Posts Tagged ‘intero real estate’

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Luxury Insider: Facebook vs. Greece

By Alain Pinel | May 23rd, 2012 0 Comments

Do you believe in Santa Claus? I do. I did not when I was a kid, but now I do. I have to. I am so sick and tired of the dull-to-bleak-to-depressing news about the economy that I am now looking to Santa for help. He might as well do something for the adults for a change. Kids cannot have everything. Not in my house anyway.

Today, Santa looks a bit like Mark Zuckerberg. Forget about the beard and the red stuff. Don’t personally know the guy –although he lives a few minutes away-, but I like what he can do for the grown-ups. He can make us believe that people can still make the difference, no matter how badly our political leaders can mess up our affairs. He can bring back the invigorating will of success, the excitement of creating and winning. We used to call that the American spirit.

I know that the stock has been heckled a bit since Day 1, “morning after” syndrome I guess. So what? This IPO thing is still giant and should be celebrated as such, rather than described by some blasé and hard to please commentators as a dud. Everything is relative, to say the least. Are we losing our common sense? As we say in my old country: “Let’s not be more royalist than the king!”

If I were to write a serious book today, I would title it “Facebook vs. Greece”. That’s the 2012 version of “Ambition vs. Complacency”, or “Standing up vs. Laying down”, or “Making money for others vs. Burning other people’s money”. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Greece (or I am afraid to tell) but I was trained to always propose a solution whenever confronted with a problem. Here is my recommendation and my silent prayer to Santa Zuckerberg: “Mark, listen to me, buy Greece, make it a resort for the employees or something like that, today the price is good, you don’t have to say I am the one who told you.”

I have been preparing for the big IPO. I am now waiting for the Facebook lottery winners to buy some nice homes over the next few months. A Realtor friend of mine, someone who is nearly always right when he agrees with me, tried to temper my enthusiasm (should I say my expectations?), suggesting that many new techie millionaires were the subdued type and might not buy a bunch of pricey homes when they finally clear their cash. Well, I’m not sure I buy that.

When a guy wakes up with, say, $50M in his back pocket, I don’t care how subdued he is, he buys real estate. He might put half, that is $25M aside to create another Facebook, but I guarantee that he will put much of the left over on a nice pad with a roof on top….$25M can still buy a decent home in the US!

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The Luxury Insider: The Top Guns are Back!

By Alain Pinel | March 7th, 2012 0 Comments

Can any agent sell a multi million dollar residential property? Theoretically Yes… Practically: not readily, aside from “accidental” business. It takes a very special person who can relate to the client and the subject property at that level. Not every agent can play the part and be a maestro at comfortably managing the entire transaction with the clients’ trust.

There are lots of Realtors, thousands of them just in the heart of the Silicon Valley. I feel fortunate knowing a good portion of them and I would not hesitate to say that most of them are very good at what they do, irrespective of the company affiliation. They are smart, knowledgeable and genuinely devoted to serving their clients and customers to the best of their ability. They do care about their fiduciary duties.

That, of course, does not mean that they are equal and interchangeable. Some are better than others. This is especially noticeable in the high end.

If I were to generalize a little, I would say that there are three classic levels of real estate professionals. Some gravitate from one to another during the course of their career, while some get stuck in the same box if they cannot or don’t care to change their profile. Here is the picture, painted with a very big brush to make the point:

  • The Average Agent: Sincere, friendly and committed to the principal’s satisfaction, but usually a train too late in a fast market to be truly effective and therefore successful. Typically, he/she waits too long to preview the new listings when they are fresh on the market. When they are finally ready to see them, at the weekly brokers’ tour or when they have an opportunity to show them to a customer, those listings are often already under contract.
  • The Better Agent: Energized, mobilized, he/she knows and keeps current with the inventory of active listings, understands market trends and the menu of mortgage options….But most of them are just waiting for the office phone to ring. They rely on what may fall from the sky rather than the business they could generate on their own. They don’t prospect much and they don’t promote themselves in the local media. The result is predictable: they don’t have listings and they have a hard time finding buyers.
  • The Great Agent: They are ready 24/7. When the phone rings, they answer. No time to listen to voicemail. They “own” the market. They know every street and nearly every house within their “farming” area. They know who bought what, when & how. They know the owners’ names and, most of the time, the people behind the names. They are the top guns. They are back. Not that they ever left; they just relish this challenging yet exciting market in the high end.  Who worries about a listings drought and tight credit when you know the people who would agree to sell their luxury property given the right price and the buyers who can pay cash to buy it?

There are only a few superstars in each marketplace, mostly in very affluent towns or districts. They know each other very well and like to work between themselves, in spite of the different company flags.  If a $25 million listing comes on the market, chances are it belongs to one of them, and chances are one of them will sell it. Often those upscale listings never hit the MLS. They sell within the “club”. The top guns know best how to leverage their company’s marketing & technology strengths to complement their own. They are so powerful that you would think they are “making the high end market” instead of merely adapting to it better than others. No, they are just smelling the market before anybody does and pricing properties based on their anticipation of the traditional tango of supply & demand. Want one example? While today most agents are waiting for the Facebook IPO around May to sell real estate to the new millionaires who will be good enough to stop by the office, the top guns have established contact with hundreds of them long ago. There is no substitute for preparation, organization, focus and ambition. That’s life in the fast lane.

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Intero Insider: Mandated Down Payments Unfairly Impact Buyers in High-Cost Areas

By Gino Blefari | February 15th, 2012 0 Comments

The issue of mandated down payments is back in the spotlight as a recently released study found that requiring by law a minimum down payment of 20% would have a dramatic, negative short-term impact on the housing market. The study, released by the Center for Responsible Lending at the University of North Carolina, found that implementing such a mandate would push out 60% of would-be home buyers from the market.

As you can imagine, the topic has garnered criticism from both sides. While many say that requiring a minimum down payment would be better for homeowners and the economy as a whole by protecting us from defaults and stemming foreclosures, others say that it unfairly bumps out otherwise qualified home buyers. And the delicate state of the market in many areas would feel an impact from such a move.

What’s my take? I think a “back to basics” approach to housing in general is a good thing. Would-be buyers should be willing to put their own skin in the game so to speak for many reasons. For one, they’ll be starting out their ownership journey on a much better financial foot – namely, they likely won’t be ruined by the first financial curve ball that may come their way. Secondly, the more you put down the better your loan terms so the overall cost of ownership actually does decrease in most instances.

The problem though is high-cost areas like our very own Silicon Valley and the Bay Area in general. Twenty percent is no small feat for most of our local buyers, considering the median cost of a home across the Bay Area is currently around $351,000, according to DataQuick. That’s $70,200 in cash that a buyer would need, which doesn’t even include closing costs – which we’ll estimate would be another $10,000-$12,000. And let’s be realistic: that median price is quite optimistic for most people’s situations. To get a home in a safe and secure neighborhood with good schools, we’re talking much higher for most of our cities.

This is why I think a blanket minimum down payment mandate is potentially dangerous. It could seriously polarize the market in high-cost areas, leaving many otherwise qualified would-be home buyers out in the cold. And that just doesn’t feel right.

In addition, a lower down payment doesn’t always translate to loan defaults and foreclosures. How else could you explain the existence and longevity in the FHA loan program, which enables qualified buyers to buy with much less cash down?

Thankfully, while the standards for the bill that would put this mandate in place will be heavily debated over the next year, we’re not likely to see anything implemented in 2012. We can thank the election for that as politicians historically have shied away from such hot-button housing policies that have the potential to polarize voters.

I do expect this will be talked about though, and it’s not going to just go away. But if you’re in the market to buy a home in a high-cost area and don’t have the 20% in cash, you can consider it another reason to move quickly!

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The Luxury Market and Facebook’s IPO

By Teressa Francis | February 2nd, 2012 0 Comments

Last night, The Business Journal posted articles about some of the exciting changes happening in Luxury Real Estate and the effect of Facebook’s IPO on the market.  Who did they ask for expert advice; Intero Real Estate Services.  Check out what we had to say.

Facebook ripple effect projected on Silicon Valley homes

Silicon Valley luxury home market flat in 2011

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Luxury Insider: Walking the Talk in the High End

By Alain Pinel | February 1st, 2012 3 Comments

I don’t know if real estate companies are created equal but they sure don’t evolve the same way after birth. Some remain small although they would like to be big and some big ones may be nostalgic thinking of the days when they carried less fat. All of them, irrespective of size, are only as good as the weight they can lift, or, to put it in real estate terms, the power they can demonstrate to properly market a home.

Marketing a home today is not just a question of good intentions and noble promises. It’s a question of means. As a real estate company, you have them or you don’t.

Take a very pricey estate for example. What are the Sellers’ expectations when choosing an agent? Well, they want the Realtor to use diligence in trying to produce a financially qualified buyer ASAP. It seems simple enough. It used to be somewhat easier in the old days because we were looking for buyers in our own backyard so to speak. The promotion of the property rarely went beyond the regional boundaries. Well, at the risk of hurting the feelings of some brokers, this is not quite enough in the high end. Not even close.

In the high end, looking for a buyer is no small task. There are only so many people who can play in that league. The challenge is to find them since, otherwise, they may not find the house, and we might not sell it. How do you go about searching for buyers since you don’t know who they are and you don’t know where they live?  Well, It is entirely possible that buyers who can afford the property live nearby. After all, we are in Silicon Valley country where money grows on trees it seems like when the market is good. But it is just as possible -if not more likely- that the buyers are from Los Angeles, or New York, or London, or Dubai, or Hong Kong, or Moscow, etc.

Now, ask yourself: knowing the above, what should you really expect from the agent you will need to trust with the marketing of your luxury property? Here is a list of questions to ask: Where will the house be showcased to maximize the opportunities to connect with prospective buyers? Can the agent, or rather his company, actually do what they say? Do they have the necessary technology tools? The marketing services? Do they have a specific high end marketing program? If yes, what does it entail? Are they affiliated with a global network of specialized brokers covering all continents?

Last bottom line question: Do they really have the power & the money to do what may be required to do the job?

These are reasonable questions. Frankly I am amazed that some homeowners in the most coveted zip codes are not considering them when signing a listing agreement. Having a nice & seemingly impressive agent is wonderful but can he walk the talk? Your call.

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Alain Pinel Is Back In Town…

By Teressa Francis | January 3rd, 2012 0 Comments

Intero Real Estate Services, Inc. the obvious choice for industry icon

(Cupertino, CA January 3, 2012) – Alain Pinel, the renowned real estate entrepreneur whose name is on the façade of a leading national real estate company, has returned to Northern California and will serve as Senior Vice President and Managing Officer of Intero Real Estate Services, a premier real estate brokerage company headquartered in the Silicon Valley.

In his new role, Pinel will use his experience and past success in facilitating Intero’s Estate and Luxury markets, nationally and internationally.

“I have a passion for this business”, said Pinel, “I am excited to begin a new project with an outstanding brokerage and a progressive leadership team. I look forward to joining forces with Intero and working with their Luxury Brand.”

Pinel’s 30 years in the real estate business have made him a leader with a solid track record for success:

  • In the ’80s, while EVP and General Manager of Fox & Carskadon, then the largest residential real estate firm in the area, the firm tripled its volume of sales (over $3B) and emerged as one of the top companies in the country as well as a regional high-end real estate leader.
  • In 1990, as founder, chairman and CEO of Alain Pinel Realtors, he reinvented the marketing of high-end properties around international advertising and state-of-the-art technology, before selling the firm to his two partners to spend a few years in Europe.
  • Through the end of 1994, Alain Pinel was in Paris, in charge of the commercial activities of Sefimeg, the largest real estate entity listed on the French stock exchange with a portfolio of over 9,000 apartments and 3 million square feet of leased commercial space.
  • In 1995, Coldwell Banker brought him back to California. As SVP for the San Francisco, Peninsula & Silicon Valley region until 2002, Pinel put incredible new records on the books for the company with a sales volume of $13 billion in 2000 and 14,000 closed residential sales.
  • In 2002, together with three partners, he founded Imminence, a start-up that changed the way real estate is done in France and neighboring countries.  With a core business built around the MLS system, he provided a menu of marketing, financial and productivity tools to the industry.
  • From 2008 to the Fall of 2011, while SVP & General Manager in Massachusetts for William Raveis, the 10th largest real estate firm in the U.S., the company saw its market share jump 50%. It was voted “Best real estate company in Massachusetts” four years in a row.

Mr. Pinel is also a former VP of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation in Northern California, and former VP of the French-American Chamber of Commerce.

“We are thrilled to have Alain Pinel as part of the Intero team”, said Intero Real Estate Services Founder, President & CEO Gino Blefari. “Alain is a seasoned real estate veteran with tremendous knowledge and experience in the industry and we look forward to having his expertise added to our Estate and Luxury market strategy.  His extraordinary level of professionalism will continue to lead and expand the Intero brand as a household name locally and abroad.”

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Intero at the 2011 N.A.R. Expo

By Teressa Francis | November 22nd, 2011 0 Comments

We were very excited to showcase for the first time at the 2011 Realtors® Conference & Expo on November 11-14th in Anaheim, CA! Our booth was modeled after our contemporary and fresh concept of a real estate office reinvented, known as Andare.

At NAR we were able to spread the word about Intero to people from around the world, as well as keep everyone informed online with a LIVE STREAM of conversations between our leaders and leaders we met at the convention on our Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, helped and showed their support!

Check out some photos from the weekend:

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Intero Insider: Study Spotlights Bay Area College Towns for Investing

By Gino Blefari | September 6th, 2011 0 Comments

While the real estate and economic news is often bleak these days – no new jobs in the latest national report, persistent foreclosures, softening values and slower sales – the reality is that now is a great time to take advantage of the lows. This is especially true for investors.

An interesting report from ZipRealty last week tackled an age-old question in real estate investing: Are college towns better investments for landlords? The study included data pulled for Berkeley compared with the East Bay in general, Palo Alto compared with the South Bay in general, and Cambridge, Mass., compared with Boston in general.

In each case, the college town proved to be a much better real estate bet. In Berkeley, home to the University of California, the median price-per-square foot for homes sold doubled that for the East Bay as a whole for almost two years. This is no big surprise to anyone who’s tried to buy a home in Berkeley over the last few years; the market has been just as fierce for the most part as that the rest of the country felt back in 2004.

In terms of market distribution, though, Berkeley showed more market-priced sales than distressed ones compared with the East Bay as a whole. While this shows stability, distressed sales are often the sweet spot investors need to really make waves.

In Palo Alto, home to Stanford University, the data showed a similar story. The median price-per-square foot for homes sold doubled that for the South Bay as a whole for almost two years. Palo Alto also had a much higher distribution of market-priced sales than distressed sales.

College towns can be great investments for the real estate-minded. A steady influx of young twentysomethings attending school makes for a steady supply of renters. These renters usually have financial support of some kind as well, making them reliable sources of income.

However, a university alone isn’t a great gauge of whether or not to invest in one town over another. Berkeley, for instance, is infamous for its restrictive rent stabilization laws, which can quickly become a landlord’s biggest nemesis. College towns are also much more transient than other towns – so that steady influx of potential renters also means constant turnover, which can eat into profits.

One other thing that may turn the “college towns are great places to invest” theory on its head is a way investing Warren Buffet lives by – the best investments are those that no one else is paying attention to. Buffet says (about stocks), “The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.”

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From luxury to bank-owned, a review of this summer’s real estate market

By Teressa Francis | August 30th, 2011 1 Comment

This Intero Insider – Video Series brings you Dominic Nicoli, one of our top real estate agents at Intero Real Estate Services from the Los Altos office. He speaks candidly with Intero COO Tom Tognoli and shares his insight and projections on today’s real estate market from luxury real estate to foreclosures – where we have been, where we are now, and where we are headed.

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Intero Insider: Why We Love Our Homes

By Gino Blefari | August 9th, 2011 0 Comments

I caught a recent episode of “Louie” on FX. It’s the humor series based on the stand-up comedy of Louis C.K. This show is often funny – painfully funny. And sometimes it’s just painful because the observations are pretty dead on, unapologetic and completely honest.

In this particular episode, Louie decides he’s ready to move from the apartment he once lived in with his ex-wife. He goes out looking for suitable rental properties in New York City for himself and his girls, who live with him part-time. Of course, after several trips through some bad places and a few bait-and-switch ads, he becomes exhausted – until he stumbles upon a townhouse for sale.

This is where the show goes from realistic to hyperbolic. The scene reminds me of what it might look like to take the collective conscience of America during the 10-year run-up in housing prices and play it out in front of an audience. See, it wasn’t just any townhouse; it was a $17 million townhouse. And Louie of course, while famous, is not exactly part of the crowd that can afford to buy such a place.

Louie then becomes determined to buy this place. He is consumed by the idea that this house will make his girls happy, and make everything fall into place in his miserable life. Never mind the fact that he only has $7,000 in the bank. Never mind the fact that that $7,000 isn’t even one-tenth of one monthly mortgage payment. He wants the house.

But, why?

I believe it’s because homes are more than the walls they’re made of – more than the investment of many years of hard work. Real estate isn’t just a market; it’s a state of mind. Homes are deeply connected to the life we live. This is why all buyers will “imagine” themselves living in a particular home when they go to see it, and why they try to think about what life would be like within those walls. This is why it was so easy to get in over your head during the days of loose lending. This is why foreclosure is so emotionally draining.

A home is a future, a present and a past. It’s a living thing. It’s where we feel attached to life, where we dream and where we plan for what’s next.

As for Louie – his show isn’t the type to slap on a happy ending. He didn’t buy the house. He merely told the real estate agent that he would buy that house, and instead went back home and repainted his apartment with his daughters. He already had it.

That episode for me said something really profound about where we live – the places we call home. The connection and what’s inside are the most important aspects of any real estate deal.

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