Business & Real Estate

Social Security is one of the few retirement pensions whose annual payments increase over time based on actual inflation. Few other private or public pensions provide this valuable benefit. Neither do annuities.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Menlo Technologies Inc., a high-tech company founded by Los Altos native Gary Prioste, recently moved its offices from Santa Clara to downtown Los Altos, above.

Moving Menlo Technologies Inc. from Santa Clara to downtown Los Altos has enabled CEO and founder Gary Prioste to shorten his commute and expand his company.

“I can’t say it’s centrally located for all of our employees – a lot of them are in the South Bay or Santa Cruz,” said the Menlo Park resident, who grew up in Los Altos. “But for a few of us living farther up north, this is a better location.”

With help from a $1 million donation from the Realtors Relief Foundation, the California Association of Realtors is awarding housing assistance grants to homeowners and renters affected by the Camp, Woolsey and Hill fires. Grants are distributed through the association’s Housing Affordability Fund and Disaster Relief Fund.

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