Our March 2018 e-Newsletter
1700+ sq ft San Leandro home available soon!
Located at 1085 Grace Street, this home has a Walk Score of 77 with easy access to Mel’s Diner, Ricky’s Sports Bar, Bayfair Mall and the Bayfair BART station. With 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, this home will be available by June, 2018. Stay tuned for more information!
Our February 2018 e-Newsletter
Mediterranean beauty! A picture’s worth a thousand words…
Now available! CLICK HERE for details. This gorgeous five bedroom home has been extensively renovated. Per the seller, the home has been expanded to 3400 sq ft and has over $600,000 in upgrades:
Permits secured and foundations poured for detached garage with full bathroom and also a studio with full bathroom and rough electrical and plumbing complete. It has new underground plumbing, new underground electrical, new electrical panel with 400 amp, new wiring inside, energy-saving LED lights throughout, new plumbing inside, new HVAC system heat and AC dual Zone, new roof, new paint, custom Milgard windows, stainless steel appliances.
Oh, the views! Located in the prestigious and sought-after historic Prospect Hill neighborhood of downtown Hayward, this home has stunning sunset views. The exterior includes a new retaining wall, in and out drive way, upgraded metal fencing with both gates remote-controlled. New landscaping with palm trees, new stucco with extensive trim work , outdoor deck on the 2nd story which also serves as outdoor living area on the bottom (veranda ) with fans for summer, outdoor kitchen sink installed in veranda. For outdoor and indoor summer comfort, fans are in all rooms and living areas too. Custom closets in all rooms, smooth level 5 paint, luxury bathroom upgrades and custom vanity with mirrors, custom tub /shower combo in master bath, and Jack & Jill bathroom on ground level.
All living areas boast hardwood floors, all bathrooms and kitchen gleam porcelain tiles, and to help protect it all, video monitoring of all entrances and central alarm. Total expense: $600,000 in upgrades .
But wait, there’s more! This home has a wheelchair accessible ramp and two living areas upstairs and downstairs. For the party animal buyer, the home also has a wet bar in the outdoor patio area, in the kitch and in one of the living rooms tucked away in the corner for discretion…
Come visit this estate home in the burgeoning neighborhood with lots of investment being poured into this spectacular downtown Hayward community!
All information has been provided by the property owner. Buyers are advised to fully investigate the property to their satisfaction.
Now available: Cactus Maximus
Wile E. Coyote is welcome here where everything is bigger in Texas! This home at 3150 Texas Street in Oakland is now available. CLICK HERE for more information.![IMG_5080[1]](http://santaconhayward.com/files/2017/10/IMG_50801-300x225.jpg)
“Cactus Maximus” included with purchase!
Jet-setter chucks U.S. real estate for Holland
“Back in 2002, I decided I wanted to buy myself a house that offered privacy and solitude. I was a single gal at the time working for the US Government and I dreamed of a quiet place with a view that had a wood-burning fireplace and was close to my family. I finally found a gorgeous end-unit with a lovely courtyard and balcony where I could sit and sip my morning tea while looking out at the Oakland hills.“When we first walked into 3800 Maybelle #6, I literally knew it was the one. Maybelle had the brick wood-burning fireplace I dreamed of, a cozy backyard, a window over the kitchen sink to look out while washing dishes (there is a dishwasher, too), two stories, a view of the Oakland hills, tons of storage, a balcony, two master sized bedrooms, lots of light, trees and surrounding nature, all while gated for privacy (it is private property). It wasn’t an easy negotiation but fighting for my Maybelle was so worth it. When I moved in, it’s hard to explain, but Maybelle just had “good vibes.” There was such a nice, warm, loving energy about the place and the neighbors were wonderful. It just had the fresh, clean yet cozy energy about it. All the neighbors were so helpful (yet not nosy) and inviting.
“I loved that the Joaquin Miller and Richard C. Trudeau parks were just a stone’s throw away where I could run, hike and take my dog for long walks off-leash. Everything seemed so easy once I moved into Maybelle: the property manager was a quick walk away, the gas station to fill up the car was just down the street, a carpool pick up to San Francisco was also a walk away and the Laurel District boutiques offering yoga, organic markets, cafes and boutiques were all walking distance, too. The HOA board was very fair and supportive. Oh, and my favorite pizza place was around the corner.
“If I hadn’t gotten the chance to move overseas and live abroad, I would actually still be living in Maybelle today—it’s a perfect little gem. To date, I live in The Netherlands with my husband (he’s Dutch) where I work as a Corporate Trainer and Coach. He and I met on a plane bound for Kuwait where we were both working at the time. Last year, we bought an historical monument home in Holland and spend our time fixing it up, so I have no plans then to move back to Maybelle. I am selling Maybelle to give another person a chance to enjoy and love it as much as I did; it gave me a lot of peace of mind and it was also a wonderful place to host friends and family during the holidays. There are a lot of great memories and good energy left behind for the next person who wishes to call Maybelle their home sweet home…”
3800 Maybelle Ave., Suite 6 in the Oakland hills is now available! CLICK HERE for property details.
Rolling Stones! Al & Andy are at it again…!
“We know Anna May and Greg Jones and their brokerage, Realty World Neighbors, because of their involvement in the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association, their efforts to help maintain the neighborhood’s open space and other projects.
“Our decision to appoint Anna and Greg as co-listing agents (and later as our buyers’ agents) arose because they work on a number of issues and we were impressed by their efforts and contributions. We have found that people who work well when they volunteer also do well professionally.
“Frequent communications kept us informed of progress over the transactions for which we hired Anna & Greg to assist in the Historic Prospect Hill neighborhood. We appreciated Anna & Greg’s attention and time to email, call or text as the sales progressed.
“As sellers, we appreciated the well-coordinated marketing plan for our unique home in the historic Prospect Hill neighborhood. They knew how to price it for the prevailing market conditions, how to promote it to the right groups and took care of all the paper work expeditiously. There were no errors, no last-minute deliveries or problems from the time we listed until the sale closed. We subsequently hired Anna & Greg to list and sell another home for us and we experienced the same high level of competency in that transaction too.
“We were extremely impressed by their knowledge of the market, pricing and their ability to get the word out about our home through their networks, professional organizations and advertising. They were very professional, competent and knowledgeable about real estate in the area.
“We’re delighted to now be in a larger Prospect Hill home and were able to purchase this home in part due to the negotiation skills of Anna and Greg. They negotiated on our behalf for the sellers to pay for repairs before we moved in. We would definitely hire Anna May and Greg Jones again and recommend them to others.”
-Al Parso & Andy York, Historic Prospect Hill Neighborhood residents
Working for Buyers: The Representation Agreement
All of us get our butts out of bed in the morning for different reasons. For us, it’s this pesky dog. Rufus the Dufus whines and cries and whimpers at the crack of dawn until we let him out to go potty. He is an annoying little 50 lb.-creature, but he gets us out of bed. It’s hard to be mad at him once our sleepiness subsides.
What gets us into the office is something entirely different. Our Clients have an expectation that we be at the top of our game when it comes to representing them. There is a big difference between a “Buyer Client” and a mere “buyer customer”. We ONLY advocate for the interests of Buyer Clients after they’ve formally retained our services to do so. We’d rather avoid working on behalf of buyers for weeks or months, putting aside our evenings and weekends and family time only to (argh!) have a buyer suddenly decide to have their newly licensed cousin represent them, for example.
Part of formal buyer representation includes an “Exclusive Buyer Representation Agreement”. This document outlines what the buyer and agent parties can expect of each other and what documentation is required to get started. We take representation of Buyer Clients as seriously as we take our representation of Seller Clients. Here are a few of the benefits of formal buyer representation:
- We’ve built a reputation among fellow agents in our market area for having rock-solid buyers. Our Exclusive Buyer Clients benefit from this by having their offers submitted by us be taken more seriously, especially in multiple offer situations which are common in our area. This means we have compiled a complete Buyer Package before we show even one property to a buyer.
- Exclusive Buyer Representation ensures our Clients that they are our first priority. Evenings and weekends, for example, are reserved for Clients first and foremost.
- Many of our Clients are high profile, very busy individuals. We take the time to preview properties for Exclusive Buyer Clients and record walk-thrus and report to them whether or not a property is even worth seeing.
- We attend weekday real estate marketing meetings where we broadcast what our Exclusive Buyer Clients seek, and often learn about upcoming listings long before they hit the market.
- We send out monthly real estate e-newsletters to broadcast to our databases what our Exclusive Buyer Clients want, and through this medium, we also learn about properties that will be available before they hit the market.
- If our Exclusive Buyer Clients MUST move into a specific neighborhood, we’ll knock on doors and send mailers out to ask those neighborhood property owners if they have interest in selling rather than wait around for something to come available.
Right now, our Exclusive Buyer Clients include a recovering peninsula dweller buyer, the newly engaged couple, the seller of this gorgeous home who’s buying in the San Ramon area to be close to family, and also the family of a US veteran who’s seeking an affordable home in the East Bay.
We’re darn good at what we do, so there are certain steps we take before we use our talents, expertise, network and experience to advocate and help protect a Client’s interests. There are only 24 hours in a day, after all…
Seeking an Ideal Match
Recovering Peninsula dweller seeks urban oasis in hip, diverse, warm Hayward or San Leandro. Marketing geek, takes all corners on the tennis courts, easily persuaded by cabernet, burgers and new cuisines, loves food & podcast recommendations.
Her ideal mate is a home that has two-three bedrooms and at least two bathrooms on a single level on a large lot with room to build, or even a duplex.
Serious suitors for her purchase only. Show your goods and she might be interested!
Baby Boomers, Wealth and Home-Buying
Homes Near Transit in San Leandro and Hayward!
Want a home with a Walk Score* of 89? Check our our 22865 1st Street listing and our 14787 Wiley Street listing!
Homes Available Soon!
4160 Perkins Ct., Fremont: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage, 1811 sq ft (AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2016)
26630 Call Ave., Hayward hills: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage, 2300+ sq ft (AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 12th)
Call Anna May: 510-886-ANNA (2662) or Greg Jones: 510-886-GREG (4734)
Available Soon in Half Moon Bay
California suburbs growing fast as many are priced out of cities, data show
Source: Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2016
Suburban areas on the outskirts of the red-hot Los Angeles and San Francisco areas grew especially fast last year, state officials reported Monday.
San Joaquin County, home to Stockton, grew faster than any other, up 1.3% to 733,000 people. The area has become increasingly popular for people fleeing astronomical San Francisco Bay Area housing prices while remaining within commuting distance.
San Joaquin was followed by Yolo, Riverside and Santa Clara counties.
The fastest-growing city was Vernon, which grew a whopping 72% thanks to a new housing development that brought its population to 210.
Among cities with at least 30,000 people, the fastest-growing were concentrated primarily in the Inland Empire and Orange County: Porterville, Eastvale, Lake Forest, Beaumont and Lake Elsinore.
The number of new housing units in California declined last year for the first time since the start of the economic recovery, due mostly to wildfires that scorched more than 2,000 homes.
California’s housing supply rose by 67,110 units last year, compared with an increase of 69,435 units in 2014. Demographers at the California Department of Finance say the number of new units would have been about equal to the year before if the destructive wildfires in Lake and Calaveras counties had not hit.
Of the new units created, just over half were multi-family dwellings such as apartments and condominiums. Los Angeles, the state’s largest city, saw the most growth in housing, with 12,224 new units. It was followed by San Francisco with nearly 2,900, San Jose with just over 2,000 and San Diego with about 1,750.
The housing hit came as California’s population grew to 39.1 million last year, an increase of 348,000 people, just under 1%.
Most of the state’s 482 cities saw population gains, but 44 cities shrank and one — tiny Tehama, population 431 — was unchanged.
Meet Phil! Does he look pouty?
Here’s “Phil”! This 12-year old sweetheart’s mom is selling their long-time home at 2828 Eastman Avenue in Oakland‘s Allendale district.
When the sale closes, Realty World Neighbors will make a donation in Phil’s honor to Bad Rap, where he was trained when he was a youngster…
A home is not a home without a dog!
Available Soon in Oakland!
The Calm Before the Storm
A lot of prep work goes into preparing a home for sale. This home has been in the same family since 1977. Many memories have spun their stories over the years of growing up and raising a family here. It is now time for new memories and we’re working on making sure the home is clean and comfortable for the new owners.
Shown here are Todd Worsfold and his crew member preparing the home for sale.
Stay tuned for more details! May 2016 is when this home will be available. You’ll LOVE the new colors chosen, I’m sure!
The Zalamea Family
Do you know of anyone who might have a home to sell to this lovely family? Meet the Zalameas!
They’d love a 4-bedroom home with at least one bedroom and full bathroom on the main level.
Contact us if you or someone you know has a home that might be of interest to Ed and Mary Ann for their family!
San Francisco Home Available Soon!
This San Francisco home in the Richmond district will be available soon, in May of 2016. The services of Sterling Sites have been retained for professional staging and Color Touch; Painting Professionals for Fine Homes will be painting the interior and exterior of the property.
Story about this house:
Several years ago, in 2008, I met with the owner of this San Francisco property to assess its market value. He was mulling over whether to sell it or rent it out. I recall advising that he should consider hanging on to it unless he absolutely has to sell. The market was down at that time and I felt that he could do better if he waited.
Fast-forward 8 years later: I just secured the exclusive right to list and sell this property. He remembered me from 2008 and probably appreciated that I wasn’t trying to just “get the listing”, even though listing and selling homes is what I do for a living.
In life, it is important to do the right thing. Never be greedy or pushy. Do, say and live your life with the best interests of others at heart.
Remember the law of attraction! We attract what we are. I am blessed to be surrounded by incredible people. It is a life by design, not by accident.