San Jose Real Estate * REALTOR ® * Richard Gonzalez

The California Association of REALTORS® have released the affordability numbers for the state of California and among  them is the very expensive bay area and Santa Clara County is among them. Here is what they found.

• In Santa Clara County only 37% of the population can afford to buy a home at the $545,000 median range.
• The required take home to purchase is $117,630.
• Your monthly payment will be around $2,940.

The Chart below shows the cost of home ownership in California.

Related articles

• C.A.R. releases Q1 2011 Housing Affordability Index (car.org)

Check out my video update for the Santana Row area neighborhoods. Find out how long it takes to sell a home in these neighborhoods and what the market is telling us about the recent sales.

Sold Data*

(See Video update)

Available Properties Data*

Total Avilable Properties: 104

Total Available Days on Market: 93

Average List Price: $647,847

Accepted Offers (Pending Properties)*

Total Accepted Offers(in contract): 87

Average Days on Market: 67

Average List price for accepted offers: $499,633

Median List price for Available and Accepted offers: $574,800*

April showers have been very good to one of my clients who participated in a garden home tour sponsored by the Santa Clara Water District. This is a perfect opportunity for San Jose homeowners to preview local gardens and explore the many possibilities without having to experiment on their back yard.

Jon and Janet’s Garden

Jon and Janet live in the Burbank area and  have seen their garden turn from dirt to a beautiful garden retreat after helping them buy their home. Among the many amazing accomplishments they have a self sustaining vegetable garden, an herb garden, a chicken coup, wild grasses and plants that need very little water, and a an Aquaponic garden fueled by a live fish tank.

Bay-Frendly Garden Tours

Jon and Janet will open their garden to the public this Sunday May 15th 2011 as part of a county wide garden tour.

Registration for Garden tour: http://www.bayfriendlycoalition.org

Gardening Resources

There are resources and gardening information for Santa Clara County home owners available to you from the following organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Affordable housing and down payment and assistance programs are changing with the state budget deficit and elimination of the San Jose Redevelopment department.

First time homebuyers are now forced to look at the remaining Down Payment Assistance Programs(DAP) available though the rest of this year and for the foreseeable future.

The Santa Clara County Housing Trust has created a week long program to help you navigate through all the changes and help people in need of housing information. Among them we still have access to the 23 Million dollar grant for affordable housing and stabilization of the Santa Clara County communities.

Here is a list of available programs during affordable housing week.

Saturday, April 30

• All day: Rebuilding Together Day of Service – Home Rehabilitation for Seniors, Disabled and Families.

(Multiple sites in Santa Clara County) Contact: bjackson@rebuildingtogether-sv.org

• 10am – 6pm: 8-Hour Homebuyer Education Class, Project Sentinel

(San Jose) Rose Garden Library, 1580 Naglee Ave., San Jose.

Contact: mediate4us@housing.org

Tuesday, May 3

• 11am – MidPen Housing Fair Oaks Plaza Construction Tour. (Sunnyvale)

660 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

Contact: kish@midpen-housing.org

• 1pm – 2pm; Palo Alto Housing Corp., tour of the Tree House.  (Palo Alto)

(currently under construction, hard hat area),  488 W. Charleston Road, Palo Alto, CA.

Contact:cgonzalez@paloaltohousingcorp.org

• 6pm – 8pm: NHSSV Class, Foreclosure Intervention & Loan Modification.

(San Jose) Roosevelt Community Center, 901 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA 95116.

Contact: jangulo@nhssv.org

Wednesday, May 4

• 8:30am to 3pm: Silicon Valley Housing Summit at Oshman Community Center (Palo Alto)

3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA. Hosted by Silicon Valley Leadership Group & Housing Trust of Santa Clara County. Contact: http://housingsummit2011.eventbrite.com

• 6pm – 8pm: Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, NSP Workshop (San Jose)

Santa Teresa Library, 290 International Circle, San Jose. Contact: Dan@housingtrustscc.org

• 6pm: South County Housing, Housing Fair (Morgan Hill)

Jasmine Square Community Rm., 16530 Monterey Rd., Morgan Hill, CA. Showcasing Madrone Plaza & Alexander Place. Contact: Robyn@scounty.com

Thursday, May 5

• 12pm – 1pm: Habitat for Humanity Construction Tour (Morgan Hill)

16804 Cory Drive, Morgan Hill, CA. Contact: espaulding@hfhsv.org

• 3pm – 5pm: Affordable Housing Resource Fair (Cupertino)

West Valley Community Services, 10104 Vista Dr., Cupertino, CA 95014
Contact:sarons@wvcommunityservices.org

• 6pm – 8pm: NHSSV Class, Homebuyer (San Jose)

Education & Orientation
Roosevelt Community Center, 901 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA 95116
Contact:jangulo@nhssv.org

Friday, May 6

• 10am-11am: InnVision Villa Tour, (San Jose)

184 S. 11th St., San Jose, CA 95112. Contact:jburkhead@innvision.org

• 1pm – 2pm: Family Supportive Housing, Charities Housing & the Core Companies Three-Site Tour (San Jose)

686 N. King Rd. (Park on Dobbin St. at King). Showcasing Family Supportive Housing, Kings Crossing & Belovida. Contact:fwright@charitieshousing.org

Saturday, May 7

• 9am – 12 noon: First-time Homebuyer Seminar & Resource Fair, SILVAR & City of Cupertino Cupertino Community Hall, (Cupertino)

10350 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014. Contact: verag@cupertino.org

Pilot could open the door for more

The thought of a bank or investor willing to write off a portion of your mortgage can be very attractive but it does come with it’s challenges. Over the past four years there have been attempts to have principal reduction included in modifications and up to now there have been a few clients that I am aware of to have received this opportunity.

Most have had loan amounts under the conforming amount of $417,000. My concern with this decision by Bank of America is for homeowners who have made payments on time. How are they going to feel knowing their neighbor received a principal write down? The taxpayer is most likely going to carry the burden of this move towards principal reduction. This may also be the beginning for future programs but will they make a significant impact in our community?

Santa Clara County may not have an opportunity

The conforming loan amount makes it easy for Fannie Mae or Freddy Mac to offer this in most cases.  Bank of America is a servicer, they don’t own the paper on the loans they service. Fannie and Freddy inventory is primarily located in areas where homes sold under the conforming loan amount. Santa Clara County would most likely not see much activity from this pilot program.

“The program will be funded from the $699.6 million the California Housing Finance Agency received from Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Fund last year. A spokesperson for the CalHFA said there is no set amount of loans BofA is targeting, but the bank will be soliciting eligible homeowners soon.”

Related Article: Bank of America set to write down principal on California mortgages (Housingwire)