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C'mon, Let's Face It--On facebook (tm)

09-20-08

Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale

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Office: (510) 742-3212

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 here.)

Granted, I am very new to facebook and it's applications, but you can bet that facebook is an innovation in the home and in the business world. And, I will definitely be looking closer into the ways that it can help our office and our industry. At least there people write on my "wall."

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Excel and Dental Floss Share a Common Thread

09-14-08

Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale

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Office: (510) 742-3212

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 buyers were beside themselves in elation. So was Fred. He was in pain and needed the lift in his spirits. The escrow came right around the same time Fred had the unfortunate but very necessary appointment with the dental surgeon, a 4 hour surgery appointment during that week.

The sellers of the new escrow, the elderly couple, were also in escrow for a replacement home in Florida and had been working with a Realtor there to get the job done. During that week, Fred received a call from FL. The agent representing the Florida purchase performed a net sheet (four days after the FL escrow opened) and the news was bad. It turns out that the Florida buyers could nowhere near purchase the property or hardly any other property for that matter and had to cancel the agreement both in FL and alas with Fred and his new buyers here.

Fury, tears and lawsuits were in the air. Fred, pained by speech, worked hard to calm things down, but the tears of the pain would remain for quite some time for the down trodden buyers due to the loss of their home and Fred because his mouth hurt.

Should the agent in FL have performed the net sheet a bit sooner--you think?

FYI, Fred's surgery went as scheduled with few mishaps.

Word to the wise. Do the net sheet ASAP. You can download mine if you want. And, brush and floss regularly.

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What's a Buyer Agent to Do? Here's One!

09-09-08

Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale

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Office: (510) 742-3212

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 swept under the rug while the listing agent gets all the glory for selling the house. But really, there are some agents that mostly represent buyers, and they do it quite well. Furthermore, why shouldn't they promote their services to the immediate community? It turns out that a buyer's agent must get permission from the listing brokerage to advertise or promote a home for sale that belongs to the listing brokerage. It's a bit of a hassle, and most buyer agents seem to let it go. Now, they do not have to.

Back to the postcard. In one of my GRI classes, the instructor had the idea of using a different title in the post cards that allow the buyer's agent to have a reason to get postcards sent out. Instead of having "Just Listed" in the headline, why not have it read, "My Buyer Just Bought?" Capital idea!

Several things on the buyer agents agenda get a booster shot. The "My Buyer Just Bought" card:

Gets the buyers agent name out in the community.
Promotes their buying success (owners/sellers take notice too).
Eliminates the need to ask for listing broker permission.

So, to all you buyer agents out there--there's now another great way to get noticed for the hard work you do. Just a little imagination turns a Just Listed Postcard into just the right stuff.

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Fremont Unified School District Reinstates Bus Service for Junior High & High Schools

08-28-08

Veena Grover, Fremont Realtor: Homes for Sale in Fremont & Union City

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Office: (510) 378-7546

Mobile: (510) 378-7546

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 and any high school students beyond a walking distance of 2.5 miles. Note, however, that there was talk of raising the annual fees from $350 to $700, given the massive increase in fuel costs. There was a meeting yesterday to discuss this, but I have not seen any update as yet. Will update this post when I do find out.

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Fremont Planning Director at Tri-Cities Marketing Meeting

08-22-08

Pam Winterbauer ~ 2006 REALTOR® of the Year

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Office: (925) 824-4878

Mobile: (510) 512-0909
Secondary: (510) 889-8889

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® community is getting a "sneak preview" on future city action that could impact the real estate profession.

Next Steps: We will be inviting Mr. Schwob to make another presentation about current city planning issues at the Tri-Cities Marketing Meeting later this fall. We will also invite planning directors from other cities to make similar presentations at the other marketing meetings.

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