by Mary Pope-Handy | Apr 6, 2018 | Events, Art and Entertainment, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz & The Coast, Saratoga

Please stop by a Sereno Group office listed below to take part in a FREE e-waste, e-recycling
collection event on Sunday April 21, 2018 9:00AM- 1:00- PM.
A FREE e-waste collection event is being held in 3 area Sereno Group offices on Sunday, April 21, 2013 from 9:30am to 1:30pm:
Where to go to drop off the approved items?
PALO ALTO
Corner of Emerson and Lytton Avenue
LOS ALTOS * SHREDDING AVAILABLE AT THIS LOCATION *
369 S. San Antonio Road (Sereno Office Parking Lot)
LOS GATOS * SHREDDING AVAILABLE AT THIS LOCATION *
214 Los Gatos – Saratoga Road (Sereno Office Parking Lot)
WILLOW GLEN
1425 Lincoln Avenue (WG Elem. School Parking Lot)
SANTA CRUZ
2407 Porter Street (Sereno Office Parking Lot)
What to Bring, what’s accepted:
- Computers / Laptops / Servers
- Televisions / Monitors
- DVD / CD Players
- Fax Machines / Printers
- Copy Machines
- Toner Cartridges
- Speakers / Stereo Equipment
- Rechargeable Batteries
- Telecome Equipment / Telephones / Cell Phones
- Wire / Cabling / Printed Circuit Boards
- Aluminum / Scrap Metal
- Microwave Ovens
Items NOT Accepted:
- Alkaline Batteries
- All Lightbulbs
- DLP TV’s
GreenMouse Recycling shreds and Grey Bears reconfigures all hard drives so no one can access your personal information!
Additional details: https://www.serenogroup.com/Earth-Day-E-Waste-Event
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 20, 2013 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Alum Rock, Alviso (SJ), Berryessa (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Buying Tips, Cambrian Park (SJ), Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Local History, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Los Gatos Mountains, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Relocation, Renter tips, Rose Garden area, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz, Santa Teresa (SJ), Saratoga, Senior Living, Willow Glen (SJ)
If you arrived into Silicon Valley via Highway 101, driving south from San Francisco, you might believe that the Santa Clara Valley, the San Jose area and Silicon Valley as a whole has got to seem to be the ugliest place on earth. Although heavily traveled, that is not the “scenic route”.
So, too, if you are looking for a place to live and are groping to find a place that is reasonably priced, fairly safe and not a terrible commute distance. You might not even have “is nice looking” on your wish list. You might not think it’s possible if all you ever see are the ugly concrete tilt-up buildings in north San Jose, Santa Clara, Alviso, or anywhere along the 237 corridor. That area is an architectural wasteland.
Let me assure you: there are a lot of beautiful places in Silicon Valley where you can rent or buy a home. But how do you find them? It helps a lot to have a local give you a few pointers. I’ll give you some tips today on finding a scenic place to live.
Hills – An easy way to find a scenic location to make your home is to settle near the hills, especially those in the west valley (the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Coastal Range) as they are green year-round. Communities at the base of the west valley foothills include, in Santa Clara County, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, and the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. All of these areas are adjacent to the hills or mountains and offer far better than average schools (many of them qualify as great – compare costs between these areas). (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Oct 14, 2011 | Events, Art and Entertainment, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, Saratoga
Halloween is almost here and it is time to get creative! Sereno’s in on the spirit too. Each year, Sereno Group Real Estate offices in the San Jose and Silicon Valley area have a Halloween pumpkin decorating contest for kids. Winner’s pumpkins (and names of winners if parental permission is received) will be advertised in our local papers after the contest is finished.
Contest Rules:
No Carving
Decorate your own small pumpkin, or pick up a complimentary pumpkin at one of our offices in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Soquel/Santa Cruz, Los Altos, or Palo Alto.
3 age groups: toddler, early elementary, late elementary
All contestants will receive a gift goodie bag
One grand prize per age group, per office, will be awarded
Any carved or punctured pumpkins will be disqualified due to rotting
All entries must be dropped off at your nearest Sereno Group Office by Friday, October 21st at 5pm. Judging will happen the week of October 24th during our regular real estate marketing meeting.
Where and when can you drop off a pumpkin? Please find the office locations and hours below. We are looking forward to seeing some wonderful kids’ creations!
by Mary Pope-Handy | May 1, 2011 | Buying Tips, Inspections, photos, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz & The Coast, Selling Tips
I’ve been selling real estate since 1993, full time, in Silicon Valley. Until recently I had never seen dampwood termites 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 and gave me an education on them. Luckily there were no live dampwood termites 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 dampwood termites (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!!! (more…)