School's Back in Session!!!

Both my kids graduated from High School some time ago so it's been quite awhile since I've experienced the "First Day of School." Thanks to Facebook, I've seen pictures of friends children dressed in their new outfits, fresh new back packs with lunch bags in hand and that special first day glow! I also get to chat with my friends daughters and hear about how they like/hate/love their new teachers, how easy or hard their schedules are and whether their in the same class as their best friend.

We may not have kids in school, but we still get to enjoy part of the school experience. We live half a block from Lincoln Middle School, so once again we get to watch the kids streaming off to school. Some of them have a great skip in their step, others drag along at a snail's pace. We get to hear girlfriends giggling away and the boys testing out their latest swear words. I get the greatest kick out of my husband. We often walk the dogs at the same time the kids are heading to school. He loves to chat them up "Hello Son", "Hi Ladies","Ready for a Good Day?" Most of them are friendly and nice and enjoy the conversation, some walk by as if he doesn't even exist, but others get this "Oh God here he comes" look about them that totally cracks me up! But the best is when the kids say Hi to the dogs and call them by name, it absolutely makes my husbands day!!

It's bittersweet this year, we know all this could change in the next year. But for now, we're going to continue to enjoy our middle schooler's and hope for the best.

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School appears to be back in session for me as well. In the past few week's I've begun working with several first time home buyer's. I've always enjoyed working with these clients, I really think the idea of helping someone purchase their first home is what brought me into real estate. Too many times, you hear horror stories of people buying a home without really knowing what they're getting themselves into. Fortunately, many times it all works out, but often people wind up taking risks without even realizing it or winding up buying an absolute nightmare.

When I work with first time home buyers I commit to the following:

(1) to be sure you are always prepared and know what to expect as we move forward in the process. For instance, at our first meeting we'll discuss  the entire process in general then what needs to be done first, pre-qualification, in detail . We'll talk about why it's important to be qualified for your loan before we even begin looking at property and the importance of understanding the difference between what you're qualified for and what you're comfortable with.

(2) to be with you every step of the way. I understand this is one of the largest financial decisions you've made. I'll attend viewings, inspections, signings, if it's related to the purchase of your home, I'll bee there.

(3) to provide you with the information and education needed so that YOU are making confident decisions on your home purchase. As I tell my clients; this won't be my house or my loan, so I shouldn't - and won't - tell you what you should do, including how much to offer the seller, when we sit down to write your contract. I will provide you with all the latest data of similar homes sold in the area, what the standard practice is for assigning contractual and closing costs and what is required to protect your good faith deposit.

(4) to remain even-keeled on as we navigate the process. Buying a house is exciting, frightening, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, you name it. No matter how carefully or hard I work, things will happen. Right now it's not unusual to have the loan process get crazy at one point or another. My job is to inform you have any situations as they arise and provide solutions for your consideration. It's okay for you to be nervous, but not me.

Of course each situation is different and we'll discuss what's most important to you and how I'll address those concerns, but I'll also make the process enjoyable, after all buying your first home is exciting.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I do hand out homework!

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That's it for now, go out and make it a great Labor Day weekend.open house If you're between 2 and 4 on Sunday, stop by my open house at 1100 Post and say Hi!!

Has it actually arrived?

After waiting two and a half months, it appears summer just may visit Alameda after all!

I was showing property Thursday morning and for a moment I thought I was coming down with something. It was then I realized the sun was out, the skies were blue, the wind was almost non-existent. I was so excited I actually stopped mid-sentence to announce I was warm! I'd almost forgotten what it was like to stand and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, it was wonderful. I then actually looked up, and there it was, that beautiful robins egg blue sky with bright white clouds sailing along. I'd been walking around with my nose to the ground and arms tightly wrapped around myself just trying to avoid the chill of the wind for so long, I couldn't remember the last time I'd just taken the time to enjoy a summer sky.

Of course we keep waking to those grey skies and it seemed the fog came in as cold as ever this evening, but I'm going to keep the faith and believe the sun will win again tomorrow. Besides, it has to. Pirates in Paradise is finally here and we all deserve to have some real fun at the Waterfront. Don't forget to head over and take a spin out on the Estuary. I can't get there until the afternoon so I'm hoping I won't miss the Police Department take on the Fire Department to see who gets to claim the Estuary as their own. Of course the fact that the organizers announced the event will benefit the Alameda Education Foundation only makes it sweeter. So come on sun, don't let me down!!

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Mark your calendars! September 26th marks this years' Alameda Legacy Tour and it should be exceptional. Eight extraordinary homes will be available for viewing; each having gone through an amazing renovation and restoration process. Homes will be open between 11 and 5 with refreshments served in one of the lovely garden settings. By the time you've finished you'll understand one of the reasons being a Realtor in Alameda is such a great job.

The Legacy Tour is self-guided so you can start at anytime and visit the homes in whatever order you'd like.  The tour is hosted by the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society and the Alameda Museum. Tickets can be purchased in advance online for $30. You'll receive the official tour guide with your purchase.

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Now I need you all to wish me luck. I'm headed to Margie and Don Sherratt's Annual Blackjack Tournament benefiting the Boys and Girls Club. It's been awhile since I've played but last I checked I can still add up to 21. Still, I wonder if they allow you to use your Blackberry at the table, that calculator app certainly comes in handy!

Subtle changes in the market

The end of July early August have brought some interesting changes to Alameda's real estate market. We experienced a sudden surge of single family homes coming onto the market at the end of the month.  This increased our months of inventory on the market from 2.8 at the end of June to 4.7 months at the end of July. At first glance this appears to be something to be concerned about, however if August continues in the same manner it began, I believe we'll be back to levels we've seen throughout the summer by the end of this month.

Granted, I've always been accused of being a bit of an optimist, but my conclusion is based on several factors. The first I've already mentioned as it is likely the increase in listings at the end of July has skewed the months on the market sharply upwards. But that isn't the only factor. July brought a sharp decline in average days on the market  to 27, the lowest point we've seen in well over a year. This means houses are not sitting on the market as long as they were, or in other words, buyers are on the move! This pattern has continued into August as we've watched the number of homes pending increase from the high 70's into the low to mid 90's.

The other good news is pricing continues to remain stable. The average price per square foot remains strong at $391.00 and average price sold and average list price are hovering around $650,000.

The best news clearly is interest rates. Finding rates in the 4.5% range is the norm. Whether you're considering buying or refinancing, now is really the time to get serious. If you're considering either, please let me know and I'll help make it happen!!

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Alamedans rock!

This summer the Alameda Education Foundation has been collecting school supplies and backpacks for students in need. Most people don't realize there are over 900 students attending AUSD without permanent housing, I know I didn't.  These students are among the 30% who qualify for the free or reduced lunch program. Your generosity will allow each of these students to start the school year with the supplies they need to be successful.

We've been collecting supplies all summer at the Alameda Towne Center's Summer Beat concerts. I was dropping off 3 fantastic backpacks from Marilyn Shumaker at tonight's concert (Thanks Marilyn!) and witnessed a woman dropping off 2 shopping carts full of supplies! I looked around and our donation box was almost full.

If you haven't had a chance to drop off supplies, we'll be at the Summer Beats concerts through the end of this month. You can also catch us at the Crab Cove concert tonight or you can drop supplies off at Tuckers, Color me Mine and the Bank of Alameda Park St branch. Oh heck, call me and I'll be happy to pick up and deliver supplies for you!!

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All righty then, that's it for this week, have a great weekend and hope to see you tonight at Crab Cove!

Just sign here....

In real estate that's the goal. Whether the signing occurs at the beginning of a new deal when you're representing the sale of your client's home or the end of a culmination of work with your buyer as they make an offer on the home they're purchasing, getting the best terms in place and obtaining signatures on a contract is a key business goal.

It's also very exciting. The circumstances' surrounding a sale or purchase of a home is usually the result of a life change for your client. Sometimes it's the result of loss, but usually it's because you're representing someone who's reached a new stage in their life. However, getting those all important signatures can prove to be a challenge in and of its self, and quite often, very inefficient.

Technology certainly has helped. Initially the fax machine made a huge step forward. We could send and receive contracts over the phone, obtain signatures and move onto the next stage. However, it also created several problems. Machines would be busy or out of paper; pages would go missing or get jammed and need to be resent; the same document would be sent so many times it would be come illegible and a new set would have to be signed at closing. Then came scanning, a huge step forward. But your clients needed the capability to receive, print, rescan and return. Plus you often wound up with lengthy contracts having to be printed several times over as each party would prepare sign and resend. In either case, it can be very easy for missed signatures or initials to occur requiring a re-routing of the necessary pages.

Finally a technical solution is available making it easy to receive and send signatures from any number of signers and multiple locations. DocuSign, an electronic signature system, provides a web based program that should be in every Realtors tool chest. Any document can be sent securely to one or more people - an e-mail account is required - who can open, read and then click to assign initials, dates and signature where required. Once completed a pdf copy of the form is saved and the originator is notified signing has been completed. You can even predetermine the order in which signatures are obtained when more than one party is involved.

Most importantly, signatures obtained using DocuSign's are fully compliant with federal e-sign regulations and are 100% legally binding. Of course, many banks are still operating in 1950's mentality when it comes to technology and will require a "wet" signature on contracts. Let's face it, the banking industry has certainly proven they know best when it comes to legal compliance!

Seriously, the final benefit of using DocuSign is the environmental savings. These days you can easily have 20-40 pages or more in a purchase contract. Even if you scan documents, the simplest of deals could result in a minimum of 3 sets printed out. Now apply that across the number of sales that occur (we'll ignore those that don't make it to escrow) and your easily talking about hundreds of thousands of pages each year.

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Now for a personal note. This weekend my family will be gathering together to celebrate my father's 85th birthday (he was 50 when I was born - amazing!!) Reaching 85 is certainly momentous, but during that time my Father earned a Masters when few did; raised 7 children during the 50's, 60's, 70's AND 80's, including 5 girls who never believed they couldn't (or shouldn't) excel in any and all subjects; impacted space exploration from the Apollo Space Program to the Hubble telescope; and is now in the 60th year of one of the strongest marriages I will ever witness. And the most imprtant thing he'll want you to know is he couldn't have done any of this without my Mother.

My father taught me my love for the Olympics, red wine, dark chocolate, mince meat pie, dry wit and my desire to be able to speak knowledgeably about anything I find interesting (okay, he may have overdone that one!)

So Happy 85th Birthday Daddy!! I love you very much!!