Meet Your Dream Home! One Of Morgan Hill's Finest Neighborhoods - Open House, Sat. May 3, 1:30 - 4:30 PM -

Refreshments And A Gorgeous View Are Waiting For You! 

Come on up to one of Morgan Hill's finest neighborhoods. 

Musical Fence

My friend's musical fence is the talk of the neighborhood.

Offers Above Asking Price

Garden Talk

The Pomegranate tree in our garden is in full bloom. I did some overdue garden work this Sunday and really enjoyed getting my hands dirty when planting my tomatoes, and other heirloom vegetable offsprings. Working with dirt keeps me grounded and all the stress and worries from the week disappear magically.

Open House - Gorgeous Contemporary Condo!

I am holding this gorgeous contemporary condo open tomorrow,

 April 26, from 1 - 4 PM!

Come on over and bring your friends!

 I have a little surprise gift for the first ten visitors and refreshments.

The Palomar complex entrance in Central San Jose is off Stokes across from Del Mar High School between Southwest Expressway and Bascom Avenue. 1452 is located around to the back of the complex. Some non-permit parking available.

 

I am looking forward to see you at my open house!  

Neighborhood of the Week Contest!

People who know me are aware of my sometimes crazy ideas. Here is my latest one:

Silicon Valley has some great neighborhoods - real hidden gems, and I would like to introduce them to you by starting a contest: The neighborhood of the week.

Everybody is welcome to participate and nominate their favorite neighborhood, it doesn't have to be your own one: Send me the link to a let's say 3 - 5 min. youtube video in which you introduce the nominated neighborhood - let us hear and see what's special and why it is great to live there - be creative. I will pick the neighborhood of the week and yes, there is a prize to win, gift cards to local restaurants, coffee shops, hair stylists, nail salons, movie theatres. You can nominate more than one neighborhood. The only rule is, "have fun."

The contest starts NOW! Coming Sunday, I will showcase the first neighborhood of the week on my blog, South County Twang and share it with my facebook pages and google+.

Keep the links to your youtube videos coming and bring fame to your Silicon Valley favorite hood. Make your neighbors proud of you! Here are some hints: wine walk coming Saturday downtown Willow Glen, block parties, Cul de Sacs with kids playing, community pools, horse trails, a downtown pub crawl, everything is welcome. Get your creative juices flowing and help me get to know where you hang out. Also tell me in a few sentences your connection to the neighborhood, how long you live there. etc.

Thank you for being a good sports! Message me your link here on facebook or on my email: silviabichler@kw.com

Below is the video my son made from the city of Bad Hindelang in our German home region, the Allgaeu Alps. Yours can be like that or completely different - let's get started!

Mortgage Update on Standard Waiting Periods for Conventional and FHA Loans After Short Sale, Modification, and Foreclosure

Happy Easter To All Of You - Frohe Ostern Euch Allen - Felices Pasquas A Toda La Gente!

Happy Easter Weekend

I wish my Gilroy and German family, my Keller Williams family, my clients, friends, and simply everybody a wonderful Easter Weekend!

I am taking Good Friday off and try to be in time at the above cross (Dirty Harry Movie)  on top of Mt. Davidson at Easter sunrise!

Still Renting - Really?

Latest news of today - current average cost of monthly rents in Silicon Valley. You can own with a monthly mortgage payment often lower than the above monthly medium rent or equal.

Contact me for a free buyer consultation, let's look at your options and make it happen. I am happy to assist you in reaching the next chapter of your life called homeownership. 

Gilroy Easter Egg Hunt

If you have an avid egg hunter like my granddaughter Adriana waiting anxiously to meet the Easter Bunny at this event, you better mark your calendar: Easter Egg Hunt at Christmas Hills Park in Gilroy, Saturday April 19. Make sure to arrive early to get parking and your hunting ticket. Event usually starts around 11AM but please check local news in case there are changes.

Gilroy Dispatch - Easter Egg Hunt 2014

The Ship has Sailed

I like my weekly planner - call me organized. This is why the ship won't sail without me.

Fly Me To The Moon....

I admit, I am a star gazer and did watch the blood moon lunar eclipse last night with Mars shining bright next to the red moon on a clear night sky. It was stunning and makes me humble like every time I feel close to our creator.
Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

Got Chicks?

With Easter in front of the door, I think it is a great subject to blog about: We've got chicks! Elsa the colored egg laying Ameraucana, Cinderella the Rhode Island Red, and, not in the picture, Snowwhite the feisty Leghorn have bonded to a flock.

Anna, the second Ameraucana or Easter-Egger as they are called,  passed away only a few days old and we gave her a decent funeral. We got her for free because she was so weak - we tried our best but she didn't make it. She will be remembered on the photo below.

All others are well and growing. They will have to stay in the brooder for three more weeks (six weeks in total) and then they can move into their chicken coop in the backyard. The City of Gilroy has passed an ordinance in 2012 that up to six chickens are allowed in the backyard. We are super excited about this new addition of our livestock.

Next year we will have Easter eggs from our own chickens, urban farmers that we are now.

Open House - My Personal Touch - My Personal Choice

What a busy open house I had today in this beautiful home owned by great people. Isn't it exciting to assist homeowners reach the next chapter of their lives?

Every open house I held so far was different and I try to match my personal touch to these differences. 

Today, with reference to the beautifully landscaped garden,  I gave away forget-me-not seed packages with my business card attached. During the first weekend of the new Chinese Year of the Horse, I gave away lucky envelopes filled with chocolate tokens. Saint Paddy's day weekend it was clover, of course.

I met people I knew from previous open houses and I met new ones this afternoon from all corners of the world with different ethnic backgrounds. Some discussed the Feng-shui of the house with me and were pleasantly surprised when I told them that indeed I had taken workshops in Germany with a Feng-Shui Master. Others crunched numbers and tape-measured rooms, or looked at the nearby biking-trails,  and some just wanted to look because they were neighbors. Everybody was welcome.

I love what I am doing and enjoy meeting people. An open house in a beautiful home is almost like talking with friends at a party - only the cocktails are missing. My work feels more like fun and this is how it should be, I guess. I never felt this way before until I started my career as a realtor.

This home may have met its future owner today and I gladly will help to make this happen.I would love to be the one giving the new owner the key to the house.

If you think this career maybe something for you as well, just come and join me. By clicking H-E-R-E you will go the first step towards a happier life with a rewarding career.

Gone Fishing

I am out of the office until tomorrow morning, Sunday April 13.  Call or email me should you need to get in touch.  A good way to catch me in person tomorrow is during the open house on Babs Creek Drive, Gilroy, CA, from 1 - 4 PM. Have a great weekend!

Whazzup in the Valley? Santa Clara Valley Real Estate News - April 2014

The pace of home sales remained sluggish in Santa Clara County in February according to the most recent data released by the Multiple Listing Service. A combination of higher prices, less-distressed sales, and new lending standards have played a role in the slower pace of sales. Prices continued to rise despite the slower sales pace, but at a much slower pace than what we saw at the same time last year. Inventory levels have continued to rise and we expect them to remain above the low levels of 2013. Interest rates have continued their slow and steady increase, and potential buyers should anticipate this general trend continuing throughout the year.

Home Prices are Up
The median price of a single family home in Santa Clara County for March of 2014 was $865,000. This represents an 8% over the February 2014 median price of $800,000, and a whopping increase of 18% over the median price in March of 2013 of $735,000.

What is really outstanding is that back in March 2009, just five years ago, the median price of a single family home in Santa Clara County was only $450,000. The $865,000 median  of a single family home in Santa Clara County represents a 92% increase over the March 2009 number.

 

 Closed Sales Are Down

The number of closed sales of single family homes in Santa Clara County was 752 in March of 2014, an increase of 36% from the 551 closed sales in February of 2014, but a decrease of 13% from March of 2013.

The put the 752 number of closed sales in March 2014 in perspective, one would have to go back to 2009 to find a March with about the same low number of sales. The peak March in the last 5 years was 2011 when there were 1,015 closed sales, 36% more than in March 2014.

Inventory is UP

The inventory of single family homes in Santa Clara County reached a total of 2,526 in March of 2014, a 35% increase over February 2014, and up 24% over March of 2013.

Although inventory is up substantially over last year, it is far lower that what it was five years ago in March of 2009 when inventory levels hit 3,951, 36% above March 2014 levels.

Wanted: 40 Acres and a Mule

The city slickers, rednecks, tree-hugger, and even the computer geeks who enter my Keller Williams real estate office these days have one thing in common: They all look for reasonably priced property with acreage in the South County hoping that the Silicon Valley real estate medium home price and zero lots end right behind Trader Joe's in Morgan Hill.

My dear friends and future urban farmers, unfortunately I have to burst your bubble. It's time for a reality check.

Agree, we do have a more buyer friendly market here in the South County and yes, acreage is affordable if one is willing to look further south than San Martin. However, the times when the new settlers got offered  40 acres and a mule are definitely long gone.

The medium home price in Gilroy is close to $ 600,000, and horse properties in Hollister, even if it is just one acre usable land, are a hot commodity.

We all get more conscious of what we eat, and how important it is to understand the food chain. We don't want our children think that milk grows at Safeways and love to let them raise their own chickens in our backyard because this is legal in Gilroy per city ordinance. We work hard and at home we want to have a relationship with mother nature rather than developing asthma in the San Jose summer smog days.

This is why South County real estate has become very attractive despite rising gas prices and longer commutes. With cars becoming more energy efficient and commuters more willing to car-pool on the diamond lane, the  37 miles from Gilroy to Cupertino during rush hour are now considered less of a turn-off than having to fork out the $ 1,400.000 medium home price in the city around the Infinite Loop of Apple, Inc.

The South County is back in business after having been hit hard by the 2008 recession.

Below statistics prove that Garlic is not the only hot commodity in Gilroy.
As a local  real estate agent in the city with a spice for life, I can truly say that every listing, provided that it is priced right, will receive multiple offers in this current seller's market.

GO GARLIC!




Current Inventory Statistics For Gilroy, Week 14 

• 1 Single family homes currently listed as bank owned. 
• 25 Single family homes currently liste
  d as short sales. 
• 54 Single family homes sold in the past 90 days. 
• 87 Single family homes in escrow (21 short sales). 
• 168 Single family homes listed for sale
•  $599,500 Median sale price for single family homes in past 90 days.