Archive for the ‘Alameda County: Berkeley, Oakland’ Category
August 15, 2008
Time to get your hungry on and head over to the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton for the 2nd Annual Bay Area Barbeque Cook-Off and Music Festival. This is the place for some lip-smacking ribs, tender pulled pork, and exceptional smoked brisket, not to mention some great beer and music.
The main feature, an invitation-only barbeque cook-off, bring in well-known competition teams from across the country, as well as the Aussom Aussie Australian BBQ team, making this event an international competition. Cheer on California teams from Oakland and Dos Palso, or any of the other award-winning teams that are traveling from Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Florida, Minnesota or Illinois. These teams will each be cooking between 100-150 cases of ribs over the 3-day event. Mmmmmmmm…..
If you’re really up to chowing down, you can hit Q’s Village, an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet on Saturday and Sunday from 1-6pm ($25, includes the price of admission to the festival). For the more modest munchers among us, there will be food vendors throughout the venue, with BBQ, roasted corn, funnel cakes, and many of your summer favorites.
On Sunday, radio station 107.7 The Bone will host a Brew Fest from noon to 6pmfeaturing Microbreweries from all over Northern California and Portland, Oregon. Enjoy tasting from such breweries as Santa Cruz Ale Works, Linden Street Brewing, Black Diamond, Firestone-Walker Brewing, El Toro Brewing, Blue Frog Grog, Anderson Valley Brewing, St. Stans Brewery and more. A ticket ($25) to the Brew Fest includes admission to the whole festival.
Live entertainment starts today at 5:30 pm and continues through Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday are jam-packed with musical talent, beginning at 11 a.m. both days and continuing until 8pm on Sunday. Rock, blues, country, Stevie Rae Vaughn tribute bands and more make up the sounds you’ll hear as you wander the venue.
Arts and crafts booths will feature unique finds, collectables, and handcrafted merchandise. There is a Kid’s Zone with a giant slide, carnival rides, clowns, face painting, a balloon artist, henna art and more.
Where: Alameda County Fairgrounds (directions here)
When: Friday 11-9, Saturday 11-9, Sunday 11-8
Cost: Friday 11-3 Free, after 3pm $3. Saturday and Sunday $5 (discount for seniors, children under 12 are free) Note: Parking is $8
FYI – I had every intention of listing open houses for you to see when in the area, but apparently the MLS in this area does not post Open Houses for their listings. I tried multiple services to get this information, but no luck. So go and enjoy the ribs, and don’t forget the sunscreen.
August 14, 2008
With home ownership providing more stress than serenity these days, second homes are hardly a top priority.
If you have always lusted for one, it’s likely you’ve put that fantasy on the back burner. If you own one, you might be trying to offload it — I was in Tahoe last week and I can testify to the fact that there are “For Sale” signs everywhere — or at the very least make it pay its way by finding people to rent it over the holiday months.
Tahoe, the Bay Area’s winter and summer playground, has seen residential sales decrease by about 40% according to Shari Chase, president of Zephyr Cove real estate firm Chase International, quoted in a piece in today’s Chronicle. And at least 60% of homes in the area are vacation properties.
Even luxury homes in the area, which are generally immune to even steep real-estate downturns, are finding it hard to find buyers — to the extent that 18 high-end getaways in Kirkwood, originally priced from $1.5 million to $3.6 million, are set to be auctioned in Palo Alto on September 14. Some minimum bids will be nearly half the initial list price.
The five-bedroom Kirkwood home pictured above, for instance, will be on offer with a minimum bid of $2.5 million, down from $3.58 million.
Long term , however, it is predicted the second home market will grow rapidly during the next 10 years, driven by the swelling number of high-net-worth individuals around the world — according to the 2008 Annual Wealth Report produced by property Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank.
With that in mind — and I appreciate we are in la-la land here given how little spare cash most of us have right now — I picked out two weekend homes I wouldn’t turn my nose up at. I’m partial to the ocean rather than the mountains, so both are beach bound:
250 Kale Road, Bolinas: Classic A-frame home is located on the Big Mesa, above Duxbury Reef. The Sand Castle is a 30-minute walk to downtown beaches, restaurants and shops and a 10-minute walk to Agate Beach State Park. Ocean views from front deck. Price: $780,000.
162 Seadrift Road, Stinson has been languishing on Redfin for 157 days. Perhaps the fact that this 3/2 “shabby chic” oceanfront cottage costs a staggering $2,269 per square foot has something to do with it. (If you need to know the price, you probably can’t afford it.)
[Photo credit of Kirkwood home: Don Stasenka Canon USA - Editori.]
August 12, 2008
Before launching into today’s post on recent home sales in Berkeley, I just wanted point to another example of the not-so-subtle art of “relisting” — as discussed at some length by readers following my post on the subject a few days back. (This issue obviously touches a collective nerve.)
“Back on the market” (with, to my knowledge, no credible break from the market) is 1730 Sonoma Avenue, a 3/2.5 home in north Berkeley that has sustained three price cuts: from an original $1,849,000, via $1,595,000 and $1,485,000 to its current $1,389,000 sticker tag. (That’s a significant 25% cut — of course my readers saw that one coming…) This home used to be described as “Hawaii in Berkeley”. It’s now being referred to as a “tropical oasis”. Either way, I think it’s misleading to state it has been “3 days on Redfin”.
Onwards. The week ending August 10, saw 21 homes registered as having sold in Berkeley. The story, surprisingly, is one of relatively swift sales, although not always at the price the seller was hoping for.
I wrote about 551 Neilson Street (pictured above left) when it hit the MLS in April. This home with more than a little charm sold for $744,500, 6% under its $795,000 asking price. It seems that, despite its good location, nobody was willing to fork out $658/sq ft for a 2/1 bungalow.
2 Quail Avenue, a 4/2.5 custom-built 1950s home above La Loma Park, sold quickly but for $890,000, $50,000 less than its $940,000 asking price.
1740 McGee, a 2/1 Craftsman close to North Berkeley BART, also sold rapidly (I mentioned it here), and for 15% more than its $579,000 asking price ($665,000). Maybe that walkability factor is beginning to have an effect on prices.
3300 Claremont Avenue (pictured above right), a 3/3″Prairie-style” house tucked into a triangular-shaped lot at the intersection of Alcatraz and Claremont Avenue, sold for $975,000, exactly what it went on the market for. A case of a knowledgeable owner and/or real estate agent setting the right price, perhaps?
Lastly, 3020 Bateman Street, the 3/2 “story book English country style” home that went on the market for $799,000 in early June (and which prompted me to write about the discovery of a “new neighborhood”) was pending very quickly — and sold for $26,000 over its $825,000 asking price — a testament, I think, to the desirability of this particular Berkeley street.
August 10, 2008
Berkeley homes sold data for the weeks ending July 27 and August 3 are listed below.
Worthy of note is 2815 Park Street (pictured above left), a 4/2 “lovingly restored” 1930s home with garage opposite San Pablo Park in West Berkeley. It went on the market as an FSBO in May priced $660,000. It sold the following month for $683,000 making one very happy seller no doubt.
28 Oakvale Avenue (pictured above right), a 3/2.5 in the Claremont, sold for $1,350,000, 3% under its $1,395,000 asking price. Although in a grand location, the house needed some work
2440 Prince Street, a 2/2 Victorian in the Elmwood (which I flagged up in May) sold for 4% under its $799,000 price tag. I’m not altogether surprised because, although this is a great, kid-friendly/walkable neighborhood, $617/sq ft for two bedrooms is a lot to pay, particularly in the current climate.
August 10, 2008
It seems you are considered “worldly” if you visit real-estate blogs now (but you knew that already, it’s why you’re here). That, and perusing www.bbc.co.uk, apparently mark you out as sophisticated and cosmopolitan.
It must be true because it says so in the New York Times.
Along with blogs, the online real-estate world throws up more offerings every day. I decided to road-test one interesting site that was highlighted in the Chronicle’s real-estate section recently.
On first impressions, I like StreetAdvisor.com, described as “the easy way to find out what people REALLY think about the street they live in”. The site’s core content is provided by people who live, have lived, or have visited a particular street.
Because the site is relatively new it isn’t particularly useful at the micro-level yet. For instance, I tapped in my own street as well as a couple of Berkeley streets which have new listings (Channing Way and Arlington Avenue). None produced any reader reports. At the moment if you want to find out about Berkeley streets, the reports are essentially limited to main thoroughfares such as Shattuck, Telegraph and Dwight. But hopefully that will change if the site takes off.
I like the clean presentation and intuitive navigation, as well as the idea of its new “Best Streets (In and Around)…” feature. Because its intentions are good, my verdict is it is worth registering on the site and contributing your 2 cents worth. Then check back in with them in a while and see how they’re doing.
The Chronicle article mentioned several other sites, including NeighborCity.com, MortgageMarvel.com, ReelSeekr.com and ProxioPro.com, the last of which is principally targeted at real estate agents. Have a look at them all though — as we all know, all information is good information.
August 8, 2008
While the advice may be to avoid selling one’s home at the moment, given the sluggish state of the housing market, a good number of homes continue to appear on the MLS every week. Here are some intriguing recent listings to explore:
First up a home with not one but two swimming pools. Unusual to say the least. You don’t often see single pools, let alone two in this neck of the woods. Technically the second pool at 51 Vicente Road in the Claremont hills is a “Roman tub”, and the first is an “indoor endless pool machine” which makes them sound rather unappealing, but they look rather fine in the photos. The price seems right too for this 4/3, 3,588 sq ft contemporary house (pictured below) with all mod-cons, including a 2-car garage. It’s $1,595,000 or $445/sq ft.
Next up a cute 2/1 bungalow in the Monterey Market neighborhood. 1471 Hopkins Street has an eat-in kitchen, nice garden and is in a good spot — walkable to BART and lots of foodie stores. Price: $689,000 ($549/sq ft).
Lastly, 335 Panoramic Way (pictured below), a 2/2 wood-clad contemporary which looks like it has the potential to be a stylish pad. It has great views, as you’d expect from the name of the street, and while it’s obviously up the hill, it’s also close to UC Berkeley — walkable I would say in fact. Price: $799,000 ($582/sq ft).
August 6, 2008
Oooh it does annoy me when they do that.
I’m referring to the practice of re-listing a home, often with a new, substantially reduced price, the point of which, I can only assume, is to trick the general punter into thinking this home is new to the MLS with no awkward baggage to speak of.
I wrote about 2 Westminster Drive in the Oakland hills (pictured below) back in February. At that point it had been on Redfin for 142 days and was priced at $4.2 million. Here it is again, although now they claim it is a new listing (12 days today) and they are asking $3.7 million — a hefty half a million cut. This may be a perfectly kosher move — there may even be a legitimate reason why the house vanished and then reappeared on the listings radar — but it gets to me nonetheless.
Two other price reductions to report:
906 Contra Costa Avenue, a 2/2, 1,850 sq ft one-level home in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, has had its price cut to $970,000. It’s in a good location and comes with views, but that still strikes me as steep for two bedrooms, even if they are both “master” suites.
506 The Alameda (above) a 4/3 home originally designed for a UC prof by architect Donald Harms, has canyon views, huge decks and a wine cellar. Nevertheless its price has been reduced from $1,799,000 to $1,699,000.
August 5, 2008
Yesterday, I was talking to an East Bay real estate agent who knows Oakland like the back of her hand, particularly East Oakland, and she described a lot of investment activity going on right now. Basically, folks seem to be snapping up homes for under 200k, doing minimal renovation, then renting them out at rental market rates. (She has one client alone who bought three 200k homes in the span of a couple months and then rented them all out just as quickly). And now today, my fellow blogger Janis Mara asks Would You Ever Rent Out Your House? So we have some interesting phenomena dovetailing: folks who bought at the height of the bubble barely able to hold on to their homes and considering selling or renting out along with folks getting into the market due to its bottoming out to invest but not necessarily to live-in the homes they are buying.
I checked out Craigslist for going Oakland rental rates. Yup, rents have gone up (some, way, waaaaay up) since I last rented in Oakland (which was under 2 years ago). While there are still “reasonable” rents out there (2-bed apartments going for $800-$1200) there are a lot of pristine SFR’s up for rent that are going for what must be “bubble” (e.g. height of the bubble pricing) mortgages. It seems that with home sales down, the rental market has gotten much tighter. Here are the rental ranges I found for 2-bedrooms renting in Oakland per the Craigslist categories:
Downtown: $1200-$2900
East Oakland: $850-$2450
Oakland Hills/Mills: $1050-$2995
Lake Merritt/Grand:$1050-$2595
North/Temescal:$950-$2400
Piedmont/Montclair: $1295-$3200
Rockridge/Claremont: $1590-$3150
West Oakland: $976 (3-bed listing)-$2200
So does it make sense to buy as an investor and rent out? I’m not sure. While prices are diving like never before, you would still need to come up with 20% down, and on a 200k home that still ain’t cheap. The you would need to be able to find renters for the home and make sure you are charging enough to cover not only the mortgage but all other expenses (maintenance, utilities, insurance, etc.). Not to mention all the complexities that go with being a landlord. But then again, if you can find a home that’s in decent shape, it just might be a great investmet. Below I’ve included current homes for sale around town that could be good investment candidates: they appear to be in fairly decent shape and at decent prices. Let me know what you think.
East Oakland: Fruitvale Area
2050 35th Ave. 2bd/2ba $199,900 742 SF
East Oakland:San Antonio District
2449 E 21st St. 2bd/2ba $190,000 792 SF
1950 E 20th St. 2bd/1ba $239,900
East Oakland: Maxwell Park
2947 Octavia St. 2bd/1ba $223,900 953 SF
Mills College Area
6139 Seminary Ave. 3bd/1.5ba $250,250 1252 SF
East Oakland: Eastmont
2692 76th Ave. 2bd/1ba $109,900 1080 SF
West Oakland
1131 Wood St. 2bd/1ba $187,900 765 SF
1137 34th St. 5bd/1.5ba $229,000 2015 SF
3012 Linden St. 2bd/1ba $129,000 1097 SF
3120 Linden St. 4bd/2ba $195,000 1124 SF
North Oakland
861 Apgar St. 3bd/1ba $255,000 1409 SF
August 4, 2008
A dash of architectural pedigree is always a bonus if you are selling your home. While the mid-century modern aesthetic is not to everyone’s taste, it will always attract a core fan-base.
A recent listing caught my attention because the house was designed by Roger Yuen Lee who has been described as “one of the Bay Area’s great forgotten architects”.
Lee, who died in 1981, designed more than 100 houses, mostly in the East Bay but also throughout Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii. According to this 2003 piece in the Chronicle, he adhered to “the ideals of European modernism — that architecture should be functional, unadorned and elegant and make a difference in the lives of everyday people”.
978 Creston Road (pictured above), perched up in the north Berkeley hills, is a 2/1, 1,068 sq ft home Lee designed in 1953. It has lots of original details, Lee’s trademark use of large, plate-glass and “panoramic, 3-bridge views”. It is priced at $795,000 which makes it a steep $744/sq ft, but there’s presumably a premium to be paid for that sort of architectural heritage.
Another mid-mod home for sale, also in north Berkeley is 590 Cragmont, (pictured above). Described as a 3/2 “vintage marvel” it looks like a house that would appeal to the real period purists — those for whom modernization is a dirty word. With the original kitchen and fireplaces, as well as those requisite “panoramic” views, it is priced at $995,000 ($415/sq ft).
August 2, 2008
It struck me again while viewing a recently listed home (6468 Benvenue Avenue) how helpful staging can be. This particular house needed the skills of a makeover artist less than some, but nevertheless the stagers had done a grand job.
And there are scores of homes for whom the sprinkling of some stager’s magic dust can make the difference between a quick, profitable sale and a long painful wait to find a buyer.
To my mind there are two Oakland companies making an impression in my patch at the moment.
A home office staged by Scout (left) and Scout Home Hardware (right)
First up there’s Scout, which also runs a cool hardware/home-style store on Telegraph Avenue in Temescal. I’ve seen their work in many homes around Oakland and Berkeley and you start to know a “Scouted” home almost as soon as you walk in: the spare, shabby-chic look, a penchant for old maps and retro accessories — an antique manual typewriter perhaps — and lots of beautiful but impractical white linen upholstery.
(Other stagers have their signature look too. But the one thing you can be sure of is that all stagers use beds and sofas that are on the small side, to give the appearance of bigger rooms, and the color palette is always muted and inoffensive.)
Before and after: a living room staged by Nest Home Design.
Nest Home Design is also based in Oakland. Its website is stuffed with photos of their work, including some compelling “before” and “after” pictures and an amusing time-lapse video of one transformation of the living room of a home in the Oakland hills. Depending on the type of home, their aesthetic is cool and contemporary with some vintage pieces thrown into the mix.
I think it’s significant that stagers are increasingly doing makeovers for homeowners who have no intention of moving. Who doesn’t need a little interior design savvy now and then?
[Photo credits: www.scoutstaging.com and www.nesthomedesign.com]
