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Live in Los Gatos!

Live in Los Gatos!
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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.
More About: Driver , Fundraiser

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...
More About: Charlie , The O

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...
More About: Full Moon , Moon , Full , Earl

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 ...
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 regulars while catch...
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!

What to Look for When Buying a Home
2007-09-16 05:28:00
What do saavy investors look for when buying a home? In a nutshell, they look for the "right things wrong". That is, there are things that will make an investment untenable, and other things that will make it attractive! The home must have these things: - a good floorplan - good structure (roof, plumbing, foundation, electrical) - good location To get it at a good price, the home probably should have these things: - been overpriced and on the market awhile - be structurally sound but ugly (wrong color carpet, paint) - need simple fixes (change countertops, paint cabinets, change lights, floorcovering/paint, and landscape) - be in an area with good appreciation (housing shortage) Often when Realtors go shopping for their own homes, they consider houses that have been on the market too long, that are really decent homes but simply ugly! It's easy to change paint and carpet, to add skylight...
More About: Buying , Home

Nostalgia in a Cinnamon Bun
2007-09-12 05:48:00
My kids attended Casa Maria Montessori (sadly, now closed) and St. Mary's Elementary School, both in Los Gatos. Many, many times I took them from school to the also-now-closed Good Earth Restaurant on North Santa Cruz Avenue to enjoy hot cocoa and oversized cinnamon buns. It's been years since that cheerful restaurant closed its doors, and my kids have not had a place in which to feast upon huge, locally baked cinnamon rolls since then. Until now. Thanks to Google Alerts, I see most articles and blog posts that come out with anything about our fair town (including some stupid stuff I could miss that actually has nothing to do with the town of Los Gatos). Recently the San Jose Mercury News did a piece on The Los Gatos Cafe Uptown and it mentioned the restaurant's yummy cinnamon buns. The Handy teens, aged 18 and 16, had this to say about the rolls after feasting on them last weekend: "I'm not sure if I was just hungry or they were i...
More About: Nostalgia , Cinnamon , Namo

Los Gatos Real Estate Market Update
2007-09-08 20:37:00
In contrast to much of Silicon Valley, the Los Gatos market is continuing to experience appreciation and is a fairly "balanced" market overall. I. Single Family Homes Compared to last year, August's closed sales of single family homes were smaller in number (off 6.5%) but up in price (median up 35.9%, average up 23.7%). Inventory is far lower than last year too - listings were down 26.4% from last year. The lower inventory is helping to keep this market balanced, as opposed to the buyers' market it is elsewhere. Compared to last month, August's closed sales of houses in Los Gatos were down 6.5%, listings were up 6.2%, and prices were up noticeably (4.8% for the median and 7.2% for the average). II. Condos and Townhomes The condo market is somewhat similar in The Cats, with the numbers of listings and sales falling, inventory shrinking, and prices rising. Compared to last year, the closed sales were down by a whopping 66.7%, l...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , Update

Los Gatos Real Estate Market Update
2007-09-08 20:37:00
In contrast to much of Silicon Valley, the Los Gatos market is continuing to experience appreciation and is a fairly "balanced" market overall. I. Single Family Homes Compared to last year, August's closed sales of single family homes were smaller in number (off 6.5%) but up in price (median up 35.9%, average up 23.7%). Inventory is far lower than last year too - listings were down 26.4% from last year. The lower inventory is helping to keep this market balanced, as opposed to the buyers' market it is elsewhere. Compared to last month, August's closed sales of houses in Los Gatos were down 6.5%, listings were up 6.2%, and prices were up noticeably (4.8% for the median and 7.2% for the average). II. Condos and Townhomes The condo market is somewhat similar in The Cats, with the numbers of listings and sales falling, inventory shrinking, and prices rising. Compared to last year, the closed sales were down by a whopping 66.7%, listings were down by 23.5%, and prices wer...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , Update

Smokey and Eerie Skies from The Lick Fire
2007-09-06 17:41:00
The fire in the eastern foothills of Santa Clara Valley began almost 3 days ago and was first spotted from the James Lick Observatory - so has been dubbed the Lick Fire . The first day and a half, an enormous plume of smoke could be seen rising in the hills by south San Jose and Morgan Hill from Henry Coe State Park. Smoke and haze hung over the eastern range; it was in contrast to the rest of the area between there and the coastal foothills, where the sky remained blue. But chiarascura didn't last. For a day now, the haze has thickened. Smoke is pouring in, and not much of it seems to be escaping. We can't see the plume anymore. We can't even see that bank of hills anymore. Too much smoke. This morning I drove my kids to school in and near downtown San Jose (Notre Dame High School and Bellarmine College Prep). Heading east on Blossom Hill Road, we were shocked at the eeriely discolored sun hanging low in the sky. It was a pinkish...
More About: Smokey , Erie

Want to Buy a Home? Where to Start?
2007-09-06 06:35:00
Each week, I get inquiries from people who are thinking of buying a home here in Los Gatos or in Saratoga, San Jose or elsewhere in Silicon Valley. Some of them are fairly local, and some are potentially relocating here. Sometimes they want to "start the process" by having me show them homes. That's usually not the best way to proceed. The trouble with starting by viewing homes is that such a buyer may or may not be looking in the right price range - potentially wasting the time of everyone involved (themselves, their agent, and the people who clean up and leave their home for an hour or two so they can see it). Open house viewing, of course, is another thing - it can be an easy way to zip in and out of houses with little inconvenience to anyone. It can provide a sense of neighborhoods and what homes are going for. But the home buyer could, of course, be looking at the wrong price range with this approach. Look too low, get discourged. Look too high...
More About: Home , Start

Want to Buy a Home? Where to Start?
2007-09-06 06:35:00
Each week, I get inquiries from people who are thinking of buying a home. Some of them are fairly local, and some are potentially relocating here. Sometimes they want to "start the process" by having me show them homes. That's usually not the best way to proceed. The trouble with starting by viewing homes is that such a buyer may or may not be looking in the right price range - potentially wasting the time of everyone involved (themselves, their agent, and the people who clean up and leave their home for an hour or two so they can see it). Open house viewing, of course, is another thing - it can be an easy way to zip in and out of homes with little inconvenience to anyone. It can provide a sense of neighborhoods and what homes are going for. But the home buyer could, of course, be looking at the wrong price range with this approach. Look too low, get discourged. Look too high, and when the price range is later reset to what is realistic, everything will look aw...
More About: Home , Start

The Spa of Los Gatos
2007-09-03 05:40:00
Los Gato s affords many nice places in which to be pampered. I can't say I've tried them all, but one I return to time and again is the Spa of Los Gatos. Yesterday I enjoyed an hourlong massage there (finally using a giftcard from Christmas!) and it occurred to me that I might want to say a good word about this haven for folks who are in need of some relaxation, as I have been. (This is not a paid blogpost and the folks there do not even know that I am writing this.) Located across from the post office, near the Town Park Plaza, the Spa of Los Gatos is easy to find and a relatively easy place in which to find a parking spot, too. The folks there ask patrons to arrive 15 minutes early - I suspect it helps to create a more relaxed beginning when we don't arrive full of adreneline for being late - but they do not take the time to make you wait in a long line. Each time I've been there, I'm quickly escorted in, given a locker and shown where to wait for the technician. The se...

Jazz on the Plazz<br>Enjoy Cool Tunes on a Hot Summer Night
2007-08-29 21:47:00
Two-time grammy winning Diane Schuur belts out the grand finale of Jazz on the Plazz tonight at the Los Gatos Town Park Plaza. Get there early with your cooler & lawn chair, as this immensely popular singer will fill the park to capacity and then some. The show runs from 6:30 - 8:30.
More About: Tunes , Summer , Cool , Enjoy

Music in the Park - Season Finale<br>with The Joe Sharino Band
2007-08-28 02:57:00
Sunday was the season's closing event for Music In The Park in Los Gatos, and the immensely popular Joe Sharino Band made for a great sendoff. Folks arrived early and danced lots. The weather could not have been nicer or the crowd happier. It was packed, but happy. Thank you, volunteers and sponsors! As with all the free concert series in town, Music in the Park is supported by sponsors and would never happen without a lot of volunteers. A special thanks to Valerie Hopkins, the Music in the Park Arts Commission Volunteer who does so much to make this event a huge success each year! This week, the sponsors were the Beck Family, the Community Hospital of Los Gatos, and Intero Real Estate Services in Los Gatos (eight agents or teams: Kate Adams, Diana Crawford, Wendy & Rick Ebster, Bob & Kelly Kaufman, Joette Schenck - who chaired our committee and did a fabulous job, Greg Simpson, Keith Walker & Mary Clark and yours truly, Mary Pope-Handy). Sev...
More About: Season , Finale

Determining Probable Market Value of a Property
2007-08-25 16:03:00
Thinking of selling your home? One of the first questions a potential home seller has is this: "what's my home worth?" Real estate professionals will establish the probable buyer value (do a market analysis) by comparing your home to others like it which have sold recently and perhaps also those which are currently under contract (sale pending). These similar homes are called comps (for comparable sale). They factor in market conditions as well (buyers market, sellers market, inventory shortage or excess). What is an ideal "comp"? It is a sold home that is: recent (within at least 6 months, but preferably 3, similar market conditions) nearby (same zip code/town, within a mile is best, within same complex or subdivision is ideal) similar type of location (interior lots vs one backing to a freeway, school, high voltage lines) like condition (similar amount of updating/remodeling) In a tract subdivision or condo complex with many recent sales, this can be e...
More About: Market , Property , Term , Prop , Pert

Crime in and near Los Gatos
2007-08-25 06:14:00
Los Gato s enjoys a tremendously low crime rate overall. Sometimes I chuckle to read The Weekly's blurb on the police reports. It usually includes a few drunk-in-publics, a DUI, theft out of an unlocked car, and a domestic dispute or two. Usually, crime in Los Gatos is very minor. It's not nice, it's disheartening, but it's normally very small. In the past, I have mulled over discussing some of the seedier things that happen in Los Gatos but didn't think there was anything to learn from the topic. It's obvious to me that drunk driving is wreckless and innately immoral, and I didn't think I had anything new to add to the topic. Los Gatos IS a safe place to live. Probably one of the safest. But that doesn't make The Cats immune, and it doesn't mean we should be so casual as to invite trouble. And I think the latter point is something that should be addressed as many of us are complacent as we relax in the safety of our town. Today is a case in point. Sadly, early ...
More About: Crime , Rime

Fogging for West Nile in Part of Los Gatos Tonight
2007-08-22 17:44:00
Mosquitoes infected with West Nile and birds dead from the virus have been found in the area where Los Gatos , Saratoga, Campbell and San Jose meet. The area will be fogged tonight. The program has been effective in other parts of the valley. (To see the boundaries, see the county's description here.) The chemicals are not supposed to be harmful to humans or pets and are said to dissipate with sunlight. But cautious folks may want to keep their windows closed between 11pm and 5am just the same, The county also suggests covering fish ponds, taking kids' toys inside, turning off air conditioning units during the fogging and staying indoors. The county has a wealth of information about the way in which it is addressing the eradication of West Nile online on its Vector Control page. Additionally, one can sign up for email alerts on the West Nile Virus at that page too.
More About: Tonight , Part

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