David Blockhus's (dblockhus) Blog

There is a less than admorable side to the practice of real estate that involves agents "buying" listings.   Buying a listing is when a real estate agent artificially overvalues a seller's home in an effort to convince the seller to list the home with him/her.  The scenario usually goes as follow...

An interesting conversation broke out at our last Los Altos/Mountain View real estate tour meeting regarding an increase in a phenomenon we haven't seen since 1999-2000, pocket listings.   Flash back to 1999-2000 when inventory levels were low and buyer demand was high.  Some real estate brokerag...

Join the celebration at Blach Intermediate School in Los Altos this Friday, April 25th from 4:30 - 7:30 pm.  Included in the festivities will be campus tours, memorabilia displays, a time capsule, memory walls, and a video playing throughout the event.  A formal program will begin at 5:30 pm wher...

Although is looks like it, the circus has not come to the Rancho Shopping Center in Los Altos.  Rather, the shopping center is being fumigated.  In my 30+ years of living in Los Altos, I don't recall the shopping center being closed down completely for any reason.  Enjoy the photos of Los Altos' ...

Compass Place condominiums, also known as Arcadia Terrace (named for the street the complex is located on), has always been a favorite condominium complex of mine.  Built approximately 14 years ago, Compass Place is conveniently located at the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Arcadia Terrace, near ...

Pricing a home to sell has always been somewhat of an art.  Price it too high and it will never sell.  Price it too low and you may leave money on the table.During the last several years of our strong seller's market, the mantra had been "price them high watch them die,  price them low and watch ...

I just read an interesting article by Arn Cenedella, another Coldwell Banker agent located in our Menlo Park office, about inventory patterns in Menlo Park.  I thought I would check if there was a similar inventory pattern in Los Altos. If one takes a look at the graph below, Los Altos Real estat...

Over the years I have had the pleasure of selling homes in what many buyers have described as unfavorable locations.  Homes that front or back up to busy roads (typically highways 85 or 280), homes that back up to train tracks (along the Cupertino foothills and Central Expressway) and homes that ...

In the news of late there have been prominant news stories featuring Curtis Dean Anderson, who recently died in a Bakersfield hospital and Michael Dodele, who was recently killed in Lakeport, CA by a neighbor.   What do these two men have in common?  Besides their current health status, they both...

A few days ago I read an interesting article written by Teresa Boardman of the St. Paul Real Estate Blog about customer service.  Working in a occupation where service is so important, I thought I would pass along my recent experience at a retailer known world wide for its high level of customer ...