration, imagine turning on a burner on your stovetop. The burner emits heat, but has little to no effect on the overall temperature of your house. Similarly, if your countertop emits a small amount of radon, it will generally be insignificant when diluted with the air in your entire home. There are hundreds of times more likely to be at risk for radon emanating from the soil beneath your home. The US EPA states it in the Consumer’s Guide to Radon Reduction: “In a small number of homes, the building materials (e.g., granite and certain concrete products) can give off radon, although building materials rarely cause radon problems by themselves. In the United States, radon gas in soils is the principal source of elevated radon levels in homes.”

Indeed, health physicists and radiation experts agree that most granite counter tops emit radiation and radon at extremely low levels. Chris recommended airing out the house a couple of times a week. The concerned homeowners can buy an inexpensive test kit at their local hardware store to test the granite counter top. If you need more reading material you can find the book of “What is home buyer should know about radon?” from EPA. The photo is credited to cbsnews.com