Silicon Valley Real Estate Market Update - April 2017

Quick Market Summary: We're in the hottest market period of the year as we get more buyer activity. As we get closer to the Memorial Day weekend (graduations, nearing the end of the school year) this activity tapers off as buying a home is a choice. In March, inventory of available homes for sale decreased in each county. Sales (accepted offers) were down in Santa Clara County and up a bit in San Mateo County. Median prices increased 4.5% in Santa Clara County to $1,138,000 and 3.7% in San Mateo County to $1,395,000. Still, San Mateo County has the highest median price of all California counties with Marin and San Francisco not far behind. These levels represent record median prices for this time of year in March in the Silicon Valley real estate market. Demand continues to outstrip supply in Santa Clara County as 71% of homes that closed escrow sold for more than list price inferring multiple offers whereas in San Mateo County, it had an even higher percentage of homes that sold for more than list price of 76%.

Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the amount of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 854, down from 1,034 or 17.4% from the same month a year ago. Sales (accepted offers)  decreased 2.9% in Santa Clara County to 1,170. In this measure, a downtrend continues in force since 2012!

For San Mateo County, inventory of single family residences stood at just 336 which decreased 10.4% from the same month a year ago. For both counties, the inventory continues to lag below the average for this time of the year placing pressure on buyers as evidenced in the predominance of multiple offer situations and heated competition between buyers.

Sale price to list price ratio, a key market condition indicator, shows that for Santa Clara County transactions completed during March, this ratio stood at 103.9% and among the highest for this time of year over the past 17 years! Currently, the highest ratio and the hottest market area belong to the Cupertino/Sunnyvale market area (median price of about $1.80 million) at 109.8%. It also registered the lowest median days on market at just 8 which means half the inventory disappears in less than 8 days! The coolest market area is South County (Morgan Hill/Gilroy).

San Mateo County’s overall sale price to list price ratio stands at 107.2% with the highest ratio in the Foster City/Redwood Shores market area (median price of about $1.79 million) at 109.7%. This indicates that this market area is the hottest. The coolest market area is the San Mateo Coast (Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara).

As is always the case, market dynamics change and the supply and demand relationships can vary by area. If you would like specific market condition information for your area or neighborhood or a current home value, please feel free to call me, your Remax Agent! And as always, you are welcome to leave your comments or questions. Thank you.

Robbing the Bank to Pay Back the Bank!

Wow, a 69-yr old robs San Diego bank to pay for his 17% mortgage! The authorities should round up the loan officer, strip him of his license, place him in the clink and throw away the key! Seniors beware -- a lot of crooks are after you (us!). Work with someone you know AND trust.

Click on the link to view the source newscast but we here in Silicon Valley were not insulated from some of these crooks in the real estate and lending business who looked out for themselves and didn't place their client's best interest first and foremost. Some loan officers, many working for unscrupulous mortgage brokers, placed unsophisticated and unsuspecting borrowers into weird loans with prepayment penalties and the like to earn huge fees at the expense of the borrowers.

Probably most of the borrowers that were trapped by these crooks were not seniors but I think it is even more egregious when a senior is the victim.

Spring Cleaning? Include the Prevention of ID Theft

Since tax season is done, I usually clean up files that have been accumulating this past year to make room it seems for more paper! To get a fix on what I needed to keep, I turned to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for advice.

In the careful handling of personal paperwork, I invested in a crosscut shredder for small to medium sized jobs. It also has a handy slot to thoroughly cut up credit cards. I've learned that you can't do all the shredding at once as you'll burn the motor! If you've procrastinated a long while and have a larger job, please give me a call or send me an email and I'll refer you to a reputable area firm that will either shred at your place of business or home.

Here is an article from the BBB publication "The Connection" that contains handy tips for all sorts of different items...

Spring-Cleaning? Prevent ID Theft by Following BBB Advice on What to Keep and What to Shred

Spring is here and now is a good time to rid the house of paperwork that has accumulated over the past year. Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns that, when it comes to reviewing and cleaning out financial records, failing to shred sensitive documents can put everyone at risk of ID theft.

Last year alone 8.1 million Americans became victims of ID theft resulting in the loss of $45 billion according to a 2008 report from Javelin Strategy and Research. The report notes that, contrary to popular belief, only 12 percent of ID theft is perpetrated online. The vast majority of ID theft occurs when the thief has direct contact with the victim’s personal information such as through a stolen or lost wallet, or by rifling through the victim’s mailbox or trash.

“When people think of ID theft they almost immediately focus on hackers and online security,” said Sharon D'Amico, BBB president. “But the truth is most ID theft happens when people have failed to secure or properly destroy important financial information including paper documents, IDs, and credit cards.”

Properly destroying sensitive personal and financial documents is a key step in ID theft prevention and BBB offers the following guide on when to shred the following documents:

Canceled checks

Canceled checks with no long-term significance for tax or other purposes can be destroyed after one year. However, canceled checks that support tax returns, such as charitable contributions or tax payments, should be held for at least seven years – long enough to cover the six-year tax assessment period. BBB advises that consumers indefinitely keep any canceled checks and related receipts or documents for a home purchase or sale, renovations or other improvements to owned property, and non-deductible contributions to an Individual Retirement Account.

Deposit, ATM, credit card and debit card receipts

Consumers should save credit, debit, and ATM receipts until the transaction appears on their statement and they have verified that the information is accurate.

Credit card and bank account statements

Credit card and bank account statements with no tax or other long-term significance can be discarded after a year; remaining statements should be kept for up to seven years. If a consumer receives a detailed annual statement, they should keep it and shred the corresponding monthly statements.

Credit card contracts and other loan agreements

Credit card contracts and loan agreements should be kept for as long as the account is active in case the consumer has a dispute with their lender over the terms of the contract.

Documentation of a purchase or sale of stocks, bonds and other investments

Investors should retain documentation of a purchase or sale for as long as they own the investment and then seven years beyond that time. Monthly retirement and monthly investment account statements can be shredded annually after being reconciled with the year-end statement.

Paycheck Stubs

Paycheck stubs can be shredded yearly after the income has been reconciled with a W-2 or other tax forms.

Utility or monthly bills

Monthly bills should be shredded the year after being received by the consumer. This way, if it’s a power bill, for example, consumers can compare this month’s bill to last year’s bill for any major changes before shredding it.

Shred-it Checklist - Don’t just toss it, shred it!

• Documents that include Social Security numbers, birthdates, PIN numbers or passwords
• Banking documents and other financial information
• Leases, contracts or letters that include signatures
• Pre-approved credit card applications
• Medical or dental bills
• Travel itineraries
• Used airline tickets

For more trustworthy advice from BBB on preventing ID theft and for guidance on what to do if your identity is stolen, go to www.bbb.org.

As a Realtor with a Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation (SRES), I am especially sensitive to seniors but understand that virtually anyone can become a victim of identity theft. The above contents were used with permission of the Better Business Bureau at 408-278-7400. Tom McEvoy, Realtor is an Accredited Business (member) of the Better Business Bureau.

Thanks for reading!

Why you should choose me to sell your property

Some might have you believe that there are two types of sellers. Those that have to sell and those that want to sell. I believe that a seller need only to be informed and advised so they make the best decision possible for their situation.


This starts with employing what I call the Four "P's" of marketing: preparation, pricing, planning and process.


Proper preparation has to do with giving the best first impression possible given constraints of time, money and circumstances. I coach my clients that prospective buyers and their agents usually spend but a few minutes forming their opinions of your home so it's important to ask the following important questions quickly:

• is it competitively priced?





• does it have a clean/shows-well appearance?





• does it offer or add what I call "value" to the marketplace?

Since markets do change, being competitively priced is important because you need a buyer's agent phoning their client to say "we gotta see this one" and prospective buyers searching online for a new home to basically say the same thing! I consistently research market trends to develop the best marketing strategy to get your home sold in the quickest amount of time and for the most money.

For your home's appearance you need only put yourselves into a buyer's mindset to see where there can be improvements made and remember to not overlook the negative things! I advise you on the appropriate high-payback items to make your home market-ready and coach you that how you live in your home is not how you show it! Depending upon the situation, I may recommend differing levels of home staging from accessorizing (complimentary service to my clients) through partial or full staging using an accredited home staging professional I've worked with. I've built up an impressive array of trades people to refer my clients to for virtually anything you might want to do to maintain or market your home.

Think of "adding value" to the market as not just merely a reduction in price but features or benefits your home offers that "showcases" your home and differentiates it from others. For example, features would be remodeled kitchen/bath. Benefits would be better schools and community offerings. I ask questions to quickly learn of other features and benefits not apparent to a quick glance or tour. When advising clients to make changes, I'm careful to work within their budget and/or time constraints. I look for high-payback items designed to increase your net -- otherwise, why do them.

Proper planning and an effective process are the only ways to assure you get the most out of marketing your home -- that is, the highest net (or what I call "walkaway capital") that the market has to offer. I advise my clients how to balance time and money to accomplish their chief goals of obtaining the highest net within the least amount of time and do so smoothly. To that end, I advise you to begin any negotiating from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness as so many sellers do. The structure of this advice is held in a customized, comprehensive marketing plan and strategy that are crucial to the successful outcome of your sale.


The main marketing elements of my plan are the use of: traditional and new-technology based online approaches.

To learn more about me, please click the My Background link under my photo in the right column.

I was awarded the designation Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) because of my experience and education in dealing with seniors as their transactions tend to be more complicated due to their large equity positions and tax exposure. I advise my clients to obtain the legal, tax, loan, financial planning input before making a decision to sell as it may be in their best interests NOT to sell. If they don't have a trusted expert in these areas, I refer them to a professional. The only compensation I receive for these and other professional or trade referrals is the satisfaction that I've helped someone seek to be better informed and ultimately make a better decision for themselves.

Please give me a call at 408-830-0092 to include me when you're ready to interview agents or just to meet and get to know each other better. If you have questions or feedback, feel free to leave me a comment.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome to My Behind the Real Estate Scenes in Silicon Valley Blog

Welcome to my blog -- Behind the Real Estate Scenes in Silicon Valley!





This blog will provide readers who want a bit more specifics about real estate topics than what you would normally find in a newspaper or online article which can be extremely general and perhaps meant to scare or sell newspapers rather than provide relevant, local information on real estate in our Silicon Valley communities. We'll delve into market and industry trends, strategies, tips for buyers and sellers, and even ideas and tips on improving or maintaining your home or investment properties.




Also, we will venture into non real estate areas too! Things like community and neighborhood events, charities, dining, etc. My blogs related to dining experiences will sport the name "Real Eats" and blogs about movie reviews and comments will be called "Reel Estate".




My name is Tom McEvoy. I've been a California licensed real estate broker for the past eight years. I'm a Realtor and was awarded the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation because of my experience and education in dealing with seniors.




Prior to entering real estate, I was in corporate financial planning and analysis for 23 years ending as a Director of Financial Planning in 1999. My business, finance and investment experience allows me to provide comprehensive advice to my clients as well as interact effectively with CPA's, estate attorneys, loan officers, financial planners and other professionals so that my clients may be afforded top-level expertise so they make the best decision possible.




My associations and memberships include the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, the California and National Associations of Realtors, Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau of Santa Clara County as well as a member of MLS Listings Inc. our Multiple Listing Service. I possess an MBA from Santa Clara University, a BS degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from San Jose State University and an AA degree in Real Estate from Foothill College.




After working at two independent real estate firms during my first five years in business, I joined RE/MAX Santa Clara Valley, an independently owned and operated franchise, in early 2005. I have found it beneficial to belong to the largest realty member firm in the world with a network spanning more than 60 countries and comprising more than 120,000 agents. The power of RE/MAX extends to their widely-popular website http://www.remax.com/.




My business philosophy is to advise and educate my clients to enable them to achieve their real estate goals in the best possible manner. I am client-driven, not transaction driven and spend a great deal of time understanding my clients aims so that I can advise them on the appropriate strategy necessary to save them time and money.




The services I provide include helping people buy, sell or exchange residential and commercial properties. Properties include those occupied by the owners or those kept as investments. I serve clients from first time buyers of homes and income properties to trade up and trade down clients looking to meet goals due to changing life situations. In particular, I help senior citizens utilizing my designation of a Seniors Real Estate Specialist on whether or not to sell the family home, tax implications of selling income properties and the like. I also advise investor clients on exchanging properties to defer capital gains taxes through the use of Section 1031 of the IRS Tax Code.




Since I am client-oriented, my area of service is quite broad and mainly includes San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. I have assisted clients outside this large area both in California and out of state with the help of a local professional that I team up with to assure my client receives the highest level of service at all times.





If you have any questions or suggestions for additional topics or subjects, please click comments below and post them here or contact me.






Thanks for reading!






To life's best,


Tom McEvoy, Realtor