MyEastBayAgent

We've Moved.

2007-05-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hey, thanks for stopping by.

We've moved and can now be found at http://myeastbayagent.com

Come and check us out over there.

--Andy

Top Rated East Bay Eats

2006-07-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Thinking of heading out for a bite to eat? Looking for a recommendation?

You might want to check out one of the East Bay restaurants that made the Chronicle's top 100 Bay Area restaurants list.

20.Fonda, Albany

21.Rivoli, Berkeley

22.Eccolo, Berkeley

23.O Chame, Berkeley

24.Viks Chaat Corner, Berkeley

25.Cesar, Berkeley

26.Chez Panisse,

27.Downtown, Berkeley

28.Grasshopper, Oakland

29.Oliveto, Oakland

30.Pearl Oyster Bar, Oakland

31.A Cote, Oakland

32.Pizzaiolo, Oakland

33.Bay Wolf, Oakland

Technorati: real estate, east bay, activities, restaurants, sfgate

image courtesy of sfgate

Turning a Paperclip Into a House

2006-07-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Has anybody been following the story of Kyle MacDonald, the guy who turned a red paperclip into a home through a series of trades. Amazing!

Kyle MacDonald's goal was simple Â to trade one red paper clip all the way up to a house.

Today, exactly one year after starting his quest it looks like he achieved his goal.

Check out his blog which chronicles his adventures over the past year.

Technorati Tags: real estate, pop culture, one red paperclip, blogging

flickr photocredit kylemac. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Oakland Waterfront Plan Approved

2006-06-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

SFgate had an article today saying that..

The Oakland City Council early this morning approved the controversial Oak to Ninth development south of Jack London Square, a 64-acre project that will help transform the waterfront as the city's largest housing development since World War II.

The council's 6-to-0 vote supporting the project came a day after a coalition of affordable housing, open space and local hiring advocates -- working with Councilwoman Pat Kernighan, whose district includes the project -- gave the project their blessing.

The groups, the city and Ghielmetti agreed to have 465 of the 3,100 housing units on the project be made affordable to families earning between $25,000 and $50,000 a year, as well as hiring 300 Oakland residents as apprentices in the building trades.

Ghielmetti said he expects to break ground in late 2007 after a series of approvals from other government agencies. The project will include 200,000-square feet of retail and 30 acres of parks and trails, a 170-slip marina, and restored wetlands accessible by the public.

It will take 15 years to develop, although Ghielmetti said he expects the first residents to move there in 2010.

I spent most of the day yesterday in San Francisco with Mark Choey checking out what's going on in the world of new developments. There's some great stuff happening down there and I'm glad to see that it's not confined to that side of the bay.

Technorati Tags: real estate, east bay real estate, oakland, real estate development, jack london square

Brainjams: Rent an Expert

2006-06-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Looking to add something new to your technology repertoire? Maybe your stuck at a roadblock and getting frustrated? Maybe you have technical expertise coming out of your ears and want to share some of it?

If so, come on out to the Rent an Expert event next Thursday.

Rent an Expert is an event where people who want to help others do or learn something offer their services to the members of the community for a very small fee. All the money collected will be donated to a charity that is chosen by all participants. Some examples of what might be offered include: how to setup a blog, how to get the most from shortcuts in Photoshop, configure a Drupal community, redesign a Web site, customize a WordPress theme, create a survey, optimize AdSense ads, figure out tagging, how to shoot better photographs or just about anything really - even non-technical things like how to write a press release.

The event is co-sponsored by BrainJams and MindJet and will be held on next Thursday, June 15th from 530PM till 900PM in San Francisco. Please RSVP on the Wiki if you're coming.

Technorati: brainjams, RentAnExpert, sanfrancisco

West Berkely Bowl is A Go

2006-05-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

It know it may sound a bit weird, but one of the best things about living in Berkeley is The Berkeley Bowl grocery store.

After spending most of my life in Wisconsin and growing accustomed to the produce sections at the local Kohls or Piggly Wiggly, walking into the Bowl for the first time was truly one of my first "California moments" With world class produce at rock bottom prices, and a parking lot of which nightmares are made of, Berkeley Bowl is truly an experience.

For the past few years, they've been working to expand and build a new location and now they've finally gotten the go-ahead from the city of Berkeley.

Located at 920 Heinz Ave (map) in West Berkeley, the new 90,970-square-foot project will have 99 parking spaces beneath the building and another 102 spots in surface lots.

Although many in the immediate neighborhood are understandibly concerned about the impact of the increase in traffic, this is something that was deperately needed.

More info & reviews: Tribe, Yelp

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, west berkeley, berkeley, berkeley bowl

Berkeley Information via Wikipedia (RIP?)

2006-05-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Even though Wikipedia has been declared dead, its still a great resource. For some reason, I've never checked out the Wikipedia entry for Berkeley. When I finally did so last week, I found another great resource of local information.

A link to the Wikipedia entry has now been added to my list of local links that I send to perspective clients who are unfamiliar with the area.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, berkeley, wikipedia

Emerging from the Trenches

2006-05-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been deep in the East Bay real estate trenches and before I knew it, MyEastBayAgent has been dormant for the past few weeks.

For some reason, its a challenge for me to juggle both. If I really get into a blogging zone, my desire to actually get out there and mix it up would diminish. If I get really into the actual day to day operations of running my real estate business, the blogosphere always seems to take a back seat. Time to make another effort to strike a balance between the two.

A sincere thank you to the people who have sent emails recently checking in with me. Sometimes I forget that there's people out there actually reading what I have to say.

Onwards and upwards!

From Appreciation -> Cashflow; A Few Threads

2006-04-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

During the recent bull market, real estate investors/speculators in the Bay Area could make up for the negative cash flows by counting on appreciation.

Now that its becoming clear that the market in the real estate in the Bay Area is reaching a plateau, it might be a good time to sell and capture the recent gains in capital appreciation and move into investments with better cash flow.

With this thought in mind, I was doing a bit of research and I found a few good threads on Creative real estate online that I thought I'd share with you.

Where to get best cash flow and some appreciation?

Best U.S. city to invest next 3-5 yrs

Want to Know Where the Hots Markets Are?

Interested in more? Here's the pages that I've tagged with investing in del.icio.us (wikipedia)

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, housing bubble, housing market, real estate investing, investing, cashflow, del.icio.us

flickr photocredit noahwesley. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Family Watchdog: Sex Offender + Mapping Mashup

2006-04-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Familywatchdog mashes up the registered sex offender database with a mapping service.

Put in an address and the site will map out the offenders in the area. You can also sign up for notifications if someone of the list moves into your area.

What do you think? Is this a helpful tool, or a cause of paranoia? Is this just another step towards a 1984-like society?

There's quite a lively discussion on the subject happening on the Digg entry right now.

You have to admit, it's a bit creepy.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, maps, crime, sex offender, mashup

Is Berkeley Bubble Proof?

2006-04-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

We're looking for opinions regarding the resiliency of certain local markets.

Basically, is Berkeley Bubble proof?

Based on the pending / active ratios, the East Bay Area as a whole has shown a buyers bias since October of 2005. The relative strength of the east bay as of 4/18/06 was .54 Berkeley on the other hand is a very healthy .99, El Cerrito is .93 and Kensington is a robust 2.67 (small sample size), Albany has ranged between .67 and .89 this past month. Oakland and Richmond are at .55 and .39 respectively.

Is it the University? Is it Totland? Is it Berkeley Bowl? El Cerrito Plaza? New High Schools?

What do you think? We're welcome to any and all ideas...

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, housing bubble, housing market, staging

flickr photocredit polymerchicken. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Bay Area Appreciation Continues to Slow

2006-04-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

The latest Bay Area housing numbers from Dataquick are in and sales volume and appreciation rates are continuing their downward trend.

"March numbers are pretty good at predicting upcoming activity. We figure that sales will be good but not spectacular on into the summer and that price increases will stay below ten percent. We'll probably have a couple of months with new price peaks, but those new records will be reached at a slower rate of appreciation," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $2,958 in March. That was up from $2,889 in February, and up from $2,636 for March a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are 18 percent higher than they were at the peak of the prior cycle sixteen years ago.

What's interesting is that Berkeley seems to be insulated from the rest of the East Bay market. According to the latest data that my colleague Glen Bell just compiled, Berkeley's Pending/Active ratio has rebounded to .99 while the rest of the East Bay is stagnated in the .5 range. A higher ratio is indicative of a stronger sellers market.

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area real estate, berkeley real estate, housing market, housing

Chart courtesy of DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

Rating the Mapping Services

2006-04-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Since my profession requires me to be a heavy user of online mapping services, I was really interested this recent comparison that TechCrunch ran.

I've been using GoogleMaps for the past year, but I try our Yahoo Maps Beta from time to time. I've heard decent things about Windows Live Local, but haven't had a chance to play around with it yet.

What did they come up with?

Mapquest is the most popular mapping service but lags on features and usability. Google is the most notable and has a ubiquitous API. Windows Live Local dazzles with its creative views and features but falls short of the others in direction functionality. Mapquest offers a number of features but still is missing satellite imagery, which makes it trail the competitors in core functionality. Ask Maps is a worthy competitor but had the highest error rate of the group.

Overall, Yahoo Maps was by far the best application tested. Its fast Flash interface, multipoint directions, live traffic information, and easy send-to-mobile feature make it the hands down winner. It also features the most robust API options.

Looks like I might have to give Yahoo some more run.

Technorati Tags: maps, google maps, yahoo maps beta, windows live local

Breaking the 5% Barrier

2006-04-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

Home buyers and sellers in the Bay Area this spring will be doing so in a climate where rates are the highest they've been in 4 years as the benchmark 10-year T note has broken the 5% barrier.

...consumers will soon be paying more interest on credit cards and home mortgages. The change will have the biggest impact on people who took out home loans with low introductory interest rates but adjust to higher rates in later years.

The average national 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate was 6.43 percent last week, up from 6.21 percent at the start of the year and 5.71 percent at the start of 2005. The introductory interest rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage was up to 6.11 percent, from 5.78 percent in January and 5.3 percent a year ago.

For much of the last year, analysts and policy makers have been confounded by the United States' relative low long-term interest rates, given the Federal Reserve's campaign to push up interest rates by increasing its benchmark short-term rate, now at 4.75 percent. The Fed has signaled that it intends to raise its federal funds rate on overnight bank loans at least once more, to 5 percent, at its meeting next month.

Many experts believe longer-term interest rates in the United States have been kept low by the purchase of federal government debt by foreign governments and investors, particularly from Asia.

Keep paying attention to the 10 year note, its behavior will be cricical in how this current housing market plays out.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, housing bubble, interest rates

flickr photocredit for the sweet HDR shot to Automatt. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Berkeley Rose Garden & Codornices Park

2006-04-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

Norm and I took a break while previewing homes up in the Berkeley Hills to enjoy a bit of sunshine at the Berkeley Rose Garden.

The Rose Garden was one of the first Civil Works Progress Projects under the Works Project Administration (WPA), the Rose Garden was conceived in 1933 and completed and dedicated for public use in September, 1937.

East Bay rose societies and community members donated hundreds of hours of volunteer time. The terraced amphitheatre and 220-foot-long redwood pergola was suggested by architect Bernard Maybeck; the final design and execution were the work of landscape architect Vernon M. Dean and rose specialist C. V. Covell.

Besides row upon row of gorgeous fragrant roses, the Berkeley Rose Garden has a redwood pergola, four tennis courts, a picnic area, scenic hiking trails, foot bridges, a semicircular terraced amphitheater, a breathtaking view of the sunset behind the Golden Gate Bridge and an ornamental pool fed by Codornices creek which runs through the garden.

The garden is a wonderful place to hold events, weddings and celebrations. The Berkeley Rose Garden is considered by many, to be the finest rose garden in Northern California with its 3,000 rose bushes and 250 varieties of roses. The roses are pruned in January in preparation for Mother's Day when the garden is in its most spectacular state.

Across Euclid Avenue from the Rose Garden is Codornices Park, which has basketball courts, a few nice sized fields and this sweet concrete slide.

Additional Rose Garden info: (wikipedia, BAHA Entry)

Technorati Tags: Berkeley, Berkeley Rose Garden, Berkeley landmarks, Codornices park, Berkeley hills, Berkeley real estate

At Least the Sun is Shining Somewhere

2006-04-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

(it's sure not shining here)

Yesterday, in a post titled Adding Some Sun to Rain City Guide, Dustin Luther announced that he's joining the Move (formerly Homestore) team and will become their new Director of Consumer Innovations.

A few months ago, after a $100 million cash infusion from private equity group Elevation Partners was announced, Dustin proposed a mission:

Imagine that you’ve been invited to 2800 Sand Hill Road to discuss the future of real estate with Roger McNamee, Fred Anderson, Bono, John Riccitiello, John Doerr, and Joe Hanauer.

What do you tell them? What features do you want to see in real estate search? If you are an agent, what is the biggest pain that someone could fix with a technical solution? If you are a buyer, what are the major gaps you see in the current system? What information do you wish you had?

I know that some of my readers have some great ideas. Please share as much as you’re willing. Remember that these guys want to work “within” the current system (i.e. cooperate with real estate agents!), and, most importantly, these people are thinking huge… $100M huge!

It looks like the folks from Homesto..err, make that Move hopped on the Cluetrain and made an excellent choice in bringing Dustin aboard to help them achieve that mission.

A big part of the coming evolution is the upcoming launch of move.com, which reportedly will include

A vertical search engine for new homes and rental units that, like Google, will “crawl” the Web looking for relevant content and display that content in algorithmically sorted search results.

The new engine replaces the existing search functions at Homebuilder.com and Rent.net, which limited results to paid providers.

The result of the beefed-up search capabilities will be a big increase in the number of results to consumers, making the search experience far more compelling, says Allan Merrill, Homestore’s executive vice president for strategy and corporate development.

The new Move.com has yet be to be launched, but with it's exclusive agreement with the NAR, it seems like they're in a unique position in the vertical real estate search game that could.(link)

Taking into account their already strong ranking along with exclusive access to listings directly from the MLS, they look to be in a good position once Move.com finally does launch.

Once again, congratulations Dustin. Real Estate professionals across the nation should rest a bit easier knowing that we have people like you going to bat on our behalf.

Technorati Tags: real estate, rain city guide, Dustin Luther, homestore, move, vertical search, real estate vertical search

Which Home Improvements = Best Return

2006-04-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

A dirty little secret many homeowners don't know is that most home improvements don't yield positive results when you do decide to sell. When we list a property for sale, depending on their timeframe and budget, we explore what actions we can take in order to sell the property quicker and for a higher price.

I came across this article today and thought it would be a good resource for those thinking of selling in the near future.

The top 3:

1. Clean / de-clutter - 973% Average Return on Investment: Remove clutter by storing items in basement, attic or friend’s home. Rent a storage space or sell excess items, if needed. Keep every room very clean durhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
insert linking open homes. Do pre-open house cleanliness inspections.

2. Lighten and brighten - 865% Average Return on Investment: Replace any burnt-out bulbs and use higher wattage bulbs, if possible. Have defective electrical components repaired or replaced. Make sure skylights are clear and keep drapes open during the day.

3. Yard - 426% Average Return on Investment: Store away personal effects from front yard. Hire gardener or landscaper to trim back the overgrowth and maintain yard. Make sure that your lawn has a healthy green appearance.

oh, and one more

5. Staging - 251% Average Return on Investment: Buy some fresh flowers, live plants and other decorations to liven up the home. Dispose of old furniture or other large items. Consider renting furniture or hiring a staging consultant.

I'm not sure how popular staging is in the rest of the country, but here in the Bay Area is very common. Since you're going to be competing with these listings, it's a usually a good idea to bring a professional staging consultant into the fold.

Check out the rest of the top ten here.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, home improvement, sellers, staging

flickr photocredit Auntie P. Used under a Creative Commons License.

What Does Your Email Address Say About You?

2006-04-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ardell over at Rain City guide has a great post about professionalism and how it relates to email addresses.

People often ask how they should select a real estate agent and/or mortgage person. Maybe it is not fair to say that those whose email address is yahoo or hotmail or even aol are not “professional”. But doesn’t it seem so? Can it be as simple as that? Often when I am caught in a transaction with a less than professional agent or less than professional mortgage person, I am dealing with someone whose email address is nastyboy69@hotmail.com. So I think I will go out on a limb here and propose that one’s email address IS an indication of who you are dealing with.

I guess I'm out on the limb with her. An email address is absolutely an indicator. I'm not saying that it's an overriding factor; but in a time when more and more business is being conducted online, it should be a consideration.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, professionalism

flickr photocredit Scott Beale @ Laughing Squid. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Google Real Estate

2006-04-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

It looks like Google Real Estate has arrived.

If you type "homes for sale" or "real estate" into Google's search box, you're now presented with a new option. You can now refine the search based on location or listing type. (Bottom of screen shot)

I searched for Berkeley and grabbed this screen shot.

It looks like a bare bones Google Maps + Google Base mashup. If you click on the pushpin, the listing summary pops up on the map. However, the map seems a bit small and I had to do some shifting in order to position the property info bubble so that I could read it.

Not perfect by any means, but it HAS arrived.

hat tip: Shimon Sandler via Tech Memeorandum.

On a side note- Memeorandum is tracking baseball now! Ballbug

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, google real estate, google base, google maps, mashup

Tax Tips for First Time Buyers

2006-04-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again and it's time for first time buyers to file their first tax return since moving into their new home.

You survived the bidding wars, the inspections and the whole moving process, now check out this guide to make sure that you reaping all the benefits of home ownership.

Technorati Tags: real estate, first time homebuyers, taxes

Flickr photo credit: tizzie used under a creative commons license.

A Better Zillow?

2006-04-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Web 2.0ey home valuation space just got a little more crowded.

I just happened to come across RealEstateABC a couple of days ago while searching for resources to pass along to my clients.

The next day, they introduced their home valuation tool. Called ABC Values(TM), it's billed as:

a free, powerful and easy-to-use online home valuation tool that complements the expertise offered by local real estate agents.

After a little playing around, my first impression is, "Has Zillow been outzillowed?." The values seemed to be a lot more accurate and I liked the interface better.

Try it out & let me know what you think.

Hat tip to Glen for the scoop.

Technorati Tags: real estate, zillow, real estate 2.0, realestateabc

Look to Dataquick for Sales Activity

2006-03-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

by Glen Bell

"Since 1978, DataQuick has built a solid reputation as a premier provider of real estate information solutions. From the early days of microfiche to today's high-speed Internet solutions, we've helped thousands of customers realize their goals by offering the most current and advanced data products on the market."

DataQuick Real Estate News is another resource to keep referring back to. You'll find that a number real estate news articles pull their statisitics from this great informational site. I use it to give me a snapshot of the real estate activity in the area. View their Home Sales Activity charts Here. It's broken down by zipcode to help give you a more informed picture of the neighborhood you're living in and how the past months sales compares to last years. You can also review Home Sale Price Medians by City.

Of course, for Californians, that can be either good or bad news depending on whether your are looking to sell or purchase property.

California's Housing Affordability Index, as reported by the California Association of Realtors, is now at an all time low. This index measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase a median priced home in California. As of their Feb 2, 2006 report, that index now stands at 14% for all of California.

"With mortgage rates, home prices rising faster than annual incomes, affordable housing is not an option for many." This mornings article in the Contra Costa Times, entitled "American Dream fading for Many," by Alan Heavens further deals with this issue.

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area real estate, housing market, housing bubble, dataquick, glen bell

Understanding Easements

2006-03-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

by Glen Bell

Anyone who has ever purchased a home has come accross a description in their preliminary title report referring to easements. One of the most common found are Easements in Gross, or a personal right to use land. For example, Utility Companies may have an Easement in Gross to install and service power lines.

To learn more about easements, there's a very informative article supplied to us by Robin Sewell, Marketing Manager for Chicago Title in Albany.

It's in their March 2006 Critical Issues Resource publication and it's titled "Understanding Easements, What is an easement or right-of-way?"

Technorati Tags: real estate, easements, glen bell

Hot Caribbean Real Estate Market

2006-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

by Glen Bell

American Buyers Drawn To Strong Caribbean Real Estate Market

"The Caribbean real estate market for American buyers is strong and getting stronger, according to Ricardo Cardenas, vice president and regional director of RE/MAX of the Caribbean and Central America."

"Purchasing pro perties in the Caribbean could be a good hedge against a domestic market that is slowing down," said Cardenas. "Property values are low in many areas, but they are appreciating rapidly, so a relatively small investment can yield good returns."

"Property values are low in many areas, but they are appreciating rapidly, so a relatively small investment can yield good returns," he added.

Here's one such bargain found along the Honduras Coast. For $490,000, you can purcahse a 5,200 square foot mansion with 300 feet of beachfront.

(Disclaimer: Shameless self promotion of my listing)

View the details HERE.

Technorati Tags: real estate, international real estate, caribbean real estate, honduras real estate, glen bell

Brainjamming in Berkeley

2006-02-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Mark your calanders. This Satuday from 9:30am-5pm, the next Brainjams event is going to be held on the UC Berkeley campus at Barrows Hall. That's right, the knowledge networking 'unconference' is coming to the East Bay and you're invited.

I just got off the phone with organizer Chris Heuer. He has been collaborating with Lee Felsenstein, who is going to be joining Chris as a co-facilitator and it sounds like we're in for a treat.

In a sense, Lee is reprising his role from the beginning of the PC revolution as co-founder and facilitator of the Homebrew Computer Club.

In addition to focusing on discussions about how we use emerging social media tools like blogs, wikis, podcasts and other Web 2.0 tools, Lee and Chris will begin the day with a discussion on learning from other disciplines, finding/borrowing/improving on patterns through experimentation and collaboration in the commons.

What we have been trying to do with BrainJams is very much what Homebrew did 30 years ago - we follow in their footsteps and are very honored to have him sharing his experience and wisdom with us.

Four months ago, I had the pleasure of participating in the first Brainjam which was held at the KRON 4 studios in San Francisco. The connections that I made that day have blossomed into an extensive network of friends and colleagues who are involved in all sorts of exciting projects.

If you can make it, we'd love to see you down there! (Don't forget to register)

Technorati Tags: brainjams, Berkeley, brainjams25feb2006, Chris Heuer, Lee Felsenstein

Housing - Just Cool or Going Cold?

2006-02-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

by Glen Bell

Here's an article from yesterday's Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle that asks some very good questions about the real estate market. These questions are then addressed by examining past historical cycles within the Bay Area.

It's entitled; "Housing -- just cool or going cold? With home sales continuing to drop, questions about its cyclic nature are taking on a new sense of urgency." The article is written by Kelly Zito, a Chronicle Staff Writer.

Here are a few interesting exerpts to give you a flavor of the article. It's definitely well worth reading.

"The Bay Area real estate market typically runs in cycles, forming almost a stair step pattern of multiyear price increases followed by periods of stagnation or even mild declines."

"At the end of the last two major housing booms in the early 1980s and 1990s, prices in most areas did not collapse."

"On the coasts, you see price run-ups, and then instead of having large price declines, you have mild declines and flattening for a period -- it's what you'd call a stylized fact of the industry," said Andrew Leventis, economist at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the overseer of mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"Nothing leads to big declines in house prices except job destruction," said John Krainer, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

"San Francisco may have more of a chance to not ha ve a severe (correction) because it's so hard to build here," said UC Berkeley's Rosen. "The difficulty in putting on new supply protects home prices from big adjustments."

"People ask why are home prices so high in California, and my response is: 'Everybody in the world wants to live in California,' " said Michael Carney, real estate professor at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona.

Technorati Tags: real estate, east bay real estate, bay area real estate, housing market, housing bubble, glen bell

flickr photocredit nhanusek used under a creative commons license

East Bay Real Estate Market Trends & Conditions

2006-02-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

by Glen Bell

As a homeowner or real estate investor, you have probably been following the recent news reports on a cooling, or a the possibility of a bubble bursting in our real estate market?

The headlines catch our attention. It’s there, in our face, almost daily, someone’s interpretation, based on some numbers, telling us of what’s really going on in our real estate markets.

One such example is a Contra Costa Times article entitled “Real Estate Market Continues to Cool,” by James Temple, based on just released statistics off of the DataQuick Information Systems site. For those who are not familiar with DataQuick, it’s one of the most up to date and more reliable research sites on real estate.

Whose crystal ball do we use? Sellers market, buyers market, normal market, housing bubble, soft landing? The information on these articles is almost always based on someone’s interpretation of old data. "Timing is everything when buying a home," is another recent article to take a look at, also written by James Temple of the Contra Costa Times.

In his article, he asks the question "Is now the time to buy an East Bay home?"

"Some industry observers answer with a resounding yes or no, having deciphered clear signs from their crystal balls that housing prices will absolutely rise -- or unquestionably fall -- over the next few years. Others, however, say that timing the market is a fool's game, that personal circumstances should outweigh short-term trends and that buyers should take precautions for any eventuality."

Often times we are listening to an analysis of a market that’s anywhere from 20 to 45 days old. Furthermore, the numbers used are very general and always cover very broad areas, with the smallest statistics being based on entire cities. What most of us really want to ask, is, “what’s happening today, in our own unique neighborhoods?”

We, as real estate agents, have access to the MLS, and are able to extract up to the minute information to give us a better clue as to what’s really happening in your neighborhoods.

However, these bits of information that we are able to pull are only snapshots. Tracking these numbers over time gives us the ability to spot trends. These trends may be subject to our interpretation, but they do give us an up to date insight on a market so that we are able to make a more well informed real estate decision.

How many homes are for sale in your neighborhood, how long have they been on the market, and how many buyers are looking? (Simply put supply and demand). This translates to actives, average days on the market (actives only), and pending sales. The relationship that we find to each other in our respective markets can give us some indication as to whether we are in a sellers, a normal, or even a buyers market. This can be done on a more local basis, being able to look at your neighborhood by itself.

The past seven years we’ve had far too many buyers’ looking at a much smaller number of homes for sale. It’s been a strong sellers market every where. As stated in the article, Ken Rosen, from UC Berkeley, is quoted as saying, “There’s no question that we have moved from a seller’s market to equilibrium or even a buyer’s market in certain cases.” I have to agree with Mr. Rosen. However, this change did not happen overnight as some other news article headlines may have suggested, but gradually over the last 6 months.

The chart above tracks the number of actives (homes for sale) and the number of pendings, (homes that are in contract with buyers). The sample was taken from 34 cities within Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Pendings have dropped noticeably in comparison to actives since July of last year. There are more homes on the market with fewer buyers. This has been a gradual change over a six month period.

Some of what you see is seasonal, some unique to this market.

The graph above measures a very large area. A sample this large, translates to being able to make only very broad general conclusions about this market overall. It doesn’t necessarily tell the story of the market in your particular neighborhood.

In reality, there are markets within markets, different neighborhoods within cities. Not every neighborhood in Berkeley, for example, will be quite the same. Some neighborhoods will have stronger markets than others. The right house, presented well, in the right neighborhood, and at the right price continues to bring multiple offers. However, in most cases, homes are staying on the market longer, and we’re starting to see some price reductions. There are also markets within price ranges. Homes that sell for under $800,000 may have a stronger market in general than homes selling for over $1,000,000.

What can you make of all this? Making your real estate decisions should be based on up to date information that reflects the conditions of your specific neighborhood. Ask your well informed real estate agent to talk to you about the market trends and conditions of your neighborhood before making that all important decision to buy or sell a home.

Technorati Tags: real estate, east bay real estate, bay area real estate, housing market, housing bubble, glen bell

It's On! Pillow Fight Club Tomorrow

2006-02-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow at Justin Herman Plaza (map) in San Francisco, when the clock hits 6pm a spontaneous pillow fight is going to break out as Pillow Fight Club makes it's way in to the Bay Area

The Rules of Pillow Fight Club

1) Tell everyone you know about PILLOW FIGHT!!!
2) Wait for the Ferry Building clock to strike 6:00pm
3) Don't hit anyone with out a pillow (unless they want it)
4) Don't hit anyone with a camera
5) HAVE FUN!!!

Who wants to go?

Upcoming listing

Hat tip to Scott Beale

Technorati Tags: bay area, san francisco, activities, pillow fight, pillow fight club

Flickr photo credit for the poster: sfslim used under a creative commons license.

Finding a Bargain Realtor

2006-02-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Everybody loves a bargain.

Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Costco are great examples of successful companies that offer Top Value for a consumer's dollar. Shoppers flock to these companies because in the end, their net monetary outlay is generally lower than purchasing from competitors that offer fewer discounts or make the shopping experience inconvenient (why isn't Kmart more successful?) or unpleasant.

Unfortunately, finding a true Bargain Realtor is a little tougher. I guess what it really boils down to is value, or how do I NET the most money from the sale of my home.

Bernice Ross, founder and CEO of RealEstateCoach.com and author of Who's the Best Person to Sell My House? offers this little suggestion. Find an agent with a Top list-to-sell ratio. Put simply, whoever has the highest ratio will generally be expected to get you the most money for your house.

For example, if two agents list identical $500,000 homes and agent 1 has a ratio of 1.02 and agent 2 has a ratio of 1.08 then agent 1 will on average sell the house for $510,000 while agent 2 will get on average $540,000 for their respective clients.

If you consider the average difference between full service and discount brokers is 2% or roughly $10,000 in this case a best case scenario is agent #2 nets the home owner an extra $20,000 The worst case is if both agents charge a full 6% commission, in this instance seller #1 potentially lost out on $30,000.

Some people will argue that Realtors are interchangeable and discounters will do just as much as full service realtors to sell your home. I would argue that the numbers say otherwise, and people should learn how to look for a realtor and what questions to ask.

Discounter or Full Service, average is better than poor, good is better than average, and great is better than good. One way to start determining who you are talking to is to ask for their list-to-sell price ratio.

Technorati Tags: real estate, finding a realtor, east bay real estate

flickr photo credit for the shot of the Berkeley sunset on 1/23/2006 goes to lightmatter. Used under a creative commons license.

And Finally... Norman Gee

2006-02-13T15:18:00.000-08:00

The last, but not the least, of our new contributors is Norman Gee. Norman's a Berkeley native and an active investor who's constantly full of great energy. He's also a founding member of the Keller Williams Golden Gate research team and he's constantly uncovering great little nuggets of information.

For his first post, he digs into the subject of Finding a Bargain Realtor.

Welcome aboard Norm!

Don't Forget, Arrrested Development Finale Tonight!!

2006-02-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

Don't Forget

The final four episodes of Arrested Development are going to run back-to-back-to-back-to-back tonight begining at 8:00. Two solid hours of what could be the end of the Bluth's run on television.

Hopefully someone in their right mind will sign the show to a new deal so that it can make it to syndication.

"It's an established name. It's critically acclaimed. It's been deemed one of the best shows ever created for this medium," Showtime president Robert Greenblatt said last month. "And I think having that in with our other shows has a bit of a halo effect" that also could spark growth in paying subscribers.

It's embarrassing to openly beg. But there are times when only abject groveling will do: Please, please, please don't let this be the end of "Arrested Development."

Technorati Tags: arrested development, television, save our bluths

How Can I Post a Graph (and have people be able to read it)

2006-02-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

We have a problem and I'm sure that there's a simple solution that we're not thinking of. So I figure I'll toss it out into the blogosphere and maybe someone can help us out.

We've been keeping housing data in an excel spreadsheet we want to post a graph in the blog so that our readers can see it. We tried turning it into a jpg and throwing it up on flickr and adding it to a post like we would a picture, but that didn't work. It was too small and it wasn't readable.

We also tried grabbing a screenshot with Snagit, but that didn't work either.

I'm tired of searching for the answer and I'm hoping that someone can help a Realtor out.

Technorati Tags: help

Adverse Possession – Modern Day Land Grab for Squatters?

2006-02-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

By Glen Bell

I keep attending real estate classes where the concept of “Adverse Possession” comes up. The idea of a land grab always comes to mind with some of the newer agents. We all have this image in our mind of squatters from the old western movies putting up stakes on the open range to claim the land as their own through possession. It’s a similar idea, an idea that you rarely hear about these days.

In fact, everyone that I have ever talked with knows of no one who has ever successfully attained property through this method, with but one exception, myself.

First of all; “What is Adverse Possession?” The classic definition of adverse possession is; “A method of acquiring title to real property through possession of the property for a statutory period under certain conditions by a person other than the owner of record.” For an example using a legal precedent, view the article entitled; “The Nuts and Bolts of Adverse Possession," written by Christopher Schwindt.

There are five essential elements to this process;

1) Open and notorious occupation. It does not require residency on the property.

2) Continuous for five consecutive years.

3) Hostile to the interest of the true owner and without any degree of permission.

4) Held under a claim of right or color of title. Claim of right – Adverse possessor treats the property as his own because he feels that he is the owner of the title. I have a right to this property! Color of title – Adverse possessor holds document appearing to give good title, such as a forged deed, invalid will, etc, but it does not.

5) Payment of taxes for five consecutive years.

My grandmother purchased two lots in the Oakland Hills with her brother back in the 1930’s. The property was off of Skyline Blvd with beautiful views. Their dream was to one time build and live up in “the hills.” They even placed a small RV on the land where one of her sons stayed and lived for a brief period.

“Uncle Joe” owned the property after my grandmother passed away. He had lived in New York all of his life. The Bay Area, for him, was only a place to visit on occasion and, on one such occasion, he decided to “sell” his property real cheap to his nephew’s four boys, (myself and my brothers).

So we bought the two lots for what he and my grandmother had originally paid. This amounted to a couple of thousand dollars. This was back in the late 1960’s. It was "Uncle Joe's" way of leaving us, “the kids” something.

We immediately had it surveyed so that we could see what exactly we had “inherited.” We’d drive by on occasion to see what if anything was going on in the area, to walk the land and, finally sit at the property's edge to look at the panoramic views of the bay. There were no sewer hook-ups, no water and no electricity in the area at that time. The idea of building one day, once the utility services were in, was an appealing dream. We continued to pay the property taxes as had my grandmother and “Uncle Joe” had done since the 1930’s, but, as time went by, we made fewer and fewer trips to the property.

It wasn’t until years later when we put the property up for sale that we discovered there was a “cloud on title.” The property had been purchased from a Delaware Corporation, which we soon discovered was defunct.

There was only one deed that we could find, describing only one lot. In order for us to clear this up, we approached Richard Waxman, our attorney. Rick, now one of the managing partners of Wendell Rosen in Oakland, talked to us about taking a quiet title action. This is a court action brought to establish title and to remove a cloud on the title.

We were given the above guidelines. The property was again surveyed. A fence went up in the front of the property with a sign posted for the “world” to see our claim of ownership. We spoke with neighbors to see if any claim other than ours was even a remote possibility, and found nothing.

Finally after a five year period, we felt that we had established through “adverse possession,” ownership of the property. The case went to court and although it was an unusual procedure, even for the judge, (her first such case), it was made so very obvious to her that there were no other claims to this property but ours. The court awarded us title and the property was eventually sold.

This is such a rare procedure. Again, I have heard of no one, other than ourselves, ever having successfully claimed property in this manner. What we had in our favor was the truth, that the property was indeed ours. Adverse Possession was only a means to clearing title.

The point of the story is that such a thing can happen. It is possible. The intentions of the law were to protect people like us, however, it does open up the possibility of land being taken without your knowledge if you are not careful. Leaving land that you own alone for long periods of time without improvements could run the risk of loss by such a quirky law.

So, just in case, for those of you with concerns of ever having this remote possibility ever happen to you, I’ve included an article for you to take a look at as a precaution, “Understanding – and Avoiding – Adverse Possession" written by Benny Kass.

Technorati Tags: real estate, adverse possession, glen bell

Enter Stage Right: Glen Bell

2006-02-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

Alright. The next post is from our latest new conributor Glen Bell.

When I first started up my blogging group, Glen was there every week eager to learn. Without much prodding, he was up and running in no time. (Except for that flickr login problem from hell that took a few weeks to work through) <-- There's actually a funny story that came out of that ordeal. Maybe he'll write about it sometime.

Anyway. Glen has been the driving force behind the timely market data that I've been sharing from time to time and I'm really glad to have him aboard.

Enjoy his first post as he tackles the subject of Adverse Possession.

Berkeley Real Estate Deal Killers: RECO Edition

2006-02-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

By Stephanie Root

One reason that Berkeley real estate deals can get held up in the title office is because those involved don't know about the city's RECO ordinance which involves upgrading the property to meet energy efficiency standards.

If you're purchasing property in Berkeley, you should know that in many cases, though not all, it’s the SELLERS’ REPSONSIBILITY to be in compliance BEFORE SELLING the property.

If the deal goes through without the seller meeting the requirements, guess who’s responsibility it will ultimately become? Yes, you the buyer and yes, it translates into spending more money.

Now that’s fine if you intend to remodel your newly purchased house/condo etc. anyway. But what if you are an investor and you want to purchase a property that’s in dire need of a rehab and the seller is supposed to be in compliance before selling it to you?

Since the seller is selling the property in a debilitated state, it’s obvious that he/she doesn’t want to put more money into making the property energy efficient. They’re looking for a quick sell. So what do you do?

This happened to some of my clients who were interested in purchasing a fixer. First I checked to see if the property had met the requirements (and this can be a little tricky if your agent doesn’t know what informational systems to check). Next, I informed them about RECO by giving them information that briefly explains what it is, how to meet the requirements, and who’s responsible for being in compliance. I knew that technically, the seller could not “pass on” the responsibility on to my clients.

So instead of having this issue kill the deal, I told my clients that if they purchased the property, they would have to meet the requirements even though this was originally the sellers responsibility. They were fine with being responsible for the upgrades because they were going to do upgrades to the property anyway. With this out of the way, we could close the deal without any surprises and hang ups at the title office.

But what if the seller was going to close that transaction with someone who was unaware of RECO and not in agreement with having the responsibility shifted on to them. I did some research and talked to the department heads at the RECO office. They explained that some realtors will take the transaction to “outside” title companies because they are less likely to catch local ordinances. This seems to suggest it’s the title company’s responsibility to catch this problem.

Pam Roda, at Financial Title in Albany California informed me that the general public needs to know that local ordinance compliance issues are not necessarily a matter of title. However, they are willing to handle these issues as a matter of courtesy to sellers and their real estate agents if THEY ARE INSTRUCTED to do so.

So buyers and sellers, to avoid any surprises at title, like having your deal delayed or killed because of local ordinance issues, make certain you understand your responsibilities and have your realtor help you understand them so you can have a hassle free closing at the title company.

So there you have it, RECO in a nutshell.

If anybody has any other questions about local ordinances, let us know and we'll get to the bottom of it for you.

Technorati Tags: real estate, berkeley real estate, RECO

Enter Stage Left: Stephanie Root

2006-02-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

Recently, I've been working with a few agents in my office have been very receptive to the idea of blogging A few have even gone to the lengths of creating posts to contribute to MyEastBayAgent.

The next post is from a colleague of mine named Stephanie Root. She's an agent in my office that I work with quite a bit who's fearless and willing to tackle any subject.

I'm glad to welcome her aboard.

It's alive! Zillow launches it's Beta

2006-02-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

The beta version of Zillow is now live.

One of the most secretive and highly anticipated online real estate tools made its debut on Tuesday night.

Although I expect more features to be added in the future; this beta version's primary function is to offer free, unbiased valuations of more than 60+ million homes in the US.

I ran a few properties in Berkeley and my first impression is that the valuations given were quite a bit lower than expected.

Rain City Guide has a nice writeup.

Technorati Tags: real estate, zillow, real estate 2.0

Viral Marketing Alert : Monk-e-Mail

2006-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Oh My God! I'm hooked. This one could have some serious legs.

Monk-e-Mail

Is CareerBuilder going to have a Super Bowl ad later today? If so, this could be a killer viral marketing campaing to help prolong a pricey 30 second spot.

Until then, just remember.
_____

Update: There were a couple CareerBuilder monkey ads during the game, but there wasn't any mention of Monk-e-Mail. I'm still digging it though.

Technorati Tags: monk-e-mail, viral marketing, careerbuilder, humor

California Foreclosure Activity is Rising

2006-02-03T16:54:00.001-08:00

Dataquick just reported that foreclosure activity is rising in California. The timing of this article is a bit ironic since I recently mentioned to my colleague (And soon to be MyEastBayAgent contributor) Norman Gee that I noticed that there was a definite upward swing in the volume of Notice of Defaults.

Lending institutions sent 14,999 default notices to California homeowners during the October-to-December period. That was up 19.0 percent from 12,606 for the third quarter, and up 15.6 percent from 12,978 for 2004's fourth quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

"There's always going to be a certain amount of financial distress. People lose their jobs, have medical emergencies, get divorced, pass away or make bad money decisions at a certain rate. Because of the rise in home values, much of that financial distress has been covered by the increasing amount of equity that people have had in their homes. That equity is now being created at a slower pace, and default activity is inevitably on the rise," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

When a notice of default is filed, that means that the lender has started the legal process of foreclosure. We recently started a program to contact owners in default to see if we can structure win-win situations.

As soon as a Notice of Default is filed, the race is on and soon there are all types of people trying to contact the homeowners to offer to solve their problems. Whomever contacts the homeonwer and gains their trust first is often the person they trust to rectify the situation.

Some are trustworthy, some are scam artists, some are licensed, and some aren't. Just because someone is licensed doesn't necessarily mean that they're trustworthy.

Since we're trustworthy and licensed, we feel that we can offer some additional options that an unlicensed investor can't.

After examining their situation, we present them with some options. If they decide that they want to try to keep the property, we'll go over the options for them to attempt to do so. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to hold onto the property any longer. If that's the case, together we'll sit down and decide on the best course of action.

We'll let you know how it goes.

Technorati Tags: real estate, foreclosures, dataquick, investing, win-win situations, bay area real estate

Flickr photocredit karmablue. Used under a creative commons license.

Thumbs Up for Hyperwords

2006-02-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hyperwords is an extension for Firefox and Flock that I've really been digging recently.

It allows you to select any text & choose a command from the resulting pop-up menu: search, look up references, blog, email, copy, translate and more. Basically, it makes every word on the web interactive.

Here's a quick demo video.

You can download the extension here.

Try it out!

Technorati Tags: hyperwords, extensions, firefox, flock

New Housing Search Tool: Propsmart

2006-02-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

There's a new search tool in town. After playing around with Propsmart for a little while, I'm fairly impressed. Sure there's lots of room for improvement, but its not bad for a brand new service.

In case you haven't heard of them.

Propsmart is a next-generation real estate search engine, aggregating nearly a million property listings from hundreds of online sources and private sellers and making them easily searchable with a GoogleMap-based visual interface. We've also got a budding online community of buyers, sellers, and service providers, so hang around a bit and check things out.

So as I see it, it's a Craigslist (among other sources) mashup with googlemaps in a sexy interface. They're trying to build an online community around it, which would be the differentitor. I'm looking forward to seeing how the community develops.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how they close they can come to indexing all of the active listings in the MLS. As cool as this tool is, if you're not sure that you're seeing everything available, there's going to be fear of loss to deal with. This is the same problem that I have with Trulia, another visual housing search site that I like.

I ran a couple searches and found my current active listings that I had listed on Craigslist. Here's the Propsmart page for 1237 Carrison St. It's well laid out & I think it looks good. It also has all my info, so if someone wants to contact me off of the ad, they can. I'll take more exposure for my listing...especially if they include my contact info.

Happy house hunting!

Hat tip: ReyEstate, Rain City Guide

Technorati Tags: propsmart, real estate search, mashup, real estate 2.0, reyestate, rain city guide

Neighbors of Ashby BART: We're Pissed!

2006-01-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

If you're a South Berkeley resident, you'll probably be interested in the city's plan to possibly develop the west parking lot of the Ashby BART station into a transit village.

Last week, I attended a citizen's information forum that attempted to tackle the issue. A majority of the 200+ people who attended were against the plan.

The Neighbors of Ashby BART has been aggregating information about the project and is a great resource to find the latest info.

Do you live in the area? What do you think about the project? We'd love to hear your views.

Technorati Tags: berkeley, ashby transit village, NABART

The Other Side of 30

2006-01-30T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hey. Long time, no post. The self consor in me has been rearing it's ugly head. Is this like a pseudo step #5? Anwyay, It feels like I lost my voice for the past week and a half.

What's been going on, you ask?

The big thing is that I turned the big three oh last Wednesday. It was cool. We had a great group turn out at Jupiter for pizza and beer. Nothing like a big event in the middle of the week to totally throw everything off.

My copy of Naked Conversations showed up on Friday...also cool. So far, I'm loving it.

I've also been busy working on the evolution of MyEastBayAgent. Navigating my way through my to-do list and learning a lot along the way.

Which reminds me... One thing that I'd really like to work on in 2006 is smoothing out my workflow to avoid the roller coaster effect. Although I really enjoy the boom cycles, riding the bottom out while waiting for that next burst of inspiration can be a bit frustrating.

I'm hoping that finishing GTD and implementing it will help with this problem. In fact, it just got added to my 43Things.

So there you have it.

Technorati Tags: turned 30, naked conversations, gtd

flickr photo credit: EverJean used under a Creative Commons license.

Brainjamming in the Nation's Capital

2006-01-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hey East Coasters, Brainjams is coming to Washington DC on Monday January 30th and you're invited. Organizer Chris Heuer managed to snag a great location and the event will be held at The DC Improv and it begins at 10am.

I participated in the first two Brainjams in the Bay Area and can attest to the fact that "its ad-hoc collaboration at its finest!"

The morning session with consist of BrainJamming - knowledge networking which is akin to the speed dating concept. Then, in the afternoon, the group will be divided into 'tracks' according to level of experience, so that developers and power users can get more from in-depth discussions with peers and newcomers can get a better understanding of the basics.

If you are into Social Media, Web 2.0 and all that jazz, please plan on coming by Monday January 30 for some knowledge networking in the morning and open spaces in the afternoon. Also, please consider inviting a non-technical friend along so we can spread the word and have a more interesting discussion across the techie/non-techie divide.

Technorati Tags: brainjams, brainjams30jan2006, Chris Heuer, Washington DC

What if Geeks ran NASA?

2006-01-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I'm a space geek. I wanted to be an astronaut, but bad eyesight killed that plan. The idea of space travel still fascinates me.

This recent Forbes article caught my attention & attempts to answer the question of:

Where would the U.S. space program be today if run not by NASA bureaucrats but by Silicon Valley geeks and financiers--by crazy entrepreneurs?

Some great points. It mentions that Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne was built for less than $40 million (financed by ubergeek Paul Allen) and flew into space twice last year. It's licensing it's technology to Richard Branson who started a new space tourism company called Virgin Galactic which plans to usher in the era of space tourism.

Definitely one of my 43things

flickr photo credit inner gee

Technorati Tags: space travel, entrepreneur, geek, space tourism, virgin galactic, 43 things

Good Advice from Suze

2006-01-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually a big fan of Suze Orman. Maybe it's because I know she's right a lot of the time and I don't want to admit it since she grates on my nerves. But she had a good nugget in her Ten Tips for a Prosperous 2006 & Beyond.

6. Get UnARMed.

In some parts of the country, more than half the new mortgages taken out over the past few years are interest-only or adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). These were attractive at the time, but mortgage rates are already nudging up. As I write this, they're above 6 percent.

That means if you have a 4 percent adjustable rate mortgage, you better get ready for a big hike. And no one expects rates to go down anytime soon, so don't feel smug even if your adjustment isn't until 2007.

If you have an ARM or interest-only mortgage and plan to stay in your home for a while, make it your primary financial priority to convert to a fixed-rate mortgage. If you plan to move in the near future, consider a hybrid mortgage with a fixed rate that mirrors how long you'll stay. For example, if you plan on moving in five years, consider a 5/1 hybrid, where the initial rate will not change for the first five years.

Lots of buyers in this area used ARM's with low rates in order to get themselves into homes during the recent boom. Now that ARM rates are rising and fixed loans are still fairly low, it might be worth checking into refinancing if you bought on an ARM. Before it ends up costing you and ARM and a leg.

::cues laugh track::

Hat tip: Nina @ Sitting Pretty <- Great personal finance blog

flickr photo credit solarider

Technorati Tags: Suze Orman, housing bubble, bay area real estate, mortgage, refi

Should Buyers Think About Locking?

2006-01-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

Coming off of the slow holiday season, we noticed a surge in buyer activity last weekend. Should buyer's lock their rates?

Bankrate's Holden Lewis thinks so.

YIELDS FALL: I'm guessing that this would be a good time to lock your rate, if you don't have to pay a fee to do so. That covers most of you who intend to close within 30 days.

Technorati Tags: mortgage, interest rates, holden lewis, real estate

flickr photocredit *Mike D

San Francisco Housing Tracker

2006-01-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

I just came across this pretty cool site called Housing Tracker and thought I'd share it with you.

From their site:

HousingTracker is an attempt to gain a more realtime understanding of the national housing market. For the most part, all we have to rely on the quarterly Realtor reports to get a sense of how the last quarter played out. HousingTracker data is compiled weekly from MLS listings which contains asking prices as opposed to the Realtor reported sale prices. HousingTracker gives you the 25th percentile, 50th percentile, and 75th percentile asking price for the metro areas covered. Additionally, the number of homes for sale (Inventory) for the metro area is reported.

I agree, the housing data that we see through the normal media is dated and is usually at least 30 days old. When you're in a transitional market like the one that we currently seem to be in, what was true 30 days ago isn't exactly true now.

That's why a colleague of mine, Glen Bell, and I have been pulling current market data every week for the past few months to get a more realtime picture of this marketand the results are quite striking. Look for a post in the near future summarizing our findings so far.

Technorati Tags: housingtracker, housing bubble, bay area real estate, san francisco real estate, myeastbayagent

Want to Try a Cool Real Estate Search Feature?

2006-01-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

One thing that I really like about Dustin from the Rain City Guide is that we both share the same passion to spur innovation within the real estate industry.

In this post last Friday, Robbie Paplin from Caffeinated software (great name BTW) unveiled the beta version of a new MLS search feature that Dustin and he have been working on.

After playing around with it for a while, I decided to share the exciting news with some people in my office in hopes of getting some feedback to share with them.

While the people that I showed the technology to definitely thought it was cool, I wonder if they completely understand how cool it really is.

First off, you can generate a customized RSS feed for each search. Any hard core RSS junkie will attest to it being a far more efficient way to digest information. As more and more people become familiar with RSS as a content delivery system, the more they'll demand services like this.

They also give a statistical summary for the search results, which I thought was pretty handy.

But what really impressed the people I showed the feature to was the ability to export the search results into Google Earth.

If you haven't played around with Google Earth yet, I highly recommend it. Although it requires you a download and requires a broadband connection and 400mb of free HD space to run, it's absolutely stunning to explore the world from space. Let's just say that I had to pick some jaws off of the floor.

I've been working with a few developers around here to develop some cool new tools, but my hat is off to Dustin and Robbie on this one. Looks great guys. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds at the intersection of technology & real estate.

Technorati Tags: real estate, mashup, MLS search, rain city guide, MyEastBayAgent, Caffeinated Softward, real estate 2.0

Searching Bay Area Rental Properties with Rentslicer

2006-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Are you looking to buy investment property in the Bay Area but want to know what types of rent to expect? Maybe you're a renter looking to make the next move. If so, I'd recommend trying out Rentslicer.

I've been playing around with this next generation googlemaps/craigslist mashup and it's definitely a step up from housingmaps which I also found useful.

Not only will it map each listing, it also offers a wide array of statistical breakdowns. One feature that I particularly enjoyed was the Slicer Tool which allows you to choose different housing configurations and amenities and compare the different rental rates.

Enjoy!

Don't forget ::wink, wink...nudge, nudge:: if you are looking to buy investment property you can search the East Bay MLS for free right here.

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area, mashups, rentals, real estate investing, MyEastBayAgent

Kent Bye meets the BratPack, SanFransocial Style

2006-01-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

While the East Bay real estate market is starting to slowly awaken from its holiday slumber, I had the chance to head into the city last night to participate in an out of towner meetup.

Organized by Chris Messina, a group of us met at Ritual Roasters in the Mission to meet Kent Bye, a documentary filmmaker who is working on the Echo Chamber Project.

The Echo Chamber Project is an open source, investigative documentary about the how the television news media became an uncritical echo chamber to the Executive Branch leading up to the war in Iraq.

By developing collaborative techniques for producing this film, then this project can potentially provide some solutions for incorporating a broader range of voices and perspectives into the mainstream media.

The event went off well. Kent is an amazing guy and his project is truly noble. There was a podcast made & a few episodes of Geek Entertainment TV were also filmed.

Afterwards we headed over to the Burger Joint, for a little more socializing before I had to catch the BART back to the East Bay.

Part of the magic of the meetup is that no one had to call me to tell me about the event. I found out through Upcoming.org, a service that I've been using quite a bit recently.

Recently acquired by Yahoo, Upcoming.org is a global events calander where community members add events to a centralized database.

Through Upcoming.org, you can:

* Use the site to keep track of your own events
* Share events with friends and family
* Find out what events your friends are going to
* Find interesting events in your area

Upcoming also publishes a badge that you can put on your website. If you look down on the left sidebar, you'll notice mine.

Keep it real Kent! We're behind you.

Technorati Tags: open source media, echo chamber project, brat pack 2.0, upcoming.org, SanFransocial, MyEastBayAgent

flickr photo credit: Miss Rogue, used under a Creative Commons license.

Turning the Tables on Dustin from Rain City Guide

2005-12-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

Recently, Dustin Luther from Seattle's Rain City Guide has been running an awesome series of interviews with his favorite real estate bloggers.

I've really enjoyed reading the different interviews. It's amazing to see how diverse the responses have been. I've gotten tremendous value out of reading the series and I'd recommend checking it out. It just goes to show that there's no right or wrong way, just your way.

Anyways...After I finished my responses to Dustin's interview yesterday, I realized that he probably wouldn't be interviewing himself, so I turned the tables on him and asked him to answer the same set of questions and I'd be happy to post the answers.

So...without futher ado, I present to you this MyEastBayAgent exclusive: "Dustin interviewing Dustin." ;)

What inspired you to start blogging?

When Anna started her real estate career a few years ago, I was definitely drawn to helping her out and turning it into a family business. So we began by sending around some pretty impressive newsletters to everyone in her market area and we started to get some great feedback. The newsletters were a way for us to get in touch with some people who might be interested in her services while following my basic instinct of providing useful information to people. Our newsletters included market updates on locally sold homes, real estate term definitions, highlighted listings, and a note from Anna that described something local in each issue. We got some wonderful feedback and a few listings from this endeavor, but it had two major drawback. It was expensive and time-consuming! We'd typically spend at least 8 hours putting the newsletter together and another day printing everything out. And then there was the cost... color toner is very expensive and sending out a couple thousand newsletters via USPS is not cheap either. All in all, during the six months that we sent out monthly newsletters, I think we made as much money in additional listings as we spent on the newsletters. However, if we'd stuck with it, I imagine that we'd have done much better in the long run, but neither of us particularly enjoyed the process of putting the newsletters together, so we needed to find a better way to market Anna's business...

Being a product of the dot-com generation (too old for "Gen Y", too young for "Gen X"), I've been following internet technologies pretty closely ever since I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1999. I've had a blog of one kind or another all of my adult life! For example, on the way back machine you can find a July 2000 photo journal I kept from a family trip to Russia and another one from a family trip to Yellowstone National Park.

All of this background is just to say that it wasn't much of a leap for me to think that I should put the newsletters that are so expensive and time consuming to produce on the internet. Not only does the internet have potential to reach a ton more people, but the information we're providing will reach people who want it as oppose to just blanketing an area where 95% of the people probably throw our newsletter in the trash!

In doing some more research on the idea of posting the newsletters on the internet, I was completely surprised to find that there was not a good real estate blog in Seattle at the time. I thought that with Seattle being one of the major hubs of technology, some real estate agent would have picked up on the idea of blogging about local real estate issues. But I couldn't find any Seattle realtors who approached blogging as anything more than another place to post their listings. Without any competition, the market was really wide open so I jumped at the opportunity.

Are there any special topics or issues that you enjoy covering?

I definitely enjoy covering technology issues. I'm not sure what the real estate industry will look like in the next few years, but I do know that it will look very different than it does today. Part of my interest in real estate technology tools is quite practical in that someone is going to make a lot money in the near future, and I might as well tap into that source.

In addition, I find that covering innovative real estate tools not only gets a lot of hits to the site, but it has given me some great contacts within the industry and opened up a lot of doors that I did not know even existed before I started blogging!

What have you done to personalize your blog?

I'm always working on personalizing the blog. I'm of the opinion that a good blog layout is never completed.

I'm pretty lucky that my mom is a great photographer and I've tried to take advantage of this by continuously posting interesting photographs with my posts. Besides photos, the features that I think most personalizes my blog is my extensive use of RSS. To keep the site updated with fresh information, I use an RSS feed to display the latest $1M MLS listings (in King County), the latest Seattle MLS listings, Seattle events, and my del.icio.us tags. By using RSS feeds, my site is always updating itelf with new and interesting information. For example, every time a realtor lists a new home in King County that is valued at $1M or greater, my site gets updated! Every time I tag a webpage in del.icio.us with "raincityguide" a link to that page along with my comments on the page are automatically posted on Rain City Guide! The result is that there is a lot of good information on the site that requires little effort on my part.

Do you have any favorite posts?

Many of my favorite posts are from when I first started blogging about real estate issue... I didn't have many people reading my blog back then, so I've always thought that some of my early posts didn't get the exposure they deserved. Some post I enjoyed putting together include Not all Home Loans are Created Equal, Commuting in Seattle , and How does Mass Transit Affect Property Values. Of course, I also enjoyed posting about gHomes, which was the first stab (I'm aware of) at posting MLS information over Google Maps. My posts on innovative real estate search tools became so numerous that I decided to start keeping a single page to summarize things...

What are some of your favorite blogs (real estate or otherwise)?

To see my favorite real estate blogs, you only need to see the real estate bloggers that I interviewed . Just about everyone I wanted to interview answered my request for an interview with the exception of Hanan Levin of Grow-a-brain and he has a pretty good excuse in that he's on vacation in New Zealand! :)

Some of the other blogs that I enjoy reading include Geeking With Greg (there's some gold at the end of the personalization tunnel), Driving Myself Crazy (good friend whose taught me the importance of lists in blogging), John Cook's Venture Blog (always good for some Seattle start-up news) and Xooglers (I'm a sucker for google stories).

What tools/websites do you find most helpful in putting together your blog?

With a good bookmarking program (del.icio.us), a personalized newspaper (Google Reader), a great email program (gmail) and a very versatile publishing program (WordPress), I rarely need to venture out of my own real estate bubble to find interesting things to post about. Everything seems to come to me!

RSS is also a critical part of my my site (see question 3).

How does blogging fit into the overall marketing of your business?

Besides word-of-mouth references, blogging is the only way that we get new clients.

With that said, about three months after we started blogging, Anna became pregnant (how did that happen? :) ) and she decided that she didn't want to work full time for a while. The blog generated just enough leads that she was able to keep busy for a few hours each day (some days more, some days less) doing real estate related work, but there wasn't any stress on her to keep super busy. (Luckily I'm still holding down a full-time engineering job!).

Now that she's only a few weeks (days?) away from delivering, we've toned things down even more. Her business at this point is to recommend potential leads to an appropriate agent. So far, she's helped two different people find agents that were appropriate for them, and everyone (Anna, the buyers, and the agents) seemed very happy with the results. I'm looking forward to blogging more about this recommendation service that Anna can provide, because I think it would really benefit a lot of people... and in particular, people moving to Seattle who want a good agent, but don't have any local connection.

What plans do you have to improve your blog over this next year?

I've been working with another developer to build an MLS search that includes RSS feeds and an export to Google Earth that I'm pretty pleased with. I can't wait until I fixed a few more kinks so that I can feel comfortable making the search public. Beyond that, I know the the site will look different in the future, but I'll just have to wait to see what interests me before I'll know what changes I want to make!

What is the one tool or feature that you wish your site had?

Much better MLS search. I'd love a trulia-type search with MLS data that I could personalize to fit within the Rain City Guide format. I'm also thinking of adding a little avatar (or photo) to the beginning of each post that makes it more obvious who is posting. I'm starting to build up enough contributors that it might be confusing to people if I don't find a way to better identify the author of each post.

What do you think real estate blogging will look like 3 years from now?

There is going to be so many more junk real estate blogs out there... but that doesn't really concern me. I think that a few good blogs will stand out in each community, and I'd like to think that I'm creating one of those for Seattle. Interestingly, I happen to think that the most successful real estate blogs will actually be groups of real estate agents who decide to work together... For example, a group of 10 or 20 agents could work together to cover their individual areas of interest ("farming" area) so that each will become an expert within their community. By working together, they can all benefit from a much larger reading audience.

As more people turn to the internet for information on their community, I'd like to turn Rain City Guide into a community resource for Seattle that goes way beyond it's current scope. Interestingly, real estate agents have more incentive than most to become community experts, and yet so many of them are clueless in ways to market themselves on the internet as experts on their local community. It's really quite easy! Just blog! ;)

Thanks Dustin for being a good sport. I loved reading your responses and I'm sure others will too.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate 2.0, Dustin Luther, Rain City Guide, Andy Kaufman, myeastbayagent

flickr photo credit: Jan Tik, used under a Creative Commons license.

Developing Golden Gate Fields in Albany

2005-12-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Right down the street from my office, Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso is looking to develop a 45-acre site on the North side of Golden Gate Fields into a proposed $200 million "lifestyle center".

The track, located in Albany and owned by Magna Entertainment, has been battling declining attendance and it looks like there's a battle shaping up to decide what will become of the space it now occupies.

In recent weeks, Caruso has presented preliminary plans for an upscale retail complex, with plazas, a farmers' market, outdoor dining overlooking the bay -- and perhaps a hotel, a five-level parking lot and as many as 200 apartments with concierge and maid service.

Some Albany residents are thrilled by what they've seen, saying they would love to be able to stay in town for shopping and entertainment.

Even though it's estimated that the Albany project would generate $2 million in new tax revenue annually for a city with a current general fund of $11 million, opponents fear the project will mar the waterfront with a commercial enterprise of questionable aesthetics.

"I know they are trying to create this small-town ambience with their architecture, which I think is totally fake," said Kathy Farley, an interior designer. "To me, it's like Disneyland."

"We're adamantly opposed. We're going to fight. We just can't roll over for this," said former Mayor Robert Cheasty.

I know the race track is beautiful and all, but if Caruso is willing to listen to residents in order to tailor his project to local aesthetics why not explore the possibilities.

"Tell me what you want, and we'll see what we can do," he told a small group of residents during a recent gathering in a supporter's home, where attendees munched on homemade brownies while Caruso and several consultants displayed renditions of the proposed mall on a portable screen.

Although I feel that I need some more information before coming down on one side or the other, my gut reaction tells me to support it. What do you think?

Technorati Tags: real estate, albany, berkeley, east bay, NIMBY

Crazy Delicious

2005-12-19T00:28:00.000-08:00

Not much to report on from the world of East Bay real estate. I held two open houses this weekend in the pouring rain & I'll spare you any recaps. I'm still marketing a few nice East Bay properties. You can check out the VisualTours on the left sidebar. If those aren't for perfect for you, feel free to search the East Bay MLS for one that is.

The best part about this weekend was last night's instant classic on SNL, "Lazy Sunday" with Chris Parnell & Andy Samberg.

This one is up there with the More Cowbell clip and is the definition of a viral video.

Yo wheres the movie playing?
Upper West Side dude
Well lets hit up Yahoo maps to find the dopest route
I prefer Mapquest
Thats a good one too
Google Maps is the best
True dat

DOUBLE TRUE!

Speaking of crazy delicious, del.icio.us is acting crazy again. Once again I'm reminded on how useful the service is and how much I depend on it.

Technorati Tags: lazy sunday, del.icio.us, humor, viral marketing, more cowbell

Is It Almost Christmas Already?

2005-12-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

One thing that I've noticed since moving to Berkeley is that the Holiday season really creeps up on you. When I lived in Wisconsin you knew that when it was 20 degrees outside with snow on the ground, Christmas was right around the corner. Out here, when its 55 & sunny, its hard to believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away.

Not that I'm complaining. I love driving around in December with my windows down. I'm just saying that if it wasn't for holiday parties, I might still be in September or October.

The local Title companies kicked things off last week with three parties in two days. Then the cookies arrived, which set the mood nicely.

Then this week our office Holiday party down at C'era Una Volta in Alameda kept the ball rolling & last night Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells came up big with a great party in the city where the Brat Packers showed up in force.

Mix a bunch of bloggers & a few drinks and the rumors start flying. The most intriguing one from last night centered around the Onion & Supr.c.ilio.us. Is satire attempting to go snark?

...And it keeps going. Tonight, Barry is having her Thanksgiving in December party. Keep your eyes peeled, I'm sure we'll be flickring it. (Update: Or maybe not)

---
Update: Looks like Chris broke the Onion rumor wide open. $5o per Feedburner sub. Breaks down to $25 per monetized eyeball.

Technorati Tags: california christmas, christmas, brat pack 2.0, party, wild acquisition rumors, flickring

A Couple Excellent Posts

2005-12-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Dustin and Anna Luther from the Rain City Real Estate Guide posted a couple gems over the past few days that I figured that I'd point out.

The first one is 7 Reasons for Real Estate Agents to Blog. Awesome! They hit the nail square on the head. I've been meaning to write a similar post for weeks, but now it looks like I don't have to ;).

The short version: Fun, Expertise, Trust, Knowledge, Ranking, Cost, Potential.

(Hey Dustin, you should have worked a couple more vowels in there. FETKRCP isn't the catchiest meme.)

The second one is Linkation, Linkation, Linkation. Another great post full of useful information.

Keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to meeting you two in person someday.

Technorati Tags: real estate, rain city guide, myeastbayagent, business blogging, real estate 2.0, FETKRCP

Putting the Word Out

2005-12-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

As part of the impending site re-design, I'm looking for real estate industry professionals who would like to contriute to MyEastBayAgent and help me evolve it into something truly special.

The people that I'm searching for are those who want to utilize new services and technologies in order to offer a different type of real estate service. The industry is changing and I want us to be on the forefront of that change.

I'm not limiting it to local professionals. The World Is Flat, and if you can demonstrate your willingness to contribute, I want to hear from you.

I've got some great ideas, but I'm looking to build bridges from my island.

Together Everyone Achieves More

Technorati Tags: real estate, myeastbayagent, real estate 2.0

flickr photo credit Thomas Hawk used under a Creative Commons license.

You're Killing Me Here

2005-12-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

One hour? More like most of the day.

It's like the "We'll be back in fifteen minutes." line from Trey.

Hope these hiccups are for a good reason.

Technorati Tags: del.icio.us, youre killing me here, phish, trey

Switch Hitting Power in Oakland

2005-12-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Man, I can't wait until spring. The Oakland A's finally added some (switch hitting) right handed power by trading for Milton Bradley and are still in the running for the big hurt, Frank Thomas.

This off-season is showing that the new ownership is serious about winning and is willing to open up the pocketbook a bit to give us the pieces to make a run in 2006.

I just hope that the residents of the East Bay show their appreciation and show up at the coliseum to cheer the A's on. Sure the building sucks, but we have a top-notch team with a great approach to the game.

In keeping with tradition, here's my homemade Memeorandum-style entry on the subject:

Mychael Urban / MLB.com
A's get Bradley, Perez in deal with LA
OAKLAND -- The A's on Tuesday announced they've traded top outfield prospect Andre Ethier to the Dodgers in exchange for Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez.
Discussion: AthleticsNation (1, 2 & 3), Phishhook

Technorati Tags: Oakland Athletics, oakland, sports, bay area, baseball

flickr photo credit: tspauld used under a Creative Commons license.

The Brat Pack San Fransocial Unconference 2.0

2005-12-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's hard to put into words exactly what's going on in our little 'tech bubble' social circle. Since I operate in radically different social/professional/unprofessional circles, I'm constantly finding myself trying to adapt to the group that I'm currently with. The most challenging though is trying to explain to my non-techie friends and colleagues the tremendous events occuring within the San Fransocial scene.

I'm still relatively new to the whole scene and I swear I'm getting it more and more everyday, but Tara Hunt of HorsePigCow just wrote an excellent post framing what's going on without explaining it. Once again she nails it on the head.

Sumpin's stirring, but I don't want to hone or define it too much. I want to watch it grow organically and look forward to all of the beauty that comes of it. And really, as it grows and morphs in all directions is where, I believe, we'll see some real magic happen.

It is growing, and it's growing in all sorts of unexpected ways. Us Brat Packers hit 'the circuit', we San Fransocialize, we help organize and participate in unconferences where an amazingly diverse group of people come together in an attempt to make the world a better place; but we also don't forget to poke fun at ourselves and have a good time while we're at it. It's also not a closed circle. Anyone who shares the same ideals is welcome to join us.

In the words of the legendary Bay Area band (but who's works aren't downloadable on the archive anymore, or I'd link to their version) the Grateful Dead.

Let it grow. <-Sound Tribe Sector 9 (Still available for download on the archive)

Technorati Tags: bratpack2.0, the circuit, sanfransocial, unconference, bratpacksanfransocialunconference2.0, myeastbayagent

flickr photocredit msrogue used under a Creative Commons license

The Latest East Bay Market Data

2005-12-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

The increase in inventory in the East Bay has settled down and the residential real estate market appears to be healthy going into the holidays. There are 3,976 active listings that we counted in our East Bay MLS, which is down 11% from the high of 4,441 listings on November 8th.

The Pending/Active for ratio for Berkeley is coming in at 0.867 this week with 83 active listings. The P/A ratio for Oakland is 0.595 with 719 active listings.

The average DOM for active listings in Berkeley is now 43 days and in Oakland it's 40 days.

It will be interesting to see how much of the lower inventory levels are related to seasonal cycles since most people, if given the choice, will usually wait until after the holidays to put their homes on the market.

If you notice on the left hand sidebar, I've accumulated quite a few listings & most of them are still active. Heading into the weekend, I just wanted to shine the spotlight on them again. If you're looking in the North Oakland/South Berkeley area, I've got plenty of inventory. Check out the VisualTours & call me with any questions.

I'll be personally holding 1237 Carrison St in Berkeley open again tomorrow. If you're going to be in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi.

Technorati Tags: east bay real estate, housing bubble, bay area real estate, berkeley real estate, oakland real estate, myeastbayagent

10 out of 10 Realtors Approve

2005-12-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Want to know how to get REALTORS in your office to attend your blogging class?

Crack open the package of Christmas cookies from Mom and attendance will increase 300% guaranteed.

Thanks for the package Mother. (Everyone's really impressed)

Technorati Tags: holidays, cookies, realtor

The Million Dollar Challenge

2005-12-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Steve Pavlina writes an excellent personal development blog & recently he came up with another great idea. He's created an experiment to attempt to use the power of intention to manifest $1 million for each person who chooses to participate. It's totally free to join. All you need to do is to decide to put forth this intention:

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all, I intend $1,000,000 to come into my life and into the lives of everyone who holds this intention.

I decided to sign on a few days ago, but didn't really think of it again until today. Then I went back earlier today and re-read the post and decided to follow one of his suggestions which was to change my screensaver so that the intention scrolls across my screen when I leave my computer alone for a few minutes.

Although it's a lot more prevalent in my mind now, I can't say that I've manifested anything yet. In fact in unmanifested myself from $9 and some change on a frozen pizza run that I made earlier this evening.

But seriously though... I'm looking forward to participating and hope you'll join us.

Here are the Current Results.

For the full story on the experiment, check out the original blog post, and the Version 2.0 post <--(It's even buzzword compliant)

Technorati Tags: million dollar challenge, intention, life hacks, steve pavlina

Brainjamming in the Bay Area

2005-12-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

It seems like so long ago, but this past Saturday was the second Brainjams gathering/ un-conference. Once again it was a great event where I got to meet plenty of new people, while also reconnecting with friends that I've made in the past couple months.

During the morning sessions, we divided into two groups. The first was people with ideas who are looking for technical expertise to help them realize them; and the second group were the people who had the techical expertise and were looking to match them with ideas.

In the spirit of speed dating, we then held 5 minute-long one on one meetings with attendeee from the opposite group. When the bell rang, it was on to the next person. This format allowed us to meet a lot of new people while still giving each person a chance to tell their story, have a mini-brainstorming session, & exchange contact information.

After a nice catered lunch, Noah Kagan led a panel of college students who talked about their internet experiences. I recorded most of it and event organizer Chris Heuer turned it into a podcast.

We then divided the room into three sections where participants held breakout sessions on a variety of topics. A couple of topics that I attended were: Networks (Social, Economic, Physical and otherwise) & Translatiing Web 2.0y stuff to (non-geek) change agents (in order to "save the world")

For both of these afternoon sessions, I was an offical note-maker. The folks from Mindjet graciously donated copies of their MindManager software so that we could take notes in the form of mindmaps. This was basically my first time using the program and I was amazed how easily I was up and running.

After the afternoon session we gathered together for one last time where we recapped the day's events and then headed down to the afterparty to wind down.

Here's a list of links to wrap-ups: Alicia Preston, Kristie Wells, Brain Shields & also his piece on KRON4

Brainjams: The Blog

Flickr photoset of the event tagged brainjams3dec2005

Technorati Tags: brainjams, brainjams3dec2005

The 100th Post Blowout Spectacular

2005-12-05T23:07:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that blogging about my life as a tech-enabled Real Estate agent in the East Bay would have opened up so many opportunities. My Real Estate practice has blossomed in so many different ways and I keep expanding my personal network to include people who I would have never imagined meeting.

It just goes to show that you never know what the future is going to hold, especially if you decide to actively live your life and constantly seek out new people and opportunities. Just by reading a blog post a couple months ago, a chain of events was set into motion which has presented many opportunites that I never would have imagined if I had not decided to participate.

I never thought that I'd enjoy the process of creating as much as I do. I put off starting my own blog for at least six months because I was unsure of my writing abilities and whether or not I had anything meaningful to say.

I'm glad that I finally took the plunge. One year ago, I was at a Keller Williams training event called Quantum Leap and one of the things that I got out of the event was this saying.

Just Do It... then Do It Better.

And that's what I did. I don't get overly self-critical. It is what it is and I'm enjoying it immensely. The more involved I get, the more ideas I come up with and more people I meet that can help me implement those ideas. It's a wonderful cycle.

So now that MyEastBayAgent is 100, what's on the horizon?

If you know me personally, you know that I try my best to keep things light hearted and fun while at the same time getting things done. One of my recent favorite sayings has been that Real Estate has gotten in the way of my blossoming prolific blogging career.

In order to help solve this problem while still providing top notch real estate service, I'm happy to announce that the MyEastBayAgent team is expanding. Rayne Palmer is going to be formally joining forces with me and I'll be integrating her into the MyEastBayAgent team in the coming weeks. If you're a regular reader, you'll recognize her in from some of my previous posts.

Rayne is an experienced agent who has been practicing real estate in the East Bay for the past 20 years and provides a level of service that constantly impresses me. She's taught me a lot about the practical aspects of real estate during the past year and I hope that my unique perspective has rubbed off on her as well.

This move is going to help our practice evolve to where we're going to be able to present opportunities to our clients that aren't available anywhere through traditional means. I have a couple great opportunities that I'm actively researching and once again who knows what the future holds.

The other big thing on the horizon is an impending move to Wordpress. I've been really happy with Blogger for the most part, but the time has come to move on. I'm not looking forward to the process, but at least Dustin from the Rain City Real Estate Guide has offered his guidance. Remember Dustin, you offered ;).

Of course there's a lot of other things on the horizon. Some you'll be reading about in the coming days and weeks. Some that if I told you about, I'd have to kill you; or if I blogged about they would kill me. So hang tight, we're in this one for the long haul.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate 2.0, east bay real estate, bay area, real estate investing

flickr photo credit: jwardell used under a Creative Commons license

Getting Ready to Brainjam

2005-12-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, I'll be at the Brainjam event at the SRI campus in Menlo Park. If you're a regular reader, you might have seen this post that I wrote about the first one that was held at the KRON studios in October. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions that I've ever made.

In case you're not familiar with the concept:

BrainJams' events are open to everyone, but are primarily intended for facilitating cross discipline knowledge sharing between technologists, business people, non-profits, artists, writers, journalists, government employees, elected officials and other individual's actively seeking to make the world a better place through the appropriate use of emerging technologies.

I headed down to the city earlier this afternoon to meet up with Chris Heuer, the event organizer, and we recorded a podcast. You can check it out here.

If this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I encourage you to join us. I guarantee you'll walk away with something useful.

Nate Koechley had a great post earlier this week summarizing the event.

Some other links:

Brainjams official site

Blogging About Brainjams

Upcoming.org post

A post from The Bay Area Is Talking from October's event.

Technorati Tags: brainjams, brainjam, brainjam bayarea, bay area

Is the Writing on the Wall?

2005-11-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

Literally?

Here's my homemade Memeorandum-style entry on the subject:

Mychael Urban / MLB.com
A's add Loaiza to the pitching mix
OAKLAND -- In a move that's sure to increase the speculation that lefty Barry Zito will be dealt this winter, the A's on Monday brought to seven the number of big-league starters on their roster when they announced the signing of free-agent righty Esteban Loaiza to a three-year deal through 2008 reported to be worth more than $21 million.
Discussion: AthleticsNation (1 & 2), Phishhook, AN Diaries (Sharon, Carp, oaktoon)

Billy's heading to the winter meetings loaded with pitching. It will interesting to see how this plays out.

You heard it here first: 2006 World Series: The Oakland A's ve The Milwaukee Brewers.

How sweet would that be?

Technorati Tags: Oakland Athletics, oakland, sports, bay area, baseball

Bay Area Real Estate: Mortgage Rates Dip

2005-11-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Finally... Mortgage rates pulled back a bit last week after rising, or breaking even for the past 11 consecutive weeks.

Holden Lewis from Bankrate has the breakdown.

The recent rise in mortgage rates has been one of the factors in the recent cooldown in the housing market. As I detailed in this earlier post, rising interest rates can have a great effect on a buyer's purchasing power, which in turn could leave a lot of sellers disappointed in the returns from the sale of their property.

The numbers are still pointing towards a healthy local housing market. I'll have the exact, updated numbers for you on Wednesday.

Here's Morsa Aziz, she's our in-house mortgage broker/Jedi. If you're thinking about purchasing a piece of property and want to talk to a good lender. I'd recommend giving her a call. Her direct line is 510.528.4546 and her email is maziz@metrocitiesmtg.com

Technorati Tags: real estate, mortgage, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, interest rates, housing bubble

Web 2.0 Validator

2005-11-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

The Web 2.0 Validator has rated MyEastBayAgent a 5 out of 15 in it's Web 2.0 compliance.

Looks like I'm Web 1.33333

* Is in public beta? No
* Uses the prefix "meta" or "micro"? No
* Has a Blogline blogroll ? Yes!
* Uses Google Maps API? No
* Attempts to be XHTML Strict ? Yes!
* Refers to mash-ups ? No
* Appears to use AJAX ? No
* Appears to be built using Ruby on Rails ? No
* Refers to VCs ? No
* Refers to Flickr ? Yes!
* Mentions Ruby ? No
* Has prototype.js ? No
* Actually mentions Web 2.0 ? Yes!
* Refers to del.icio.us ? Yes!
* Mentions RDF and the Semantic Web? No

From limbo's Supr.c.ilio.us post:

How is it snarky? Let us count the ways.

1. Self referential? Yes!
2. Makes fun of everybody’s favorite version of the web? Yes!
3. Does not take itself (or indeed anyone else) seriously? Yes!
4. Would be a complete enigma to anyone outside the echo chamber? Yes!
5. Recognizes Supr.c.ilio.us: The Blog as 100% Web 2.0, Buzzword compliant(tm)? No

hat tips to Laughing Squid via Supr.c.ilio.us via Barb.

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, web 2.0 validator,snark, suprcilious

Technology, Real Estate, The Bay Area &Thanksgiving 2.0

2005-11-24T00:13:00.000-08:00

So today is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite days of the year. I know because when I checked my email this morning, it was full of emails from real estate agents, investors and vendors blasting their email lists with a form letter.

So I thought, great idea but lets innovate the Thanksgiving form email. So here's my crack at it.

Thanksgiving 2.0

My life has changed more in the past 2 1/2 weeks, than I could have ever imagined. I've evolved from being a tech-enabled real estate agent on the verge of breaking through to... I don't even want to try to slap a label on it, but it's the next step and it's an amazing place to be. I'll be making a few major announcements in the next week, but that's a whole other series of posts. But stay tuned!

I've managed to evolve my business while creating my dream position. I'm eternally grateful that I found a company like Keller Williams and an office like ours in Berkeley where I'm encouraged to follow my passion and innovate. I love real estate and I love technology and these two passions are allowing me to position myself in a very unique place. The beautiful thing is that the owners of my office and my office manager are behind me 100% and that's a wonderful feeling.

I had one of the coolest things happen to me yesterday. A couple people who believe in what I'm doing so much that they drove me to Best Buy and dropped some serious loot on a gear upgrade for your's truly. So today is my first post coming from my new Toshiba Laptop/Tablet PC and I'm digging it.

I was running my whole operation off of a Celeron powered desktop computer & an ancient Sony digital camera with a broken viewfinder that took a photo 3 seconds after you pressed the button. I was a little embarassed to come clean to my bratpack 2.0 friends about my set-up, but they didn't hate. They had they same view as I did. It just goes to show that anyone can do it!

I feel like I've found my calling. For the past few weeks I've been walking on air, trying to describe to my officemates at Keller Williams what is going on and why I'm so pumped about it. I'm in a unique position where I'm witnessing and becoming involved in ridiculous innovation, while still fully immersed in a different sub-culture. I feel that it's almost my civic duty to spread the word of these new ideas beyond the core group of users and my postion at Keller Williams is allowing me this opportunity.

Last week I held an informational session where I discussed the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon and how it pretains to our businesses. We had about 10-12 people at our first session on Tuesday. What surprised me is that for the next couple days, people kept approaching me genuinely excited thanking me for the class. As the word spread, the unlucky ones who missed my class asked me if I would be willing to lead another one (would I???, c'mon I live for this stuff). So last Friday, I had a new group of ten people to expose to Web 2.0.

Afterwards, we had a wildly successful organizational meeting for what is going to become the Keller Williams Golden Gate Berkeley blog. (Still pre-launch, but you'll be hearing plenty about it in the coming days).

I still had people coming up to me this week who missed the first two sessions wondering if I'd be willing to do it again. So, yes, this Friday at 11am, I'm going to do it again. So if you're in the area and are interested, please stop by. All of our training events have an open door policy & anyone who wants to learn is welcome to attend.

So that's what I'm thankful for.

Also, thank you MOM for sticking with me. I told you I was going to make it happen! Also... thanks to everyone else who thinks I'd thank them. I really appreciate you all, but I've got to end this post eventually.

On a side note, I'm going to be that guy that goes from Thanksgiving party to Thanksgiving party today & I'm hoping to do some live-blogging with my new toys, so feel free to follow along and leave comments.
______

Update: Flickr photosets: Thanksgiving & Thanksgiving2.0 subset

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving2.0, real estate,real estate 2.0, keller williams, keller williams golden gate, MyEastBayAgent, bratpack2.0

Thank You for Putting That in a Post

2005-11-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

Tara Hunt has written an excellent post in HorsePigCow, dealing with: her successful viral marketing campaing for Riya, how technology is effecting our human interaction, the explosion of the blogosphere, and the creation of the Brat Pack 2.0.

Its right on and I'd recommend cheking it out.

Technorati Tags: tara hunt, riya, bratpack2.0, real estate 2.0, web 2.0,

BratPack2.0 Flickrstream

This Puts a Damper on the Evening

2005-11-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers, PackIn06, Minnesota Vikings

Riya Launches!

2005-11-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, I attended the Riya launch party at Michael Arrington's (above) house. By all accounts, it was a smashing success. Taking advantage of the amazing November weather that we've been having, 250 tech freaks took over Michael's Atherton residence for the latest TechCrunch Meetup.

This was the first time that I attended a Techcrunch event and it won't be the last. The energy at these events is just incredible. Also, like any good Web 2.0 event, there was free food & free beer.

I even managed to find someone else there who's actively practicing real estate, so I could fully geek out in both worlds. I'm usually operating in either the Real Estate or the Tech environment & it was way cool to connect fully on both ends for a change.

On my way in I saw that the Atherton fuzz was setting up a roadblock around the corner and was looking forward to breaking the scoop; but by the time I made it inside and grabbed a slice of pizza, the word was already making it's way around the event. It's tough to beat a crowd full of geeks & bloggers to the punch on a scoop, even when it's less than 15 minutes old.

As I immerse myself in the geek subculture, I'm starting to pick up a lot more on the tiny nuances of the scene & it totally adds to the experience.

I spent a good amount of my college years on tour with Phish, so this just seems like a natural evolution. Sort of like Phish lot 2.0, except the people at these events are changing the world and not just slinging veggie burritos & grilled cheese in order to make it to the next show. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Interested in more information on the service that Riya provides? Check out these Tech Crunch & Wired writeups.

Other Recaps:
TechCrunch
Laughing Squid
Naked Conversations
Scobleizer

Photos:
Mine
Laughing Squid
Michael Arrington
Tara Hunt

On a side note, it was nice to pick up some swag in the form of a long sleeve t-shirt. Heading into winter, I needed a new one. Tara may be in it for the free beer, but I'm in it for the free T-shirts. You can quote me on it, but only if it's taken out of context.

Technorati Tags: riya, TechCrunch, real estate 2.0, web 2.0, party

I've Got Feeds Coming Out of My Ears

2005-11-18T00:59:00.000-08:00

I just realized how absurd my blogroll is over at Bloglines.

I'm currently subscribed to 327 feeds and I'm always adding great new ones.

Somehow I manage to find the information that I need, but I'm going to have to reorganize sooner or later. It's sort of like having piles of papers on your desk, but you know exactly where that one page of notes is, just in case you need it.

If you're reading this and thinking, "What the hell is he talking about?" check these out: Syndication Educational Series & HOW TO: Getting Started with RSS

Technorati Tags: real estate, rss, bloglines, how to, tutorial

Flickr credit: thomask used under a Creative Commons license.

Latest East Bay Housing Market Data

2005-11-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

Hot of the e-presses, the new Bay Area housing numbers are out from Dataquick. It was largely what I expected: lower but historically high volume, 10-20% year-to-year appreciation, low foreclosure rates & a median price drop from September to October.

"We look at today's market as normalizing. Everybody seems to have gotten used to the records set last year and the year before. The fact is that last month was the third-strongest October since we started keeping records in 1988. It was about twenty percent above average," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

Remember, these numbers are for October. As detailed in this post, we have been pulling current market data from the MLS and compiling the information in a speadsheet. Although we don't calculate the average median sales prices, we are able to accurately determine the momentum of the East Bay real estate market.

Berkeley's overall Pending/Active ratio has dipped back down to .827 on 11/15 after coming in at .848 a week earlier.

Oakland's overall pending/active ratio is sticking in the same range. It was .577 on 11/15 which was a tad bit higher than the .555 ratio on 11/8. Oakland has been hanging steady in this range for the past six weeks.

We also break it down into sub areas & above and below the 750K price barrier. I'll post those numbers in a separate post in the next couple days.

One last note. A quick shout out to the woman in the photo, Rayne Palmer. She has played a huge part in my development as a real estate professional & I thought I'd share a shot that I took a little while ago while we were out having fun.

Technorati Tags: real estate, housing data, myeastbayagent, bay area real estate, berkeley, keller williams

EcoBuilding in Berkeley

2005-11-14T23:25:00.000-08:00

If you read my earlier post covering the NAR convention in San Francisco, you'll know that my visit the EcoBroker booth piqued my attention. I've always had an interest in solar & alternative energies, but was largely unaware of the extent to which 'Green Buliding' has evolved into.

Last Tuesday, I was driving down San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley, when I noticed the brand new sign on the EcoHome Improvement store and I just had to stop in and say hi.

It turns out Tuesday was their first day open to the public. While I talked to Taja di Leonardi, the managing partner, there was a steady stream of people stopping in to check it out. Looks like their 'soft launch' is off to a fast start.

Of course I told them that they should start blogging about their venture. We'll also be doing some co-marketing in the near future so that we can help each other expand our businesses. (That offer also goes for anybody else who's serious about building their business and is willing to come up with a win-win situation.)

Technorati Tags: real estate, ecohome improvement, myeastbayagent, ecobroker, berkeley, green building

The Circuit

2005-11-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

By day, I'm a next generation real estate consultant helping wonderful people buy and sell homes and investment property in the East Bay in California. But when the sun goes down, I'm on "The Circuit" and it's blowing my mind.

If you read this post last week, you'll know that I'm so pumped about what's going on with: my business, technology & all the amazing people that I'm connecting with that I'm sleeping a lot less than my body is used to. (Semi related post from Steve Pavlina's blog).

On Thursday, I was trying to decide whether I should stay home and recharge my batteries or head to the Supr.c.ilio.us Launch Party to End All Launch Parties. (flickr photostream)

I admit, if I didn't live three doors down from the BART station, I might not have made it. But I resisted the urge to rest and decided to go full speed ahead. I even managed to drag Nate out for the night.

Last night was the Laughing Squid 10th Anniversary Party. (flickr photostream) I met Scott through his flickr photostream of the brainjam event, which led me to subscribe to his blog, where I saw this post offering free tickets to the >play digital media conference, where I finally met him in person, then he put me on the list for his event. It's an amazing chain of events catalyzed by technology that keeps occuring.

Long story short. Both were awesome events. Met great people with incredible ideas.

"The Circuit" is amazing.

Anyways, gotta run. Wanted to get this off my chest while it's fresh.

Heading to Reno with the Granbergs, to watch the Packers.

Technorati Tags: laughingsquid10, tlptealp, myeastbayagent, the circuit, green bay packers, andy kaufman

Am I Really A Bear Fan Now?

2005-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Berkeley from Wisconsin in 2002, it's been a tough 3 years trying to adjust to the world of Pac 10 football. I've had many opportunities to attend a Cal game, but for vaious reasons decided to pass. When my broker/owner, John Cashman offered a ticket to today's game against USC, I jumped all over the opportunity.

Reasons I am Pumped for Today:

One, I need to experience a Cal game. While attending the University of Wisconsin from 1994-2001, I missed one game. We won three Rose Bowls (None of which I attended (Thanks Phish! ;)))

Wisconsin has two football teams and we're passionate fans. There are few places on this earth that compare to Madison on Saturday and Green Bay on Sunday. The buzz, the energy, the passion, the excitement, the PARTY. You have to experience it to understand it. I'm looking forward to seeing how today's atmosphere will compare.

Two. I now have a connection with Cal. I've got three years under my belt in Berkeley. As a passionate football fan, I need to get onbaord with my local team. More importantly, Aaron Rodgers is now a Packer. Somehow this seems to validate my connection to Cal.

Third. Today's opponent, #1 USC has made me a fan of Pac 10 football. Pete Carroll has that program running on all cylinders. Gotta love it when a Heisman trophy winner & top draft pick Matt Leinhert skips a huge payday to stay in college for his senior year because he's having too much fun and wants to go for a 3-peat.

Fourth. A Saturday afternoon hanging with "The Cash-Man" = Priceless.

Fifth and Finally. I get to do some advanced scouting for my beloved Pack. The way that things are going this year, I'm secretly pining for the Pack to run the rest of the schedule in reverse so that we can deaft Reggie freakin Bush. Time for the second coming of REGGIE, REGGIE, REGGIE!

I think this is the equation: Reggie Bush + Javon Walker playing for a huge contact in 07 + Brett Favre still being a jedi + Jim Bates continuing to whip the defense in shape + another year for the O line to get in-sync + injury karma that we're building up this year + Big Irv & Reggie White smiling on us from above = One more for #4 who can retire on top like he deserves.

Technorati Tags: berkeley, myeastbayagent, cal, football, green bay packers, andy kaufman, wisconsin, east bay

Sleepless in Berkeley

2005-11-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

I was just putting the finishing touched on my post on the >play media conference last night, when I got an email from Dustin over the Rain City Guide letting me know that he just wrote something that I'd be interested in.

Working out of Seattle, Dustin has been writing some awesome posts on the subject of real estate search and this one didn't disappoint.

First, the news:

Homestore, Inc., the leading provider of real estate media and technology solutions, today announced that Elevation Partners, a private equity firm, has agreed to invest $100 million in Homestore in the form of convertible preferred stock.

Homestore Inc. is important because they have an exclusive agreement with the National Assoication of REALTORS® to operate the largest real estate portal in the nation, Realtor.com.

$100,000,000 is a lot of Cheddar. It has been widely rumored that Homestore wasn't doing too well financially and now it looks like they have the capital to do some serious innovation.

With tech based upstarts such as Trulia & Zillow as well as Google looking to crack into real estate, this move sends the signal that the company representing the NAR is willing to innovate along with them.

No excuses fellas, our clients along with us tech savvy agents want REAL innovation. It's happening, the question is this: Do we (NAR, Homestore) want to be a part of the solution, or is this going to be an attempt to keep a walled garden. This is a huge opportunity, lets not screw it up.

I know a lot of REALTORS® aren't too pleased with Realtor.com and their business practices, but this seems like a logical step to evolve the current system to provide more value. I don't pay the ridiculous fees that they charge agents for premium placement on Realtor.com, but I do know that for a small fee you can link a virtual tour to your listing and get tons of extra exposure.

From Dustin's post.

Now mix together (1) the only complete nationwide MLS database (that I’m aware of), (2) $100M to improve operations, and (3) some VERY accomplished tech visionaries, and I’d imagine that expectations are set very high.

For Homestore, Elevation Partners brings a former Apple star, a former Electronic Arts star, a Silicon Valley star, and of course, a rock star (freakin Bono!)… There are enough opportunities to make one’s head buzz… I’m thinking:

* Real estate listings on my iPod
* Simcity interface for home search
* Home listings videos done MTV-style

Right on Dustin! I'm glad that I'm not alone in thinking along these lines.

Then I finished the post.

Part III: Your Mission Should you Wish to Accept It
Imagine that you’ve been invited to 2800 Sand Hill Road to discuss the future of real estate with Roger McNamee, Fred Anderson, Bono, John Riccitiello, John Doerr, and Joe Hanauer.

What do you tell them? What features do you want to see in real estate search? If you are an agent, what is the biggest pain that someone could fix with a technical solution? If you are a buyer, what are the major gaps you see in the current system? What information do you wish you had?

I know that some of my readers have some great ideas. Please share as much as you’re willing. Remember that these guys want to work “within” the current system (i.e. cooperate with real estate agents!), and, most importantly, these people are thinking huge… $100M huge!

This sent my head spinning. I was just about to crash after a LONG day, and after reading my mission, I knew that I wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. I collected what thoughts I could and posted a comment and we've been going back and forth.

We'd love to hear what anyone else's thoughts on the subject. Come on over and participate in the conversation.

Technorati Tags: realestate, myeastbayagent, rain city guide, east bay real estate, realtor, search, real estate 2.0

Flickr credit: Alex Olshansky under a Creative Commons license.

Don't Forget to Vote

2005-11-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

I almost did. Today is our Governator's big special election.

Thankfully, I decided to stop at home before heading back to the office & my next door neighbor happened to host a polling location. (I was wondering why they had a flag on the sidewallk in front of their house.)

I even got to cast a paper ballot. Those diebold machines are shady and I felt better voting the old fashioned way. Retro voting!

They were nice enough to pose for a photo.

Notice that I'm keeping it real even though my beloved Green Bay Packers are 1-7.

Technorati Tags: berkeley, special election, california

>Play (ing) in Berkeley

2005-11-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

I stepped out of the world or Bay Area real estate & spent most of the day on Saturday at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley attending >play: The Digital Media Conference.

I'm really digging these events; especially the ones located in Berkeley a mile and a half from my place. I took advantage of the beautiful weather to throw on the iPod and listen to some of the new music that I had downloaded from last week's Vegoose festival in Las Vegas.

After grabbing a choice seat for the first keynote, I ran into Chris Heuer. Chris is the driving force behind the Brainjams events and an all around genuine guy. He's started laying the groundwork for the next Brainjam which is going to be held December 3rd (upcoming listing).

Here's a shot taken of me & Chris @ the Long Tail panel. (What's that face I'm making)

The format alternated between keynote presentations & panels. During the presentations, audience members could text SMS messages in real time to screens which allowed for a good amount of interactivity between the audience and the presenters throughout the day.

I caught the Mobile Multimedia for the Masses and the Discovering the Long Tail panels & picked up some good infromation.

I think free muni wi-fi combined with mobile devices is going to a huge tipping point in the way that we interact & I can't wait to apply that to the Real Estate industry. Which sort of leads into Cammie Dunaway's keynote.

Cammie's the Chief Marketing Officer with Yahoo, who committed to the event unaware that the date co-incided with her tenth wedding anniversary (whoops). She gave an hour long keynote on how broadband penetration is changing the way that consumers use the internet.

It was nice to see some quantification of the phenomenon, but I was hoping for a little more from Yahoo. It's easy to get caught up and forget that not everyone has had broadband for the past 4 or 5 years. It's amazing how much it changes your life. I can only imagine how our usage will evolve with free muni wi-fi and the next generation of mobile devices.

The Long Tail panel was jammed full of people. Nothing earth shattering, but it was entertaining. But I got to see Chris Anderson in action...way cool!

Again, I met tons of great people and walked away some serious gadget envy. I can't wait to close my next few deals so that I can get up to speed.

Anyways, thanks to Scott Beale at Laughing Squid for the free invite & the awesome flickr shots in this post (his playconference photostream) I wouldn't have made it without him hooking it up.

Technorati Tags: playconference, brainjams, real estate

Search the East Bay MLS

2005-11-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! The "Search the East Bay MLS" is finally back.

I apologize for the delay, but I think you'll enjoy the new interface.

If it's your first time searching, don't forget to check out this post first.

If you have any feedback, don't be shy to let me know. I'm constantly striving to make this site into a great resource and the more I hear from back from you, the better I can make it.

Technorati Tags: east bay MLS, real estate, east bay real estate, bay area real estate, east bay realtor, myeastbayagent

Photo credit U2Mel under a Creative Commons license

Want to Start Blogging?

2005-11-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

I was at the Berkeley Association of REALTORS® earlier today leading a roundtable discussion on Blogging for Real Estate Professionals.

One question that kept coming up was, How do I start? My response was to get signed up with Blogger, pick a template, start posting, and learn as you go. That's what I did and it has worked for me so far.

When I got home from work and started reading through some of my feeds at Bloglines, I saw this post from Rajesh Setty in his Life Beyond Code blog and knew that I had to pass it on.

I didn't get a chance to meet him personally, but Rajesh made an appearance at the Web 2.1 Brainjam that I attended a few weeks ago. Not only did he make an appearance, he gave each attendee a copy of his latest book Beyond Code, which by the way is an amazing book.

Anyways, he's compiled a great how-to checklist on how to get started with your own blog.

Hey Rajesh, you should have posted this a day earlier. It would have really come in handy earlier today :)

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogging tutorial, professional development committee, how to

Stretching to Buy Your First Home in the Bay Area

2005-11-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

Since I'm a full time REALTOR® working in the East Bay Area in California (Berkeley, Oakland, Albany etc.) where the average median home priceis approaching $600,000, I'm well aware that oftentimes buyers are using every resource available to them in order to sqeeze into their first home.

I was reading this "Incomes falling short of home prices" post by Janis Mara in the Inman blog and these lines jumped out at me.

For the sake of the common person, it seems like a price drop could be a godsend. Interestingly, a few Realtors at the National Association of Realtors convention last weekend said something similar.

It reminded me of an unwritten post that I've had in my head for a while now.

Here's the short version:

A drop in housing prices would most likely be coupled with higher interest rates. Assuming home buyer's (especially 1st timers) are strecthing themselves to qualify for a loan at a certain monthly payment, each 1.5% rise in interest rates translates in a 17% reduction in buying power.

Taking the recent upward movement of interest rates (which were at historic lows) in account, my feeling is that any potential gain in housing affordability from falling prices will be offset by rising interest rates.

So, if you're a potential 1st time homebuyer trying to decide if the time is right to buy, the question you should be asking yourself is this, "What is more likely to happen. Are interest rates going to rise 1.5% or are housing prices going to fall 17%?" The mortgage payment will be the same.

Not to mention, you may lose some tax benefits if you wait.

Technorati Tags: real estate, east bay real estate, bay area real estate, housing bubble, economics, myeastbayagent, interest rates

Flickr credit PPDIGITAL, under Creative Commons license

Friday Night @ the NAR Expo

2005-10-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

I had a great time down at the NAR Expo last night. I went there in search of new tools and technologies to help my business and ended up meeting lots of wonderful people. Sometimes REALTORs can be a tough bunch to be around and I admire the people that have to man those booths all weekend.

Before leaving, I made sure to grab my tickets, my wallet, my iPod and my fresh copy of Wired to read on the BART. I even made sure to post to MEBA, but I managed to forget my list of phone numbers which kept me from meeting up with my fellow KW Berkeley agents.

A couple of last nights stops included:

Inman news- I'm a huge fan. Look on the sidebar, you'll see their news feed.

Based in nearby Emeryville, Inman is a great source of real estate related news. If you look on the sidebar, you'll see their news feed.

They were promoting Inman Stories. If you're a regular reader, you know that I'm really interested in video blogs, especially how they relate to real estate.

I really wanted to chat with them, but they were busy working out some logistics and I made a note to stop back later when we could talk a little more in depth about their project.

By the way, they're also blogging the event.

EcoBroker-- EcoBroker is a Certified Designation that helps Real Estate professionals stay current with the growing green real estate market and the opportunities it presents.

The EcoBroker Designation is a positive and profitable way to differentiate yourself in today's real estate market. Becoming an EcoBroker(TM) is a great opportunity for you to benefit your community and the planet, while broadening your base of training and earning more business.

I've been thinking about exploring this niche for a while, but I wasn't aware of this designation before yesterday. This goes on the list of products to investigate further.

Here's a shot of the EcoBroker crew:

All right, that's it for now. It's Saturday night and I need to peel myself away from the computer.

Technorati Tags: real estate, NAR, bay area real estate, real estate blog squad, inman, EcoBroker

Rushing Out the Door

2005-10-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

and heading down to the Real Estate Expo down at the NAR Convention in San Francisco. I can't wait to see what's the latest and greatest in the world of real estate.

Plus, I get a chance to take BART into the city and not have to worry about parking.

In case you don't know about it, here's a trip planner for the Bay Area. You enter the end points and it will tell you how to get there, which trains/buses to ride and also gives the schedules. It may not be so impressive now, but when I first moved out here three years ago, it was a great resource.

I'm looking forward to contributing to the Real Estate Blog Squad's coverage of the event.

Technorati Tags: real estate, NAR, bay area real estate, real estate blog squad

Real Estate Lens Anticipation

2005-10-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to creating a lens with Seth Godin's new project Squidoo.

If you haven't heard of it yet, Squidoo is billed as a service that makes it easy for us to create, share and discover meaning online. It's a co-op of everyday experts, called lensmasters, who build lenses on topics they care about.

I think this is a great idea. I hope it lives up to the hype.

----
update: 11/9/2005 message received! Welcome to the Squidoo beta test!

woo hoo!

Technorati Tags: real estate, squidoo, web2.0

flickr credit: garoto_mm creative commons license

10/26/2005 Weekly Mortgage Roundup

2005-10-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest update from Shawn Repulles of Equitas Capital.

Mortgage rates climbed for the sixth consecutive week and haven't been this high since July 2004.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased from 6.1 percent to 6.17 percent, and the average 15-year, fixed mortgage rate nosed higher as well, rising from 5.69 percent to 5.72 percent.

The average jumbo 30-year, fixed rate rose to 6.33 percent from 6.25 percent last week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages also moved up, with the average 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage notching higher from 5.74 percent to 5.77 percent, while the average one-year ARM climbed from 5.07 percent to 5.16 percent.

Concerns about higher inflation continue to push fixed mortgage rates higher. In the past week, both the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, and the Producer Price Index, or PPI, showed sharp increases, precipitated by higher oil and energy costs.

Higher inflation makes bond investors nervous because it erodes the fixed payments on bonds and cements the notion of more Fed interest-rate hikes. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.

Technorati Tags: real estate, mortgage, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, oakland real estate

How to Buy a Home

2005-10-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

I came aross a great wiki on How to Buy a Home and thought I'd pass it along.

Of course it's a simplified version, but I think it provides some good info in a strightforward, concise manner.

Steps

1. Do your homework. Enlisting the help of a tutor is great idea (this is your real estate agent)

I agree wholeheartedly :wink:

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area, bay area real estate, home buying tips, buyers

East Bay Market Data

2005-10-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that Glen Bell & I have been tracking the listing data for our local area.

What we've been doing is this. We take each geographic area that our MLS covers and count the active and pending listings. The active listings are properties that are on the market & not yet under contract. The pending listings are those that are under contract, but haven't closed yet.

Using these numbers, we count the existing inventory (actives) & figure the ratio of pendings/actives. The higher the number, the more weighted the market is towards sellers. The lower the number, the more weighted the market is towards buyers.

I just ran the numbers for Oakland & Berkeley for this week and here they are, hot off the presses.

Berkeley 97 Pendings / 115 Actives = .843 Pending/Active Ratio

Oakland 472 Pendings / 793 Actives = .595 Pending/Active Ratio

In the past few weeks Berkeley has gone from a .653 P/A ratio on October 4th to .843 this week, which suggests that the market is strengthening again for sellers. For the same time period, Oakland's P/A ratio has stayed in the .59-.65 range.

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area, bay area real estate, housing bubble, economics, myeastbayagent

Some Recommendations

2005-10-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on a post here. I've probably started 5-6 drafts in the past couple days, but nothing is fit to publish yet.

I've also been spending some time giving Flock a test drive. My first impression is that I like the new features & the level of integration, but it's noticeably slower than firefox.

Anyways, here's a few more blogs that I've been enjoying recently.

The Bay Area Is Talking

SFHomeBlog.com

The Big Picture

I've really been interested in videoblogging recently.

Crooks and Liars is a great one.

I've also been following Cirne. I met Enric at the Web 2.1 brainjam and really like what he's been doing.

More recommendations in this earlier post

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area, flock, vblogs, web 2.1

10/18/2005 Weekly Mortgage Roundup

2005-10-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest update from Shawn Repulles of Equitas Capital.

I added a couple links to the summary.

Mortgage rates climbed for the fifth consecutive week and remain the highest since March 30.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 6.07 percent to 6.1 percent, and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate nosed higher as well, rising from 5.67 percent to 5.69 percent.

The average jumbo 30-year fixed rate rose to 6.25 percent from 6.22 percent last week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages also moved higher, with the average 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage climbing from 5.69 percent to 5.74 percent, while the average one-year ARM floated up to 5.07 percent from 5.04 percent.

Concerns about higher inflation have led fixed mortgage rates higher in recent weeks.

Repeated comments by Federal Reserve Board members about inflation and the need for continued interest-rate hikes have pushed long-term government bond yields higher.

Even the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's Sept. 20 meeting left little doubt that short-term interest rates are headed higher, giving both bond investors and mortgage shoppers an uneasy feeling.

Technorati Tags: real estate, mortgage, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, oakland real estate

Housing Settling Into a Steady State

2005-10-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

The September housing numbers from Dataquick are in and it seems to echo what I've been saying.

"The Bay Area real estate market seems to have settled into a steady state, with few indicators pointing to any upcoming change. Supply and demand seem stable. We are keeping an eye on rising mortgage interest rates which could slow things down somewhat before the end of the year," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

Inventory, which was previously rising, has flattened out for the time being and the result is a balanced market. It's the type of market where buyers are finding homes to buy and sellers are selling theirs in a reasonable amount of time.

The big wild card is interest rates. If they stay around 6%, we could see a very healthy housing market. But after seeing the recent inflation figures, I have a feeling rates are going to rise.

Keep your fingers crossed & I'll keep you informed.

On a similar note, I've teamed up with another agent in my office named Glen Bell & together we've been tracking listing data throughout the East Bay for the past couple months. I'm looking forward to posting some of our findings in the near future.

Technorati Tags: real estate, bay area real estate, east bay real estate , housing bubble, bay area

Sad Day for A's Fans

2005-10-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

I just received some shocking news in my email inbox.

It looks as if longtime Oakland Athletics play-by-play announcer Bill King passed away this morning. I knew he was having some heatlh problems after injuring his hip last spring, but this is a shock.

"We are deeply saddened by Bill's passing," said A's President Michael Crowley. "He was arguably the most recognizable voice in the history of Bay Area broadcasting. One would be hard-pressed to find an announcer who served as the lead play-by-play voice for three major sports franchises for as long as Bill. He was a broadcasting icon and true renaissance man in every sense of the word whose loss will be felt in many circles. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill and his family."

If you're a regular reader, you'll know that I'm a huge A's fan. Part of the reason that I became an A's fan is the world class talent that Bill King brought to A's radio broadcasts.

I grew up listening to Bob Uecker doing Milwaukee Brewer games & Harry Caray doing Cubs games & when I listened to King doing A's games, I knew that he was in the same category.

I wish he could have stayed around to see the current group of young stars develop.

Take care Bill, we'll miss you.

Fan reaction on Athletics Nation

Technorati Tags: oakland athletics, baseball, bill king, east bay, oakland

Web 2.0 & Del.icio.us

2005-10-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Another Web 2.0 service that I use extensively is del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking, social software web service for storing and sharing web bookmarks (wikipedia).

Del.icio.us played a huge role in opening my eyes to Web 2.0.

I spend quie a bit of time on the web exploring. When I find a site that I'd like to bookmark, I save it in del.icio.us.

Since del.icio.us is a web based service, everything is saved remotely & I can access my list of bookmarks at any computer with a connection.

When I save a link in delicious, I'm prompted to add descriptive tags, or keywords to each bookmark.

This is where the magic happens. Through these freely chosen keywords, we are collectively categorizing these links. This is called folksonomy and is one of the driving forces behind web 2.0.

One example:

Here are all of my bookmarks

By clicking on one of the existing tags on the right hand side, I can pull up every bookmark with that tag.

Here are my bookmarks that I've tagged with real estate.

If I go to the bottom of the related tags list, I can click on realestate from all users and I'll see this list, which are the latest bookmarks that any user has tagged with realestate.

One of the best features in the inbox. If I notice that a certain user is tagging great stuff, I can subscribe to their feed. If I want to stay on top of a topic, I can subscribe to that tag. Now everytime that I open my del.icio.us inbox, it's filled with bookmarks that I've subscribed to.

I find tons of great information every day, just by opening my del.icio.us inbox.

That's just scratching the surface. As with most of these great new services, the best way to learn about it is to try it out. If you see the value, do a little digging and learn how better utilize it. I love finding new aspects of services that I've been using for months.

Have fun & let me know how it goes!

Technorati Tags: del.icio.us, web 2.0, real estate 2.0, myeastbayagent, education, folksonomy

Tilting Towards Normal

2005-10-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

There was a good article in the Sunday SF Chronicle about the state of the current Bay Area housing market.

This quote sums it up pretty well:

There may be more to choose from, but we still have a large supply of buyers," said Prudential agent Lee Denton. "San Francisco has limited space, and because so many people want to live here, our market is different.

It's pretty much the same over here in the East Bay.

This doesn't mean that there aren't properties that are still receiving multiple offers. It is still happening, but it's mostly because they're nice properties that have been underpriced.

As more and more sellers start receiving offers at less than they hoped to receive, we're seeing newer listings come on with more realistic list prices.

The demand is still there. In fact, I believe the recent uptick in interest rates has motivated buyers who have been on the fence to buy.

With an increased supply of homes on market and with interest rate levels still near 6% for a 30-year fixed loan, it's a good time to be a buyer.

If you're looking to take advantage of the current market conditions. Contact me & I'll work to make it happen for you.

Technorati Tags: bay area real estate, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, real estate, housing bubble, myeastbayagent

Web 2.0 & Flickr

2005-10-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

If you're not familiar with Web 2.0 yet, I'm going to work on introducing some of the services that I'm using and hopefully help bridge the gap between people using web 2.0 applications and those who aren't.

From wikipedia

Web 2.0 refers to a perceived transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. The proponents of this thinking expect that ultimately Web 2.0 services will replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.

From What is Web2.0

Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems-> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication

Flickr is a great place to start. It's a digital photo sharing website and web services suite. If you've noticed, when I post a photo to MyEastBayAgent I use flickr to store the images.

If you want to learn more about Flickr, check out this wikipedia entry & The Great Flickr Tools Collection.

Another great thing about flickr is that it's free. Of course you can upgrade to a pro account if you decide that you like the service, but a free account is more than adequate to get started. During the beta period, a one year membership is only $24.95.

Check it out. Its a great place to play around if you're bored & a lot more fun when you participate.

One more thing.

I help people buy and sell real estate across the globe. If you're looking to buy or sell in the East Bay area, I can help you personally. If you're looking to do business somewhere else, I can help you find a trusted professional in that area. If you're thinking about real estate as a career, let me know. I'd love to get you started on the right path. ( I had to work in real estate somehow).

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, real estate, real estate 2.0, myeastbayagent

Sunday Panoramic: Berkeley Pier

2005-10-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today's panoramic shot/virtual tour comes from the end of the pier located in Berkeley's Marina(map).

On a clear day you have great views of: San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge, Mount Tamalpias, the East Bay hills, downtown Oakland & both Bay bridges (the existing one and the new one under construction next to it).

Click to launch Virtual Tour

Berkeley Marina Experience Program

Marina Facility Map

Berkeley Marina and Pier

Skates On the Bay 'Breathtaking Bayview Dining'

Technorati Tags: berkeley, oakland, san francisco, virtual tour, real estate, myeastbayagent, berkeley real estate, east bay real estate, bay area

And the New Manager of the Oakland Athletics is...

2005-10-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

the same one that we just parted ways with. That's right, Ken Macha is back at the helm of the Oakland Athletics as we head into the offseason.

I was really hoping that they'd hire Ron Washington, but it looks like it's not going to happen now.

A funny piece from Athletics Nation imagining the conversation between Macha and GM Billy Beane:

Billy picks up.

Beane: "Is this really Macha?"
Macha: "Yeah, Billy it's me."

Beane: "Ken, I've got interviews with DeFrancesco and Hershiser coming up. I don't really have time to chat."

Macha: "Billy, you remember the time when I brought Rincon in to face Todd Walker in the Boston series the second time and he hit another home run?"

Beane: "Ken, the whole world remembers that."

Macha: "Well, I think I made a big mistake again. I really never wanted to leave Oakland, except that Pittsburgh job was so appealing. I interviewed and they realized they wanted Jim Tracy instead."

Beane: "Hoofah, how bad is it when Pittsburgh doesn't want you? What's your point, Ken?"

Macha: "I want a chance to finish what I started and I'll accept your original offer."

Beane: "Ken, this is going to look bad for everyone involved. We publicly claimed it was over. We're going to start to look like Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee."

Macha: "I'm OK with that. I just want my job back."

Beane: "All right, I guess. Man, Washington and Geren are going to be pissed."

Macha: "Don't worry, my calm demeanor will help rub off on them."

Beane: "That's what I'm afraid of."

Yes, folks, Mild-Mannered Macha and his gum chewing are officially back. We had all moved on to new possibilities. New opportunities.

But the dream is over and we've got Macha back. Dream on.

Q4T

Hilarious

Technorati Tags: oakland, sports, bay area, baseball

Email Snafus

2005-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

Whoops.

I made a change with my domain a couple days ago and I inadvertently sent most of my email into cyber-neverland.

If you've sent me an email in the past couple days and are waiting for a response, you might want to send it again.

Until I'm sure that the corrections take effect, you can reach me at:

myeastbayagent@gmail.com

Sorry about that.

--**UPDATE**--

It looks like I'm back up and running.

In case you need it, my email is andy@myeastbayagent.com