Cupertino vs. Santa Clara vs. Berryessa property tax comparison

For buyers who are numbers driven, I did a detailed comparison of the property tax charges between sample houses in the 3 neighborhoods below:
1. Cupertino address with Cupertino schools
2. Santa Clara address with Cupertino schools
3. San Jose address with Berryessa schools

The overall property tax rates are very similar for all properties in Santa Clara County because for all properties, you start with the same 1% maximum levy on the assessed value and that 1% is the bulk of every property tax bill. The variations are due to the minor elements added on to that.

Three of the add-ons are based on the school district:
1. Community College Bonds is .000326 for CUSD/FUHSD and just .000170 for Berryessa School District.

2. Elementary or Unif School Bonds is .000308 for Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) but higher at .000507 for Berryessa School District.

3. High School Bonds is .000365 for FUHSD but higher at .000712 for East Side Union High School District.

Special assessments are also different for each community:

Some assessments are based on address (not school district).

The house with Cupertino address (based on address not school district) is charged special assessments for the following:

1. Sewer Service - Cupertino $288
2. County Library $33.66
3. Cupertino/Environment/Storm $12

In comparison, the house with San Jose address pays a San Jose Library Assessment of $27.80 and the house with Santa Clara address pays a SCCOSA Assessment of $12.

Other special assessments are based on school district (not address).

For instance, regardless of address, homes in the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) and Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) pay CUSD Parcel Tax $125 and FUHSD Parcel Tax $98. In comparison, the Berryessa School District Parcel Tax is just $79.

In summary:
1. Cupertino address with Cupertino schools = Assessed Value*(Tax Rate = 0.011506 + 0.000072)+ $638.46
2. Santa Clara address with Cupertino schools = Assessed Value*(Tax Rate = 0.011482 + 0.000072)+ $316.80
3. San Jose address with Berryessa schools = Assessed Value*(Tax Rate = 0.012222 + 0.000072)+ $694.46

The final conclusion is that the property tax rates are only slightly different between different neighborhoods within Santa Clara County. If you are evaluating a potential purchase of investment property and need a rough property tax figure to enable you to compute cash flow then use a rough number of 0.0125 * Assessed Property Value (i.e. 1.25% * purchase price for year1)

Sunnyvale Somerset of Sunnyvale by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland, Sunnyvale Middle, Homestead High School District

Somerset of Sunnyvale

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" is a cluster of Single-Family Homes built by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School district in the mid 1990s. These homes are a good combination of being relatively new, yet built early enough that they have decent-sized lots and are located in a good neighborhood just south of Washington Park. To get to this community from Washington Park, walk south on Pescadero Terrace or Sunset Ave. The other streets in this community are Markham Terrace, Kearney Terrace, Redondo Terrace, and Pismo Terrace.

Schools

The schools for this community are all highly rated:
Cumberland Elementary
Sunnyvale Middle
Homestead High

Price Trend

The most common models and their price trend are as follows:

Large: 1644 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/16/11 $1,007,900 <-- The recent price this spring was nearly back up to spring 2008 value
9/1/08 $1,000,000
6/28/08 $998,888
5/7/08 $1,009,161

Medium: 1568 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
5/4/11 $952,000 <-- In less than a year, the price has gone up $30,000
7/30/10 $922,000

Small: 1354 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/15/09 $815,000 <-- April 2009 was the BOTTOM of the recent downturn
5/2/08 $948,000

Sometimes statistics that are too general, such lumping the entire city of Sunnyvale, don't tell the price trend accurately because the median and average price for an entire city might simply describe a change in the mixture of sales between northern and souther Sunnyvale. However, since I am comparing EXACT same model homes in the same complex, my data above gives an accurate picture of the price trend. The bottom of this downturn was in April 2009 and ever since then the price trend has been gradually upward in the Cumberland Elementary/Sunnyvale Middle/Homstead High neighborhoods. Talk to me if you'd like me to analyze your particular neighborhood.

To see other posts is this blog:

Go to SiliconValleyHouses blogspot

94086 Education Level:

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School District

"Somerset of Sunnyvale" is a cluster of Single-Family Homes built by Summerhill Homes in Cumberland Elementary, Sunnyvale Middle, and Homestead High School district in the mid 1990s. These homes are a good combination of being relatively new, yet built early enough that they have decent-sized lots and are located in a good neighborhood just south of Washington Park. To get to this community from Washington Park, walk south on Pescadero Terrace or Sunset Ave. The other streets in this community are Markham Terrace, Kearney Terrace, Redondo Terrace, and Pismo Terrace.

The schools for this community are all highly rated:
Cumberland Elementary
Sunnyvale Middle
Homestead High

The most common models and their price trend are as follows:

Large: 1644 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/16/11 $1,007,900 <-- The recent price this spring was nearly back up to spring 2008 value
9/1/08 $1,000,000
6/28/08 $998,888
5/7/08 $1,009,161

Medium: 1568 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
5/4/11 $952,000 <-- In less than a year, the price has gone up $30,000
7/30/10 $922,000

Small: 1354 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
4/15/09 $815,000 <-- April 2009 was the BOTTOM of the recent downturn
5/2/08 $948,000

Sometimes statistics that are too general, such lumping the entire city of Sunnyvale, don't tell the price trend accurately because the median and average price for an entire city might simply describe a change in the mixture of sales between northern and souther Sunnyvale. However, since I am comparing EXACT same model homes in the same complex, my data above gives an accurate picture of the price trend. The bottom of this downturn was in April 2009 and ever since then the price trend has been gradually upward in the Cumberland Elementary/Sunnyvale Middle/Homstead High neighborhoods. Talk to me if you'd like me to analyze your particular neighborhood.

Santa Clara County Real Estate Report - AUGUST 2011

Santa Clara County Real Estate Report - AUGUST 2011

Apple's New Campus could cover a part of Pruneridge Avenue

Apple's huge 12,000 employee new campus could erase part of Pruneridge Avenue, splitting the remaining portions in two.

Steve Jobs spoke in the Cupertino City Council chamber on June 7th to announce the plans for Apple's new state-of-the-art campus in Cupertino on the site of what is now Hewlett-Packard. Job's slideshow presentation showed the site before and after. Pruneridge Avenue disappears once the gigantic ringed campus moves in.

The current HP campus is bounded by N. Wolfe and Homestead Roads and Pruneridge and N. Tantau Avenues. Pruneridge cuts through the middle of an area surrounded by what is now almost all Apple property, except for the Hamptons Apt Homes.

The Hewlett-Packard site is on the corner of Pruneridge Ave and N. Wolfe Road. Last year, HP announced it would combine its Cupertino operations with its Palo Alto campus. Apple purchases the land in late 2010. HP expects to move out completely by 2012.

Apple wants to break ground in 2012 and move into the new campus in 2015. The Infinite Loop campus near De Anza and 280 will continue to house its 2,600 employees.

Apple now owns 180 acres in Cupertino in and around the proposed new campus, according to the city. Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong says the project could get its first public hearing during a planning commission meeting in fall 2012.

Summer Program for Sunnyvale Kids Ages 6-12

The City of Sunnyvale offers a summer program for Sunnyvale kids ages 6-12. The program runs from Mondays-Thursdays from 2pm-5pm. This program is only suited for parents who can pick up their children before or by 5pm sharp. They have a strict “Late Parent Pick-Up Policy”. Summer 2011 started back on June 20th and ends August 12th. Let me know if you want me to remind you about this program next summer (408) 596-3188 .

Many of the Santa Clara Unified schools showing strong API improvements

Many of the Santa Clara Unified schools are showing strong API improvements. Most notably, Don Callejon Elementary, Bowers Elementary, Sutter Elementary, Buscher Middle, Kathryn Hughes Elementary, Bracher Elementary, and Montague Elementary all increased by a strong 30 API points or more. For comparison, in Sunnyvale school district, only Cumberland Elementary and Vargas Elementary improved by that much. Fairwood Elementary was close though.


SANTA CLARA UNIFIED 799 781 D 18

Elementary Schools
Bowers Elementary 830 789 5 41 Yes Yes Yes

Bracher Elementary 894 862 A 32 Yes Yes Yes

Braly Elementary 842 834 A 8 Yes No No

Briarwood Elementary 794 797 3 -3 No No No

C. W. Haman Elementary 798 797 3 1 No No No

Don Callejon 842 798 2 44 Yes Yes Yes

George Mayne Elementary 811 816 A -5 Yes No No

Kathryn Hughes Elementary 813 779 5 34 Yes Yes Yes

Laurelwood Elementary 921 902 A 19 Yes Yes Yes

Millikin Elementary 999 989 A 10 Yes Yes Yes

Montague Elementary 791 761 5 30 Yes Yes Yes

Pomeroy Elementary 781 797 3 -16 No No No

Ponderosa Elementary 855 849 A 6 Yes No No

Scott Lane Elementary 739 742 5 -3 No No No

Sutter Elementary 890 854 A 36 Yes Yes Yes

Washington Elementary 880 891 A -11 Yes Yes Yes

Westwood Elementary 785 790 5 -5 No No No

Middle Schools
Buchser Middle 785 750 5 35 Yes Yes Yes

Downtown College Prep Alviso 659 603* 10 56 Yes Yes Yes

Juan Cabrillo Middle 757 748 5 9 Yes Yes Yes

Marian A. Peterson Middle 853 850 A 3 Yes Yes Yes

High Schools
Adrian Wilcox High 770 731 5 39 Yes Yes Yes

Santa Clara High 760 734 5 26 Yes Yes Yes



**

Cumberland, Vargas, and Fairwood Elementary are the elementary schools in Sunnyvale school district with the fastest rate of improvement.

SUNNYVALE 796 785 D 11

Elementary Schools
Bishop Elementary 737 736 5 1 No No No

Cherry Chase Elementary 942 943 A -1 Yes Yes Yes

Cumberland Elementary 928 879 A 49 Yes Yes Yes

Ellis Elementary 811 823 A -12 Yes No No

Fairwood Elementary 787 766 5 21 Yes Yes Yes

Lakewood Elementary 802 797 3 5 Yes No No

San Miguel Elementary 762 763 5 -1 No Yes No

Vargas Elementary 769 729 5 40 Yes Yes Yes

Middle Schools
Columbia Middle 712 687 6 25 Yes Yes Yes

Sunnyvale Middle 805 822 A -17 Yes No No

Robert Lei
REALTOR®, e-PRO®
Century 21 M&M and Associates
761 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Direct: (408) 350-4726
Cell: (408) 893-2410
I'm never too busy for your Silicon Valley real estate referrals
DRE # 01716389
http://www.siliconvalleyhouses.blogspot.com/