Rainmaker Properties - Improving Lives with Silicon Valley Real Estate

Real estate agent Sara Greenwood and I had the great opportunity to help a family move into their first home in the desirable Cupertino / West San Jose Capistrano Community. The sellers gave Sara a great review on Yelp. We were thankful to have had another opportunity to cultivate a great relationship with a client and as part of our Rainmaker Properties mission, we were able to make a charitable contribution to an organization that has had a huge impact in Sara’s life: the March of Dimes organization. Below is Sara’s story…

March of Dimes is a charitable organization that has a mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. They carry out their mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies’ lives. March of Dimes advocates work to give all babies a fighting chance against threats to their health.

March of Dimes is an organization that is very personal to me. Because of their mission, my daughter may not be here today. Astrid Gwyneth was born 11 weeks premature weighing only 610 grams (1 lb, 5 oz). She was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose with a condition called IUGR/SGA (Intrauterine growth restricted/Small for Gestational Age).
Although I thought that I was having a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy, my last doctor’s visit revealed that she wasn’t growing inside my womb because she didn’t have the proper nutrients to keep her alive. The flow of nutrients and oxygen to her body were restricted because of an abruption to her placenta; the placenta was extremely close to being detached from her only source of life — me. It was decided that she would thrive better outside my body and have a better chance of survival, and was delivered at only 29 weeks (normal gestation is 40 weeks). She had the struggle of her life before she even had her first breath.

I continually flashback to the moment in the delivery room when I saw Astrid being quickly handed off from the doctor, and into the hands of Nurse Heather Emery; she needed to be quickly turned over from my body and into the apparatus of an incubator. Heather was Astrid’s primary nurse for the time that she spent in the hospital; she took care of my baby and saw my family experience some extremely stressful and emotional times. There were a lot of heartbreaking and anxious moments as we watched Astrid grow from a 1 lb baby to when she finally came home 3 months later weighing ~4 lb.

Today, Astrid is a beautiful and bright 3-year old. She is normal in every way. I thank Heather, thank Good Samaritan hospital, and thank March of Dimes for keeping my baby alive by giving that fighting chance that was threatening her precious life.

“March of Dimes is raising money to help fewer little ones be born early, and to make life easier on the ones who are.”

~Heather Emery, Nurse, Good Samaritan Hospital

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It always feels a bit dicey flipping open the yellow pages to look for a service provider when you’re in a pinch. It’s one reason I love word-of mouth referrals and consumer rating sites like yelp.com. Rather than buying services sight-unseen, you’re able to get a sense of the company’s or person’s performance before hiring them.

I much prefer working with people when they come to me with high recommendations from a friend or trusted website. People have given me good ratings at yelp.com, for instance. And because of that, I’ve found relationships with new clients.

I’ve developed something of my own yelp.com. After all, an important part of my business is referring clients to reliable, honest people to help them with everything from tree trimming and small maintenance projects to bigger jobs, like bathroom renovations or redecorating. Thus, I’m always looking for the names of great service providers.

Before recommending anyone, I always do my own screening, either by hiring them for a job myself or by interviewing them. I always zero in on their view of and commitment to customer service. I want to be sure they’re focused on the client, not just on the money they’ll make.

Just last week, for instance, I needed some wood chips put around some trees at a house. I interviewed one landscaping company that gave me a $1,000 estimate. The other person gave a $100 quote. He also had the chips in his truck and was able to do the job right away. Now that’s going the extra mile and really delivering.

If you ever need help finding people-movers, gardeners, painters, roofers, and so forth-don’t hesitate to call me.

Also, keep in mind that I’m always happy to add new businesses to my referral list. Right now, I could really use the names of some good movers, painters and house cleaners.

If you have recommendations, please send an e-mail that includes their contact information-name, phone, website and e-mail address. And if you’ve had an especially good experience with a person or company, please jot down a few comments and let me know what makes them so terrific or how they went the extra mile for you.

If you are interested in knowing more about businesses that I have reviewed (good and bad), you can find my them here at http://www.alexw.yelp.com.

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Today, the simple task of cleaning my closet made my day and probably somebody else’s, too.

I’ve had a bag for old clothes in my closet for months. But like so many of us, I’ve always found something more important to do than to rummage through my clothes and bag up the ones I haven’t worn in ages. And once you see
something like a bag for old clothes in your closet for a while, it becomes part of the scenery.

But recently I was in my car driving to a listing appointment in Mountain View and heard a radio ad about Men’s Wearhouse’s National Suit Drive, and I finally became motivated to act. Through the end of October, the national menswear retailer is collecting gently used suits, sport coats, slacks, ties, and belts to benefit at-risk men and youth who are transitioning into the workforce but who don’t have the money to purchase that professional attire themselves. All the clothing it receives will be distributed in communities throughout the nation by local nonprofit organizations.

In exchange for your donation, you get a 10 percent coupon toward your next purchase at Men’s Wearhouse, along with a tax deduction.

I gathered up and took in about five suits, a dozen shirts, some pants, and some shoes. But I didn’t do it because I wanted a coupon or a tax deduction. I did it because I’ve always believed in giving back to my community. Donating clothes I don’t wear anymore was a way to help out-of-work people. Any help the unemployed can get, the better we’ll all be.

While I was in the store dropping the clothes off, it was such a positive experience knowing that everyone there was working toward a common cause. After I left, I felt really good. I felt like I’d accomplished something and donated to a charitable cause.

Do yourself—and somebody else—a favor. Take an hour to rifle through your closet, and pull out the clothes you know you won’t wear again. Then join a good cause by taking a drive over to a Men’s Wearhouse near you.

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When you hear that buyers are purchasing bank-owned properties because they can rent them for more than the mortgage, it’s time to shake off the idea of a “bad market” and start looking for the excellent opportunities this market offers.

Skeptical? Hear me out. A two-bedroom home in foreclosure near a state university recently sold for an amount that allows the buyers to break even by renting it out. And in Sacramento, a four-bedroom home sold for less than $100,000. The buyers are renting it out for $750 a month, which essentially covers the mortgage.

You’ve heard me say it before — now is the time to buy. But do it with your eyes wide open by understanding the difference between, and the complexities of, short sales and foreclosed properties (often called REO based on bank terminology of “real-estate-owned” properties).

In a short sale, sellers who owe more on their mortgage than their home is now worth put their home on the market. If they receive an offer, they ask the bank to accept the less-than-mortgage-amount price and release them from the obligation to pay the difference.

You can find short sales today, but to complete the purchase, you’ll need an experienced agent to guide you through the complex and delay-plagued process. It may take weeks or months for the bank to respond to your offer, and even then the final answer may be a no. So start looking, but steel yourself for banks to be sticklers and even deal-breakers.

The benefit of investing in REO properties is that you know you’ll receive a timely response from the bank because no lender wants to own a large portfolio of REO. On a recent sale, the bank accepted my client’s offer within two hours. On another property in Santa Clara, the lender responded to my client’s offer within two weeks.

Banks are pushing hard to get rid of their foreclosed properties. They’re not giving them away, but they often list them at below market price. For example, I recently helped a buyer acquire a foreclosed property that sold for $780,000 in 2005. My client purchased it for $655,000.

Investing today is simply smart. But it takes patience and a good agent to help you find—and close—those great deals.

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In the October issue of The Registry, the popular Bay Area real estate journal, on page 34, I commented on the hot rental market in Silicon Valley. In light of all the chaos in the mortgage and financial arenas, the demand for rentals has increased and so has the number of properties that the Rainmaker Properties’ property management division.

“Strong apartment demand, a credit crunch and affordability challenges deliver boon to property owners.”

The Registry is a great an informative magazine on the Bay Area residential and commercial real estate markets. It was not only an honor, but quite a coincidence that I’ve been able to work with three different writers and contribute to the past three editions of The Registry.

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