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About

Doug Buenz
Real Estate Broker
Alain Pinel Realtors
(925) 463-2000 Email me!


I am a local Real Estate Broker with Alain Pinel Realtors serving the Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley area. I am an avid watcher of the local real estate market, as well as cultural and political events. But that is what I do, not who I am... » read more

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Cost Does Not Equal Value

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Okay, I get it. This is a tough market to determine the value of property. The housing market is volatile, the economy is surging and stalling, buyers are uncertain, and many buyers and sellers are unrealistic. At times it seems that the best way to determine the value of a home is

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Three Words to Stop Foreclosure?

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An interesting strategy is making the rounds affecting homeowners who are in the process of having their home foreclosed on. Apparently using just three words can make a huge difference. No, the three words are not “this really sucks”. They are “produce the note”. Some homeowners have apparently had success stalling

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YIKES! The Value of Your Home Dropped 44% Last Year!

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According to ABC 7/KGO TV “Bay Area Home Prices Fall by 44%“. Wow. I mean, I know the market is down, but 44%? Really? In the last year? 44%?

They go on to explain:
DataQuick earlier reported that the median home price in the nine-county San Francisco Bay area fell nearly

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You Don’t Have to Buy at the Bottom to Make Money

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Timing financial markets, including the real estate market, is always tricky business. There are dozens of variables that have direct influence over the real estate market, including interest rates, buyer demand, population growth, economic factors, inventory levels, new home construction, changes in personal income, and job growth to name a few. It is

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Open Houses Can Be Fools Gold

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I remember meeting with a seller who’s listing with another agent had expired. I asked the seller how the traffic had been. “Great!” the seller exclaimed. “We have had an open house every weekend, and we are getting tons of traffic!”. “How about showings by Realtors?” I asked. The seller

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Lower Your Property Taxes!

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There is a silver lining to the slumping real estate market after all. If you purchased your home in the last 3 years or so, it is likely that your home has probably decreased in value. While that is certainly not welcome news, there is a small benefit. You are allowed by

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What Buyers Care About

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It is always amusing when Realtors meet with potential sellers, and the conversation around pricing is often filled with comments from the seller such as “I want X amount for my house” and “my house is worth X because the house around the corner sold for Y, and mine is nicer”. And Realtors, sometimes

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How Soon We Forget

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I hear a lot of Pleasanton, Dublin, and San Ramon buyers say they want to wait for “the bottom”. They just are not comfortable buying in the current market with all of the negativity and the fear of more price erosion. Perhaps it’s time to take a walk down memory lane and revisit

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A Guide to “RealtorSpeak”

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We’ve all seen them. And if we REALTORS are honest, we have written some of them as well. I’m talking about the real estate cliche’s that are seemingly in every ad, sign, and description of homes for sale. Lest you be confused, I have decided to take some of the mystery out

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Do Swimming Pools Add Value to a Home?

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This is one of the questions I get asked a lot. Like most questions dealing with real estate values, the answer is … it depends. Certainly, no one can deny that in the Pleasanton/Dublin/San Ramon area, a sparkling pool on a hot sunny day is hard to beat. But pools can also

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You Know the Market has Changed When…

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Okay, with all of this bad news on the Pleasanton, Tri-Valley, and California real estate market, you would think that most sellers got the memo that things have changed. Apparently, there are still some sellers who think it is still 2005, and that none of these things effect them. Because I am “the

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