silicon valley: Gilroy Garlic Festival Weekend - 07/26/14 07:40 AM
The Gilroy Garlic Festival is happening now, the weekend of July 25-27, 2014.  If you are in Santa Clara County or anywhere in Silicon Valley, it is a worthwhile trip to "south county" for this amazing festival.  It's a little warmer in Gilroy  than in most of the San Francisco Bay Area, so pack extra water, hats with wide brims, light clothing and comfy walking shoes or better sandles.  
 
Never been?  Gilroy rightly claims to be "The Garlic Capital of the World".  And this time of year, you actually can smell it before you see it.   The Garlic … (2 comments)

silicon valley: FHA Home Buyer Woes - 01/18/13 05:17 AM
Being an FHA home buyer in Silicon Valley is a challenge right now, especially if you want what everyone else wants: a nicely updated and remodeled home in a good area with no "issues". (Issues meaning things like high voltage lines, busy roads, flood plains, or being too close to stores or spots not everyone wants to be near.)
How many FHA buyers are successful in purchasing a house right now? The percentages are very small. Just now I ran the MLS for sales of single family homes (houses and duet homes) in San Jose over the last 30 days. Here … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Should you sell your home during the holidays? - 11/20/12 09:28 AM
Should you market your home for sale through the holidays? It's now early November, and if your property has been listed for sale but not gotten an acceptable purchase offer, you may be thinking of taking your house or condo off the market until sometime in the new year. Or you may be ready to sell but thinking that holding out until the new year will benefit you more. Is that a good idea? Below, please find some considerations for you as you decide what to do.
Pricing: will the home sell for more now, or in the new year or … (2 comments)

silicon valley: Silicon Valley Home Buyers: Discover Any Property's "School of Attendance" and API Scores with SchoolAndHousing.com - 02/07/12 01:55 PM
Home buyers in Silicon Valley often shop not just for a nice home in a nice area, but for schools as well.  Sometimes buyer clients tell me the API scores that they want to enjoy with the local schools.  Until recently, this was very challenging to research.Now, however, some very bright minds put together a website that enables consumers to search for homes by API scores (academic performance index, scale of 1 - 1000 with larger numbers being better and 800 being the county's target for success): SchoolAndHousing.com. Brilliant!  Adding to that, it's free and very intuitive!  Not only that, consumers … (0 comments)

silicon valley: An Introduction to Monte Sereno, California - Smallest City in Silicon Valley - 04/27/11 05:58 PM
Monte Sereno, California- the small neighbor next to Los Gatos in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley)
Nestled against the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west side of Santa Clara County (about an hour south of San Francisco and a few minutes from San Jose), Monte Sereno is a scenic, small city which is semi-rural with neither sidewalks nor street lights. It has, in fact, the smallest population of the 15 cities within Santa Clara  County, having just about 4000 residents in about 1.6 square miles. There are no businesses in town, just residences, the city office and post … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Cambrian Gardens Neighborhood - Part of San Jose's Cambrian Area - 04/07/11 04:57 PM
Close to the Los Gatos border sits one of the more affordable Cambrian neighborhoods in San Jose and the west valley generally. It enjoys lovely views of the hills, great public schools with high API scores, a neighborhood private school to boot, and convenient access to freeways and stores. There’s no sign, marker or gateway to the area, so many of its residents are probably unaware that the official name to it is Cambrian Gardens.
This neighborhood provides an incredible “bang for the buck” for home buyers wanting excellent schools and not wanting to pay luxury home pricing. In many ways, … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Cambrian Area of San Jose: Real Estate, Neighborhoods, and Homes for Sale - 10/02/10 05:28 AM
The Cambrian (or Cambrian Park) area of San Jose is a suburban, residential community of about 75,000 to 80,000 people.  In typical Silicon Valley fashion, it's a district with predominently ranch style tract homes.  It's immensely popular, though not for its architecture!  Instead, the appeal is tremendous affordability and highly esteemed schools.  Additionally, Cambrian is located close to Los Gatos and Campbell, both "destination" areas for their downtown stretches.Please read more about this area, what homes cost and more on my Valley of Hearts Delight blog:Cambrian Park: Good Schools, Low Crime, Close to Los Gatos and Campbell
… (0 comments)

silicon valley: Silicon Valley Real Estate Market Update for March 2009 - 03/06/09 04:32 PM
How's the Silicon Valley real estate market?
The market is heating up!  Anecdotally, my phone is ringing off the hook and my email is jammed with people wanting to discuss home buying and home selling in the San Jose area.I have talked a few sellers out of selling - it's important to be extremely realistic right now since the odds are against selling.
What about pricing for Santa Clara County homes that do sell?  Are sales improving? Yes! It's better.
Countywide, home sales increased, year-over-year, by a whopping 30.3% in February. The vast majority of sales are in the lower price … (4 comments)

silicon valley: Selling a home in the west valley? What are the odds your home might sell? - 02/05/09 05:10 AM
The local paper has been running stories about the real estate market in Santa Clara County and the good news is that many of the bank owned, foreclosed homes are getting bought up. Throughout the Silicon Valley area, about one home in four is selling. Real estate is local, though. . .much more local that countywide. What is happening in Berryessa or Blossom Valley is interesting, and may have an impact on the local economy and you. But if you live in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno or Almaden Valley, what's happening elsewhere may have little to do with home sales … (2 comments)

silicon valley: What is My San Jose Home Worth in Today's Market? Free Online CMA and Home Valuations Here! - 12/22/08 02:58 AM
With the real estate market in a bad slump, many San Jose homeowners are wondering what their home is now worth. Are you one of them?I will tell you where to get no-cost, no-obligation, online and automatic valuations of your San Jose house, condo or townhouse, several without registering anywhere. 
But there's one caveat: the more automatic these services are, the less likely they are to be accurate. It will be more precise if a human being who's a real estate professional active in your area runs the numbers. And it will be more accurate still if an experienced Realtor or appraiser visits … (2 comments)

silicon valley: If It's Frosty Outside, Is Your Roof White? - 12/14/08 09:16 AM
In subtropical Silicon Valley, we think it's really cold when the day's high temps are only in the 40s. This morning started off quite chilly here, with frost gracing cars and houses all along my Los Gatos street. Rain was forecast so we were watching the nearby hills to see if they would get snow too.When I bundled up to grab the morning paper, I noticed that many of my neighbors' homes had frost on them - but to varying degrees. We're in a time when folks are more conscious about saving energy and also saving a buck, but apparently many … (1 comments)

silicon valley: Should You Sell Your Home in Silicon Valley Now, or Wait Until Spring? - 11/17/08 08:10 AM
Most autumns, I hear the same question from sellers: should I list my home now, or wait until spring? When is the right time to sell a home in Silicon Valley? This month is no different from last November in that regard.Timing the real estate market is as challenging as timing the stock market. When is it low enough to buy? When is it high enough to sell? I blogged about this today on another site and invite you to continue reading there:When Is The Best Time To Sell a Silicon Valley Home?
         
    
… (0 comments)

silicon valley: Want to Sell Your Silicon Valley Home? Here are Some Tips to Get You Started! - 11/14/08 12:10 PM
Selling your home in a sellers' market can be almost euphoric. Selling your home in a buyers' market can be very difficult and discouraging.
In Silicon Valley, as in much of the country, most homes aren't selling. They sit on the market but either get low offers or no offers. In the town of Los Gatos, for every 10 homes on the market, only 1 is selling. What does it take to be in the small minority of sellers whose homes do sell? Today at my Live in Los Gatos blog, that question is addressed: What Does It Take To Sell … (1 comments)

silicon valley: Halloween Events in Almaden, Los Gatos & Around Silicon Valley - 10/24/08 01:07 PM
It's not too late to get into the "spirit" of Halloween! Our subtropical, northern California weather could not be nicer and there are lots of reasons to get out and enjoy the spookiest of seasons!For a good list of fun things to do in Silicon Valley, please visit my Valley of Hearts Delight blog post: Halloween Events in Silicon Valley.
And if you enjoy real ghost stories, please stop by my Haunted Real Estate blog! There you'll find stories of things that go bump in the night - many of them from real estate professionals who report their hair-raising events in the … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Historic Topographical Maps in Silicon Valley Give Interesting Glimpse Into The Past - 10/18/08 03:45 PM
Recently I've been spending some time viewing old historic topographical maps of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) that were created by the USGS more than 100 years ago. I've been viewing the areas near Los Gatos, Cambrian Park and Almaden in one map especially, as well as the Palo Alto, Cuertino and Saratoga Map, and It is really interesting to see these for a number of reasons.

First, with these old maps, apparently each "dot" represents a house. Amazing to think how uncongested an area this was 100 years ago!  Silicon Valley real estate has changed tremendously since then. Second, … (0 comments)

silicon valley: How's the Real Estate Market in San Jose's Almaden Valley Area? - 10/11/08 03:17 PM
How's the market?  In the Almaden Valley area of San Jose, there are mixed signs. Let's have a look at the absorption rate to begin our analysis of the San Jose real estate market in the Almaden Valley area (zip code 95120).
The absorption rate is the rate at which homes are selling. It factors in the current inventory vs the closed sales for any given period of time. It could be months, weeks, or even days of inventory. If no new homes were to come on the market and properties continued selling at the current rate, how long would it … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Downtown Los Gatos - Fun Event This Weekend - The St. Mary's Country Fair - 10/10/08 11:39 AM
The St. Mary's Country Fair in downtown Los Gatos is back for another great weekend - starting in just a few minutes and running through Sunday afternoon.
The fair includes carnival rides, arts & crafts, talent shows, raffles (a smart car is being raffled), food and drink as well as goodies to buy. Wine, beer and margaritas are available in the evenings.Tonight and tomorrow night there will be free live music and dancing (tonight it's the Joe Sharino Band and tomorrow evening it'll be The Cheeseballs) - no cover charge!
Sundays usually include pony rides and a petting zoo.
The food … (0 comments)

silicon valley: Why Choose to Live in Santa Clara, California? - 10/10/08 09:41 AM

Santa Clara is a higly desirable city within Santa Clara County, where the largest city is San Jose and the area is generally referred to as "Silicon Valley".
The city of Santa Clara is home to high tech and to history. The north side of Santa Clara is full of biotech and high tech companies as well as the Great America Theme Park (and possibly will some day also be the home of the 49ers football team). The oldest areas of Santa Clara include the El Camino Real (which connects the missions), lovely Victorian homes, an old Carmelite Monastary, Mission Santa … (1 comments)

silicon valley: How Long are Homes Staying on the Market in Los Gatos? - 10/03/08 02:37 PM
Sometimes we hear so much bad news about the real estate market that we are convinced that the end of the world is just around the corner. But is that the case? In parts of Silicon Valley, the real estate market is improving, and in other areas it's flat or worsening. Los Gatos was one of the last places to feel the impact of the current crisis, and right now, things seem to be worsening overall in my fair town. My sense, though, is that we are simply working through the shockwaves that didn't reach here as early as some other … (2 comments)

silicon valley: Los Gatos in Pictures: See Multiple Slideshows! - 08/30/08 11:02 AM
Los Gatos is a very picturesque town, both in terms of the natural beauty and the architecture. Located at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the town includes both hilly and forested areas as well as flat and more densely populated ones. Los Gatos is a gateway into San Jose and Silicon Valley and is a highly regarded place to live because of the low crime, great schools, community involvement, and great town life.
Take a peek into our town by enjoying some slideshows of beautiful Los Gatos.
… (2 comments)