As Home Prices Nosedive, the (Brit to Brit) Advice is “Head East”

I ran into a real-estate friend on the street the other day. She was busy — dashing between her handful of listings, organizing stagers, scheduling buyer tours and open-house dates. But she confided she thought she would have difficulty shifting a couple of her listed homes because, she said, the homeowners were refusing to set realistic prices. The market has changed, but they just don’t see it, she moaned, and then sped off, coffee cup and disclosure packets in hand, acknowledging that at least business was still buzzing.

The picture, as painted by latest price data from Altos Research (for the 11 months to August)  certainly seems to bear her view out (see tables below).

Prices per square foot are way down in both Berkeley and Oakland — $457 for Berkeley and $239 for Oakland at August 31. Median prices overall have taken a dive in Oakland — the median price of a single family home there is now $285,211. As usual, Berkeley, a much smaller, and somewhat schizophrenic market, shows a slightly less definitive trend:  prices picked up in the spring after a dip over the new year and are began to level out again in early July. The median SFH price in the city is $812,607.

  $812,607 is still a significant chunk of money and not dissimilar to San Francisco’s equivalent median price of $848,899 — which won’t be welcome news to “London girl asking” over at Socket Site whose imminent move to San Francisco from London with a $500K budget to spend on a home has prompted an avalanche of advice and guidance in the form of dozens of comments from plugged-in Socket Site readers.

Personally, I think they are all being far too polite. As a fellow Brit, I feel it’s my duty to inform London girl that she’s in for a rude shock as her budget is hardly likely to secure her more than a derelict garret in the city (above left) — and replicating her lifestyle near Hampstead Heath (above right) is pretty much out of the question. “Look East” I say — as did several of those friendly commentators.

Those median prices don’t look like increasing any time soon, and she will certainly get more bangs for her bucks (and better weather) in Berkeley or Oakland than in Fog City.

[Photo credits: sanfranciscohousing.com/.../SF_skyline.jpgand www.londontown.com/DirectImageProcessor/image]

Going Once, Going Twice….Auction Time in the Bay Area

The week of September 20th will bring a fresh round of auctions from Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC). Starting in Sacramento on the 20th and traveling to Oakland, Fresno, Merced, San Jose, and Stockton, more than 900 homes will be available for qualified buyers. Opening bids begin at $1,000 and run the gamut. If you are interested in going this route, make sure you read auction website information very carefully, make verbal contact with REDC, and have all your financial ducks in a row. Normally you will need a cashier’s check of a certain amount to enter bidding, and they may require loan pre-qualification.

284 properties will go on the block in the Oakland area auction from Alameda, Napa, Contra Costa, and Solano counties. The auction will be held Sunday, September 21st at the Oakland Marriott City Center, Exhibition Hall at 1001 Broadway, Oakland. Registration is at 8am, with the auction starting at 9:30 am. You can preview homes scheduled for this auction from 11 am to 4 pm on September 6th, 13th and 14th.

139 homes will be auctioned in the San Jose area auction. Homes run from San Mateo County and Santa Clara County to Santa Cruze and Monterey counties, with a few homes from Alameda County and the San Luis Obispo area. The auction will be held Saturday, September 27th at San Jose McEnery Convention Center- Exhibit Hall 1, 150 West San Carlos St. San Jose. Registration is at 8am, with the auction starting at 9:30 am. You can preview homes scheduled for this auction from 11 am to 4 pm on September 6th, 13th and 14th.

When Crime Pays An Unwelcome Visit To Your Patch

Everyone hopes crime won’t come to their neck of the woods. For some Oakland inhabitants, and certainly Berkeley denizens, I think this (let’s face it) delusion extends to believing there is an invisible line beyond which gang warfare and gun-related crime won’t venture.

The recent spate of hold-ups in restaurants around Oakland, in the Grand Lake, Lake Merritt, San Antonio and Rockridge districts among others, caused an understandable flurry of consternation, as well as a certain disbelief. Could it be that just going out to eat on a summer evening now brought with it the fear of being held up at gun point?

A recent post by my Sweet Digs colleague Alison Ching on Tesmecal prompted an exchange of comments on the safety of that particular, up and coming neighborhood. Asher Hawke, who had lived in the area for several years, wrote: “Crimes in the Temescal proper are sky rocketing. Drive around and see the gang tagging… Don’t even think about crossing 40th or Telegraph unless you are prepared for crack houses and gun shots all night.” In contrast, Anon, who lived in exactly the spot Hawke was describing, responded that, although property crime was on the increase and one should take normal precautions at night, “I’d happily buy in Temescal right now.”

Whether a sudden rash of crime has an impact on the real-estate market is as difficult to judge as whether former Hillary Clinton supporters will switch their allegiance to a certain female governor of Alaska. There may be a short-term drop in sales as prospective buyers seek out what feel like safer neighborhoods — the flip side being that a slight dip in prices may attract a few punters who had previously considered the area too expensive.

The advice remains the same: check out the crime stats for wherever you are considering; look up archived news stories and talk to anyone you know who lives in the area or has friends who does; spend time in the neighborhood — take a walk around the streets in the daytime and in the evening. Don’t skimp on this research. It could be a life-saving investment.

Useful Sweet Digs posts on crime-related resources: here and here.

De-stressing Distressed Purchases

The rule I’ve always heard is to stay away from foreclosed properties, which can be a morass of construction and legal problems. But now that REOs, or bank-owned properties, actually make up more than half the market in some areas, they’re becoming more attractive, especially in our overpriced market.

One of the best guides to successfully buying a distressed property recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal. An outstanding tip: If you can’t get an inspection, don’t even consider buying the house. Other important steps to take: Read the rest of this entry »

Real Estate Agents Trading Their BMWs For Bikes: What Next?

Berkeley is a pretty bicycle-friendly city. The serious, Lycra-clad crowd convenes at Peet’s on Domingo Avenue before tackling the steep climbs into the Oakland hills. For those who cycle for more pragmatic reasons — getting around or commuting to work — a network of Bicycle Boulevards eases their path through the ever-present traffic (see green streets highlighted on map below).

I have seen security staff and even police officers on bikes, but I have yet to see a real-estate agent on one. It could happen, though. According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, “some real-estate agents have traded their suits for spandex and are leading clients from house to house on two wheels instead of four” (pictured right: Pedal to Properties in Boulder, Colorado).

The move has been prompted, inevitably, by high gas prices and growing environmental concerns, as well as the fact that more home buyers are seeking out bicycle-friendly neighborhoods. If you love bikes, it follows that it will make a favorable impression if your realtor turns up on a bike to give you a house tour.

Somehow I don’t see Berkeley’s largely sharp-suited real-estate agents abandoning their BMWs any time soon. In the meantime, find out all you need to know about cycling in Berkeley here. And then consider these three homes currently for sale on or near some of Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevards (BBs). Buying one could see you embark on a whole new, largely car-free life:

1631 Belvedere Avenue is close to Virginia Street which is a BB. It’s a 3/1 Craftsman with a large garden and significant storage space in the basement. Also convenient to Cedar Rose Park and North Berkeley BART. Price: $619,000.

2209 5th Street #C is a 2/2 contemporary townhouse near 9th Street which is a BB. Good looking interiors, close to University Avenue and upmarket shopping on Fourth Street. Price: $945,000.

338 63rd Street, Oakland is intriguing because it’s a 5/5, nice-looking brown-shingle home in a good spot, close to Rockridge and College Avenue as well as Rockridge BART, and the price is $1,350,000 — or a reasonable sounding $495/sq ft. It’s right near Hillegass Avenue which, you guessed it, is a BB.

Today’s Oakland Sales Update

As summer comes to a close, we continue to see many sales around Oakland, often due to bank buy-backs. However, there are still a good number of homes selling that are neither short sales nor foreclosures.  I’ve also noticed a trend of homes selling that have been renovated with additions.  Going through the SFGate sales listing today, below are some highlights.

 Although listed as a 1bd/1ba on SFGate, the realtor’s website  shows this Montclair home (pictured above) as being remodeled into a  2bd/2ba. (I was wondering how a 1bd/1ba could sell for over $600k.) 6433 Oakwood Dr. sold for $630,500.

This home at  4965 Coronado Ave. pictured above sold for $871,500. It is listed on SFGate as a 3bd/1.5ba with 2116 SF, but the realtor website shows it being renovated into a 4bd/2ba. While I drive through this area all the time, I don’t know what the name of the neighborhood is. It’s east of Temescal, south of Rockridge and north of Downtown Oakland. Anyone? Let me know if you know.

4778 Davenport Ave. is north of Mills College across the freeway in the East Oakland Hills. With just over 1000 SF, this 2bd/1ba 1950′s rancher sold for $459,000. It previously sold for close to its current sales price at $435,000 four years ago in March of 2004.

 This Tudor home at 836 Northvale Rd. in Crocker Highlands was originally listed for  $1,100,000 and ended up selling for $1,010,000. It has 3bd/2ba and 1867 SF.

More of my picks without pix:

Temescal

One of our past commenters posted on 486 43rd St. a 3bd/2ba, 2878 SF home in November 2007 here. At that time, the property was listed for $550,000. It finally sold at the end of this July for $610,000.

Lower Glenview

From the Google street view picture, 3857 Brighton Ave. looks like a cute craftsman. It’s a 3bd/2ba with 1267 SF and sold for exactly its same sales price back in March of 2005:  $695,000.

One “Perk” of a Student City: The Opportunity to Buy a Frat House

I was surprised to see an FSBO (For Sale By Owner) turn up in the Chronicle’s Open Homes listings at the weekend. It was the first time I had spotted an owner rather than an agent taking out an ad in these pages.

But I’m sure there have been others, and I don’t see why more homeowners don’t take this route — it’s a high-profile, highly targeted way to reach home-seekers in that sweet spot that is Sunday morning, coffee in hand, browsing the open-home pages.

(You might think cost is preventing more people from choosing this option, but by my rough calculation the ad I’m referring to would have set the owner back about $200 — small fry if it helps sell your home.)

The home in question is 496 Gravatt Drive, Berkeley, a contemporary, 3/3 hillside with views and the potential for an in-law unit with private entrance. Price: $1,076,000. (Tel. owner on 510-295 4292.)

If I was going it alone, not only would I run this sort of classified ad (in the Chronicle, Craiglist, and other, more local media), I would put a big sign outside my home (with the caveat that interested parties had to call rather than knock on the door), and I would create a simple website for the home which would include comprehensive, honest information and lots of good-quality photographs.

Another FSBO that caught my eye is 2901 Channing Way (above): this enormous house near the campus has been used as a frat house and student accommodation. It’s an elegant Craftsman home designed by Julia Morgan, marred not a little by the ugly concrete wall built in front of its facade. Price: $2,100,000.

Seeing this listing reminded me that I recently discovered that one of the few houses in northern California designed by renowned architects Greene & Greene is the William R. Thorsen house (above) on Piedmont Avenue in Berkeley — which is also being used as a fraternity house.

I wonder what the famous Pasadena brothers would have thought about beer-swilling students squinting out of the stained-glass windows and roaming the paneled rooms of this work of beauty?

[Photo credit of Thorsen House: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorsen_House]

Oakland: Eat Your Way Through Temescal and Visit Homes While You’re At It

Like many folks in the Bay Area I tend to eat my way through life. So what better thing to do this past weekend than go to Bakesale Betty’s in the Temescal neighborhood of North Oakland under the guise of checking out homes for sale? If you haven’t been to Betty’s yet, you must go now. Don’t wait another second. It is some of the most delicious baked goods (sweet and savory) around. They are located at 5098 Telegraph Ave., corner of 51st St. and across from the Walgreens/Genova Deli shopping plaza. Since there are no signs outside to demarcate the place, you could easily miss it, save for the line going out the door and a full sidewalk of folks grubbin’ on strawberry shortcake, fried chicken sandwiches (yes!) and lemon ice. Yuuuuuummmmm. Check out the photos I took below: the first is a picture of some of their cookies, sticky buns and scones; the second is the peach pie I brought home. That one didn’t last long. Oh yeah.

There are a whole bunch of incrediblly tasty eats in this area: try Pizzaiolo for, you guessed it, pizza; Dona Tomas for delicious Mexican food (I’ve been to their restaurant, Tacubaya, a taqueria in Berkeley’s 4th St. area—absolutely fabulous!) and across the street, Genova Delicatessen for incredible Italian sandwiches, cold cuts and pasta. Man, I’m getting hungry just writing about these joints so I better start talking about real estate. Around the corner from the above mentioned eateries is a renovated condo complex at 483 49th St. (pictured below).

At $429,000, this 2bd/1ba renovated condo has been reduced from $459,000. Checking out the latest data on Redfin, the condo’s list price for the Temescal area is below the median of $460,000 and above the median selling price of $330,000 (see Summary Data chart at bottom of this page). Also when you click on the listing link you can see what the complex used to look like before renovation (scroll down to the Google street view photo).

Next up for my picks we have 546 47th St. a 3bd/2ba SFR with in-law rental potential in back listed for $349,900. This home last sold for $499,000 in January 2008. There don’t seem to be any interior photos posted so you’ll have to check it out in person to see what’s happening inside.

Lastly we have 472 41st St. for $469,000, a 2bd/1ba condo located in lower Temescal and very close to BART. It has been reduced from $489,00 and is also renovated with plenty of pix showing an apparently spacious and light-filled home. The condo is one of four in this building.

You Don’t Have To Be Average To Like These Averagely Priced Homes

Sweet Digs readers are not a bland, homogeneous lot, with similar incomes, aspirations and taste. That much we know from surveys conducted by Redfin to ascertain just who those bright sparks are out there who clinch great real-estate deals and leave insightful comments on my posts.

But we do know that many Sweet Digs readers are partial to homes in the $600-$700K range. Given that the median house price in Berkeley is currently $689,000 ($463/sq ft), that makes two good reasons to cherry pick my two favorite fresh listings on the market in that price bracket.

First up, 1415 Allston Way: this is a 2/2 home with a detached studio/cottage close to University Avenue with its choice of shops and restaurants, and not far from BART’s North Berkeley station. I like the look of this place — the open-plan kitchen (above left), the taste, the garden with its decks and hot tub (as well as a creek that runs through it — how romantic), and the “boathouse” cottage (above right) which makes a perfect office/guest house. Price: $680,000.

Next up, 2327 Cedar Street: despite being British, I am not usually drawn to what are referred to as “storybook English homes”– as this one is. And I think $657/ sq ft is steep for Berkeley. But, this home (above left) appeals to me because it is in a good location (the paramount consideration in my humble opinion) and it’s really very pretty (including its “petite” kitchen). Price: $685,000.

Finally, just so you know, the lovely John Hudson Thomas designed home at 6412 Benvenue Avenue (pictured above) in The Elmwood is back on the market after being Sale Pending. It comes with lashings of Craftsman features and a deep lot with a hot tub house (sorry, “spa pavilion” — above right) on a great street. Price: $1,095,000.

New Search Features Redfin-Style: Sample Oakland

This week Redfin rolled out some cool new features. To search Oakland listings, I simply typed “Oakland” in the Search box. Once the results are mapped, a link appears under the box titled: “View Oakland Inventory and Pricing Trends“. Clicking on that link I get a screen like this:

Clicking on the tab Newest Listings one can view the most recent additions to the MLS scrolling horizontally (as pictured) or in the bottom of this box, click All Oakland Newest Listings to see a vertical listing of everything in Oakland, along with thumbnails. This option is nice because you can scan hundreds of properties at once (Oakland’s first page lists 500 out of 1989 total SFR listings). Another cool feature on the top of this page is the Oakland Neighborhoods and Zip Codes link which lists the well-know Oakland neighborhoods (Rockridge, Crocker Highlands, Montclair) along with many “micro-neighorhoods” (Bella Vista, Frick, Sausal Creek) each neighborhood’s median home price, median price per square foot and total number of homes for sale. This is really great news in particular for East Oakland, an area which I have long complained of being the king-of-neighborhood-mash-ups. Also, the zip code column on this page is nice since clicking on these you can get a better sense of how prices fall within a particular geographic area (since every zipcode contains multiple neighborhoods that can vary widely by price). For example, the 94602 zip encompasses areas of Glenview, Dimond Heights, the Laurel, as well as Oakland Hills areas such as Joaquin Miller and Oakmore. Finally, I really appreciate the “Summary Data” table at the bottom which lists data for all of Oakland such as total homes for sale (1694 SFRs) median list price ($285k for houses and $349k for condos–hey, is Oakland the only Bay Area city where SFRs are cheaper than condos?) and percentage of homes with price reductions (43%). All of this is great news for us bloggers, plus Redfin’s been getting pretty positive feedback (check out I Think I Just Had a Nerdgasm). Oooof, nerdgasm? Hmmm. Well, just let me know what you think, even if it’s not as breathtaking as a nerdgasm.