Controlled burns are intended to reduce fire risk and provide some other benefits. (It is supposedly good for the habitat of the area, but I have a feeling that more than a few animals lost their lives in this burn.) But why do it now, when the rainy season is just around the corner?
I don't know the answer to that. I do know that it's a 3 day burn. The air is bad. I can't believe that this is allowed when a fireplace isn't. It's unfathomable to me that the air now isn't far worse than earlier in the week. Will they burn again tomorrow? It appears so.
The autumn real estate market has been chilly in places, particularly outside of the Bay Area. The falling leaves are accompanying falling prices in some regions.
Silicon Valley is full of micro climates, or micro markets, so it's hard to make a blanket statement about "the market". Some segments are red hot, and others are icy cool. Even within Los Gatos that's true. We've been experiencing the oddly "bifurcated market" for many months now.
What drives some segments into a sellers' market while others languish? Why do some homes get 5 - 10 offers, and others don't sell (or even get an offer) despite repeated efforts of seller and agents?
Usually, the leading indicator is (you can guess this) location. (And the main factor that plays into location is schools.) Other significant elements are condition, pricing, accessibility, and finally marketing.
When homes sell today with multiple offers, it's because all five of these important aspects are right on target. The homes in great condition, in a great location with the best schools, well marketed and with an aggressive price are selling right away and with several bidders.
What You Can Control, What You Can't in the Sale of a Home: Location, Accessibility, Marketing, Condition and Pricing
Neither owners nor agents control the location, but every other issue is in their combined control. Let's look at them.
Accessibility is key because if the home is difficult to see, folks won't bother. Sometimes they only have a little window of time, and if they find ithe property on the MLS on a Saturday morning, they may only have Saturday afternoon in which to take a walk through. Don't refuse a lockbox or require all showings to be "by appointment only", More qualified traffic means better odds that your home will sell faster and for a better price, whether it's in Saratoga, Los Gatos, San Jose, or anywhere! Making your home easy to view is the cheapest way of helping improve your odds of selling at a good price!
Marketing is what can help buyers to find your home and to see it in its best light. It's exposure via the web, the MLS, postcards, good flyers, open houses, networking, print ads, you name it. Some agents, though, ignore marketing! They are trained to only worry about price. It's true that at the right price, any home can sell in any market. But a good agent doesn't just want your home to sell, but to sell for the best price & terms in today's market. It is crucial to get the price right, but it's extremely important to also correctly address condition and marketing. Poor marketing is a lost opportunity and can cost you money.
A caveat: good marketing cannot sell a home with the wrong price or wrong condition. But for a home that is priced right and staged right, marketing can help sell homes for more (and in some cases create multiple offers instead of getting just one).
Condition is also key! Often a little improvement in the presentation of the home can significantly boost the sales price (fresh carpet and paint, neutralizing, decluttering, storing extra "stuff" are all usually good bets - remodeling a kitchen isn't). Buyers want an updated home that's tastefully done. When they see a home in original condition, or worse, it can be hard to see past it (and feels frighteningly expensive to update - it can scare them off). Agents with staging knowledge can be invaluable in helping you to "pick your battles" here.
Pricing is by far the most important element to consider here, and a too-high price is the main cause of homes not selling.
How does this happen?
One way is in the agent selection process. Mr and Mrs Seller interview 3 or 4 agents from 3 or 4 different companies and they hire the one who tells them the highest price. (It does happen, I guarantee you!) If several agents give you a price range that's fairly close and one is way higher, it doesn't mean that you should hire the agent with the extremely attractive price because he or she can get it for you. It probably means that the agent is just plain mistaken. Or, to sound cynical, it could be that the agent is trying to "buy the listing". (That is a term that means telling the seller a high price to get the listing. It is unethical and prohibited by the Realtor Code of Ethics.)
A better approach is to pick the agent and then work out the price together. Unsure on where to put the asking amount? If it's really tricky, hire an appraiser. It's worth it.
Sometimes the market changes for the worse as soon as your home goes on the market, and you're left not knowing what just hit you. This happened in September of 2001 after the attacks and it happened again this September, when the market in the west valley just about came to a standstill.
Whether the change is slow or sudden, it can be hard for sellers to believe that the home is no longer worth what it was a couple of weeks ago and they hold on to the higher price, stubbornly. This is a costly mistake, if understandable. In a buyers' market, in fact, most homes will never sell because the sellers are futilely holding on to a past memory of what the home used to be worth.
And finally, sometimes, price is the only remedy. Sometimes homes can't be fixed up, sometimes the hours have to be restrictive due to illness or something along those lines - these both hurt the selling price. But in that case, you can lower the offering amount to compensate and to attract a qualified buyer.
Los Gatos is mostly a "normal" or "level" market. Prices aren't really rising or falling in most of the town - but in some strata and areas things are moving one way or the other. In a declining market, it's extremely crucial to price your home lower than the most recenly closed sale. If you price it a little high to have "room to negotiate", you may find that you have no one with whom to negotiate!
In summary. . . Any home can sell in any market. Right now, despite the doom and gloom you are hearing or reading about, there are local homes selling quickly and with multiple offers. These are homes "without issues". They don't back to schools, stores, high voltage lines, freeways or busy roads. They have good schools. They enjoy total remodeling and are priced low to get able buyers attention.
Maybe your home isn't in the ideal location, with the best school. Maybe it's not full of granite and high end appliances. Maybe it's not going to get 9 offers in a week.
But your home, if you want to sell it, can probably be accessible, clean and well staged, nicely marketed, and priced right. Even in today's market, a home with one or more problems can sell within a month if the issues are addressed (by price if nothing else). The hardest one, of course, is price. It's hard to sell at one price when a home "used to be worth" or "I thought it was worth" something else. Think of it as being like a share of a company in the stock market: some days it's up, some days it's down. If a stock is trading at $100 per share one day, it may be more or less the next day. You can always sell that share - if you're willing to take the market value for it on that day. It's the same with your home! A good agent will help you maximize that price by educating you on accessibility and condition, and marketing like crazy. But they all fit together, hand in glove.
If you keep those five elements in mind, you can sell your home in any market. This is true in my Belwood neighborhood of Los Gatos, it's true in the Platinium Triangle of Saratoga, it's true in San Jose's Rosegarden area and all over California.
Call or email me if you'd like a personalized consultation on your home and the market in Santa Clara County today.
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993 Co-Author:
"Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
408 204-7673 (Cell) www.PopeHandy.com www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!
Please note that the original article below was posted for the 2007 season. Updates are on top!
2009: The 2009 Fantasy of Light is the 11th annual light show at Vasona Lake County Park!
When: The Fantasy of Lights runs from November 27 to December 31, 2009, 6 - 10pm nightly.
Where: Vasona Lake County Park, 333 Blossom Hill Road (near University Avenue), Los Gatos
How much: The cost varies. For the best deal, get early bird tickets! $10 discount admission per car through December 10th. $15 from Dec 11 - Dec 31st. For cars, minvans etc. holding 10-15 people, cost is $25. $50 for commercial busses.
For more info and some special holiday events at the Vasona light festival, click on the Park Here site (county park website).
Please come back and visit "Live in Los Gatos" for year round events, neighborhood information, photos around the town, interesting real estate market data, haunted places and even some historical tidbits.
2007:Just before Thanksgiving, the Festival of Lights reappeared at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. It is a light extravaganza in the holiday spirit!
Location: Vasona Lake County Park is located at 333 Blossom Hill Road, close to University Avenue.
Encouraged: Could you bring a can of food for the less fortunate? It's not required but appreciated. Donations go to Second Harvest Food Bank, a great way to assist others who need a hand!
If you live in Los Gatos, you know that the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus, a religious order of Catholic priests and brothers) call our town home too. Sacred Heart Center, the provincial headquarters and now also a retirement home for older members of the Society, sits up on St. Joseph Hill, a half mile from East Main Street. Driving through the pass to Santa Cruz, you can't miss the huge white edifice. This place was once a novitiate, where young men entering the order went to get their first training. Two of my uncles did, too.
The winery there used to make sacramental wine and had the Novitiate Winery label. That chapter ended in 1986. Now the old vineyards are gone, most of the land has gone to public useage (open space and hiking trails) and the historic winery is rented out to Testarossa (and remains available for tasting and fabulous parties).
So whether you have ties to the Jesuits or just like good wine, you probably have had an occassion to go up the hill and have seen the vineyards in days gone by and enjoyed the view today.
But historically it's interesting too, on several counts. Commonweal Magazine's blog today mentions Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ (a Jesuit), who lived in Los Gatos for a time after fleeing religious persecution in Mexico while studying for the priesthood. Eventually he made his way home, to Mexico, and after serving the people in secret for a couple of years, was caught and martyred for his faith. His death happened 80 years ago today.
It seems hard to imagine that only 80 years ago, someone could be executed by a government for simply saying Mass, hearing a confession, or anointing the dying. But when you look around our world today, it's not hard to see that religious persecution is still happening in other parts of the globe. Religious wars continue, as does the persecution of religious folks of various faith communities by some governments or other powerful or political bodies.
Fr. Miguel Pro, SJ, called "Blessed" by Pope John Paul II, a one-time resident of Los Gatos, came here to flee religious persecution while he studied for the priesthood. At close to the same time, Los Gatos was also a place of respite for folks suffering from Tuberculosis, alcoholism, or other maladies. (Others came here simply to escape the summer fog of San Francisco.) Today, the hills over Los Gatos house religious centers of all kinds, retreat houses and more. People continue to make their way here, whether to escape something bad or to spend a little time in prayer or in overdue rest and relaxation.
Would that the era of religious persecution of faith - any and all faiths - could be over forever. Our local tie, Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ, is a reminder that we still have far to go on this front.
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If you'd like more information on Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ, there's a book available, written by hagiographer Ann Ball, entitled simply Blessed Miguel Pro. It can be purchased online very inexpensively.
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!
What do you do for fun on a perfect, sunny California Saturday in November?
Ten of us agents from Intero in Los Gatos 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 Gatos was hosted by Tracy Pina, Reiko Araki, Gabe Reyes, Carol DeConte, Olivia Gray (and partner Lilia Chavez, who was there in spirit), Mary Pope-Handy, Angela Boles-King, Bob Kaufman, Ed Bangle and Maureen Bowers. Many thanks to Sheri Wolfgram for her help with this event!
United Shredding did a fantastic job. The company is located in San Jose and can be reached at 408 559-4811. (Not a paid blog post, but just a good experience to share with my readers.)
The Los Gatos 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.
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, SRES, E-PRO
Luxor Real Estate Group
Mailing Address for Mary: PO Box 440 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0440
877 397-5391 (office/toll-free)
Accessibility is key because if the home is difficult to see, folks won't bother. Sometimes they only have a little window of time, and if they find ithe property on the MLS on a Saturday morning, they may only have Saturday afternoon in which to take a walk through. Don't refuse a lockbox or require all showings to be "by appointment only", More qualified traffic means better odds that your home will sell faster and for a better price, whether it's in Saratoga, Los Gatos, San Jose, or anywhere! Making your home easy to view is the cheapest way of helping improve your odds of selling at a good price!
Pricing is by far the most important element to consider here, and a too-high price is the main cause of homes not selling.
Whether the change is slow or sudden, it can be hard for sellers to believe that the home is no longer worth what it was a couple of weeks ago and they hold on to the higher price, stubbornly. This is a costly mistake, if understandable. In a buyers' market, in fact, most homes will never sell because the sellers are futilely holding on to a past memory of what the home used to be worth.
But your home, if you want to sell it, can probably be accessible, clean and well staged, nicely marketed, and priced right. Even in today's market, a home with one or more problems can sell within a month if the issues are addressed (by price if nothing else). The hardest one, of course, is price. It's hard to sell at one price when a home "used to be worth" or "I thought it was worth" something else. Think of it as being like a share of a company in the stock market: some days it's up, some days it's down. If a stock is trading at $100 per share one day, it may be more or less the next day. You can always sell that share - if you're willing to take the market value for it on that day. It's the same with your home! A good agent will help you maximize that price by educating you on accessibility and condition, and marketing like crazy. But they all fit together, hand in glove.
When: The Fantasy of Lights runs from November 27 to December 31, 2009, 6 - 10pm nightly. .jpg)
Just before Thanksgiving, the Festival of Lights reappeared at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. It is a light extravaganza in the holiday spirit!
If you live in Los Gatos, you know that the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus, a religious order of Catholic priests and brothers) call our town home too. 
The winery there used to make sacramental wine and had 
Fr. Miguel Pro, SJ.jpg)
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