Who Knew?

Hi,

So apparently Cross Country running is a contact sport. For those of you who don't know, I am a running coach for the Cross Country team at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, CA. This is the same high school that I went to and the same running program that I was a part of. It is something that I commit to 6 days a week every fall and I love it. I love running, I love the kids, and I love being a part of a team.

This past weekend was the State meet in Fresno, CA. We had our Varsity boys (7 of them) lined up at the start of the race. When the gun went off there appeared to be a fall and second shot was heard signaling a restart. As the dust cleared, there was a runner on the ground. All of a sudden, I realized that it was one of OUR runners. A senior, Brent Moore, was lying on the ground in agony. He was immediately taken to the ambulance as they got ready to re-start the race. Unfortunately for our boys, an event like this immediately takes them out of the race. Now, instead of focusing on the race, they were immediately concerned for their teammate and had no idea what had happened to him. As soon as they finished the race none of the guys cared about how they did but were immediately asking what happened to Brent and how he was doing. Even though we didn't have our best race, it was pretty cool to see the genuine concern on the faces of the boys. You never want to see something like that happen, but it showed me how much of a team these guys really are.
After the race re-started I ran over to the ambulance to see what happened. It appeared that Brent had separated his shoulder. Come to find out later in the evening, Brent had broken his right clavicle. Absolutely stunning. I have never seen anything like that at a cross country race. Hard to have that happen to a senior on his last race but at least he knows that his guys have his back.
Now the season is officially over and I can start winter training on my own. I decided over the weekend to run the LA Marathon with my wife and her family. I'll keep you updated.

Conor

Fear the Beard

Hi,

Well I don't talk about it much on this blog but if you've looked at a few of my pictures, you might've guessed that I am a pretty big San Francisco Giants fan. I have followed them loyally for many years and finally we are back at the World Series. Lucky for my family, we had season tickets this year.

The Best part about season tickets is that if the team makes the playoffs, you have first crack at playoff tickets at face value. Yes sir. I have been lucky enough to go to Game 1 of the NLDS against the Braves and Game 3 of the NLCS against the Phillies. It's funny because I was a little anxious nervous for those first few series but now for the World Series I am just REALLY excited. How excited? I'll leave you with a mental image of me fist pumping my way down highway 680 as Taio Cruz' "Dynamite" played in the background. This is going to be a lot of fun and needless to say, I can't wait for tonight.

Go Giants!

And for those of you who aren't big baseball fans, the title in this post refers to the Giants closer Brian Wilson and his insane black dyed beard. I left you a picture just in case.

Conor

The Bo

Hi,

So it's Monday afternoon and I am in a pretty decent mood. The Giants had an improbable comeback yesterday, my left cheek is feeling better (see post below,) and my little boy Noah has been a sleeping machine. I am telling you, from Thursday through Sunday, he slept more than 8 hours in a row all 4 nights. Nothing quite like the feeling of waking up in the morning and saying to yourself, "Holy Crap, I feel kind of rested!" Not only am I rested and happy but Noah has been smiling at EVERYTHING. I wiggle my finger, he smiles, I stick out my tongue, he smiles, he poops his pants, he smiles...and I laugh a little also :)

So you are probably wondering what "The Bo" is. Well, in short, it's Noah. Steph and I end up doing this weird thing where we have nicknames for our dog "Mila" and Noah that start with the word "The." Mila's nickname is "The B" and Noah's nickname has started to become "The Bo" This has led to a trend where I call Steph and I immediately ask her how the BeeBo is doing, of course referring to our dog and our son. It started out innocent enough when we first got Mila, Steph started calling her Mila Bila, because it rhymes of course. Eventually that turned into Mila B, eventually shortening to B and finally settling on The B. I have no idea why we needed an article in front of her nickname but it just felt like it was supposed to be there. You can probably see where this is going as Steph started calling our son Noah Boah, and rather than go through the motions it became The Bo right away. The only problem we foresee with The Bo is that is sounds like The Beau, as in boyfriend or whatever...so in general, pretty cheesy. Ahh well, I am sure will figure it out but for now whenever I refer to The B or The Bo, now you will know what I am talking about.

Well, that's my update for today. Enjoy this most recent picture of Noah supporting the Giants!

Conor

My left cheek hurts...

*Before reading, make sure you read blog post "The Winds of Change"*

Hi,

Interesting title right? Did I get punched in the face? Nope. Did bite down on a jawbreaker? No sir. Am I talking about a different cheek? DING.

My left glute has been absolutely killing me for the last week. That's right, I said it, glute. I didn't want to get much more crass that that because my grandmother reads this blog and in recent months she has taught me not to swear. Not only that but I have a 2 month old at home that doesn't need to hear anything other than fanny.

So here's the deal...as you might have noticed in my little info box, when I am not out selling houses, I really love running. Crazy right? How could I love something that to most, seems pretty boring. Hey, I love being outside, I love getting a workout and I love the feeling after a run that, even if I don't do anything else today, at least I got a run in and burned some calories.

Onto the story...Over the summer I went to a high altitude running camp in Mammoth Lakes, California. While I was running my behind started aching a little bit. I have been running for years, and I had never really experienced this sort of soreness before so I just kind of ignored it and assumed, with regular stretching, that it wouuld kind of dissapear. So I keep running through the camp and all the way through summer. Over the past 2 weeks it really started to get to me. I finally had to call the doctor see if we could figure out what was wrong. This was something that was starting to affect me on an everyday basis.

I saw him this morning and it turns out that the muscle is just extremely tight. That's it!! I thought he was going to tell me that my rear end was broken and I was going to need bum surgery. Nope, a tight muscle...

*Sidenote* Not often that someone tells you that you have a tight butt and you get bummed out.

So he stuck his elbow into the muscle and I could barely breathe I was in so much pain. Apparently, it's supposed to help but I guess we'll see in the next few days.

We are in the begining stages of getting the muscle loosened up but in the meantime, I had to go to work today. Thursday is usually a day when I go out with my dad and our friend Carol to check out the houses that have recently come on the market. So I got laughed at by my loving father as I limped around from house to house...I'm exaggerating a little but hey, it hurt.

So, what's the point of this story? I am getting old. Make sure you stretch. This is the new blog format people, love it or hate...hopefully it grows on you.


Conor

The Winds of Change

Hi,

To my faithfull followers...all ten of you. I write today with news of a new direction. The goal of this blog has always been to talk about any experience or share a story, and in the end tie it back to Real Estate. While that still remains the main goal, I will be adding a little twist to the things I write about.

From this point forward I will focus this blog on my personal experiences IN GENERAL. Yes, shocking change I know. I can hear you now screaming, "NO CONOR, for the LOVE OF GOD, don't change this blog!" Well you know what, I want give the people what they want...but since I can't give everyone money, vacation time, and daily foot massages, I will give you more blog posts. The way to give you more blog posts is by having more material to work with, so I am opening up the playbook. From now on, I am going to talk about whatever I feel like. I promise to keep it clean, and I promise to try to stay focused on Real Estate.

Also note the name change in the blog, I will have a new one up by the end of the day. I already have a topic in mind.

Conor

Oh yes...

Also, my lovely wife Stephanie gave birth to our brand new baby boy Noah last Friday July 30th at 4:55am. I am now officially a father and we couldn't be happier.

Conor

Congrats!

Congratulation to Jarett and Jenn who just bought their first home in Walnut Creek, CA!! It was a long arduous search but after almost 5 months, they are in their new place with their huge yellow lab Roo.

Conor

Bee Tag

Hi,

So in our office meeting, we talked about this crazy new thing called Bee Tag. Its almost like a barcode that takes you directly to a website.

An Example of a Bee Tag:




To use this tag, you have to do a few things. First you have to download an application on your Iphone, DROID, or BlackBerry, just go to your AppStore or Droid Market and search Bee Tag. After you open up the application, your phone camera will pop up. Aim the camera at the Bee Tag and wait for it to recognize the code. What this will do is take you directly to this website on your phone. You might be asking yourself, what is the point of doing all that, when all I really need to do is type www.conordunn.com into my phone's browser and it will take me to the website? You are correct in this thinking, for a website that is easy to remember it's probably not important, but for a website that is www.supercalifragilisticexpialidoscious.com, it is much easier to open an app on your phone, one click and you are there.

Here's why it is important for me as a real estate agent. If I have a house to sell, I can actually put the Bee Tag image on the sign out in front of the house. If someone has the Bee Tag app, all they have to do is take out their phone and click a picture with Bee Tag and it can take them directly to my Real Estate website or a website that maybe I have created for this specific house. That way they have all of the specs of the house right while they are standing there. It's pretty crazy technology and probably one step closer to everyone have neck tatoo bar codes but hey, for my purposes, it's pretty cool. Give it a try with my Bee Tag and let me know if it takes you to this site directly on your phone!

Conor

April Showers bring May Showers

Hi,

So it's another gray day here in Danville. I feel like, at the end of May it should at least start to feel a little like summer, however, it still feels like we are inching out of winter and into Spring. Ahhh well, come August I will be wishing for the cool air. That's not true at all. I want it hot all the time. 100 times out of 100 if you ask me what I prefer weather wise, it would be hot. So here's hoping it starts to warm up before this lovely memorial day weekend.

I have been busy these past few months, getting married, working on my backyard, helping buyers, and hanging out with my wife. It has all been great, but an unfortunate side effect of me being busy has caused me to neglect this blog. I always say I will try to post more regularly but I've really got to step up my game because let's face it, there are a lot of people out there counting on my blog to get them through the week, right!?!?

Anyway, for anyone who has been paying attention to the housing market, it actually appears to be stabilizing. There was a little mini rush right before the $8,000 tax credit expired that surprised a lot of people. I had a few clients that put an offer on 3 different places in the last few weeks leading up to April 30th and every single place had at least 4 offers on it. One of the places had 9 offers! That's crazy. While people thought it would slow down after the credit, the market is still very active and a ton of people are out looking to buy a house, which is awesome. It's amazing how much the landscape has changed in just 2 short years of me starting out in this business. So that's my real estate bit for the day.

In other news, the Sharks just got swept away in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I am definitely a Sharks fan, but I wouldn't call myself die hard. Its just tough to be a fan of sports in the bay area right now. Especially because my wife is a *GASP* Laker fan and I have to deal with the fact that her team just wins all of the time and will probably win the Championship again. I really don't like the Lakers but I have to be okay with them winning because it makes Steph happy...

Sorry this wasn't as much a blog today as me just posting my thoughts. I apologize for that. Hopefully next post will be something witty and smart and awe-inspiring, but I can't make any promises.

Conor

Long Overdue

Hi,

I apologize in the delay between posts. The last month has been nothing short of insanely hectic. There have been some good things going on like work and trips out of the state. There have also been some rough times, such as the passing of a good friend and stressful life planning.

I am going to weigh in on a few things...

First, I am happy that it is spring time. The weather around here in the East Bay Area has gotten nice and warm and everything is starting to bloom. This is good for business and bad for business. Good for business because, the houses all look very nice right now with foliage and it is so much more fun to see houses with warm sunshine following you throughout your day. Bad for business because, not a lot of people want a realtor who sneezes every ten seconds and blows their nose on their shirt sleeve all while complaining about pollen and flowers.

*Side note for you allergy sufferers...get a Neti Pot at www.sinucleanse.com. BOOM! Tough acting Neti Pot will get those allergies fast! Wait, wrong product...whatever, once you get used to the Neti Pot, you will love it.*

So back to Spring Time. This is the time of the year when people are out looking for houses. It is great for business and always keeps me busy.

Second thing I am going to weigh in on. Drink water people. It's good for you.

Last but not least, Health Care. That's right, I am going to tell you what I think. I don't have an opinion. I am finding it really hard to form any sort of opinion while being bombarded with facebook posts and articles filled with outrage over our country being screwed forever etc. I just think it is interesting. I will form an opinion eventually and once I do, I will keep it to myself and let other people argue about it.

That's it for today. I hope everyone is well and that their Claritin is kicking in or their cortisone shots are helping them get through these tough allergy ridden times.

Conor

Hockey

Hi,

So I know this is a real estate blog but I just wanted to comment on the USA vs. Canada Hockey game last night.

Let's start by putting me in the category of "passive hockey fan." I really enjoy following my local San Jose Sharks. I catch a few of their regular season BIG games and I make sure to catch every minute of playoff hockey. I definitely have a few friends who enjoy hockey more than I do but I have a lot more who watch WAAAY less than I do.

Yesterday, once the game started I flicked it on. First off, I couldn't find it on NBC. The game got bumped to MSNBC. This made me a little annoyed that what I felt was a pretty big game, couldn't even make it to the big network. However, once I found out that the game would be commercial free because it was MSNBC, I was okay with this decision.

You know what, the game was exciting. There was a ton of passion and hard play. The fans were going crazy for their boys and I found myself really enjoying the game. I ended up watching up until the end of the 2nd period at which point I had to leave the TV and make a trip to the airport. This is the crazy thing, if it were any other big sporting event, there is NO WAY that I leave my spot in front of the TV. But here I was, watching Olympic Hockey and I really didn't have too much of a problem walking away from the game. Granted I was able to listen to it on the radio in the car, but still,I think I surprised even myself.

It got me thinking about the Canadians and how big this game was to them. Even though the USA won and I was pumped about it, I almost felt bad for beating them because we as USA Hockey fans didn't deserve this win as much as the Canadian fans did.

That's pretty much it. Nothing on houses today. My dad and I had a listing appointment. It went well.

Conor

How Banks Make Money

This is a pretty interesting video detailing the way banks MAKE money on short sales and foreclosures.

It's about 5 min long and can be a little dry for someone not completely interested in this kind of stuff, but I wanted to pass it along anyway.

Conor

http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/player/tbws/23088/1129049

Interest Rates

In response to a question about interest rates, I wanted to direct people to this article...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7148582/

Also, this guy below has a lot more to worry about than interest rates...I find this really funny for some reason...

A Good Question

Hi,

In one of my recent posts, I got a question from anonymous. Here it is:

Anonymous said...
Question is: Where do you think the market is going? Is there still enough inventory to get a decent deal on a house in the "TheBayArea". Or should I continue to wait to buy? AMA
February 1, 2010 9:03 AM

I was about to reply within the comments section but I thought this would be a good opportunity to address a question that I am sure many are asking.

My response:

After speaking with others in and out of the office, it seems the market is holding pretty steady right now.

That being said, I don't foresee a huge upswing in the market but I definitely don't see a big drop off either. I think it will hold steady for the remainder of the year. Once we have a more accurate picture at that point we can of course make a whole new guess as to where it is going.

Real Estate agents are like Economists. We have lots of theories and we are always "supposing."

To answer your last question, yes there is still enough inventory to get a decent deal. The prices are remaining steady, which is good...it's just that there are multiple offers, which makes it a little tougher. The good thing though is that even if you do outbid someone in this market, you are still getting a way better deal than what you would have gotten a few years ago. Also, and most important, you have to pay close attention to the houses. You wait a day to make an offer and it could already be gone. That's the part that a lot of people have trouble with. They are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and they don't want to be rushed.

If you are in it for the long haul (at least 5 years) it is still a good time to buy a house.

Conor

Recent Reviews

Hi,

I am happy to report that people are actually starting to read my writing. I swear it's like my fan base went from 1 person (Me) to almost 4!! At this pace, I might have a van full by the end of the month...if I am lucky maybe even one of those big airport vans full.

Some recent reviews:

"This blog is awesome!" -Mark Dunn

"Now I want to buy more houses!" -Conor Dunn

"You've got mail." -AOL

Seriously though, thanks for reading, I like when someone tells me that they heard I have a blog...but then they get distracted by something on TV and forget to read it.

Conor

Newspapers, Negative Nancy's

Hi,

So I've started to get into a routine every morning. I guess this has been going on for about 6 months...is that long enough to qualify as a "routine?" Not important. So as I was saying, I have a routine in the morning that involves me getting out of bed, turning on the pot of coffee and walking out to the driveway to get the newspaper while my coffee brews. I say walk, but the last few weeks has been more of a run or "sprint" if you will, because it's been raining buckets here in The Bay Area.

*Side note* I always capitalize "The Bay Area" because it seems equivalent to saying something like "New England"...which as we all know, is capitalized. Capitalizing it makes is sounds in important. The Bay Area is important.

So, back to the morning, I walk in the house with my paper sit down at my kitchen table and pull out the sections I want to read. At this point I kind of dawdle because I want to have hot coffee in my hand while I read. Is this weird? Probably. Once the coffee maker beeps (YES!) I grab my cup and start reading the paper. Sections that I read: (In order) Sports, Business, then Comics/Crossword. If I see something interesting on the front page I will usually scan that as well.

Today I was reading the Business section and noticed an article on home sales in the month of December 2009. Apparently homes sales in The Bay Area went down last month as compared to the month before. I actually knew that this was true but it wasn't for the reason you think. Home sales have gone down because there is no stinking inventory. When there are no homes to sell, it makes it hard for sales to go up. They go on to explain in the article that homes are indeed selling and in fact they have been getting multiple offers. I am glad that the columnist clarified that in the article but it still irked me that the title had such a negative connotation. There are many people reading the paper who will scan the section and see the headline, "Home sales in Bay Area decline in December." They will see that and likely assume the worst, and you can't really blame them. It was definitely something that gnawed on me but hey, not a ton I can do about it...except tell you about it in this awesome blog.

So, end of story, I read the comics to cheer me up (Pearls Before Swine you rock!) I finished my coffee and got ready for work. Pretty standard.

Moral of the story: My blog has factual information that can blow your mind...or give you something do when you have a free minute.

Conor

Chuck

Hi,

So after holding an open house yesterday I came home looking forward to some time spent falling asleep on the couch to the TV. This dream quickly shattered as soon as I realized that I had some stuff to take care of around the house like cleaning, cooking, etc.

I was perfectly fine with this because the only thing in my mind was that I had to be in front of the TV at 9pm to watch one of my favorite shows "Chuck." Now there are a lot of people who waste a lot of time in front of a television. Maybe I shouldn't use the word "waste" as I am one of those people who definitely enjoys sitting in front of the tube. Like anything (except cupcakes, which are delicious,) I think TV is best experienced in moderation.

Back to the important stuff. "Chuck" was on at 9pm and by god I was going to sit there and watch it. For those of you who haven't seen the show, it's about a normal nerdy guy working at a store called "Buy More" (Best Buy) in the "Nerd Herd" department (Geek Squad.) His old college roommate is a rogue spy for the CIA and inadvertently sends him a whole bunch of government secrets which he sees and now has implanted in his head. Is the premise ridiculous? Absolutely! Could this ever happen in real life? No way! Does that matter to Conor? No sir. The show makes me laugh and has a little bit of action to boot.

At this point you might be asking yourself what this has to do with Real Estate...well not a lot, except this....

I've started to notice recently that when I am showing properties with buyers, there is usually one constant. We almost always walk into the Family Room, the buyer looks around and says something the affect of, "Hmm well I guess I could put the TV there, and the couches could go here..." or this one, "Oh the fireplace has plenty of room above it for a flat screen." It's amazing how consistent it is. Even if families don't watch a lot of TV, they still want to know where they will be putting the TV and how they are going to arrange the furniture to point at it. I would think this is weird, except for the fact that my rear end is planted on the couch for appointment television more than one time a week.

My name is Conor, and I watch Television. I read books too.


Conor

We think the economy is tough...

Hi,

I am lucky enough to have a traveling family. Every holiday season for the last 5 years my extended family makes it's way across the globe to a random destination. Past years have included, Mexico, Ireland and Argentina. This year, my family went to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The first question you probably have is, "Why would you go to Vietnam?" I have an answer for that, my grandmother had never been there before, and she wanted to go. So there.

After 10 days (12 days total including travel) of tours, food, elephant rides, and temples, I left Southeast Asia with a life experience under my belt. I don't want to pretend that my trip was amazing fun when it really wasn't, but I'll merely acknowledge the fact that it was an experience I needed to have and a very interesting one at that. I'm happy with the opportunity to go there but I come back feeling fortunate for the things I have here in the Bay Area.

Our economy is going through a rough patch right now, more than a rough patch most would say. I walked through the streets of Cambodia and stared in disbelief at entire buildings completely empty. Cambodia is a place that relies very heavily on tourism and investors from around the world. When I asked our tour guide what was up with these empty buildings, he informed me that they were built a few years ago by world investors with hopes of sales. The economy crashes, building stops, now they have full buildings just sitting there empty going to waste. This isn't just one building either...they are everywhere. The amazing thing about these empty buildings is that they are still trying to sell them. Asking price for one of these condos is almost 500k USD!!! In Cambodia!! No wonder they are empty. Apparently, that is what the builder needs to stay afloat on these condos. Amazing...I was amazed.

Then I go to Vietnam. No empty buildings there. 10 Million people and nowhere to put them. I saw more motor scooters in one day than I had in my entire life up to that point. Too many people, lots of smog, too hard to cross the street...some of the many challenges I faced while in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

In the end, I came to the conclusion, that although times are tough in the Bay Area right now, we are lucky enough to strike a happy medium of good people in an area that is not too crowded and not too empty.

I know that I am where I want to be when I am landing at SFO and after looking around for a few minutes, think to myself, it's good to be home.

Conor

P.S. The pictures above include a trip to Halong Bay (North Vietnam,) scooters, the family, the snake at Mekong Delta, and Beung Melia Temple ruins in Cambodia. After re reading this post, I didn't mean to give off the feeling that I didn't enjoy my trip, very much the opposite in fact. It was an amazing experience as a whole with a bunch of cool little experiences on the way. I just wanted to convey the fact that, I feel fortunate to be where I am today.