Anja Kerstens - Signature Homes and Estates

The Gilroy Garlic Festival

Gilroy's Garlic Festival is only a few days away and anyone who has visited the festival knows that is can be quite an ordeal to get to the festival. Entrance fees are low and parking is free. The only problem one can encounter is the traffic jams on route 101 and in town.

Here are a few suggestions to make the trip to the Garlic Festival a bit more enjoyable:

• If you leave early you shouldn't have a problem; there are nice restaurants where you can have breakfast to kill some time or do some shopping.
  
• You can book a hotel room in town or stay at a local bed and breakfast
• If you are coming from San Jose there are some other ways to get into Gilroy. Consider McKean Road to Uvas Road to Watsonville Road to Hecker Pass Road. Hopefully, you won't have the big bumper to bumper traffic.

We are looking forward to the Gilroy Garlic Festival every single year. People come from far away but we are lucky; we just walk across the street and we are there. The concerts, cook-off, and food is delicious and we always find some interesting crafts that we buy as gifts (Christmas shopping in July). Hope to see you at the Garlic Festival.

Questions or suggestion?

Contact me: anjakerstens@akerstens.com

Appeal your Property Tax Assessment.

This post is in response to the questions I received from readers: "How do I appeal my property tax?" and "My neighbor has been assessed at a much lower value; how can that be?"

The answer to the first question can be found in an earlier post where I help the reader through a step by step process.

The second question is not as easy to answer; there could be different factors.

• They may have appealed their property tax before
• They benefited from Proposition 13 which lets a longtime homeowner transfer their property tax to a new property even though it has a higher tax assessment
• or Proposition 60 which is similar to Proposition 13 but lets the homeowner transfer this tax base to a new property in a different county. However, the destination county must be a participating county.

Cycling in Gilroy.

I have other passions besides Real Estate and cycling is one of them.

I found this great website Bikely, where anyone who is interested in cycling can find a ride that suits their needs and level of comfort or can share a favorite route. You can either plan your route or pick one route from a list.

During the year I usually go on longer bike rides with my girl friends a couple times a week. The distance varies between 15 to 50+ miles depending on our work load, appointments or other commitments. We don't have to get in our cars and drive a distance to enjoy our beautiful surroundings. The weather is not often a cause for cancelation because it is almost always "perfect" except for the Tierra Bella we participated in 2007 when it poured "cats and dogs" all day long. During the summer months I also add some shorter rides with others such as friends and family who are not as seasoned yet.

This ride is short and great for kids

HOW DO YOU APPEAL YOUR PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT?

How do you appeal your property tax assessment? It is easier than you think.

I bet that you and many others like you were in anticipation of the Property Assessed Value Notification Card this year.

Many of my neighbors received a temporary reassessment of their property taxes which shows a sharp decline in their property value, and thus a nice savings in tax payments, which reflects the decrease in real estate value of the last few years. Here in Gilroy that number is about 36%. However, we did not receive THE anticipated decrease and are wondering why we "are so special". The tax assessor's office explains that properties which are similar in quality, size, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, "upgrades" such as patios, pools and additions are all considered in the value assessment.

We are "scratching our heads" so to speak because even though that seems to make sense; it doesn't. For instance many homes in this community are similar in every aspect of the property comparison; even when we assume we are "so special" because we applied for permits for a pool and landscaping doesn't make sense. While I am wondering if that makes a difference I can answer that question. After further investigation I discover that even those with similar homes and upgrades also received temporary tax assessments. Go Figure! Who in the tax assessor's office compares these properties? Is it done manually or it the computer deciding based on certain criteria?

If your property was not reassessed you can take steps to appeal it. It is actually quite simple and there is no need to hire a company to do it for you; at least not yet. Just my 2 cents.

As I mentioned in my earlier post it is quite simple and I don't mind helping you with this for FREE! Yes, for FREE. There isn't much for free anymore but I will offer to help you for FREE! "I can claim that I am an expert!" or can I????

I appealed my Property Tax Assessment on line and included three CMA's (Comparative Market Analysis) to proof my point. In just a few days I received a letter from the helpful people at the tax assessor's office confirming my "informal" appeal and they will review my property below. Now I sit back with my bottle of champagne and "anxiously" await for the new and hopefully reduced assessment of my property.

If I don't need the champagne there is always THE last resort: A formal "Application for Changed Assessment" that needs to be filed with the Clerk of the Board between July 2 and September 15, 2009.

Anja Kerstens - anjakerstens@akerstens.com - http://akerstens.com - DRE#01839597

Life in Eagle Ridge is great!

We are enjoying life here in Eagle Ridge very much.

We are cruising on the "Eagle Ridge Cruise" as some of my neighbors are referring to the many summer month activities. There are many opportunities here for family activities. Not only does Eagle Ridge offer golf, tennis courts, basketball courts, pool, walking and hiking trails, it is also close to beaches, wineries, and shopping.

We planned to go to Malibu on our only family summer vacation this weekend. We were looking forward to this trip, all packed and on our way, however, our oldest who was scheduled to work July 4th was not able to find a sub for his shift. We canceled our trip and returned home unpacked the car and started our vacation in Eagle Ridge.

We are only a short drive away from the beaches in Monterey and Carmel, our favorite beach because we can all be together including our beloved golden retriever. Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk are just a short scenic drive (50 minutes) from Eagle Ridge. The weather was perfect in Carmel yesterday. The waves were great and the dolphins plentiful. Carmel is always a busy place with locals and tourists alike. It offers great dining, lodging and shopping. After a day at the beach we washed up and had dinner on the patio by the fire pit at The Forge at the Forest where they even have a menu for our Golden Retriever.

And just this morning, as we do almost daily, we bike to the new baseball park here in Gilroy an easy 9 mile bike ride.