WatchNot too far from where I rent a house, there are these new condos that just opened up. I don't normally waste my time at these open houses, but was curious what the asking price was per sq ft. As usual here in the Bay Area, $500+ per foot. Ouch.
They are nice condos and are in a good area, but not that good!!!
Anyway, the listing agent on-site wanted to know everything about me and what price range I was interested in and how much of a downpayment I had. I told him that I didn't want to answer those questions because I did not have a buyers agent representing me. His response was "you don't need one as I can answer all your questions and I'll make sure you get all the good upgrades".
OK........
The agents name is Chi-Hwa Shao.
I have noticed something about Chinese Realtors. They do not want to share the commission with anyone. The same situation has occured before with other properties that I viewed at open houses.
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Monterey, CA
jvolstad, your posts always crack me up.
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jvolstad;
Welcome to The Fortress.
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joshuatrio says
Glad you like them.
BTW, I was going to go down to Monterey (and Fort Ord) today. Do some whale watching. But not with this rain today. Maybe next weekend.
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jvolstad says
Is it whale watching season already? I usually head down 1 to the Big Sur area for that. Grab a bite to eat at Rocky Point Cafe (they have nice outdoor seating on the cliff) and watch the giants migrate.
BTW, are you in the Bay Area or San Antonio? I recall you were considering purchasing property down in the Lone Star state.
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joshuatrio says
My home is in San Antonio. I work here in the BA as a computer consultant on a long term contract.
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So much for the fortress..
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Burlingame/1493-Oak-Grove-Ave-94010/home/690349
Property History for 1493 OAK GROVE Ave
Date Event Price Appreciation Source
Dec 10, 2011 Listed (Active) $618,888 -- MLSListings #81150071
Dec 10, 2011 Price Changed $618,888 -- San Francisco MLS #391770
Nov 17, 2011 Listed (Active) $688,888 -- San Francisco MLS #391770
Feb 01, 2007 Sold (Public Records) $1,100,000 -- Public Records
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thomas.wong1986 says
I have a co-worker that lives in that neighborhood. I'm not impressed even if it is Burlingame.
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why is thomas so angry about the fortress?
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hardly angry.. it cracks me up when some folks from the East Coast come up with that name... lovely!
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thomas,
I am not from the east coast and I did not come up with The Fortress appellation.
That'd be a different person who used to post on patrick.net. He was from the east coast. Of Asia. Went by the handle OO.
I like to use The Fortress kinda the same as I like to use the ® in Realtor®. I did not come up with these things, I just do backatchya.
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B.A.C.A.H. says
That is right your not the one who came up with the term.
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It's the norm with new larger development. It is a polite way to tell you what you don't know. It has nothing to with ethnicity.
The developer signs a deal with the marketing company, and they do all the marketing and sales function. A buyers agent get minimal to nothing in commission anyway. You can send a buyers agent, chances are they will steer you to something else as this deal has no pay potential.
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thomas.wong1986 says
Fortress? every frog in puddle thinks it is its Fortress. Does Fortress applies to BA only? or it is used for some place else as well. Please enlighten me. :)
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bubblesitter says
I dunno.
OO was referring to the swath between Palo Alto to Saratoga. There's probably similar Fortress Enclaves in other large urban areas along the coast like Vancouver, L.A., etc. In recent years "Mission San Jose" area of Fremont gets a lotta such hype.
Sounds right to me. The dept I work in at a "tech" outfit the engineer colleagues refer to neighborhoods outside of that swath as "bad neighborhoods" and/or areas with "bad schools". The more diplomatic of them will say it a little bit more diplomatically around those of us non-immigrants who reside outside of The Fortress.
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If you give me the MLS # or address I can look the development up and tell you the commission rate and split, if any. These days most developments say "Broker Co op" which means a buyers agent will make a $. Since most short sale commissions are 4% split 4 ways if a developer offers broker co op they will have buyers agents show up with their clients. The most likely explanation is that the listing agent wanted to double end the deal and have a 2 way split.