Family seeking rental home in Belwood, Belgatos or Surmont neighborhoods
Today I was contacted by a family relocating to Silicon Valley who think that the Belwood, Belgatos or Surmont area might be a good fit for them. The target arrival date is sometime in June (and the main target school area is Noddin Elementary).
Do you have or know of a rental that might be available soon?
Reach me at 408 204-7673 or mary (at) popehandy.com.
Nextdoor.com site for Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont, Harwood, Gemini, Alerche and more
Update on the Nextdoor.com private intranet for neighbors in the Surmont-Belgatos-Belwood and beyond areas. We’ve been growing since November 17th, and now, 2 months later, we’re up to 39 people (in 32 households).
What is neat is the sharing about issues and concerns that otherwise we wouldn’t know about. On the positive side, neighbors have been asking for and receiving suggestions for gardeners, house cleaners and others.
On the less positive side, we’ve heard about some neighborhood issues: a break in on one street on a weekend afternoon in one case, and some vandalism at another. Who knew? But now that we do, we know to keep our eyes out.
In other words, this is almost like a virtual “neighborhood watch”.
Sometimes we’re all so busy that we don’t necessarily talk to our neighbors about concerns but this is a great way to do it.
I do know that people worry about their information being public. The system requires members to be verified, either by mail (free) or by phone (which requires a one cent charge to a credit card). This is done to insure that everyone in this private site is actually a neighbor – for everyone’s protection. Also, you don’t have to share your email address or phone number, but of course you can if you choose.
The Town of Los Gatos is embracing Nextdoor as a great way to facilitate communication and there’s a meeting later this week with others, like me, who’ve started Nextdoor sites in other parts of the town. The Nextdoor neighborhood sites won’t line up exactly with the town’s groupings but it will be a great way to share information if we get more people onboard.
On the fence? Log in, have a look and see what you think. There’s a lot to like about it!
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Have you heard of Nextdoor.com? It’s a platform that provides neighborhood websites. If you visit the site, you’ll see that it’s described as “The private social network for your neighborhood“.
In mid-November I started a site for the Surmont, Belgatos, Belwood and adjacent areas to the east and south in this east Los Gatos area: Gemini Court, Sebastian Court, Almond Blossom Court, Harwood Road, Alerche Road, Crider Court, Harwood Lane (private road where Harwood Road forks), and Harwood Court. These areas are all contiguous and use the same exit routes out of the area. Many, but not all, are served by the Belwood Home Owner’s Association. You can sign in at http://belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com. There are 555 homes in this neighborhood that I set up.
Initially I was concerned about this being redundant since there are multiple neighborhood venues (this blog, the BelwoodHomes.org site, the Facebook pages – but many of them really only include Belwood and not Belgatos, Surmont or the nearby areas.
So what is the point of this “private social network for the area”? First, it IS private: only residents can be involved in the site. They verify one of two ways – either mailing you a postcard, which you must return, or by verifying your address through a credit card (they charge exactly 1 cent to do it). Second, since it is private, it’s an easy and safer way to share relevant neighborhood information, whether it’s a block party, a theft in the area, organizing Christmas trees (as they do on Westhill Drive), the sighting of a mountain lion, traffic concerns, etc. – the whole gamut. It’s a great place to share names of good babysitters, gardeners, pet sitters, carpet cleaners and all kinds of services too.
Please check it out:
https://belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com
Thefts from cars: keep valuables, garage door openers out of your vehicles
On the Nextdoor neighborhood sharing site for Belwood and nearby east Los Gatos areas, a resident let members know that her automobile, which had been parked in her driveway, had been broken into sometime last night or early this morning. That makes the 6th such incident in the immediate area in the last 6 months (the other five I found on CrimeReports.com). In each case, it seems the car or truck was parked either in the driveway or on the street in front of a house.
Most of the Surmont, Belgatos, Belwood, Harwood, Gemini Court, Alerche and nearby areas have houses with 2 car garages (sometimes 3) but often either more vehicles or not enough room in the garage to house everything, so it’s not unusual for cars and other vehicles to be parked outside overnight. Thieves may be looking for valuables but just as possibly could be searching for a way into your house via keys to the doors or garage door openers. Please pack these items in and out with you and don’t leave them in the car!
To check out crime near your house at no cost, please visit http://www.CrimeReports.com and enter an address in the space up top for it. The default time frame is very recent but if you go to the “dates” section, you can view issues going back as far as 6 months ago. Also, please note that while there are 4 spots in the area identified as TV or theft from vehicle, some icons are for multiple issues and at least one of those includes a theft from vehicle. You will find other thefts in the area too – please keep your home locked up and important items out of your front yard, driveway, etc. As always, call 911 with suspicious behavior – and be safe!
Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont Real Estate Market Trends & Statistics 1-1-2011 to 11-1-2011
What’s happening in the real estate market in the Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont areas of east Los Gatos? Today I did some research on the MLS for 2011 year to date in this part of 95032.
In the image below, after I completed my work I realized that one of the “actives” is actually on the San Jose side of Blossom Hill Road (the low price home at just under $500,000 – it is a short sale by the way). The numbers tell us that in general a 4 bed, 2 bath home in average condition (that is, partially updated but not “fully remodeled”) is worth just about $1,000,000.
I find the “sum” number to be unhelpful but the minimum, maximum and average sales prices (including the cost per square foot) to be extremely useful.
Let’s stop a moment and just look at what’s closed so far in 2011 – 10 homes – about 1 home per month on average (very, very low turnover).
| Status | Address | Price | DOM | Beds | Baths | SqFt | Lot Size |
| sold & closed | BELHAVEN DRIVE | $1,199,000 | 59 | 6 | 3 | 2,448 | 10,000 |
| sold & closed | BELHAVEN DRIVE | $1,175,000 | 123 | 4 | 2 | 2,500 | 10,625 |
| sold & closed | BELWOOD GATEWAY | $1,050,000 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 2,448 | 10,530 |
| sold & closed | BELCREST DRIVE | $999,000 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2,131 | 10,000 |
| sold & closed | OLD ORCHARD DRIVE | $975,000 | 10 | 4 | 2.5 | 2,159 | 11,934 |
| sold & closed | BACIGALUPI DRIVE | $960,000 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1,748 | 10,000 |
| sold & closed | WESTHILL DRIVE | $949,950 | 7 | 4 | 2.5 | 2,076 | 10,998 |
| sold & closed | BELBLOSSOM WAY | $900,000 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2,259 | 10,000 |
| sold & closed | BELCREST DRIVE | $899,000 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 1,960 | 10,769 |
| sold & closed | BELBLOSSOM WAY | $875,000 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 1,748 | 9,877 |
| Average | $998,195 | 29.2 | 4.4 | 2.3 | 2147.7 | 10,473.3 |
Next – how long does it take to sell these Los Gatos homes?
As you can see, often there are far more homes available (or listed for sale on the MLS) than are selling. This is typical for all of Silicon Valley but of course to differing ratios. It’s a red hot seller’s market when homes are selling as fast as they’re listed. In most markets, though, some percentage of homes never does sell – it’s a bit like the “bell curve” applied to home selling. Some sell fast and for top dollar, some sell in a month or two, and some either sell only after a prolonged marketing time or not at all.
With extremely low inventory and low turnover, it’s almost a crap shoot as to how fast a home in these east Los Gatos areas will sell. If there’s no other competition and the property is (1) fully remodeled and (2) priced aggressively, it will sell fast. If not, it’s anyone’s guess – but definitely worse if more homes are for sale.
Want to sell your Surmont, Belgatos or Belwood home? Please contact me – I live here too and will do my best to get you the best price for your property!
Halloween in Surmont, Belgatos and Belwood of Los Gatos
"Westhill Cemetery"
It’s mid-October and little ghosties, Jack-o-Lanterns, grave stones, witches, over sized spider webs and other trappings of Halloween have begun to appear in the Surmont, Belgatos and Belwood neighborhoods of east Los Gatos. There’s no shortage of the “Halloween Spirit” – so to speak – in this corner of town! It sure is fun to see.
What’s your favorite haunt in the hood?
If you’d like to share your photos of ultra cool Halloween decorating, I’d be very happy to post them here! Whether it’s effects that show up on October 1st or October 31st, we’d love to share them with the neighbors!
As the month goes on, I will add images of local streets, yards and homes where the decor is noteworthy.
Here’s one of my very favorites – a great little ghost western style town up the street from Jim & me.
Great halloween decor on Bacigalupi Drive
And another one with some serious spider webbing:
Belwood spider webs for Halloween
And yet another with quite a few ghosts – this one on Westhill Drive’s Belgatos area.
Westhill Drive ghosties, goblins and webs
Meanwhile, if your not-so-haunted house has children who’d like to participate in a pumpkin decorating contest, I’d like to invite you and them to dive into the project asap. My real estate brokerage, Sereno Group, is hosting its annual pumpkin decorating (not carving) contest and the DEADline is this Friday, October 21 at 5pm.
Read all about the contest on my Live in Los Gatos blog. Hope to see loads of the spooky, cute, funny, and outrageous creations next week!
How’s the Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont real estate market?
How’s the local real estate market in east Los Gatos? Homes here are in a very active price point for Los Gatos generally, as well as for Los Gatos with Union schools. (You can also view homes for sale in our area here on BelwoodOfLosGatos.com under the “real estate” tab – or just use this link.)
Homes for sale, pending and sold/closed in the last 30 days in Belwood, Surmont and Belgatos neighborhoods:
Right now there are 5 houses for sale in Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont. Of them there are 4 “regular sale” properties available and one short sale in the neighborhood (2 on Westhill, 1 on Belhaven, 1 on Belblossom and the short sale on Belwood Gateway). One home, which was very affordably listed at $875,000, is sale pending. Additionally, a bank owned property or REO (real estate owned by the bank) is under contract.
How long have they been listed for sale? The two on Westhill just came on the market within the last few days. Two of the five have been available for about 60-70 days.
You can read the MLS info on each of them on my ValleyOfHeartsDelight blog.
How are prices? Four neighborhood homes have closed escrow in the last 30 days, with prices ranging from $975,000 to just under 1.2 million.
Months supply of inventory: To figure the months of inventory, you simply divide the actives by the solds (from the last month). We have 5 available and 4 which have closed – so 1.25 months of inventory. That looks pretty good but if you live in the area you know that these things tend to come in waves and just a month ago we had “infinite” months of inventory. So don’t get over excited about this and price your home too high – if houses are priced appropriately, they are selling. If not, they are sitting.
Below are live charts and graphs from Altos research for the 95032 zip code. They will automatically update themselves each week, so even if this post appears “old”, the info below will always be current!
Charts and graphs by Altos Research using active listings
| 90-day stats for Single Family properties in LOS GATOS, CA95032 as of October 7, 2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Median List Price: | $1,284,038 | Average List Price: | $1,722,479 |
| Total Inventory: | 97 | Price per Square Foot: | $553 |
| Average Home Size: | 2,251 | Median Lot Size: | 10,028 |
| Average # Beds: | 3.86 | Average # Baths: | 2.96 |
| Homes Absorbed: | 8 | Newly Listed: | 5 |
| Days on Market: | 127 | Average Age: | 39 |
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What’s with all the homes for sale in Belwood right now?
If you live in or near Belwood of Los Gatos, you’ve probably noticed a proliferation of “for sale” signs recently – and also a “coming soon” sign here or there! (I saw one of those at Westhill and Blossom Hill Road yesterday).
At the moment there are 3 available homes in Belwood and Belgatos – none in Surmont – (plus one on Harwood and one on Gemini Court as well as one on Regent) and there are three under contract or sale pending.
The homes for sale range in list price from a high of $1,295,000 to a low of $960,000 with an average list price of $1,078,300 and an average price per square foot of $504.50 (average days on market 32). Those which are sale pending vary from $1,199,000 to $900,000 with an average asking price of $1,049,667 and average price per SF of $439.04 (average days on market 23). It’s not rocket science that the more affordably priced homes tend to sell while those with higher asking amounts linger! Buyers want the most value for the money they spend. That can mean a bigger house or it can reflect the quality of remodeling or improvements at the property.
The ratio of listings to sales isn’t bad – 3 available, 3 under contract.
What has sold recently? Just one property has sold and closed in the last month: it was a 4 bed, 2 bath, 1748 SF model that closed escrow at a low, low price of $840,000. (The same floorplan is on the market for $960,000 on another street in the neighborhood – makes it a tough sell!)
With 3 available and 1 closed in the last months, it’s 3 months of inventory. What’s challenging is that the one which closed is so much lower than some of those for sale.
For 2001, there are 5 homes in Surmont, Belgatos and Belwood which sold & closed. The average square footage is 2100, average list price is $984,600 and average sales price is $967,000. Sales prices ranged from the low, low number of $840,000 to a high of $1,090,000.
The market keep changing – we are seeing multiple offers in many areas closer to Palo Alto. It’s not here yet but give it a little time….
Belwood of Los Gatos July 4th Celebration
The Belwood of Los Gatos community is hosting its annual Independence Day or 4th of July celebration and the details are announced on the Belwood HOA website. (Quick note: A parade begins at Mulberry School (220 Belgatos Road) at 12:15. The neighborhood festivities run from 1 – 5 at the cabaña. Read all about it on the Belwood HOA site!)
Please note that since the weather is really hot and dry, the risk of fire danger is high right now. A sign at Belgatos Park warns that viewing fireworks is strictly prohibited.
Got Facebook? If so, you might consider “liking” the Belwood Cabaña page on Facebook. They are great at keeping people updated on neighborhood events (this is not my page, btw). That’s where I first learned that the holiday is being celebrated in traditional fashion.
Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont Demographics Info Online
Recently I searched online for our neighborhood and saw a link to the City-Data website. It referred to Surmont (most of it), Belgatos and Belwood all as “Belwood of Los Gatos” or “Belwood”. Oh well – it’s not an uncommon mistake!
Anyway, using information from the census and other sources, city-data does provide some interesting demographics on our corner of east Los Gatos, including:
- population listed as 1516
- area listed as .564 square miles
- a list of street names (missed a couple), their length and direction
- when our homes were built (most 1960s)
- the average number of rooms in our homes
- median rent paid in 2009 (there are multi family homes included)
- distribution of ages (kids and people in their 40s appear prominent)
- the types of power we used to heat our homes (22% electricity, 76% gas, 2% other)
- info on occupations of females in Belwood (17.6% in management)
- info on occupations of males (24% in management)
And loads more….Nice graphics with charts displaying the info so it’s easy to grasp and digest.
So go have a peek at the city-data page on Belwood. See if anything there surprises you!
Helicopters repeatedly flying over Belwood and Belgatos Park
Helicopters over Belwood and Belgatos Park on 6-24-2011
My husband, Jim, likes to joke that “if you like helicopters, live in Los Gatos“. We seem to be a chopper magnet, especially in the east Los Gatos areas near Belgatos Park.
Last Friday, and again yesterday, there was a helicopter apparently practicing something as it flew low over Belwood, Belgatos Park and the Santa Rosa Drive area in the hills at the end of Harwood Road. What were they doing?
This is not a new problem for us (and in fact I blogged about it on my Live in Los Gatos blog in the spring of 2007) but there are times I just want to scream at them to knock it off. I finally called the town of Los Gatos, was transferred to the non-emergency police line where a kindly officer said that he’d had a few complaints but no answers as to what was going on. “We’re trying to find out,” he assured me.
Like many, I vented a little on Facebook. One friend thought that the birds were there due to some sort of fencing project. Another suggested that it was a practice run for firefighters pretending to grab water from Lexington Reservoir to put out fires on the Sierra Azule range. Who knows.
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