Fremont Real Estate Agent & The One-Legged Broker

If you had the chance to visit my last post about Raising Healthy Chickens in Fremont-Newark-Union City, you would have know that one of my knees would be out of commission for a while.

This post is a quick humorous look at my post op recovery. I still have both legs. And, this is by no means poking fun at those who have had the misfortune of losing a limb, but my experience has been one that I am ready to poke a little fun at.

To cut to the quick, immediately after the operation, I was escorted out to the back of the Fremont Surgery Center north building. There was only a fear of pain that I think comes naturally to most of us. I dared not put full pressure on the leg, (any pressure for that matter) but the doctor (Dr. Barry Rose, M.D.) said that I could place full pressure on the leg, but to keep it raised for the next 24 hours with an ice pack. I clutched my envelope of post op instructions, receipts and disclosures and hopped in the wheelchair. While being wheeled out, I discovered a new definition of anticipation to be described as: The to-no-avail halting motion as one tries to scoot back further than possible in a wheel chair as a nurse pushes one onward over significant pavement bumps after knee surgery. Wincing, and approaching each pavement line in the sidewalk, we finally arrived at the drop off/ pick up point. I noticed the back of my wife's car at least fifty yards up and stopped next to the wrong building. My wife was told she could pick me up right at the door. She would have to back up a ways. While waiting, I still thought I had my puffy, blue surgery hat on and I asked the nurse if I could take it off. She simply spoke, "It's off." I just replied with, "Oh." Thoughtfully, and relieved I was still alive I'm sure, she put the car in reverse and picked me up where I was waiting.

Arthroscopic surgery has come a long way since even a few years back. Sure I was sore, but I wasn't nauseated, nor was I in great pain. But I did notice something. I noticed when I went grocery shopping a few days later, that many people were limping like I was. Did they just have surgery too? Perhaps they have a torn meniscus, or was it me and my reticular activator (You know, you by a red Honda Civic and then you spot them out of the traffic in huge numbers because you have one too?) Regardless, it seemed like the whole of Fremont was limping on the left except my wife and children who forgot on a regular basis that walking at a regular pace was just not for me at the moment. Since I was a bit incapacitated, we decided to go to a matinée, my wife and I wanted to see Green Zone. Walking to the theater from the parking lot, we would start out together in pace for about 1 second, then, she would walk ahead, realize I was not there, then turn and look at me, then wait in silence until I arrived. The we would do it all over again five or six times until we met up at our final destination. So, phrases like, "be right there" had to be modified to, "give me a minute" accompanied by a wince and a hobble.

I'm sure my story is lite compared to many out there. A Far Side comic comes to mind where two pirates are at a bar and the caption reads. "Oh yeah? That's noth'n. Let me tell ya how I got this one." The real genius of the cartoon is that the one speaking the line is answering the guy next to him who has a wooden peg instead of a head sticking up out of his coat collar.

We are fortunate to have great medical staff and facilities here in Fremont the way we do without having to live in Palo Alto for access to Stanford Hospital facilities. The Fremont real estate http://www.tricityhome.com fits a lot of people's budget better as well. Two very different cites, but I'm glad we share great physicians, staff and equipment between us both.
By Jeff Pereyda

Always Dream Play Park--Fremont CA

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.








By Jeff Pereyda

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

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 depicted 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. By Jeff Pereyda

Real Estate Confidence Report--Parkmont Homes

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 By Jeff Pereyda

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

"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

By Jeff Pereyda

New Homes In Fremont--New Materials

I sold a brand new home in Fremont today. (not shown here) I am not the broker there at the new home in Fremont building site. Rather, I am the broker for TriCity Real Estate Brokers, Inc. here http://www.tricityhome.com.

But, an earnest home buyer found my site and--long story short--bought a brand new home in Fremont at the new Cedarbrook subdivision. I also discovered that they read my prior blog post on New homes in Niles here. http://tricityhome.blogspot.com/2009/12/niles-area-of-fremont.html.

On our tour of the homes, we were impressed with many things that led up to the new home in Fremont purchase. One thing we were educated about was the use of Hardie planks by James Hardie (facebook page). The name Hardie seems perfectly fitting. These are "hard" somewhat flexible, cement boards that make up the sidings for the new homes in Fremont at Cedarbrook. What was thought as or often referred to us as "scales" going down the of a front portion of the new homes in Fremont were actually Hardie planks shingles. They are designed to overlap just like wood siding. They have a good look to them and we really liked the "shingle" look that give the Craftsman elevation a traditional historic Fremont or Niles look. Hardie makes many different types of these exterior materials as well. What was thought to be regular wood siding that runs horizontally across the side of the house was again Hardie planks. What's more is that the Hardie materials were already colored to go with the well planned color schemes that new homes in Fremont have to undergo with the city of Fremont. The end result is one of the cleanest looks in a new home in Fremont can produce, not to mention the most durable.

My buyers really enjoyed the tours, the people at Regis as well as the materials used. However, I doubt that they will drive up to their new Fremont home and give a sigh of relief knowing their home was built with Hardie planks. A "home" is much more than its materials, but I know that the use of Hardie materials will play a big part in providing them with both pride of ownership and peace of mind. It's not even built yet, but my home buyers already love their brand new home in Fremont. Congratulations! By Jeff Pereyda

Parkmont Homes & Listed For How Much?

At the time of writing this page (2-10-10) Parkmont Villas Townhomes on Bright Common and Lavendar Common have been hovering around 435k for a Via Bravo--the two bedroom 2.5 bath and 475k for the Villa Bella--the 3 bed 2.5 bath townhouses.

Sometimes we get a scare when a neighbor lists their Parkmont home for sale at say $410k for the Via Bella--3 bed 2.5 bath at 1700 sq ft.

I am often asked why this is, or I am asked if it will hurt the value of the surrounding Parkmont homes. Truth is that it is unfortunate that the listing agent goes so low on the very first day. After all, the agent's job is to get the most they can for the property, right? So, why so low? Sometimes out-of-area agents fail to know the Parkmont homes area or the comparables as well as the local brokers do and mistakenly listing the house for a low price. The redeeming news is that the market will bear what it can bear and usually market value is attained after a few weeks.

Secondly, it does not seem to hurt the comparables too much.

Case in point is that I just listed 38332 Redwood Terrace in Fremont at 519k (pie in the sky price). We got an offer for 470k after 45 days. Long story short, we got 485k EVEN AFTER IT APPRAISED FOR 466k and it's last comparable was around 465k. We received 485k. It could not get any better than that.

Point being--do not panic if your neighbor lists for a ridiculously low price. Contact me using the form below for a real market value based on true comparables and true sold history along with experience in Parkmont sales prices.

The goal here is to create a report for you to determine the market value of your Parkmont Home by looking at the real-time brokerage data.

We will create the report by hand, but you need to type in the correct information so the job can be done correctly. We will then deliver the Parkmont report to you by email.

If it is time to sell, let me know. I will get top dollar for your home as fast as I can.

Just go here: http://www.tricityhome.com/Parkmont_homes_sold.html By Jeff Pereyda