About Alameda County, CA

I've been working from home for the past 2 years and feel like I've really stagnated. I thought it was going to be so ideal to be home and take care of my family while I'm at it. But it turns out, it's so distracting and loney. the funny thing too is that it seems when family and friends know you work from home, they seem to think it's ok to talk on the phone for a long time without any regard for the time they are taking away from my money making hours.

I also have an excuse to watch my favorite noon time show "Wowowee" since I like to cook at lunch time for dinner. That way, I'm all done at noon and that's when I decide to hit the shower. Isn't that disgusting? That's why any appointments I make are usually in the afternoon or evening.

Then 3pm rolls around and of course the kids start rolling in and turn on the TV full blast. It's so distracting. I finally had a door put in to my Living room/Home office. That was expensive since I had to have one of those decorator ones that's made of glass and some design, really nice.

Anyway, after all these years at home, I decided I needed a change so I took the plunge. I interviewed with several different companies and I think I found a winner! I am happy that I met and befriended DebbieZetner of Diversified Mortgage Group at the local realtor meeting. She was doing a fund raiser for "Save Pleasanton schools" and I offered to help. I gave her my card but didn't hear from her for at least 2 months. When she called me to join them, I had no idea. When I met with the owner, Rick Lewis, I could tell this guy is a motivator. He goes through business plans, goal planning and all kinds of stuff with all his LO's. They have kick off meetings and have a very nice office to boot. He seems to have a very well run office. I know like 5 agents there already. I wish I knew about this company way back.

I have a feeling they are going to really help me build up my potential to even more than I thought I even had. I think it makes a huge difference where you work and who you work for. What do you think?

I could not stop smiling after viewing this video!  Take a look and it will definately make you smile!!

Best Regards,

Nahid

Since August there's been a tangible sense that the market was getting stronger, and not just in the immediate Berkeley area. Buyers who had the financial means to buy decided, finally, to get off the fence. Properties that had been sitting for some time went into contract as a result. We also began to see significantly more all-cash sales, and in higher price ranges. Two of the properties for which I had buyers recently had competition from all-cash buyers at the $1.0 - 1.4M range.

So far this year only one of my buyers has been fortunate enough to get their desired property without competition. For most buyers we're still writing three or four offers before getting into contract, and those are also the number of offers we usually face as competition. Whereas before three offers could take a property more than $100K over list, within the past month we saw cash offers being accepted at or just over list, trumping offers at substantially higher prices, but with greater risk.

Other key features of our East Bay market: inventory has been low all year, about half of "normal." This year in Berkeley, the number of properties sold per month went from a low of 15 in January, to a high of 53 in April. Each sale represents an opportunity for two agents to be involved in a transaction. Through October, there have been a total of 345 sales this year, representing 690 sides, providing roughly one transaction per member of the Berkeley Association of REALTORS®!

We've seen few distressed properties so far, but expect to see more by the middle of next year. Properties stay on the market about a month on average, significantly less time than in other markets.

Here are the numbers for BERKELEY for the month of October, 2009:

Median Sales Price: $731K

Median List Price : $715K (Berkeley is rare in having a higher med. sales $)

#homes for sale: 157 #homes sold: 34 Avg.Days on market: 24

That's my snapshot of our current diverse market behavior in Berkeley, CA. I'm going to ask Santa for some more houses to list!

Hello Fellow BLoggers/Readers:

I was able to visit Palo Alto Downtown today, again another coffee shop. We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful area of the Bay Area. Where else can we live on the East Bay and enjoy the activities and glorious coffee shops and restaurants just twenty minutes away! No snow! No hassles and not much traffic. Here in our local area of Fremont, we seem to share our homes with many professionals that work in the corporate world on the Peninsula and make a commute. There are not many locations around the world that alllow such variety and diversity.

My family made the move from the Peninsula to the East Bay about 11 years ago! It was one of the best moves we made. The schools were great for my children and I have made so many wonderful friends as have my children. Life long friends that don't come around very often. I remember taking my daughters and son on hikes on the weekends when they were small. Coyote Hills was one of our favorite spots to hike and bike. Quarry Lakes became a favorite later. As the kids grew, we found our love for visiting the downtown areas of Palo Alto once again! Gosh, a mere 20 minute car ride, and you are walking amongst the scenic downtown. We are blessed to have such great options to travel to. The Prolific Oven served a tasty cup of Sumatra and sweet pastries. We get the best of all worlds. Fremont offers a slower pace of life and great family environment, and yet we can hustle over to downtown Palo Alto for a peek back into variety of coffee shops, restaurants and shopping. We live in such a great place.