Fremont CA Real Estate

Moving From Fremont CA To...?

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:49:09 -0400

People move from Fremont, Newark and Union City from time to time. I myself moved about 8 times in my life so far--moving from various areas in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are thinking about moving from Fremont, Newark or Union City CA to another area you will want to know a few things, and I hope this post can help.

If you enjoy moving, then you are one of the very few who do. The rest of us, we need help in any way, shape or form. This short post will simply provide a list of helpful tools in the form of websites and some tips we learned along the way.

In regards to selling your Fremont, Newark or Union City property and buying a replacement home, a Fremont real estate agent will play a a vital role in assuring that the sale of the old home and purchase of the new one work together. Here is a testimonial of a Union City home seller purchasing a Fremont replacement home. http://www.tricityhome.com/ondemand.html (click Keniki)

When selling a home in Fremont then moving right into the home in another area, you need to allow a little time between the two transactions. This is important to ensure both feasibility and peace of mind knowing that no one will be on the street without a place to go. A good Fremont real estate agent will place proper assurances in the purchase contract. Careful real estate contract wording is needed to set things straight when trying to accomplish the double deal.

Many helpful moving websites I have used are also available below for you to visit and use when the time comes for you to move from Fremont, Newark and Union City.

http://www.onesimplemove.com--interactive calendars and up to date articles.
http://www.mayflower.com/moving--a little overwhelming but really loaded with tools.
http://www.whitefence.com--mostly compares utilities, then helps hook them up online.
http://www.moving.com--no calendar that I could see, but ok.
http://www.relocation.com--great new tools and articles.
http://www.pods.com--store your stuff, then move it.when you want to.

So, in closing, you'll want a good Fremont Newark, Union City real estate agent http://www.tricityhome.com and some State-Of-The-Art web tools for all the stuff in between.

Fremont Short Sales & Short Sale Lenders--Once Bitten Twice Shy

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:55:54 -0400

The last two short sales in Fremont that I performed were by no means smooth. And, I have become a little short sale shy as a result. Yet, other short sales in Fremont we recently closed had performed exceptionally well--Fremont short sales are sort of a mixed bag. What made the difference? The last two sort sales in Fremont were bad, but others were not. We discovered that it has everything to do with the lender of the original borrower or what we might refer to now as the short sale lender. Worst on the list was Bank of America who took an average of 10 months to perform a short sale and still not short sales were completed. And, what’s more, B of A was full of surprises. In fact, just about everything they did was a surprise. Imagine staring at a cocoon that has not hatched, waiting for something, anything to happen. That’s kind of what it was like. Everyone had to wait for very long periods of time even to acknowledge that the bank had received a document. Like watching the cocoon, any movement what so ever made us sit up surprised that something took place, even if it turned out to be nothing. Some things they did were remarkably abrupt and surprising. For example they upped a Fremont short sale price right out of thin air even after everyone agreed on B of A’s counter offer on price. They simply told us (oh, by the way) it was going to be $5,000 more. Then, at the final stretch of the transaction, B of A left out any considerations for the second lien holder and gave them zero on the approval certification. They later back paddled on that one, fixed it using a bad Microsoft Word edit that actually highlighted their mistake, then blamed my title co. rep with 30 years experience. Oh, I almost forgot one more thing. Another B of A Fremont short sale simply ended after an investor phoned and said they had just bought the property in foreclosure and for me to please remove my sales materials. This is the one where I even had a B of A rep authorized on the seller’s account watching carefully to assure us everything would go smoothly.

What makes a good Fremont short sale lender as opposed to a bad one? Most people if asked to judge a short sale lender would grade them on the speed in which the lender can process the approval of the transaction. Bank of America seems to take the longest. They boast about a 90-day turnaround, but unless the planets are aligned just so, it can take over a year to complete. Keep in mind that there are other conditions that can effect the time it takes to complete the transaction as Bank of America will be quick to tell you. The fastest short sale lender we have experienced was Bridgefield, a small lender who simply handled the whole thing over coffee.

Our Fremont short sale real estate agent office here http://www.tricityhome.com is now performing another short sale in Fremont who's lender is Chase. Chase is large too, but they are more organized than B of A. The Chase negotiators (the ones that either handle the short sale approval themselves or present the short sale package to the investor) are very quick to act. Emails are returned the next day or same day. They also order the BPO (broker price opinion--sort of a snapshot appraisal for the bank to review) just as soon as possible.

But since we had been bitten by B of A, the Nosferatu of short sale lenders as of late, I am now shy to believe any short sale lender when they ask for something out of the norm. For example, our most recent Fremont short sale was in need of a BPO. I drove to the property to make sure the lockbox was still there 1. I opened the door and walked through the Fremont short sale. Suddenly, I discovered a tingling sensation at my ankles. Upon further inquiry, I realized I was being bitten by what must have been hundreds of fleas, and they were growing in number. What must have looked like a scene from America’s Funniest Home Videos, I darted to the door, locked up the house while running in place then ran into the parking lot. Once there, I swatted, shook, pinched then as a last resort, out ran all the fleas to be sure none followed. When I told Chase what had happened, they told me they would send Property Preservation out to take care of it. A red flag went up, and I got quite defensive. Once bitten twice shy, I thought they were going to execute some acceleration clause and foreclose on the house once Property Preservation was called due to fleas. They assured me this was not the case. Regardless, I told them not to call this third party, and that I and the BPO person would find a way to get it done. In short, we got it done without calling Property Preservation.

I will work on my uneasiness when it comes to trusting Fremont short sale lenders. After all, a Fremont short sale lender does not have to B of A pain in the neck.

1. For a period of time in 08, I happened upon many homes for sale in Fremont that were supposed to have a lock box only to find that they were missing. I would call the listing agent who would often be taken aback by the fact that it was just there a few days ago. I later found out that this was happening quite often on vacant properties. Perhaps squatters or desperate agents took the boxes so that no one else can show the house, I am still unsure.

HOA Demands?--You're Tell'n Me

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:35:00 -0400

As with all blog posts from me, comments are welcome--especially welcome on this post. I am a full-time Fremont-Newark-Union City Real Estate Broker, http://www.tricityhome.com and I work hard in the office, on the phone, face to face and on the Internet. You probably work hard in your profession too.

BUT--Can I have some of your salary if I ever need your services?

No? Why not?

I have been asked to give away some of my commission from time to time since I started real estate in 2000. Perhaps it is just part of the business. But why? Do you ask a lawyer to lower their retainer? Do you ask the accountant to credit the expense column in your favor? Surely not!

Lately, buyers and sellers have been asking for significant portions of my commissions on a regular basis. I cannot discuss commission rates due to laws governing the subject, but I believe my skills, and knowledge of the real estate contract and the skill sets I possess in negotiating sales and the like merit my pay as well as other agent's and broker's pay. As awful as that may be, still another person has been asking for my commission as of late. Can you guess who it might be? The Home Owner's Association in a short sale of a condominium, that's who.

I have a short sale in Fremont that has been, for reasons beyond the scope of this post, in escrow for 1 year now. Now that we are on the very cusps of closing escrow, the HOA (of all people) wants me to "pitch in" in order to settle an assessment that is due upon the sale of the property. Whaaat?

Here is the math:

My pay on a successful close of the above-mentioned property is $6600 divided by 12 months of calling, disclosing, coordinating, compliancing, faxing, emailing, logging, filing, problem solving, driving, (my job) equals $550 dollars a month. Only if it closes escrow.

Another property in the same boat is $1060 divided by 10 months of the same equals $1060 dollars a month. Only if it closes escrow. And believe me--they do not always close escrow.

Asking for a piece of the broker's commission will never stop because that's how it is set up. It is illegal to fix a commission in real estate understandably, and brokers must disclose that commission is set by each individual broker and that it is never a "standard" rate. It keeps it competitive. So, in a sense, we advertise that our commission is negotiable. But what a broker can do is simply say, "no" when asked to "pitch in."

The reason why I and other brokers give their commission when they really should not (myself included) is because we work very hard and only get paid at the end of a successful close of escrow. The threat--if you will-- of losing all that hard work unless a little or sometimes a lot of commission is given away is the only way to get any money at all. I guess it is human nature to be so bold to ask for a piece of the broker commission. The only way for it to stop is for the broker to simply say, "no" and suffer any consequences that may fall.

In a moment, I will try to ask for a piece of my dentist's fees today when I go get my teeth cleaned. I will report back to you.

A few hours later

She said, "no."

Fremont CA Parkmont Home Values Up

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:03:51 -0400

FREMONT CA PARKMONT HOME VALUES http://www.tricityhome.com/Parkmont_homes_sold.html

FREMONT HOME PRICES http://www.tricityhome.com

HOME VALUE CHECKER http://www.tricityhome.com/Parkmont_homes_sold.html

FREMONT REALTOR http://www.tricityhome.com

Fremont Homes For Sale--You thought your garage was bad

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:19:52 -0400

I see a lot of homes for sale in Fremont http://www.tricityhome.com and their garages. Some owners are creative in they're use of the space while other homeowners are in survival mode. Some of my homes for sale in Fremont have used shelving and built-in fixtures to make the space very workable as a hobby shop and the like. I was taken a back lately by this townhome for sale in Fremont.

Do you remember the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoon? He and is pal Chumly would escape from the zoo on a mission to solve a problem. Armed with the voice characterization of Don Adams, Tennessee Tuxedo would demand that they visit Mr. Whoopee, a brilliant professor who knew all the answers. Upon arrival of Mr. Whoopee's office, it only took a matter of a minute or two until the professor had to open his closet to get use of his "3D-BB," his three dimensional blackboard. However, the closet was packet to the ceiling with stuff. I wonder why a tennis racket sticking out always seems to make it as a stereotypical junk thing. Anyway, when the closet is opened--all the junk spills on top of Mr Whoopee. Well, that almost happened to me.

While showing homes for sale in Fremont, an owner had stepped out prior to me showing one of the homes, and there were no images of the garage in the Fremont home for sale on the MLS. "Can we see the garage?" the buyer asked. "Sure," I replied. This is what we saw. I could not help but think of Mr. Whoopee's closet.

Here is an episode of Tennessee Tuxedo on YouTube (They want to make a light and learn about Thomas Edison). And, yes, the tennis racket is in the pile of junk in Mr. Whoopee's closet--see if you can find it.

SF bay area craigslist > for sale / wanted > garage & moving sales > Fremont CA

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:16:56 -0400

It was not too long ago, that I and many others suggested to Craig Newmark or staff that he should definitely have a section for Fremont garage sales & moving sales or estate sales on Craigslist.

We were heard. There is now a Fremont garage sales & moving sales section on Craigslsit.

Craigslist had created a Fremont garage sales & moving sales section in the Craigslist website some time ago, and now I will get to try it out. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/gms/

My wife and I have come to realize that we have too many things, especially now that we have two new children and no additional storage. In a very real sense, our garage has become storage. Naturally, some things we do not want to part with like Halloween decorations and such, but why keep abandoned toys, clothes, and kitchen items that are never going to be used? I even found a dusty old Saguaro Cactus made of tissue paper in there. Maybe the Saguaro could be a FREE item.

Our goal is to find these things a new home soon by way of Fremont garage sales & moving sales. The items we do not want that did not sell at our Fremont garage sales & moving sales will be donated to charity.

One benefit of being a Realtor http://www.tricityhome.com is having lots of signs to use in situations like this. I simply get out my Open House signs, reface them using a 20 X 24 piece of cardboard to say Fremont garage sales & moving sales and done!

Anyone need a large bin of Beanie Babies?

Near Washington Hospital On Mowry Ave

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Sat, 01 May 2010 14:14:53 -0400

There is an awful lot of new construction going on in Fremont near Washington Hospital on Mowry Ave. The hospital itself is under somewhat of a facelift just north of the main building. Furthermore, BART has undergone a massive project not near Washington Hospital on Mowry Ave but off of Stevenson, just across from the Fremont Police Station. Apparently BART is digging the tunnel for the new line. In addition, there is one building in particular that I pass by every day on my way to my office here http://tricityhome.com/fremont-office-visit.html. You may know it. It is on the corner of Stivers and Mowry, a brand new medical building.

I'm sure there must be some harried individual or two, being that workers are getting pressure to meet deadlines. The image above was taken one morning right on the corner of Stivers and Mowry-near Washington Hospital on Mowry Ave. Blinded by the rear of the lift device, a worker unknowingly moved the boom over and bent the stop sign a bit. Being that it was right there near Washington Hospital on Mowry Ave, it must have received a bit of attention. Perhaps he crane/boom/lift operator is now pushing a broom inside the building instead of operating the lift device.

I have not been by again yet at the time of writing this blog, but I am wondering if they discovered it after the fact then used the lift to try to straighten it back again. Regardless, it may never look the same.

Re Facing Closet Doors Fremont-Parkmont

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:55:46 -0400

I purchased a home in Parkmont of Fremont (I wish I knew about http://www.tricityhome.com CA back in 99. It was built in 1978, so if you are like me and purchased a home built back then or even one built in the eighties, you may have those closet doors with the off white panels. These are the ones that look like fake wood grained contact paper over a wood panel framed in gold metal trim. My wife and I gave our bedroom a face lift recently that included re facing closet doors.

We got a whole new look re facing closet doors that we are very pleased with. Basically, we wallpapered the panels. But, in re facing the closet doors, there was more to it than that. First, we had to remove the panels from the guides by lifting up and pulling the bottom out of the tracks. Second, using a electric drill in reverse, I removed all the screws holding the panels in place being careful to place all the screws in one bin. In our case it was an old hat. Then using a hammer and a piece of soft wood, I tapped all the gold metal frames off of the panel. Since the closest doors take up practically the whole length of the wall, they are quite long and somewhat difficult to move around in the bedroom. The ceiling fan got whacked once or twice before I developed a technique that required both a certain movement together with an awareness of space--almost a zen thing. While removing the frames, it may be important to number the parts as you remove them to ensure proper replacement to the right panelswhen re facing the closet doors. I did mine by writing a-1 on the top frame as well as the panel, and then I wrote a-2 on the first side frame, a-3 on the bottom and a-4 for the last or left side. The next door would be the "b" series and so on. When you get to the rollers, be sure to observe how the went in. Some have different mechanisms and require an adjustment or two.

Once all removed and dismantled and organized in re facing the closet doors, it was time to get the supplies in re facing the closet doors. Here is what we used:

3 rolls of desired wall covering (we used a faux grass burlap texture with greens and browns in it. Our closet doors measured about 133 sq ft--get some extra) See image above.

1 box of wallpaper paste (even if you have self-pasting wall covering) I used Golden Harvet because it was inexpensive. Image below.

3 cans of spray paint that either matches, contrasts or complements your design choice of wall covering (we used a chocolate brown epoxy enamel satin finish)

2 cans of spray metal primer paint (paint will just barely stick to the metal unless you use a good primer--ask the store personnel)

I will have a short TIPS section below after the post.

So now we had to prime and paint the frames outside. This was a bit hard, but it was worth it. If you go to an auto body paint store (there is one on Peralta and Fremont you can buy a self etching primer spray). After priming according to directions and painting the frames, we realized that we needed to wall cover the back of the panels, not the front. The paste would work better against the wood back instead of the contact paper fronts. You could peel the contact paper off, but ours was hard to peel and peeled off in little bits at a time. So, wall covering the back it was. We chose to cover the panels after the frames were reassembled. Due to the tight clearances of the frame slots, adhering wall covering all the way to the edge of the wood panel first would create a thicker dimension along the edge, and fitting the frame slot would be difficult over both the wood and the wall covering. When the frames were brought in, it was time to assemble.

Assembling the frames on the panels was just a matter of following the letters and numbers mentioned earlier. With a tap here and there being careful not to scratch the frames, the frames were assembled. keep in mind, that if you are reversing the panels, that is covering the back, you will need to place a-2 side frame onto a-4 side panel. Remember you have to reverse. Now with panels done, it is time to cover. But first, do not forget to prime and paint the upper closet door slots attached to the ceiling. Just remove, prime and paint then place back on the ceiling with the screws.

Covering the panels, you may find it easier to place the panels on the bed (covered of course) or you can wall cover the panels when they are upright in the slots. It is up to you. I did both. You may want to review wall covering tips on the Internet if you need a refresher course. See TIPS below for a fast list of things to know. Once we had the panels covered, we trimmed the excess and placed them in the upper slots then on the rollers.

In short, we transformed our room into something that Martha Stewart would be very proud of I'm sure. I still can not get over the huge contribution the new closet doors made to our redesigned bedroom.

I hope you find this post helpful, and please feel free to write with questions or testimonies.

TIPS:

Don't forget to "book" your wall coverings--do not rush it.

Prime the wood with the box paste according to instructions before you adhere your wallcovering--this will prevent lift up.

Do not put seems together, even if you "book" the coverings. Your seems may separate and reveal the wood beneath. Instead overlap by about 3/16ths of an inch depending on your width.

Trim wallcovering after it dries not wet.

There are many different wall paper resources on the Internet (even though I may disagree on some points) Good luck.

Golden Harvest Paste worked well for a paste primer.

Fremont CA Real Estate Market

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:10:44 -0400

I got a kick out of the movoto website today when it listed the least expensive and the most expensive homes for sale in Fremont. I felt it was timely because I had a recent experience that identified with this somewhat. I while back I received a follow up call from a client who was in the market for a very expensive home in Fremont of several million in price. In preparation for the new home buyer in Fremont, weeks went by with much planning for the upcoming appointment--phone calls were made, calendars rewritten, plans changed, etc. in order to make room for the high priced Fremont home buyer coming into town. The time finally came when we were scheduled to go out looking for multi million dollar homes in Fremont, and they were a no show. Even worse--no call, no email, no text, zero. Even now, I still do not know what happened. I hope they are okay.

Meanwhile, I had a client following homes for sale in Fremont on my website diligently for some time. On the same day of the multi-million dollar cancellation, this faithful Internet home buyer emailed me and wanted to view one of the lowest priced condos in Fremont on Paseo Padre Parkway. with my day cleared off anyway, I had free time to go see the condo. I showed it to my client, she loved it and wrote an all cash offer. But wait, alas, the lower-end Fremont home buyer pulled a fast one.

Several days later, when we were about to get our reply to the offer, the buyer writes, "Are we too high in price?"

I replied, "actually, no you're perfectly priced."

She writes, "Rescind my offer, there is too much crime there!"

Digging deeper I send a crime report to nip this Internet weed in the bud. I sent the comparative crime reports to the buyer.

She writes back, "Wow! Okay, thank you, let's stay in the game. I'm in."

Next day, the lower, cash buyer writes, "It's too soon, we need to back out. Rescind my offer."

I had too much at this point.

I replied, "If your situation changes..." meaning--when you find your motivation for buying a home in Fremont, "call me." At the risk of sounding like a rant, I felt--when you find your motivation for buying a home in Fremont, go become some other agent's energy drain.

Ouch, both of those buyers hurt a bit.

Will they call? maybe not at this point. But, a short message to all Fremont home buyers out there. Contrary to a some beliefs, real estate agents work very hard for you. And, it costs a good deal of money just to be an agent, even more to be a broker. Please respect their time and their commissions. A colleague in my office, who is also a financial planner, told me that when someone asked her for a piece of her commission, she replied, "Well, it's not a good idea, see, the lender may think you cannot afford the house." Touche.

New Homes For Sale--Union City Near BART

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:51:23 -0400

New Homes For Sale--Union City

Ryland Homes brought three decades of experience to the table when they decided to build new-homes-for-sale in Union City near BART. The Ryland Woodbury subdivision, off of Decoto Road and Alvarado Niles Road, was actually built in 1999. New-homes-for-sale in Union City near BART have thinned out recently, so when I did a search for New-Homes-For-Sale-Union-City on the Internet, the closest I found was Hayward and some parts of Fremont.

If new homes for sale in Union City are something you are looking for, then there is at the time of writing this post a Ryland Woodbury home getting ready to go on the market. A ten year old home is still relatively new to most buyers, and this Union City new-home-for-sale near BART is a real winner.

This new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART was hand-picked by the original buyers for several reasons. Although not a huge concern to the current owners, the front door faces North-North-East which can be important to many buyers seeking to buy a new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART today. A feature which carried more weight was having the option to choose the fifth bedroom instead of the loft--which they did. The Greenbrook model with the optional fifth bedroom instead of a loft ads flexibility as well as value to the new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART. Moreover the living room and dining room are combined into one great room and has a high ceiling which adds to the open feeling upon entry. The owners had no choice but to place this home high on their home buying list when they were shopping for a new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART back in 99. Some of the other reasons in choosing this new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART was that the Greenbrook elevation has a separate family room that is adjacent to the eating nook and kitchen area, and many home buyers want to be able to have that kind of "flowing" kitchen which does not cut off conversation with guests as they relax in the family room near by.

This new-home-for-sale in Union City near BART is located in a large cul-de-sac which has plenty of room for guest parking and residents can play on the street in a safer environment here than on a through street. It is very close to the Union City BART station and lots of shopping. It even received an above average walking score which only half of Union City can boast about. So, one might say that this is the "better" half of Union City.

Many home buyers out in the market now are getting frustrated from getting out bid on multiple offers, dealing with REO stress, and the worst of all, waiting for short sales that never come to fruition. I know this first hand because I have buyers who are frustrated of getting out bid on multiple offers, have REO stress, and the worst of all, they are waiting for short sales that never come to fruition. This home, however, is being sold by regular, common-sense sellers, real people who want to sell the house. No stress, but do not wait too long to decide to make this your new home. This new home for sale in Union City near BART has been well-maintained by the original owners who simply want to move closer to their careers. It is ready to sell, but it will not last long.

Take the first step. If you want a new home for sale in Union City near BART, you should give me a call--510 742 3212 or grab your agent and point them to this blog post.

San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Has Something No Other Place On Earth Has

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:16:09 -0400

Besides boasting the Golden Gate Bridge and a few other San Francisco Bay Area things, (cable car, etc.), I recently read that San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate http://www.tricityhome.com has had something unique to the rest of the world and has for hundreds maybe thousands of years. San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate has nurtured an environment that produces Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis, a world famous wild bacteria. Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis is used to create San Francisco sourdough starter. It builds the foundation for dough in many baking recipes--most of all San Francisco sourdough bread. Actually, the bacteria has been shipped to bakeries all over the world for quite some time, so it is not unique entirely, but it is nice to know that it lives its naturally existing microbial life right here in my back yard, literally.

For a wiki read simply go here-- http://www.search.com/reference/Lactobacillus_sanfranciscensis

I also read that "starter" (in this case using a wild yeast) can be used in many other forms of breads. Italian Panettone, German Stollen, Greek Christmas or Easter Bread and of course, Hot Cross Buns, of which this latter bread inspired this post and its image above. Naturally, these a fore mentioned national breads have their unique starters, but I happen to be biased a bit towards our very own San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate sourdough starter. Apparently, it does the same job as regular bread yeast with a twist— Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis, while eating away at the flour, harbors a safe environment for other bacteria to grow together with it, giving it the one-of-a-kind label it deserves.

Why mention it now? Once in a while I bake--sort of a downtime therapy that has its benefits. Spring has sprung, Easter is here and for my birthday I recently received, Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, a practical book that takes Reinhart's world-renowned expertise and politely inclines it to our kitchens here at home. Aside from the Baker's Percentage Formulas in the back of the book, it's very straight forward. Intrigued by some of the recipes, I knew I had to try the San Francisco sourdough "seed culture" and work my way to sourdough "starter" pages 38-43 (a bit involved). Carefully following the directions, I mixed the San Francisco sourdough ingredients in front of my open window, just to be sure the bacteria flew in the mix. Slowly but surely, over the time span of about a week and a half, it worked. I thought I would share the interesting fact that San Francisco sourdough yeast lives here in our San Francisco Bay Area. This Easter, my family will get to enjoy genuine Hot Cross Buns from scratch with white fondant glaze.

Some day I may move from the San Francisco sourdough capital of the world, but even if and when I do, I will have to sneak some "culture" with me. The fact that I was born in San Francisco will always be a bit special to me, and taking a small piece of it with me wherever I end up will certainly be necessary, even if the piece of San Francisco is only microscopic at best.

Always Dream Play Park--Fremont CA

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:35:40 -0400

For someone who is suppossed to know Fremont, I fell short recently. I had heard about Kristy Yamaguchi's Always Dream Play Park in Fremont CA, but I had never seen it. One day while driving on Stevenson towards Mission on my way to the Soccer part of Central Park, there is was, Always Dream Play Park.

Kristy Yamaguchi is from Fremont, and I was glad to see she still has vision for achieving not just for herself but others. In this case, the vision was to have a park where children with disabilities can enjoy a colorful play park here in Fremont. It has ramps, and the grounds are both colorful and fun--even parents like to walk on the ultra squishy foam rubber that surrounds each play area.

Maybe after a hard day at the office http://www.tricityhome.com/ , I can sneek a bounce or two on the foam rubber when no one is looking. Perhaps I will see you there.

--Two children spinning on top of the jungle gym. It really spins.

--Dr. Suess-like ball thing kids like to sit on.

How to Raise Healthy People & Chickens In Fremont, Newark and Union City

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:08:02 -0500

At the risk of sounding old, I must say that I enjoy living close to Palo Alto Medical Foundation Fremont Center. Many great doctors share their practice between there as well as practicing across the Dumbarton at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto. You certainly do not have to be old to appreciate a good medical facility. Take Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford for example. The moment a child walks in, they feel a bit better already. The architecture and artwork seem to have a small medicinal effect on children just by themselves. Regular check ups for young and old are essential to stying healthy in Fremont.

My reason for visiting PAMF arose from the fact that I somehow tore a portion in my knee. The short of it is that I will undergo surgery today.

Over the last few weeks, I had to get diagnosed, review the prognosis, get a physical, converse once or twice with the anesthesiologist and then get the surgery itself. Oh, and give a bit of blood so they can check it out.

So where does health and safety advice for chickens in Fremont come in? It was after the blood part that I felt like posting about a magazine that I had never heard of or even imagined it being in circulation. While waiting in the busy lab room, I spied something a bit out of place, a copy of Home Grown Poultry askew on the table. The magazine depicted a very healthy looking chicken on the front cover. Intrigued, I picked it up and discovered a whole world that was solely devoted to the taking care of poultry at home.

Just skimming over the ads themselves inside the magazine was time well spent. There were ads for "hen savers," a nifty, hawk-proof vest for chickens designed to decrease the amount of hens lost due to hawk attack. Concerned poultry owners could even chose between vest colors ranging from black, white and camouflage to protect their domestic foul. Owls too are a problem according to the ads. A snappy full-page ad caught my eye that displayed a red laser beam catching a fierce looking owl in mid swoop thus preventing it from attacking a brood of unsuspecting chicks. Apparently, predators believe that this red laser beam spots them and that's the last thing a predator wants. But what if you just needed to move your Rhode Island Reds from one location to the next protected but without the use of the "hen saver?" Then, a chicken tractor, sort of a cart with gages built on it, is just what you would need. It was featured on page 7 of the magazine.

During my few minutes of perusing through last month's issue, the somewhat well-written Home Grown Poultry seemed to explore the entire gamut of the poultry raising endeavor. It encompassed the trade's success stories, challenges as well as some of the downfalls of raising hens, roosters/capon and even turkeys (in its section devoted to the commingling of turkeys the article discussed pros and cons of the psychological and physical outcomes of raising turkeys together with lesser foul.) City-Chicks, keeping micro flocks as laying hens and garden helpers was the featured book of the month and Answer Man Ron Kean, poultry specialist from the University of Wisconsin/Madison gave answers to many questions surrounding coughing chickens or croup in the coup. Although well thought out, the magazine could be in trouble. The website declares that the domain is up for sale. http://www.homegrownpoultry.com/. Although I may never visit much in the future, I would hate to see it go.

What does this have to do with real estate in Fremont? Well, did you know that there were plenty of chicken farms in Fremont back in the day. In fact, kitty corner from my office http://www.tricityhome.com/fremont-office-visit.html there used to be a substantial chicken ranch. Now, it is Western Dental with the broken clock on the side.

As far as the photo above goes--my uncle Jochen has a potato farm in Germany near Denmark. That's where I took this photo of the chickens above. You can also see the same photo on my recruiting page for would be agents here http://www.tricityhome.com/agent.html.

Real Estate Confidence Report--Parkmont Homes

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:49:04 -0500

I was one out of many I'm sure that took place in a survey that measured real estate confidence. Keep in mind my opinion is based on my knowledge of what is happening in our own neighborhoods here in Fremont, Newark and Union City and sometimes neighboring counties at best. We tend to focus on the Fremont, Newark and Union City home values here. http://www.tricityhome.com and more specifically about Parkmont home sales here. http://tricityhome.com/Parkmont_homes_sold.html

Since the term market conditions can be subjective, I am setting the stage here by simply outlining that I felt market conditions were to be defined as: The current frequency of new and existing home sales as they are relative to their selling prices to last year.

I checked a 7 out of 10 for market conditions today as opposed to last year. Market conditions for Fremont being on the rise since that time due to the decreasing supply of homes left on the market and the fact that multiple offers were steady and in some cases on the rise. This latter point brings up the "demand" portion of the equation. Supply and demand will show us immediate conditions, but to predict the future condition is much more complicated.

In short, I felt somewhat optimistic about our real estate confidence. Naturally, there is another school of thought floating out there that we are headed for another crunch in bank owned properties and short sales. That may be, but at least Realtors and banks are getting better at handling the inventory surplus and getting them off the books at a more effective rate. So, if we do swing down again, I feel that it may not be as nearly significant as it was when it first hit. No one was ready at that time. Now we are.

Here is a copy of the report I got for free as a participant--let me know what you think.

Real Estate Confidence Report http://agent.point2.com/RECI/RECI_February2010_Report.pdf

House Of A Different Color--In The Avenues Of Menlo Park

TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:50:13 -0500

"It's white!" I said as I scrubbed the side of the house with warm soap and water. Truth be told, I knew it was white. This house for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park just needs a new owner that's all. It has vinyl siding which made the scrubbing possible as opposed to to it needing new paint. With vinyl siding you can scrub away and get the same look each time.

We listed the home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park about 3 weeks ago. At the time of writing this post--I feature it here at http://www.tricityhome.com. There was a comparable just one block over in November of 09 that sold for 530k. Granted it was a 10 and had one small room added to it, but still our home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park is listed at 429k, 100k less. Just think of the possibilities I thought. This home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park is an incredible alternative to owning a condo or townhouse in the Stanford vicinity. The home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park is a two bed one bath single family home on a half lot of about 2600 sq ft.

hardwood floors
fireplace
backyard
front yard
1 car garage
over sized water heater
new garage door
bright kitchen
composition roof

We are getting 3 showings a week, but still no offers. I get calls from other agents saying it is priced right and that the area is great. So, that can only mean one thing--it's the condition of the house that is preventing us from selling it.

I visited our 747 16th Avenue home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park and got out the ladder, a bucket, scrubber and the hose and got to work. two and a half hours later, I was done. "It's white!" I said jokingly to the owner. We laughed and likened the house to a tree that grows moss only on the north side. Joking aside, it was not that bad, but it did need a good cleaning.

I will be frank, there is no budget to install new vinyl in the kitchen floor or install new windows (all 5 of them). The home for sale in the Avenues in Menlo Park is as cute as a button and about the same size too. If you or someone you know is looking for an incredible alternative to owning a condo or town home in the Stanford vicinity, please let me know ASAP. Here's the listing-- http://MAXEBRDI.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=525ce68f-0361-4e38-a042-85e30b915d65&Report=Yes