Alex Hardy of Pipespy, Inc. spoke at our office today about the newly effective Private Sewer Lateral (PSL) Ordinance.

Under the PSL Program, most residential sales in Oakland, Piedmont, and Emeryville will trigger mandatory inspection—and in many cases, replacement—of a property’s sewer lateral. The ordinance was adopted to combat rainwater infiltration of the sewer system, which leads to sewage spills and overwhelmed sewage treatment plants.

This is the biggest point-of-sale policy development in our area in recent years. Depending on the purchase terms, either the seller or buyer is responsible for PSL Program compliance. This spells hundreds or thousands of dollars for the cost of sewer lateral inspections, or any necessary replacement. If unprepared, sellers and buyers will face some rough surprises during the escrow period.

Here, Alex addresses many ongoing questions among area agents:

• When do we do the PSL inspection?
• Which type of inspection should we do first?
• Under what circumstances is replacement necessary?
• What is the pressure test inspection? The hydrostatic test?
• How is the new PSL Program different from existing similar ordinances in Berkeley and Alameda?

Q&A starts at 9:55.

Pipespy is a full-service plumbing, drain and sewer company that specializes in trenchless pipe replacement.

Here’s an 18-month snapshot of Emeryville’s condo & townhouse market. Keep in mind the small sample sizes corresponding to most of the months.

Behold 300 pounds of calendars ready to send to 1000+ Oakland residents…!

Every November, I transform my corner of the office into a gigantic jumble. I spend a good week unboxing, piling, printing and stuffing…then sorting, then bagging…before delivering the mass to the USPS main branch in West Oakland around Thanksgiving.

This annual ritual is a departure from my normal routine of previewing property or studying disclosures. And in the midst of all the repetition—yep, I stuff all 1000+ envelopes by hand—I get to reflect on the year that’s about to close.

On the tech front, I’m really excited about my fledgling YouTube channel. Making it fun and informative has proven to be as much about the process as the result. I’ve also acquired some nice equipment this year. I now shoot property videos to help out-of-town buyers decide on purchases. And upgrading the BlackBerry to a 4G smartphone with mobile hotspot has allowed clients and myself to access all sorts of data out in the field. (Pst, Amazon Wireless has some great deals.)

But the defining difference in 2011 has been my clients!

Through one I’ve deepened my understanding of real estate IRA investment. Another gave me the opportunity to sell what must be the most adorable one-bedroom cottage in all of Oakland.

This year, I also began working with a special group of individuals I first met years ago while volunteering to fight the evictions at Pacific Renaissance Plaza. Oh my, we were young then! Now that many of them are heading onto the next stage in their lives, I’m immensely gratified to be able to help them own homes in the communities they continue to serve.

Thanks to my clients, 2011 has been my absolute best in real estate. What a way to kick off my tenth year in the business!

I am grateful for all the referrals, for all the fun we had this year. In the face of these uncertain economic times, we managed to come up with some pretty good endings. With all this momentum, I have no doubt 2012 will be another year to beat…!

Here are the latest trends in the 94602 zip code for single family homes.

Keep in mind the small sample sizes corresponding to many of the months.

Here are three nifty apps I recently ran across that I’d to share:

CrumbTracks—Store, organize, annotate, and share photos and videos you take during you home search, FREE.

MagicPlan—Measure, draw, and publish an interactive floor plan on the web by just taking pictures, FREE.

My Measure & Dimensions [iPhone] [Android]—Allows you to track dimensions of furniture and room, $2.99 on iPhone, $4.99 on Android.