When Tej Ravindra and Niket Sirsi purchased a house in Menlo Park practically a decade in the past, that they had no regrets — however they did really feel that they had made some compromises.
So in 2022, when the couple began on the lookout for a spot past their starter residence, with house for his or her 10-year-old son, Jishnu, to develop into throughout his teenage years, that they had little interest in settling.
“This time around, we felt like, ‘We’re not going to get just anything,’” Ravindra stated.
“We’re looking for a unicorn,” Sirsi stated.
A great college district for Jishnu was on the prime of the record, together with a bigger yard for his or her Dutch shepherd combine, Aurora. They’d a choice for the Peninsula and can be keen to go as far south as Cupertino. Since each work for tech corporations in distant roles, additionally they have been in search of more room for residence workplaces. Each burdened the need to be close to nature, on rather a lot with timber and a sense of privateness.
A Palo Alto native, Sirsi knew that the Bay Space residence costs sometimes moved in a single path: up. As their search prolonged from one yr to 2, after which into a 3rd, they felt pressured to regulate not solely their expectations but additionally their price range. They started properties within the $2.4 million vary however ended up contemplating properties listed as excessive as $3.5 million.
“It was a moving target,” Ravindra stated.
Listed here are the properties they thought-about:
Lush landscaping and a pool in Redwood Metropolis
(Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
This 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom residence was on a property within the hills above Redwood Metropolis and got here with a pool and luxurious, tree-covered lot. The house featured a model new kitchen that opened as much as a front room and hearth space. The first bed room was large, with tall, vaulted ceilings, however a number of the residence’s loos have been on the dated facet. It was within the Sequoia Union Excessive Faculty District and listed for $2.75 million.
A ranch with views in Redwood Metropolis
(Courtesy of Tej Ravindra) 
(Courtesy of Tej Ravindra)
This single-level 4-bed, 2.5-bathroom residence was in-built 1966 with main upgrades in 2017. The house featured a spacious deck that wrapped across the whole home, with a gasoline fireplace pit, BBQ space and views of Redwood Shores. The first bed room featured sliding glass doorways out to a deck and an en suite toilet with a copper tub. The kitchen included two islands, cork flooring and customized cabinetry. It was within the Sequoia Union Excessive Faculty District and was listed for $2.9 million.
Creekside dwelling in Cupertino
A house Tej Ravindra and her husband, Niket Sirsi thought-about is seen on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Cupertino, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group) 
An inside view of a house Tej Ravindra and her husband, Niket Sirsi, thought-about is seen on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
This 2,478-square-foot, 5-bedroom, 4-bath home was positioned on half an acre inside a grove of tall timber on the finish of an extended non-public driveway. A creek ran alongside the again fringe of the property however was separated by a fence, so Aurora can be protected. The bedrooms have been positioned on the decrease ground, and an open-concept front room and kitchen made up the highest ground. It was within the Fremont Union Excessive Faculty District and listed for $3.5 million.
Which one did they select?
Ravindra, Sirsi and Jishnu toured the primary possibility and didn’t hesitate to submit a suggestion. Nonetheless, it turned out they have been too late. Another person had struck first, and the sellers, a bunch of siblings who have been managing their mother and father’ belief, had determined to take it, regardless that Ravindra and Sirsi have been keen to go larger.
Disillusioned, they determined to work with a brand new agent, Debbie Wilhelm, who went with them to tour the Redwood Metropolis ranch. Once more, the couple was keen to place in a suggestion. Although the house was listed at $2.9 million, Wilhelm suggested them it will doubtless promote for far more.
“Go as high as you possibly can,” she informed them. Tej and Niket submitted a suggestion at $3.8 million.
It nonetheless wasn’t sufficient. The house owners accepted an all-cash supply for $4.05 million.
The fixed ups and downs started to put on on the entire household, together with Jishnu. After getting his hopes up too many occasions, he determined to cease touring properties along with his mother and father. “You never get the house anyways,” his mom remembers him saying.
Sirsi, too, was exhausted. “I started doubting that we’d actually ever find anything,” he stated.
However Ravindra stored wanting.
The brand new residence of Tej Ravindra and her husband, Niket Sirsi, is seen on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Cupertino, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
“I have this never-give-up attitude,” she stated.
In March, she got here throughout the itemizing for the Cupertino residence and despatched the hyperlink to Sirsi. He reluctantly agreed to tour the home and was glad that he did. As they waited for his or her agent exterior the home, they gushed over the tall redwoods, the grassy garden, and the non-public location. Earlier than they’d even toured the within, they needed to submit a bid.
At $3.5 million, it had the best asking value of all of the properties they checked out. To place themselves within the best-possible monetary place to make a suggestion, the couple acquired pre-approved for an quantity considerably larger than what the house was listed for. They submitted a bid for $3.6 million, however the vendor had one other supply, so that they went to $3.7 million. They gained the home.
Closing, although, was one other headache — as a result of the property was surrounded by timber, residence insurers didn’t wish to signal a coverage till the timber had been in the reduction of they usually agreed to exchange the roof with a brand new materials. After discovering a brand new insurance coverage agent by Wilhelm, their actual property agent, the couple lastly closed on the home in April 2024 and moved in just a few weeks later.
Tej Ravindra, proper, her husband, Niket Sirsi, and their son, Jishnu Sirsi, 10, inside their new residence on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
The household likes to spend time exterior, particularly on the deck proper off the lounge.
“It’s so quiet — you can see all these animals walk by,” Ravindra stated. Jishnu has loads of house to play exterior with Aurora — though you’ll simply as doubtless discover him in his room enjoying video video games.
There’s additionally loads of house for company — Ravindra’s mother and father lately traveled from India to spend Diwali with the household.
“I honestly didn’t think we would get it, because we’ve been through so many disappointments in the last few years,” Ravindra stated. “I don’t know how we got so lucky.”
