Do you love it when a provider "finally" gets it? By provider in this case I mean the Multiple Listing Providers or MLS providers for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. This month our Alameda and Contra Costa County Bay East Association of Realtors created a shared database with Santa Clara County and many others. You heard the expression, "less is more?" Well I am happy to report that when I am using a computer to search for homes for sale ion Fremont, more is MORE. Multiple Organization Reciprocal Exchange. Cool? Yes it is.  A while back I wrote about an awesome work around to get new listings from different MLS providers forwarded to me automatically here http://tricityhome.blogspot.com/2010/01/handheld-device-redfin-new-killer-tool.html I still use the work around a lot. In short, I... 12/16/2010

      Ardenwood is a small Fremont community located on the northwestern part of the intersection of I-880 and Hwy-84. It is next door to Union City on Fremont’s western border. About 16 thousand residents call Ardenwood their home. Real Estate Based on past 6-month sales, Ardenwood home values are higher than Fremont's median prices.    There are currently 22 properties for sale in Ardenwood. This is broken down by property type as follows:            Single family homes    11             Duets                               2             Condo                             5             Townhouse                     4 By sale type:  Short sale           6             Bank-owned       1             Regular             15 By list price:              Median list price       $560,000       ... 12/15/2010

I just did a BPO in my Fremont neighborhood, and I was surprised by the wonderful view of fall showing off its colors right before my eyes. The hills of Niles Canyon served as a striking backdrop to the trees’ seasonal colors – truly amazing! I don’t remember fall being this beautiful. I’m glad I captured it in this photo…thanks to the BPO!   12/08/2010

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Fremont, Newark or Union City. Or, if you know someone who is, you can take a look and listen to what Jeff Pereyda's observations are. Naturally, there are many aspects of choosing a good real estate agent in Fremont, Newark and Union City and the slide cast is presenting the idea of choosing a good real estate agent in a unique point of view. You click here if the slide screen is not below http://www.tricityhome.com/podcasts.html Broker/real estate agent Jeff Pereyda shares his experiences from "behind the desk" and "out in the field." If you or someone you know has finally decided to buy or sell a home in Fremont, Newark and Union City--See if this helps to choose a god real estate agent. Good real estate_agent View more webinars f... 12/05/2010

I wanted to put something together for the would-be Fremont, Newark, Union City home buyer who may not know about short sales and how they affect all of us in some way. If you have a moment or two, please take a listen to this Slidecast on Short Sales here http://tricityhome.com/podcasts.html and click Short Sale How To. Pass on any knowledge to those who may not have insight on how to approach these short sales when looking for a Fremont, Newark or Union City home. Some may recognize the format I use (chalkboard in Powerpoint (tm)), but I re did the audio a little with a change or two. Thanks for listening. How to Buy a Short Sale View more webinars from Jeff Pereyda. 12/05/2010

  Fremont is located on the southeast side of the San Francisco Bay, and is a city of about 213 thousand residents, making it the Bay Area’s fourth largest city. Fremont boasts of its highly-rated schools, as well as beautiful parks, like Lake Elizabeth.   Fremont’s real estate market experienced a slowdown for the month of November both in terms of value and volume. Current homes on the market are made up mostly of regular sales, while short sales are still held up in the pending pipeline.   The rest of the real estate transactions data are below:                   Map of Fremont (courtesy of fremont.gov)   It is wise to assess the market condition, including home prices, before making that giant step in pursuit of the American dream!        12/02/2010

There are 567 homes for sale in Fremont, as of 11/21/10. The majority of these listings are regular sales. There are signs that marketing time is slowing down as current active listings have an average 65 days on the market, which is longer than the average days on market for pending (42) and completed sales (52).   Meanwhile, short sales continue to be held up in the pending pipeline.   Here are the rest of the transactions data in Fremont:         It is wise to assess the market condition, including home prices, before making that giant step in pursuit of the American dream!   11/21/2010

  The Open House was already scheduled, Saturday, 11/20 from 2-4 PM. So was the rain… Surprisingly, there were a lot of open homes in Fremont that Saturday, despite the forecast all-day showers. Or perhaps, it’s no surprise after all, if you consider that the following weekend is the Thanksgiving weekend, Black Friday included! Of course, you couldn’t pull shoppers away from Best Buy, Target, or even Walgreen’s! Not even cookies and drinks will lure them into an open house.   So, it made sense to hold the open house on the Saturday prior, regardless of the rain. And so we did.                 And they came…all 3 of them.   But it’s not about quantity, but rather it's about the quality of those who came. Who would come to an open house on a cold, rainy day, when snuggling in bed and wat... 11/20/2010

Driving up to my Fremont real estate office, (get directions here) I noticed something just a little out of place. I knew about the crane, but it is another thing to see it in action on your way to the office. Turns out our office needed a new air conditioner. I wonder if my new tenant had anything to do with it. I do not mind a comfortable 70 degree office, but the moment he steps in the Fremont Real Estate office, http://www.tricityhome.com/fremont-office-visit.html he needs to turn the AC on. He says it keeps him focused. Before you think ill of it. Adam Arant, Attny at Law is my Estate Planning attorney in Fremont. I trust him with--well basically my life. I have referred Adam to other friends and co workers, and they are glad I did. Adam has great ethics which is well needed in th... 11/17/2010

Jane Pacheco | Pacheco Realty | (510) 791-7644 3413 Pennsylvania Cmn, Fremont, CA OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, 11/20 FROM 2-4 PM. 2BR/2BA Condo offered at $249,900 Year Built 1981 Sq Footage 944 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 1 Parking Detached garage for 2 cars Lot Size 0 HOA/Maint $325 per month DESCRIPTION Stunning REO!!! Gated complex in beautiful, cozy Pennsylvania Common. Ground floor corner unit facing the pool! - Plantation shutters throughout! - Dual pane windows! - Central A/C for those hot summers! - Gas burning fireplace in living room! - Detached garage for 2 cars! - Plenty parking for your guests! - Minutes to BART, hospital, parks, shopping! Call for more information! Toll-Free 800-474-0341 see additional photos below ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Phot... 11/17/2010

Fremont home buyers have changed they way they search for Fremont homes from 10, even 5 years ago. I have been selling Fremont homes since 1999, and I have seen an interesting change in the goings about. Apart from the recent Fremont short sale homes and Fremont REO homes for sale causing havoc, the ease to search real estate in Fremont has never been better, and for all of us searching for these Fremont homes, the Internet has certainly arrived. Back in '99 you could search for Fremont homes on the Internet using some giant sites. Realtor.com was the biggest real estate search platform for searching Fremont homes for sale. Regardless, now, there are hundreds of sites that do the same thing. Moreover, if you add up all the IDX sites you'll reach perhaps a million.* However, Fremont hom... 11/17/2010

  We’ve always read that the way to remember things that we need to do is to write them down. Keep a list. Clean car. Buy cereal. Pay PG&E. Enroll in belly dancing. Make appointment with vet for Mitzy. And so on.   For real estate agents, the list may look like this:   - Call client Becky about setting up time to look for homes. - Call lender re short sale in progress. - Upload listing on AR. - Update website. - Follow up offer submitted on Mowry home. - Check out Womens Council of Realtors(R). - Check out pocketlistings on iPhone. - Call Lindy re listing her property, if already vacant. - Post listings on craigslist, AR, facebook, Trulia, etc. - Prepare flyer for mail campaign. - Explore blogging on wordpress.   And as things come up, the list grows…and grows.   But you really don’t w... 11/15/2010

It was a welcome surprise to discover this Thai restaurant situated alongside a row of shops on Walnut Avenue. My husband and I were going for Japanese food in this same area, but were disappointed to find that it was not open on Saturdays.         Then, there it was, the big sign beckons!     It holds an impressive record – twice in a row at that. In 2009, Bangkok Thai Cuisine was voted Best of Fremont for its Vegetarian Food. This year, 2010, it duplicated this award, and even added another: Fremont’s Best Thai Restaurant. Not bad for one that opened its doors only two years ago.   And so we tried what they had to offer. The ambiance was perfect – it had the look of an elegant dining place, but not too classy that it would give us a price scare.     And it was indeed one of the fines... 11/08/2010

IN-OUT ANALYSIS   Homes sales in Fremont for the month of October sustained its level from the previous month. By sale type, regular sales still dominate the market.   The month of October saw 264 new listings come into the market, which is similar to that of September. Regular sale listings continued its declining trend, so did REOs. On the other hand, short sale listings increased in October.             ABSORPTION RATE   As of 11/7/2010, per MLS, there are a total of 1,004 listings in Fremont. Using the past 3 month home sales as the current standard (there were 403 sales from Aug. – Oct.), it will take approximately 7.5 months to clear out the current inventory in Fremont.   Interestingly, when broken down by sale type, short sale listings are going to take almost 20 months to absor... 11/07/2010

Recently Ken Brand has posted a list of ideas generated by 327 Top Producers from Prudential Real Estate at Top Producers Summit Conference. All the ideas and tips were geared towards improving one’s real estate business. Hey, if these ideas were generated by top 327 Real Estate agents than they are definitely worth looking into. Thanks Ken for sharing! Here are some of the ideas and tips that I liked the most. 1. Use video chat to meet your relocation clients face-to-face often before they relocate. 2. Drop off a pre-listing packet talking about you and your services. Include a mug or a small gift to get them excited. 3. Did you get good service at a restaurant? Leave your card with your tip! 4. Know your online presence! Have you looked at your profile on IncredibleAgents.com? 5. Ask ... 10/29/2010

For the 4th straight month in Fremont, the number of regularly sold properties decreased in September compared to the month prior. As well, new listings posted a decline for the 2nd month after enjoying a peak month in July. That being the case, it is still the dominant sale type observed at least for the past 13 months as shown in the charts below.       Distressed properties make up about one-third of new listings in September. Between REOs and short sales, the latter has historically been more prevalent in terms of new listings. However, actual sold listings show REOs and short sales to be on par with each other, but way behind regular sales.   10/18/2010

This ground floor unit (#E-109) just closed yesterday for $272,500. It's a beautiful 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit in the Alta Mar Villas. It is in pretty good condition, considering it is a bank-owned property.   After being on the market for 22 days, an offer was accepted by the bank. Final sale price is about 3% below the asking price, which is right about the average price for this property type. This condo is nestled in a serene setting with two large patios accessible from the bedrooms. Or walk out to the nearby pool and listen to the refreshing splash of the garden fountain.                 10/14/2010

The NUMMI Plant here in Fremont has been providing jobs building cars and trucks up until 2010 when it had been decided that after kicking the tires a bit it was time to finally slam the doors shut. No pun intended. The mayor of Fremont, Bob Wasserman, wants Fremont to be a model city in how it chooses to revitalize and reuse the site once shut down. It is part of what is amicably called NUMMI Revitalization and Reuse Plan.  KTVU news in March 2010 had completed a story on the topic that you can view here http://www.ktvu.com/news/22973164/detail.html.  Fremont has hired a study group out of Berkeley called Strategic Economics Inc. to assess the positive impact and other effects revitalization may have on the incisive city of Fremont. I had received a call into my office TriCity Real Es... 09/28/2010

Although hard to see it here in this image, Fremont CA real estate grows good Habanero peppers. Habenaros are quite touchy and slow to germinate and even slower to grow--especially when you are watching them daily. Why the mention of Fremont CA real estate? Because I was told that the native soil found in and around Fremont CA (real estate) is composed of a good amount of adobe clay and not the best for peppers, much less the slow and temperamental Habenaro. It was hard for me to make the adjustment from where I grew up in Sunnyvale where the black soil there grew almost anything without even trying. Here using Fremont real estate, I will tell you what I did to get them this far. I bought a few nice golden Habenaros from the store and, after using them for a few fiery recipes, I carefu... 09/23/2010

I was going to wait until it closed escrow, but my Fremont short sale negotiator pulled a fast one. And I wanted to write about it. I also really do think it was the negotiator and perhaps the short sale lender together on this one. Some time ago, I was helping a Fremont CA home buyer look at homes. We looked at a few good ones along with others that may not have been top on her list of a good Fremont real estate deal. There was one other home I was not going to show her because it was not ready. It was one of my own homes for sale in Fremont. It was a short sale, like some of the others. Long story short, after much discussion about the home in Fremont that I had for sale, she really wanted to see mine. She bought my short sale listing and during the negotiations with the short sale le... 09/22/2010