by Mary Pope-Handy | Oct 20, 2021 | Belgatos Park, Events
The Town of Los Gatos is hosting Park for Parks, a fun and informative event, at Belgatos Park on Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring your lunch and learn about bird watching, mountain biking, and much more.
There will be live music and a variety of booths (no food booths that I can find). All the details are on the town’s website – links posted below.
Park for Park info on booths and what’s happening at this Belgatos Park event:
Check out all of the details on the town’s website page dedicated to events.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jun 26, 2021 | Market reports
Are you curious about the home sales and values in Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont, and nearby? If so you can see what’s for sale, pending, and sold year to date in our corner of Los Gatos at this link. Or take a look at the image below, showing closed sales here so far in 2021. The majority of homes are selling between $2 million and $2.5 million, but the smallest floor plans may sell for less than that range, and homes on large lots, or with substantial updating & remodeling, or those with views may all sell for more.
(If you click on the image below, a larger version will pop up.)
The majority of home sales are quick – the days on market are usually under one week. Large homes and larger price tags tend to make for a slower pace of sales.
Feel free to reach out to me if you’re interested in buying or selling in the neighborhood.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jun 10, 2021 | Belgatos, Belwood, Cabaña, Events, Recreation, Surmont
Another “Bingo and Movie Nights” is planned for this summer for cabaña members and residents of Belwood, Surmont and Belgatos on Saturday June 26. At 6 pm the music starts, at 7 pm it’s bingo, and the film, Yes Day, starts at 8:15 pm.
Bring something comfy to sit on – blankets, sleeping bags, lawn chairs etc. Popcorn, cotton candy, and other treats are available for purchase!
For more information, keep an eye on the Belwood HOA website page for bingo and movie nights.
by Mary Pope-Handy | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
With the increase of fires in recent years, California has a new fire disclosure law on the books, AB 39 (2019). In response, the California Association of Realtors has come out with a new home fire hardening form. This is a new advisory and disclosure document combined, “C.A.R. Form FHDS, 5/21 Fire Hardening and Defensible Space Advisory, Disclosure, and Addendum”. It’s intended to help sellers and buyers be more aware of what can be done to make a home more resistant to fire.
Selling a home in a high fire risk zone? Expect these home fire hardening questions
In one section of the document, home sellers are asked if they have made the following alterations:
- Eave, soffit, and roof ventilation where the vents have openings in excess of one-eighth of an inch or are not flame and ember resistant.
- Roof coverings made of untreated wood shingles or shakes.
- Combustible landscaping or other materials within five feet of the home and under the footprint of any attached deck. (Wood chips and mulch may not be a good idea!)
- Single pane or non-tempered glass windows.
- Loose or missing bird stopping or roof flashing.
- Rain gutters without metal or noncombustible gutter covers.
All of us who are near Belgatos Park and nearby open spaces can benefit from improving our home’s safety should a fire breakout nearby. We recently measured our vent screens and found them to be 1/4 inch, so will be improving that. It’s a good list.
There’s a longer article on my main blog. Check it out for more information:
NEW California Disclosure – Home Fire Hardening Disclosure and Advisory
Below there’s also a document from the CA Assn of Realtors on the law. This is a good article with helpful information – I highly recommend it.
Related reading:
Los Gatos Fire Risk (Live in Los Gatos blog)
A History of Los Gatos Fires and the Los Gatos Fire Department (Live in Los Gatos blog)
CA Association of Realtors: Home Fire Hardening Disclosure Law, Feb 2021 (the form was updated in May 2021)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Apr 29, 2021 | Belwood, Belgatos, Heritage Grove, Surmont
City-Data shares demographic data by neighborhood. While the maps aren’t always precise, they provide some insights for smaller parts of the town of Los Gatos. Please take it with a big grain of salt – as you view the demographic data data, you’ll find some questionable results (such as the average household size being 16 people here!).
The “Belwood” area map includes all of Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos, Surmont, and Heritage Grove. Curious? Check it out at the City-Data Belwood page.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
Recently we have seen an uptick in neighborhood crime both in our immediate Belwood, Belatos, Surmont, and adjacent areas here in east Los Gatos as well as the neighboring communities of Cambrian, Almaden, and Saratoga. Specifically, a gang of 4 intruders has been hitting homes perceived to be unoccupied, often entering through back sliding doors, rummaging quickly for jewelry and cash, and getting away in under 10 minutes.
Where are the burglaries happening?
Most of Santa Clara County is using the City Protect crime map, but the Town of Los Gatos recently launched our crime info on a different platform, LGPD.CrimeGraphics.com. It would be wise to check both sites since our community is so close to Cambrian and Almaden (as well as county pockets).
The neighborhood crime info isn’t as thorough I would like. In recent weeks we had some attempted break ins by that gang of four near my house in which they got into backyards but didn’t get into the homes. They moved swiftly and the police did, too – but were gone before they could be apprehended. Those attempted burglaries are not to be found on crime info website.
My recommendation is that you log onto Nextdoor at least once in awhile and check the crime activity in our part of Los Gatos in addition to checking the 2 websites linked above. Or if you have a Ring doorbell, the online Ring community also has good sharing of information. (I wonder if Nest similarly has online sharing?) If you have neighbors who aren’t on Nextdoor, fill them in if you read about an episode so that they can make their home safer and have more surveillance.
Many of the would be and successful burglaries appear to happen when it looks like no one is home. The thieves go into backyards and then often smash a sliding glass door to gain entry. It’s loud, and alarms may go off, but they leave fast and so far haven’t been caught.
If you have security cameras, you can register them with the Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Department.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Dec 22, 2020 | Market reports
Neighborhood sales were strong in 2020, aside from the initial halt to the entire market with COVID last spring. At this link you can view info on the sold properties in Belwood, Belgatos, Surmont, and adjacent areas (not my sales) as of today. Below please find an overview of the same info. Click to view larger version of the image.
How’s the market looking for 2021? As of right now, inventory is low and prices look to remain strong for at least the first six months, if not the whole year. You can read more of my market predictions on my main blog, the Valley of Heart’s Delight blog: Silicon Valley real estate market predictions.
