The annual Hearts and Flowers Luncheon & CHARITY AUCTION will be held on

Friday, February 25, 2011 at the Del Rio Country Club - 801 Stewart Road, Modesto CA

Charity Auction Preview - 10:30 a.m.  *   Fund-raising Luncheon - 11:30 a.m.

Guests will win gift items with the purchase of the Auction Wand, base on drawings.  All gift items are donated by local physicians, health care providers and businesses.  Some of the gifts might include: gift certificates to restaurants, teeth whitening treatments, a day at the local spa and salons, florists, theaters, cosmetic laser procedure, tennis lessons with tennis pros, interior design consultation sessions, auto detailing, weekend get-away to local resorts, and even acupuncture sessions.  In addition, there are numerous gift items including elegant home accessories, furnishings, florals, and jewelry, etc.

Donations and proceeds from the fund-raising event will benefit the following charities:

Children's Crisis Center, Haven Women's Center, Redwood Center, Wave of Hope MS Foundation, and

Community Housing and Shelter Services.

If you are unable to attend, you can support the fund raiser

with a tax-deductible contribution or purchase an absentee wand.  Contributions can be sent to:

SMSA - P.O. Box 576007, Modesto CA  95357

The charity and fund-raising event is organized by the non-profit organization Stanislaus Medical Society Alliance.

Below is a map showing Del Rio Country Club in Modesto CA

Auction Homes for Northern California including Modesto, Sacramento, Stockton, Bay Area

Scheduled for 1/30/2011 in the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento and

Online auction on AUCTION.COM

Open House : 1/22/2011 to 1/23/2011  from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Location:  2001 Pointe West Way, Sacrament CA 95815

Before visiting the auction real estate and foreclosure real estate , please also check out the real estate disclosures online and find out more.

I find the Agent Visual Inspection Report to be useful and it gives an idea of the condition of the auction property beforehand.

However, there are limitations regarding the agent visual inspection:

"For Sale/Sold/Pended - Stanislaus County Real Estate" graph provided by TrendVision Post-2-Web Widget:

"Average Price per Square Foot - Modesto Real Estate" graph provided by TrendVision Post-2-Web Widget:

"Months of Inventory - Real Estate Stanislaus County" graph provided by TrendVision Post-2-Web Widget:

I used walkscore.com to find out the Walk Score of Village One Modesto Neighborhood. The site listed Amenities in the Village One / Ustach area in Modesto. Amenities include: grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, movie theaters, schools, parks, libraries, bookstores, fitness centers, drug stores. The Walk Score site is very useful for home buyers to find out more about a neighborhood they are interested in.

The Walk Score of the Village One Modesto neighborhood is 28 out of 100. Visit Walk Score by following this link:

28

* Following is a screen image of the website showing amenities / walkability of the Modesto Neighborhood *

A locator map created using mapspread.

More info on "Creating a store locator in less than 5 minutes" Video link.

Steps:

1. Create excel spreadsheet with the information (stores, homes, neighborhood) addresses.
2. Import excel file to mapspread using Import feature.
3. Edit to change marker color and maker design.
4. Create application -> a Locator Application -> edit the balloon text.
5. Customize map tab.
6. Upload logo if there is one.
7. Save the name of the application | Share link | embed website code

DONE.  The first draft of Modesto Real Estate Neighborhood Locator | Modesto Real Estate Market Snapshot can be found in the following REAL ESTATE MODESTO Locator Map Link.  If there is problem using the above link, please try to cut and paste the hyperlink:

http://apps.mapspread.com/a/rando-real-estate-and-financin/modesto-real-estate-neighborhood-market-snapshot

I signed up for the free mapspread account.

I have yet to include the property vales / price ranges by obtaining the numbers from MLS.  Simply email me ilaichan@comcast.net or call (209) 505-4812 for the meantime if you would like to have more information.

Here is the code to be embedded in website:

<iframe src="http://apps.mapspread.com/a/rando-real-estate-and-financin/modesto-real-estate-neighborhood-market-snapshot" frameborder="0" style="width:500px;height:400px"></iframe>

 Other websites of interest:

Google maps icon

Logo creator

The new website is www.modesto-real-estate-now.com. 

I had pulled www.modesto-realtor.com offline and the site is no longer accessible.

The old site 'modesto-realtor.com' did pretty well with google ranking using the search word 'modesto realtor'.  It was on page one.

I have yet to fix several links in the new site since some links were hard-coded using the directory path names instead of relative paths.  I was trying to increase keyword density :-) which was 'modesto realtor', you might have guessed!

I have to also do the following:

• update my site links to the new site www.modesto-real-estate-now.com and all the other sites that used to linked to modesto-realtor.com
• update the code and generate a new key to use google maps in modesto-real-estate-now.com
• start all over with search engine optimization and probably find other keywords for www.modesto-real-estate-now.com
• update the home sales statistics page which haven't gotton updated for a while

I'm sure there are a lot of things on the real estate agent to-do list...

Email regarding my website www.modesto-realtor.com.  I will keep you up to date on the new domain name once I finalize it.  Suggestions are welcomed.  This feels kind of like finding a new name for a new baby...

Dear Irene Lai-Chan:

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS has identified the Internet domain name, modesto-realtor.com, as one in which the membership marks of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (National Association) are used as a part of the domain name.  We discovered the domain name in our routine monitoring of the Internet for use of the REALTOR membership marks.  The National Association requests that you comply with the rules developed by the National Association to preserve and protect the Membership marks and discontinue using the modesto-realtor.com domain name.  You may review these rules at the National Association's website, REALTOR.org in the Law & Policy section.

Proper use of the Marks on the Internet
The terms REALTOR, REALTORS, REALTOR ASSOCIATE, as well as the REALTOR with Block "R" logo, are all federally registered collective membership marks owned exclusively by the National Association.  Collective membership marks are a type of trademark which, rather than indicating the source of a product or service, identify the user of the membership mark as a member of a particular group, in this case the National Association.  

The National Association has approximately 1,200,000 members each of whom is licensed to use one or more of the membership marks to identify themselves and as Members individually and through their real estate businesses.  Each member of the National Association agrees, as a part of their local Association's Bylaws, to abide by the rules governing the use of the REALTOR marks.  These rules apply to print and electronic media.  In a domain name the National Association allows members to use the REALTOR marks with a member's name and, if the member is a broker, with the complete name of the broker's real estate firm.  Below are examples of proper ways in which a member can use the REALTOR marks in a domain name.

JohnDoeRealtor.com, JDoeRealtor.com, JohnRealtor.com, ABCRealtyRealtors.com

Incorrect use of the REALTOR Marks
Please review Article V, Section 7 of the Bylaws of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS.  This article expressly prohibits the use of any descriptive words or phrases from being used with the Membership marks.  Ms. Lai-Chan, this includes geographical descriptions, only the state and local boards and associations were granted the right, by the Board of Directors, to use a geographical description with the membership marks.

Action Requested:  Change Domain Name
The National Association requests that you stop using the modesto-realtor.com domain name including, but not limited to, use of the domain name on the Internet or on promotional and advertising materials for your business; or to redirect traffic to another website.  You may of course, register and use a new domain name that uses the REALTOR mark in a manner which complies with the rules of the National Association or select one which does not use the REALTOR marks.  

Because you are a member of the National Association and understand the importance of protecting the valuable REALTOR marks we are confident you will make the right decision and end your use of the modesto-realtor.com domain name.  We request that you promptly contact us and assure that you will comply with this request.  If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thank you for your cooperation.
 
Mary Newill, Trademark Administrator
Legal Affairs Department
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
430 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611-4087

eNeighborhood Power Tools is available to MetroList subscribers (Central Valley California real estate agents who paid the MetroList membership fees) at no cost.

Having that said, not all eNeighborhood features are free to MetroList subscribers.  The following features are free for MetroList subscribers:

• Contacts (to set up  contacts for Flyers, Direct Mail campaign, etc.)
  
• CMA
• Buyer Tour
  
• email marketing part of eProspecting

Some other features are available with a fee:

• eNeighborhood reports (around $20 a month)
  
• Direct Mail (newsletters, around $0.75-$1, and post cards, around $0.45-$0.70, of eProspecting are charged by the piece, I believe there is a FLEX pricing option as well)

My experiments with eNeighborhood Power Tools:

When I tried out eNeighborhood Power Tools back in Feb/March 2008, I exported a list of addresses belonging to a Modesto neighborhood subdivision from MetroList to a Microsoft excel spreadsheet, fixed a few problems (mainly in the field names) in the excel spreadsheet and was able to import these addresses to eNeighborhood.  The contacts were automatically set up in eNeighborhood based on the entries in excel.

I tried out the direct marketing campaign and sent some direct mail to the contacts, mainly Modesto home owners, that were set up in eNeighborhood earlier.  I liked the user-friendliness of the eNeighborhood direct mail campaigns and the design of the post cards and newsletters.  However, the home sales lists included on the direct mail were not the ones within the price range criteria I specified.  If that problem is fixed, the Direct Mail campaign is something I would consider in the future.  Of course, I will definitely appreciate some discounts on the direct mail pricing as well...

I also got a two month free trial for using eNeighborhood reports.  I liked the reports and was impressed by how much information the reports emcompassed.

The Buyer Tour is great as well, I have also started using the drip email campaign.

The eNeighborhood developers in Boca Raton, FL is doing a wonderful job and I think real estate agents should take advantage of the eNeighborhood free product trials to check out this real estate web-based tool.

For more information on eNeighborhood, visit the eNeighborhood website.

MetroList subscribers can download the tool from the 'Subscribers/PowerTools' pull-down menu on the http://prospector.metrolist.net website.

Posted by Real Estate Agent Modesto, Irene Chan.  This is in reponse to an inquiry from a California real estate agent from Century 21.  I hope this helps.

Disclaimer: I am not associated with eNeighborhood.  Please rely on your own research and judgement on choosing real estate software products, real estate marketing practice, etc.  If there is a discrepancy with the pricing information, please contact eNeighborhood directly.

An immediate medical jobs opening: Medical Assistant Modesto CA. Fax resume 209 529-1711. Part-time. Front office, some back office. Bilingual (English and Spanish).

Please refer to Modesto medical positions, Modesto Healthcare jobs in Pain Doctor Modesto Blog for details: www.modestopaindoctor.blogspot.com.

Posted on Aug 3, 2008.

The new Apple iPhone 3G just came out last Friday 7/11/08. These are the pictures I took outside the Apple store in the Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center in San Jose CA on 7/16/08. There are long lines of people waiting outside the Silicon Valley Apple store waiting to get the new iPhone.

In front of the Apple store:

Another line formed around the corner of the Apple store, in front of Nordstrom:

On the side of the store:

I wasn't getting the iPhone on this day even though I am seriously thinking of that. The memorable moment: my daughter was trying out the hair curling device and getting her first "curly hair moment" right next to the Apple store.