Real estate truly is local. The Marketing Department of Alain Pinel Realtors provides our REALTORS as many tools as we need to educate our clients. The easiest and most popular tools are charts like these. Take a look at what's happending in Alameda County, CA, since July 2012 through mid-May 201
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05/08/2013
REALTOR Code of Ethics…..what does it say about disclosing offer details to other agents? According to Realtor.com article about “What to disclose amid multiple offers” Standard of Practice 1-13 is directed to the issue of disclosure of terms of offers. “When entering into buyer/tenant agreemen
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05/08/2013
Surprise! Only one offer! In our crazy seller's market, it was practically a given that listings will receive multiple offers. Of course, it depends on the pricing strategy. Overprice, and the listing may be bypassed, or offers will be at less than list price. Underprice, and one may expect multi
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05/08/2013
"Pull a permit" is oft used in the wrong context. Realtors get copies of the permit history. We don't "pull" the permit. Or at least, we shouldn't. Homeowners and contractors pull -- or request/apply for a permit. When working with a buyer or seller, realtors are likely to check the permit histor
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05/03/2013
How does the first quarter in 2013 compare to same period of time the preceding years for Alameda CA? Like many cities in the Bay area, and perhaps in other cities/states as well, the common plaint seems to be that there’s a dearth of inventory of homes for sale. Further, multiple offers at
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04/27/2013
“He who represents himself has a fool for a client” Several months ago, I met with a potential seller who was interviewing a few agents. Days later, he called and said he had decided to do something else. And it turns out he wanted to sell the property himself. He met with the agents only to pick
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04/24/2013
Hot seller's market = Crazy "rules" Two weeks ago, my buyer and I encountered an agent who was handing out a WORD document to the folks going through his open house. He asked us to fill in the buyer's and agent's names and contact info, and the amount we would offer on the house. Mind-boggli
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04/15/2013
What is Alameda Point? Alameda Point used to be the home of Alameda Naval Station (NAS) . This station, one of the largest and most complete naval stations in the world, closed in 1997. It was turned over to the city of Alameda in 2011. Most recently, the Navy received an additional $10 million
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04/11/2013
There have been three popular movies where living on a houseboat, a.k.a. floating home was romanticized. Later, I learned that folks who live in these homes prefer to call them as "floating homes" since they are berthed all the time and do not move around on their own propulsion. Growing up, I on
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04/11/2013
Someone asked if there is overbidding in our little island town of Alameda CA so she would know what to expect year 2013. Like most Bay area cities, we are seeing our share of overbidding. However, we should be careful on how we characterize the market because it really depends on the pricing st
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04/08/2013