Los Gatos Real Estate Agent
Victorian streets near Main Street and hillside lots toward the Santa Cruz Mountains follow different rules. Representation that knows which ones apply to your parcel.
Lisa M. Lum is a Los Gatos real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, based at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Los Gatos was incorporated in 1887 and sits at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Downtown, along Main Street and North Santa Cruz Avenue, late 19th-century buildings hold restaurants, wine bars and galleries. The Town has designated historic districts, including Almond Grove, Broadway, University-Edelen and Fairview Plaza.
The town covers roughly 11 square miles. Terrain runs from downtown flatlands and areas near Los Gatos Boulevard to hillside subdivisions climbing toward the mountains.
Vasona Lake County Park adds 151 acres of waterfront recreation. The Los Gatos Creek Trail runs from the lake through downtown into the foothills.
Beyond town limits, unincorporated mountain properties carry Los Gatos postal addresses. Lisa helps you see how historic review, hillside standards and the parcel’s location bear on a home before you set a price.
Meet Lisa M. Lum
Lisa is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the brokerage’s Menlo Park office at 1706 El Camino Real. She has been licensed in California since 2018 (DRE #02005150) and studied Legal Studies at UC Berkeley.
More about Lisa →Selling your Los Gatos home
Selling in Los Gatos starts with where your home sits. A Victorian in Almond Grove and a home near Belgatos Park answer to different comparable sales, and Lisa prices from the ones in your neighborhood.
Los Gatos has no city-specific disclosure ordinance on the county REALTOR association’s list, and no point-of-sale sewer lateral requirement. State and county disclosures still apply.
If your home is in a Town-designated historic district, discuss how to disclose that status on the seller property questionnaire.
Through her Home Refresh program, Lisa manages the vendors for repairs, paint, staging and curb appeal, and you approve every estimate before work begins.
Home Refresh also covers a pre-listing inspection and a disclosure package. If a tree has to come out, a removal permit is valid for 90 days and requires replacement plantings, so time it ahead of photography.
Some owners of historic homes ask about the Mills Act. The Town voted in 2022 to move toward a program, and its current status is a question for Community Development, with any tax effect a question for your tax advisor.
Lisa manages the marketing, showings and negotiations. When offers arrive, she reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing.
Go deeper: the Home Refresh program.
Lisa’s guide
The Home Refresh Guide
How Lisa prepares a home before it goes to market, from the pre-listing inspection to staging.
Buying a home in Los Gatos
Begin with schools. Most of Los Gatos is served K-8 by Los Gatos Union School District, and the southern mountain communities fall under Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary School District.
Both feed the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District. Near the boundary in the foothills, assignment can change from one parcel to the next. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
Zoning comes next. The R-1 zone runs from R-1:8, with an 8,000 square foot minimum lot, to R-1:30, and the HR hillside zone requires 40,000 square feet with a 30-foot height limit.
New hillside homes and major remodels must follow the Town’s Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines, adopted in 2004. In a historic district, exterior changes also go to the Historic Preservation Committee, so check your plans with the Town’s Community Development Department first.
Trees can shape a site plan. On a developed residential lot, removing a protected tree of 12 inches in diameter or more requires a permit, and native oaks, California buckeyes and Pacific madrones count as large protected trees at 24 inches.
Mountain parcels outside town limits commonly rely on private roads and septic systems, with fire defensible-space requirements. Build those into your inspection plan before you compete.
For the full picture of the market, see the Los Gatos community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Los Gatos neighborhoods served
- Almond Grove Historic DistrictVictorian, Craftsman and early 20th-century homes on tree-lined streets, a walk from Main Street.
- BelgatosHomes on quarter-acre to half-acre lots in the eastern hills, beside the trails of Belgatos Park.
- Glen RidgeCraftsman and mid-century homes west of downtown, along Glen Ridge Avenue and the Los Gatos Creek corridor.
- Vasona HeightsSingle-family homes on flat lots near Vasona Lake County Park and Oak Meadow Park.
- Los Gatos MountainsUnincorporated multi-acre parcels in the Santa Cruz Mountains that carry Los Gatos postal addresses.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Los Gatos community guide.
