About Me
I moved to Sonoma County from the Bay Area in 1999, after spending many weekends and holidays with friends throughout the county. I decided to trade in my Bay view and Silicon Valley and SFO commuting for a small ranch in the wine country northwest of Santa Rosa, with close proximity to Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Windsor, Kenwood, Glen Ellen and Sonoma. I went from selling and marketing software and technogy to marketing properties for sellers and finding country and horse properties for a wide range of buyers, many of whom have bought weekend getaways or who haved moved to the Wine Country full time.
Wine Country and Horses….Horses and Wine Country???
Well, the main rationale for moving here from the Bay Area is that my back yard was not big enough for my horse, and I was tired of boarding her at a stable a half hour away. Also as a kid growing up in New York I had the crazy idea that I wanted a farm. No one in my family is quite sure how that happend, but it did. Anyway, one un-scheduled December day in 1998, I went driving to see what kind of farm I could trade my home for in Sonoma, Napa or Marin counties. The fact that I could afford to make the move and have plenty of room for horses, gardening, grapes as well as to be close to a variety of great restaurants and lots of things to do, plus only an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge, seemed like a logical next step. Within 6 months I had made the move, and by August my horse was safely ensconced at home with me.
Pam’s background
Prior to establishing her real estate business, she spent over 20 years in high level marketing and sales in the software and internet business, developing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for companies such as Macromedia, Lotus Development and Borland. Since 2003, she has applied her skills and experience to the effective representation of home sellers and buyers in Sonoma County. Her network includes experienced realtors in Napa and Lake Counties as well as elsewhere in California. Her experience negotiating with large corporations such as American Airlines, Chevron Corporation, Boeing and Bank of America and in crafting innovative product launches lend themselves to excellent representation of her real estate clients.Pam is a country property owner, grape grower and horsewoman thrilled to live and work in Sonoma County.
Wine Country and Horses….Horses and Wine Country???
Well, the main rationale for moving here from the Bay Area is that my back yard was not big enough for my horse, and I was tired of boarding her at a stable a half hour away. Also as a kid growing up in New York I had the crazy idea that I wanted a farm. No one in my family is quite sure how that happend, but it did. Anyway, one un-scheduled December day in 1998, I went driving to see what kind of farm I could trade my home for in Sonoma, Napa or Marin counties. The fact that I could afford to make the move and have plenty of room for horses, gardening, grapes as well as to be close to a variety of great restaurants and lots of things to do, plus only an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge, seemed like a logical next step. Within 6 months I had made the move, and by August my horse was safely ensconced at home with me.
Pam’s background
Prior to establishing her real estate business, she spent over 20 years in high level marketing and sales in the software and internet business, developing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for companies such as Macromedia, Lotus Development and Borland. Since 2003, she has applied her skills and experience to the effective representation of home sellers and buyers in Sonoma County. Her network includes experienced realtors in Napa and Lake Counties as well as elsewhere in California. Her experience negotiating with large corporations such as American Airlines, Chevron Corporation, Boeing and Bank of America and in crafting innovative product launches lend themselves to excellent representation of her real estate clients.Pam is a country property owner, grape grower and horsewoman thrilled to live and work in Sonoma County.
Testimonials
"Pam was recommended to me by a Marin friend and realtor whom I had informed of my wish to find property in the Sonoma/Santa Rosa area. I couldn't be happier with the outcome of my search. In three days of intense looking at a variety of listings, Pam nudged, pointed and otherwise encouraged me toward an area that she thought might meet all my requirements. It took a while to convince me to give it a try but sure enough, Pam's intuitive abilities were correct. She knows the market and she knows her stuff. I found exactly what I REALLY wanted (even though I didn't know, myself, what that was--nor was I able to articulate it-- when we first started out). From escrow to closing, Pam made the whole thing a breeze--the simplest, easiest process I've ever encountered in several decades of home-buying. Pam was right on top of everything, which meant I didn't have to worry. What a relief! I would enthusiastically recommend her to anyone who wants to find the perfect place in wine & horse country."
Gail Harris Thu Jul 10, 2008
Gail Harris Thu Jul 10, 2008
"For anyone hitting this site because they are considering buying a house with horse property, you are onto the best kept secret of location and person power. Well, I guess its not really a secret given Google these days…but having to write most of time for work I usually avoid spending any additional time at the computer crafting responses/testimonials/ etc…I’d rather be out riding a cross country course! However, Pam was such an extraordinary real estate agent that I can’t resist singing her praises so more stellar horse people end up in Sonoma County. Perhaps you are like us…two horses, two SF based jobs, thinking that you had to wait until retirement to get into a nice horse property. In the meantime you are writing those hefty boarding checks each month for small stalls, limited turnout, extra charges for trailer parking, blanketing, less and less places to ride outside of an arena, etc. Not true!
We thought we couldn’t afford anything within commuting distance to SF but Pam changed that perception and made it a reality. With tight work schedules, competing demands on free time and a budget, we were probably not a real estate agent’s dream couple, and we were very, very picky about what kind of place we envisioned as ideal for the horses and ourselves. Pam was exceptional. She sent frequent email postings of properties, worked completely around our work/horse showing schedule, lined us up with talented bankers, insightful consultants, crunched numbers for us, fed us at fabulous restaurants to keep the energy levels up and never complained that she wasn’t out riding when we made her drive us around every square inch of two counties on the weekend. She is extremely bright (that helps with complicated country property purchases where the contracts read like IRS manuals), perceptive (figured out what we liked and didn’t like faster than we did), knowledgeable (had or found the answers to every horse/property question that we came up with) and was lotsa fun in the process (and I think house buying is a pain to be honest). Did I mention she is also persistent? We would never have ended up in our fantastic 5 acre place with such happy horses if we hadn’t finally followed her advice that we see this one property “that I think has everything you want”. Well we saw it, bought it, and as they say in the fairy tales of old “lived happily every after”."
Christine Kennedy, William Hamersky, Rohan and Seamus Fri Feb 8, 2008
Christine Kennedy, William Hamersky, Rohan and Seamus Fri Feb 8, 2008
"“Pam does an amazing job and we would highly recommend her to anyone needing a thoroughly knowledgeable realtor with excellent marketing skills. She is willing to go the extra mile as we found out after 3 successful transactions buying one and selling two properties in less than a year.”"
Jeffrey Johnson and Terry Loveton, Sebastopol Tue Aug 21, 2007
Jeffrey Johnson and Terry Loveton, Sebastopol Tue Aug 21, 2007
My Q&A
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Pam Buda's Questions (1)
Pam Buda's Answers (69)
Pam Buda answered:
Hi there Deanna--this house went into escrow on June 19th, it is listed as "Contingent, Continue to Show"--in other words the seller and buyer have come to terms and opened escrow to consummate the sale, and the buyers are in the process of doing their investigations and inspections plus getting their financing together, if they are obtaining financing. It could come on the market if for some reason the buyer chooses not to go through with the purchase during their contingency period. T$890,000, and was previously listed in 2008 at prices ranging from $1,049,000 down. It is in a beautiful rural area of Santa Rosa with many view and estate homes, horse properties and vineyards.
Pam Buda answered:
Hi there--Dave gave a great answer to start--there are many options in Sonoma and Napa counties. I just spent the better part of last week with buyers from Provence who were asking the same question. It is entirely a function of your tastes for terrain, climate, architecture and of course, what you are willing to pay.
What I love about living here is that whatever area you choose you have easy access to the whole gamut of communities, most of whom have truly fine restaurants, their own farm markets, shops and wine tasting. Plus the country roads that you drive from one to the other (or bicycle) offer fabulous views of vineyards, redwood forests, apple orchards, coastal and river views. As a former out of town buyer myself, I have enjoyed introducing my clients to the wine country of Northern California--generally you will have a sense (as will I) of your preferences as you deepen your search for the right second home. With out of town buyers, we review a selection of homes that meet their overall criteria on-line before their visit, and then view a representative sample during your actual time here. It helps to allow time of course to kick back and find the place that feels right to you.
Generally, Sonoma, Healdsburg, Kenwood and Glen Ellen are on the pricier side. Even in this market, some of the most desireable properties are still selling quickly because there still is a decent market for these types of properties. That said, prices have definitely come down in the past couple of years, but not as far as the overall county median has dropped as the second home market is a different one. Good luck with your search!
What I love about living here is that whatever area you choose you have easy access to the whole gamut of communities, most of whom have truly fine restaurants, their own farm markets, shops and wine tasting. Plus the country roads that you drive from one to the other (or bicycle) offer fabulous views of vineyards, redwood forests, apple orchards, coastal and river views. As a former out of town buyer myself, I have enjoyed introducing my clients to the wine country of Northern California--generally you will have a sense (as will I) of your preferences as you deepen your search for the right second home. With out of town buyers, we review a selection of homes that meet their overall criteria on-line before their visit, and then view a representative sample during your actual time here. It helps to allow time of course to kick back and find the place that feels right to you.
Generally, Sonoma, Healdsburg, Kenwood and Glen Ellen are on the pricier side. Even in this market, some of the most desireable properties are still selling quickly because there still is a decent market for these types of properties. That said, prices have definitely come down in the past couple of years, but not as far as the overall county median has dropped as the second home market is a different one. Good luck with your search!
Pam Buda answered:
Hi there Jean, I could see how that would be confusing. I looked up the property and what is says is for Special Zones: See Natural Hazards Dis. which means refer to the Natural Hazards Disclosure report that is a standard part of the property disclosures you review when you are in escrow to purchase a property. Typically the seller pays for this report which can cost anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars and reviews the zoning maps for fire hazard severity, flood, etc. Your agent can explain all of this to you. Most listing agents should make this comment in the MLS (multiple listing service) descriptions of their listings but not all agents fill out every field. By the way, this property is in escrow and in the midst of the buyer loan and investigation period so it shows as "Contingent, continue to show." 239 Red Clover is also in escrow but 220 is available asking $472,000. Good luck with your search and please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Pam Buda answered:
Hi Suzanne, in addition to all the good information below from Dave and Dunes, it is possible for us as agents to set up specific searches that match your criteria as to price, size and locale as well as sales conditions such as REO (yes or no), Short Sale (yes or no) in a private web site for you. If you specify REO's, this would only provide you listings on the Multiple Listings Service that have gotten to the tail end of the process as Dave described, and are being marketed by a listing agent. Auction sites also contain lists of REO homes for sale but be aware that there are fees tacked on to the sales prices at auctions which inflate what you actually pay.
The kind of sites I set up for clients (for free) are automatically fed with new listings and status changes on listings already on the page. I have some clients for example that are not interested in Short Sale properties, so we can exclude those from their search criteria if they like.
With this private web site, way we are able to literally be on the same page during the home search process.
As a side note, Healdsburg has relatively few foreclosure properties when compared to some other communities in Sonoma County. I did a blog post about this about a year ago, probably time for me to update the figures by community for our market now.
The kind of sites I set up for clients (for free) are automatically fed with new listings and status changes on listings already on the page. I have some clients for example that are not interested in Short Sale properties, so we can exclude those from their search criteria if they like.
With this private web site, way we are able to literally be on the same page during the home search process.
As a side note, Healdsburg has relatively few foreclosure properties when compared to some other communities in Sonoma County. I did a blog post about this about a year ago, probably time for me to update the figures by community for our market now.
Pam Buda answered:
Hi Maggie--Mike is right about that house. The price ranges under $400,000 are very active with multiple offers in some cases on the best houses because the banks are pricing them low to move them and short sellers are doing the same. I have sold a couple in that price range --or even lower-- in Sonoma this year (both to out of town buyers). Once we hit January-February properties really started to move. Above $400,000 or $500,000 it is a very different story as there are fewer sales in the upper price ranges, but even then, I know of a number of multiple offer situations in both Sebastopol and Healdsburg this year on the best properties so it pays to be ready.
That said, there are a lot of wonderful choices. Your best strategy might be to visit and become educated about the areas you like and of course receive email notifications, be pre-approved and then you will be able to strike quickly when you find the right property. I set up private web sites for clients to receive notifications of new listings and sort them (I can sort as well) from the newly matched tab into saved and rejected groups. That way we can literally be on the same page during a search and share thoughts and comments. Best wishes for you!
That said, there are a lot of wonderful choices. Your best strategy might be to visit and become educated about the areas you like and of course receive email notifications, be pre-approved and then you will be able to strike quickly when you find the right property. I set up private web sites for clients to receive notifications of new listings and sort them (I can sort as well) from the newly matched tab into saved and rejected groups. That way we can literally be on the same page during a search and share thoughts and comments. Best wishes for you!
My Blog Posts
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New comment posted Sat Apr 25 2009, 13:03 by Pam Buda - 2 Comments
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New comment posted Thu Apr 9 2009, 16:44 by Pam Buda - 2 Comments
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My listings plus some cool country properties
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Specialties
Country Property, Wine country living, Horse property, Negotiation, Contracts, Marketing properties, technology for marketing, selling and finding properties, Great restaurants and fun things to do in the wine country of Northern California, Vizsla dogs and resources for pet owners buying or selling real estate in Sonoma county.
Experience
Latest:
Realtor and Previews Property Specialist for Coldwell Banker
June 2003—present
Previous:
Principal for Convergence Point
Advisor and interim executive for emerging technology companies in sales, marketing and business development strategies.
January 1991—December 2002
Previous:
Vice President of Sales for Macromind, now Macromedia at Adobe
Launched Macromind Director to national distributors, resellers, corporations and major partners such as Apple Computer. Negotiated distribution and promotional deals, built a sales organization from headquarters into a national team.
April 1989—December 1991
Previous:
Director of Western Sales for Borland International
$43,000,000 P and L responsiblity including sales management, business development and product marketing strategy for the Western half of the United States, and national product marketing efforts.
April 1986—April 1989
Previous:
Sale and marketing for Lotus Development Corporation, now IBM
Various sales and marketing positions during a time of rapid growth and public offering. Company grew from zero to $360,000,000 in gross sales and from 25 to hundreds of employees during this time. Great fun and a wild ride!
March 1983—April 1986
Certifications & Awards
Rookie of the Year for Coldwell Banker, 2003
Interests
Horses, Dogs, Vizslas, Great food and wine, gardening and horticulture, grape growing, reading, former avid sailor and ocean racer, travelling--not enough time to do it all!
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