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Visit the Los Gatos Library Blog
2007-11-19 21:51:00
Did you know that the Los Gatos Town Library has a blog? I didn't but just stumbled upon it. Let's not keep it a secret! It's got some neat information about newest additions to the library and other features in the right sidebar as well. Check it out! The Los Gatos Library Blog
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A Perfect Day for Shredding in Los Gatos
2007-11-18 04:07:00
What do you do for fun on a perfect, sunny California Saturday in November? Ten of us agents from Intero in Los Gato s hosted a shredding party as a client appreciation event. From 9am until 1pm today, we provided a mobile shredding truck from United Shredding in our parking lot, and offered some refreshments and information on identity theft as well. Our clients and friends expressed great enthusiasm and appreciation, and we counted the day as a success. One of my friends decided it was so easy that he went back home and retrieved more to shred before we finished. We had a great time and enjoyed the ideal mid-70 degree weather. It was wonderful to reconnect with people and the consensus was that this was an event we'll do again. Want to be included next time? Please call or email me and I'll make sure you are! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mobile shredding event in Los G...
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Fall in Los Gatos
2007-11-16 06:55:00
The Los Gato s Observer has a nice post this week from Don Wolf, who shared absolutely stunning photos he took at Vasona Lake County Park and Oak Meadow Park (which are adjoining to one another) this week. Stop by and have a look: http://losgatosobserver.com/los-gatos/Art icle.php?article_id=0602
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Los Gatos Real Estate Market Trends
2007-11-09 18:32:00
What is the housing market doing in Los Gatos now? Market analysts are divided as to whether it will settle down by the end of this quarter and bring us a better 2008 or if the market will continue to be sluggish for another year or two with increasingly decling sales and in some areas, declining home values. No one knows the future, but there are convincing arguements for both outcomes! Let's have a look at October's numbers. Los Gatos prices are up from a year ago -13.7% for the median sales price and 21.5% for the average sales price. But the number of sales was off a whopping 60.6% from the same month last year! Are home values rising? Not necessarily. This could be an indicator that what little is selling happens to be selling in the wealthier sectors of the market. Low end homes are possibly suffering a more direct hit from the mortgage fallout than the extremely high end homes. An excellent tool for evaluating the market is the ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Trends

Squirrels Are Not A Problem in Los Gatos
2007-11-08 04:19:00
Let's be clear on something: squirrels, possums, skunks, racoons and other wildlife are not generally a problem in Los Gato s . Recently a mountain lion was seen on Cypress Way - and sometimes the big cats wander into suburbia. Those events constitute a problem. But by and large, the small furry animals that share our turf are not an issue. I bring this up because I like to track who's finding "Live In Los Gatos", how they get here, what are the popular search terms, etc. It's all visible to you, too, if you are in the slightest bit interested. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and find the Site Meter button. Click on it. A whole world of info - probably much more than could possibly interest you - about how people find this spot lies in the pages beyond that portal. What upset me today was seeing that one Google surfer found this site by asking about killing squirrels in Los Gatos . If you go through the Site Meter link and then look at the left sidebar where it says "Referra...
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Comcast Didn't Deliver in Los Gatos,
So I Went to the Bar...
2007-11-05 17:05:00
Going to a bar alone is really out of my comfort level, but even more so when I'm not even meeting someone there. But that's exactly what I did yesterday, and it's Comcast 's fault. Why? Because Comcast did not broadcast the NFL "Game of the Century" - the Patriots vs. the Colts. Last week I saw a (national) television ad that it would be shown. Being played at Indy, the game was on yesterday afternoon starting at 1:15pm local time. But when I looked at the television listings for Sunday, I was shocked and appalled that this incredibly significant game wasn't listed as being televised. We're talking about the game between arch rivals. The game where both went into it undefeated this season, 8-0. I did what any paying customer would do: I phoned Comcast. "Can I upgrade the sports package and watch the game?" I asked, rather than complaining. "No, ma'am, Comcast isn't showing that game west of the Rockies." Incredible. Obviou...
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Holiday Gift Idea: Novel by Local Author
"Child of the Shadows"
2007-11-04 19:31:00
Third Generation Los Gatan Jack R. Sorenson's Fantasy Novel Inspired and imaginative, The Child of the Shadows is Jack R.Sorenson's fantasy story of magic, growth, hope, and the classic issues of good and evil. Folks who enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series will find many things to like in this book as well, as it shares some of the hallmarks: the use of enchantment and the element of "another world" being among them. Best of all in this tome is character development. The individuals we meet are complex and intriguing, all with several dimensions to them. In Child of the Shadows, the main players are not always what they seem at first glance - or second, or third. A month or two ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Jack in person and talking with him about his book, about Los Gatos, ghosts and some neat history of the town. He has a wonderful "sense of story" that he's putting onto paper and I expect to see his current work becom...
More About: Holiday , Gift , Idea , The Shadows , Local

Earthquakes and Real Estate Transactions
2007-10-31 05:19:00
A couple of hours ago, at 8:04pm, Silicon Valley experienced a "moderate" earthquake. The USGS (Unites States Geological Survey) finds it to be 5.6 on the Richter Scale. My Experience Tonight: When tonight's quake happened, I was not at my Los Gatos home, but rather on the campus of Santa Clara University, in the Adobe Lodge, saying goodbye to some friends after a very pleasant evening. We'd attended a Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley's "Theology in the City" lecture on Muslim-Christian Dialogue, followed by a wonderful reception. As we crossed the main room of the Adobe Lodge, sounds like someone stomping on the roof commenced. Then the noise spread. As the roof cackled and groaned, we realized - about the time we started to sense it - that this was an earthquake. It's not untypical to hear it before you feel it! By the time my friends and I figured out that this was a seismic event, we were in the foyer. A chandelier swung ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Earthquakes , Transactions , Real

Today in Willow Glen:
Drop Off Goods for Fire Victims
2007-10-28 16:38:00
Please stop by Intero's Willow Glen office today to donate new or gently used: Blankets, Pillows, Cots, Tents Sleeping Bags, Air Mattresses, Canopies, Toys, Sunscreen, Pa­per Towels, Water, Handi Wipes, Toilet paper, Paper Plates, Cups, Utensils, Pet food, Carriers, Leashes There are more than 300,000 people who have been evacuated from their homes. Graebel Moving (408.273.1955) has donated a trailer truck and a driver. Intero Real Estate Services and Mary Ann Wallace have provided the vision and Presentation High School is helping to get the word out and take collections. The trailer will be located at: Intero Real Estate Services 1567 Meridian Ave San Jose, Ca 95125 Today , Sunday from 9am-5pm or until it is full. All items will be delivered to Father Joe's Villages which has a warehouse to accept and distribute the supplies. Thank you for your support! Any questions, c...
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Bedbug Registry:
Los Gatos is Clean!
2007-10-26 03:06:00
A friend sent me a link to a Bedbug Regis try . I knew, from a conversation that I'd had recently with Janet Thrasher of Thrasher Termite & Pest Control in Los Gatos , that bedbugs were on the rise and the subject of much discussion (and action). But I didn't know that there was a "Bedbug Registry". Did you? Well, have no fears, Los Gatos appears to be a bedbug free zone. At least from my look at the registry a moment ago. Planning a trip? Maybe you will want to stay right here and take in one of our resort-like hotels or motels!
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Where, Exactly, is Los Gatos?
2007-10-24 03:17:00
Where is Los Gato s in relation to the rest of California? Folks thinking of moving, or visiting here, are often a bit puzzled. Often telling them "it's a part of Silicon Valley" doesn't help much, either. Possibly more helpful: it's at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, about a half hour from the bay. From Los Gatos it's a half hour to the beach at Santa Cruz (south/south-west). It's 90 minutes to Carmel and Monterey (south), an hour to "the city". It's close to San Jose and often the townsfolk do get into the San Jose spirit especially if the Sharks are on the ice! Here's a link to the map of Los Gatos on Mapquest. Andhere's one from Google. <h2>Distances from San Jose to some Large Cities</h2> San Jose is the town's nearest big city (it has just shy of a million people and is more populous than San Francisco). Downtown San Jose is about 15 -20 minutes. San Jose is a sprawling city, though, and so...

How Often Should You
Get a Termite or Pest Inspection?
2007-10-19 16:27:00
Guest Post by Janet Thrasher Thrasher Termite & Pest Control Recently I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Janet Thrasher of Thrasher Termite & Pest Control in Los Gatos. She answered some common questions about her business, when and why someone might call a pest control company. Since there was so much material from that discussion, her insights will be shared in a series of posts here on "Live in Los Gatos". (Not a "paid post", but a genuine endorsement by me of this company, which I've worked with for almost 15 years.) mph: Janet, how often should homeowners consider having a pest inspection done at their house (and why)? Janet: About every 2-3 years is good for a house. Pest inspectors will go into places and look at things that homeowners often don't see. A good termite inspection will include the crawl space, for instance. Damage may be visible there or in the att...
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Sun Rising Over Belwood
2007-10-17 16:21:00
Late last month I did a post showcasing a couple of photos I took from my front yard in the Belwood neighborhood of Los Gatos that featured the moon seemingly slung between two palm trees. A couple of days ago, our daughter exclaimed that we needed to come to the window to see the morning sky. It was not quite 7am and it was positively ablaze. Same palm trees, totally different but equally amazing scene. These photos are not retouched except for one thing. My flash (accidentally) went off and caused the stop sign at the lower right side of one of the photos to be illuminated in an otherwise pitch black section of the image. I've cloned out the stop sign .... But the sky is untouched. Amazing and true!

Halloween Events and Haunted Houses
In and Near Los Gatos
2007-10-15 21:42:00
Are you getting "into the spirit" of Halloween now? Perhaps you're ready to make some plans to celebrate the spooky holiday? Here are a few events near to Los Gatos . You can find a really enormous list of pumpkin patches, haunted houses and other events at Bay Haunting.com too. It should be noted that unfortunately there will be no Halloween activities or event at Vasona or Oak Meadow Park this year. The Haunted Forest stopped happening in 2005. A local gent wanted to revive it this year but there were too many issues (like getting a bond) and not enough time to pull it off. Maybe next year? I hope so! October 20, 27 and 31st at the Winchester Mystery House: flashlight tours (these sell out in advance - reserve yours early) Oct 26 at Old Town, Los Gatos at 5:30pm: Howling Halloween. Bring your dog in costume! Benefits the police department's K-9 unit, of course! October 26 Los Gatos Public Library at 3:30pm: Halloween stories in ...
More About: Events , Houses , Ween

St. Mary's Country Fair in Los Gatos
2007-10-15 03:04:00
St. Mary's Country Fair in Los Gato s is an annual event that happens the second weekend of October. This year, my family and I visited it on Sunday morning. It was quieter than we've seen it on Friday nights or anytime on Saturday (esp Saturday nights, which tend to be packed). Really geared towards the littlest members of the community on Sundays, the fair nonetheless has something for everyone then too. It should be added, too, that while there was a magnificent car was benefit going on at Fisher Middle School for Sara Cole, the Country Fair had a booth to draw donations too. It looked like they were doing well . I took a lot of photos to share with you - a snapshot in time of a Sunday morning at the fair. I hope you will enjoy the slideshow! (And there are extra still photos to view as well.)
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Dio Deka: Great Greek Food in Los Gatos
2007-10-12 02:03:00
Today I celebrated a friend's birthday by taking her to lunch at Dio Deka, a fairly new Greek restaurant, in the Hotel Los Gatos . It was the first time I returned there since the restaurant had changed hands and gone Hellenic. What a nice improvement! The service, food, and ambiance were all top notch. A nicer setting would be hard to find. The Hotel Los Gatos is one of the most beautiful buildings in Los Gatos, a town already much loved for its scenic beauty. If you haven't seen it, it's almost directly across the street from Los Gatos High School so is in the heart of downtown. The architectural style is Spanish, but it reminds me of the elegant and inviting Santa Barbara Spanish style in particular. Inside, the hotel and restaurant are well appointed, comfortable, classy, and relaxing. Great ambiance. At Dio Deka, each employee we encountered was warm, pleasant and gracious. Service was never wanting. Their manners and protocol were ...
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Getting in the Halloween Spirit?
You can visit a REAL Haunted House!
2007-10-09 02:05:00
There will be no "haunted forest" at Oak Meadow Park this year, as you may have read recently in the news. But there are still plenty of spooky places to visit for Halloween . One of them is an old ranch house in San Jose's eastern foothills. It is notoriously haunted, and you can tour it by flashlight this Friday or Saturday evening. Do you dare?! For more information, visit The Haunted Real Estate Blog.
More About: House , Spirit , Visit

Los Gatos Real Estate Market:
September's Numbers are Now In
2007-10-08 06:27:00
August is often a quiet month for real estate here in Los Gatos (and Silicon Valley generally), but September and October are very often quite active. This year, August was far better than September. The "mortgage mess" seems to be at fault. I noticed mid-month that we weren't getting anything like normal activity. The numbers bear this out. A very clear way of measuring the market activity is by looking at the absorption rate or "months of inventory". This is a look at how long it would take for the current inventory to sell if no new homes came on the market, but sales continued at the same rate. As an example, imagine a bathtub full of water. If no new water is added to the tub, how long would it take for the water to drain out? That's how the absorption rate, or months of inventory, works. Tonight I ran the absorption rate going back ten years. (If you want that much data, email me - I'll send you my excel spreadsheet.) For the sak...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , Numbers

Racoons on the Roof
2007-10-05 16:12:00
Most mornings, the alarm goes off in our Los Gatos home at 6:30am. I find my way to the coffee pot, flip it on, and sit down at my desk to see what emails may have come in overnight. My home office looks out to a small front courtyard; ours is a pseudo-Spanish style home and the view to the street goes through a small covered archway that connects one part of the U-shaped house with another. As I sipped on my coffee and waited for the email to load today, a shadowy four-legged creature meandered across the archway roof. It was in siloutte - all shadows as the sun hadn't risen high enough to illuminate it. A cat? A squirrel? A possum? It sported a long snout and a fairly thick tail. Seemed to be a racoon. While I was still processing the possibilities, a second animal waddled right behind. They were so cute! I squealed with delight at these cartoonish animals so close. Jim and I hustled outside to catch a better view of them. The dog treate...
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Thinking of Selling Your Silicon Valley Home?
How Early Do You Prepare,
2007-10-03 18:42:00
If you are thinking of selling your home sometime in the next year or two, how soon should you really start to address this project? A real estate agent can have listing paperwork signed by a homeowner and put the house on the market (and on the MLS) within a couple of hours. But that's not usually the best way to proceed. It's best if you can "hit the ground running" so that the day your home goes onto the multiple listing service, everything is in place and you've arrived at that day in an unhurried way if at all possible. When your home goes "live" and "on the market, ideally the lockbox is on the house, the color flyers are ready, the disclosures are completed, the pre-sale inspections are done (and any corrections or improvements finished), the virtual tour online, etc. And perhaps most importantly, when your home is exposed to the pool of buyers, it needs to be staged - decluttered and spotless above all. So when to begin? (1) Declu...
More About: Selling , Home , Silicon Valley , Early , Thinking

Trees Near the Property Line:
Who Pays to Trim in California?
2007-10-01 13:56:00
If you live in Los Gatos, or anywhere along the Santa Cruz Mountains like Almaden, Saratoga or Los Altos, you probably live with trees very near your home, as the San Jose area values its "urban forest". And often enough, those trees arch over fences and property lines. Ever wonder how tree ownership works in regard to property lines? Well, last week I found out. I had a tree and property line question here in Silicon Valley so called the California Association of Realtors legal hotline and spoke to an attorney about it. (The lawyer referenced case law and sent me info on it: Miller and Starr §§ 14:15, 14:16.) If the tree trunk is located wholly on one property, the tree is "owned" by that property owner. Even if the branches go over the property line. If the trunk straddles the property line, you have a shared tree. What about trimming those branches that go over a neighbor's yard? First of all, this is the wrong time of year for tr...
More About: Property , Trees , Pays , Line

Fundraiser for Sara Cole,
Victim of DUI Driver in Los Gatos
2007-09-30 06:43:00
It was heart-wrenching to read the story: Sara Cole , single mother of four boys, was the victim of a hit and run drunk driver as she was standing near her vehicle along Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos a few weeks ago. The drunk driver was apprehended by a Park Ranger a couple of miles up the road. Sara's medical expenses are myriad. The community wants to help. A fundraising car wash will be held to assist her with medical expenses on Sat/Sun, Oct 13 - 14, 10am - 4pm at Fisher Middle School. The school is located at 19195 Fisher Avenue in Los Gatos. Please stop by! If you are unavailable those days but would like to help, a fund has been set up to help with the family's medical expenses. Donations can be mailed to the Sara Cole Fund, P.O. Box 320846, Los Gatos, CA 95032, or to get more information visit www.saracolefund.org.
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The Weather is Cooling
And So Is the Market
2007-09-28 19:43:00
In early October, we'll get a great breakdown of the September market from various sources. Retrospect is always 20/20, they say. But I'm impatient and want to know NOW what's happening. I'm seeing a slowdown in market areas that were previously fairly robust. One way of getting a pulse on the market is to check the amount of homes going under contract. So I did a quick sampling of condos, townhomes, and single family homes that sold (not closed, but went pending) in recent weeks. Here's what I found: Aug 30 - Sept 6 (Labor Day timeperiod) - 6 sales (starting inventory of 128) Sept 7 -13 17 sales (starting inventory of 120) Sept 14 - 20 16 sales (starting inventory of 115) Sept 21- 27 12 sales (starting inventory of 125) Inventory has stayed fairly consistent (bouncing around just a little) but sales have been dropping in the last three weeks. So yes, the market in Los Gatos is cooling overall. A neat place to see graphs and ch...
More About: Weather , Market , Cooling , The Mark

Charlie Parkhurst Wasn't The Only One!
2007-09-26 15:57:00
<h2><i>Los Gatos Had a Cross-Dressing Crook Captured in 1895</i></h2>Thanks to Google Alerts, "Live in Los Gatos" doesn't have an excuse for missing much that comes online about the Town. This morning I was directed to an article in the San Jose Mercury News that discussed a bit about life in the 1890s. A photo of women with enormously poofy sleeves was displayed, along with a discussion about their clothes generally. It wasn't all that interesting. But... At the bottom of this article is a section titled "112 Years Ago" and that's where the interesting stuff was buried. Apparently Char ley Parkhurst (who was a female dressed as a male her whole adult life), a stagecoach driver discussed in this blog previously in "Surprises of the WIld West", wasn't the only one back in the wild west days with a secret! Charley Parkhurst, though, was an honest worker, a teamster who couldn't have worked in her chosen profess...
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A Nearly Full Moon Over Belwood
2007-09-25 05:53:00
Today the typically pleasant, normal September weather returned to Los Gatos after several gloomy and unseasonably cold days took hold of us. It was too nice to stay indoors so in the late afternoon, I grabbed the leash and asked our aging black lab, Bella, if she wanted to go for a walk. She limps now, but moves fast at the sound of food or the promise of a walk. We were out the door quickly. After a stroll down Bacigalupi Drive, greeting neighbors and other dog walkers and pedestrians, we returned home to a really beautiful site. The moon was just about full and it was almost exactly between two palm trees straight ahead of me. Getting Bella inside, I grabbed my Canon Power Shot out of my car and brought it outside, only to find the rechargeable batteries had died. Got new ones off the charger and snapped a few shots. They didn't look good in the tiny little window of the camera and I was afraid that the impact would be lost. I took abo...
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Visit the Los Gatos Dog Park!
2007-09-23 00:22:00
Right at the border between Los Gato s and Campbell, the county has an off-leash dog park - did you know? It's located within the Los Gatos Creek County Park at 1250 Dell Avenue. It features one fenced area for large dogs and another for small dogs, plus pet-friendly water fountains and pooper scooper materials (which are actually available at ALL Los Gatos parks). Call (408) 356-2729 for more information.
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Visit the Los Gatos Dog Park!
2007-09-23 00:22:00
Right at the border between Los Gato s and Campbell, the county has an off-leash dog park - did you know? It's located within the Los Gatos Creek County Park at 1250 Dell Avenue. It features one fenced area for large dogs and another for small dogs, plus pet-friendly water fountains and pooper scooper materials (which are actually available at ALL Los Gatos parks). Call (408) 356-2729 for more information.
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Want a Cozy Cup of Coffee on a Cool Los Gatos Morning?
2007-09-20 15:53:00
My siblings and cousins in Massachusettes would chide me if I complained about our odd "winter storm" that blew into Silicon Valley yesterday, in the middle of what should be our "Indian summer". But it's a little cold here. It was 65 degrees in the Handy house this morning (and in the high forties outside). The heater had to go on or this blogger wasn't getting out of bed. The dust burned off and smelled the place up initially. After flipping the thermostat back onto "sensing mode", I flipped on the coffee. This time it's Peet's. But when that's gone I'll be dripping something from Burundi that my brother got while at a theological conference there a couple of weeks ago. In college and grad school especially, I spent a lot of time at coffeehouses. Some of my friends today really don't make coffee at home - they always go out for it. Several Realtor colleagues of mine bring along their laptop or tablet computers and socialize with the regulars while catch...
More About: Coffee , Cool , Cozy , Morning , Gatos

Want a Cozy Cup of Coffee on a Cool Los Gatos Morning?
2007-09-20 15:53:00
My siblings and cousins in Massachusettes would chide me if I complained about our odd "winter storm" that blew into Silicon Valley yesterday, in the middle of what should be our "Indian summer". But it's a little cold here. It was 65 degrees in the Handy house this morning (and in the high forties outside). The heater had to go on or this blogger wasn't getting out of bed. The dust burned off and smelled the place up initially. After flipping the thermostat back onto "sensing mode", I flipped on the coffee. This time it's Peet's. But when that's gone I'll be dripping something from Burundi that my brother got while at a theological conference there a couple of weeks ago. In college and grad school especially, I spent a lot of time at coffeehouses. Some of my friends today really don't make coffee at home - they always go out for it. Several Realtor colleagues of mine bring along their laptop or tablet computers and socialize with the ...
More About: Coffee , Cool , Cozy , Morning , Gatos

Remodel or Move?
2007-09-18 19:31:00
Remodeling can be minor or it can be complete, so much so that you really have to move out of your home to live in it. Ever wonder how you could figure out whether you should sell and move or stay and remodel? A neat website with tools to help you evaluate this specific choice is www.RemodelOrMove .com. Check it out!