Rarely Available Tri-Level townhouse at the Pacific Terrace Development. It’s right across from the BART station in Union City. This property is listed as a Bank-Owned REO.

For more info, click here.

More info here.

48 Years.
Yup, that’s how long we’ve had the venerable and indispensable modern commercialized version of the fax machine at our disposal. That’s long enough.

It’s 2012.
There are MUCH more efficient ways of transmitting documents. Email is a universal way of sending documents these days. Just a few years ago, however, it did require you to possess a 40lb desktop computer with an internet connection.

But now, almost everyone I know has a smartphone that allows you to send and receive emails anywhere in the world. At home, work, school, the mountains, the beach, just to name a few (can you come up with a few more creative places??).

Ok.
So transmitting documents is a no-brainer. The problem now is signing and returning a document. That’s a wee bit more difficult…until now. Welcome to DocuSign Ink. They’ve just released their mobile apps for Android, iPhone and iPad. They literally just released this app last week (February 2, 2012). I have to say, I’m quite impressed.

DocuSign has been around for a number of years with some great products. However, the problem has been the lack of ease for end-users (clients) to sign documents. It generally required the use of an actual computer (perish the thought!), and then after a painful and slow process, you could actually coax digital signatures out of recipients. But not any more. DocuSign Ink is a FREE app, no subscriptions, no ‘pay per signature.’ It’s just ridiculously simple. Give it a shot and download the app!

Now that you’ve got the app, it’s time to find a home and write up a contract together! Without all that messy paper work.

However, if you’re just not thrilled about all this DocuSign sweetness, you can always resort to your PDF annotation app of choice on your mobile device. If you’re a iPad or iPhone user, I can only strongly recommend PDF Expert. This app totally rocks. Not only can you sign PDF documents, you can fill out forms, annotate documents with highlighters, draw shapes, strike-through words, re-organize pages (including inserting and deleting pages). This list goes on…

Honestly, I don’t work for or get any referrals from these two companies. I just dig what they’re doing.

I love it when tech ‘simply works.’

Take a good look at this graphic.

It illustrates a simple point:

If you hire California Pacific Brokers to list and sell your home, not only will your home be marketed and advertised here, it will be blasted out to the ends of the earth (IDX).

Pretty good deal, eh?
I think so.

Amazingly, an increasing amount of real estate brokerages are pulling the plug on the syndication of ‘their’ listings. Apparently, they desire to be the sole gate-keepers of this data: the sellers’ home details.

There is quite a bit of politicking going around on this subject right now. However, my basic sense, is that it doesn’t quite serve the very people to whom these listings actually serve: the sellers.

It’s true, many of these listing aggregators jumble up information and skew real world facts and figures in favor of formulas and factoids (zillow, trulia, etc…). However, they do serve up a googolplex of information; and that’s what people seem to be in search of.  Three cheers for the information age! The cat’s out of the bag now…can’t put it back in.

Bottom line: if you want your home marketed to the greatest extent possible, syndicated out to a ridiculous quantity of websites conceivable and exposed to the largest audience available, you’ve come to the right place!

In a word: CASH.

Heading to the court house to buy the home of your dreams (or perhaps just a good solid investment)? Then here are a few tips to get you started.

To bid you need to qualify, which means you will be required to show the auctioneer identification, and cash or cashiers checks sufficient to cover the FULL AMOUNT you wish to bid. Yup, that’s allot of cash, but this endeavor is not for the faint of heart.
Most investors take cashiers checks made out to themselves. If you are not the winning bidder, you can easily redeposit the funds, and if you are the winning bidder, you can endorse the check over to the trustee.

Question: How do I know what properties are going up for auction? What is the opening bid amount?

The information is public, but can be a bit difficult to obtain. To get started, you can do a search right here on my PreForeclosure and Auction search page.

The lender gets to make the first bid, which is called the opening bid. Some now also refer to it as the drop bid, because lenders now often substantially discount the opening bid from the amount owed. The lender / trustee is under no legal obligation to announce the opening bid in advance of the sale.

They typically release the opening bid the day before or the morning of the sale. Sometimes the opening bid is not announced until the sale starts. The research team at ForeclosureRadar works diligently to post opening bids as quickly as possible. The information provided on my PreForeclosure and Auction search page comes from this valuable resource.

Want to see what happens at an auction? Check these video’s out:

Foreclosure Auction on the county courthouse steps

Foreclosure Auction – Take 2

Here’s my take: Buying a property at the county courthouse steps is best left to the professionals.

Don’t get me wrong, buying a home at discounted price is a great thing. There are numerous other aspects of the process that can potentially wreck your financial well-being.

For example:

• What is the true condition of the home?
• Who currently occupies the home? the previous owner? or tenant? or squatters??
• What is the condition of title? is it clear or clouded? are there any other outstanding liens?
• There is no refund! No inspection period. It’s a take it or leave it scenario.

In case you haven’t seen or heard…

My wife and I just made our very first contribution to the population of the planet with our brand new baby girl, Sofia!

Yup, she is a New Year’s Day baby, born during the 49ers game, specifically during that fake field goal for a TouchDown play. (Yes, I’m a bit of a 49ers fan).

8 lbs 10 oz, 22″

Whereas the socio-economic-political status of this world seems quite uncertain; one thing IS certain: the unconditional love that we have for her.

What a total game changer! Whatever thoughts, ideas, preconceptions and feelings I had about what it means to be father…I can pretty much discard.

Something quite special happens at birth. I can’t explain it. Let’s be clear, I’m not one prone to being sentimental about things. But let’s just say, I didn’t quite bawl like a little child being denied his favorite treat, but my eyes did leak a bit.

This year, 2012, is not only shaping up to be a good year, but it’s the absolute best in my personal history book.

I wish you all the best this year! A year of change for the better! A year of turn-around from uncertainty, and a future of unsurpassed clarity!

PRICE REDUCTION! REO.

Lovely Townhouse in the Charter Square development  of Fremont.

2-Story Home with vaulted ceilings and plenty of Living Space.

2-Car Detached garage with private interior courtyard.

Recessed lighting, private courtyard, 2-car garage.

Great community amenities including tennis court and swimming pool.

Large 2,796 SqFt of living space on a very flat and manageable 13,200 SqFt lot.

A place you’ll be happy to call your refuge and home
Interested? Zap a message to me.

Very affordable with Price Reduction!

Lower level condo in recently converted building to 4-unit condos.

All updated fixtures, laminate wood flooring throughout.

Close to Freeways.