Market Conditions

How's the Market?

That's what everyone asks Realtors, all the time.

In Los Gatos, California, the market under $2 million is great. Fantastic. Outrageously good.

And that is also true for the neighboring communities of Saratoga, Campbell, Cambrian Park, and Almaden.  As long as a home is in good shape, priced appropriately (for location and condition), and marketed decently, it's selling fast - often in a week to ten days.

In EVERY market, even in the hottest markets, there are some homes that don't sell. Right now, there are only 91 homes available in "area 16" which is mostly Los Gatos addresses (though a few San Jose ones). There are 31 pendings, and 30 of these have sold since April first. Looking at those that do sell, the homes under a million generally seem to be selling within a week (if they are going to sell at all). The higher priced the home, the longer the days on market. Overall, it's about 2 months on the market if you include all price ranges.

In my own real estate practice, I sold two homes in the last week (one listing, one buyer sale), fielded multiple buyer calls, met with one new buyer couple and did two listing presentations (and talked to a whole lot of other folks about both buying and selling). If I were ONLY getting calls from buyers or ONLY getting calls from sellers, I would have a sense that the market were tilted. But in my experience, there's a lot of activity on all fronts. The price ranges in these clients ranged from entry level to move up (less than 1.5 mil.)

How's the market?  I would say "healthy". It's a good time to both buy and sell!

Photo Tour of Vasona and Oak Meadow:
Beautiful Parks at the Heart of Los Gatos

Yesterday I visited Vasona Lake County Park to see the nesting Great Blue Herons. While there, I took 54 photos of adjoining Oak Meadow and Vasona Parks. It's impossible to capture all of these two  parks in one quick slideshow, but I did attempt to do that with another one-minute Real Estate Show.

Mary Pope-Handy's Photo Tour: Vasona & Oak Meadow Parks

Mary's 60 second Photo-Tour of Los Gatos

Great Blue Herons in Los Gatos

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory hosted Great Blue Heron Day at Vasona today from 11am - 3pm. There are several types of herons but the Great Blues are huge and majestic looking (photo).  I had never seen a nest of them, nor young ones at all, so after a couple of hours working this morning, I headed over to the park to see what was going on with this event since I had the rest of the day off.

The afternoon was warm but breezy. Volunteers from SFBBO were there with about a dozen telescopes set up at different heights (for all kinds of people) and pointed them at a few different trees with nests - it was actually a colony of them, all in close proximity to one another.  I hadn't known what to expect so optimistically brought my digital camera along. No luck with getting the birds' photos that way - too far away, too high in the trees. But with the pre-aimed telescopes, I had a fantastic view of them. 

The adults are lovely. The chicks are...well...interesting. Young great blue herons seem to do something with their necks and the skin flaps in and out frantically. I didn't ask about it but my best guess is that they were screaming for food (too far away to hear).

What surprised me about the nests, though, is that the herons make their home in eucalyptus trees, which aren't native to the area. But, as one volunteer pointed out, the trees have been here a long time - the birds have accepted them.

Additionally, educational information abounded, both pertaining to these particular birds and about the organization and locations to go birding around the bay. The volunteers were friendly and knowlegeable.  There was no charge for using the telescopes or for the printed material.  So my only cost was the $5 parking fee at the gate.

I am sure if it weren't for this organization and the volunteers who took their day off to be there, set up the material, and talk to visitors, I would not have seen the colony of nests at Vasona. I'm sure I wouldn't have - I didn't even know they were there!  So thank you, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.  This was a great event and I'm thankful you were there today.

Before leaving, I took a whole lot of photos in Vasona and Oak Meadow, which I will share in the coming days.  When I got to the parking lot, I put the camera away, thinking I was done. But I saw one more pic that I had to take, as it put a smile on my face. Enjoy.

Beware of the...

Saw this while taking pictures the other day in East Los Gatos. Thought it was worth sharing!

Where do you get your news about Los Gatos?

The researcher has become the researched.  Recently The Los Gatos Observer, a site I use for catching up on the town's news and events, did a nice review of my writings about Los Gatos on my websites and in this blog.   You can read Alastair Dallas's glowing piece here: Los Gatos Realtor Never Sleeps.  Friends and colleagues lauded his post, and suggestions came in about how I might get more rest. Perhaps he just knew, the day it was being released, what kind of a week I was about to have? (Several very long days, and, well, not much sleep. Talk about good reporting!)

So, Los Gatos, where do you get your news and information?  How do you stay current on the town's doings?   Here are some of my best online sources for Los Gatos News, Events, and History:

News
Los Gatos Observer: http://www.LosGatosObserver.com
Los Gatos Daily News: http://www.losgatosdailynews.com
Los Gatos Weekly Times: http://www.community-newspapers.com/los_gatos/
San Jose Mercury News: http://www.MercuryNews.com

Events
Town Website: http://www.town.los-gatos.ca.us/index.asp
Chamber of Commerce: http://www.losgatosweb.com/

History
Los Gatos.com: http://www.LosGatos.com
Los Gatos Weekly Times: http://www.community-newspapers.com/los_gatos/

Am I missing one? Let me know and I'll add it!

Arbor Day

Today is Arbor Day. I realize that this may sound like a real yawner at first, but consider how passionate Los Gatans are about their trees, about the history we have with them here and throughout the Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley) area, and how important an "urban forest" is in our region.  About the only trees you can be sure you can cut down are the non-indigenous eucalyptus trees.

At noon today, Friday April 27th, a tree planting ceremony and award from Tree City USA will occur at the Oak Hill playlot at 118 Oak Park Drive. Need more info? Call (408) 399-5776.

Where to find a good salad in Los Gatos?

Lately I've had a lot of appointments, long work days, and not much rest. I haven't had a day off in almost three weeks. These are the times when I tend to sleep too little, exercize not enough and eat more than I'd care to admit. 

It's time for salad!  (Oh, and yes, a day off!!)  Yesterday I took three gals who work at my office, Intero, to lunch - it was Administrative Assistant Day (aka Secretary's Day). Most of us had lettuce in one form or another as the main course. And I got some input from them on other on great places for the same, so I want to share those with you.

Steamer's Grillhouse is a place where I like to take people for a drink, but I'm told their mixed green salad and house dressing is incredibly good too. Greens come with entertainment at Campo di Bocce as you can play or watch folks doing Bocce Ball (Italian Lawn Bowling - only no lawn here, it's nicely paved courts, indoors and outdoors). Good, classy salads can also be had at Viva, Crimson, The Wine Cellar, California Cafe, and Tapestry. Today I enjoyed a delicious BBQ Chicken Salad at the Los Gatos Brewing Company. Yum.

If you'd like something a little different, my absolute favorite place for Chinese Chicken Salad is Jasmine Chinese Cuisine. Or if you're hunkering for Mexican, you'll find great food at Andale's and also Pedro's.

Eating lunch at your desk, trying to miss the keyboard? Been there, made a mess of that. An alternative is the salad-bar-pay-and-go approach. Whole Foods has a really good salad bar - but it's not what you could call a bargain price. (And the ambiance for eating it there is seriously lacking.) But the selection is really good, so I have to admit I usually get 2-3 of my lunches there each month, despite the pricing, grumble grumble.

There are a bunch of places I haven't tried yet, some just aren't opened for lunch and some I simply haven't gotten around to visiting for the greens. So this list may not be complete.  Got a place you think I should suggest? Send it along and I'll amend this post!  There are other restaurants that I know serve great food, but I'm just not sure about their salads - they include I Gatti (can't find a website), Valeriano's, and a few others.

As for those others?   Perhaps it's time to just make a reservation and find out!