Contrasts, Even in High-End Properties

This morning, I read a long article about the large number of foreclosures and short sales in the upscale development in the East Foothills of San Jose, called the Ranch at Silver Creek. These huge homes that sold for millions at the height of the real estate boom are now sitting neglected, with dying lawns and trees...their owners sometimes disappearing overnight. These are the same homeowners who used their dot com wealth to add tennis and basketball courts, fountains and plazas to their new homes.
On the same weekend, I waited, along with my clients, to hear if we were chosen as buyers on a well-maintained...but dated..Mountain View house priced at over $1,200,000. Despite our presenting a considerable overbid and a well written, as-is offer to the owners, we lost to another of the twelve buyers vying for the house. What a difference a few miles makes in this market!