Subscribe When I first heard about the new housing bill, that would force banks to modify loans to keep people in their homes, or face stiff fines. I was excited. A housing bill that would help keep people in their homes, and slow or stop the dreaded foreclosures. Woo Hoo! How wonderful for the many people faced with losing their homes. Then I viewed my Active Rain site and read a blog by JP Lowry of Preferred Financial Funding, titled What are We Doing America? in which he VERY ADAMANTLY stated why the bill was Disgusting, Ridiculous & Entitled. I have to say after reading it there were some very good points. Now I am not sure where I stand and was wondering what other opinions were. I am very happy for the families that will be able to keep their homes, but at what cost? I agree that ... 10/12/2009

After spending a few months with a client who is selling a home in Fremont CA, a real estate agent's dedication to the task should be quite evident and play a key role in building a good relationship of trust with the owner. Thanks to all the real estate horror stories out there, owners are weary of the promises being made across the kitchen table during the real estate agent interview. The owners/sellers could have been through a rough time with an agent before. So what can an agent do to ensure trust? Communication--the phone call: although one of the easiest things to do, some agents wait too long to call the owner or they call the owners far too infrequent. Just hearing the agents voice and tone of confidence goes a long way in building trust. Spending time in front of the client, i... 10/11/2009

Utilities in one of our homes for sale in the Parkmont area of Fremont had its gas and electricity off. The house had an offer on it and the signed offer was submitted to the bank. We knew it would be a while before any development took place with the lender. Remarkably, the lender called 2 weeks later and was scheduling a Broker Price Opinion/appraisal or BPO. We were caught by surprise. It normally takes 2 months, and that is when all the planets are aligned just so. The poor appraiser could not do his job due to lack of utilities. I immediately stepped in and called PG&E. After the preliminary account verifications and so forth, this is sort of how it went: PG&E: It will take 48 hours, so that will be Wednesday the 7th. And, the appointment will be from 8:00am to 8:00pm. Me: That's ... 10/09/2009

Real Estate values will grow stronger. Hopefully, owners of real estate will take good care of their property in order to keep its value up. Some properties have literally rotted away during this tough economic time. In as much, the soil itself on which our real estate improvements rest needs nuturing. Once a year, except last year I believe, Perry Farms opens its gates for the public to enjoy the pumpkin patch amongst other things during the fall season. Last year the farmers felt that the real estate (land) needed rest and that the soil would be better off if it had the chance to do so. I spoke to the farmer last week to ask him a bit about it. He said that the year long rest not only helped this years crops, but one of the pests they had to previously deal with, a squash beetle of so... 10/07/2009

Subscribe The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has delayed the implementation of rules that could make life more difficult for condo buyers across the country. The delay should be especially helpful for those hoping to qualify for the first-time buyer tax credit that expires after Nov. 30. The new FHA rules, which were to take effect Oct. 1, 2009 will now be effective on Nov. 2. They are designed to improve the lending process, but they could cause some short-term delays in completing loans and closing purchases. The FHA was wise to delay the implementation of these changes. Now, buyers trying to close a transaction by Nov. 30 should be able to file their FHA loan applications early enough to qualify under the old regulations. The importance of FHA financing has grown substantially ... 10/06/2009

REO and Short Sale Homes How to Buy REO homes and Short Sale HomesReal Estate Owned Homes Play the short slidecast here. Go to tricityhome.com hereTo begin the slidecast, wait until you see the arrow below that looks like this Then click it. Do not click the new moving arrow. It does not work to play the slidecast. It only goes to the next slide. 10/02/2009

  Parkmont Townhome Villas belong to a well-kept Parkmont subdivision of Fremont CA. It was one of several areas I mailed business postcards to last week as part of a regular marketing program. The postcard simply pointed out that Internet visitors could visit my site and instantly listen to references about yours truly. You can do that here. I added live streaming (no longer requiring to download the voice file to play it) Anyway, getting off topic a bit. I like to receive calls about real estate because I feel that I can tell it like it is without the all sales jargon. That's what I would want if I called in to a broker for my house. A resident called in today to ask about the value of his house. He lived in the Parkmont Townhome Villas, and I have a good handle on all of the Parkmont... 10/01/2009

Fremont CA Real Estate-Short Sales Fremont CA Real Estate prices fell on average of 35% since the beginning 2007, but there were a few pockets of Fremont that fared a bit better than the rest. What could have been the cause? Weren't they all affected in the same way? Mission San Jose area real estate prices in Fremont for example, did fall but not as much as homes in the Ponderosa area in the north of Fremont.Schools were the common denominator in determining the home value percentage drop. Had Mission San Jose Schools been anything but one of the top 5% national high schools in the nation, the story would have been different. Parkmont area of Fremont did okay at around 30% drop, better than a 35% drop from other pockets of Fremont. All together, it seems that the Mission San Jose Schoo... 09/30/2009

Choosing a Fremont Real Estate Agent Choosing a Fremont Real Estate Broker In my previous blog post, I simply shed a bit of light on the fact that at the end of the day, the broker IS the agent, no mater if you chose and agent or a broker that sells real estate. Choosing a Fremont Real Estate Agent, or choosing a Fremont Real Estate Broker should take some planning. Not all are the same. Most have the same tools available to them, but it is the compliant and optimized results you are looking for when you're done with the sale that matters most. This may not be the best illustration of that point, but I sometimes have my would-be clients take hold of my Montblanc fine tip pen and say, "okay, write your name with this pen." Then I take the pen and sign my name. "See the difference?" I sa... 09/26/2009

I wanted to simply spread a bit of light (just a little) on the differences between a broker and a licensee. What it mostly boils down to is that brokers arethe agents. Most real estate sales "agents" that we normally refer to as agents are in fact licensees working under a broker's license or have an affiliation under the broker, and they are in fact supposed to be called sales associates or real estate licensees, but we usually just say, "agents." Not all brokers sell real estate themselves. They govern the transactions, amongst many other things. However,  some brokers do sell property.But what about these brokers that sell property? What gives them an advantage over a licensee if any? If I had to choose between a broker that sells property and a licensee as an "agent,"--being a brok... 09/25/2009

Some of you, at one time or another, may have ran into Google Alerts where you set up a topic and ask Google to notify you when something relavent comes up, a Listing Alert with Fremontcahomefinder.com or TriCityHome.com will gather the information being sought after in a home and store it. Then as soon as a home that matches the visitors needs, it instanly sends them a message with pictures, maps and more.Our latest visitor, we will call Fred, just finished his set up. All he had to do was input just a few items and hit "finish." Here is a snapshot of what his page looks like when he in notifies. Here is one of his would-be homes he was notified about. These blog images are fuzzy due to the post, but they are clear as can be on the screen. There are many more tools available at Fremont... 09/22/2009

Every school day, I arrive at Parkmont Elementary School at 8:20am, and I return at 2:35pm to pick up my kids--except on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, I have to return at 1:15 to pick them up. What happens on Wednesday? Wednesday at 1:15 is "prep time." Prep time is a time when teachers can get caught up on lesson plans, copies, and run ditto machine jobs (mimeographs--the white paper copies with bluish-purple ink that smells like glue). They do these jobs and all sorts of other tasks too during this prep time. Prep time was not done last year--at Parkmont Elementary that is. Glenmoor Elementary, off of Mattos in Fremont, had prep time last year and the year before. So, what happened? Well, budget cuts happened. Parkmont Elementary School is challenged just like all the other California sc... 09/17/2009

Subscribe In the state of California you can apply for two different tax credits one from the state Gov. and one from the Federal Gov. The federal Gov. is giving a tax credit in the amount of 10% of the sale price or 8000.00 which ever is less. The state of California is giving a tax credit in the amount of 5% of the sale price or 10,000.00 which ever is less. Neither is a loan nor does it have to be repaid. What's the catch, you ask? Well the federal tax credit has a limit on the income amount on the buyer can earn 75,000 for a single taxpayers and 150,000 for married taxpayers. Also, they must be first time buyers and purchase the home between 01/01/2009 and 12/01/2009 The state tax credit does not have a limit on your income, but it does require you to be purchasing a newly built hom... 09/17/2009

                                     SEARCH FREEMONT BANK OWNED HOMES!                                                                             GET FREMONT BANK OWNED HOMES BY EMAIL!     SEARCH ENGINE KEYWORDSFREMONT BANK OWNED HOMESFREMONT FORECLOSURESFREMONT CA REO PROPERTYFREMONT SHORT SALESFREMONT REO AGENTParkmont  Glenmoor  Mission San Jose  Brookvale Ardenwood  Ponderosa Warm Springs  Irvington 09/17/2009

                                  Looking for Parkmont Homes For Sale in Freemont?                                                    Click the map to search                                               FREEMONT HOMES FOR SALE                                        Go to the Homebuyhers page to get snapshots of what's selling now. Download the form that can fire us if we don't meet your expectations Download pre-calculated, ez to use homebuying calculators TriCity Real EstateBrokers, inc. "Negotiating Price In Your Favor" 39111 Paseo Padre Pkwy STE 203 Fremont CA 94538 Tel. 510 742-3212 Fax. 510 742-9299contact us   SEARCH TOOLS & WHAT THEY DO MANAGE TOOLS & WHAT THEY DO Basic Search Fast and powerful: enter number of bedrooms, bathrooms, sq ft, city and go... My Properties Mngr Sign U... 09/17/2009

Have you ever fired a client/customer? I had to today. I am writing to remind agents and would-be clients to consider slowing it down just a bit in order to get your roles explained. Roles being in reference to an old friend, agency. Agency in Real Estate is: A fiduciary relationship of utmost honesty, integrity and trust.The first yellow flag ended up in me firing the customer immediately during a call I received from a confused and flustered buyer who wanted more information on a property he saw on my website. This was an IDX website tool that I'm sure a lot of you have visited. First, He thought it was my listing, understandably, so I explained how IDX works in a nutshell. He then wanted the listing agent's name. I told him. He was now thoroughly confused because he was seeing a diff... 09/15/2009

Subscribe Buying a home Homebuyers can make the most of several tax breaks that help lower their tax bill based on the purchase of an existing or new home. For instance:-First-time homebuyers: The Recovery Act provides a credit of up to $8,000 if a taxpayer buys a home between Jan. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009. The homebuyer also must not have owned a home in the previous three years and the home must be the primary residence.-Points: The points paid on a mortgage are generally deductible as interest if taxpayers paid enough of a down payment or earnest money at closing to cover the points. Homebuyers can deduct the points even if the seller paid them.-PMI premiums: Buyers who make a down payment of less than 20% of the home's cost usually pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). But the PMI ... 09/15/2009

In the previous post, I ruminated regarding the whereabouts of my seller. We have a home for sale in the Parkmont area of Fremont. What's more,  we had two offers, and he was nowhere to be found. Well, the good news is that he has been found. The bad or indifferent news is that he is close to where I thought he was. He is in Indonesia. Now there's an "out of the area" seller, or "super absentee owner" for you. All kidding aside, he assured me that all will be taken care of on account that he is well astute to high-tech communications. We will see how it goes. If you are interested, a little jewel I gleaned from this experience is that the Indonesia AT&T access code to dial Bank of America's short sale division from Indonesia to here via toll-free is 00180110, so dial 00180110 then the ... 09/14/2009

Where did he go? Such a nice guy too... Those words kept ringing through my head as I wondered where my seller must have gone. He and I had the long talk about his accessibility throughout the transaction and how important it would be to sign documents "en route" if he was going to leave the area. Well, leave the area he did, and now I cannot reach him. It's been about a week and a half. As it is now, I have a short sale listing with him in the Parkmont area of Fremont. Nice area. See for yourself here. We had no activity for 3 months, now I have 2 offers, and I need his signature yesterday.Other words that ring through my head are--"Hind site is 20/20." and, "I should have..."Has anyone run across this or has something to share with the Realtor community so as to prevent this from happ... 09/13/2009

Subscribe The U.S. housing market continues to show signs of stabilization with a drop in the number of Multiple Listing Service (MLS)-listed homes for the twelfth consecutive month. The number of single family homes and condos listed for sale according to MLS data decreased in June 2009 from May by 2.1%, bringing the total number of active listings in 28 major U.S. markets to 696,858. Other highlights from ZipRealty's Housing Inventory Index, compiled from local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data, for June 2009 include: -Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix all recorded a decline in inventory which may have contributed to some homes receiving multiple bids.-Median list prices have flattened or increased in Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, pointing toward stabi... 09/04/2009