Fremont CA Real Estate Broker Put On The Spot

The NUMMI Plant here in Fremont has been providing jobs building cars and trucks up until 2010 when it had been decided that after kicking the tires a bit it was time to finally slam the doors shut. No pun intended. The mayor of Fremont, Bob Wasserman, wants Fremont to be a model city in how it chooses to revitalize and reuse the site once shut down. It is part of what is amicably called NUMMI Revitalization and Reuse Plan. 

KTVU news in March 2010 had completed a story on the topic that you can view here http://www.ktvu.com/news/22973164/detail.html. 

Fremont has hired a study group out of Berkeley called Strategic Economics Inc. to assess the positive impact and other effects revitalization may have on the incisive city of Fremont.

I had received a call into my office TriCity Real Estate Brokers http://www.tricityhome.com from one of the Strategic staff. The Strategic employee was hoping to gain information on what effects the revitalization may have on the housing market in and around Fremont. We set up a telephone interview on September 24th to go over the survey questions. The survey was mainly focused on the the housing impact in and around the Warm Springs area, but also encompassed different areas of Fremont and its surrounding cities.  

I have been interviewed several times about housing and the real estate market over the last couple of years, and I usually can give clear, concise answers to the questions. However, once in a while there is that string of information during the interview where I sometimes wonder if I am really helping or if the interviewer is thinking about how to get me back on topic. 

In regards to a question intended to gain my opinion on the effect on the housing prices in Warm Springs East of Mission Blvd. (So, Jeff, if BART should build a "multi use" facility around the intended BART station extension, what effect would it have on the housing prices in Warm Springs East of Mission Blvd.)?--I paused. First, Mission Blvd is a long road that covers several different micro markets in real estate. I think she meant down where Mission bends back towards 880 by East Warren, but at that point the homes on the east are really south east. That's when there was that awkward pause on my behalf. Then I started to talk about true east versus south east, then I started yapping about Weibel versus Mission San Jose--Oi! Get back on topic Jeff. 

After the interview, and many other questions that were answered in a more succinct fashion, she had mentioned how helpful my input was and that the interview went really smooth. I could only say the next thing that came into mind at that point. The stereotypical reply of, "hope that helps." Argh! Why couldn't I just say, "you're welcome. If you have further questions, please feel free to give me a call." By Jeff Pereyda

Fremont CA Real Estate Is Growing Good Habaneros

Although hard to see it here in this image, Fremont CA real estate grows good Habanero peppers. Habenaros are quite touchy and slow to germinate from the seed and even slower to grow--especially when you are watching them daily.

Why the mention of Fremont CA real estate? Because I was told that the native soil found in and around Fremont CA (real estate) is composed of a good amount of adobe clay and not the best for peppers, much less the slow and temperamental Habenaro. It was hard for me to make the adjustment from where I grew up in Sunnyvale where the black soil there grew almost anything without even trying. Here using Fremont real estate, I will tell you what I did to get them this far.

I bought a few nice golden Habenaros from the store and, after using them for a few fiery recipes, I carefully (with gloves) washed the seeds for drying. After a day or two, the seeds were clean and dry. Believe it or not, certain molds love to grow on hot peppers. I then did a bit of research. Strangely, a blog post with the headlines of something like, "Use Your Dryer to Germinate Habenaros." here at http://www.urbanchiles.com/growing/022805.html. The post/page caught my eye. Intrigued, I delved into the article. The short of it was that the normal household uses the dryer a few times a week. the top of the dryer reaches a snugly 90 degrees or more for moderate durations.  The writer discovered that setting the seeds in a container with moist soil, provided 100% germination. Mine was 50%, and I blame my cat for hogging the heat.

As you can see, I have mine in a pot now. I did the dryer method and then transplanted them outside in a pot with a mix of Fremont soil and a bit of stuff from the worm bin out back.


I will let you know how they taste. My favorite is Mango Habanero salsa. By Jeff Pereyda

Fremont Short Sale Negotiator Tactic Hurt$$$

I was going to wait until it closed escrow, but my Fremont short sale negotiator pulled a fast one. And I wanted to write about it. I also really do think it was the negotiator and perhaps the short sale lender together on this one.

Some time ago, I was helping a Fremont CA home buyer look at homes. We looked at a few good ones along with others that may not have been top on her list of a good Fremont real estate deal. There was one other home I was not going to show her because it was not ready. It was one of my own homes for sale in Fremont. It was a short sale, like some of the others.

Long story short, after much discussion about the home in Fremont that I had for sale, she really wanted to see mine. She bought my short sale listing and during the negotiations with the short sale lender it was disclosed that I was the agent for both buyer and seller--a bit easier to swallow when it is a short sale because the seller just needs approval and to be forgiven of the debt instead of getting a high net profit.

After the lender discovered the dual agency, they wrote back and said I was only going to get half of my percentage of the commission instead of the whole commission. They wrote, "sorry, their rules." and that was that.

Our office did not take this lying down. After a few calls and some firm words, it was remedied to my satisfaction. I found out later that this was a new tactic negotiators are allegedly using. I know this because my sources revealed that an earlier escrow with the same short sale lender just closed with dual agency (both buyer and seller represented by one office) and was paid full commission. I never used that piece of evidence in my dispute, but I was ready to.

The short sale lenders are perhaps praying on the tired disposition of agents who have become exhausted after months and months of work with commissions dangling by a thread. A lot of agents see that anything is better than zero when it comes to getting paid.

So, short sale lenders out there. Give a listen. Agents work very hard contrary to what some may feel. We make real estate move and fully represent our clients seriously. Lately, it seems like you are simply throwing us a small bone for a job well done. I will be glad when this short sale era goes away. By Jeff Pereyda

Fremont Garage Sale Tip or Two

Whether your purpose for a Fremont garage sale or moving sale is to clear out stuff (junk) from your house or to recap some cash on items not used anymore--or both, you should do the garage sale. Moving sale, tag sale, estate sale, and garage sale all bear the same rules for success. My family and I, in Fremont, just did a block sale last weekend, and here is what I want to share with you on how we got things done. Some things we did well, and others okay.

My goal was two fold. First, being a Fremont real estate agent, I wanted to get the immediate Fremont community involved in order to glean a little name branding for my Fremont real estate office http://www.tricityhome.com from the event. Second, was for me to get some things cleared out of the house and garage. I needed my space back.

You should opt for the block sale first, even if you are not a Fremont real estate agent. Block sales build your event from one driveway of attractive garage sale items to perhaps twenty or so driveways of attractive garage sale items. Once, I had the pleasure of attending a city-wide garage sale in Burlingame. The idea is to build demand by way of building traffic. People are much more likely to attend a block sale than visit a single, isolated garage sale or tag sale.

Naturally, someone has to step up to the plate to get the garage sale or block sale going by way of a little resource mobilization. Flyers, board meetings and the like are a great start. Craigslist now has a garage sale category as well. Real Simple Magazine did an article on the tag sale and provided many tips and tricks of the trade. http://www.realsimple.com/tagsale.

I believe I had a little edge in the way of signs due to the fact that I am a Fremont real estate agent. I had a good deal of open house signs I converted to block sale signs. With some bright construction paper, a fat felt-tipped pen and some double sided tape, I was in business. With 10 signs in prominent areas leading visitors to our garage sale, we ended up having to actually direct traffic from 10:30am to around 12:00 noon (these were the busiest times) for some of our visitors.

In a nutshell, here is what I learned:

• Get at least $200 in change first from your bank--$50 in ones, $30 in fives, $50 in tens, $60 in twenties, and $10 in quarters (one roll). Do not let the smug guy hand you a $100 bill when buying a $5 item in hopes that you will not have change and then you end up giving the item to him.
• Use lots of signs
• Do not do Sunday unless you have to--Saturday had four times the visitors.
• Stop at around 2:00pm--seriously drops off after that.
• Use a large umbrella for shade and use sunscreen
• Drink lots of water
• Hot items asked for at our garage sale are: (were in our case) bicycles, video games, tools, cell phones (did not understand that one), jewelry and clothing.
• Cold, hard to move items at the garage sale were: dolls, plastic toys and our previous tv that weighed near 100 lbs
• Have bags
• Have fun

Feel free to call me at my Fremont real estate office at 510 742 3212 or visit my Fremont real estate website at http://www.tricityhome.com. By Jeff Pereyda

Selling & Moving From Fremont, Newark or Union City

The Winner!

I recently listed a home for sale in Union City for one of my clients selling a home & moving from Union City to what is known as La Morinda. During the process of selling the Union City house, the sellers and I talked about many logistics regarding selling a Union City home, and ultimately, discussed moving from Union City. Cutting to the quick, after interviewing the major movers for the area like Mayflower and Bekins, etc. my client selling his Union City home, chose Bekins as the service provider in moving from Fremont, Newark and Union City area. Although the moving company's prices were competitive with each other, Bekins had an edge of professionalism that was found lacking in the other moving company's sales staff.

Naturally, the selling staff and the actual people who would be doing the moving would be altogether different. Simply speaking, you may not get the shiny professional salesperson lifting your boxes of dishes. You will get, "the crew." Fortunately for Bekins and my client selling a Union City home, Bekins has stellar independent teams for the areas of Fremont, Newark and Union City. But what struck me as interesting after talking a bit more with my client who was selling his Union City home, was the fact that this particular team that was going to help with the move from the Tri-City area was Tri-Valley Bekins--a moving team that has stuck together for many years.

I spoke with Miss Owens, a 13 year Operations Manager for Bekins in Alameda County yesterday afternoon, so I could get some facts. The team that had helped my Union City home seller was Tri-Valley Bekins lead by Javier Angiano, an Independent Contractor and sole proprietor of 18 years with the company. He and his crew have been working together for 6-10 years. Much can be said about their professionalism and performance according to my Union City home seller.

Well-protecting items before they were placed into boxes was a given, but when the crew began to make wall protectors from heavy duty card board and laid out stair protectors as well to protect the walls and steps from damage, it got my client's full attention. They handled the whole move with efficiency and even stuck to their quote even though my client's Union City home had an excessively stocked kitchen full of many different sets of dish ware that called for more boxes and more wrap work than previously thought.

I mentioned earlier about the "shiny" salesperson and how the first impression made a difference. Alex Arsenault, a 20 year selling coordinator for Bekins was the deal maker. Although, Arsenault went toe to toe with the rep from Mayflower, Arsenault was the one who asked the relevant questions and had a genuine concern about my clients and their Union City move. My sellers chose Bekins, and they were glad they did to say the least.

Thank you Bekins for indirectly being an important part of my successfully selling this Union City home.

If you happen to be thinking of selling your Fremont, Newark or Union City home, contact me from my Fremont real estate agent office site here http://www.tricityhome.com --and if you want a great moving experience, make sure you include Bekins in your list of interviewees. By Jeff Pereyda

Moving From Fremont CA To...?

Most 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

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. By Jeff Pereyda