Recently Jim & I had an appointment at a high rise in downtown San Jose near the Hotel De Anza. It was a clear day and the view was lovely, so I took a few photos and stitched them together to share.  Hope you enjoy it!  For those not from the Santa Clara Valley, this is looking east.  The hills you see are green during the rainy season and yellow-brown in the dry summer months.

Yesterday Jim and I attended the Los Gatos Creekside Sports Park kickoff celebration (will nearly touch Vasona Lake County Park and is just off of University Avenue) and as we often do, drove east on Blossom Hill Road to get home. Straight ahead of us, hanging over south San Jose and Santa Teresa and extending north, was a huge and darkened cloud. Smoke? Smog? Rainclouds?

We drove up Harwood Road and to the top of Harwood Court to get a better view of it. It did look like it started in south San Jose or further south than that. Some hikers were trekking up the challenging hill and we asked them if they knew if it were a fire. “Can’t smell it,” one replied “so it must be smog – just awful!” Smog, though, tends to dissipate from side to side and not hang together so tightly as what we saw.

View from Harwood Court in Los Gatos of the smokey skies created by the Cal Fire "controlled burn" in south county

We flipped on KLIV, the San Jose based AM radio station (channel 1590) that best covers local news & traffic, and learned right away that it was a controlled burn. This morning I googled the fire and learned that it’s a 2 day burn at part of Henry Coe State Park, overseen by Cal Fire, with more scheduled for today.

The Morgan Hill Times reports that “The prescribed burn is part of the ‘Western Zone Complex’ controlled fire in the remote area of the park. The fire will take place on the Middle Ridge Trail off Hobbs Road, about eight miles northeast of Morgan Hill, according to Calfire fire prevention specialist Chris Morgan. “

If you don’t see the MLS printout on your property when it’s on the market, you could be missing errors and typos that have slipped past your agent.  Or you may simply prefer that certain elements be emphasized over others.  I’m convinced that many Silicon Valley home sellers never view or critique the agent report or comments though – if they did they’d probably have a bit of a heart attack.

Errors and typos are not uncommon.  Once I helped a buyer to purchase a 3 bed, 2 bath home which was incorrectly represented in the multiple listing service as 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths.  This of course was to our advantage, but the seller probably had less traffic, and ultimately a lower sales price, because of the data entry error.It should have been caught by the agent, of course, but the seller too should have been more responsible. No one knows your home like you do!

Sometimes the typos are funny, if unintentionally so.  I saw one house which boasted dual pain windows (makes you wonder!).  A walk in pantry was once said to be a walk in panty. This happens not just on the mls of course.  One friend mentioned to me reading a termite report that said that the wood debris in the crawl space of a home was called “cellulite debris” instead of “cellulose debris”.  Mistakes happen. If you’re the seller, try to find them before they go public – or worse, viral!

The comments sections (most for everyone, but a few for just real estate licensees and members of the MLS) are crucially important to a successful sale – almost as important as having a lot of high quality photographs.   Let me give you an example.  Would you rather have your home described by the first or second set of comments?

1. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Nice home in great area!!!
2. Classic, updated & remodeled Victorian on tree lined streets close to SJSU. Large formal entry, remodeled kitchen with granite & profession 6 burner range, large living & dining rooms. Newer furnace. Foundation upgraded in 2005.  Big front porch & private back yard.

These are just examples, of course – but these extremes are seen all the time – comments which say absolutely nothing and those which provide compelling details.  Then there are the ones which scream out that the seller is desperate: “Bring any offer!”  Really? Would you say that at an open house, in front of your client?  I bet not.

Perhaps most important of all are the photographs.  Biggest crime is having no photos or just one or two of the exterior of the property (I even see this with beautiful new construction!). Did you know that we can now upload more than 20 photographs of each listing to the mls – and that from there they can be syndicated to many major real estate portals?  It’s hugely important to take advantage of this.

Next in line of major mishaps with the mls is poor or dark images or houses or condos which are photographed messy (in need of staging and possibly cleaning).  If you want to see really terrible photos (so bad you have to laugh), log onto Facebook and search for the group “Really bad MLS photos“.  It is funny to Realtors only because we see other agents post these types of things and we wonder why their clients don’t fire them on the spot.  I’m sure it’s because the home seller never looks at the MLS printout at all.

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time in San Jose’s Almaden Valley neighborhood.  On one side of Almaden the Santa Teresa Foothills rest and on the other, the coastal range or Santa Cruz Mountains.  This view was taken in a more southern part of the area with a great view of Mt. Umunhum. So pretty!

Almaden Valley in San Jose (95120) - view of Mt. Umunhum and Santa Cruz Mountains

The mercury mines (not one, but a network of them) aren’t far from here in the hills around New Almaden, the Calero Reservoir and Guadalupe Creek (which is about 4.5 miles west of the New Almaden Mine). All very scenic!

Located on a quiet, tree lined street in the St. Francis Woods neighborhood of Willow Glen, San Jose, a stunningly remodeled and spacious home at 1548 Santa Inez Drive is a dream home in a fabulous neighborhood.

Offered for sale at $875,000 – Approximately 2028 square feet on a comfortable 8250 SF lot (per county records), this lovely 3 bedroom, 2.5 remodeled bath home has truly spacious living areas, a kitchen that will knock your socks off and a backyard perfect for entertaining. Please enjoy the virtual tour, below, then get all the details next.

Highlights of this Willow Glen home for sale include:

• 3 bedrooms with lovely crown moulding & large, classic base
• 2.5 elegantly remodeled bathrooms
• High-end, remodeled kitchenfeaturing slab granite counter tops and complimentary tile back splash with granite accent pieces
  • Stainless steel sink and appliances
    • GE Profile set of ovens (2 plus warming drawer)
    • Miele 5 burner gas range
    • Bosch dishwasher
    • GE Profile microwave
  • Extra high ceiling with a canopy of recessed lights
  • Tasteful and unique two tone cabinets – wood on bottom, black on top pieces with under-cabinet lighting installed, pullouts and “lazy Susan” too
  • Loads of storage & counter space plus a pantry
  • Floor made of large tiles, theme carried from entry hall into half bath, laundry area and pantry too
• Separate Living, Dining and Family Rooms 
  • Large Living Room with cathedral ceiling and fireplace offers direct access to back yard through inviting French doors
  • Spacious Dining Room includes hardwood floors, a fireplace, and French doors
  • Big Family Room with hardwood flooring, fireplace, and French doors to back patio and pool
• Laundry Room off kitchen & garage provides attic access through pull down staircase/ladder
• Large pool and spa in private back yard
• Attached two car garage
• Newer stamped concrete driveway
• Whole house air conditioning
• Dual pane windows
• Inspections done!  Regular sale!
• 2028 SF of living space & 8250 lot size per county
• Competitively priced at $875,000

This beauty of a home will steal your heart – especially the kitchen!

Fabulous location: St. Francis Woods neighborhood of Willow Glen, San Jose

The location is awesome, too.  The community-oriented St. Francis Woods neighborhood is located close to the intersection of Meridian and Hamilton, just off Blackford (in the area of Willow Glen served by the Campbell Union School District). While not quite an “urban neighborhood“, it is easy to walk to a few shops, including a pizza parlor, from there.  It’s easy to get to downtown Willow Glen, downtown Campbell, The Pruneyard or to hop on the 880/17 freeway or 280.  (It’s far enough to be quiet, though!)

Seeing the property at 1548 Santa Inez Drive, San Jose (Willow Glen)

Showings are a little restricted during weekdays but extremely easy on weekends.  Easiest of all – please plan to stop by the open house this Saturday July 30 & 31, between 2pm and 4pm to have a look.

1548 Santa Inez Drive
San Jose (Willow Glen), CA 95125

Cross streets are Blackford and Meridian

Homes as beautifully remodeled as this one seldom can be found in Willow Glen at this price point and there is high demand for a turnkey home in the Willow Glen real estate market so they sell fairly fast – don’t wait!

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 81127595 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

I recently have gotten more busy with my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/popehandy) and this evening I was surfing that site to see what sort of things I could find in our Silicon Valley area, beginning with Los Gatos since that’s where I live and where my office is. Found this and it’s a gem – I hope you enjoy it!< br>

Our daughter is taking some classes at West Valley College this summer and I’ve had the chance to revisit* the campus a number of times recently.  I took this photo of the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Coastal Range over Saratoga while on the WVC campus the other day – and thought it was pretty enough to share.  Hope you enjoy it!

*When I was a senior at Saratoga High School (a very long time ago – I graduated in 1977), I took a class at West Valley College in psychology. What I remember most was the segment on early childhood education and one particular line about the importance of paying enough attention to kids: “a child would rather be kicked than ignored”.  It had a profound influence on the way we raised our two kids – for the better!

An old apricot orchard used to line Blossom Hill Road between Union and Leigh Avenues until the 1990s.  The former owners, Ralph and Sophie Heintz, lived there in their farmhouse until their deaths, at which time the property was willed to the University of California at  Berkeley for eye research.

Sophie and Ralph were interesting people. He ran a small train on their property and was an inventor. She was a ham radio operator.

In 1998, the Heintz land (and house etc.) was sold to Summerhill Homes and a portion developed as housing. That Los Gatos neighborhood is now called Heritage Grove A strip of trees was planted along Blossom Hill Road, reminiscent of the history of the area.  A large section of land was made a permanent open space, now known as the Heintz Open Space Preserve.  This open space connects directly with Belgatos Park, which also connects with the Santa Rosa Open Space Preserve. So the network of trails is quite extensive. (Link to Town of Los Gatos page with pdf files of these three trail maps. Link to Google Maps map of Blossom Hill Trails, drawn by Jim Handy.)

The Heintz’s big, old farmhouse has been renovated and is being lived in.  Ralph Heintz’s old workshop, the Ramohs Laboratory, is preserved with signs explaining the history of the place nearby.

Summerhill Homes did a nice job of developing the land to keep some of the historic character.  Please enjoy the slideshow below to get a feel for the area…. This scenic spot is well worth a visit: enjoy!

There are only five streets that make up Heritage Grove:  Regent Drive, Regent Court, Ayala Court, Ramohs Way, and Heintz Court. Regent Drive is a long loop road while the rest of the streets are quite short, so the vast majority of Heritage Grove homes are on Regent Drive.

How big are Heritage Grove homes and lots?

The size of houses and lots within Heritage Grove varies a bit, as you might expect in any subdivision, but additionally there’s the historic Heintz farmhouse.

The farmhouse is appx 4100 square feet and sits on 3/4 of an acre (31,000 sf lot).

The rest of the neighborhood consists of newer homes on smaller lots. The houses range from about 2850 square feet to about 3750 square feet.  Parcels of land may be as small as 10,000 SF (appx 1/4 acre) to as large as 25,000 SF (a little more than a half acre).

What does it cost to buy a home in Heritage Grove?

There are a lot of variables here!

Potential ingredients to make a home more affordable would be smaller home, smaller lot, proximity to Blossom Hill Road, a backyard or home with another higher up (and “looking in” – a lack of privacy).

Raising the value of the home would be things like a view, having open space or a large lot adjacent (less crowded feeling), being further into the development, having a larger home, larger lot, three car garage.

Historically, prices have gone from over $1,000,000 to under $2,500,000.  The most recent solds in Heritage Grove have been for about $1.7 million for homes on the smaller side that sold in 2007 or 2008.

Other items of note:

Regent Drive rises as it gets away from Blossom Hill Road; many of the homes nearest to the Heintz Open Space Preserve enjoy nice views of Santa Clara County and downtown San Jose in the distance.

Heritage Grove is a great commute location as it’s close to Union Avenue, which provides fast access to highway 85.

It’s also close to shopping – the Downing Oaks Center, which includes a Safeway, a local (non chain) coffee house, a restaurant, and other services, is less than a mile away.

Heritage Grove is served by the Union School District and the Campbell Union High School District.  Schools are Alta Vista or Noddin Elementary,  Union Middle School, and Leigh High School.

Between Los Gatos-Almaden Road and Ross Creek sits an eclectic east Los Gatos neighborhood, a county pocket, featuring a view of the hills where you can find a little bit of everything.

The homes built on Loma Vista Avenue, Linda Avenue, El Gato Lane and part of Escobar Avenue were first constructed in the 1940s, with many more filling out the neighborhood in the mid 50s.

They were three subdivisions initially:

• El Gato Terrace
• the Loma Vista Tract
• Rancho Padre (Rancho Padre is the one closest to the creek).

(Please note: these are not part of Blossom Hill Manor, which begins on the adjacent Longwood Drive.)

El Gato Terrace (light blue), Loma Vista (yellow) and Rancho Padre (purple) - click on image to go to live Google Map

Many of the first houses built are really more like cottages or bungalows, modest 2 bedroom, 1 bath homes with less than 800 square feet. Later, homes built were 1100 to 1300 square feet, many of them 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.  All of them enjoyed deep lots of at least 8000 square feet.  Some are bigger parcels, though, especially properties closest to the creek.  Some homes enjoy not just a main house, but additionally a guest cottage too.

The area is semi-rurual, with no sidewalks in most or all of the three subdivisions.

The area is convenient as well as scenic. From this neighborhood, it’s only about one mile to Vasona Lake County Park or to the shopping area of east Los Gatos along Los Gatos Blvd and Blossom Hill Road.  It’s less than 2 miles to get onto either of our nearby freeways, too (convenient, but not noisy!).

I have taken some photos of typical homes in this neighborhood and hope you enjoy them.  

A week or two ago I stopped by to see a luxury home on the real estate broker’s tour in Los Gatos – a fantastic estate on an enormous parcel with an expansive view over Lake Vasona County Park, the hills and so much greenery.

It was an overcast day with some intermittent drizzle and sprinkles, but clear enough to provide visibility for this infrequently enjoyed vantage. Take in this vista of the lake, the dam and Mount Sombroso in the background which is seldom seen except by a small group of fortunate residents perched on Wild Way.

Vasona Lake from Hillside above University Avenue from backyard of residence on Wild Way - view spot not open to the public

Yesterday I was showing homes in Almaden (San Jose 95120) to one of my buyers for that area.  A house in the Shadowbrook neighborhood had a really spectacular view of the hills from the upstairs bedrooms – could not resist snapping the picture to share.

If you are not familiar with this part of Silicon Valley, that’s Mt. Umunhum with the squarish building on top.

A few months back, I took an image of these same hills from the campus of Valley Christian High School.  You can see it in this post on this same blogsite:
View from Valley Christian High School: Santa Teresa Foothills & Coastal Range On that one you can spot Mt. Umunhum as the area with the flat top along the crest of the hills.

Want to learn more about this upscale, scenic part of San Jose (in Santa Clara County)? Read an intro post: What Are the Advantages of Buying a Home in Almaden Valley?

More posts on Almaden Valley, the Almaden real estate market etc. here.

I’ve been selling real estate for 18 years, full time, in Silicon Valley. Until recently I had never seen a dampwood termite in this area but a few months ago I caught sight of  a dead one at the Almaden Winery neighborhood (on the Cambrian and Almaden border) when our pest inspector, Miguel Torres from Thrasher Termite, noticed it.  Luckily there were no live dampwoods to be found! I thought it was a weird fluke.

Fast forward a few months, and  again this week I saw first the much smaller,  immature dampwoods (so I didn’t recognize them, but suspected that they were termites of some kind as they were coming out of rotting wood) and a few days later saw the large and now mature dampwood termites swarming in the same location in Belgatos Park, Los Gatos, close to where my family and I live. Initially I thought they were strange moths as there was a lot of flapping motion, but on closer look I could see that they were indeed termites and they were big!!!

We normally don’t see the dampwood type of termite on the Santa Clara Valley floor (usually subterranean and drywood 0nly).  Normally the dampwoods tend to live  in the Santa Cruz Mountain communities (and places where it’s much damper), so I hope that this isn’t a new trend to be concerned about – either way, though, I thought you’d like to see what they look like and to be aware of the fact that it is possible to have them in San Jose or Los Gatos real estate.  I know, I’ve seen them myself!


Related reading:

Would You Recognize Signs of Subterranean Termites If You Saw Them?

What Is Cellulose Debris (in a pest or termite report)?

How Often Should You Get A Termite Inspection?

Today I was previewing a home in downtown San Jose near San Jose State and did a few other errands in the area.  My course ran me past the big sign where “San Pedro Square” usually beckons, but today instead it was ready for the playoffs and proclaimed San Jose Sharks.

The Camden Community Center is located in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, close to the intersection of Camden and Union Avenues (SJ 95124).  This may be the most under-appreciated recreation venue in Silicon Valley, so I wanted to give it a plug!

Stop by and you’ll find that it is a fabulous resource whether you want to work out daily, rent a room for a big party, sign up for a class, walk your dog (just cleanup after!)  or attend a community event.  My kids took “hula dancing” there when they were very young, amongst other things, and a year or two ago we visited to catch a travelling exhibit about colons. (There was a giant plastic model of one which you could walk through. Yes, really.)

The sprawling campus sports nice, newer buildings, an indoor pool, a huge grassy field, a playground, attractive landscaping and plenty of parking – it is a pleasant place in which to spend some time.  It’s also home to some funky art – a giant metal sculpture of a hand (and a hand inside another one) as if to wave hello.  (Maybe the same artist decorated the outside of the parking garage at the San Jose Mineta International Airport?).

When & where?

Open daily except Sunday, so stop by and check out the offerings. The center is located at 3369 Union Avenue, just off Camden (and behind the Lucky’s shopping center). Telephone 408 559-8553.  If you’re travelling by bus, you’ll want to use the 37 or 62 lines.  Open Monday through Friday 8:30am to 8pm, Saturdays 9am to 1pm.

Check out all of the offerings at the Camden Community Center’s website.

Close to the Los Gatos border sits one of the more affordable Cambrian neighborhoods in San Jose and the west valley generally.  It enjoys lovely views of the hills, great public schools with high API scores, a neighborhood private school to boot, and convenient access to freeways and stores.  There’s no sign, marker or gateway to the area, so many of its residents are probably unaware that the official name to it is Cambrian Gardens.

This neighborhood provides an incredible “bang for the buck” for home buyers wanting excellent schools and not wanting to pay luxury home pricing.  In many ways, it’s a “sleeper” – meaning that many people don’t know it’s there, but it’s a good deal!

Where is the Cambrian Gardens area of Cambrian?

The rough borders are Union Avenue, Los Gatos-Almaden Road, Leigh Avenue, and the West Valley Freeway (85).

Not everything within that area is part of the tracts which make up Cambrian Gardens, though. It was developed just south of and directly adjacent to the Cambrian Park area which is so well known, but now separated from it by the freeway. (Click image or here to see live map in Google.)

Cambrian Garden Landmarks

Homes built in this part of Silicon Valley were clustered around the later-built neighborhood public school (bordered by Clarinda, Laurinda, Emeline and Sandy), James De Voss, which is now leased out as a private one, the Global School, as well as Little Oak Preschool. The other major landmark to the neighborhood is Ross Creek, which slides through the middle. With it come frogs, egrets, ducks and other wildlife which are generally welcome.

What are houses like in the Cambrian Gardens neighborhood?

The property was subdivided, developed and built beginning in the late 1950s.  Most sections were completed by the early 60s but one part (Mise and Stuckey) came much later and houses there a bit larger.

Typically, the original construction consisted of smaller ranch style houses on about 6000 square foot lots with 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and anywhere from 1100 to 1600 square feet. (Most common: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 1200- 1300 SF.) Most lots have a frontage of about 60 feet with lots going back about 100 feet.

Since there were several builders, there are likewise several designs. At the same time, though, most were built within a few years of one another so basic features tend to be similar.Fireplaces, front porches, sliding glass doors to back patios, the use of tile, hardwood and abundant windows are all hallmarks of these homes.

Kitchens: a real estate trend of that era was “galley” style kitchens with a breakfast nook area or eat-in kitchen so that’s predominantly what you’ll find here. Some houses have both a formal dining area (dining “L” or combined living-dining room) as well as a breakfast room. Cabinets were often built under soffits, so if remodeling, it’s easy to get more storage by simply bringing the cabinets down directly from the ceiling.

Bathrooms: As with other construction of that vintage, bathrooms were built with efficiency in mind and are compact. The hall bath usually has a shower over the tub and the master bath includes a stall shower in most cases. (The latter often has a built in cabinet next to the shower which could be “blown out” to make a bigger stall shower.)

Houses are set fairly far back on the lot, which was typical for the time in which these properties were built.  For buyers with an eye to expansion, this means there’s room to add on in front (some build up, some build out when adding on).

Garage & laundry: Laundry is usually in the garage.  Most properties have an attached 2 car garage, but one builder provided an option that enabled purchasers to elect a 1 car garage + family or bonus room (and also to have an inside laundry room). A lot of houses have an extra wide side yard just off the garage, which appears to have been intended to function as an area for a drying line.

The majority, if not all of these houses, were built with hardwood floors (all but kitchen and bathrooms in most cases) and forced air heat (but again, one builder used wall heaters – though most of those have since been upgraded by later owners to forced air heating). They are almost exclusively on raised foundations, not slab (exception that I’m aware of being the “bonus” option on the 1 or 2 car garage design, where the family or bonus room is on slab – the rest of the house on a perimeter or raised foundation).

A challenge with some designs in the area is a shortage of closet space (for what we are used to today).  To reclaim some interior space for closets, some homeowners move the furnace from an interior space to either the garage or attic, thus adding another closet.  Others add on to the house, build “organizers” in the existing closets and have other ways of minimizing their need for more.

In looking through the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, or CCRs, I was surprised to see the name McKeon twice listed out of three names for those who subdivided this area.  The McKeons are best known in this area for the many, many fourplexes that dot Santa Clara County.  (There were several builders, though.)

What about the schools?

This area is not all served by the same public elementary schools.  One section, north of Ross Creek, has attendance at Carlton Elementary and the other, south of Ross Creek, at Alta Vista. Both are extremely well regarded.  (Please see the boundary map for the Union School District online.) All attend Union Middle School and Leigh High School.  Here are the numbers for the API Report numbers for 2010:

• Carlton: 930 API
• Alta Vista 938 API
• Union Middle 892 API
• Leigh High 817 API

What do homes cost in Cambrian Gardens?

Naturally there is a range of size, condition, and sale type (regular sale vs short sale or bank owned) and those all influence resale value or market value.  Additionally, there are more and less desirable areas: Leigh and Los Gatos-Almaden Road are much busier than more interior streets such as Kenlar, Tilden, or Nerissa (which has no through traffic at all).  And, of course, homes that are very close to the freeway will be louder and that also impacts a buyer’s probable value for the home.

Disclaimers aside, at this time prices are running mostly in the 500s and 600s with exceptions for the extremes one way or the other (big additions or homes needing a lot of work in a less desirable area). You can check on the current Cambrian real estate market conditions here.

Overall, it’s an inexpensive area for the quality of the schools and is a great choice for people who want to live either in the Alta Vista neighborhood or perhaps closer to Carlton Elementary (such as in the King Streets or El Gato Terrace areas) but don’t want to spend that much.

See photo slide show of San Jose’s Cambrian Gardens area

Just listed: Beautiful, updated & remodeled Cambrian Gardens home on oversized lot!
Beautiful Cambrian Home, Large Lot, Alta Vista School, Affordable Price!