So in The vultures flying around 398 Crest Drive San Jose, CA I detailed how my uncle and aunt put ketchup on a filet mignon by royally fucking up my grandparents house. It’s been on the market 40 days now, and the price has been cut by 4% or 100kish down to 2.38m (might as well say 2.4m).
They won’t even get that for it.
The real estate agent has also changed the description.
“Discover Hillcrest Estates! One of San Jose’s Best-Kept Secrets! Love the timeless charm & architectural character of Willow Glen?”
LOL WILLOW GLEN!
My wife and I were laughing profusely at this. It’s obviously a ploy to get someone with no concept of San Jose neighborhoods to think “Oh yeah that’s great! Willow Glen? This is JUST LIKE WILLOW GLEN?”
Only it isn’t ANYTHING like Willow Glen.
Those are the Greatschool ratings, right on the page. 3-4-3? Those are the lowest performing schools in San Jose. Maybe only Mount Pleasant is worse? Let’s look at any house in/near downtown Willow Glen. 1144 Coolidge Ave, San Jose, CA 95125 | MLS #ML82066490 | Zillow
Of course, you could just send your kids to private schools, but you have to remember, school scores are reflective of the overall allotment of city/county funds towards things like street maintenance and schools. When your kids are not in school, what kind of friends will they have in the nearby neighborhoods?
Having grown up there for a good portion of my childhood, and gone to those public schools I can tell you. Direct in neighborhood kids have a lot of affluenza (Affluent kids doing bad things and getting away with it because of their parents money) but just a mile down the road you start hitting the rougher neighborhoods, to this day filled with kids that are in gangs and looking for trouble.
How do you fare as an adult? Well, the amenities of the neighborhood is NOT walkable. Willow Glen you can walk down Lincoln, and never run out of options of places to eat at. Hillcrest? You’re trudging up and down a huge hill, then another mile down the road to Toyon and McKee (closest area) You have a few food options, but you’ll tire of it quickly.
So what about driving?
Everyone is so scared from the Sheriff harassing them that they drive 10-15 MPH under the speed limit. McKee used to be 40mph almost the entire stretch, but it’s been reduced to 35. You can fully expect driving to be an exercise in madness as you watch people do things like take up a lane to turn left across traffic, or stop for no reason. Turn signals are an unknown concept, and you’ll be cut off at every turn.
Go shopping, and people do the same with shopping carts as they do with cars. Moving in slow motion, no spatial awareness that someone wants to get to the next aisle, spreading across 2 lanes. It’s every man for himself.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the area but only because I grew up there. Would I ever move back there? After nearly 30 years in Cambrian, HELL NO. I like living in a neighborhood that doesn’t have gangs a mile down the road. I like parking my car out front and not having to worry about it getting vandalized. I like how there’s little graffiti here.
I haven’t covered comps yet.
Comp wise, the house is off. The similar house across the street sold for $2.3, but it also has 4 bedrooms and backs up to the golf course. A ketchup covered Filet Mignon will never fetch that, nor should it.
One last thing, how do the schools in my neighborhood stack up?
If you’re even considering 398 Crest Dr, take a gander on the west side. 1379 Adobe Ct, San Jose, CA 95118 | Zillow $1,850,000
Nearly as roomy, 4th bedroom, newer house meaning less repairs and $600k less. My grandma’s old house will be a constant project of repairs, in a worse neighborhood (that isn’t Willow Glen) for what? Some crappy home depot pavers, ruined landscaping, and cheap particle board kitchen cabinets?
We have a costco, a whole foods, and a Trader Joes over here. Just ain’t worth the $2.4 to live there.