Fremont CA Real Estate

Selling A Home In Fremont CA--Have you considered a proposition?

In a recent blog post, I wrote about a Proposition 60, 90 and 110 client of ours that was denied the claim to transfer their tax to the replacement home.


In short, the replacement home was too expensive for the transfer. The tax assessor will only allow a certain increase in the replacement properties sales price. It was not even close, but we thought we would try. The comment from my client was, "Well, I had to have this house, so it was not even a question." I agree. The replacement house is a beautiful house in the Niles area of Fremont.
In closing, if you are over 55 or disabled and are selling your home in Fremont or any home in California and Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, look into the Props before you plan your move. That is unless you just, "gotta have that house."


0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 31 2009 05:08PM

Fremont CA Short Sales

A client visited with me in my office in Fremont last night. He makes a good income and is capable of buying a home in the Mission San Jose Area of Fremont, which more most is no easy task. As we talked further, he disclosed that he recently got out of a short sale. It closed escrow in August.


If you know just one thing about buying a home it is that the lender will look at your credit and put it into the long equation on the home qualification formula. What do you think his credit showed?


After we both sighed, he authorized me to pull his credit. His credit showed that he now had two "derogs" on the credit report. A derogatory event on a credit report is never a good thing. If someone you know has had or is going through a short sale in California several things will appear in the credit report when it is all over. The first thing they may notice is the highlighted derogs. This will specifically show as three, thirty-day lates on the credit report. It will show as a ninety-day ding. What's more is that say the owner had a first and a second loan, or HELOC, a home equity line of credit, and they were both settled after the short sale closed escrow--now the owner will have two ninety-day dings on their credit report. How does that effect one's FICO score? Say someone had a shining 740 FICO score just prior to all this mess. After all is said and done with the short sale proceedings, their score will be reduced down to a 617 FICO or somewhere thereabouts. Good luck getting a loan with a 617.


Can it get worse? Yup. If the short sale lender recorded an "NOD" (notice of default) against the owner during the "lates" or at anytime during the short sale proceedings, many new lenders (when the short sale seller goes out and tries to get a new loan for another home) will treat this little bit-0-history as a foreclosure against the owner. A foreclosure means no loans period.


In closing, we certainly saw that he had the money and a great job with scores of income. But, because he had to choose the short sale of the prior home, his FICO score went poof. What is good about California is that it is almost impossible for a lender to go after a deficiency judgement for the difference of the loan and taxes. That's good for consumers, but bad in other areas. The lender will report the short sale to the credit bureaus and the ninety-day dings will appear. You cannot have your cake by getting the loan forgiven and the debt reduced to zero and eat it too.
I promised that I would do my due diligence, pull his prior HUD 1 settlement statement too to see if the lender recorded a NOD and call my banks to see what his options are. I will let you know.
0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 29 2009 11:28AM

Real Estate Agent--Fremont CA--Selling a House In Fremont

Once a homeowner decides it is time to sell their house, They'll need to do a few things. First, owners should psychologically become sellers in their actions and in their frame of mind. After this transition, what follows next is that they should find homes that are comparable to theirs. It's usually called a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Lately, Internet companies call them a Home Value Report. Either way, it should contain these things in it:
  • Homes like yours sold in the last 3 months or so
  • Homes like yours pending a sale
  • Homes like yours still on the market and
  • Get the story behind each one.
Then, they should perform a net profit analysis on the sale of their home on a simple excel sheet. And, needless to say, they should have a place to live after they sell the house. They need to be able to afford the change of venue. Somewhere in all of this, they need to find me.
Some people who need to sell a home in Fremont are on the Internet with the goal of finding the right tools to achieve all of the above mentioned items. They want to do it on their own it first in private. I do that with a lot of things I set out to do. When I built my Fremont, Newark and Union City website called, tricityhome.com, I built it myself--see what I mean. Anyway, I put these home-selling tools in place to help homeowners transition from owner to seller.
  • Here at Tricityhome.com they can request a home value report that I create by hand, old school, where driving the area and finding homes that are not on the MLS may help the value along too. You simply fill out a small form and ask for one here. Remember I do it by hand. Zillow and others can be off as much as 40-50k in their estimates.
  • On the website, Fremont home sellers can download a working home seller net sheet that is easy to use, so they can find out what their profit will be from the sale. "Will it be enough?" is a common question that gets asked across the kitchen table when the sellers are trying to figure things out.
  • They can also get peace of mind by downloading our TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. Seller Certification that allows the seller to fire us on the spot if we ignore something that the seller wishes to change in our marketing efforts or purchase offer negotiations. We haven't used one yet, but it is there.
In closing, there is a sea of real estate agents in Fremont alone, some are good ones. On the Internet, it is hard to weed through some hand picked ones. Sherry did just that here. My hope is that someone who needs to sell their home in Fremont, Newark or Union City can find me through the forest of agents out there. I love doing a good job.
0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 26 2009 11:48AM

Welcometofremont.com--Our New Home

Before anyone gets too sentimental, welcometofremont.com is a new home for the blog. It's all part of a blog syndicate (blog once and having it populate to different blogs automatically). It's in the rough stages, so needless to say it may take a while before the real content gets published on a regular basis. So far, the blog is mirrored on 3 sites, so a total of 4:





So, I post to one and the all get posted, except for blogger (blogspot). I just can't seem to let it go. It's like an old friend. Bye for now.
Thanks for reading. Why not take some free things back with you? Visit these links below.

0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 23 2009 09:58PM

Consider This Proposition--Prop 60, 90 & 110

For the most part, if you are 55 and over, you can have your existing property tax payments carry over to your replacement property. This is mostly for replacing a Alameda County property in Alameda County and a Contra Costa County property in Contra Costa County. The two counties here also cooperate with each other. Other counties participate with each other too, but they are very slim to none.


I carry a Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation as do some other real estate professionals. The SRES requires that the agent undergo a certain number of hours and courses geared to helping seniors attain qualified professional help regarding real estate matters. Although I am not a tax professional, and this is by no means tax advice, the courses introduced a few propositions that tend to spill into our line of business. And they tend to be a bit tricky, so please consult a tax professional before considering the move and the benefit.


I recently helped a couple sell and replace an Fremont CA home--Alameda County property with another Alameda County property. In a nutshell, the properties must close escrow the same day--we did. One of the claimants must be 55 or older or disabled (prop 110--is for disabled)--we did have a 55+ claimant. We filled out the forms. We called the tax assessor's office, etc. We were ready.


For reasons beyond the scope of this blog post, our claim was denied, temporarily. We will appeal the case because everything was in place exactly the way we needed it. Basically, the only variant was that the claimant was removed from the purchase contract 1 week later by order of the lender for the purposes of financing only. He was to be added back on title after the close of escrow. Trying to redraw loan documents and have the claimant added as a "non-borrowing spouse" would have cost us the most crucial part of the requirement, and that is closing escrow on the selling property exactly the same day as the replacement property. We did that against many odds. The title thing we had to deal with later. I will keep you posted on the appeal.


Advice to those who are considering the Proposition:
  1. close escrow on the same day
  2. be over 55
  3. all buyers be on the contract if lender likes it or not--be a "non-borrowing spouse" if applicable. DO NOT let the lender push you around AND
  4. remember #1 again.
Please consult a tax professional for further information on Prop. 60, 90 and 110. Here are two good links to get your started.
0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 21 2009 11:42AM

So, How Was Your Day Showing Homes in Fremont?

Some Fremont home buyers find me on the Internet. Recently, so did Agnus. She is a senior real estate home buyer who wants a home in Fremont. I met her briefly and had gone over the procedures (in detail) as to where we would meet on Saturday to look at homes for sale in Fremont. We were to meet at 9:00 am sharp where a cute condo for sale in Fremont was located. We had blocked out an hour and a half to view 5 homes so we should have been fine.


I had a feeling that something was going to slow things down when I remembered the last time we had looked at homes in Fremont. We got separated and the last two homes we were supposed to look at were never viewed except by me. Agnus got lost.


The day before we were going to meet, I sent her a Google map, a chronological list of homes to view along with an agenda as to when we were expected to be at any given time. We confirmed the first location and waited for Saturday 9:00am to come. Saturday 9:00am came; Agnus did not. A few minutes later, I called her, and this is how it went:


Me: Hello Agnus... Where are you?
Agnus: I'm at the Home Depot in Fremont.
Me: That's a long way from where you are supposed to be. Did you get the map?
Agnus: Yes, I got it.
Me: So, can you get here soon?
Agnus:I am on my way. How do I get there?
Me: I thought you said you have the map.
Agnus: I do, I just... Well... I got lost.
Me: Okay, we still have time, but we are running late. Just come straight down Fremont Blvd and follow it to Grimmer then go left then right to Osgood and Warm Springs.
Agnus: Oh.
Me: See you in a bit.


15 minutes later


Agnus: (my cell rings) I tried to call you.
Me: What's the matter? Where are you?
Agnus: I know where this is. I used to work here. I'm here.
Me: Oh, you see my red car. I am out in the street waiving my arms. I am in a charcoal grey suit. Are you by the fire station?
Agnus: What fire station? I'm here at KB Homes.
Me: Where is that. That is not around here
Agnus: It's where I used to work.
Me: What is your cross street. The seller has been waiting for us here for over 20 minutes.
Agnus: I'm on Milpitas Blvd.
Me: Oh. Agnus. You passed us. You need to turn around and go north to East Warren.
Agnus: Oh.
Me: Look. I am out on the street waiting for you. Just turn around and drive. Can you please?
Agnus: Oh, okay. I am on my way.
Me: Okay.


10 minutes later, Agnus drives up to the security gate from Warm Springs Blvd. (busy street). You know the kind of gate that if it is half way closed or open that it will still open again if you trigger the switch for outside or inside? Well, Agnus stopped well before the trigger and waited. She was half way out onto Warm Springs Blvd. and half way into the drive way. I for one had waited long enough at that point, so I had to use miming gestures for her to move forward in order for the gate to open again before it closed up. It turns out, she did not understand the international mime language of "hurry up and just go." It varies from country to country but for the most part it is usually indicated by frantic waiving of the arms while the hands point erratically forward. Miraculously, either she got the message, or my yelling, "GO!-GO!" did the trick. She drove into the complex.


After we viewed the first property 45 minutes late, I decided it was time that she no longer followed me, but rather I drive. When we miraculously convoyed to the next stopping point, I gestured for her to get in my car and that we would go together. She said, "no way." Taken aback a bit, I asked why. She said that she had just driven through a red light and been in horrible car accident the week before and totaled her other car and that this car she was driving now was a loaner. She said I would have to ride in her car. I gulped, hesitated then reluctantly got in with all my stuff.


I had to show five properties, and I've been pretty good at estimating over the years, so the rest of the appointment should have taken one hour and fifteen minutes max. Five hours later and recovering slightly from motion sickness, I helped her to write an offer on a property. A short sale property in Fremont.
Over the course of the day, we got honked at three times, missed a green light. (not going while it turned green) and all the while I wondered. Just plain wondered.


I lived to tell the tale and we are supposed to go look again at more properties soon. I'm driving.
0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 20 2009 10:32PM

Fremont Bank In Centerville--Will They Do It Again?

Last month one of our Fremont CA home-buyers found us on our website and after talking some things over with me, hired us to buy and sell their home. She is very happy with our services click here (then click Keniki). She wanted to use Fremont Bank for the purchase. She knew the reps there and naturally felt more comfortable in doing so. I would too.
It is still unknown to everyone as to why, but on three separate instances, Fremont Bank acted strange to put it mildly. Events 1-3 are completely true.
  1. During the home buying process, they asked the buyer to come to the office and sign their "refi documents." They did not know it was a purchase loan. Seems harmless on the front, but one of the revered real estate preambles is, "Time is of the essence." So, it freaked some people out. Yours truly was no exception.
  2. Later, they then asked the buyer to come in and sign the loan documents. According to them, it had to be done right away. The buyer rushed over from work and showed up 10 minutes to closing. Breathless, they asked for the documents, but no one from the bank knew what they were talking about.
  3. The next day, they received another call saying that they found the documents. They were on the desk the whole time. They needed to come in and sign right away.
Fremont Bank's closing costs were great, hardly anything at all when you compare, but at what cost was it to the buyer's well being. It's a good thing my buyer was quick thinking and dealt with stress extremely well while Fremont Bank dropped the baton, so to speak.
I now have another buyer who wants to use Fremont Bank for her home purchase in Fremont. I expressed some concern and explained the story to the new buyer. This was all done from an objective point of view, and I only recited facts. Her decision is to move forward with Fremont Bank. Let's hope the baton is passed successfully this time.
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0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 16 2009 01:06PM

Parkmont Elementary School Report

My website has a Fremont Schools page. It is actually a popular page. Today I was asked to create a report, but not one report but seven. I was taken aback at first, but we have a system that helps create multiple reports for the website visitors who want to do some research.
We managed to get the report out right away because, like me, after searching on the web for awhile, you want instant gratification when you think you found what you are looking for.
We gave it. And, Parkmont Elementary still rules--want to see the report?
0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 15 2009 10:58PM

Selling A Home In Parkmont--Fremont CA

Sell that Fremont CA Parkmont home quicker! Tips for sellers to bump up that curb appeal.

Regardless of the Fremont CA Parkmont real estate market, sellers need to do everything possible to help get their home looked at. Here are some basic tips.

1. Beware of grand gestures: Exterior improvements should be in keeping with the scale and proportion of your house and fit in with the neighborhood. So as lovely as a formal colonnade might look on the front of your ranch house, it may seem over the top when viewed in context with the simple house next door.

2. Don't stand out like a sore thumb: When picking paint colors, it's best to match the intensity of your neighbors' shades. If pale blues are the norm, try a creamy yellow. Contrast that with a more saturated accent color for shutters and doors, and a lighter one for windows and trim.

3. Be a tree hugger: If an old maple is obscuring the front of your home, don't cut it down. Hire an arborist to trim it instead. Raise the canopy. Eighty-three percent of Realtors say that mature trees enhance the value of a home.

4. Plant for all seasons: Your landscape should be eye-catching year-round, even in the dead of winter. So choose a mix of plants to provide four seasons of interest-spring and summer flowers, bright fall foliage, and colorful berries or showy bark in winter.

5. You can have too much of a good thing: Over-improving your facade can mean recouping less of the cost when it comes time to sell. Gauge how much to spend on renovations by checking home values to see what gussied-up homes are going for in your community, and stay under their bar. See my Cost .vs Value Report here.

6. Do sweat the small stuff: New house numbers, a special light fixture, and potted plants are inexpensive and go a long way toward dressing up an entry.

7. Preservation pays: Before you apply stucco over those weathered clapboards for a clean, low-maintenance look, consider that restoring architectural details may offer more bang from your renovation dollar. In some areas, the value of homes in historic districts where preservation is required has risen up more than in non- historic areas.

These are basic notes to consider, so if you want more "front line" marketing tips, call us 1-866-967-9137 or contact us

0 comments • Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale • October 12 2009 03:57PM