One of our homes for sale is getting more viewings. I have some ideas about that.In my opinion, I think that homebuyers are at least feeling better about searching for homes in general. That's really all this image taken from my Realtor.com reporting is proving. But, none the less, people are searching more than they were, say in November.My website has more visits too.     Here is a snippet from my domain reporting program. In short, After the Holidays, people seem to be ready to search.We do not have offers on the home, but that is another blog post.If you notice the spikes on the 13th and the 14th, then again on the 21st, you will see that those are Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Interesting. If you know why, let me know.I am hopeful and hoping that people are really starting to feel better... 01/24/2009

Some people say TLC means Tender Love Care. I call it "Time Labor and Cost". Please express your views on what this acronym should be called. 01/12/2009

I hear different opinions from different people when discussing this topic. I have talked to people who have owned a house in the Bay area for a number of years, people who bought at the peak, People who bought in recent months and people who are sitting on the fence waiting for just the right time to buy. All of them have different opinion, dased on the catagory (above) into which, a person falls. Since this discussion can be very long if I start talking about all the catagories of buyer. I will keep this discussion limited to first time home buyers and will keep the discussion limited to the Real Estate market in the SF Bay area. Federal Reserve has reduced the key interest rate to almost 0%. It cannot go lower than this. It has already driven mortgage rates down since yesterday. Ther... 12/18/2008

On Saturday (12/6), Congressman Pete Stark will hold a town hall meeting from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the the Fremont Senior Center, which is located at 40086 Paseo Padre Parkway in Fremont.  These events are a great opportunity to meet with the congressman in a low-key, informal setting and to get Stark's often candid take on what's happening in Washington D.C. Considering Moving to Fremont or the East Bay?    ~   Do you want to Buy or Sell a home?      Do you have clients with needs in the East Bay?      Search East Bay Area Properties    Visit my website at http://pamwinterbauer.com 12/05/2008

I wrote a really cool article about depreciation (a huge deduction for RE investors), and it was published in November 2008's issue of INVEST MAGAZINE. There is some great information for you and your clients, so be sure to check it out by clicking the link or reading below. Death, Taxes, and Depreciation… The Three Certainties in Life... A wise man once told the world that there are only two certainties in life – death and taxes. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out (sorry Benjamin Franklin). Some people will unknowingly travel a great distance to elude one or the other. One of those individuals is my friend Bob. Bob's almost retired, and because Bob is a “small” real estate investor, he tries to save money whenever he can. That’s why Bob mows the lawns, manages the propert... 11/20/2008

There’s been a lot of discussion among the media, economists, and even us real estate agents in Fremont, about what President-elect Obama will do about the housing market. Based on a review of Obama’s previous legislative record, senior leaders of National Association of REALTORS stated that Obama has generally supported legislation favorable to homeowners. Fore example, while in Illinois, Obama supported tax credits for property owners. As a U.S. senator, he’s argued for a stronger Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and voted for the economic stimulus bill that increased loan limits in high-cost areas, like Fremont. From a Bay Area real estate perspective, I believe increasing the FHA-backed loan limit is really important. The 2008 conforming jumbo loan limit in the Bay Area is $729,... 11/09/2008

As part of a proposed economic stimulus package, Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed a 90-day freeze on pending foreclosures in California. According to MDA DataQuick, California had 80,000 foreclosures in Q3 2008, so the proposal by Gov. Schwarzenegger is meant to slow down the pace and provide homeowners with more time to find and re-finance with other, more affordable loans. However, as an incentive to provide more affordable loans, lenders can avoid the 90-day freeze under the plan if they proved they were actively rewriting loans so that homeowners could afford to make lower payments and avoid foreclosure. From a Bay Area perspective, while I applaud the government’s effort to call for a “cooling off” period from the time a homeowner receives a default notice from a bank, in terms of actu... 11/09/2008

This is a light, non-exhaustive view from my own broker experience regarding the differences between purchasing a short sale property and a real estate owned or bank-owned property (REO). It's helpful for would be buyers to take 5 minutes and view because having clarity and realistic expectations in whatever goal you set out to accomplish is good. Having clarity and realistic expectations when it comes to purchasing real estate ranks pretty high. Wouldn't you agree? View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ca fremont) 11/04/2008

On Thursday City of Fremont Planning Department staff held a community workshop to discuss plans for meeting the city's housing needs over the next 20 years.  Planning consultant Don Weden made a presentation about population, energy consumption and environmental issues that Fremont residents should consider when making land use and housing plans.  Dan Schoenholz, General Plan Update Project Manager discussed the two major issues the Housing Element will address: land use; where future housing will be located and housing affordability.  Schoenholz reported on that Fremont will need to create approximately 4,300 new housing units by 2014 to accommodate population growth.  Of these new units half will need to be made affordable to moderate, low and very low-income households.  This works... 10/31/2008

Conforming Jumbo CHANGE on 12/1/08  October 6, 2008The maximum conforming-jumbo limit for California officially changes for Fannie and Freddie on 1/1/09 to $625,500, however just recently I've learned that the banks will not fund any loan over $729,750 after 12/1/08. If you loan is greater than $625,500 and you can't pay it down before your lock expires, you should consider completing a refinance into a 30 yr fixed ASAP. It'll take at least 30 days to process the loan as the lines get longer, so start the process today.Here are some pricing scenarios:Scenario 1: $729,750 loan amount, Loan to Value 80%, FICO 720, on a no-closing cost 30 yr fixed:Rate 6.625% APR 6.625%Scenario 2: $729,750 loan amount, Loan to Value 75%, FICO 720, on a no-closing cost 30 yr fixed:Rate 6.250% APR 6.250%Scen... 10/06/2008

Educated buyers are seldom shortchanged. For the most part, this post is designed to convey a general understanding of shortsale principles to buyers who want just a 5-6 minute crash course.It is, by no means, an exhaustive look at the foreclosure market and the economy. These are my opinions based on a behind the desk and on the field experiences related to the plunge of the real estate market since 2006. Anatomy of a Shortsale 09/28/2008

On Tuesday (9/23), the Fremont City Council reached a compromise position on second-story additions. They scrapped a proposed ordinance that would have allowed individual neighborhoods to ban such additions for a seven-year period and instead will place a temporary and limited moratorium on "monster home" additions. Responding to months of input from neighborhood groups, individual property owners and the real estate community, the council agreed to place a temporary, six-month moratorium on second-story additions and "tear-down" remodels in the Glenmoor and Mission Ranch neighborhoods. During the moratorium, the city will develop specific design standards for second-story additions - an action suggested by Bay East during earlier testimony to the planning commission and city council. ... 09/26/2008

Bart is considering putting in place a surcharge for travel during peak hours. That's going to really piss-off a lot of riders. The goal is to get more people to ride. Taxing riders will only dissuade them from riding. If you want to alleviate traffic at peak times, than instead offer discount to those who travel-off peak.  it will encourage existing riders to change their patterns but also encourage other groups ride. 09/23/2008

Fremont Proposal targets monster homes   the city councill will be voting on a ban to developing "monster homes on Tuesday at 7pm at City Hall. Homes with predominantly single story homes will have the chance to block construction of two-story homes adn additions for as long as 7 years. This is a big issue for the Glenmoor and Mission Ranch community, where existing owners want to preserve the look and feel of their neighborhood. 09/22/2008

You may not know this yet, but my blog needs readership. Yes, your reading it now, but just look at my comments on my previous blogs. My website gets quite a bit of traffic, but my blog?--I have next to 0. My Active Rain gets some readership due to the fact that Active Rain bloggers simply feed off Active Rain, kind of an obsession with bloggers here.But more on facebook is being published all the time. Lee Aase, the Chancellor of Social Media University, Global (SMUG) writes references to the news media about the applications of facebook below. Here are some links to major news coverage about Facebook: USA Today Newsweek cover story TIME LA Times on application development in Facebook Fred Vogelstein’s LA Times essay on Facebook. Two articles in MarketWatch (Lee Aase is quoted here and... 09/20/2008

I have a great mentor/broker friend that I as a broker confide in sometimes. We share ideas and sometimes war stories.I heard the latest doozy of his through his wife which allowed the story to leave more to the imagination, and it went something like this:Fred, mentor, had been working with a young couple who qualified as buyers for around $400k. Fred drove them around for months in and around a not so nearby city relative to Fremont homes for sale in an obligation to help them in buying a home. Cudos.Last week, an amazing listing became available for sale by an elderly couple selling their home. They had really fixed up their place with dual pane windows, granite counter tops, etc. Ready to move in, the offer was made, and very gratifyingly, accepted. Needless to say, the young buyer... 09/14/2008

Every home owner has found those "Just Listed" cards in their mailbox, then as an afterthought, tossed them in the trash. Well, as part of my GRI (Graduate, Realtor Institute) education a while back, I had the fortunate experience of learning some great marketing tricks while at the same time not upsetting the delicate ethical goings on of the real estate industry. One of these such tricks was a postcard.For the agent who represents the seller, (the listing agent) they get to mail out all kinds of things for the homes they are listing: Just Listed: Parkmont Beauty w/ Huge Lot Pending: The Parkmont House Just Sold: That Same House I've Been Telling You About For About a Month Well, there are many buyer agents out there that can use the exposure too. Often, the buyer agent's credit gets s... 09/08/2008

I wanted to pass along that the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) board recently voted to reinstate bus transportation for secondary schools (Junior highs & High schools) for the 1st semester of the 2008-09 school year.  In Fremont, this means that from the beginning of the school year through January 30, 2009, students will have the option to take the school bus.  I'm glad to see the Fremont school board to decide this despite the budget shortfalls we've had at the state level.  The time and money savings that the bus provides to most parents, not to mention the fact that it can be self-funding in many ways, makes it a worthwhile service, in my opinion. Which students qualify?  The criteria is simple: any junior high students living beyond a distance of 1.5 miles from the school a... 08/28/2008

On Thursday (8/21), Jeff Schwob, Planning Director for the City of Fremont, briefed the Tri-Cities Marketing Meeting on community development issues that impact the real estate market.  Mr. Schwob reported on the General Plan and how it impacts land use and housing policies, the status of the Oakland A's plans to move to Fremont and the ordinance which will allow neighborhoods to ask the City for a temporary ban on second-story additions.  The Fremont City Council will adopt that ordinance at their September 23 meeting. REALTOR® Impact:  While the final decision on city policies are made by the City Council, it is the responsibility of city staff to actually research, develop and implement ordinances and regulations.  By hearing the staff perspective on city issues, the REALTOR® communi... 08/22/2008

I live and work in Fremont CA. I used to live in Sunnyvale CA for most of my years growing up. So, when I took a listing in the Parkmont area of Fremont in July of 07 and got 2 showings in one month, (very low), I got a bit involved in some unique statistic gathering.I wanted to find out percentage of turnaround in competing areas. Percentage of turnaround is the number of homes that have been bought and sold within a measurable duration of time. It's important to know because this figure will tell us what areas are moving real estate.  What's more, is that turnaround determines both supply and demand.  Measuring the number of homes for sale on the market is one thing, but measuring the number of homes purchased within a unit of time reflects the demand for the area and completes it's e... 08/18/2008