Silicon Valley real estate, explained by the Property Nerds®

San Mateo has two Eichler neighborhoods, and they follow different rules. 19th Avenue Park is inside the City of San Mateo. The San Mateo Highlands, in the hills to the west, is unincorporated county land with San Mateo mailing addresses. That one difference changes the closing costs, the tenant rul

Is Palo Alto walkable? It depends on where you live in it. The city has two downtowns, University Avenue and California Avenue, and each sits next to a Caltrain station. Homes within a short walk of those centers are a small share of what’s for sale. Here’s what we measured on October 18, 2026, and

Los Altos and Cupertino are close neighbors in western Santa Clara County, about 6 miles apart center to center, and part of Los Altos is in Cupertino’s school districts. Neither has a train station and neither adds a city transfer tax; the differences are in their downtowns, zoning and housing. Her