Short Sale Slide Cast

I wanted to put something together for the would-be Fremont, Newark, Union City home buyer who may not know about short sales and how they affect all of us in some way.

If you have a moment or two, please take a listen to this Slidecast on Short Sales here http://tricityhome.com/podcasts.html and click Short Sale How To.

Pass on any knowledge to those who may not have insight on how to approach these short sales when looking for a Fremont, Newark or Union City home.

Some may recognize the format I use (chalkboard in Powerpoint (tm)), but I re did the audio a little with a change or two.

Thanks for listening.

How to Buy a Short Sale

View more webinars from Jeff Pereyda. By Jeff Pereyda

Fremont Real Estate Office Is Hot

Driving up to my Fremont real estate office, (get directions here) I noticed something just a little out of place. I knew about the crane, but it is another thing to see it in action on your way to the office.

Turns out our office needed a new air conditioner. I wonder if my new tenant had anything to do with it. I do not mind a comfortable 70 degree office, but the moment he steps in the Fremont Real Estate office, http://www.tricityhome.com/fremont-office-visit.html he needs to turn the AC on. He says it keeps him focused.

Before you think ill of it. Adam Arant, Attny at Law is my Estate Planning attorney in Fremont. I trust him with--well basically my life. I have referred Adam to other friends and co workers, and they are glad I did. Adam has great ethics which is well needed in the business.

Here are some images of the crane and the AC guy. By Jeff Pereyda

Buying Homes in Fremont--A Shift Towards a Collaborative

Fremont home buyers have changed they way they search for homes from 10, even 5 years ago. I have been selling Fremont homes since 1999, and I have seen an interesting change in the goings about. Apart from the recent Fremont short sales and Fremont REO properties for sale causing havoc, the ease to search real estate in Fremont has never been better, and for all of us searching for these Fremont homes, the Internet has certainly arrived.

Back in '99 you could search for Fremont homes on the Internet using some giant sites. Realtor.com was the biggest real estate search platform for searching Fremont homes for sale. Regardless, now, there are hundreds of sites that do the same thing. Moreover, if you add up all the IDX sites you'll reach perhaps a million.* However, Fremont home buyers having access to this information has created a double edged sword. Fremont home buyers feel empowered as they should, but woe to them who feel that they can fell the heavy shodden feet of the giant. Real estate along with its financing is a huge animal yet to be tamed. Consumers go into the real estate arena sometimes all on their own and come out hurt and discouraged.

There is hope. Many deals fall apart because the financing was not solid. Lenders have a lot of requirements for the soon-to-be home owner, and a short visit to the real estate office was the old way to take care of this mishap. The other reasons for DFT's (deal fell through) are that Fremont short sale buyers get exhausted just waiting to get to the short sale lender approval so they can go ahead and buy the thing. When searching for a Fremont home, you will need to be prepared for a great many things as I will allude to in a bit. This is where I have seen the collaborative take form. Consumers have adapted to the chaos and may have a way to deal with this thorny market.

Here's one example. Judy wants to buy a Fremont home for sale. Judy's parents live in Missouri and will handle most of the financing. Judy also has an uncle who already lives in Fremont who happens to really be handy with fixing things. Judy has Jeff Pereyda at TriCity Real Estate Brokers http://www.tricityhome.com/, a Fremont real estate agent helping with the search for homes in Fremont and the contracts for escrow. Just as important, Judy has many friends on facebook who want to help as well. Add all that up and now Judy has multiple laptops, handhelds and iPhones gathering data for one goal--Get Judy a good deal on a Fremont home for sale. By the time we are ready to make an offer, the group could easily have uncovered and dealt with many "Judy exclusive" home buying hurdles. Comparable home prices, good loan programs, the proximity to her work, traffic flow, the noisy neighbors, the nice neighbors, as well as near by amenities, and "walking scores" are all placed in the working space for the collaborative to come up with an overall score for the home.

I may be overstepping a bit to call it a collaborative, but the pains of buying a home in Fremont lately have caused some to form a team and mobilize what resources they have. My job as a Fremont real estate agent is still the same, but I am part of a mobilized, tech savvy group contributing to a project that will benefit all. Seems like a wiki real estate collaborative is the next step. Is there a Google lab for that? By Jeff Pereyda

*IDX sites are MLS search sites that run from a remote database mainly designed so Realtors can have visitors search for homes on these Realtor/agent websites without the agents having to carry huge server/data maintenance and all the while providing customers with more flexibility while visiting their agent's site).

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