6673 Mount Forest Dr. - Shadowbrook Evaluation

6673 Mount Forest Dr. - Evaluation
3 Bedrooms, 2 baths
1,694 Sq. Ft. on a 8,050 Sq. Ft. Lot
Listed at $750,000

This is a clean "plain Jane" Shadowbrook home that is in mostly original condition. The kitchen cabinets and appliances may have been updated and the counter tops are Formica type.


The step down living room, dining room, and halls are carpeted with a brown carpeting that a buyer will likely replace very quickly with something a bit more cheery.

This is the typical U-shape one story home often found in Shadowbrook. It does not have hardwood flooring, as best I can tell.
It does have A/C and central heating. The back yard is plain but cute with grass lawn and a cement patio. This home also has an added screen room with access from the living room and and the master bathroom. The access from the master bath is a bit odd, but nonetheless works for this particular property.

The yard is spacious for a one story in Shadowbrook with 6-10 feet of space between the house itself and the side fences. This particular type of home is in demand and I surmise that it will sell very close to its listing price. Gary Nobile, Realtor, MBA www.Garynobile.com

1070 TIMBERCREST DRIVE - Shadowbrook Evaluation

1070 TIMBERCREST DRIVE - Evaluation
4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 2,595 sq. ft. on a 5,809 sq. ft. lot.
Listed for Sale at $975,000


Nice looking newer home in Shadowbrook.

Nice engeneered wood flooring. Very unique. Engineered wood is less expensive than a typical hardwood in that is has a thin layer of hardwood on top of other woods. But it does look very nice.

Kitchen with center island, though it doesn't feel as large as these photos make it appear.
There is a utility room off the living room which is convenient, yet I'm not sure if that's the best location for a washer and dryer. This home does have a downstairs bedroom and master bath which is ideal for inlaws. Another feature I look for in a ground floor bedroom of a 2 story home is if the bathroom shower or tub is easily accessible for seniors. In this case, they have a stall shower with a low step in so they got that right. This house also has an elevator which is certainly helpful for the disabled, buit might not be a good fit for just anyone.

Master bedroom has some nice features in the ceiling architecture. The 2nd  story has lots of windows making this a bright, cheerful house. You may get some slight road noise from Almaden Expwy. with the windows open. You have a nice view of the farmhouse next door.

The yard is interesting. The back side of the home is very close to the fence. I'm actually surprised to see this because there are typically setback requirements imposed by the city that prevent builders from being so close to the rear fence. This causes the back yard to be broken up into 2 half yards, if you will. Both are somewhat small though these pictures make it appear larger.

Overall a very nice custom home with some unique attributes, but also some quirks. I believe there is a limited buyer pool for this particular property at the present time. Gary Nobile, Realtor, MBA http://www.garynobile.com/

6458 Ramblewood Dr. Shadowbrook Home

 6458 Ramblewood Drive in Shadowbrook. 4 BR, 2 1/2 Baths,  2,050 sq. ft. home on 6,000 sq. ft. lot. Listed for $799,000 and is under contract. Nice curb appeal at the end of dead end street, no through traffic.

The family room has a nice hardwood floor that the seller added some years ago. As is typical with this floor plan, there are a lot of windows from the family room , kitchen, and dining room which overlook the rear yard. This family room had a cheery color, look and feel.

 The dining room was clean with a neutral carpet. This home may have benefited from staging because the dining room and living room furniture was a bit out dated as were the lighting fixtures. However, it did show well.

 The kitchen had been remodeled including the addition of hardwood flooring and recessed lighting. The cabinets appear to have been refinished, not replaced. The sink was upgraded to a triple sink. The counter tops were Formica, something today's buyers are not particularly keen on. There was a built-in dining area (in the right forefront) that was a nice feature. It was offered by the seller as something that could stay or go depending on the buyer's preference. As is the case with this floor plan, the walk in pantry is also a nice feature.

 The downstairs upgraded inside utility room is a convenient feature. I also like that fact that there is an exterior side entrance into this room so if you're working in the yard and get dirty, you don't have to track your dirty clothes through the house.

The rear yard is spacious, feeling much larger than you would expect with a 6,000 sq. ft. lot. There was a cement patio and 2 robust sheds included. The swing set was an option offered by the seller if the buyer chose. Most buyers looking in this area have children (the high quality school district is certainly the attraction) so the swingset is a cute addition.

Another view of the yard shows one of the two sheds. Something not so obvious unless you're standing in the yard is that the utility wires hang fairly low. Not sure if that's something one of the utility companies can easily rectify, but it may cause apprehension for some buyers.

Regarding the location, this home is situated just across the street  from the original farm house for this area. It's my understanding that the farm house is an historical and cannot be torn down, but can be relocated. For those concerned about development of the farmhouse lot, it may not be cost effective for a developer to move the house in order to develop the property in the current economic climate. But one of the benefits of this particular house is you have a nice view of the top half of the farmhouse and water tower from the upstairs bedrooms.

6544 Camden Shadowbrook (Almaden) Home Evaluation

This home is a 4 BR, 2 1/2 bath,  2,050 square feet on a 6,363 sq. ft. lot. It was originally listed at $760,000. They reduced the price to $745,000 and it is now under contract.

The rear yard is nicely landscaped with minimum maintenance required. It is spacious as well.

This is a clean home with a pergo/laminate type of flooring throughout the home. 

The living room has extensive built-in book cases, a nice feature if you have a lot of books and no where else to store them.

The kitchen is a galley style and flows nicely to the family room. The dining room in this floor plan is just next to the kitchen which makes serving easy. There is also a door that separates the kitchen from the dining room should you require separation for some reason. The kitchen has tiled counters and painted white cabinets. It's not the latest and greatest, but it's a clean look. Another neat feature of this floor plan is that there is additional storage under the stairway that is accessible from the kitchen making for a walk-in pantry. (It's located just past the double ovens on the left).

The dining room has a very modern feel with its decor, Though it may not be consistent with the decor of the rest of the home, it but can easily and inexpensively be adjusted to any buyer's particular taste.

The family room in this property was amended to add sliding glass windows next to the window door. It really lets a lot of sunlight in and gives a nice yard view from the family room.

The one downside to this property is that it is located on a busy street. When it comes to property on busy streets, I look for a few things. One, is there likely to be fast traffic that will be dangerous for kids? On this street, probably not, though as a parent would do everything in my power to keep them away from the street. It's close to a stop sign so even with a lot of traffic, there shouldn't be fast moving cars flying by. Two, can noise be heard inside the home? In this case, they have double paned windows and and have mitigated the noise factor. Third, does it have air conditioning? On a hot day you'll want to open up those double paned windows to let air in which also lets the noise in. This house does not have A/C.  It does have central heating so adding A/C is an easy fix that can be done for less than $3,000 since the duct work is already in place. Next, can noise be heard in the backyard? It will impact your enjoyment for entertaining and family time. In this case, yes car noise is audible but it's not overwhelming. Lastly, is it hard to get in and out of the driveway? I look at it as though it's Monday morning and I'm getting ready to leave for work. Is this type of traffic going to impact my outlook before I've even left the house? In this case, maybe. When evaluating a busy street, the discount factor for comparing the same exact home on a quiet street is anywhere between 5-10%, depending on the answers to the above questions. My assessment is that this home will have a 6-7% due to the street. Overall, a nice property that shows well. Gary Nobile Realtor, MBA (408) 247-4029  www.GaryNobile.com

6534 Hidden Creek Dr. Property Evaluation. SOLD.

This Shadowbrook home is on a quiet street about midway on the block. It's a one story, which makes it appealing to older and younger buyer segments. It's 3 BR, 2 bath 1,716 square feet on a 6,300 sq. ft. lot. It has a clean curb appeal with nice exterior paint in a neutral color. In the photo of the front of the home, they might have considered a different camera angle. The palm tree should not be the center of the attention in the first picture a buyer sees. The interior of the home is clean. The living room has an open and airy, contemporary feeling that most of today's buyers prefer. In my opinion, this property would have benefited greatly from professional staging. In the dining and family rooms, the furniture is outdated and somewhat cluttered. You may not agree with this from these pictures. But I look at a lot of homes and I see the look on my my buyer's face when they see a staged property. Even if they know it's staged, it's a big emotional boost for them.