Friday the 13th and it felt like it at the Valley Marketing Association today at Tommy T's in Pleasanton, CA. The VMA is usually rockin' and rollin' but Stephen Bullock, our audio visual specialist was missing so all we had to spark us today was the coffee - it ain't gourmet!

The highlight of the meeting for me was the presentation by the Valley Humane Society. The VHS has a lot happening and they are changing their entire look and branding. Their also raising money for a new building. Hopefully, I'll get more details on this for a future post.

Today's listings included:

4121 Stanley Boulevard, Pleasanton

7116 Cross Creek #D, Dublin

3231 Vineyard Avenue #120, Pleasanton

7821 Oxbowl Lane, Dublin

2629 Fountainhead Drive, Danville

2131 Vineyard Avenue #136, Pleasanton

2588 Wilde Avenue, Pleasanton

3231 Vineyard Avenue #120, Pleasanton

139 Winward Common #1, Livermore

4303 Clarinbridge Circle, Dublin

5105 Watkings Way, Antioch

2951 Penny Lane, Brentwood

2112 Portside Court, Discovery Bay

1050 Amanda Circle, Brentwood

The Harper Team can assist you with the purchase of these or any other properties in the East Bay area. We offer a Buyer's Guarantee and a Client Satisfaction Guarantee. We keep our clients informed as we work to move transactions forward while reducing the hassle-factor and stress for our clients.

Valley Marketing Association meeting today at Tommy T's in Pleasanton, CA. The association is comprised of Realtors, real estate agents, and other professionals associated with the real estate industry.

Today's meeting went smoothly except for someone spilling the beans abut my birthday and me having to stand on stage while a hundred people sang. If you know who ratted me out, let me know and I'll buy lunch!

As with the RMA meeting yesterday in San Ramon, this group from Pleasanton and Dublin, were much relieved to here that sexual offender, Daniel Duran, is behind bars. The bad news is that his bail is said to be around $6K so he may not be there long.

If you looked at our weekly MLS stats today, you know that the Danville market is heating up more than San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton. Studying the stats helps to emphasize that there are major differences in community real estate market trends.

Todays new listings included:

• 1089 Wesley Court #6, Walnut Creek
• 7776 Topaz Circle, Dublin
• 40530 Chapel Way, Freemont
• 23031 Kingsford Way, Hayward
• 1599 Oslo Court, Livermore
• 4348 Central Parkway, Dublin
• 1356 Downie Point Drive, Brentwood
• 1636 Holly Circle, Pleasanton
• 4099 Oak Manor Court, Hayward
• 7292 Bedford Way, Dublin
• 7528 Oxford Circle, Dublin

String's Italian Cafe in Livermore, CA is for sale. Located in the Las Positas Center with high traffic exposure on Livermore Avenue and Las Positas. I think Dean Guadani should buy this one.

A special thanks to this month's sponsor: Diversified Capital.

Today was a real lightweight day at the Valley Marketing Association in Pleasanton, CA. Roy Dronkers and I weighed in after three weeks on our weight loss programs. Between us, we've lost about 15 pounds. The pressure is building though, I'll have to "Sweat to the Oldies" to put the screws to Roy.

Chi Nguyen, a Stanford sophomore, was a special guest of ours today at Tommy T's. Chi is an accomplished musician that established Viet Nam Youth Projects. 

Viet Nam Youth Projects, the brainchild of Chi and Truc Nguyen, is a series of fundraisers to support children in Viet Nam. Working among the San Francisco Bay Area communities, we're stimulating awareness about global poverty and the cultural connection that persists between the United States and Viet Nam.

Join Chi this Sunday for her 8th Annual Children's Benefit Concert at the Amador Theater 2pm.

This week's new listings included:

• 3035 Crestablanca Drive, Pleasanton
• 5604 Springvale Drive, Dublin
• 2525 Corrie Court, Brentwood
• 6034 Allbrook Circle, Pleasanton
• 7573 May Way, San Ramon
• 5544 Paseo Navarro, Pleasanton
• 2586 Skimmer Court, Pleasanton
• 5888 Annandale Way, Dublin Ranch
• 7528 Oxford Circle, Dublin
• 2988 Lusitana Court, Livermore
• 102 Sonora Avenue, Danville
• 767 Pradera Way, San Ramon
• 4303 Clarinbridge Circle, Dublin Ranch

 The Harper Team can assist you with the purchase of these and any other East Bay properties. Want to keep up on the local real estate markets - go here or here.

Another beautiful Friday, another high impact Valley Marketing Association meeting in Pleasanton at Tommy T's. Roy and Stephen had the stereo pumping up the volume again today. 

Roy nabbed me at the last minute to sit on a panel to discuss agent etiquette. It seems the number of complaints and or comments we are hearing from around the country about real estate agents' lack of courtesy and etiquette is on the rise. Roy scheduled this panel to bring more awareness to the situation locally as the professionals represented by this association want to raise the bar way above the national or state level.

Just yesterday, I wrote a post over on my Active Rain blog addressing this very thing and the last issue of the Contra Costa Association of Realtors newsletter had a front page article on the topic as well. I slipped Roy $10 for putting me on the panel to encourage him to put me in similar surroundings more often. The ten spot is going into the charity fund.

Today's new listings include:

• 7448 Quartz Circle, Dublin
• 5836 Turnberry Drive, Dublin
• 19873 John Drive, Castro Valley
• 3240-122 Maguire Way, Dublin
• 7036 York Drive, Dublin
• 8133 Arroyo Drive #1, Pleasanton
• 4168 Wells Street, Pleasanton
• 4330 First Street, Pleasanton

 I think everyone present would agree that the highlight of the meetig was Dick Vesperman's listing presentation. Dick brought in a drummer and a pianist and did a great take-off on New York, New York to present his York Drive listing. If real estate doesn't work out for Dick, there is always Las Vegas.

Next weekend is the GoodGuys All-American Get-Together at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. How do I know this? Because I pick up a copy of the Pleasanton Weekly every Friday at the Valley Marketing Association meeting.

Today's meeting was held in the right venue - Tommy T's Comedy Club - as there seemed to be an unusual number of comics in atendance including Pat Griffin who announced she is listing Tommy T's(in her dreams). The lucky buyer gets a free mobile home. Someone needs to tell Tommy, before it all goes into escrow!

Roy's real estate market update reflects what we're seeing in our MLS graphs. The chart to the right reflects an increase in transactions coming in with multiple offers. The final sales price is not exceeding sales price in most cases, but the multiple offers are helping sellers to get their asking price.

Today's new listings included:

• 3847 Vinyard Avenue #B, Pleasanton
• 2131 Vineyard Avenue #124, Pleasanton
• 3259 Harvey Court, Pleasanton
• 588 Annandale Way, Dublin Ranch
• 3849 Brockton Drive, Pleasanton
• 5471 Black Avenue #2, Pleasanton
• 7218 Moss Tree Way, Pleasanton
• 7292 Bedford Way, Dublin
• 4734 Newhaven Street, Dublin
• 8148 Moller Drive, Pleasanton

It appears that Elizabeth Forth is also being funny - sneaking this pic into my camera. Roy Dronkers and I were discussing Zillow and some of the other Web 2.0 real estate sites. Many Realtors have negative opinons of these new entrants into the real estate industry. My opinion, having had my own Internet marketing and promotion business, is - things change. My advice - read the book I am currently reading - Change or Die.

One organization that looks on the verge of extinction to me is the NAR - National Association of Realtors. In spite of example after example down through history of organizations, companies and industries that tried to stifle change or minimize it to protect their vested interests - the NAR is attempting to do the same with the real estate industry. Their reaction to Zillow is to now offer a Market Snapshot which site visitors can only get if they leave their contact info - a clear indication that the NAR is clearly out of touch with where the Internet is going.