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February 2008
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.jpg) Ever eat the fruit from a cactus bush? If you've tried prickly pear, then you have!
Prickly pear used to be extremely widespread in the "wild west" and is still commonly found in the western U.S. today. In the Belwood area of Los Gatos, you can find it in at least three places: along Harwood Road, on Bacigalupi Drive and at Westhill and Belgatos Roads.
The fruit makes a nice jelly or can be eaten raw.
It's more than just a hearty fruit on a formidable looking plant, though. Back in the days of settlers, this cactus had an extremely important use, it kept the bears out. It grows into something of a tall, thick wall and develops large, strong, sharp needles. You'd think twice before getting too close to it. So did the grizzlies.
So the settlers grew prickly pear around the perimeter of their homes like a tall fence or wall, and the cabins were much better fortified against hungry intruders with sharp teeth and claws. All the better that each year, the fruit would ripen and could be consumed or preserved too!
Next time you see this local cactus, remember the wild west, imagine how important it would be to you and be glad that today, we think of this plant for food and landscaping only and not for home protection.
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 Want to dine out in Silicon Valley? There are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, too many to list, really - most in downtown Los Gatos, but Crimson and Viva over on "The Boulevard". There are a few places on our list of "want to try" but haven't gotten to yet, including Forbes Mill Steakhouse, Manresa and Restaurant James Randall.
We happen to live on the east end of town and some of the local haunts we enjoy include Los Gatos Pizza and the Tea Garden Chinese Kitchen (really for take-out, both are at Harwood and Blossom Hill Roads in east Los Gatos). Tonight, Jim wanted to take me out for supper since I'd worked many many hours today (showing a lot of short sales). By the time I got in from work, it was too late to make reservations for a place in downtown L.G., so we decided to dine at Gallo's at the Walgreen's Shopping Center at Blossom Hill and Harwood (14180 Blossom Hill Rd), which is close to where we live in Belwood. We both love Italian food, and sometimes there's a lot to be said for simiplicity: show up and eat rather than plan it all out ahead of time.
We arrived at around 7:15 or 7:30 and were seated immediately. The booths are comfy and it's a place without airs. Half the patrons seemed to be wearing sweat shirts - so the environment would have to be called casual, though not loud or overly bright. Our waiter was fairly attentive, though he never came back to ask if everything was ok.
But how was the food? A bit salty. Jim ordered the calamari dinner and it was fine. I ordered a dish called Chicken Oscar that was advertised as being chicken with asparagus and crab.
Let me tell you, that crab was no crab.
It was so clearly NOT crab that (to Jim's embarassment) I asked our young waiter if it was "fake crab" (the texture and flavor was not like the real thing). "What is fake crab?" he replied. We explained that it's usually pollack, or another cheap fish, infused with crab flavoring. He'd never heard of it!
A few minutes later, he returned and confessed that the owner and chef admitted that the dish really had "mostly fake crab" and said something about veal. Veal instead of chicken? I don't even want to ask - I do not order veal due to the way the animals area treated! (And apologetically, he said that they would be changing their menu soon - as if the age of the menu had anything to do with the fact that it misrepresented what was served.)
Does this remind you of Bella Mia in downtown San Jose? If not, it should. That's the restaurant that advertised veal dishes but in fact was serving pork - to the horror of many patrons who abstain from pork.
As for our neighborhood eatery, Gallo's, I'm disappointed. We have been there every so often and usually found it too expenive for what we got, but never before thought we ordered something that we did not get. But tonight, that's what happened. I ordered a chicken and crab dish and got chicken and imitation crab. And something about veal. AAUGH. What's up with that???
I was not just disappointed, I was angry.
We have been there many times because it's so very close and convenient. But being lied to on the menu was the last straw. I do not intend to go back. Goodness knows, there are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, and many of them serve Italian food. But I would not endorse Gallo's as one of them.
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A few days ago, I did a post about the biggest, most common mistakes sellers make that cause their homes to not sell. The # 1 error is overpricing, and often that's connected with hiring an agent who tells you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear (or sometimes it's the agent not understanding the market and accidentally misguiding the owner).
Are prices rising or falling in Los Gatos? Both! It depends on what part of town, what price point, what school district, you are considering. We don't have just "one market". It is imperative to understand the micro-markets to get the pricing right.
So let's look at "the market" and "the markets". Let's have a look at the information that homeowners are using to determine how to price their Los Gatos (or Saratoga, or San Jose) home. Below, see a general view of the "Los Gatos Real Estate Market" for single family homes (very broad, including two zip codes and even more school districts). This is relating to list price, not sold prices.
Would this help you to understand pricing trends? To a degree, yes it would.
But it would also add a lot of insight to see how the market is performing within zip codes:
As you can see, there is a vast difference in performance between the town as a whole and the 95032 zip code.
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What is going on here? Clearly, the 95030 part of town shows rising list prices, while offered amounts in 95032 have been falling. The zip codes are a little different demographically, with 95030 being more expensive and being all within the prized Los Gatos School District. Some of 95032 is in that same district, but some is assigned to the Union School District or the Moreland School District. (Unfortunately my data is not available by schools.)
Another point to consider is the pricing range. Here's a view of Los Gatos single family homes by listed price quartiles:
The town overall appears to be "flat". But is the market really flat?
And let's see again the quartiles, but this time broken out by zip code:
In 95032 you see a distinct slide in the 2 middle percentiles especially, but also in the lowest range of homes.
Now let's see how things look in 95030:
In contrast, pricing are rising across the board in the 95030 area. The highest cost homes have suffered the most volatility in the market.
For months, we've heard that we have a "bifurcated market" here in Silicon Valley. We know that homes in east San Jose, south San Jose, and south county are under a huge oppression of short sales and foreclosures. Prices have fallen dramatically. At the same time, homes in Palo Alto and areas closest to it are experiencing a strong sellers market. Los Gatos does not have a ton of short sales or foreclosures, but it does have both a buyers market and a sellers market all at the same time.
The above chart looks like there isn't much movement, just a slow and gradual upward push...but have a peek along the quartile lines and you'll see it's not really flat. Here's a view of the 1st quartile of each zip code over the last year (I'm not going to run all 4 here, contact me if you want more info about a different price point):
and ...
If a home is "in the schools" and has no issues (like high voltage lines, train tracks, busy road, or a disfunctional floorplan), and if it's priced between one and two and a half million and is priced appropriately, marketed well etc, there's a good chance it's going to receive multiple offers.
If a home is NOT in the Los Gatos School District, prices are falling and buyers are probably waiting rather than buying in most neighborhoods.
To complicate matters, we have very few solds to use as comparable properties. If agents and sellers are using "comps" from 6 or 9 months ago (when the last similar home sold), they might be too low in 95030 and too high in 95032 (mostly along school lines, in my experience). It is imperative to adjust for market conditions. For example, if a home was worth $1,500,000 last March (since the charts begin there), it has possibly swung up or down in value by $100,000 to $200,000 depending on the area of town.
Warning: if you are in an area where prices are falling and you list your home too high, you may experience the unpleasant phenomena of "chasing the market down". A Realtor friend of mine from Long Beach, Laurie Manny, did a post on this topic that I highly recommend: "Chasing the Market Down - Are You Guilty?"
What is the market in your area of town doing? I would welcome feedback. Are homes selling, and if so, are they going fast? Are they "just sitting" and taking price reductions? What do you see happening in your area, with your type of property? Feedback is posted immediately - please chime in!
(Coming soon - a similar post on condos and townhomes in Los Gatos.)
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.jpg) Today I visited Affordable Treasures in Los Gatos to pick up a few goodies for Valentine's Day. (I have teens. They still like candy!) Not suprisingly, the place was packed!
Not heard of it? Affordable Treasures is a "mainstay" in Los Gatos!
If you have never been to Affordable Treasures, let me tell you, it is aptly named. It is the ideal place to purchase party favors, seasonal decorations, and inexpensive trinkets. Whether you need a little something for Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Hanukkah,Christmas, New Years (or probably even Groundhog's Day), it's there. If you're filling a pinata for a birthday or goodie bags for kids, it's a great place to see things that are truly affordable and in non-Costco sizes. (And no, this is not a paid endorsement. They have no idea that I'm doing this post.)
.jpg) Affordable Treasures is located at 15795 Los Gatos Boulevard and you can find them on the web at AffordableTreasures.com.
Another surprisingly reasonable place right in town for this and other things is Walgreens. Here's a secret: your friends who visit may want to take away a tshirt that says Los Gatos on it. Take them to Walgreens. IF the tshirts are on display, you will find the price to be incredibly low. But let's get back on topic: this is another store (OK, two in town, one in downtown at N. Santa Cruz and Highway 9 and the other at Blossom Hill Road and Harwood Roads) with great Valentine's goodies at a great price. Need a card? Just do it!
So this is the stuff you get ahead of time, the cards, the decor, the little not-too-impressive candies (hey, my kids still like the heart candies with the words on them!).
What about really impressing someone for Valentine's Day?
I'm at the point in my life where I don't care about going out for dinner (or getting flowers) on February 14th. The nice things that happen day to day are more appreciated to me than that. Even so, sometimes it's nice to celebrate a holiday like this is an extra nice way.
So here are a few ideas:
 Los Gatos is filled with beautiful parks, and this week the weather has been in the low 70s. Suggestion # 1 for a romantic interlude in Los Gatos for Valentine's Day would be to get a simple assortment of cheeses, crackers, grapes and wine and head to your favorite park, whether it's Vasona or Belgatos or anything else.
Another nice place to "just be" is the pedestrian bridge between Old Town and Forbes Mill. There is something about being still on this little bridge with the world passing by underneath that's very special.
Need to do the official Valentine's meal out? Los Gatos is oozing with great restaurants. Some of my favorites include I Gatti, Tapestry, Viva, Crimson and Trevese, There are also tons of great places nearby. (Last night I was in San Francisco with a bunch of blogger friends and we dined at a fantastic place called Cafe Tiramisu. The ambiance, food, and service were all spectacular, and a wonderful Sicilian waiter humored me with a conversation in Italian to boot. If I had 4 thumbs, I'd give it four thumbs up!)
Need flowers? Bunches in downtown is very nice. I hate to say something negative, but do NOT buy them at Safeway. I've had terrible luck with the flowers not lasting from there. Better with those from Lunardi's. But do yourself a favor and visit a proper flower shop if you're going to do it.
Need chocolate? I love Chocolate Dream Box, located near Lunardi's at King's Court Shopping Center (yes, it used to be downtown on N. Santa Cruz Avenue). Another good option is Fleur de Cocao, which is downtown.
Need attention, ladies? Romantiques on University Avenue near Old Town, Los Gatos, is worth a visit! Beautiful silk goodies that you are NOT going to find in a chain store.
Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine's Day, no matter where or how you celebrate it!
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What are the odds that a home in Silicon Valley
will sell right now?
 Most of the homes for sale in Los Gatos, San Jose, or anywhere in Silicon Valley are not going to sell this month. In Los Gatos, there's about a 20% chance than any given home will sell. In San Jose generally, it's a lot worse than that - it's about a 13% chance that a home will sell. Here's a quick look at the numbers for these two areas of Santa Clara County:
Los Gatos Single Family Homes (95030, 95032 zip codes)
Active Listings (For Sale) = 118
Pending Sales (Under Contract) = 23
Closed in Last Month = 18
Months of inventory = 6.5
San Jose Single Family Homes (all areas)
Active Listings (For Sale) = 2921
Pending Sales (Under Contract) = 405
Closed in Last Month = 196
Months of inventory = 14.9
The months of inventory, or absorption rate, is a simple calculation of the number of active listings divided by the number of closed sales in the last month. For Los Gatos, that figure is 6.5 months. For San Jose, it's a whopping 14.9 months. (The National Assn. of Realtors says that at 6 months or more, it's a buyers market.)
What is also good to measure, though, is the pending sales against the listing volume. In Los Gatos, you can see that the number of pendings is a little higher than the number of closeds. But in San Jose, it's more than double! This tells us that the market IS improving. But it's far from being an easy time to sell. Depending on your area and price point, there's an 80-90% chance that your home would not sell this month.
How Can A Seller Improve the Odds
of a Home Selling Now?Prospective Los Gatos, Saratoga, and west valley sellers - what can you do to improve your chances of selling?
Here's a short list of the most common seller mistakes, things NOT to do:
 (1) Hiring an agent based on the list price he or she suggests (going with the highest number) is the biggest and perhaps most common error. A better practice: interview agents, hire someone, and then together work to establish the probable buyer's value of the home and work out a pricing strategy from there. It's fine to discuss pricing with the agents you interview, but do not choose your agent based on pricing, but rather on references, marketing, negotiation ability, experience, and other criteria.
(2) Related to #1 above, a common mistake among sellers is pressuring your agent to tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. Some sellers believe that if they "sell" the agent on the higher value of their home, or the current condition (which might need some changes to net you the most money), the house will sell for more, and sometimes homeowners actually push agents to state their estimated value higher than is realistic. One key job the real estate professional has is to provide you with objective input on your home, both at the time the listing is signed and as the feedback comes in and the market conditions possibly change. Ultimately, only you can assign the list price on your home. Allow your agent to provide you with objective input so that you can make a good decision.
Put another way, sellers often have an inflated view of what their own home is worth on the market (this is true of agents selling their own homes, by the way). And sellers take it personally when they believe a home is worth 10% more than the agent is telling them it's likely worth. Sellers frequently feel as though the lower price is insulting, and a response spoken or unspoken may be "I'm not going to give away my home". Agents occassionally do underprice a home, but 98% of the time, if there's a pricing error, it's on the high side.
Please remember that your agent is not the buyer on your home, and you are not negotiating a sales price with your agent. You are not on opposing sides of the table. When you hire a Realtor, you are a team and you share the same goal: getting your home sold in today's market.
 (3) Another common error among sellers is simply this: not believing that the market data applies to their home. If the market has corrected X% in the last timeframe, and all the other homes in the area have gone down in sales price, it's also true that your home has gone down in value in the buyers' eyes. Home prices or values are not a lot different than those of shares in the stock market. What a share of stock sold for yesterday or last year is interesting information, but it may be totally irrelevant to what that same share will sell for today. Holding on to what the home "used to be worth" is not going to assist you in getting your home into the minority pool of homes that are selling now.
(4) And finally, a very frequently seen seller mistake that causes homes not to sell is in not utilizing their agent's skills (on pricing of course but also staging, garnering feedback, analyzing the market, etc.).
For example, often Realtors have extra training and experience in staging. Agents know that fresh paint and carpet often will get the seller the most return on the investment, and so will decluttering. Sometimes more is needed in this area too. But sellers don't always want to hear it. The ultimate sales price of the home is tied to a number of factors, including how well it shows to potential buyers.
 Another area to watch out for is feedback. If your Realtor tells you that there's a problem with the way buyers assess your home (pet odors, cooking or smoking odors, clutter or other issues), take it seriously. You will improve your odds by taking the feedback as useful input (and not as an assault). A great system that I use is HomeFeedback.com; the seller can get both individual responses and compiled statistics of the feedback. Sometimes, sellers take it personally and get upset at their agent for the information offered, even via this type of buyer response. This makes it hard to hear what you need to hear.
Put another way, what you CAN and SHOULD do to sell your home in today's market: Hire carefully! (Most agents in the Santa Clara Valley have been licensed less than 5 years and have not been through a market like this. Experience is very important. Check references and be very careful here as it is your single most important decision.) Make sure it's a full marketing plan, using both web and traditional forms of marketing.
Price carefully and realistically! With the vast majority of homes not selling, it is important to not overprice. This is not the market for "trying a price". Price it to sell. Price it to be the best value among similar homes.
Stage it! Listen to your agent.
Take feedback seriously. Estimating prices and what needs to be offered to buyers in the way of condition, concessions or other things in falling markets can be tough. Ask your agent for feedback and take it to heart. Sometimes market conditions are a "moving target" and may require readjusting.
To sell your home in this challenging market for the most money and in the fastest time, the home needs to look great and be priced well and be accessible. Recently I was at a real estate educational seminar and it was put this way: "we're in a beauty contest and a price war".
And lastly, only put your home on the market if you are serious about selling. It's a great time to buy a home in Silicon Valley, but it's not necessarily an ideal time to sell! Rick Campbell, author of The Real Estate Report, opines that we may be "at or near the bottom of the market". Of course, if you are "moving up", the overall is most likely a plus even if you take a hit on the sell side of the equation. So sellers, if you want or need to sell now, make sure that you position your home so that it's not just listed, it's sold.
Mary
P.S. Buyers, don't wait. This is about as good as it gets!
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS, ACRE
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993
Co-Author: "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Keller Williams
877 397-5391 (Direct/Toll-Free/Fax)
www.DelightHomes.com www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
emailto: Mary@PopeHandy.com
Blog: www.LiveInLosGatos.com
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 On February 4th, the Los Gatos Observer reported that there have been a rash of thefts from cars in Los Gatos, and it seems a concentration of them were in the Almond Grove area. Last night, February 6th, the pillaging continued in the parking lot at St. Mary's Church, at Bean and Tait Avenues (also in the Almond Grove District). Three cars were broken into while owners were at an Ash Wednesday evening Mass. Purses left on the seats of cars were taken in all three cases.
 Los Gatos usually has very little crime, but right now something's out of whack. Please do not leave purses, laptops, GPS, cell phones, iPods or other goodies in your cars, especially where visible. And if you have any information on these auto break ins, please contact the Los Gatos Police at 408 354-8600.
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 Please vote today - it is both the Presidential Primary and also the chance to resolve the extremely controversial Los Gatos skatepark issue by voting on that initiative - Measure D.
 The voter guides we received didn't have the voting location printed, but you can find out where to vote by visiting the Smart Voter site, using this link for Santa Clara County:
http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/scl/
Remember to bring your photo ID.
See you at the polls!
(PS: Jim and I just returned from voting and as of about 9:15 or 9:30 am, the weather was ideal and the lines were very short at our polling place in east Los Gatos.)
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Live in Los Gatos:
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
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