Habitat for Hermanity: Your Real Estate Infotainment...Where Housing Hilarity Ensues! San Francisco Bay Area Realtor Herman Chan

Fact or Fiction: Gays Increase Housing Prices?

1/9/2012

image via http://goo.gl/v2Gcl

POPQUIZ: How do you increase your property value? Remodel your kitchen, add a 2nd story, build an in-law? WRONG! You add a gay! A study due out in March 2012 by the Journal of Urban Economics says so. It's a fancy multi-syllabic name, so you know it is true.

"In areas where 59% or more voted against the marriage act -- in other words, more liberal areas -- the number of same-sex households was associated with a rise in home values. In areas that voted more vehemently for the marriage act -- considered more conservative neighborhoods -- housing prices dropped when same-sex households increased," writes author Eric Jaffe.

Glad they did a chichi study and all, but umm just take a stroll down Castro, Weho, Toronto, Chelsea, Tel Aviv, yadda yadda and you don't need a study to know it's true!

EXTRA CREDIT: Which gay-borhood is this photo?

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Guilty Bank Gets "Punished" with Microscopic Fine: It's Not HSBC. It's HSBS!

1/9/2012

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HSBC has been found guilty of negotiating in bad faith against Emiliano Pasillas, a Reno homeowner seeking foreclosure mediation. Nevada judge "reprimands" HSBC with a whopping $2500 in fines. Wow. Anyone who thinks the system isn't slanted towards big banks is delusional! For a big international bank like HSBC, $2500 is not even pennies. It's pesos for them! Adios!

Symbolically, this is a victory for the little guy. But in the grand scheme, what is the incentive for banks to behave if the judicial system just rolls their eyes at them?

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Celeb Housing News: ScarJo's Mama, Emmanuel Lewis & Cal Worthington in Hot Water!

1/9/2012

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***Scarjo's mama tries to back out for real estate purchase. She pulled out of a deal to buy a NY apartment min-contract citing that she's poor now that Scarlett Johansson dumped her as a manager. Unfortunately, the sellers ain't buying' dat baloney & won't give her back her $130,000 deposit. Look, if you are gonna withdraw from a deal, at least pick a believable excuse!

***Oh no! TMZ.com reports Emmanuel Lewis (of Webster fame, in case any of you youngsters don't know!) just lost his Georgia house to foreclosure! It sold at auction for a mere $56,000. He owed $44,081.41 in back taxes. When you owe as much in back taxes as your house is almost worth, I don't blame ya for walking'! Good luck Emmanuel!

***Car dealership tycoon, Cal Worthington, aims to divorce his wife. Despite a pre-nup which makes no such claim, she asserts his $3.25M Beverly Hills Mansion belongs to her b/c it was his wedding gift to her! What kind of man gives his wife his primary residence as a gift of matrimony! She's grasping at straws!

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Crooked Ex-Realtor Robs Open House in Posh SF Suburb! Busted by Tween's Webcam!

1/7/2012

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Douglas John Calandrella

Tsk Tsk!

Shame Shame Shame! This louse gives us all a bad rap! This serial thief abused his real estate license by stealing from homes on the market. He gained access with his lockbox key. He targeted upscale suburbs outside of San Francisco. He'd been arrested years before for the same crime but apparently he was at it again. Luckily, a 12 year old's webcam caught him red-handed!!

I pulled up Disciplinary Action from the California Department of Real Estate. Apparently, his license was "outright revoked" July 5, 2011. See below

If your house is for sale, please remove all valuables. Take inventory before and after each showing/open house. Be sure your realtor installs a lockbox that logs who enters and at what times. (Combo locks won't suffice)...and I ain't telling you to spy but I suppose it can't hurt to leave your tween's webcam rolling!

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Celeb Housing News: Paris, Khloe & Lamar, Tiger Wood's Ex, Dan Cortese

1/7/2012

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image courtesy of Hollyscoop.com

***Shocker! No sign of pink anywhere in Paris' pad! Rent Paris Hilton's b/w Hollywood pad for just $16,000/mo (pennies to Paris who told FHM Mag she made $1.3B since 2005). Tidbit: It's listed by her uncle Mauricio Umansky from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

***Girlfrien' has gotz 2 much dough! Tiger Woods ex-wife Elin Nordegren razes her $12M North Palm Beach Mansion to build a new one!

***E! reveals Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom (soon to be dubbed Khlo'mar by tabloids) just signed a lease for a 2bd lux condo at the W Hotel in Dallas. Clearly the E! publicity machine is in full swing for their new season!

***1990's VJ Dan Cortese is getting a divorce...and you know what that means, right? Gotta unload the house! Their $3M Malibu house is now for sale! Who cares why they're splitting, I wanna know how does someone who hasn't worked in decades afford a $3M property?!

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Houdini Garage Door in San Francisco

1/5/2012

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Secret Garage Door

Now you see it, now you don't! Nothing ruins the architectural look of a beautiful Victorian gem than a rickety suburban garage door. That is one of the drawbacks of putting in garage parking in really old homes (They didn't have SUV's back then!) Look what this creative owner did to preserve the exterior facade of his house. His automatic garage door seamlessly matches the rest of the building. No more architectural anachronism! Full story here.

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How to Promote Yourself as a Real Estate Agent

1/5/2012

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According to the National Association of Realtor's latest info from Oct 2011, there are 1,024,669 Realtors in the United States. Seems like a substantial number but let's not kid ourselves folks! A lot of these peeps are part timers. And many of these are older agents trying to catch up to real estate in 2012. (Average age of a realtor is 56, while the average home buyer is 31.) It's often quoted amongst us real estate professionals that 80% of the business is done by 20% of the agents. If you happen to be that 20%, then good for you. You may skip this video!

But if you are just eking out a living in real estate, you wanna promote yourself differently in 2012. Ditch those cheesy calendars & tacky magnets. I've never heard of a seller who decided to list their house with an agent because they found her name on a Safeway shopping cart (aka "cartvertising"...yes, it's a real thing!). Watch my new video for eHow for some promotion suggestions. It's a new year, try something new!

Stop moonlighting at other jobs to make ends meet. Commit to going full force hocking homes! I know you can do it! Have a prosperous exciting 2012!

How to Promote Yourself as a Real Estate Agent -- powered by ehow

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Hermanity Works the Red Carpet in NY & LA.

1/4/2012

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Had a ball making appearances on both coasts as one of Instinct Magazine's Leading Men of 2011 with some LGBTQ glitterati Mike Ruiz (A-List), Reichen (Amazing Race), Darryl Stephens (Noah's Arc), etc. More pix here: New York Bash & Hollywood Bash. How many celebs can you spot? I'm horrible with faces and names so I dare not try to ID anyone. Some people mistook me for Lloyd from Entourage or Alec Mapa?! (I suppose to some folks, we all look alike! Groan...)

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Sold & Principal Magazine Said the Sweetest Things About Me for their Editors Picks 2011 List

1/1/2012

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Sold & Principal Magazine (Australia's premier real estate publication) takes a walk down memory lane w/ me in their recap of memorable moments from 2011. Hope your readers got a kick out of me & my tips!