Business & Real Estate

Mary Larsen/Town Crier
Global Rug Specialist in Mountain View sells rugs by master weavers in Iran as well as other fine wool and silk rugs, above. 

A visit to Global Rug Specialist in Mountain View is a respite from the busyness of El Camino Real.

There are rugs on the walls, rugs on the floor, rugs hanging from the ceiling – each created from thousands of individual knots, each a work of art. A small loom in the showroom displays the highly detailed work involved in the creation of a handmade rug. With a comfortable patio in back, complete with gas fireplace, one would never guess the store’s location.

The year 2018 was one of ebbing expectations. Early in the year the local market was still rather robust with limited inventory and relatively strong demand from buyers. Sellers were still seeing multiple offers – though fewer than last year – and selling prices often exceeded asking prices. This is the model both buyers and sellers had come to expect, the new normal that began in earnest in 2013-2014 as we recovered from the Great Recession.

Then summer arrived. You could almost smell it in the air – buyers had had enough of escalating prices, multiple offers, trying and trying to get a house only to find something that was less than they wanted for more money than they wanted to spend.

Los Altos

1320 Country Club Drive, D. Krogh to Shen & Yeh Trust for $2,450,000

Mountain View

1033 Crestview Drive No. 204, Mei Muching Y Living Trust to M. & W. Liu for $870,000

Courtesy of GoodSocial
GoodSocial is a free online platform created by two local natives that connects people who want to volunteer with nonprofit organizations in their area. GoodSocial’s first interface, pictured above, launched last week with mobile and desktop options. Every user’s main page displays their information, causes and the nonprofits they follow so that fellow volunteers or involved nonprofits can see if they would be a fit for each specific philanthropic opportunity.

Two area natives recently launched GoodSocial, a free online platform that connects people who want to volunteer with nonprofit organizations in need of help, making it easier for the service-minded to engage philanthropically.

GoodSocial aims to fill the gap between the professional, resume-flashing option of LinkedIn and the personal, interest-based options of accepted social media such as Twitter.

Los Altos

370 Chamisal Avenue, Peri Trust to S. & S. Sahni for $4,000,000

1972 Churton Avenue, E. Sanford to S. Reddy for $2,800,000

This year has not been kind to most investment asset classes.

U.S. stocks are negative for the year, international stocks (particularly in emerging markets) have been clobbered, commodities are down and even bonds have been unable to provide a positive return. Coming on the heels of 2017, one of the best years for all asset classes, 2018 feels that much more painful.