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

2 weeks left of my Facebook contest! Win a KODAK Camera!

4/29/2011

Just a reminder! KODAK has partnered with me to give away a free KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera through my facebook fanpage contest. This normally retails for $170, play to win here!

Also, as Kodak's Brand Influencer, I can also offer all my Hermanity Fans 20% off KODAK products. Just use this special coupon on my facebook fanpage. KODAK has geared up a lot of their stuff towards the Real Estate community, so check 'em out!

This contest expires May 16, 2011. Good luck to all the contestants!

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Should I Sell My House Without an Agent?

4/26/2011

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I just wrote an offer for my buyers on a townhouse that was For Sale By Owner (FSBO). The deal didn't come together because the sellers significantly overpriced the house (duh, no surprise there!) They came up with a price based on the amount of money they owed on the house and how much profit they needed, when they should have based it on the current market and recent comparable closed sales. They might learn eventually...but only after wasting everyone's months of time, money & effort.

I dread FSBO's because

The sellers don't really know what they are doing. They read Selling Your Home for Dummies once and think they are experts....when in reality they are just winging it. So what ends up happening is the buyer's agents has to do double duty to hold the deal together. They gotta do twice the work for 1/2 the pay!
FSBO's are notorious for slashing commissions. They don't realize if they don't compensate agents what they are worth, guess what, those agents are not going to show their property! Inventory of buyers plummets. The listing gets "blackballed"
Selling a house is a full time job. FSBO sellers have their own jobs 40-60 hours a week. That is 40-60 hours they can not sufficiently service all the paperwork, inquiries, showings, open houses, disclosures, etc required to sell a property.

What do you guys think? Share your FSBO experiences!

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Easter is my Birthday!

4/24/2011

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Gracias for all the birthday well wishes, my friends! I've heard all the jokes today about Easter being my birthday....any more?!

*He(rman) Has Risen!
*Just call me J.C. (Jesus Chan)
*2nd coming of christ!

Here's the only birthday-esque photo I could find of myself. (I forget the other model's name, sorry boo. But photo is from a series shot by the fabulously talented Billy Winters. The middle pic in my top banner is also from the same session)

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Watch Herman on Logo: Fierce TV

4/22/2011

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Some of my clips are up on Logo's site. It definitely feels great to be in a space where I can be myself! A lot of strides have been made, but there is a still a dearth of LGBTQ peeps in the media. Very appreciative of LOGO / MTV Network's efforts!

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Should this seller listen to me or his mama for staging his S.F. loft?

4/20/2011

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Alvin in San Francisco has a staging dilemma. Mom wants to decorate it for families....but it is a modern sleek loft!? My response may be caustic, but I say it with love. Really I do!

EXCERPT:
And if you don’t mind me saying Alvin, it’s time to stop being a mama’s boy! This is your property. You bought it. You own it. You’re selling it. You are a grown ass man who can stick up for himself.

Say, “Mom, I love you but your staging advice, albeit well intentioned, is without taste.” Go ahead, stab her in the heart!

Read the rest here.

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Two thugs assaulted me for my iphone today

4/19/2011

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Two thugs assaulted me for my iphone today. They attacked, we struggled & they punched me in the face, but I still didn't let go for some odd reason. Police took my statement and didn't sound too optimistic about finding them.

After all the adrenaline has settled, I have a headache and my jaw is getting sore. We'll see if there is bruising where they socked me tomorrow. But overall I am fine. I'm a big girl, I will survive. I know it could have been a lot worse.

Safety Lessons Learned:
1. Avoid using your fancy phone/labtop in public, makes us prime target. Be aware of your surroundings (so hard since we are so into our smartphones now)
2. Don't sit by any exit door in MUNI/BART/METRO. The robbers wait for door to open, one grabs ur phone, the other blocks you, and they flee out the closing door before u can react
3. Sit in train with security/police officer or conductor in plain sight.
4. Sit in a seat that is ensconced so it is robber hard to get to you, and harder to escape.
5. Be thankful for all (y)our blessings.

Be safe out there, my friends!
xoxo- Herman

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Herman Featured on Downelink for MTV

4/18/2011

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I never thought I would say this, but Herman's on the DL! (No, I ain't on the Down Low. LOL)

I'm on the Downelink for MTV! Watch here. My clips have been viewed 800 times. Suzie Orman's clip: 62 views. :-)

Be a doll, and comment on their site. Let them know you want more of me!

Thank you!

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Shout out from LogoTV on Twitter!

4/16/2011

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Thank you LogoTV for the re-tweet! Everybody seems to love the real estate videos we do.

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Ask the Expert for LOGO: Should I Skip the Inspection?....HELL NO!

4/15/2011

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This is a commonly asked question I get from buyers, and I am sooooo glad I got a chance to answer this for LOGO's viewers.

VIEWER QUESTION: We're buying a new construction house. Do we still need to do an inspection?

HERMANITY ANSWER: I don't get this. People are willing to spend 1/2 a million bucks for a house, but can't bear to spend couple hundred dollars for an inspection. It's small price to pay for peace of mind folks....

Want to learn how an inspection can get you more from the builder/developer? Watch til the end of my clip for my hot tip!

Have you ever waived an inspection and lived to regret it? Post your comments here or on LOGO's site here.

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Untitled Book: by Herman Chan

4/13/2011

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Needless to say, my literary endeavor will be about me and real estate. It will be Helpful, Hilarious and Hellacious (as if I could be anything but). While I am penning this book, I'm curious to know what you want to see me write about? What's got you jazzed or razzed about your realtor or the business? I have a FAQ chapter and am looking for questions directly from you, my fabulous fans!

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Win a KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera!

4/9/2011

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Hi Guys, KODAK has partnered with me to give away a free KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera through my facebook fanpage contest. This normally retails for $170, play to win here!

Also, as Kodak's Brand Influencer, I can also offer all my Hermanity Fans 20% off KODAK products. Just use this special coupon on my facebook fanpage. KODAK has geared up a lot of their stuff towards the Real Estate community, so check 'em out! Tell 'em Herman sent ya!

PS: How do you like my new facebook logo/photo!?

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Starring Herman & Tamara! Mastering Technology in Real Estate

4/6/2011

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When I met Tamara Suminski last year in New Orleans during the National Association of Realtors Conference (aka Nardigras), she was such a ball of sunshine....like me! Tamara is the current Chair for California Association of Realtors' Young Professionals Network.

Well, as luck would have it, we are going to share the stage come April 20, 2011. We've been invited to speak about "Mastering Technology in Real Estate." Check out the flyer for deets.

PS: I love how there are 4 languages on the flyer! I speak Chinese & English. I hope Tamara speaks the other 2!

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Ask The Expert: What Southwestern towns are gay friendly?

4/5/2011

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The salacious photo of the cowboys was not my doing, I promise! Logo did it!...although if that's what Southwest living is all about, I will move in a heartbeat.

Q: I miss the warmth of Florida, but I couldn’t find banking work there . I want to relocate again soon because I cannot stand Cincinnati and the cold winters here. I am considering the areas from Texas to Arizona – can you advise me on which towns both have the lowest unemployment rate and the largest GLBT population? -Doug, CT

Read my recommendations here. Do you agree?

Meanwhile, if you gotta question for me, LOGO says "Ask YOUR real estate question!"

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Q&A with HERMANITY: Do I Have a Bad Real Estate Agent?!

4/3/2011

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This frustrated viewer wants to know if he got stuck with a bad real estate agent. Duh! If you gotta ask that question, you know you gotta loser on your hand!

Let's face it. Not all realtors are knock-it-outta-the-ballpark superstars. Far from it! (In fact I can rattle off more than a few names of lackadaisical agents, but I'll be discrete for once, hehe). As I told Mother Love on her talk show last week, the bar to entry to this business is lower than Heidi Montag's IQ. This probably isn't going to endear me to the realtor community, but sometimes I am flabbergasted how incompetent & careless some of us are. (Don't hate, y'all know it's true!). But what shocks me even more is how much some clients will put up with. Clients deserve the best work from their agent. If they can't bring it, there are tons of agents more than willing to step up. So, pick your real estate representation carefully.

Have you ever regretted your choice of realtor? What did you do about it?

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Mother Love Talk Show: Two Divas dish about Real Estate!

4/1/2011

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I just got off the air with the one and only Mother Love! She is everything that I aspire to be: smart, caring & sassy. With both our larger than life personalities, we had the most stupendous time. That hour just zipped by! I hope her audience not only got a kick out of me but learned a few things about the real estate biz too.

Mother Love grilled me about anal retentive agents, real estate TV shows, McMansions & why I started my videoblog. She also reveals her pet peeve when she was shopping for a home too!

After the show, I got a message from a listener: "Thank you for discussing real estate in a funny accessible way!" What can I say, it's my schtick.

My favorite excerpt:
Mother Love: Where do you see yourself in 10 yrs?
Hermanity: Married with children! j/k.... I'll have my own TV Show

Click here to listen-on-demand. Let me know if I have a career in radio!

4 Comments

2 weeks left of my Facebook contest! Win a KODAK Camera!

Should I Sell My House Without an Agent?

Easter is my Birthday!

Watch Herman on Logo: Fierce TV

Should this seller listen to me or his mama for staging his S.F. loft?

Two thugs assaulted me for my iphone today

Herman Featured on Downelink for MTV

Shout out from LogoTV on Twitter!

Ask the Expert for LOGO: Should I Skip the Inspection?....HELL NO!

Untitled Book: by Herman Chan

Win a KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera!

Starring Herman & Tamara! Mastering Technology in Real Estate

Ask The Expert: What Southwestern towns are gay friendly?

Q&A with HERMANITY: Do I Have a Bad Real Estate Agent?!

Mother Love Talk Show: Two Divas dish about Real Estate!

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