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Man Whose House is Falling Off a Cliff Says "That's the price you pay for the marvelous view!"

3/28/2013

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Ginormous hole appears in the ground in Washington! 34 homes evacuated but one man has not left! Reporter asks him if he knew the place was prone to landslides when he bought it. He matter of factly responds "That's the price you pay for a marvelous view."  Buying homes on mountains, hills, cliffs gets you amazing vistas....but is it worth the risk? For some people, it apparently is! (What will his insurance say?!)
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Supermarket Gets Evicted By Marshall Who Trucks Food to the Dump, In Front of Starving Needy People! That is Messed Up! 

3/27/2013

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Augusta Chronicle reports Laney Supermarket got evicted by SunTrust Bank. Instead of donating the food to the needy, the marshall trucked it away to the dump...right in front of people who really need a hand! Tsk tsk! 
Officials said onlookers became angry when they learned they would not be allowed to take away food and other sundries that were piled outside the grocery as “abandoned property....“There are people with babies who need diapers out here,” she said.
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This $2.9M Seller Must Be a Cal Fan! 

3/27/2013

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Not to turn my back on my alma mater, but when I see this real Virginia listing painted gold & blue, I can't say Go Bears!  I just can't. 
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Louis Vuitton Brand Going Down the Toilet? Check Out This Boughetto Bathroom! (Yes, Thats a Word. Look it up!)

3/24/2013

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This ain't no joke folks. This is a real listing in San Pedro (LA) that just sold for $410k!  Boughetto for realz!
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Open House Full of Gays & Drag Queens! Cher Lists Her Venice Home for $1.9M

3/24/2013

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My girl Cher has put her Venice pad on the market for $1.9M. For all her fabulosity, this place do kinda look basic. Musta been a pieds a terre, but still the realtors could have at least used a professional photographer and some light staging. Like what is up with that green throw just bundled carelessly on the couch?! We still love u Cher!
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What a work of art! ...er, photoshop?
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From Pushing Powder to Pushing Property! Dealer Turned Realtor! 

3/24/2013

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Would you allow an ex-drug dealer to sell your home? Before you say no, read about Jermaine Morrison of Sotheby's who used to hock crack to homies before turning a new leaf to hockin' homes. Pretty amazing! 

Lots of gems in this New York Observer article The Powder Broker: From Teenage Drug Dealer to Real Estate ‘It’ Guy, written by my galpal Helaina Hovitz:

“You learn supply and demand,” said Mr. Morrison, now 32. “I had people working for me, so I had to learn staffing. You learn organization. You learn to be strategic. You learn about inventory. You learn how to keep the flow of your business going. Although you sell drugs, you still want to be relatable to people. I was nice to my clients. I took them out to lunch.”
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Amazing Astounding Awesome Spotlight on Herman Chan for RealEstate.com!! (My Most Revealing Interview to Date!)

3/17/2013

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I reveal my successes & failures in an exclusive chat with RealEstate.com.  In what is probably the most thorough interview I have given to the press, we cover a wide swath of topics from my not-so-glamorous career before real estate, why agents are insecure, how web/tech trends have shifted in the past 3 yrs,  and most importantly what I would tell a younger Herman. Thank You to writer Shannon O'Brien (I now know who is writing my biography! Lol!). 
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Photo Credit: Will Taylor 
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Dang, We Knew Chelsea Clinton Had Married Up, But Not Like This! See Her New $10M NYC Apt

3/14/2013

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Chelsea Clinton and her hedge fund hubby, Marc Mezvinsky, snapped up an apt in the Flatiron District of New York City. The $10.5 million 4,967-square-foot condo has 4 bedrooms & 6 baths. Get this, the monthly HOA fees alone are $4342/mo! Chelsea is still in school getting her doctorate, so you know her banker boo is takin' care of her! 


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Gayest Buildings in America: San Francisco is Prominently Featured...No Surprise 

3/14/2013

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California Home + Design Magazine spotlights the gayest buildings. Many of these historical gems are gone now. I would love to hear from anyone who frequented these places! Please share any memories! 
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Scott’s Pit, 10 Sanchez St., San Francisco
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Twin Peaks Tavern, 401 Castro St., San Francisco
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3343 21st St., San Francisco
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Mona’s 440 Club, 440 Broadway St., San Francisco
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Castro Camera, 575 Castro St., San Francisco
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Home of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Noe Valley, San Francisco
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Is This a Good or Bad Thing?! Prices Skyrocketed 47% in Sac, 32% in Oakland, 15% in SF in Just 1 Year! 

3/14/2013

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I'm sure sellers are tickled pink! Meanwhile the buyers are getting outpriced! What in blue blazes is going on?! Movoto breaks it down for us 
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Out of the Closet, into the Living Room: Herman's Tale of Décor Upcycling for Frontiers Magazine! 

3/13/2013

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Read my HILARIOUS article for Frontiers Magazine!  I've written a lot of articles for them, and I just love that they let me be me! 

Spring is around the corner, and you are itching to redecorate your place. Problem is, you’ve got a dead-end job, your sugar daddy just cut off your AMEX or you’re just plain cheap! Decorating ain't cheap. No problem. If you’re low on cash but want a home makeover, you do what any resourceful Millennial does—you upcycle!  
    
For those of you living under a rock, upcycling is turning something old into something new. Before you Restoration Hardware snobs start dissing me, I'll have you know that upcycling is the hottest design trend now. Not only does it save you money, but it is great for Mother Nature. We need to be mindful of the stuff we consume. We are such a wasteful society, living in a throwaway culture. How many times have you bought a sequened off-the-shoulder top you just had to have, but only wore the darn thing once—and it was for a 1980sFlashdance Halloween party. I know I have! What a waste of $50! Before you toss it out like yesterday's trash, try to upcycle it! It is uncanny how many old, tattered things you own that can be repurposed for some fantabulous new home décor pieces.
    
Here is what I did recently to update my living room via upcycling. I was getting sick of my drab sofa. It needed to pop. It would be too expensive to buy a new one. (And have you seen the cost of shipping and handling recently?!) So I decided on a more affordable way to revive my sofa—pillow accents! I went into the closet and reached deep in the back trenches where I store clothes I rarely wear. I shut my eyes, grabbed some random pieces, and out popped a tube top, mu'umu'u and a knit miniskirt. (Guess I never threw away my old drag outfits. I’m such a hoarder!)
    
Being flat-chested, the tube top was too small. Not enough fabric to make a pillow/cushion cover. The mu'umu'u was too big. (Although I might save it for a mattress cover upcycling project!) That left the mini-skirt. It was perfect! I stole an extra pillow insert I had lying around the guest room closet, found a yard of double-sided sticky-back Velcro in the kitchen junk drawer and twirled into the living room to start my project. It literally took me 10 minutes. I placed the Velcro on the front and back waistline of the skirt, flipped it inside out to hide the Velcro seams, stuffed the pillow insert into the skirt, then sealed up the front and back hem with Velcro. After transforming my mini-skirt into a pillow, I thought, “Damn, Herman, this is too cute for my busted-up sofa. I’m gonna sell it on Etsy! For real!”
    
The fabulous thing about this skirt-turned-pillow is that it’s Velcro’d. You don’t need to mess up your Lee Press-Ons with any sewing! You can assemble and disassemble easily. This is especially handy when you get a last-minute date and all your clothes are dirty. All you have to do is waltz into your living room, grab the pillow, rip off the Velcro and toss it on. It’s a skirt again! Sigh, the joys of upcycling! Bottom line: Don’t be so quick to trash your junk clothes. You can always make a cute décor piece to brighten up your home.
    
Drop by my place HabitatForHermanity.com and I'll show you how to upcycle your old jockstraps into a macramé plant holder!

Herman Chan is a real estate and design expert whose blog Habitat for Hermanity offers a glimpse beyond the glitz and glam of real estate and design. (And it ain’t always pretty!) You’ve seen his trademark helpful, hilarious flair on HGTV House Hunters, Logo and Huffington Post. His new webseries, Real Estate Real Simple for theSan Francisco Chronicle, debuted this year. He was also once a Frontiers cover model.
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Flashy Shipping Containers as Homes...But Arent These Just Glorified Trailer Homes?! 

3/13/2013

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Can you believe these are shipping containers?! io9 runs down some great homes places that were once shipping containers. I'm all about upcycling (hellooo I turned my skirt into a pillow on live TV! ) but aren't these just really fancy mobile homes?! LOL! 
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Open House 'Frenzy' Caught on Tape! For Sellers, Its Like Winning the Lotto! For Buyers, There Ain't No Hope! 

3/13/2013

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Business Insider reports:
Prices are up. Housing starts are up. Construction jobs are up. Home-builder stocks have been surging.

But if you're not interested in "charts" and "data" which say that the U.S. housing market is coming back, then this video is for you.

It was posted on Calculated Risk, and it shows a "frenzy" at an open house in California. You can just feel it. Americans love houses again.

In addition to the sheer volume of people coming into the house, the host of the video has fascinating commentary about owners of these houses getting tons of offers right away, with the final winning bid coming in WAY above listing prices.
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Why They Trying to Keep Women Down!? Mortgage Discrimination Against the Ladies is Real! 

3/13/2013

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On the heels of International Women's day, a study by a Chicago non-profit was just released where they found gals are getting the  screwed when it comes to loans! 
Mortgage Discrimination Study Finds Women Received Fewer Approvals In Wake Of Crash :Chicago women who applied for a new home mortgage in 2010 were 24 percent less likely to obtain a loan than men, the study by the Woodstock Institute found. Lenders were 39 percent less likely to refinance a woman's existing mortgage, the study says.

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¡Ay, caramba! Will KaRENT Have to Rent?! Miami Real Housewife Heading to Foreclosure

3/11/2013

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According to our Miami gossip sources, cosmetic dentist Karent Sierra is dealing with not just one but TWO foreclosures. What a toothache! Somebody pass her some novacaine!
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Herman Chan Speaks for AREAA's Global Summit Hawaii!

3/10/2013

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Bust out your coconut bra or Mu'u Mu'u! I'll be speaking in sunny Honolulu for the Asian Real Estate Association of America's 2013 Global Summit alongside my friends below! Can't wait to see you all! 

The line-up for #AREAAGlobal is pretty incredible! @bradinman @sherrychris @hermanity @christophechoo ow.ly/iwjK2@areaa

— Katie Lance (@katielance) March 7, 2013
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Hermanity Speaks!
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Sherry Chris: CEO Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate
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Alex Perriello: CEO Realogy (Sotheby's, BHG, Century 21, ERA)
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Christophe Choo: Coldwell Banker, HGTV's Selling LA
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Caron Ling: Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers
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Shocking 1 Bedroom Rents in San Francisco! (SF Natives, Shrug)

3/9/2013

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Got a tweet asking why rent is so darn much in SF?! See below. Did I miss any explanations? 

Jobs, hi-tech money, weather, culture!“@kimlaiyingling: Why is rent so much in #SanFrancisco? Yikes! ow.ly/iAY9h @huffingtonpost”

— herman chan (@hermanity) March 8, 2013
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PROMO CLIP: Can You Spot Mr. Herman Chan on HGTV's Pilot 'Power Brokers'?

3/5/2013

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I got my fabulous buyers a free renovation on a new HGTV show called Power Brokers. It stars Mike Aubrey (Real Estate Intervention) & Juan Barbieri (The Bachelorette). I have a small appearance too in the pilot, so stay tuned for more details! 
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No Inventory, So Buyers Camp Out To Get 1st Dibs Like Rock Concert! Is This What the Market Has Come to?! 

3/3/2013

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Desperate buyers line up to snap up 1,992 to 2,685 square feet new homes from $800k - $900k in Southern California. Will scalpers can get in on this?! More from AOL Real Estate:
In a flashback to the kind of homebuying frenzy not seen since 2008, house hunters have pitched a line of tents in Huntington Beach, Calif., in the hope of buying a brand-new home. Around a dozen pre-qualified homebuyers have literally set up camp by the still-under-constructionBrightwater Capri development in Huntington Beach -- and they've already been there for a week.
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Warning! Will Sinkholes Swallow A San Francisco Neighborhood?! 

3/3/2013

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