Wow!
Funky Foto Contest Week 113
July 16, 2010 By 14 Comments
Hmmm…I’ll bet this is something you see all the time but pay very little attention too. Now’s your chance to pay some attention to it! This week’s question is simply, where is this symbol? (Yes, it’s in Foster City!) If you’re first to answer this you’ll win a $30.00 gift card to Starbucks. All the rules of the road are available to view on the left hand margin as well as on the bar above. The winner along with all other correct answers will not be published until Monday morning. Any and all silly jokes, snappy quips and all wrong answers will be published immediately if not sooner. Have a great weekend!
The Importance of Paint
July 15, 2010 By 1 Comment
I wrote this post about a year and a half ago and I think it’s as relevant as ever…so here comes a redo:
In yet another example of the wonderful world of technology and it’s applications to real estate, I ran across some websites that can be very helpful when contemplating painting a home. One of the big challenges anymore when painting is choosing from an enormous selection of colors! It’s really kind of unbelieveable as you can choose from shades with names like Dove Wing, Western Accoustic and Swiss Coffee…and these are all shades of White! It’s bizarre! Some clients of mine painted their house colors called Cottage Walk and Echo. Who knew?
Well, there are some really interesting and useful websites right now that can be tremendously helpful when making these choices and I thought it would be useful to pass this info along. The first is a site called Colorcharts.org and it’s great because it utilizes color selections from several different companies. You can also upload photos of rooms in your own home with your own furniture in it and actually then see how different colors go with your stuff. It also allows for you to match paint across companies and thus you’re not locked into one companie’s pallette. One caveat of this site is that you’ll need to register and there’s a fee of $9.95 for 30 days to use it.
Another great site is Behr Color Smart . Of course you can pick colors from a large pallette and find pre set combinations ideas easily but the best part of this site is that you can put in a color you like and it will automatically find accents that match it. You can also put in the colors of your appliances and the site will match them too. Small tip…you’ll need to click on the little “color smart” tab on the Behr home page to get to the color selection tool.
I went to a listing appointment the other night and I think the sellers had 7 or 8 different colors on variious walls in their home. They all looked good too! It’s a truly different age right now and websites like these…and many others are a very valuable tool. Have fun!
A Buyer’s Market?
July 13, 2010 By 3 Comments
One thing about Real Estate…it sure is cyclical. One month (or week!) it’s up…and the next it’s down. Even in the hottest market’s there’s this cyclical factor. The lulls may be less but they exist. Who know’s what the cause is today? Maybe it’s just the long 4th of July holiday, maybe it’s bad stock market news, maybe it’s the overall negative press the economy has gotten lately…heck maybe it’s the Giants losing streak or the oil spill! The fact is that it’s slowed down in Foster City.
Interestingly, there’s only been 2 single family houses sell so far in July. One of them a deeply discounted short sale and the other a listing that entered the market as a pending sale…they already had their buyer and just entered the listing for statistical purposes. As for condos/townhouses, only 4 of them have sold in July and all of those reflect aggressively deep discounts on their asking prices.
From a buyer’s standpoint, in my opinion, this is the time to buy. Rates are low and competition is clearly less. I’d venture to guess that 90% of the sellers in Foster City right now would understand their need to negotiate downward on their price. I’ve never been exactly sure why this phenomenon occurs with buyers but it has long been my opinion that buyers frequently throw away their natural leverage when they get the opportunity to have some. Buyer’s tend to engage the market at the same time and retreat from it at the same time. It’s long seemed to me that buyers would much rather compete in a multiple offer scenario than write an offer without competition. They would rather write an offer $100,000 over asking than one $50,000 under asking. The fact 0f other interested parties on any given listing makes buyers feel more comfortable buying.
It’s all alot like the stock market, smart investors buy when other’s are not and take advantage of opportunites for discounts when they present themselves. Now is that time in Foster City. There’s 25 active single family homes on the market and 30 condo/townhouses. Some of them are ripe and ready to be picked too.
Funky Foto Contest Winner Week 112
July 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This place could really be the most popular place in town…the PJCC. It certainly is well known and has plenty of folks that use it. Congratulations to first time winner Roger Haddad who answered both here and on facebook and wins the $30.00 gift card to Chevy’s. Way to go Roger! Also arriving with the correct answer was Ranjana, Suresh, Debbie Seligman, Trisha, Jeff, Parkerton, Ellen, Shrikant, Yair, Asif, Julie, Meera, and Jen…plus Kirstin Jordan who also answered correctly on facebook. Good job folks! See you again on Friday!
Apple…Always on the Cutting Edge
July 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
New Apple Friend Bar Gives Customers Someone To Talk At About Mac Products
It’s the always insightful Onion!
Funky Foto Contest Week 112
July 9, 2010 By 17 Comments
We’re back! Let’s see if you guys are as good this week as you were last week!! This weeks foto begs the question…what’s located at these mutiple addresses? If you’re first to answer that question you’ll win a $30.00 gift card to Chevy’s at Edgewater Place. All the rules of the road are available to view on the left hand margin as well as on the bar above. The winner along with all other correct answers will not be published until Monday morning. Any and all silly jokes, snappy quips and all wrong answers will be published immediately if not sooner. Have a great weekend!
Vacation
July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
So…I’m actually doing something that I haven’t done since 2005. Taking a vacation! We went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona (amazing place!) and are stopping in Las Vegas for a few days on the way home. Anyway…I’ll be back on Friday for the next foto contest. All the best!
Funky Foto Contest Winner Week 111
July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Well, there was sure enough clues! It really wasn’t that hard now was it? sure didn’t look like it based upon the number of you who answered. Congratulations to Debbie Yeung who answered first and won the gift card to Boston Market. Great job Debbie! Also answering correctly was Jeff, Nancy Haddad, Shrikant, Pak, Sandy Backman, Steve, Alex O, Bill, Trisha, Jim S, Harish, Julie, Jason, Lola, Hiro, Kirstin, Roger, Chris Hsiung, Anita Reiman, Suresh, Paul Patron, Magesh and Kavita. Great job folks!! See you all again on Friday!!
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