Home Owners Resources

Emergency Preparedness
Home Automation
HVAC
Home Furnishings
Glenbrook Phone Extensions
Replacement Windows Resources
Home and Household Resources
Home Sales Resources
Vacation Property

	Convert area measurements between acres and square feet.
	MLS search at http://www.realtor.com/
	Get instant home values without a sneaky sales tactic at http://www.zillow.com/

HGTV's I Want That! Kitchen, & Baths.

Home Owners Resources

See also California, Alameda County, and Cit of Hayward government page.

Home Warranties

American Home Shield	http://www.americanhomeshield.com/
AON
Home warranty portal	http://www.insurancepoliciesonline/warranty/home_warranty.html

Real Estate Agencies & Agents

Golden State Mortgage

The Mortgage Source Online

Rentals

Foreclosures at Fanniemae and Freddimac

Homepath

Bay home finder

4 Seasons Heating & Cooling

Bailey Properties

Kathie Lucas-Gomes
1602 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-426-4100 x 259

Coldwell Banker

www.camoves.com have an interactive property locator page that lets you enter search criteria.

Malaika Lynch is a recommended real estate agent familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area East Bay Region. Her website is http://www.bayareahomesbymalaika.com/.

HomeGain

http://www.homegain.com/ Various real estate resources. Most require at least a registration if not actually a fee.

Realty Times

http://realtytimes.com/ provides news and advice for real estate agents. Good info for home buyers and sellers as well.

Agencies by Location

Seaport, CA	Real Estate forms can be downloaded from http://seaportcity.com/real_estate_forms.htm. Many online tools, mortgage calculators, and property listing. I believe you can also search the MLS from this site.
Yahoo directory of countries, regions, states, and real estate links in each	http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/U_S__States/

Vacation Properties

See the vacation properties page.

Home Inspectors

Here are some inspection companies for buyers and sellers of homes normally but others use their services as well:

http://www.creia.com/real_estate.htm
http://www.housemaster.com/
http://affordableinspections.com/PressReleases/PressReleases.asp
http://www.home-guard.com/ (A friend of mine has used this one.)
There is a place called "All about houses" that is good too, they are out of Hayward, CA. I'm not sure if they have a southern California place. I could not find a website for them
http://californiahomes.to/homeinsp.shtml (in Los Angeles, CA - has listing of inspectors & roofers)
http://turnerinspections.com/, (in Los Angeles, CA)
If it is for roofs specifically I suggest that you get a "roof inspector". The real estate inspectors will give you a general idea of what is wrong but a specific roof inspector will give you the full 411.

Home Improvement

ImproveNet

ServiceMaster allows you to submit a request for contractors based on a description of your job. They allow customer rating of the work performed by the contractors. I submitted a job bid and received 2 immediate responses. A ServiceMaster advisor also contacted me to follow-up and subsequently had contractors contact me about a different home improvement project that I was considering. I haven't actually hired a contractor through ServiceMaster yet but I do expect to.

ImproveNet allows you to submit a job description to have contractors submit quotes. Here's their statement:

When you hire an ImproveNet contractor, you will be matched with an experienced contractor dedicated to the highest level of homeowner satisfaction, and for jobs with a budget over $500, we will guarantee your project. Click here for more about the project guarantee.

Check and verify a California licensed contractor's license, bond, and workman's compensation insurance status at http://www.cslb.ca.gov/

San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco bay area home products, contractors, etc. can be found at keyaccess.com.

Flooring

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ (featuring Bellawood http://www.bellawood.com/)

Ceramic Tile and Stone

Prices for the granite counter top slab I chose from Best Tile.

Windows

Save up to 50% off retail on shutters, doors, hardwood floors, and windows at http://www.allbrandwindows.com/ 866-663-6597 for free in-home estimate. Showrooms in Menlo Park, San Leandro, Sunnyvale, Dublin, and San Carlos.

http://www.smithnoble.com/ 800-248-8888. Fax 800-426-7780. Key: 50215007.

Kent recommended looking at a company called NewPane for Milgard windows. http://www.newpane.com/ They have an online estimate form.

The Window Broker advertisement. http://www.windowbrokers.com/

Empire Pacific Windows: http://www.empirepacificwindows.com/

Screenmobile

My Customer Information:

N/A

10% to 20% off for new homes.

	Window screen replacement & repairs.
	Pet Guards, Pet Doors & Pet SCreen
	Glass Sliding Door Repair
	Screen Doors & Security Doors
	Retractable / Invisible Screens
	Sun Control Shutters & Screens

Web:

http://www.screenmobile.com

Phone:

1-510-888-1488

Fax orders:

Customer Service:

Address:

4061 E. Castro Valley Blvd
#119
Castro Valley, CA 94552

Solar Power

Home Depot Solar panel installation.

Closets

Closet world.

Lighting

Radiance by Permlight LED line voltage glass pendants. http://www.enbrytenLED.com/ 422 West Sixth St., Tustin, CA 92780 714-508-0729.

Records Search

	California Public Records Link List: http://proagency.tripod.com/ca-pr.html
	Search Systems list of California counties public records search: http://www.searchsystems.net/list.php?nid=95 (U.S.: http://www.searchsystems.net/ )
	Alameda County, California tax assessment search.

Maps and Images

See also the mapping page and the satellite imagery page.

www.vintagehomesonline.com click showcase then go to the Brookfield.

Movers

Find a moving company to fit your needs: http://www.localmoverdirectory.com/

Referred by my real estate agent in 2004:

Cor-O-Van	Richard Cox (925) 829-8220	http://www.corovan.com/
Jeff's Hauling	(925) 829-7192
VIP-Allied Movers	(800) 34402661

Mortgage & Financing

Article, Mortgage Market View

Washington Mutual http://www.WaMuHomeEquity.com/ 22370 Foothill Blvd., Hayward, CA 94541 (510) 886-0390.

Get an estimated value of your home at http://www.homevalues.com/. Be warned that this is not an automated service. They will have a real estate agent contact you with suggested values and listing prices. No offense to them but if you don't want a real estate agent contacting you, I suggest you find a more anonymous way to check the comparative sales in your area. Once anyone on the net gets your information, there is really no way to get them to expunge it.

Coldwell Bankers full service real estate brokers and financing and relocation and more: http://californiamoves.com/. I used Malaika Lynch as my real estate agent in 8/2004 and she found my great home in less than 2 weeks.

HSH Home Finacial publications: All around mortgage and home financing references. Great explanations of all types of financing: http://www.hsh.com/

	Historical ARM indexes: http://www.hsh.com/idxhst.html
	Explanation of Interest-Only mortgages: http://www.hsh.com/interest-only.html
	Another great article on the wave of interest-only mortgages: http://www.corp.ca.gov/pressrel/itnubi082002.htm
	ArticleInsider mortgage finder article: http://mortgageinformation.articleinsider.com/ (home page: http://www.articleinsider.com/ )

Builders

http://www.builderdirectory.com/ Nationwide builders directory.

Security Companies

	All-Guard Systems, Inc. (central station: 800-458-4519)
	Budget Alarms
	Article: Smart Wireless Security System

Landlord Resources

	http://citicredit.net/tenenant_screening.html/ tenant screening.
	Real estate and legal forms at http://www.nolo.com/lawstore/download
	Rental community & forms at http://www.landlord.com/
	http://www.landlordportal.com/
	California eviction flowchart http://www.expressevictions.com/flowchart.php (local copy of flowchart)

Home Maintenance & Handymen

Fairway Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling.

510-471-5911

Lic# 479802 Rick Heffern - Owner

Free estimates.

All phases of plumbing.
Sewer & Drain Cleaning. Wall Heaters. Scour Jetting. Air Conditioning. Gas Lines. Forced Air Systems. Faucet Repair. Repair or Replace. Water lines.

I haven't used this company yet but I know someone else in Hayward, CA who has.

Genie garage door openers: Programming http://www.1stdooropeners.com/genie/gpt90-1coding.htm and http://store.yahoo.com/aaaremotes/gpt901.html

Ho's Landscaping, licensed

Van Lee landscape & Garden service. Lawn mowing 2 or 4 times per month. Complete landscape care. Sprinkler systems. All work guaranteed. Free estimates. 510-782-2988. Received flyer 6/28/2006.

Interesting Products

	WeatherHawk Weather Station
	VantagePro Weather Station
	Enter the Benjamin Moore Pocket Palette device. It's an electronic palette search instrument that will match any sample to the closest Benjamin Moore color. The price, $299, might be a little steep for people outside the trade, but think of the headaches averted. Coming this Fall.
	PANTONE� Color Cue 2� - $349.00 Where else could you get PANTONE Color ink formulas, CMYK, RGB, sRGB, HTML, Lab and Hexachrome� values in a single device that fits in the palm of your hand?
	Meter Maids, showdown of electrical outlet metering products.
	Kohler glass sink