Name

Maureen Kennedy

Company

Pacific Union Real Estate-GMAC

E-mail

Contact Maureen Kennedy (Pacific Union Real Estate-GMAC)

Website

http://www.MaureenKennedy.Net

Cell Phone

(510) 290-8535

Fax

(510) 339-6519

Address

1900 Mountain Boulevard, Oakland, CA, 94611

Description

One of Real Estate magazine's 50 Realtors on the RISE! Winner, Leaders in Luxury "Overall Excellence in Personal Marketing" award, 2008 national meeting. Full time broker specializing in Piedmont.

About Maureen:

Knows the Value of Work

Maureen began working at 14 in the kitchen of a roadhouse restaurant in Alice Springs, Australia during spring break.  Her job was to scrub down the kitchen every morning.  Her positions since then-from factory HR clerk to head of a statewide economics organization (before 25) to Ford Foundation grantmaker to  Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at HUD-carried increasing responsibility.  But her sense of hard work and generosity of time has never gone away.  As she says in her marketing material, "some people consider you a prospect; I consider you a client."  That is, she listens carefully and offers assistance, period.  She gets paid as a transaction closes, or when a client refers her to a friend or colleague, or with a "thank you."  Maureen's "get invested first" approach works.

Technical Skills

Maureen loves finding new information about a home that adds to its value, and developing creative offers with buyers that meet seller's needs better than the competition.  It's all about listening.  She is committed to using cutting edge marketing ideas, technology and negotiating strategies on clients' behalf.  As a result, she has taken over 500 hours of real estate course work and training on these topics, in addition to her real estate finance emphasis at Harvard.  Moreover, she deepened her negotiating, analysis, writing and marketing/lobbying skills earlier in her career.

Market Knowledge

Maureen has lived in Piedmont since her cross country move in late 1996, and her spouse is from Marin County.  As a result, she is familiar with the strengths of many neighborhoods throughout the Bay Area region.  Between her work, raising three boys, organizing the cub scout program in Piedmont, and seeking out new walks for her dog, she has a detailed knowledge of the neighborhoods, schools, museums, and parks in the East Bay.  Ask her about "casual carpooling!"  She writes two detailed real estate market newsletters each quarter, one for Piedmont and one for the Ocean View neighborhood of Berkeley; the Piedmont version is picked up by the local paper.  She knows the East Bay market intimately, knows what our market expects in the way of a clean offer that protects your interests or a carefully prepared and evaluated home ready for the market.

Tailored Approach

Perhaps most important is her tailored approach to each client with whom she works.  Her clients want homes, second homes, investment properties, long-term rentals, high-end condos, traditional condos, and West Oakland lofts.  They want to sell condos, luxury homes, fixers, duplexes, and the homes in which they raised their children.  They are office managers, corporate VPs, law partners, engineers, sales managers, retired pilots, professors and artists.  Each situation is unique, and she approaches it that way from the beginning of the relationship.

Buying and selling real estate is complex, usually a once-every-several-years enterprise; it's an emotional endeavor leavened with data and analysis.  Each home is unique, and each household's needs are unique.  Maureen understands this, and feels that cookie-cutter service doesn't cut it in this business!

Education and Real Estate Training:

Education:

BA, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

MPA2, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA

Attended Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

Over 500 Hours of Real Estate-Specific Training:

Prudential California Realty Training

NAR Code of Ethics Training

Legal Aspects of Real Estate

Real Estate Appraisal

Real Estate Economics

Real Estate Finance

Real Estate Practice

Real Estate Principles

Escrows

Real Estate Brokerage

Luxury Home Marketing Certification

At Home with Diversity Certification

E-Pro Certification

Hispanic Marketing Certification

Creating Value for Clients

Notary Public Training

§1031 Exchange CE

Accredited Staging Professional

Harvard Negotiation Project

What Clients (and Non-Clients!) Say:

Maureen:  Thanks for your help in finding just the kind of place I had in mind. It was a pleasure to work with you.  Engineer-Albany

Maureen:  Your understanding of the market dynamics in the East Bay was extremely helpful.  Also your knowledge of 1031 strategies proved to be a major help.  I think we claimed the advantage over the seller in a seller's market-how much better could it get?  Art professor-Oakland

Maureen:  As I mentioned at least 80 times, it was a pleasure to have someone as competent, knowledgeable, and interested in our success as you are on our side. Financial analyst relocated to Geneva

Maureen: You made this potentially difficult transaction go as smoothly as I could have hoped. Thank you very much. Trustee-Piedmont

Maureen: I like your intelligent, proactive and informed approach.
Fourplex Seller-Oakland

Maureen: Thanks so much for everything.  You were so much help and so much more thorough than any of our (previous realtor) experiences Chicago, Michigan, Cincinnati, Minneapolis-- you're just phenomenal.  I'm so delighted with the way things turned out.-Spouse of corporate exec relocating to the East Bay

Maureen: Excellent management of the "complex" customer-me AND [my firm].  I'm sure it was not an easy or standard customer.-Corporate exec relocating from Italy

Maureen:  Wishing you a heartfelt and big Thank You for your ENERGY, guidance, expertise and personal touch during our late autumn house search and purchase.-Spouse of corporate exec relocating from New Jersey

Maureen:  First, let me say we love our new house.  The painters are removing the plastic from our windows and we are thrilled with the way it is looking.  Now, a little bit of landscaping and we should be ready for summer.  Thanks for your hard work on behalf of 25 Mesa - you did a fantastic marketing job.  Heck, we weren't even in the market and we bought the house.  -Piedmont entrepreneur, buyer of a home I marketed (that is, not my client!)