Berkeley-Oakland Real Estate Blog

The other night, my teammates and I met for a get together at Comal, a relative recent entry in the Berkeley Arts District scene.  It was so much fun.  Comal has a great beer/margarita garden in the back with margaritas and “craft” cocktails of every flavor and aroma.  (Try the Del Rio, with tequ...

In the interest of “Auld Lang Syne,” it’s time for a brief reflection of the year past and an optimistic look forward.  2012 has definitely been a rebound year for East Bay home prices.  Actually, a surprising rebound.  Specifically in Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda, home prices for the last three...

A lot of my clients ...like everyone who bought after 2003...are wondering when we will be getting back to the good ole days in East Bay real estate, ie, the highs of late 2006.  Well, we’re not there yet.  But we’re getting close.  Over the last six months, East Bay home prices have made remarka...

...in how a house sells…and how it feels.  Now that 90% of homes being sold in the Berkeley-Oakland neighborhoods are staged, many homes are starting to look the same.  Or, at the very least, they all look like the staging company that did them.  So, when selling your home, how do you make it spe...

Beating in the heart of Berkeley’s South campus region sits the wonderful neighborhood referred to by locals as “The Elmwood".  Following the great San Francisco quake of 1906, rebuilding efforts gave life to this “streetcar suburb” as part of the 1900’s housing boom.  Elmwood, in its early years...

Did you miss the window?  With all the articles in the SF Chronicle recently about “Homes Sales Jump to 6-Year High”, has the Buyer’s train in Berkeley/Oakland already left the station?  The answer is NO...not if you’re buying a house for the right reasons.  The "right reasons" are these: You’re ...

It’s a little dusty, needs work and definitely could use a spruce up.  But, beneath the dust and weathering, there’s this charming Berkeley cottage with a small view of the Bay.   A former Berkeley librarian lived in this cute Cinderella cottage for over 40 years.  She collected a library full of...

Recently, I got an email addressed to Realtors® stating that as of January 1, 2013, there would be a 3.8% sales tax imposed on all real estate sales, including those in the Oakland/Berkeley area, in order to pay for Obama’s health care and Medicare overhaul.  Oh my God, I thought, that’s terrible...

After a 5-year slump, this summer has been the summer of multiple offers in Berkeley-Oakland.  One astonishing example is a recent listing I had in the Elmwood on Piedmont Avenue (see 2620 Piedmont Ave.). It was an historic house – the Gester House – and close to campus with 4 bedrooms and about ...

Our suspicions have been confirmed.  Home prices in Berkeley/Oakland have definitely ratcheted – or rocketed – up in the last 3 months.  Berkeley home prices, for instance, for the last three months are up to an average of $718,049, or an average of $445 per square foot.  That’s about 9% over the...