by Mary Pope-Handy | Aug 7, 2015 | Belgatos, Belwood, Market Info, Real Estate, Surmont
Of the homes first listed for sale in the Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos, or Surmont subdivisions in 2015 so far, only one did not selll (it was pulled off after a month, which is about the time when a price reduction would likely be getting discussed). One other is currently under contract (contingencies are in place) and five homes have been sold and closed.
Overall, houses in this neighborhood have gone pending fairly quickly, with the average days on market being a brisk 9 for the five closed sales. Homes sold so far are all selling over list price, and the average amount over is about 3% ($38,000).
(There was one other closing on Bacigalupi in January from a sale in December that I did not include since I was looking for sales that were ratified in 2015, but that home had 2448 SF and closed at $1,525,000 fyi.)
The odds are good that you could sell a home in this area without too much trouble in most cases. In every market, though, there are some homes that don’t sell or do not sell quickly. To learn more about that situation, please visit my Valley of Heart’s Delight blog and read this article:
http://sanjoserealestatelosgatoshomes.com/why-didnt-my-san-jose-home-sell/
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jun 9, 2015 | Belgatos, Belwood, Market Info, Real Estate, Surmont
Today I’m working on an article for another blog of mine on the topic of saving for a down payment and residential real estate appreciation in Silicon Valley. Long story short, right now, home buyers cannot save as fast as the home prices are going up. For some, the saving effort is to get to 20% down or more. For others, the goal is to buy all cash. In both cases, though, the danger is getting priced out of the market while the would-be home owner is putting away money. For people who wanted to buy 2 years ago but decided to wait and save, that now means either not buying at all or buying in less nice home or area than they were targeting.
This is certainly true for home buyers wanting to get into Belwood of Los Gatos and nearby. Let’s look at our corner of Los Gatos and take a sampling of what has happened since 2000 (a “boom year”) for a typical 2400 square foot house on a typical 9,000 to appx 10,000 square foot lot (in Belwood, Belgatos or Surmont). For this, we will consider homes sold in 2000 and homes sold within the last 12 months. I ran the numbers this afternoon on MLS Listings, our local multiple listing service provider.
1-1-2000 through 12-31-2000: a home of about 2400 SF on a 9,000 – 10,000 SF lot averaged a sale price of $860,000 (prices ranging from a low of $750,000 to a high of $950,000). A 25% down payment would have been $215,000 and the loan amount would have been $645,000, using that average number. Many buyers would have purchased with 20% down, and some with 30% or more, though.
Fast forward to today and the last 12 months leading up to today – approximately 15 years later.
6-9-2014 through 6-9-2015: same sized home and lot averaged a sale price of $1,512,000 (prices ranging from a low of $1,350,000 to a high of $1,660,000). This does not include pending sales, of course – just those which have closed escrow.
Home prices have almost doubled in that time. (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 1, 2015 | Belgatos, Belwood, Market Info, Real Estate, Surmont
This afternoon I ran the recent listings and sales in the Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos, Surmont and nearby areas. These contiguous east Los Gatos neighborhoods have extremely low turnover, so not surprisingly, there are few sales!!
It should be noted that larger homes on larger lots usually sell for far less on a price per square foot basis – so it’s not really fair to compare a house on an acre with one sitting on a 10,000 sf lot. Additionally, homes in the $2 million plus range are a very different creature than those closer to $1 million in terms of multiple offers and the sale price to list price ratio. In some cases, though, even these higher end homes get multiple offers and sell for more than the asking price.
Finally, the type in the image below is a little small, but if you click on it, you will get a larger, more readable version.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Sep 28, 2014 | Belgatos, Belwood, Market Info, Real Estate, Surmont
Real estate sales this year in the east Los Gatos areas including Surmont, Belgatos, Belwood of Los Gatos and homes close to Harwood but within the Los Gatos town boundaries have been small in number due to the extraordinarily tight inventory levels. Below are the closed and pending sales as reported in the MLS for this calendar year so far.
Of the nine closed sales, 5 sold for more than list price – most or all of these were multiple offer situations. The other four had a variety of situations: one was bank owned, one needed several hundred thousand in finishing work (there was no kitchen, there were no bathrooms, etc.). The one on Alerche sold “off market” and “off mls”.
Interested in buying or selling a home in or near this pretty corner of Los Gatos? Please give me a call or send me an email today!
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 19, 2014 | Belgatos, Belgatos Park, Cabaña, Photos & Videos, Surmont
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 18, 2014 | Belgatos, Belwood, Heritage Grove, Maps, Surmont
Sometimes the search engines cause more harm than good when they begin to label Los Gatos neighborhoods for us. In the case of Surmont, as well as Heritage Grove, Belwood and Belgatos, that is certainly the case.
Bing has published a map with the wrong answers. So let’s set it right for the good people trying to figure out what is where. This mislabeled map puts Surmont across both where it does belong and neighboring Heritage Grove. It has Heritage Grove north of Strathmore neighborhood (which is correctly placed). Belwood and Belgatos seem to be either one and the same or north/south of each other.
Of 5 named neighborhoods, one of them is correct.
So let’s set the record straight.
Where is the Surmont neighborhood of Los Gatos?
Surmont starts with Westhill Drive and runs through approximately halfway between Old Orchard and Belblossom. These homes are a little older than those in Belwood and Belgatos. Many of them are custom or semi-custom, and a few have large lots with views. The streets include Westhill Drive, Surmont Drive, Surmont Court, Old Orchard Drive and Campos Verde.
Where is the Belgatos neighborhood of Los Gatos?
Belgatos begins with the end of the Surmont subdivision and continues up to Belgatos Road. Like Surmont, some of the homes along Westhill have bigger lots and views. These seem to be custom homes built to take advantage of valley vistas. Other houses down on the flatter area look to be semi custom in many cases. Streets found here are part of Westhill, part of Belblossom, part of Belvue, and part of Belgatos.
Where is the Belwood neighborhood of Los Gatos?
Belwood of Los Gatos runs approximately between Belgatos Road and Harwood. Some of this area was added about 10 years later (part of Bacigalupi Drive and Jamie Court behind it) and they are not part of the original Belwood subdivision. This area has optional dues and may use the pool if paying that year. The rest of Belwood pays lower dues but it’s not option. The newer stretch also has smaller lots, mostly about 8,000 SF lots instead of 10,000 SF lots. Please see the HOA’s website, BelwoodHomes.org, to get more precise boundary information for Belwood and the pool. Westhill continues into this area, though the homes appear more semi custom than Belwood generally. Most of the streets begin with “Bel” as in Belridge, Belcrest, Belglen, Belwood Gateway.
Where is the Heritage Grove neighborhood of Los Gatos?
Heritage Grove is a newer (for Los Gatos) subdivision just off of Blossom Hill Road. The roads there are Regent Drive, Heintz Court, Ayala Court and Ramohs Way. If you’d like more information on this younger, upscale subdivision, please read the following article in my Valley of Hearts Delight blog, which includes a slideshow and a bit of local history:
The Heritage Grove Neighborhood in Los Gatos and the Heintz Open Space Preserve
If you enjoy this blog and would like more information on Los Gatos or the San Jose and Silicon Valley areas generally, please have a look at my other blogs:
Live in Los Gatos blog (newly moved to WordPress, better than ever!)
Valley of Hearts Delight blog (SanJoseRealEstateLosGatosHomes.com)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Dec 3, 2013 | Belgatos, Belwood, Surmont
Update on the Nextdoor.com private intranet for neighbors in the Surmont-Belgatos-Belwood and beyond areas – We launched our site November 17th, 2011, and 2 months later, got up to 39 people (in 32 households). As of Nov 17, 2013, our 2 year anniversary, it was 317 members in 245 homes (see image at right). We are still growing and now have a roster of 321 neighbors (248 of 567 households) or 44% of households participating. Thank you to all who’ve been active in sharing news and inviting neighbors to join us!
For those who aren’t onboard and are wondering, what is Nextdoor all about?
This is a private, online social network site for neighbors sharing with neighbors things that matter to them. Often this includes issues and concerns that otherwise we wouldn’t know about, whether a problem (break ins, solicitors), a need (babysitters, gardeners, house cleaners), an alert (coyotes spotted, skunk problems) event or other positive happenings.
Many times, this is almost like a virtual “neighborhood watch”.
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 has embraced Nextdoor as a great way to facilitate communication and major town events are announced on this site also.
On the fence? Log in, have a look and see what you think. There’s a lot to like about it!
Please check it out:
https://belwood-belgatos.nextdoor.com
And for current members, PLEASE INVITE YOUR NEIGHBORS! You can do this for free by sending postcards! Just click on the “invite” button on the top right side. The system will allow you to mail a few cards each month at no cost.
Finally, if you are not within these boundaries but are interested in Nextdoor for your area, just go to Nextdoor.com and input your address. You’ll find out right away if you are within an established neighborhood. If so, join! If not, perhaps you can begin one there yourself. It’s a great way to keep in touch.
