By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

When Alicia Tuvell was asked to become president of Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR), she thought about it a long time. It’s a five year commitment and it takes away time from the business and the family.

“It’s a longtime commitment, but I decided to take the challenge, said Tuvell. ” It’s going good. I really like what’s going on in the business beside talking to agents.”

The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors is a non profit trade association comprising 3,000 Realtors and affiliates from Atherton to Los Gatos. The board of directors of the Association are elected by membership vote and the president is appointed by the members.

Tuvell has been a realtor with Seville Properties since 1981. The original founders of Seville eventually brought their children into the business and Alice Nuzzo tutored Tuvell the foundations of the realty profession.

Charlene Geers, also an original Seville founder, can’t lay enough praise on Tuvell. “I look at her as a mother would.” Geers said.

Tuvell has been a Los Altos realtor with Coldwell Banker since Seville Properties was purchased by Coldwell Banker last year. In her 20-plus years selling homes in the Los Altos area she has some credible observations.

“We are an unique area with no place to expand. With no place to build and a desire to live here, it creates a demand,” Tuvell said. “Prices are always high here, but now the traditional buyer of a house has a great opportunity with interest rates down and more time to look at property. “

Tuvell said the future market will be less associated with the stock market and more normal appreciation will take place.

Being president of Silvar requires travel and attending meetings in other venues.

Tuvell travels to Sacramento, CAR three times a year, and visits NAR (National Association of Realtors) twice a year.

“The general public does not understand or see the benefits realtor associations do,” Tuvell said. “They give the realtor a code of ethics, a better understanding of the industry and provide tools to do the job better.

“What the public doesn’t understand is we offer lobbying for people’s rights. Our knowledge of realtor transactions provide protection for the property owners,” Tuvell said.

Volunteering to help others is one of the main reasons Tuvell is so active in the business. The Silicon Valley Realtors Charitable Foundation is a trust that makes donations to local non-profits by its members.

Volunteerism is not dead for Tuvell. She believes it’s important to give something back to the industry and the community.

Her five-year commitment is another means of expressing her volunteerism for the community and the people who live in it.