How's the market?  In the Almaden Valley area of San Jose, there are mixed signs. Let's have a look at the absorption rate to begin our analysis of the San Jose real estate market in the Almaden Valley area (zip code 95120). The absorption rate is the rate at which homes are selling. It factors in the current inventory vs the closed sales for any given period of time. It could be months, weeks, or even days of inventory. If no new homes were to come on the market and properties continued selling at the current rate, how long would it take this pool of homes to sell off? That's what the absorption rate, or months of inventory, reflects. There's one disclaimer with the data as charted below. It relies on that ratio between current inventory and closed sales in any given period (in this ca... 10/11/2008

  A family is looking for the Lynbrook school area home, I found this home on our local reil.com. It is a 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on Johnson Ave small 1100 sf (approx) with 6327 sf.(approx).The asking price is $800K. It is on the market also for a while. Th Johnson Ave is a bit busier but the owner's kids can go to the excellent Fremont Unified School District such as Dilworth Elementary, Miller Middle and Lynbrook High. In year 2005 I helped my buyer to put an offer at Johnson Ave for $825K then it sold for $830K in 2005. One year early 2004 the same kind of the small Johnson home asked for $649K then sold for $743K. You may wonder:"Why buyers pay more than asking price?" because the family kids can go to the famous Lynbrook High School. Let us find out why Lynbrook High School area is... 10/11/2008

                       Berryessa neighborhood Canival time is here!  1970 Morrill Middle School. October 17 - 19, 2008 Friday 4 - 10P.M. Saturday 10 A.M. - 10 P.M. Sunday 12 A.M. - 10 P.M. Schools will be selling food items, profits go back into the specific Schools. I will also be selling pre sale tickets, this also gives the school the opportunity to make money for the specific School Please call or email with any questions or presale tickets Denise Stuart Coldwell Banker 408-893-3400 denise.stuart@coldwellbanker.com Hope you can come and support our Schools.   10/10/2008

A shift in locale (from San Francisco to San Jose) did nothing to change the energy and the recent West Coast Green. As we any conference we tried to see as much new buildings materials, spy as much green washing and attend as many seminars as possible without suffering from green overload.After scoring the main trade floor, we hit the Lawrence Group designed and SG Blocks built, Harbinger House, which impressed us more than last years version (despite the fact of its inside location) with its innovative use of shipping containers. Because we export hardly anything anymore, shipping companies have find new uses for these 8,000-pound containers, so rather than ship them back empty they sold them and here they built a 1700 sq. ft two-story house.The simple yet functional interior fit righ... 10/10/2008

My last posting on Frontier Village, San Jose's beloved little old west theme park, we concluded our tour of the park. You may be asking yourself what ever became of this little park and why haven't I heard about it before.  Well, Frontier Village closed in 1980 and was torn down shortly afterward. Why did Frontier Village close?  Many factors went into the closure of Frontier Village. First off, increased competition from a new large theme park in Santa Clara "Marriott's Great America".  Great America being at least four times the size of Frontier Village, could offer something that Frontier Village could not, size. Great America was much closer and much more modern.  Great America made it's debut in 1976 and was backed by a huge hotel conglomerate with deep pockets.  The Marriott corp... 10/09/2008

Okay now that we have explored the Badlands on Stagecoach and Train excursions, now is the time to explore some other transportation methods that could be found in Frontier Village. Old 99 was a small train ride where the little kids could become the engineers of their own steam engine train.  There were no cars following the engines, just the little cartoon looking steam engines.  They would go around at a very slow speed around a small circuit of track.  If I remember there was a small bell that you could pull the rope and make it go clang, clang, clang as you went around engineering your train around. Near Old 99 was the Antique Autos ride.  These small cars would travel around on a small circuit concrete roadway.  These were electric powered by bus bar and were fun to drive.  They h... 10/05/2008

In my last blog on the defunct amusement park, we had just taken the Apache Whirlwind and Canoes for a ride. In this episode of my blog we will explore the wilderness of Frontier Village.  There were many ways of getting out there.  The best was by the train.  You could catch the train at where else, the train station at the front of the park.  The train would travel out of the town area and head toward the real train tracks along Monterey Highway.  Once beyond the main part of the park and clearing the lake it would make the turn back into what was called on the maps as "The Badlands".  It was landscaped enough where you couldn't see much of the park beyond the lake.  It felt like you had actually gone into the wilderness of the frontier. There was a creaky old tunnel that the train wo... 10/04/2008

In my last blog on the defunct amusement park, we had just reached the Sidewinder and the Stampede rides. Beyond that was the one ride that was the farthest back on the walking paths.  It was the Apache Whirlwind Rollercoaster.  The Apache Whirlwind was added in the last years of Frontier Village's existence.  It wasn't very tall by rollercoaster standards; in fact it rather hugged the landscape.  For what it lacked in height it made up in speed and twisty turns. It was powered by way of an electric bus bar and was going from the instant it left the station.  It would make about three cycles of the circuit and get faster and faster as it traveled around. There was a small outdoor amphitheater near the Apache Whirlwind.  The seats were situated around a small cove on the shoreline of the... 10/04/2008

The stats aren't out yet from MLSListings.com, our MLS provider for the Silicon Valley Real Estate Market, so I did a little number crunching of my own to see how things are looking.Cambrian Park, a district of San Jose bordering Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen and Almaden Valley, is a good barometer for Silicon Valley and tends to represent a good middle point for pricing. Want to know how Santa Clara County is doing? Check Cambrian. It's usually in step with the averages and medians countywide.That said, I wanted to see the absorption rate, or "months of inventory" for single family homes in Cambrian. The absorption rate tells us how long it would take to sell off the current inventory if no new homes came on the market and things continued selling at this pace. In Cambrian, the news... 10/03/2008

Today I read a story from the San Jose Mercury News a home repair man cheated senior home owner for phony home repairs. He was kept in jail before for the same scam. Albert Robert Acuna, 55, pleaded guilty last month to charges that he cheated 10 elderly South Bay women out of thousands of dollars this summer, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. He cheated on single, elderly women, some of whom are in their 90s. He would offer to clean their gutters or do simple roof repairs, and after spending a short time on the roof, then demand payment, Bourland said. He would often quote the women one price — say $80 for cleaning out the gutters — and demand another price like $180 in payment. Acuna often did little or no work. In some cases, Acuna would return the next ... 10/03/2008

95124 Cambrian Home SalesReporting 95124 Cambrian Park resale single family residences and condos as well as new Cambrian Park 95124 homes sold by zip code 95124 in August 2008.% Change is from the same month last year at the Median Price. Cambrian Park home sales include all attached and detached Cambrian Park homes, both new and resale, including FSBO, family transfer and out of area sales. Price per Square Foot pertains only to single family resale.The information is gathered from public records at county recorders offices where documents are filed after the close of escrow.Cambrian ParkZip: 95124Sales: 59% Change: 18.0%Med. $: $699,550% Change: -5.7%High $: $2,625,000$/Sq. Ft. $460% Change: -9.5% Cambrian Homes for SaleKathleen Daniels is a Cambrian Real Estate Broker Realtor® servi... 10/03/2008

San Jose ~ Paws in the ParkSan Jose Dog Lovers - learn about fun activities you can do with your dog. The Humane Society of Silicon Valley is the host of Paws in the Park. This is a free series of San Jose events for pets and pet lovers. You will see inspiring demonstrations and learn about agility, obedience and even dog dancing!  You can ask a trainer and dog behaviorist questions and get great pet information. Molly is the newest adopted member of our family. Molly was abused and abandoned by her former owners. Paws in the Park takes place at Santana Row ~ Winchester and Stevens Creek on Saturday ~ October 4, 2008 from 12pm to 4pm at Park Valencia by Maggiano's. For more info contact the Santana Row Concierges at 408.551.4611 Kathleen Daniels is a proud supporter of the Humane Societ... 10/03/2008

San Jose Comedy at the Improv Presents Henry Cho Henry Cho is going to star in his own sitcom based on his life as a Korean-American born and raised in Tennessee. Cho is an Asian with a Southern accent which he says "To a lot of people, that right there is funny."  Cho has been featured on Comedy Central and several films such as "Revenge of the Nerds III", "Say it Isn't So." Henry Cho will be at the Improv in San Jose Friday ~ October 3, 2008 at 8:00pm & 10:00pm Saturday ~ October 4, 2008 at 7:00pm & 9:00pm Sunday ~ October 5, 2008 at 7:00pm Tickets: $16-$18 San Jose Improv is located at 62. S. Second Street, San Jose, CA 95113Kathleen Daniels is a San Jose Real Estate Broker Realtor® serving the needs of home buyers and home sellers in San Jose California ~ Silicon Valley California. ... 10/03/2008

The San Jose Rock ‘n' Roll Marathon activities start today! Friday ~ October 3, 2008 through Sunday ~ October 5, 2008 San Jose Convention Center ~ San Jose Ca Plaza de Cesar Chavez ~ San Jose Ca  This exciting marathon has made its stop once again in downtown San Jose. The festivities begin early on Friday ~ October 3, 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center located at 150 W. San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA 95113. There will be more than 80 exhibitors with interactive displays and free samples. You will find amazing buys on running shoes, sports apparel and more at the San Jose Rock ‘n' Roll Marathon San Jose Merchandise Store. You will have the opportunity to be face to face with health and nutrition experts. During the speaker series you can ask the experts for their advice.On Sunday, ... 10/03/2008

We have spent the last two blog postings exploring the Town Square and Main Street areas of Frontier Village. Now at the end of main street opened up a vista of the lake off to your left side.  On your right you still had some exciting things ahead. I remember in this area there was an area where you could go panning for GOLD.  It was always fun to do because your hand would get wet and on a hot summer day that was always fun to play in the water. To the right was where the fishing pond was located.  It where you could drop in a fishing line and catch a rainbow trout for you dinner.   I never liked doing that because I as a small kid would only like to catch tuna fish sandwiches or school lunch room fish sticks. The waterfall that trickled down into the fishing pond was built on the sid... 10/03/2008

In my last blog on this subject we had just entered San Jose's Frontier Village and were still in front of the train station. Just over the train tracks and to your right was a path that went behind some of the buildings that were on the Main Street.  This path lead to two of the most fun rides at Frontier Village, The Stampede and Tarantula!  The Stampede was a flat spinning ride where the riders would board a long bench like seat that was mounted with two other benches like spokes on a wheel.  That wheel would be connected to other wheels connected to a central hub and the entire contraption would spin. The Tarantula came later and was also a spinning flat ride.  This time the riders rode in bucket like contraptions that closed up around your feet and locked you in.  The Tarantula wou... 10/02/2008

95118 Cambrian Park ~ San Jose Ca Home Sales  Reporting 95118 Cambrian Park resale single family residences and condos as well as new Cambrian Park 95118 homes sold by zip code 95118 in August 2008.% Change is from the same month last year at the Median Price. Cambrian Park home sales include all attached and detached Cambrian Park homes, both new and resale, including FSBO, family transfer and out of area sales. Price per Square Foot pertains only to single family resale.The information is gathered from public records at county recorders offices where documents are filed after the close of escrow.Cambrian Park mls areaZip: 95118Sales: 35% Change: -7.9%Med. $: $550,500% Change: -20.3%High $: $912,500$/Sq. Ft. $418% Change: -13.2% Cambrian Homes for Sale Kathleen Daniels is a Cambrian Pa... 10/01/2008

95120 Almaden Valley ~ San Jose Ca Home SalesReporting 95120 Almaden Valley resale single family residences and condos as well as new Almaden Valley 95120 homes sold by zip code 95120 in August 2008.% Change is from the same month last year at the Median Price. Almaden Valley home sales include all attached and detached Almaden Valley homes, both new and resale, including FSBO, family transfer and out of area sales. Price per Square Foot pertains only to single family resale.The information is gathered from public records at county recorders offices where documents are filed after the close of escrow.Almaden Valley mls areaZip: 95120Sales: 36% Change: -16.3%Med. $: $990,000% Change: -1.5%High $: $2,300,000$/Sq. Ft. $469% Change:  2.4% Almaden Valley Homes for SaleKathleen Daniels is a A... 10/01/2008

 Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1960s I have very fond memories of San Jose's Frontier Village. I remember the long journey from San Leandro where we lived all the way down to South San Jose.  We would take what was then Highway 17 (The Nimitz) down to San Jose and then onto Interstate 101.  After the long drive through San Jose (it seemed so huge back then) to the Ford Road exit near the IBM plant.  After exiting Ford Road there was a right turn on the the road called Monterey Road taking us back North into San Jose for about a mile.  This section of Monterey Road had the Southern Pacific train track along the left side. As you neared Branham Lane you began to see the tall eucalyptus trees of Frontier Village.  At Branham Lane you take the left turn and over the tr... 10/01/2008

The Median List price for the Almaden Valley district of San Jose (zip code 95120) has been declining overall. Does this mean that homes are declining in value? Or does it mean that less expensive homes are being offered for sale? Information from sold data indicates that by and large, homes are holding their value in Almaden right now. The declines in asking prices may indicate that sellers simply want prices to be rising more than they actually are, rather than the idea that values are falling. Read more... 09/29/2008