Saratoga Real Estate Agent
Saratoga splits among four elementary districts and two sewer districts. Representation that starts with the exact address.
Lisa M. Lum is a Saratoga real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Saratoga covers roughly 12 square miles at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the southwest corner of Santa Clara County.
The terrain rises from the flatlands to oak-studded hillsides at the mountain edge. Saratoga Village, along Big Basin Way, preserves a 19th-century commercial district of restaurants, wine bars and art galleries. The Saratoga farmers market operates Wednesdays.
Hakone Estate and Gardens, dating to 1917, sits in the foothills above the Village. Outside the Village, the city is largely residential.
Neighborhoods run from the flatland Golden Triangle and Blue Hills to foothill areas such as Saratoga Hills and Parker Ranch. Several communities, including Parker Ranch, Bellgrove, The Vineyards and Montewood, have their own HOAs.
Lot size, tree protections and the sewer district can change within a short drive.
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 Saratoga home
A Saratoga sale has its own paperwork. The city has two local disclosures on the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS list.
The first is the sewer and septic transfer ordinance. A home within 200 feet of an available public sewer must be connected before transfer, and a home farther away needs its private septic system inspected.
The second is the occupancy inspection, though detached single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses are exempt. Knowing which rule applies to your property belongs at the start of the timeline.
Lisa prices from comparable sales in your neighborhood. A flatland ranch home in the Golden Triangle and a foothill home in Saratoga Hills call for different comparisons.
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 protected tree needs work and the defensible-space exception does not apply, the removal permit includes a 15-day appeal notice to neighbors within 150 feet, so plan it well before photography.
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 Saratoga
Start with the school district. Saratoga is split among four K-8 districts by address: Saratoga Union, Cupertino Union, Campbell Union and Moreland.
Confirm both the K-8 and high school assignment for the exact address with the districts before you write an offer.
Next, read the zoning. The R-1 zone has five sub-districts, with minimum lots from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet.
Citywide, a single-family home is capped at 6,000 square feet of floor area, excluding a detached garage or accessory structure. Any second-story addition or new two-story home needs Design Review approval, so confirm your plans with the City of Saratoga Planning Division before you sign.
Trees matter early. The city protects all trees at 10 inches in diameter and native trees, such as coast live oak, at 6 inches, and removal generally requires a City Tree Removal Permit.
Since March 2026, the city allows trees within 5 feet of the home to be removed for wildfire defensible space without public notification, provided the homeowner maintains a non-flammable zone. Confirm which rule applies with the City of Saratoga before you plan any work.
Hillside parcels in the HR zone commonly carry private road easements, so read the title report closely. If the home is a designated historic property, ask how the city’s Mills Act program applies, and treat the tax effect as a question for your tax advisor.
For the full picture of the market, see the Saratoga community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Saratoga neighborhoods served
- Saratoga HillsMid-century and newer estate homes on quarter-acre to multi-acre lots in the western foothills, near Hakone Gardens.
- Parker RanchA foothill planned development of about 80 homes, begun in 1980, with an HOA design review committee.
- The Golden TriangleMid-century single-story ranch homes on flat lots, with substantial teardown-and-rebuild activity over the past decade.
- Blue HillsMid-century homes on larger lots in eastern Saratoga, within Cupertino Union School District attendance.
- BellgroveA smaller planned development of Mediterranean-style homes, with HOA-maintained gates and landscaping.
- Saratoga VillageOlder single-family homes and condominiums within walking distance of Big Basin Way.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Saratoga community guide.
