Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Selling in Silicon Valley - Want to come along for the wild ride?

371 replies

2017SoFarSoGood · 18/08/2017 16:59

I'm prepping my house for sale in Silicon Valley, California - just south of San Francisco. The property market is completely insane. It is astonishing who can actually pay these prices - especially when you realize that most purchases are cash. That's right, cash. With no contingencies and no chain.

Will be chronicling the madness of this sale here. I will then be purchasing a smaller (cheaper we hope) property nearer to SF. They say 'good luck with that. Feel free to join in, or simply ignore. Should be very interesting.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
26
Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 22/10/2017 00:06

Fur. You called it.

OP posts:
furlinedsheepskinjacket · 22/10/2017 00:08

break the bank

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 22/10/2017 00:26

Yep. Sell the family jewels.

But only the ones DH owns

OP posts:
furlinedsheepskinjacket · 22/10/2017 00:38

lol

of course :)

C0untDucku1a · 22/10/2017 00:39

Love it

Waddlelikeapenguin · 22/10/2017 00:43

Oooh! Good luck Flowers

BeachysFlipFlops · 22/10/2017 09:38

It’s got an amazing view.... so you can still have your iced coffees looking out at that!

BoreOfWhabylon · 22/10/2017 10:09

Oooh!

✨✨✨ ✨✨ ✨✨
✨✨ ✨✨ ✨
✨ ✨ ✨
✨ ✨
✨

Julian of Norwich, Doris Day and aged Scots crones all revving up with their 'All shall be well', 'Que sera sera' and 'Hingy hangy' mantras

another20 · 22/10/2017 19:33

Stunning....!

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 22/10/2017 21:01

Yes this one is ridiculous.

Owners want a 60 day rent back and if offers taken 10/30 that's right about Hogmanay. Still willing to try. Now we decide on offer.

We got the keys to our current house on Christmas eve. The previous one we moved in on Halloween. There is a theme here.

OP posts:
furlinedsheepskinjacket · 22/10/2017 21:41

oooo a theme.

Dowser · 23/10/2017 21:40

I liked dh fave
But I hope you get the one you've set your heart on

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 23/10/2017 21:59

thanks Dowser. Yes, that one was nice in pictures, but when we drove up to see it the neighborhood was quite sketchy. The actual house was surrounded by much less desirable looking ones, replete with muscle cars and rusty buckets double and triple parked. There was no actual bloke in a wife beater slugging a beer, but it felt like that was imminent. We turned around - no point in falling in love with the house if we'd be scared to drive in or out of it.

Let's see what the week brings. Otherwise this time next week we'll be writing an offer.

OP posts:
Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 25/10/2017 01:08

so interesting. Our agent went to the broker's open today at dream house, and her first comment was 'perfection' and that the small yard is perfect for us. When we asked her thoughts on competition to our proposed offer she opined:

This is not a family home. The others were. Small Yard. I feel a single person or couple is the demographic for this one, so narrows the field.

Huh. Not sure what is different about this one that makes it not a family home - not that I'm offended or anything, and I have been worrying that our effort at down-sizing is quite pathetic given what we've had interest in, but still. Is she right?

OP posts:
another20 · 25/10/2017 09:41

I would be delighted with that assessment given your recent experience. Less competition = less bidders = less money = less stress.

Maybe you are concerned about selling it on? So there will be a narrower field - but you only need to one buyer....

Good luck

snowgirl1 · 25/10/2017 10:40

I'd be heartened by what the agent said, but I'm not really sure it's much less of a family home than the other ones. Could your agent consider this one less of a 'family' home as the kitchen doesn't directly overlook a dining area? Lots of parents want to be able to keep an eye on their children while they're cooking dinner etc.?

As an aside, how does it work with agents/brokers in the US? I don't really understand why your agent went to look at house you're thinking of buying? In the UK you have an agent to sell your house. Individuals hunt around for a house they want to buy and, when they've found one, they then make an offer to the seller's agent. Do you have any agent to help you buy too? What's the difference between the broker and the agent?!

another20 · 25/10/2017 10:55

The garden and its relation to the kitchen doesn't work for a young family, as you want direct access and visibility from the kitchen to the garden so kids can come and go. Also the garden is small, paved and has steps which raises safety concerns and doesn't lend itself to a game of football, skidding about on a small scooter, trampoline and other play equipment etc. I love it!!! For exactly that reason.

Where is that amazing view from - cant really tell from the photos? Is it looking one direction out of the front lounge?

another20 · 25/10/2017 11:10

Where is that amazing view from - cant really tell from the photos? Is it looking one direction out of the front lounge? -- if so, I would be knocking out that front window so that it was full width and full height and maybe building a deck/terrace above the drive way for sundowners..!

My only concern that its lay out might function as a town house - so that if you spend a lot of time in the garden you have to go up and down stairs to access it from you main living/dining/kitchen area. Might be an issue if entertaining carrying food/crockery etc ?

I cant see the garden orientation from the details so dont know where is sun and shade and at what time - but maybe in SF shade is what preferable anyway!

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 25/10/2017 17:30

good points folks. Yes, I believe it does bode well if indeed others see this house as our agent does.

The amazing view is from the front window and the back (high) terrace. Both have enormous views, although was told that you could see the golden gate bridge before a neighbor's tree decided to become a giant redwood! Not sure you'd want to make the living room window full length; the freeway is down there somewhere and would be quite distracting if you had to look at all these cars zipping past.

Snowgirl here you need a selling agent and a buying agent. Realtor or agent, same thing. The selling agent splits the commission with the buying agent, so they are both incentivized to work hard and make a sale happen smoothly. We have signed on with our selling agent to also represent us as buying agent. She will make a TON of money from us, lucky her. She kindly offered to refund 1/2% of our selling commission, which she did not need to do. She sports the most enormous diamond ring I ever saw, and wears only one designer's clothing range - think $150 for a t-shirt. I am always envious of how oh-s-casually-put-together she looks.

OP posts:
Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 25/10/2017 17:47

More re buying agent:

In the not too distant past only agents had access to the MLS (Multiple Listing Something) which showed homes for sale. Otherwise, you waited for the newspaper ads to see what was available. Now we can see them pop up as soon as they can, so not much advantage there. However, they sometimes will get notice of 'coming soon' opportunities we won't see.

We buyers send them (or go with them) to look at homes we may want. They can access them outside of open house hours, if they have a lock-box on the door. Only they have a code that lets them open it and get the key. They are all tracked (quite sophisticated) so seller's agent can see who came, and how long they stayed.

They also provide a more experienced - and more objective - eye to property and value. It is amazing how many times ours has pointed out bits we totally would never have looked at, like small area at bottom of back door that she says is dry rot but looks to me like chipped paint, things like that.

Have to say though once I met the agent selling this house I wished we'd signed with her. She is fairly young but man, is she poised and knows her stuff. Can't think about that at this point though. Too late was the cry.

OP posts:
snowgirl1 · 26/10/2017 14:36

Interesting that the buying/selling agent split the commission - doesn't that mean your buying agent doesn't have an incentive to get the house you want for the best possible price.

Can I ask how much commission you have to pay the buying/selling agents? In the UK at the moment commission would be between 1 - 3% of the sale price to the selling agent. I get the feeling that it's a lot more in the US - they seem to do a lot to earn their money.

snowgirl1 · 26/10/2017 14:36

Oh, and where does the broker fit into all this? Sorry for all the questions - just interested in how it all works in the US.

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 26/10/2017 15:46

Good points Snowgirl. The idea is that the seller's agent pushes for the highest price for their client at each point, and the buyer's for the lowest. Meant to keep them honest. They also have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the client, and their license can be revoked if found otherwise. Of course, deals will be made. There may be suspicion but most can have no proof.

The rate they get is negotiated, typically 4 to 6 %. The services you get for that are also negotiated. We paid 5% and got full service provided at no cost to us. Lots of agents we've met said they never pay for staging or cleaning, and are surprised ours does.

The term broker for the most part appears to be mostly used for the mortgage finder, although sometimes realtors also go by that. Most times an agent has a particular mortgage broker they work with, so that they can shortcut the process if needed.

Time is ticking away. DH has done marvels packing up 'stuff' in the garage. I'm less comfortable down there. Spiders. I also don't want to have to decide to jettison the kids artwork or toys from three decades ago. We shall cross that bridge when we need to. Cull one is done. If we have limited storage in whatever house we end up in, we shall decide then.

Why do today theory 😝 poor DH. I drive him mad.

OP posts:
another20 · 26/10/2017 16:11

Photograph kids art and toys and put them on the cloud. Then bin. Anyone who wants to download and print off later or ref to like a library can do....

Original poster
2017SoFarSoGood · 26/10/2017 16:25

Ah Another that is so true.** I know we can do that but it has been marvelous having so much for the DGSs to play with and read, and the DC don't have space for their own stuff, so for a little while longer we keep.

I did bin most of the school work before moving to this house. It filed box after box. Therein less madness.

OP posts: