Family seeking rental home in Belwood, Belgatos or Surmont neighborhoods
I have been communicating with a family relocating to Silicon Valley from Austin who think that the Belwood, Belgatos or Surmont area might be a good fit for them. They are open to other nearby areas, too, but the most important thing is that they want to be within the boundaries for Noddin Elementary School.
Do you have or know of a rental like this that might be available in June?
Size : 3 Bedrooms (or more)
Area : Within Noddin Boundaries
Alarmed & two storey preferable but not a deal breaker.
Reach me at 408 204-7673 or mary (at) popehandy.com.
Sound of explosion at Belblossom and Westhill, gardener injured, in east Los Gatos
Update:
It appears that turpentine was on the ground and there was some speculation that a spark from the electric tools seems to have caused this terrible explosion and injury. That assertion was retracted at a community meeting about the Los Gatos explosion March 26th 2012. Please click the link to read the full update.
Yesterday at around 2pm, a large, explosive sound rocked the Belwood, Belgatos and Surmont areas of east Los Gatos. The thundering noise sounded to me like a transformer blowing out – but worse (I was walking down Bacigalupi with my dog at the time). Neighbors wondered what caused it: gas explosion, rifle, transformer, or what? Several of us apparently called police.
When I phoned in, I was told that the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Dept was investigating. They thought that a tree trimmer had hit a power line but weren’t sure at that time.
About an hour later, I came through the area after seeing a post on the Facebook group page for Belwood area residents that the noise originated from something happening in the “class d area” (meaning Surmont/Belgatos). Whatever it was came from a front yard of a house at the corner of Belblossom and Westhill. P, G & E crews were investigating. A police officer was taking a report. And neighbors gathered to share what they knew, thought or experienced with the big boom of two o’clock.
A Belblossom home owner there told me that a gardener was doing something when the explosive sound occurred, that it put him in shock and that his ankle was broken. I was very relieved that he was still alive, as was everyone else there.
At that time, it remained unclear what happened exactly. P, G & E crews were still on scene, investigating.
Today I’m not seeing anything in the news about this, so wanted to share what I had heard (and seen) so far. Wishing a very speedy and easy recovery to the person who was injured. I hope that the P,G & E crews can figure out what happened so that it never happens again.
Belwood Dolphins Swim Team Registration
Just got an email from Tom Sandoval and Suzan Packee that I want to share in case there are new residents not yet getting all the neighborhood correspondence:
Go Belwood Dolphins!
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!
~~~~~~~ original post below~~~~~~~~
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!
Sunrise at Belwood on a December Morning
Wanted to share a couple of pics I took of the morning sky from Bacigalupi Drive in Belwood on December 2nd, 2011 at 7am. We’d had a lot of wind but it was still and clear – and the clouds were beautiful.
And one more, looking more south east:
Alert from Mulberry School Regarding Dark Blue Van Near Belwood
My friend Kirstie Leary, who’s one of the owners of InsideLG.com, shared with me the notice from Mulberry School on Harwood Road today:
A white male in his 50s, driving a dark blue van, has been seen approaching young children in the Clovis Avenue-Harwood Road neighborhood, on the other side of Blossom Hill. Specifically, the man was seen driving down Clovis Avenue, and stopped near the corner at Amby Drive yesterday. He approached girls while playing in the leaves in front of their own house, indicating that he wanted to take their picture because they were so cute. When the man was approached by the parent, he took off in a hurry down the street.
There was reportedly a large teddy bear in the front passenger side of his van, which had the appearance of a work vehicle. The van was dark blue, about 10 years old, with an extension ladder on the roof.
The incident was reported to the police because it was suspicious and scary. Please call 911 if you see suspicious activity.
Please take a moment to share with your child what to do if approached by strangers. Working together to create a plan of how to handle such a situation can be most helpful for everyone.
Please keep your eyes open and call 911 if you see something suspicious!
School crossing guard on Blossom Hill Road may be cut
In case you’re not getting the Belwood Home Owner’s Association emails, here’s something that came across my email over the last couple of days:
This week, the SJPD is doing a pedestrian count for crossing Blossom Hill Rd and Harwood during school hours (7:30 AM and 1:00 PM). Please walk as much as you can across Blossom Hill Rd (to Noddin) and help save our crossing guard, Dorothy. If they don’t see many people walking and using the intersection, they’ll cut the funding for that post and many children will be forced to cross a very hectic intersection without any crossing guard assistance.
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!
Belwood Annual Halloween Party: Details & Request for Volunteers
The annual Belwood Halloween Party is this Sunday, October 30, from 3 – 6pm at the Cabaña. (Huge kudos to Mark Morgan for organizing this fun community event.)
3:00pm: Games (and prizes) on the Cabana lawn
3:30pm: Magic Mirror opens
4:00pm: Pizza & drinks for sale
5:00pm: Haunted house tours begin
6:00pm: End of Party & Clean-up
Help is needed - volunteers are sought to help with the games, haunted house actors and others to help with the food & drinks. Teenagers can use this as an opportunity to accumulate Community Service hours.
If you’d like to sign up as a volunteer, please follow this link:
http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/462345634809216010
For more info, please visit the HOA website’s page on this event:
http://www.belwoodhomes.org/Belwood/Halloween.html
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