Tactical Tools: Bring It On Buyers

With inventory remaining tight, many buyers find themselves continuing their home hunt into fall. While we firmly believe that the best buyer resource is the real estate agent that’s right by your side, we recognize that a little personal due diligence is an equally important part of the process. While the current market may have your patience wearing a little lighter…it’s all the more reason to do the heavy lifting when it comes to your housing homework. This isn’t a decision you make often or take lightly…so don’t let desperation dampen your spirits. Consider some of the tools and resources below to help you gather data, prioritize home features and zero in on a location that leads you right home…hopefully in time for the holidays!

According to the California Association of Realtors®, home photos and property details rank the highest in helping homeowners highlight houses they love. Less than 50% of buyers found virtual tools, interactive maps and neighborhood information useful.

We also recommend adding these additional resources to your tactical tool box:

1.CrimeMapping: http://www.crimemapping.com/

CrimeMapping.com has been developed by TriTech Software Systems to help law enforcement agencies throughout North America provide the public with valuable information about recent crime activity in their neighborhood.

2.CrimeReports: https://www.crimereports.com/

CrimeReports.com provides incident data by crime type for the last 6 months and dictates wherethe data is coming from. Local sources included are: San Jose Police Department, San Jose State University Police, Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department, Santa Clara City Police Department and the Campbell Police Department.

3.Schools & Housing: http://www.schoolandhousing.com/

With a series of patent-pending technologies, SchoolAndHousing.com provides single-point school locator and school-aware real estate search. With this new search model, users can find accurate attending schools instead of nearby schools for a given real estate property. Further, users can find listing properties within a particular school attendance area.

4.Homes of Silicon Valley School Performance Map: http://www.homesofsiliconvalley.com/Silicon-Valley-School-Information

Found on the ‘Resources’ section of our website, Silicon Valley schools can be chosen by school type (elementary, secondary & other) with API ranking easily distinguishable by color. The map can be centered, zoomed and manipulated so you can navigate your areas of consideration with ease.

5.WalkScore: https://www.walkscore.com/

In the spirit of ‘living where you love’, you can not only rate your potential home’s ‘walkability’ but find great nearby places to eat and shop, get a commute report and assess various lifestyle factors.

In addition to the ideas above, we enjoy adding to our buyers’ toolboxes every step of the way. Once we address needs and personal areas of importance to you, you can expect customized and helpful ways to assess items such as how to estimate monthly housing expenditures, cost improvement considerations, public vs. private school analysis and much more! Our commitment extends beyond merely bringing you housing options…but building you into the best buyer you can be (no hard hats required…but they could make home tours really intersting!).

All the best,

Mark & Jason

team@homesofsv.com