The new California laws that went into effect in January have lessened the difficulty and cost of adding a so-called granny unit, now dubbed Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), to single-family or multi-family dwellings. San Jose has gone a step further in their attempts to ease the housing shortage that is causing rents in the Bay Area to skyrocket. San Jose’s removal of barriers for these small rental units; by lowering the total square footage of the lot needed for an ADU and increasing the maximum square footage of the unit itself to 800 square feet, can create a great opportunity for you - the homeowner - to benefit. While it may not be built for resale, you can rent this unit out to increase your monthly income. It can also be used for multi-generational living, for instance with boomerang kids or aging parents. It can even be used as a short term rental (STR) like Airbnb.

If I were to move anywhere else in the Bay Area, I might just head for Silver Creek Valley in San Jose. The beautiful homes, safe environment, golf course, and country club bring comfort and luxury to the only gated community in Silicon Valley. This is a neighborhood where your children can visit a friend’s home by themselves, walk to school, and enjoy fantastic extracurricular activities. You’ve got everything your family needs within one major zipcode.

If you’re in need of some serious organization overhaul in your home after the holidays, you may want to consider revamping your master closet. We always enjoy creating deluxe custom closets for our Silver Creek clients, because they tend to want a beautiful and luxurious aesthetic to match their functional design. These homes are usually blessed with extensive closet space or additional spare bedrooms, so you’ve got a lot of potential to work with.

Do you remember the song, “Do You Know The Way To San Jose”? I hum it nearly every time I’m in town. It needs a follow-up, though. Namely, what do you do once you reach San Jose? Where do you go? Where do you live? Because the housing market here is pretty tight. Homes have reached a record high of over $800,000 on average (which is actually lower than Santa Clara County, which has topped $1 million). Knowing the way to San Jose is only half the ballgame.

Many literature-lovers are transitioning to e-readers and tablets (even I use them occasionally), but physical books retain their allure. There’s something about sitting down with one—the smell of the ink, the crisp sound of a turning page, the physical weight in your hand. Clients in San Jose know what I’m talking about. You folks ranked in the top 20 most well-read cities in the US, and you’ve got all sorts of intriguing bookstores. I’m partial to Recycle myself, although I hear great things about Hicklebee’s from parents.

Read Part I of our Zen Workspace series here

We live in stressful times. I was talking to a client in San Jose last week about the 4th of July and asked whether she enjoyed the long weekend (and the Rose, White and Blue parade). She said the holiday made her week more stressful—she had to pack five days of work into four.

I like to start my mornings with a nice breakfast while I flip through the newspaper (call me old-fashioned). San Jose residents may find it a strange routine. If you’re part of the growing tech scene, your morning might go more like this: You wake up already panicking about how much you need to get done, down a pot of coffee as you scan emails, and by the time you look up from your laptop, it’s 10 or 11 PM. Whether you’re trying to get a start-up off the ground, or working through the ranks of a more established company like eBay or TiVo, there’s no denying San Jose folks are stressed.

Have you ever gone shopping in Willow Glen? This growing neighborhood in San Jose – known as its “Small Town”– is full of charming houses and luxury condominiums, with dozens of boutiques around Lincoln Avenue. There’s a lot to buy, from hot new tech to antiques. And if you’re anything like me, when you buy new stuff, you make a solemn pledge to get rid of the old stuff – a pledge that’s quickly broken. And so the clothes, and the electronics, and the knickknacks pile up in our homes.

Anita B. from San Jose was looking to add a lot of function into a VERY small space. She worked with Valet Designer Shari Krandel to come up with the perfect custom solution for her office/guest room!