Sophia Lin, Sunnyvale CA Real Estate Specialist

I use to think that a 20% down payment buyer was a for sure thing. In today's competitive market with 10 sometimes 30 offers on the table, a 20% down payment would be considered just the bare minimum (San Francisco Bay Area). I've recently had my share of being out bidded in multi-offer situations and was determined to find out how to get my clients offer accepted under those circumstances. I began my research to find out what kinds of offers were actually being accepted. I quickly discovered that it's not all about the highest priced offered, but more about the down payment. Sure the offer price is important, but certainly not the deciding factor. Because there are many "investors" out there competing with "regular" buyers the "investors" have a lump sum of cash to put down, sometimes even "all cash", so when representing a "regular buyer", if possible, have the buyer put down the most that the buyer can comfortably put down, shorten contingency times, and of course offer an attractive price.

Accepted offer = happy Buyer, happy Agent, referrals, satisfaction!

I'm sure we all have sayings that we think of in certain instances. "You can't win if you don't play the game" is one of my favorite sayings that I often refer to ease my pain when:

-I am over bidded

-I lose a customer

-I was not chosen for the listing agent

-buyer backs out

-buyer or seller is unrealistic

-market changes

-clients emotions get in the way

- I walk away

-buyer thinks they paid too much

-last minute surprises

-buyer or seller not being upfront

Time to move on.........

Sunnyvale, also known as the "heart of silicon valley" was selected in the top 100 best places to live as reported by CNN Money's list of Americans best small cities; in addition, in 2002 Sunnyvale was one of the finalist communities for the "All American city award" given by the National Civic league. It is a diverse city that offers many desired qualities. In addition to being a "green friendly", "accessible to transportation", "bicycle friendly" and "diverse community", Sunnyvale boasts great weather, low crime rates, great schools and affordable housing.

Located approximately 40 miles south of San Francisco and approximately 9 miles north of San Jose, with neighboring cities of Mountain View, Cupertino, Los Altos and Santa Clara, Sunnyvale once a small orchard town now has transitioned into a high-tech, yet still homey community, known as "Silicon Valley". Some of the well recognized names that are home to Sunnyvale are Moffett Federal Airfield, Lockheed Martin (aero space/defense company) Yahoo and Palm. Technology has attracted a strong foundation of diverse ethnicity's to Silicon Valley. As a consequence Sunnyvale is rich in cultural representation as evidenced through places of worship, cultural events and authentic ethnic cuisine.

Weather Goldilocks couldn't have said it better: "not too hot", "not too cold"......it's "just right"!

Crime Sunnyvale ranked as the 18th-safest city overall in the U.S., according to the Morgan Quitno Awards. In addition, Sunnyvale has consistently ranked as one of the safest ten cities (for cities of similar size) in the United States according to the FBI's crime reports. From 1966 to at least 2004, Sunnyvale never placed below fifth in safety rankings among U.S. cities in its population class! Sunnyvale is one of the few U.S. cities to have a single unified Department of Public Safety, where all personnel are trained as firefighters, police officers, and EMTs, so they can respond to an emergency in any of the three roles.

Schools Sunnyvale is home to some of the top ranking schools in the area, Homestead High, Sunnyvale Middle and Cherry Chase Elementary just to name a few. Also highly recognized De Anza Community College located in Cupertino consistently ranks #1 or #2 in the state for the total number of students who annually transfer to University of California and California State University campuses.

API Scores of Sunnyvale Schools 2009

Based on Zirana/Sunnyvale online API Scores of Sunnyvale High Schools

API Scores of Sunnyvale Middle Schools

API Scores of Sunnyvale Elementary Schools

Housing It's been reported by Business Week /Prashant Gopal that Sunnyvale had the fastest selling zip code area in 2008.

Daily Real Estate News | September 8, 2008 | Share

ZIPs Where Property Is Selling Fastest
Altos Research, which tracks real estate data all over the country, identified these ZIP codes in which homes for sale spent the fewest days on the market.

In cases where communities of relatively fast-selling real estate were clustered, the best ZIP Code in the area was chosen.

Overall, expensive homes and big bargains are selling with general ease, says Ken Gold, director of the Center for Real Estate Education and Research at Ohio State University. Meanwhile, homes in middle-income neighborhoods are selling the slowest, he says.

Here's the list of the Top 10 fastest-selling ZIPs:

1. Sunnyvale, Calif. 94087: 66 days on market
2. Austin, Texas 78749: 68 days on market
3. San Diego, Calif. 92131: 70 days on market
4. Plano, Texas 75075: 75 days on market
5. Portland, Ore. 97202: 77 days on market
6. Houston, Texas 77094: 77 days on market
7. Wakefield, Mass. 01880: 79 days on market
8. Seattle, Wash. 98117: 86 days on market
9. Littleton, Colo. 80130: 90 days on market
10. Atlanta, Ga. 30340: 91 days on market

According to Trulia stats and trends:

See home prices and popularity trends in Sunnyvale, CA by neighborhood or ZIP-sort by average listing price, average sales price, median sales price, average price/sqft and search popularity. Choose between seeing the actual prices or year-over-year (y-o-y) percentage changes on the map

Who likes showing properties to clients on "hot" days.....I don't! When the temperatures reaches 80+, I'm not a happy camper. And to be showing property on top of that is no holiday. I feel like I'm all out of my element; sweat running down my face while I'm going in and out of the car. Hair pasted to my head from head sweat, dry mouth so I don't even want to talk. Sometimes I think to myself that I wish I didn't schedule a showing on this day, but then come to reality and realize that how was I suppose to know that it was going to be a scorching hot day. At the moment all I keep thinking about is that I wanna be in a cool place with a cool drink in hand and that's all amen! Am I the only one who get like this?

We all need to start somewhere, even if it seems like the simplist things. Alot of people say they already know this, but when we dig deeper, how many people are really doing it? Remember "every little bit helps" and the more people that do it makes it "alot of bit helps"

•1. Install low flow toilets, showers and faucets

•2. Install solar panels on roof to use the sun's energy to generate hot water

•3. Use "energy star" approved appliances

•4. Use eco friendly materials such as bamboo for flooring and non-toxic paint for painting

•5. Plant a tree for shade to help cool your house in the summer

•6. Insulate attic and walls, don't forget to weather strip the doors & windows too

•7. Install a tankless water heater

•8. Install energy efficient light switches, dimmers and timers

•9. Install double pane windows

•10. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of regular light bulbs

(Picture courtesy of free nature pictures www.freenaturepictures.com)