Fremont Real Estate and Beyond

Happy New Year! My amazing Escrow Officer, Jennifer Thayer, put together this graph to summarize who pays for what in 2019 as there have been a ton of changes that went into effect.  Feel free to DM me if you have any questions!

On April 5, 2018, the jury in a second trial ruled in favor of the listing salesperson and Coldwell Banker on all claims in a square footage case. This is the second jury to exonerate the listing salesperson and broker in the same matter. Billionaire Horiike bought a large Malibu house for $12.25 million in 2007. Although he admitted not reading any of the documents containing varying square footage such as permits, disclosures, public records, architectural drawings, he claimed the “approximate square footage” of 15,000 square feet on a flyer was a misrepresentation and a breach of the listing salesperson’s fiduciary duty. The first jury held in favor of the broker and the listing salesperson on intentional and negligent misrepresentation claims. The judge had dismissed the breach of fiduciary duty claim against the broker that was based solely on the listing salesperson’s actions as the buyer’s salesperson, also licensed with Coldwell Banker, was not named. In 2016, the Ca...

For any agents out there--it could someone from any country, so be on the lookout! A person claiming to live in China will contact an agent and ask to purchase property in the area. The person will entice the agent with a request to write an offer and get the transaction open. They claim they will be in the U.S. for the closing. They also will ask to recommend an attorney to assist with the review of documents and assist with the transaction. After they get a referral from the agent they will contact the attorney and state they were referred by the agent. They will ask for help on the transaction. The attorney will probably ask for a retainer agreement and amount to be placed in trust with the attorney. After some prodding, the person from China will have a check delivered to the attorneys’ office drawn on a British Columbia Bank and allegedly paid through Wells Fargo in the U.S.—a process used in the past and not used so much today because of wire transfers. The check will be for f...

The CEO of Redfin interviewed with Kai Ryssdal at Marketplace for their Corner Office podcast.  It was really interesting to see what my alma mater is up to, and even more interesting that they still aren't profitable.

It's been great running Cheung Homes, but I've decided to join forces with Movoto Real Estate to help expand their in-house brokerage.  I'll still be running this blog to provide info on the local market, but if you need to contact me, my email will be now be jcheung@movoto.com. Same exceptional service and quick response, but now with more support behind me to help even more people.

A sweeping federal lawsuit is accusing Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), of neglecting foreclosure properties in predominantly minority neighborhoods but not in predominantly white neighborhoods.  This lawsuit may put Brokers and Real Estate Agents who listed these properties in the crosshairs of the Fair Housing Act. More info-- https://www.inman.com/2016/12/06/sweeping-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-against-fannie-mae-could-have-repercussions-for-agents-and-brokers/

I mentioned earlier in September  about how 2 Coldwell Banker agents represented a buyer and seller in a transaction and there was a discrepancy in the square footage.  The buyer sued Coldwell Banker and the agents.  The heart of the question was, does the listing agent owe a fiduciary duty to the buyer and since Coldwell Banker is the brokerage to both the buyer and seller? The answer is YES.  There are a lot of ramifications to this decision and we will have to see how things pan out. Case Summary and decision-- http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S218734.PDF

Propublica published a report about the ability of Realtors and Sellers to exclude potential buyers by race when advertising on Facebook.  This is a very serious violation of the Fair Housing Act and I hope they change it.   https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-lets-advertisers-exclude-users-by-race

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2016releases/horiikecase Dual agency in real estate transactions case to be heard by California Supreme Court today The California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 7 in a case, Horiike v. Coldwell Banker , that is being closely followed by the real estate industry, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said. “At its core, the Horiike case is an issue of a buyer not reading all of the information that was presented to him, but Horiike is trying to turn a normal disclosure case into an agency case,” said C.A.R. President Pat “Ziggy” Zicarelli. “Some groups may believe that dual agency should be outlawed and want to use this case for that premise or as a stepping stone to that end.” In the case, a homebuyer, Hiroshi Horiike purchased a mansion in Malibu, Calif., and worked with a Beverly Hills, Coldwell Banker real estate licensee. The property was listed by a Coldwell Banker licensee in another off...

In an interesting move, Redfin has decided to decrease/eliminate the 15% rebate to buyers when they use a Partner Agent--agents that work with Redfin but are not employed by them.  For properties over $200k, the rebate will be a flat $500, anything under $200k will not receive anything. More info here-- https://www.inman.com/2016/01/05/redfin/

I get a lot of inquiries and then complaints from buyers and sellers about inaccurate/old information posted on third party websites. The agreement between he National Association of Realtors and its wholly owned subsidiary, Realtors Property Resource, to sign a technology agreement with UPSTREAM aims to decrease/eliminate this issue.  UPSTREAM is a revolutionary industry-owned and controlled data management company which will develop a cross-industry, state-of-the-art platform for real estate data entry, collection, and distribution for real estate brokers. More info-- http://newsletter.rismedia.com/news/alert/21948/83234

Great video was created by the local MLS to let consumers know the difference between these 2 types of agents who help them in their home buying/selling process. 

The Consumer Protection Finance Bureau has extended the "Know Before Your Owe" changes to the lending disclosures to October.  More details are here-- http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-two-month-extension-of-know-before-you-owe-effective-date/

Zillow is trying to compete with Docusign, the main source of electronic signatures for Realtors in California. More details are here-- http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/22/zillow-acquires-dotloop-an-e-signing-service-for-real-estate-agents/

Xome, a subsidiary of NationStar Mortgage just launched a few days ago and is ready to compete with the likes of Redfin for online presence, real estate data, and user search interface.  They key difference is that Xome doesn't have Realtor's on their payroll (they are affiliated with agents in the area), so they can expand more quickly and have more in-house data to provide the consumer. One good thing about Redfin is that it has an amazing back end software system that make transactions for both the buyer and seller quite smooth and it keeps the Realtor on top of the clients they are servicing.  There are competitors like Amitree, which has some kinks, so Xome is a welcome competitor. I'll let you know how Xome's software compares with their competitors! More info about Xome-- http://www.stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2015/06/09/xomesm-launches-new-platform-to-transform-consumer-real-estate

So many interesting cases are coming from outside of California! Trelora, a brokerage based in Denver was told by their MLS to stop posting what the sellers are compensating the buyers agents. Buyers are not affected by this since the seller traditionally pays the commission for both the buyer and listing agents.  Sellers, on the other hand, get to see what the "going rate" is to compensate the buyers agent.  Agents have a fiduciary duty to whomever they represent.  So if a buyer falls in love with a home where the seller chooses to compensate the buyer's agent with a flat fee, will the agent say to the buyer, "I can't represent you because my compensation is too low"? Some unethical agents may, but I would never do it. My clients happiness comes first and foremost before my compensation!