Business & Real Estate

We like to think that the real estate market is very rational, based on need and desire, practical and coherent. Time and time again, we learn that it just isn’t true. It happens on both a micro and macro level, a transactional level and across the market: Decisions are made based on the new realities buyers and sellers perceive.

Town Crier File Photo

The downtown Open Streets program in Los Altos is scheduled to continue through the end of September.

Los Altos is not expected to extend the Open Streets program – that closes a portion of Main and State streets in downtown Los Altos from Thursdays through Sundays – beyond the end of September, Councilwoman Jeannie Bruins said in a council meeting Tuesday (Sept. 9). The program is set to expire Sept. 28.

Marie Godderis/Town Crier

The Village Pantry co-owner Julie Ogilvie said she has been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week to keep the business going.

The reopening of several local businesses this summer has been a lifeline for some, but the economic hardships tied to COVID-19 continue to pose challenges for others. Among them: The Village Pantry, a family-owned Los Altos coffee shop established in 1947.

Los Altos

4388 El Camino Real No. 198, H. Ki to Barez-Hoveyda Family Trust for $860,000
444 Fir Lane, Jonekait Family Trust to Mic 2017 Trust for $3,254,000
1065 Fremont Avenue, C. & P. Leininger
to Bollineni Family Trust for $3,465,000
10305 Kenbar Road, Tibbs Trust to C. Sauer for $2,850,000
23151 Mora Glen Drive, Delmar Trust to Freiha Family Trust for $4,670,000
169 E. Portola Avenue, A. Kikinis to S. & D. Menestrina for $3,100,000
1011 Runnymead Court, Kerstein Trust to J. Ngiam for $3,452,000
1271 Saint Joseph Avenue, J. Taylor to G. & N. Phatnani for $2,910,000
325 San Luis Avenue, M. Kivett to I. & A. Dron for $2,585,000
419 San Luis Avenue, Campitelli Family Trust to Sukumar Family Trust for $4,450,000

Courtesy of Compass

Bill Lewis’ agents at Compass gave him a socially distanced send-off for his retirement with a caravan of nearly 100 decorated cars Aug. 26.

Bill Lewis, vice president and office manager of Compass in Los Altos, is retiring after nearly 40 years of serving the local real estate community.

Do you wish you had invested in Zoom when it went public last year? Or Cisco in 1990? What about Qualcomm, which is up nearly 10,000% since its inception in 1991? I can’t begin to tell you how many times I hear that regretful refrain from investors, particularly when it comes to tech stocks. Yet nobody talks about the failures. That’s probably because they’re no longer around. Lest you think that you can’t go wrong purchasing new tech stocks, here’s a brief reminder.