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Jeff Pereyda Fremont-Newark-Union City Homes for sale

Selling Fremont CA Real Estate--Take It One Day At A Time

After spending a few months with a client who is selling a home in Fremont CA, a real estate agent's dedication to the task should be quite evident and play a key role in building a good relationship of trust with the owner. Thanks to all the real estate horror stories out there, owners are weary of the promises being made across the kitchen table during the real estate agent interview. The owners/sellers could have been through a rough time with an agent before.
So what can an agent do to ensure trust?
  • Communication--the phone call: although one of the easiest things to do, some agents wait too long to call the owner or they call the owners far too infrequent. Just hearing the agents voice and tone of confidence goes a long way in building trust. Spending time in front of the client, is called, client time. It is very important, and it too reads very high on the trust meter.
  • Knowledge base: If the owner asks about the consequences of not removing a contingency of the contract, or the owner needs one or more of the many forms explained, the agent should explain these things clearly, with confidence and propose a plan.
  • Performance: The agent needs to get things done. Time is of the essence in real estate. Whether it means driving documents around, or calling vendors and the escrow company over little details as well as the big, the agent should get items completed in the time tables given by the real estate contract.
Building the relationship is important, but business is still business, so take it one day at a time. Some clients or agents might get too close or cross boundaries. Agents need to keep it professional, but be a real person at the same time.
I especially got a kick when Chris (a seller/owner in Fremont) called me his brother at the end of his real estate reference-testimonial. He had a rough go with some other agents before. I enjoyed working with 99% of all my clients. I am always striving for 100%, but some people are just plain... how would you say? "challenging."

PG&E-Services Connect Dialog in Parkmont area of Fremont

Utilities in one of our homes for sale in the Parkmont area of Fremont had its gas and electricity off. The house had an offer on it and the signed offer was submitted to the bank. We knew it would be a while before any development took place with the lender.

Remarkably, the lender called 2 weeks later and was scheduling a Broker Price Opinion/appraisal or BPO. We were caught by surprise. It normally takes 2 months, and that is when all the planets are aligned just so. The poor appraiser could not do his job due to lack of utilities. I immediately stepped in and called PG&E. After the preliminary account verifications and so forth, this is sort of how it went:

PG&E: It will take 48 hours, so that will be Wednesday the 7th. And, the appointment will be from 8:00am to 8:00pm.

Me: That's a pretty long span of time there. Could I have a lockbox on the front door as well as place a letter there with our company letterhead, and account verification granting permission for the tech to enter? The code is D-L-M. The technician is aware of how they work right?

PG&E: Yes, we will take care of it. We do that all the time.

Me: OK, so let's go over that just one more time before I let you go. Since today is Monday, you will have it on by Wednesday, no later.

PG&E: That is correct. It will be turned on on Wednesday sometime between 8 and 8.

Me: Ok. Your technician's permission letter is at the front door as well as the lockbox. Everything you need is at the front door. Call me immediately if there is a problem. I can be there in 5 minutes.

PG&E: Yes, we have it all taken care of sir. And we will call you if there is a problem.
So, after that I called the appraiser and asked them if they could please keep the appraisal order open until Thursday. After I explained everything to him, he agreed, but it would be a stretch.
All was well.

Thursday morning, I get a call from Stephanie at PG&E.

Stephanie: Hello Mr. Preada. This is Stephanie from PG&E. I am calling to see if we can turn on the utilities at the property at 264...

Me: Pereyda. 2645 Oak St? But that was supposed to be all taken care of yesterday.

Stephanie: Oh, let me see. One moment... (1 minute hold) Okay, the order was never given. I'm not sure what happened.

Me: Can it get done today?

Stephanie: It usually takes 48 hours after the order is given. This order was never given to the Fremont dispatch.

Me: You can't be serious? Is there a driver in the area that can just get this done now. I placed the order on Monday.

Stephanie: Oh, I see here that it was. One moment ( 2 minute hold)... Okay, I called the Fremont dispatch and they should have it turned on today.

Me: What time (dreading the answer)

Stephanie: It's an all day opening from 8 to 8.

Me: Okay, just get it turned on ASAP. Do you have all my order information from the last time I called? Your technician's permission letter is at the front door as well as the lockbox. Everything you need is at the front door. Call me immediately if there is a problem. I can be there in 5 minutes. The combination for the lockbox is written there right? D-L-M.

Stephanie: Yes, it is all here. All I had to do was forward it to the right person there. It should be done today.

I call the appraiser and explained again. He would wait.

At 1pm, I got a call. It was Stephanie.

Stephanie: I just wanted to call because you requested if there was a problem to call.

Me: Okay I'm here. Do you need me to go to the property? Is the lock box not working?

Stephanie: The technician put in a property non-accessible code in the work order. He could not get in the house. He had to leave to go on another job.

Me: What happened? Did't he see the lockbox through the screen door and his letter?

Stephanie: Apparently not.

Me: It's there. Did he open the screen door to give it one last college try? I'm not going to put the letter on the front of the door with big bold PGE letters on it. People break into homes that are marked that way. They will know that it is an easy target. Come and squat here! No one lives here!

Stephanie: Mr. Preadia, I understand, but the technician did not find the letter or the lockbox.

Me: It's Pereyda. Did he at least get out of the truck? Or, did he just drive by with a, "welp, I don't see noth'n. Guess I better keep goin."? He needs to go back and open the screen door.

Stephanie: I will try again, but it may be tomorrow.

Me: NO. He needs to go back and do his job. Don't you agree?
Stephanie: I will get it re dispatched and see if he can go back.

Me: okay, but we need to hurry.

At 1:50pm Roger: (PG&E technician) calls

Roger: Hello... Mr. Pareidre, I'm out at the property, and I found the letter.

Me: It's Pereyda. Great. Can you turn everything on?
Roger: The lockbox doesn't work. Are you sure you gave us the right combo?

Me: (after verifying the tech was from PG&E) Yes, the combo is D-L-M.

Roger: Oh, I have here the combo is S-C-I.

Me: Nope, not even warm there. Try it again with D-L-M.

Roger: That did it. I should get it all up and running in 15-20 minutes.

My goodness. Next time I will put the lockbox on the PG&E gas meter. The tech will know where that is right? I'll let you know.

Fremont Real Estate Values-Perry Farm

Real Estate values will grow stronger. Hopefully, owners of real estate will take good care of their property in order to keep its value up. Some properties have literally rotted away during this tough economic time. In as much, the soil itself on which our real estate improvements rest needs nuturing. Once a year, except last year I believe, Perry Farms opens its gates for the public to enjoy the pumpkin patch amongst other things during the fall season. Last year the farmers felt that the real estate (land) needed rest and that the soil would be better off if it had the chance to do so. I spoke to the farmer last week to ask him a bit about it. He said that the year long rest not only helped this years crops, but one of the pests they had to previously deal with, a squash beetle of some kind, simply went away during last year's soil sabbatical. Taking good care of the land and its improvements are the best thing you can do to ensure that your Fremont real estate values will stay on the top of the heap.
Perry Farms, one of the last operating farms in the area, is a fun place to go to unwind and reconnect if need be to the small piece of this tricity area's own Heartland. The farm usually has seasonally relevant themes and activities throughout the year.

Short Sale and REO bank Owned Homes

REO and Short Sale Homes
How to Buy REO homes and Short Sale Homes
Real Estate Owned Homes
Play the short slidecast here.
To begin the slidecast, wait until you see the arrow below that looks like this Then click it. Do not click the new moving arrow. It does not work to play the slidecast. It only goes to the next slide.

Parkmont Townhome Villas-Home Prices

Parkmont Townhome Villas belong to a well-kept Parkmont subdivision of Fremont CA. It was one of several areas I mailed business postcards to last week as part of a regular marketing program. The postcard simply pointed out that Internet visitors could visit my site and instantly listen to references about yours truly. You can do that here. I added live streaming (no longer requiring to download the voice file to play it) Anyway, getting off topic a bit. I like to receive calls about real estate because I feel that I can tell it like it is without the all sales jargon. That's what I would want if I called in to a broker for my house.
A resident called in today to ask about the value of his house. He lived in the Parkmont Townhome Villas, and I have a good handle on all of the Parkmont areas, but particularly the Villas due to the fact that I am a broker-in residence. I live there. We talked a bit about the market and appraisals and how it all affected his home prices from 2007. Back in the day, a moderately upgraded 1717 sq ft Bella Vista floor plan sold for $640,000. Well, at the time of writing this, it is now $450,000, an approximate 30% drop. The two bedroom Via Bravo unit recently sold for approximately $420,000.
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that we owe some thanks to Parkmont Elementary School for being a California Distinguished School. It kept us from going down to 35% drop.
If you had a question about your home value, give me a call.