Your ex-neighbor at 952 Country Run Dr, Martinez, wants you to know this...
 
If you don't list with me, you will probably lose a lot of your friends! 
My experience with Gordon Allen is two-fold: Gordon was my agent for both the purchase of my home in 2003 and the subsequent sale of that property in 2005. I found Gordon through his web site and have felt very fortunate for that.

Gordon did a wonderful job of finding out my needs in purchasing a house and easily informed me of the realities of my budget, desired location, and timeframe. Gordon was quickly able to fine tune the search for properties in a difficult market to my individual preferences and this led to the home I owned for 2 years.

When it came time for me to sell my home, I thought of no one else but Gordon Allen to represent me. He had been an excellent trusted advisor in the purchase of my home and I felt certain he would do just as good a job in helping me sell. I was absolutely correct.

I informed Gordon of my intent to sell and he quickly ascertained my goals for the sale. While working over the weekend, Gordon put together research on the housing market in my neighborhood including pricing history, comparable recent sales, and a marketing plan. Gordon showed me that the most recent sales in my development had been severely under priced and the market would bear a higher price. All of these turned out to be very important.

After presenting his research to me, Gordon listed the property at the price we had decided on. The home had at least one showing a day--indicating a competitive price point--and I accepted an offer in the price range we had aimed for two weeks after listing the property.

Gordon has made the process of both buying and selling a home very smooth and easy. I cannot recommend him enough to anyone who is purchasing or selling a home in the SF Bay Area.

Michael McCarthy
mailto:mmccarth@pacbell.net
There's a national advertising slogan from the National Association of REALTORS stating that you'll get the MAXIMUM price if you List with a REALTOR.
 
Well, not all REALTORS are the same, as you probably already know. Please, oh please, don't list with "a friend" or an acquaintance who just happens to be in real estate. HIRE someone who will be 100% business and your pocket book will thank you. Michael already knew (and I confirmed and later proved) that an "area specialist" broker had been under-selling homes in his subdivision (see his email above).
 
As I usually do before listing a property for sale, I thoroughly analyzed the market, and I recommended a price far exceeding the amount my Seller thought possible. He thought his value was somewhere around $535,000. After all, he had just received a drive-by appraisal of $528,000. Well, I recommended a price of $575,000 to $625,000. We ended up selling the home in 13 days at $615,000.
 
After a few years of receiving junk mail and many "gifts" (aka bribes) from "area specialists," my seller really got sick of it all.
 
He wasn't fooled. He knew who to list with - me, Gordon Allen.
 
The day before it sold, one agent came in with a ridiculously low offer, using 2 month old comps (which again were under-priced sales by the "local area specialist") and tried to convince us his offer was a good one (it was $560,000). The very next day, it happened - the offer the Seller and I knew would come in arrived.
 
The value, as I saw it, wasn't based on the immediate subdivision market activity (because they've been grossly under-priced and under-sold), but on sales data of a nearby subdivision and throughout the entire city. I used simple logic to determine the fair market value of Michael's home.
 
If I don't tell you neighbors about these facts, the other "area specialist" will continue under-pricing your homes, and you won't even know it.
 
This isn't new. I've seen "area specialists" under-price homes all over the bay area since I started in 1982. Just some quick examples of subdivisions I have succeeded in reversing this trend in, are...
 
Concord's Clayton Valley Highlands in 1984-1986
Concord's Sun Terrace from 1985-1988
Pleasant Hill's Diablo Valley Estates, from 1989 through 1993.
San Ramon's Bollinger Canyon Estates from 1990-1993.
And starting in 1990, I started listing and selling homes all over the bay area, including the rest of Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Marin, and Solano Counties.
 
I started this website in 1995 with the hope that I wouldn't have to send out junk mail ever again. I don't have much time to really market myself, because I am busy re-listing properties that other agents have failed to sell. Well, I for the 1st time in 10-12 years, I just sent a batch of mail out to west contra costa homeowners. Since 1994, I have only sold individual homes of Sellers who have FIRED their broker and HIRED me. And then I just do nothing afer that with the neighbors. The nieghbors have been oblivious to what I did for that seller. With the internet being more widely accessed by people since the mid 1990's, I hope you are now reading this so you really know what's going on.
 
A Few Words on Pricing: This estimating of market values is a process that can highly fluctuate between appraisers and real estate agents and brokers, because it usually is very complex & detailed. So, who are you to believe and list with? Just call me and find out. I simply look at the broader marketplaces, not just in your immediate area of the subject property, to analyze the data to help me advise the maximum price a Seller can get in a reasonable amount of time. I believe I am more careful in advising clients on pricing than the majority of my competition. I've proven it throughout the 80's, 90's and now in the 2000's. Only thing is, no one will tell you this, except me and my past clients.
 
I'll probably be around for the next 20 years, so keep that postcard and call me when ready!
Call me at 1-800-837-3999