Erica Nelson

Just found out about a home on a nice street in 94087 (Cherry Chase elementary) that is for sale but not on the listing service. Let me know if you'd like more info. It is three bedroom, two bath.

Erica Nelson
Connect Realty
408-416-7090 - Sun Nov 16 2008, 08:45

The banks are very cautious, well, finally. You might want to consider getting a 2nd from a third party source (hard money, relative) to get you to at least 20 percent down. I am having great experiences with Wells Fargo at 20-80 with a good fico and good employment. I also have a client approved by Chase at 20-80 but the interest rate was significantly higher.

I'm happy to connect you to an underwriter level manager at Wells Fargo who has managed all of my buyer clients for the last four or five years, or a great loan agent at Chase that one of my clients found for me. I also have a good "hard money" lender.

There are also decent investment properties around $350K in pretty good condition, granite kitchens, rent around $2K with good elementaries in Evergreen. Just watch out for the high school, some are in Evergreen and some in one of the scarier high schools in SJ. This will have a bearing on re-sale value.

Erica Nelson http://www.ConnectRealty.com/attraction
408-416-7090 - Sat Nov 15 2008, 21:09

I know of a great building in 95132 that leads to an excellent elementary (Ruskin) that is not on the market now, but the seller has placed it on the market for a few years without selling. It is not a neighborhood where you have very many rentals. The cash flow is about $80K a year.

I would recommend that you don't put all of your cash down, because if you carry a mortgage that can be paid by the rent you might experience some advantages.

You can buy a 3-Bedroom 2-Bath single family home in San Jose right now in the $225K range with the foreclosures, and if you aim for the safest/best neighborhood possible, you might be able to buy five or six. Now, that could be interesting. In fact, there is one street in 95127 that has six or seven homes for sale and you could potentially buy them all; fix them up; gate them; and change the complexion of the entire street in your price range.

Rents are strong and vacancy is low.

Let me know if you'd like more help.

Erica M Nelson
Connect Realty
Erica@EricaMNelson.com
408-416-7090 - Thu Nov 13 2008, 21:00

A long time back, schools were attended based on streets/cities/zip codes and other geographic boundaries. At some point, select school districts opened up all the schools as "choice" schools where parents looked at all of the schools available and could choose. Competition was a natural outcome, and magnet schools were created in part to draw attendance to the school. In CA, most public schools receive funds based on ADA (average daily attendance) so the competition to vie for students can be large.

At Gunderson, part of San Jose Unified, there is a magnet focus on academics and integrated technology. One site says they have a 1:1 laptop to student ratio at the school.

What's good about magnets is you can frequently vie to go to the school even if you live somewhere else in the district that doesn't directly feed into the school. For instance, magnet programs at Piedmont Hills High School allow some attendance from kids who would otherwise have to attend Independence High (considered not quite as strong and 2X the population). There is a performing arts/digital arts magnet high school in Willow Glen. Andrew Hill is a "medical magnet" and has pre-med courses taught on campus plus a special feeder to college program where the high school students can achieve college credits before graduation.

The only thing to be "warned" about is that sometimes magnet programs start and then they are only as good as the people who run them. So if the principal moves to a new school, let's say a performing arts magnet might lose some of its quality if the new principal is not dedicated to the excellence previously maintained. So be careful about what things say on paper, and get more feedback, like from parents whose kids attend the school today.

I ran the educational outreach for Intel at Santa Clara Unified some years back, before I became a Realtor, and learned a lot about K-12 education. My children attend elementary school here in San Jose, too.

Please feel free to ask any other questions you like!

Erica M Nelson
Connect Realty
408-416-7090
erica@ericamnelson.com - Thu Nov 13 2008, 20:49

Good morning!
I'm Erica M Nelson, Connect Realty, and I am available to help. I am a San Jose and Silicon Valley neighborhood specialist.

I'll give you a call in a few moments. Or call me at 408-258-8662.

Erica - Fri Oct 31 2008, 06:48