Blog > The Fixer-Upper Discount in Silicon Valley, City by City (2026)
How much less does a fixer-upper sell for in Silicon Valley, and how much more does a fully remodeled house bring? We read the listing descriptions of all 21,761 houses sold in 31 Silicon Valley cities in the two years to October 27, 2026. 695 were sold as fixers (“fixer-upper”, “needs work”, “bring your contractor”, “sold as-is”, “original condition”, “tear-down”, “lot value”) and 2,768 as fully or recently remodeled. Here’s the gap, city by city.
The short answer
- Fixers sold for 7% less per square foot than the typical house in the same city (median $1.48M, $1,027 per sq ft).
- Remodeled houses sold for 5% more (median $1.98M, $1,182 per sq ft).
- Bidding: 62% of fixers sold over asking, at a median 102.8% of list; 73% of remodeled houses did, at 104.8%.
- Biggest gap between remodeled and fixer, among cities with at least 10 of each: Los Gatos (fixers 41% less, remodeled 11% more), Mountain View (fixers 8% less, remodeled 14% more) and South San Francisco (fixers 18% less, remodeled 2% more).
Next steps
- Search homes for sale, then use Save Search to get new listings by email.
- What’s my home worth? A starting estimate, then a real one from a Property Nerd.
- Talk to a Property Nerd about what you’re weighing.
City by city
Cities with at least 10 fixer sales and 10 remodeled sales, biggest gap first. “vs. city” compares each sale’s price per square foot with the median for all houses in that city.
| City | Fixers | Fixer $/sq ft | Fixers vs. city | Remodeled | Remodeled $/sq ft | Remodeled vs. city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Gatos | 21 | $726 | 41% less | 86 | $1,358 | 11% more |
| Mountain View | 14 | $1,533 | 8% less | 47 | $1,894 | 14% more |
| South San Francisco | 13 | $729 | 18% less | 61 | $915 | 2% more |
| San Jose | 257 | $845 | 14% less | 1,136 | $1,042 | 6% more |
| Campbell | 16 | $1,140 | 7% less | 61 | $1,359 | 10% more |
| San Mateo | 34 | $1,092 | 14% less | 127 | $1,314 | 3% more |
| East Palo Alto | 12 | $788 | 4% less | 28 | $922 | 12% more |
| Belmont | 11 | $1,094 | 15% less | 34 | $1,288 | 1% more |
| Sunnyvale | 20 | $1,443 | 6% less | 173 | $1,642 | 6% more |
| Morgan Hill | 11 | $640 | 3% less | 56 | $720 | 9% more |
| Redwood City | 26 | $1,212 | 3% less | 103 | $1,357 | 9% more |
| Santa Clara | 38 | $1,267 | 4% less | 140 | $1,398 | 5% more |
| San Bruno | 14 | $933 | 5% less | 61 | $1,004 | 2% more |
| San Carlos | 11 | $1,423 | 1% more | 43 | $1,500 | 6% more |
| Daly City | 33 | $807 | about the same | 97 | $849 | 5% more |
| Gilroy | 16 | $561 | 6% more | 51 | $583 | 11% more |
| Menlo Park | 18 | $1,611 | 4% less | 49 | $1,659 | 2% less |
| Palo Alto | 22 | $2,080 | 1% more | 68 | $2,095 | 2% more |
| Burlingame | 11 | $1,586 | 5% more | 46 | $1,454 | 4% less |
| Cupertino | 18 | $1,955 | 18% more | 51 | $1,742 | 5% more |
| Saratoga | 16 | $1,787 | 15% more | 49 | $1,551 | about the same |
| Los Altos | 25 | $2,476 | 28% more | 36 | $1,942 | about the same |
What the gap means
- For buyers: the discount is real, but it has to cover the work: permits, design, construction and the months you carry the house. Get bids before you write the offer, not after.
- For sellers: a remodel only pays if it costs less than the gap in your city, and if it’s done in time for the season. Often, targeted prep beats a full remodel; ask us to run both numbers.
- Land matters: many “fixers” here sell for the lot, so the price per square foot of the house understates what the land is worth.
How we counted
Closed sales of houses (MLS property type “single family home”) between October 28, 2024 and October 27, 2026 in 31 cities of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records from different feeds removed (normalized address plus sale date). A house counts when its listing description says so, so the true share is a little higher than shown. Price per square foot uses sales with 400 sq ft or more; “vs. its city” compares each sale’s price per square foot with the median for all houses in its own city (cities with at least 30 such sales). Past sales aren’t a forecast or the value of any one home.
Go deeper
The Prep Lab weighs what to fix before you sell, the Build Lab shows what a lot can hold, and Lot Value Lab what land adds to a price. More from the same sales: single-story homes, homes with an ADU, with a pool, with a view, and what each home style sells for.
Weighing a fixer, or a remodel before you sell?
A Property Nerd will pull the recent sales closest to the home you’re weighing and show you what buyers paid. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.