Agents who had exemplary home sales in 2009 are being courted by competing brokerage houses.   Managers are looking to recruit agents who will make their office more profitable.  

The recruiting process is like dating and usually begins with a phone call or an e-mail.   The first “in-person” meeting is short and usually occurs at a public location like Peets, Starbucks, or the Main Street Cafe.  Note, a short casual meeting is preferred because if the agent doesn’t like the manager and/or the company, he/she can leave sooner! 

If the conversation is good and it appears that there might be some chemistry, the obvious next step is a private tour of the office. This gives the manager the opportunity to show off his office’s assets….the computers, the conference rooms, the support staff and lastly, the desk and/or private office the perspective agent will get.

Lastly, if the relationship is consummated, it is usually behind closed doors.  This is where commission splits, technology fees and transferring one’s real estate license are discussed.

I would venture to guess that 2009 was a down year for most agents so it will be interesting to see the results of this year’s dating season!

If you have a favorite “off street” location that you think is worth exploring, you can make submissions here. 

I submitted a recommendation for the Street Views trike to visit Rancho San Antonio.  Can you see Google’s cyclist climbing up the PG&E trail?  On the other-hand maybe walking the trike will work as well.

I took several photos of the damage (see below):

When I was checking for homes for sale in Los Altos, I noticed a property that had been on the market for over two years.  Yes, 2 years.  Wow!

Since the average days on the market in Los altos has ranged from 30-60 days over the last 12 years, anything listed longer than 120 days could be considered a stale listing.  This house has been on the market an unbelievable 12 times the average days on the market (DOM).  Hello, wake up, earth to Houston, we have a problem. 

FYI: the average DOM is the sum of the days on the market (DOM) for sold/listed properties divided by the count of sold/listed properties. 

Buyers assume two things about stale listings; the seller is desperate resulting in a better deal for the buyer and/or there must be something seriously wrong with the home.  Both of these assumptions may be wrong, but given evidence to the contrary, what would you think?

Is this a bad house?  Could it be the marketing/pricing of the home?  Or a combination of both?

Let’s start with the house.  It was a new construction (decent quality and floorplan) home in an average location.  When it hit the market 2 years ago, it was priced at the top end of the market (seller’s second mistake).

Was the house overpriced?  Clearly. 

Was the seller unmotivated/stubborn and/or “just testing the market?”  In the beginning any of these could have been the case.  However, after two years and a price drop of almost 1/3 the original list price, my guess is that the seller might be more motivated.   Hum, given the option of either selling it or losing it to the bank, I would choose to sell it.

Was the property hard to show?  No, it has been vacant for most of the time.

How has the home been exposed to the Internet?  Outside of the first 2 months, the home’s MLS profile had no photos and/or virtual tour for almost a year.  Since then it has had photos and a virtual tour.  I “Googled” the property address and found little web exposure other than what the MLS produces via realtor IDX solutions and real estate aggregators.  The fourth listing agent created a dedicated web page for the property.

Was the offer of commission to the cooperating broker too low?  Maybe.  At 2.5% (note, all commissions are negotiable), some brokers may not show the property.

What affect has our down real estate market had on this property?  This one is tricky.  When the home first hit the market, the market was quite active.  However as time progressed, the market got worse.  This house has chased the market down (and then some).  That is why it is extremely important to price the property correctly the first time.

Currently there are 80 single family homes for sale in Los Altos.  27 properties have been on the market a minimum of 120 days, 11 have been on the market a minimum of 200 days and 4 have been on the market for over 1 year.  If you’re one these “seasoned” listings, it’s time to get serious about whether you want to sell or not.  If your a buyer, you may have a chance to make a great deal.

Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program is a partnership with the city of Menlo Park where bank-owned homes are acquired, rehabilitated and sold to Habitat’s partner families.  Click here for an overview of the program (PDF).  It appears to be a great program that addresses a multiple of issues; creating affordable housing, reducing the glut of foreclosure properties in East Menlo Park, and revitalizing blighted neighborhoods destabilized by the foreclosure crisis.

Our Menlo Park Build

There were 11 of us from the Coldwell Banker – Los Altos office that participated in working at three different home sites.  At one house, 4 of us disposed of the remnants of two structures and put the debris in a 40 foot dumpster.  The last 2 hours, we built a fence.  At the other two homes, installation of interior sheet rock (tape and texture) was done as well as one home’s exterior was painted.  As an office we put in about 40 man hours and had a blast doing it.

At break it was nice to talk with the “regulars” (retired folks who volunteer for a living).  I also had a good conversation with a fellow agent who had not volunteered before.  She really had a good time and assures me that she’ll do another. 

If you haven’t done a Habitat build, I highly recommend it.  It’s actually fun, you meet great people and you learn a little about construction as well.  Also, if you want to get more information, Habitat Silicon Valley is celebrating it’s 50th home built with a dedication on October 3rd.  Click here for details.

I’ve posted a couple photos form the day below.  Enjoy!

Our Habitat for Humanity build site.

Even I can build a fence.

Our office (well, most of them) volunteers.

Los Altos to Lake Tahoe, a great reward, originally uploaded by Los Altos Dave.

One of the benefits of living in Los Altos is we are near great
vacation spots like Lake Tahoe. This is the view from our back deck.

It turns out it is the Ascend road bike created by Delta 7 Sports.  The bike which Delta 7 calls an “IsoTruss” based bike has tubing made of a combination of carbon fiber and Kevlar.  Delta 7 claims the frame is stronger than any bike in its weight class.  I picked the bike up and it was unbelievably light.

Being larger than the average road biker, I questioned whether the bike could withstand my girth.  I tend to bend wheels and such.  He claimed it could and went on to discuss the design of the bike. 

I also wondered whether the open weaving of the tubes would create more wind resistance than a traditional bike.  Apparently, in wind tunnel testing (with head winds), the Ascend road bike had slightly less drag than a comparable sized cylinder frame bike.  I forgot to ask, but I wonder if it was tested in cross winds and what the results were?

The Ascend road bike appears to be lighter and stronger than most road bikes, but at what cost?  I went to the web site and found that suggested retail price for the frame was $5,995. and for a completely built out bike, $10,995.

Kind of pricey, but if you want something light, rigid and strong, it might be the answer.  For now it appears that you can only order them online at http://www.delta7sports.com. 

It’s a great looking bike.  However, I think I would get more enjoyment out of my rides by losing a few LB’s and pocketing the money.  See you on the road and wear your helmet!

An application needs to be submitted by the resident (deadline to submit application is March 6th).  Requested tasks are reviewed with the homeowner and a team is assigned to do the work.  The goal is to have all the work competed by a small team of volunteers in a single visit.  Wednesday, May 6th will be the day that workers will perform the work for residents of Los Altos and Mountain View.

Last year I spent most of the morning at a Mountain View residence cleaning up the front and back yards, trimming overgrown hedges and pulling weeds.  We managed to fill 6 large trash bags with debris.  We also organized the homeowner’s garage.

If you know of a senior or home bound individual who needs assistance, please forward an application.

We arrived at 8:30 a.m. for check in and received our lovely Cal Trans looking volunteer shirts and were at our assigned intersection by 10:00 a.m..  By accident, we ended up helping put up the 1 kilometer marker balloon.  Or I should say, we prevented it from blowing down the road (with my son holding on looking like the tail of a kite in flight). 

We had a wait of about 4 hours before the bike racer’s flew by our position.  During our wait, it rained, the wind blew hard, it hailed a little and towards the end, we actually saw the sun. 

I took a little video from our position about 1 kilometer from the finish.

80 miles of driving, 5 hours of waiting, less than 2 minutes of actually race viewing time….Priceless!   We were cold, wet, hungry, and windblown yet we’re coming back tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, Stage 3 begins in downtown San Jose and finishes up in Modesto. Check it out, it’s a blast!