Getting ready to buy
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Looking for a home
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Making your purchase
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Moving
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Tips for Buyers
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Free reports
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| School Reports
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Buy a Home in Los Gatos!
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Selling And Buying:
How to Manage Both?
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Almaden Homes
Up to $1,000,000
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Almaden Homes
$1 - $2,000,000
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Almaden Homes
$2,000,000 +
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Cambrian Homes
Up To $1,000,000
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Cambrian Homes
Over $1,000,000
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Los Gatos Homes
Up To $1,000,000
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Los Gatos Homes
$1 - $2,000,000
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Los Gatos Homes
$2 - $3,000,000
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Los Gatos Homes
$3 - $5,000,000
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Los Gatos Homes
$5,000,000 +
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Monte Sereno Homes
(all prices)
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Mary's Book
on Home Selling
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Buyer's links
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Buying a Home In Los Gatos? Get Started Here!
 Interested in buying a home in Los Gatos? Of course you will want to see what are the Los Gatos homes for sale, but you need to know much more than that to protect your investment!
Below you'll have a Los Gatos Homebuyer's Starting Guide - here's a quick list of what follows:
1 - Three ways to find Los Gatos homes for sale
2 - Where to get the latest Los Gatos real estate market data,
stats, trends (and automated home values by map)
3 - Helpful links to Los Gatos school borders, test scores and more
4 - Links to information on Los Gatos neighborhoods
5 - More "location" links and discussion on town boundaries (with map)
6 - How to find additional information on the town, its history, photos of Los Gatos, government links, and much more
7 - An invitation for assistance beyond what this page or any systems can offer: please contact me!
Let's get you started now!
Find Los Gatos Homes for Sale
MLS Info for Los Gatos Houses, Condos, and Townhomes
There are several ways you can view Los Gatos real estate and Los Gatos homes for sale on this site.
(1) Browse listings by price point - this is great for "just looking":
Los Gatos Homes for Sale Under $1,000,000
Los Gatos Homes for Sale Between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000
Los Gatos Homes for Sale Between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000
Los Gatos Homes for Sale Between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000
Los Gatos Homes for Sale $5,000,000 and More
(2) View listings by map - a great way to get "the big picture" and to see what homes cost in areas you prefer! This requires no registration (unless you want to "save" information and come back to it later). Here's the link: Find Silicon Valley Homes for Sale by Map. Simply zoom in with your mouse to get Los Gatos homes for sale, Sartoga homes for sale, etc..
 (3) Private MLS Search with Organizer - This is a powerful tool that enables you to not just see homes for sale but also to receive automatic MLS updates for anywhere in Silicon Valley, including Los Gatos, Saratoga, San Jose and all of Santa Clara County. Save favorite homes, delete others, mark your favorites and add comments - extremely useful when used as a "shared tool" between buyers. Give your self or your partner a memory jog "this one had the incredible view" or "there was a sports court on the side". Sign up for it here and I will get it started for you and put it on automatic within a short while. (Another benefit - you can tell me how often you'd like to get this info, whether as much as 4 times a day or only once a week.)
Los Gatos Real Estate Market Trends, Statistics,
Data and Home Values: Key to Making a Wise Purchase!
 Los Gatos Real Estate Market Trends & Statistics This is an extremely detailed, interactive site which has sales numbers (using sold data) going back monthly until 2001. This is a "must use tool" that will help you to make better financial decisions to protect your real estate investments. This site also includes not just Los Gatos, but every city in Santa Clara County - Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Campbell, San Jose, etc. - as well as areas within San Jose like Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen and so on. Spend some time there and you will be very happy with the wealth and depth of information available on the Los Gatos and Silicon Valley real estate market!
 Check out Los Gatos pending sales of homes, active listings, and recently sold homes automatically on same site as above and view with Los Gatos Market Activity Report (automated, no registration, view listing & sales activity by map anywhere in Santa Clara County) This will give you an approximate idea comparable homes and will give you a sense of your Los Gatos Home Value.
Commentary and more updates: My blog, Live in Los Gatos, in which one of my frequent topics for posting is the housing market. To see a list of these articles on the Los Gatos realty market, please click here: Los Gatos Homes and Housing Market.
Los Gatos Schools, Los Gatos Neighborhoods
& Boundaries
 Los Gatos Schools - The town of Los Gatos is not all within the same public school district. This can come as a surprise to people. There are two types of districts - the high school district and the elementary and middle school district.
Much of Los Gatos is in the Los Gatos School District and the Los Gatos Saratoga Joint Union High School District. In east Los Gatos, some of the homes belong to the Union School District (part Los Gatos, part San Jose) and the Campbell Union High School District. On the northwest side of town, some homes are in the Moreland School District and Campbell Union High School District. The Los Gatos Union School District has a school locator map online that will give you an idea of those outlying boundaries as well as the boundaries within the district for the particular schools (subject to change). The Los Gatos Mountain communities have their own elementary school district, Lakeside Joint School District, and the children there attend Los Gatos High. Recently they've had some strange issues with bussing, which you can research a little here.
School Reports - API Scores, SAT Scores, and more - this is important information for homeowners whether they have children who will attend the schools or not because it's a big factor in resale value. Get information on the schools here.
Although all the public schools in Los Gatos are good (and some rate as "great"), a surprisingly high percentage of Los Gatos children attend private schools.
Los Gatos Neighborhood InformationNews and Information on Los Gatos Neighborhoods (series of posts in Live in Los Gatos blog, detailing areas such as the historic districts, places that are close to schools and shops, those near downtown and more.
Los Gatos has a myriad of neighborhoods, each with their own histories and personalities. Several are blogged about on "Live in Los Gatos". Here's a partial list of regions, subdivisions and neighborhoods in Los Gatos:
 Almond Grove District, Alta Vista neighborhood, Aztec Ridge, Bella Vista, Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos & Surmont areas of east Los Gatos, Blackberry Hill, Blossom Manor, Broadway, East Los Gatos vs West Los Gatos, Cameo Park West (a Leep subdivision which is actually in Campbell but has a Los Gatos mailing address), Carlton Estates, Civic Center area of Los Gatos, College Park, Daves Avenue area, El Gato Terrace (El Gato Road area off Los Gatos-Almaden Road), Edelen District, English Oaks (on and near Bicknell Road), Fairview Plaza, Forbes Mill area (the original area where the town began), Glenridge (historic, gracious, beautiful old estates), Greenwood area (part Monte Sereno, part county), Harwood Estates, Harwood Road, Heritage Grove, Hicks Road, Hillbrook, Kennedy Estates (newer subdivision off Kennedy Road), La Rinconada and La Rinconada Country Club areas, Overlook Road area, Quito Road area, Roberts Road areas (Roberts is on both sides of Hwy 17), Santa Rosa Heights, Shannon Valley Ranch (new estates on huge lots), Sierra Azule, St. Joseph's Hill (and Jones Road trail area), Strathmore, Surrey Farms, Town Terrace, Twin Creeks, Vasona Terrace, Vasona Junction, Verde Glen, Vista del Monte, Wedgewood Manor, Westchester Manor and others Also you may view an entire website dedicated to Belwood of Los Gatos, Belgatos and Surmont here.
More on Los Gatos Locations Where, Exactly, is Los Gatos? (How far is it from Los Gatos to the beach? How far is it from Los Gatos to San Jose? How far is it from Los Gatos to San Francisco or Los Angeles?)
What Types of Houses or Homes are Found in Los Gatos? - post on Valley of Hearts Delight blog with photos
What To Consider When Buying a Hillside Home in Silicon Valley - post on Valley of Hearts Delight
Los Gatos information on the Community Info page - basic info here on PopeHandy.com.
Where are the Borders or Boundaries for Los Gatos?
The shape of the town is very odd, but more importantly, can lead to confusion when homebuying. Have a look:
 Trying to define the boundaries on a web page's map is beyond challenging because there's so much zigging and zagging. To the north is San Jose and Cambrian Park, to the west is Saratoga, to the south the pass to Santa Cruz and to the east are Blossom Valley and points "south" on Hwy 85. Easier, I think, for online purposes is a map with areas generally identified:
Another map issue Los Gatos homebuyers should know about is that not every home with a Los Gatos mailing address is actually in the town of Los Gatos. Most homes are, but some are county pockets (so not served by the town police department and unable to vote in the town elections). And there are a few strange areas where the homes are actually in San Jose or Campbell, but were assigned a Los Gatos mailing address by the post office! These areas are often unclear on maps, but there are ways to find out where they are (and highly experienced agents are knowledgeble about them too.)
More then just the town's boundaries, you will want to know where many important boundaries in Los Gatos exist: zip codes, school district borders, unstable soils zones, earthquake fault zones, flood plains, dam inundation zones, and more. This is a tool that many real estate professionals use called a Barclay's Locaide, but you can buy one too. It can be found at Border's or via the Realtors bookstores. Contact me if you need more information on finding it.
Also of Interest to Los Gatos Residents
If you are curious about Los Gatos, live here now, or want to consider living in Los Gatos, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog. It has a huge array of information. Or if you'd rather browse by topic:
Los Gatos History (Live in Los Gatos blog)
Los Gatos, The Gateway to Silicon Valley (Valley of Hearts Delight blog)
Photos of Los Gatos (Live in Los Gatos)
Famous Residents of Los Gatos (past & present)
Why Live in Los Gatos? blog post on why Los Gatans love their town
Slideshows of Los Gatos - photos and slideshows of downtown Los Gatos, Los Gatos parks, views from Los Gatos...
Other nearby areas: Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park - please see another blog of mine which covers a broader area of the West Valley areas of Silicon Valley, my Valley of Hearts Delight Blog.
Other links:
Town of Los Gatos official government website - huge portal with a wealth of information
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce website (great calendar of local events)
The Los Gatos Observer - an online news source all about Los Gatos
Belwood of Los Gatos - a site I host about my neighborhood in east Los Gatos
Move2SiliconValley.com - another site I host which focuses on relocation
Please also read the rest of this site's information on homebuying and visit Live in Los Gatos frequently.
Getting Started - Buy a Los Gatos HomeThere are many things to consider when homebuying, and each town or city in Silicon Valley has its own unique angles that must be understood and appreciated in order to make good home buying decisions. (There are many decisions beyond which home to buy - negotiating the price, the repairs, timeframes and many other things.) You'll want to get fully educated, and by reading this page and following many of the links, you're off to a good start!
 No online information can replace the experience and knowledge of a seasoned, experienced, local Realtor. There are lots of agents but not all live in Los Gatos, sell in Los Gatos and have many years' experience to guide you in this very important transaction. I am a Los Gatos resident & Los Gatos Realtor and I can assist you to translate the data into knowlege to make this your best move.
Whether you're ready to buy now or wanting to buy in the future, I'd be happy to assist you in that process. If you would like a free, one-hour, confidential, no pressure consultation about your real estate plans - your wants, questions, needs, hopes and desires - please call or email me to request an appointment.
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