Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR® - Modesto CA Real Estate | http://www.modesto-real-estate-now.com

Village One Modesto Neighborhood - Amenities and Walk Score - 28/100

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:56:43 -0600

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:

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

Village One Modesto Neighborhood - Irene Chan, REALTOR®

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:58:23 -0500

I previewed some homes in the Ustach / Village One Modesto neighborhood last week.

A Mapped Listing Report of the Village One Modesto area from Metrolist Prospector provided a good overview of the Modesto Village One area. I searched for MLS listings, focusing on the area bounded by Sylvan Avenue (north), Roselle Avenue (east), Floyd Avenue (south), and Oakdale Road (west) in the initial search. zip code: 95355 Modesto.

The search of listings resulted in 27 homes near the Ustach Neighborhood Park in Village One Modesto CA. 14 of which were 'Active Short Sale Contingent' Modesto homes, 7 were 'Active Short Sale', the remaining 6 were 'Active'. Prices ranged from $199,000 to $309,900, approximately for $68 / sq. ft. to $135 / sq. ft. These Village One Modesto homes are any where from 1,600 sq ft. to 4,100 sq.ft. The homes values are much lower compared to before. These Modesto homes are very affordable for first time home buyers and investors.

I previewed some homes and drove by others and visited about 9 homes at different locations including Tabriz Dr, Palliser Way, New York Ave, Kodiak Dr, Hillglen Ave, Knightsbridge Dr, etc. Here are some photos I took on that day. All of these homes are relatively new and some are in move-in conditions.

The above photos also include Ustach Middle School on 2701 Kodiak Dr, Modesto CA (bottom photo).

When I check the MLS this week, two of the listed homes are now pending.

Modesto Neighborhood Map Using Locator Map in mapspread

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:29:42 -0500

A locator map created using mapspread.

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

Steps:

Create excel spreadsheet with the information (stores, homes, neighborhood) addresses.
Import excel file to mapspread using Import feature.
Edit to change marker color and maker design.
Create application -> a Locator Application -> edit the balloon text.
Customize map tab.
Upload logo if there is one.
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:

Other websites of interest:

Google maps icon

Logo creator

New web site domain name www.modesto-real-estate-now.com

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:14:38 -0500

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...

I got an email from NAR Legal Affairs Dept - Last Days of www.modesto-realtor.com

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:49:29 -0600

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

Irene Chan, Modesto Real Estate Agent - eNeighborhood Power Tools Pricing

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:14:39 -0500

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.

Medical Assistant Modesto Jobs Opening in Pain Management / Back Pain Modesto Clinic

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:07:52 -0500

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.

Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR® Apple iPhone 3G - Photos Outside the Apple Store in Silicon Valley California

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:52:24 -0500

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.

Stanford Trained Physician Dr. Jackie Chan - Visit Pain Medicine and Pain Management Clinic in Modesto - Photo, Google Map View and Neighborhood Information

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:44:37 -0500

Pain Medicine and Pain Management Modesto clinic at 809 Sylvan Avenue, #400, Modesto CA 95350.

Map showing location of pain management clinic:

View Larger Map

See neighborhood information near Dr. Chan's Pain Medicine Clinic in Modesto by following this link.

Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR® | Modesto Real Estate | Free Home Sales Reports in Bar Graph Format and Free CMA

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:56:45 -0500

I have updated the Modesto real estate agent webpage with Modesto home sales information from May and June 2008. The webpage summarizes the Modesto real estate home sales statistics and Stanislaus real estate homes sales statistics in bar graph format. Compared to May 2008, the number of Modesto real estate homes sold in June went up and the home sale prices continues to go down.

The updated Modesto Real Estate Agent webpage also provides free downloads of sample MLS Modesto Real Estate reports and sample MLS Stanislaus Real Estate report. The Stanislaus report includes real estate sales figures on Ceres real estate, Modesto Downtown real estate, Salida real estate, Keyes real estate, Riverbank, Oakdale, Oakdale Rural, Waterford, Hickman, Empire, Turlock, Turlock Rural, Denair, and Patterson real estate.

Thank you for all of those who contacted me to obtain a free comparative market analysis (CMA). As always, I am happy to run any CMA reports for referring real estate agents/brokers and clients who are interested in finding out more about their Modesto and/or surrounding cities' home prices.

Irene Chan, REALTOR® - Relay For Life Modesto Event - American Cancer Society

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:08:19 -0500

Relay For Life is an overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and programs of American Cancer Society. Participants may walk, jog, or run in this overnight event.

The "Relay For Life Modesto" event will be held on 6/21/2008 from 9:00 am. The location is at: Johansen High School, 641 Norseman Drive, Modesto CA.

More details are available on the Modesto event website.

Other Relay For Life events in Stanislaus County:

Relay For Life of Turlock: 6/21/2008 8:30 am. at Christoffersen Parkway, Turlock CA.

Relay For Life of Atwater: 9/27/2008 8:45 am. at 2201 Fruitland Ave, Atwater CA.

by: Modesto Real Estate Agent Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR in Stanislaus County, Central California

http://www.modesto-real-estate-now.com

http://www.modesto-realtor.com

Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR® - Modesto Real Estate Homes - New Website Domain

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:11:08 -0500

I've added a new domain for website 'Modesto Real Estate Now'. It begins with the Modesto neighborhood Chateau Provence, a gated community in North Modesto with about 148 homes built from 2001-2003. The page links to a Chateau Provence Modesto Map using Google maps. The plan is to include photos and videos to showcase some Modesto homes in featured neighborhoods using Google Picasa and state-of-the-art software tools.

Some other Homes for Sale listings in Modesto neighborhoods, free home valuation CMA report are downloadable. Other Modesto neighborhoods including golf area Del Rio in Modesto, fleur de Ville gated area in Modesto are pending. The featured Modesto homes are in the 95356 area code, and more zip codes will be covered in the future.

Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR

Rando Real Estate and Financing, Modesto CA

Added Website Functionality - Internet Display of MetroList MLS Content

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:54:18 -0500

I've added support to link to the MetroList MLS search in Central Valley, California using Internet Data Exchange (IDX) on my website http://www.modesto-realtor.com.

Visitors to my website can now Search Homes for Sale in Modesto and nearby cities. The generic search form includes searches for Stanislaus, Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, San Joaquin, Merced counties.

Integrating with MLS IDX, actually, is very simple. After signing up for the MetroList IDX service, I received FTP access information, site documentation for ColdFusion Template, and also MLS IDX guidelines. I've never used ColeFusion myself but that didn't cause a problem. I added a link to the provided URL http://template.metrolistmls.com/IreneLaiChan/Query0.cfm and I was able to search for properties instantly.

One thing that definitely helped was Adobe Dreamweaver. I created and setup a new site in Dreamweaver and downloaded the necessary CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file, ColdFusion Template files from my FTP server MetroList set up for me. I only need to modify the CSS file to change the color to match my main webpage's color scheme and changed the title of the search forms. It took me a little under two hours and the new search feature was available on my website. The IDX speed, at least at the time I was testing it, was impressive.

After testing the search forms, I changed the hyperlink on my website to a button. I tried two free button generaor websites and came up with:

http://www.tomaweb.com/buttons.asp
http://www.hypergurl.com/generators/3dbuttons.html

I ended up using option 2 and now my website has a button which links to the MLS search. The 'Search Homes for Sale' button generated looks smaller than I would like it to be but I will play with the code some more another day.

As far as search engine optimization goes, there is not much help with the ColdFusion code since they are located in /cgi-bin, which is not crawled by search engines. Hmmm, need to look more into ColdFusion and SEO topics.

Here is a screenshot of my website:

Of note, I also added:

Real estate news for May 2008, a link to a Modesto Bee newspaper article.
Updated the webpage 'Home Sale Statistic' to include Modesto real estate April 2008 statistics and Stanislaus County home sale statistics. For this webpage, I used Microsoft Excel and saved the file including spreadsheet and bar graph in htm format. However, the sales numbers sometimes differ depending on when I ran the query (not sure why that is the case).

This summarizes a Modesto Real Estate agent's website updates...

Acupuncture Modesto Dr. Jackie Chan - Search Engine Optimization by a Modesto Real Estate Agent

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:02:31 -0500

My SEO work involved in "Acupuncture Modesto" is well under way - this is a Modesto Pain Management doctor and Medical Acupuncturist's alternative treatment option for pain - this may also be spelled "Modesto Accupuncture". Other of my favorite SEO Modesto keywords: "Back Pain Modesto".

Modesto Real Estate Agent Additional Blog

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:08:36 -0500

I have another blog named Real Estate Agent from Modesto California Irene Chan, MS, REALTOR.

I am also writing another website for a Modesto Pain Management Doctor Dr. Jackie Chan, MD.

REO Listings for Investors and First Time Home Buyers - Modesto California

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:17:00 -0500

I had a chance to look at a REO (Real Estate Owned) property in Modesto California in Stanislaus County, Central Valley on Sunday 3/16/08. It is the second day on the market and when I called the listing agent, there are offers already. Today, the property is pending.

The property is located in zip code area 95356. around $128 per sq. ft. and listing at $309K. It is in good condition. I have been tracking REO properties using daily auto-prospecting tool for potential clients and also gathered some statistics:

As of 3/16/08:

REO listings in Modesto California for Single Family Homes:

Active: 514 Avg List Price: $190K Avg size: 1503 sq. ft. Avg DOM: 59

Median List Price: $175K Median size: 1341 sq. ft. Median DOM: 45

Pending: 300 Avg List Price: $199K Avg size: 1634 Avg DOM: 50

Median List Price: $180K Median size: 1434 sq. ft. Median DOM: 28

Sold in Feb: 80 Avg List Price: $210K Avg Sale Price: $201K Avg size: 1527 sq. ft. Avg DOM: 48

Median List Price: $199K Median Sale Price: $196K Median size: 1397 sq ft. Median DOM: 21

Please check back next month for an update.

Irene Chan, M.S., REALTOR

web: http://ilaichan.home.comcast.net

MetroList Prospector v10 and eNeighborhood - Feature-Rich Web-Based Software

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:37:14 -0500

I just finished attending the MetroList Prospector training in Modesto, California. I am absolutely fascinated by the features and mapping support, auto-prospecting, client portal, reverse prospecting, and seamless integration with eNeighborhood power tools.

The mapping feature uses Microsoft Virtual Earth that allows the user to view in map or satellite view. After searching for properties, one can set the route of visit, rearrange the order of properties on the route, and print out the route information. Another feature, auto-prospecting, saves agents a lot of time. Once the search criteria is set up, properties that meet the criteria are automatically added to the "Newly Matched" listings cart. An email can then be sent to invite the client to either Save, Reject, or leave the property information in one of the three lists. The agent and client can both email each other regarding any of the properties on the list.

With the integration to eNeighborhood, agents don't even need any contact management software. Creating CMA and flyers are two other feature I can't wait to use.

The only drawback is that there should be a cross population of contacts between Prospector and eNeighborhood. Maybe one exists that I don't know of yet, such as exporting contacts to an excel file and then importing that to eNeighborhood. It would also be great if a client can specify the frequency of auto-prospecting email (like once every few days instead of every day). Sorting of property list may also be a convenient feature for the client when they are using the client portal.

Also, I would like to see export to HTML from eNeighborhood in addition to exporting to PDF file. (Can a web developer take advantage of the HTML and also promote eNeighborhood at the same time?)

My previous job as a medical office administrator for a small office, solo practitioners have to do research on their own to get medical management, scheduling, billing software. Each office procure their own tools and in comparison, real estate professionals are so spoiled.

Modesto California Market Update as of March 9, 2008

Irene Lai-Chan, M.S., REALTOR (Rando Real Estate and Financing) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:44:23 -0500

I just joined Active Rain and this is an update on local market - Modesto - located in the Central Valley of California. In Feb 2008, number of units sold for single family homes are 139. Average days on market is 67; median days on market is 46. Average price for single family home sold is $240,580; median price is $215,000.

(This is a test post for a first time blogger)