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John Bowman
Realtor

    DRE #01853768

Direct: (408) 679-1112

Office: 408-445-5102



Company Info

Coldwell Banker
1096 Blossom Hill Rd. Unit 200
San Jose, CA
408-445-5102

DRE #01853768


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Homes for Sale

Curb Appeal, Homey Feel in San Jose’s Thousand Oaks

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

As an agent who is obsessed with knowing the market and its inventory, I personally tour several hundred homes a year. It’s amazing how many of them – including the remodeled ones – just don’t feel like home.

Then there are the ones that you walk into and immediately think “I could live here.” They’re comfortable. Appealing. Even familiar, though you’ve never been inside before. Just like the home I’m holding open today (Sunday, June 26.)

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Mini Price War Will Benefit Buyer of this Almaden Home

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

Two homes on this stretch of Elwood Road sold recently for more than $1 million. But two side-by-side homes are crashing that barrier.

The one at 6734 Elwood was priced aggressively at $929,000 and went into contract on Friday, July 8.

The home next door, at 6730, is listed at $998,000. I’m holding it open today (Sunday, July17) from 1:30 to 4:30. A remodeled home in Almaden Valley’s best public-school loop AND a 10,000-square-foot lot for under $1 million? What’s going on here?

The two owners went after each other, essentially. This is good, old-fashioned, free-market, price competition that’s already benefited one buyer and will benefit another soon. Here are the details and more pictures of today’s open house:

6730 ELWOOD RD, San Jose, 95120.

Cambrian Charmer Comes With Huge Lot, Great Schools

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

Sunday’s open house is a great opportunity to own a turnkey home with lots of land (nearly 10,000 square feet) on a street that’s seeing many property improvements. Oh – it’s also in the awarding-winning Cambrian School District.

I hesitate to use the term “potential,” because that’s usually real-estate code for “fixer-upper” and this home has updated kitchens and baths and lots of designer finishes such as crown molding and gleaming hardwood floors; nonetheless, if you drop by my open house June 12 from 1-4, you’ll recognize nearly unlimited potential.

For more details, go to:

2949 LANTZ AVE, San Jose, 95124.

Time to Hem, but not Haw, on this Willow Glen Home

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Listen very carefully kids: I held the twin to this new Willow Glen home open last weekend and it sold almost immediately. Same builder, same price, virtually identical floor plan – and the street was not as well-located as this one, a very short walk to Lincoln Avenue shops and restaurants.

Anyway, 27 groups came through Saturday and 27 more came through Sunday. The offer came in on Sunday and by Tuesday, the home was in contract.

My point: I’m holding the pictured home open this Saturday from 1-4 p.m. But if it looks very interesting to you after you get further details by clicking on the link below, you might want to call me for a private showing before then.

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Open in Willow Glen: Every Bedroom has its Own Bath!

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Since I hold 52 open houses each year, it’s kinda hard for me to get very excited about any particular one. This one, however, is an exception.

The home I’m holding open 1-4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday is literally a couple of weeks old. But unlike most such homes, it sits on an established street on Grace Avenue, just west of Meridian in the Willow Glen area. The owner bought a much smaller existing home less than three months ago, and spared no expense on its gorgeous replacement.

It’s a single-story home that you’ve just got to see to appreciate. All I’ll say is that each of the four bedrooms has its own full bath. For more details, go here:

1465 GRACE AVE, San Jose, 95125.

Median list prices in Willow Glen’s 95125 zip code have bounced nicely in recent months, up about $50,000 since bottoming out in early February at just under $680,000:
Medium Chart

By the way, find out how you can become a neighborhood real-estate expert on Willow Glen – or any combination of it and six other desirable San Jose zip codes – by clicking here. It’s completely free!

This Home is Almaden’s Best Deal – There, I Said it!

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Regular visitors to this warts-and-all blog will note that I rarely make a statement like this one: The home  pictured here is the best deal in Almaden Valley right now. Frankly, I can’t recall a 5-bedroom, 3-1/2-bath home in this great of a condition being on the market in Almaden at $868,000 in many years. It’s open Saturday, May 21, from 2-4 p.m.

Great street, remodeled kitchen, beautiful hardwood floors and a large, but cozy back yard – if you’re looking in Almaden, and this is anywhere near your price range, I strongly encourage you to set up a showing with me in the next couple of days. It would be a great idea to bring your checkbook and your letter of pre-approval for a mortgage loan if you have one, because I expect this home to sell quickly. For more details, click here:

1242 PERALTA DR.

While you’re there, ask me about getting my free weekly research reports on Almaden or several of San Jose’s other favorite neighborhoods. Once you’ve read a couple of them, you’ll  be able to walk into any open home in your favorite zip code and be confident that you know more about that neighborhood than any other buyer, more than the seller, and likely more than the agent who is hosting the open house. To learn how, just watch this brief video:

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Open Home Graces Almaden’s Serene California Ridge

Friday, May 6th, 2011

It’s quiet, green and serene up on California Ridge, site of the spacious and updated townhouse I’m holding open from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 14.

This 2-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath home offers a large patio to enjoy those perfect California evenings. If schools matter, try Williams Elementary (972 API), Bret Harte Middle (911) and Leland High (890). The price, meanwhile, was dropped in recent days by $20,000 to $528,000.

For more details, click here:

1242 CHARISE CT, San Jose, 95120.

Would you find it advantageous if you could walk into any open home in Almaden or Blossom Valley, Cambrian, Willow Glen or the Rose Garden and be confident that you know that local real-estate market better than the seller, better than other buyers, and, likely, even better than the agent hosting the open house?

Here’s how you can make that happen at no cost:

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Saturday’s Home is Remodeled Condo in Park Almaden

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

Nestled along the Blossom Valley-Almaden Valley border, the condos of Park Almaden are all about location, location … location.

Walk in minutes to light rail, a major shopping mall, terrific restaurants, Almaden Lake Park and miles of beautiful hiking trails – but listen to the sounds of silence from this completely remodeled home in the (newer) Phase II portion of the well landscaped complex.

The price has just been reduced to $359,950 on this comfortable 2-bedroom, 982-square foot hideaway that I’m holding open from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, April 16. For more details, click here:

896 GOOSE LAKE CT.

If you are seriously interested in buying a home in Almaden or Blossom Valley, be sure to look to the right and check into my “1-Minute Clinic for Homebuyers.” As a former longtime television producer and reporter, I’m confident you’ll find this to be the best series of video tips for homebuyers available anywhere.

Sunday’s Home: Custom, Huge Lot, Almaden Schools

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

If you pay close attention to your tax bill, you know that anywhere from two-thirds to three-fourths of your property’s assessed value lies in the land, not in the house (improvement). That’s my way of introducing the home I’m holding open 1-4 p.m. today, March 6. It’s a 12-year-old, custom-built home that’s served by Grade-A public schools: Graystone Elementary (958 API), Bret Harte Middle (909) and Leland High School (890).

The backyard offers a wooded view and the lot is oversized at 16,117 s.f. If you check out the below chart, you’ll see that’s nearly twice the size of the median lot in Almaden Valley. Click here for more details on the home:

6616 CAMDEN AVE

So here’s your hours-old weekly snapshot of Almaden Valley:

The data on this chart represents a tiny snippet of the hyper-local, current market information I make available to my clients at no charge on a weekly or monthly basis. How would you like to walk into any open house in Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, Cambrian, Willow Glen or the Rose Garden with confidence that you know more about that neighborhood’s real-estate market than any other prospective buyer, the seller, and – more than likely – the agent hosting the open house?

All you have to do is find the words “How is the Market?” down either rail on this blog and follow the directions to sign up. You’ll know as soon as you get the first report that you now have an edge you can use to find and get the best deal possible. All you need now is an equally knowledgeable, aggressive buyers agent to represent your best interest in negotiating the purchase.

Happy hunting!

Open Saturday: Almaden Country Club Home for $789K

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

It’s a sign of the times: a 4-bedroom home that’s a one-minute walk from the Almaden Country Club on the market for less than $800,000. For more details, drop by from 2-4 on Saturday, March 5 and or click on this link:

6627 BOSE LN.

But the times, they are a-changing. In my previous post, I noted that in a fairly rare event, Almaden Valley median list prices have continued to drop in recent weeks even as prices in nearby neighborhoods and in San Jose as a whole have bounced off their seasonal lows of January. But I also noted another uncommon trend: While median list prices are still dropping in zip code 95120 – from $1 million in early January to $932,000 in recent days – median per-square-foot prices have been rising, from $399 per square foot just before Christmas to $422 currently:

There’s only one way I can read this situation, which can’t last long: For the past few weeks, buyers have been paying less money for Almaden homes, but getting less home for their money!

So rather than a recent “win-win” for buyers, it’s actually more of a “win-lose.” But wait: It gets worse (for buyers), and probably sooner rather than later. Past seasonal trends indicate that this per-square-foot increase is a leading indicator of a coming bounce in actual median prices. Last year, for instance, the average sale price of an Almaden home rose from $844k in January to $948k in May and $1.025 million in July.

At this point, a little context is needed to bring the real picture back into clear view for buyers. All of the above notwithstanding, Almaden Valley prices remain a full 25 percent below their 2006 peak, and despite a recent rise, mortgage rates remain close to their lowest point in recorded history.

All told, according to this story in the Wall Street Journal, housing is the most affordable it has been in decades.

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