Willow Glen homes – realtor Dale Warfel

Willow Glen is like a small town in the middle of San Jose. Its tree-lined main street, Lincoln Avenue, is populated by outdoor cafes, coffee shops, clothing boutiques, bookstores and home design shops.

Willow Glen's neighborhoods feature many distinguished older homes and architecturally unique smaller homes, many of them tiled roof Spanish-style houses with hardwood floors that have been immaculately restored by their owners. Willow Glen features outstanding schools, a vital community life and proximity to Downtown San Jose, retail shopping areas and Silicon Valley workplaces.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers

Almaden Valley homes – realtor Dale Warfel

Almaden valley is a great place to live. It is located south of downtown San Jose and joins up with Cambrian on the west. Almaden Expressway is the main road leading to Almaden Valley. Shops, restaurants, Lake Coleman park, and libraries are plentiful, but schools is the main reason many families choose to live in Almaden Valley.

Almaden valley's neighborhoods feature many newer homes, nice spacious floorplans, architecturally unique homes, many of them with large lots. Almaden valley features outstanding schools including Leland High and Bret Harte Middle School.

To buy or sell properties in Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

How Market Conditions Affect Your Offer Price

A hot market is a "seller’s market." During a seller’s market, properties can sell within a few days of being listed and there are often multiple offers. Sometimes homes even sell above the asking price. Though most buyers want to get a "deal" on a home, reducing your offer by even a few thousand dollars could mean that someone else will get the home you desire.

A slow market is a "buyer’s market. During a buyer’s market properties may languish on the market for some time and offers may be few and far between. Prices may even decline temporarily. Such a market would allow you to be more flexible in offering a lower price for the home. Even if your offered price is too low, the seller is likely to make some sort of counter-offer and you can begin negotiations in earnest.

More often than not, the market is simply "steady," or in transition. When a market is steady, no real rules apply on whether you should make an offer on the high end of your range or the low end. You could find yourself in a situation with multiple offers on your desired house, or where no one has made an offer in weeks.

Transition markets are more difficult to define. If the economy slows unexpectedly, as it did in the early nineties, people who buy on the high end of a seller’s market (like the late eighties) could find their home loses value for several years. So far, no one has proven reliable in predicting when markets change or how good or bad the real estate market will become.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Property Condition Affects Your Offer Price

Once you have toured the property you are interested in, you should know how it compares to the general neighborhood. All you have to do is put the home in one of three categories - average, above average, or below average.

When evaluating a home’s condition, there are a number of things you should consider. Structural condition is most important - items such as walls, ceilings, floors, doors and windows. Then paint, carpets, and floor coverings. Pay special attention to bathrooms and bedrooms and whether the plumbing and electricity work efficiently. Look at the fixtures, such as light switches, doorknobs, and drawer handles. The front and back yards should be in reasonably good shape.

The missing ingredient will be information on the condition of the homes from your comparable sales list. Provided you chose the right agent to represent you, they will have actually visited most of those homes and be able to provide key insights.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Tips on buying a house

Determine your housing requirements: Where do you want the house? The price range? How big a house do you need? What kind of a house is appropriate for you? The distance of your house from municipal and community services, etc…

Understanding you Local Housing Market:Hire an agent to determine the market prices, for the kind of house you are looking for. Determine if it is a buyer's or seller's market? How favorable are the conditions towards you, etc…

Calculating your Costs:The most important thing when buying a house is your financial capacity. How much can you afford monthly? How much down-payment are you planning to give? Maintenance Costs? Renovation Costs? Services Cost? Propery Taxes? Insurance?

Choosing your Team:Make sure you choose an agent who you are comfortable with and who is willing to work hard for you and who has time for you. Choose an experienced Notary and ask your agent to help you find a good housing inspector and mortgage lender.

Arranging your Mortgage:On this aspect, your agent should take care of the all the paperwork and all that is involved in this. Understand all different types of mortgages and the pros and cons.

Closing the Deal and Moving: Make sure that all the paperwork has been taken care of and the appropriate and required documents are submitted before the notary and all the requirements have been met. Keep in frequent touch with your agent in order to be up to date as to what is going on with your house. Find a reliable moving company and assure that your moving is as smooth as possible.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Buying a House is a Great Investment

Buying a house is a great long term investment. When it comes to personal finances, Americans are infamous. In fact, one of the big concerns of economists and the government is what is going to happen when we get older and have no money to live on. This is why IRA, 401(k) and other retirement vehicles are made so attractive by the government.

If you are considering buying a house, there are lots of reasons to do so. Common reasons include the pride of ownership, the tax deductions that you can pick up from mortgage interest and so on. Property appreciates over time. At the same time, you should be paying down your mortgage debt. Combined, these two actions inevitably result in your living in a property that acts as a sort of savings account.

As is typical with capitalism, the very nature of this savings system is starting to bear new services as baby boomers grow older. In this case, we are talking about the reverse mortgage products flooding the market. Reverse mortgages essentially allow you to cash out of your house while still living in it. Whereas you pay a lender with a traditional mortgage, the process is flipped around with a reverse mortgage as a lender pays you in exchange for chunks of your house equity. Some people are comfortable with this while others are not. What is undisputed, however, is this product only exists because houses are the de facto savings accounts of most people.

As you get older, you are going to want to retire. How can you do that if you haven’t planned for it by saving money during your peak work years? The only way is to buy a house and invest in your future.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Willow Glen homes – Contact realtor Dale Warfel

Once an incorporated city in its own right, Willow Glen is today the only part of San Jose that feels like a small town with its own main street--Lincoln Avenue--surrounded by tree-lined neighborhoods of architecturally distinctive single family homes, many of them Spanish-style homes built in the 1920s and 1930s.

Willow Glen is a district roughly 3 miles southwest of downtown San Jose. The traditional boundaries of Willow Glen are the Guadalupe River, Los Gatos Creek, and Coe and Curtner Avenues, though many adjacent areas are usually included today. "Downtown Willow Glen" is on Lincoln Avenue, generally between Coe and Minnesota Avenues.

Gentrification transformed Willow Glen in the 1990s, though it remains a diverse community with Latino, Italian, Asian, Jewish and gay influences contributing to the rich tapestry of a quiet, enjoyable and very livable Silicon Valley community.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Almaden Valley homes – Contact realtor Dale Warfel

Almaden Valley (often just called ‘Almaden’) is a neighborhood of about 37,000 in the south of San Jose, California, USA, roughly equivalent to the 95120 ZIP Code. The neighborhood is east of Cambrian Park, west of Santa Teresa, and south of Coleman Ave. It is named after the New Almaden Mines, which are themselves named after the mercury mine in Almadén, Spain.

Like its Spanish namesake, California's Almaden had a number of quicksilver mines. They are closed now but despite their closure, there still remains a high mercury content in the nearby creeks and rivers. Even still, many of the names in Almaden still retain their mercury mine themes.

One of the most attractive residential areas of Silicon Valley, the South San Jose community of Almaden is distinguished by nice hillside views and is one of the most gorgeous landscapes in America.

To buy or sell properties in Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, get in touch with San Jose realtor Dale Warfel. Please visit his website: http://dalewarfel.com for more information on the services he offers.

Showing the House to Potential Home Buyers – Tips from Dale Warfel

Your house should always be available for show, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. Most agents will call and give you at least a couple of hours notice before showing your property. If you refuse to let them show it at that time, they will just skip your house. Even if they come back another time, it will probably be with different buyers and you may have just lost a chance to sell your home.

Homebuyers will feel like intruders if you are home when they visit, and they might not be as receptive toward viewing your home. Visit the local coffee house, yogurt shop, or take the kids to the local park. If you absolutely cannot leave, try to remain in an out of the way area of the house and do not move from room to room. Do not volunteer any information, but answer any questions the agent may ask.

When you know someone is coming by to tour your home, turn on all the indoor and outdoor lights – even during the day. Your house looks more homey and cheerful with the lights on. Do not use scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious and many people find the smells of those sprays offensive, not to mention that some may be allergic.

If you have pets, make sure your listing agent puts a notice with your listing in the multiple listing services. If you know someone is coming, it would be best to try to take the pets with you while the homebuyers tour your home. If you cannot do that, It is best to keep dogs in a penned area in the back yard.

Especially if your kitchen trash can does not have a lid, make sure you empty it every time someone comes to look at your home – even if your trash can is kept under the kitchen sink.

Not everyone makes his or her bed every day, but when selling a home it is recommended that you develop the habit. Pick up papers, do not leave empty glasses in the family room, keep everything freshly dusted and vacuumed.

Try your best to have it look like a model home.

For your requirements in buying or selling properties in San Jose, especially in the communities of Almaden valley and Willow Glen, contact me via email at: dale@dalewarfel.com or on the phone: 408.624.6202

Satisfied customers

Dale Warfel and his entire team provided the highest level of care we could have hoped for in our home purchase. Dale kept us informed every step of the way, provided clear and understandable answers to our questions, and provided a detailed market analysis on each property, which interested us, prior to suggesting an offering price. We had a clear vision of the home we wanted, and he was tireless on our many home tours. We were kept up-to-date with the status of our escrow, making the process stress-free and fun. Dale has been a great communicator, well beyond the close of escrow, making sure that everything was running smoothly as we moved into what is now our new home. We would recommend Dale to anyone thinking of buying or selling their home.

- Doug and Kaycee Mallery

Log on to the website http://dalewarfel.com/ to read more about what satisfied customers have to say.