This is an up and coming neighborhood!! South Berkeley as a whole, with its quiet neighborhoods of small bungalow homes and historically significant multi-units, has it all. Bordering the upscale Elmwood and close to the amenities and pulse of downtown, residents enjoy a neighborhood feel with the ability to walk to their favorite bars, stores and restaurants. There are scattered attractions for all residents and visitors; however: epicures and organic food lovers flock to the large Whole Foods at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Ashby Avenue and to the landmark Berkeley Bowl (justly famed for its voluminous produce section) at the corner of Shattuck and Russell streets. Retro-rockers can find used tube amps and guitars at Univibe (Adeline near Ashby), and Flint's BBQ devotees are legion—ask for the pork slab. Read reviews of the recently re-opened Flints at yelp.com. At the Ashby BART station, the Berkeley Flea Market has been drawing big crowds of bargain hunters every weekend for thirty years. In the evening, Café de La Pena and The Starry Plough offer music events that showcase artists and musicians young and old, while serving pitchers of tasty microbrew. Kirala, for those in the know, offers the freshest and most delicious sushi in the east bay.
This area really has it all, along with affordable home prices.
| Address | Type | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 2908 Florence Street | (Condo) | $489,000 |
| 2922 Fulton Street | (Duplex) | $780,000 |
| 2310 Ward Street | $735,000 | |
| 2149 Russell Street | (Units) | $799,000 |
| 2247 Oregon Street | $680,000 | |
| 2315 Derby Street | $729,000 | |
| 2404 Derby Street | $550,000 | |
| 2165 Ashby Street | $569,000 | |
| 2207 Ashby Street | $575,000 | |
| 3028 Deakin Street | (Units) | $795,000 |
| 2214 Carleton Street | $659,000 |
If you would like more details of the above sales or a free market evaluation of your own property, please do not hesitate to give us a call!
Look forward to hearing from you.
Scott and Marlene Leverette
A handyman who was cleaning the gutter told me that large sections of our roof were in really bad shape. I fought vertigo and went to see for myself. It looked horrendous: tiles missing or broken, one section was covered in thick moss, another section was dilapidated in what, to me, seems in urgent need of major work, the metal around the skylights was detached and I could see what look like medical gauze (!) barely attached to the side of the skylight casing.
After asking all my friends for referrals, I requested bids from 5 roofers. They quoted various repairs and replacement of whole sections. One took a cursory look without bothering to climb on the roof and said that we needed to replace the whole roof (50K!).
Then I got the best advice from a shop that sells wood shingles: Ask a roof inspector to check the roof. He gave me the name of "a good guy." Roof inspectors also do repairs and are not motivated to recommend major overhaul. When the damage is too extensive they recommend trusted roofers (inspectors know who the best roofers are).
The roof inspector the shop recommended charged $145 (or 175$ I can't remember) for inspection and $1,250 for repairs and cleaning (the roof is very large). He told me the section that was so damaged should last another 5 year and the other moss-covered section would last another 10 years at least, the other sections should last 15 to 20 years. He also fixed the skylights, the various little chimneys, installed 2 poles for fake owls (to scare the wookpeckers who had created silos of acorns), and remediated many other shortcomings. He also offers roof cleaning services.
The roof inspector approach is valid for any type of roof.
Meanwhile, it is a good practice to clean the roof every year to extend its life but not with a powerwash as some of the roofers I talked to recommended. Instead the roof inspector used a scraping tool he made himself, a metal garden rake, and a leaf blower.
Interest rates are creeping upward. We are no longer expecting automatic bidding wars on every new listing. Occasionally the date to look at offers rolls by and the property receives no offers. Or the day comes and only one offer is presented. The listing agent sighs at the contingent-free, over-the-asking-price offer and says (like Oliver Twist) “they want more”! The market is changing. Buyers are not offering such enormous overbids, so this is a good time to be buying.
Traditionally, as the holiday season approaches, each week there are fewer competitive home buyers in the market. Home sellers who have their residences listed for sale at this slow home sales time of the year are usually highly motivated to sell. As a buyer, the loan fee you pay to obtain a home acquisition mortgage is fully tax-deductible as itemized interest. Also, mortgage interest you pay in 2005 is tax-deductible. However, your home purchase must close before December 31, 2005.
If you can afford it, prepay your January 2006 mortgage and property taxes so that you can deduct these expenses on your 2005 tax returns. However make sure you mail these pre-payments in plenty of time so that the checks are received and negotiated before year end.
Many sellers are deciding to wait until the Spring market to sell, not wanting to present their property in this slowing market. My opinion is that it is a great time to buy if you find a house that you love. You may find yourself buying a house at less than you would have paid a month ago or may have to pay in 3 months time.
Carpe diem!
Interest rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage are the lowest they have been since December! It's still a good time to buy.
Fixer-upper houses are a real opportunity for first time buyers, just as long as the house has been thoroughly inspected and one knows what one is getting into. When the house can be lived in while repairs are gradually made, this can be very profitable, as well as enjoyable. After at least 24 months of ownership and occupancy the home can be sold tax-free for profits up to $250,000 for a single person and $500,000 for a married couple.
You could become a "serial fixer-upper" until you eventually end up in the house of your dreams.
Under pricing seems to still be happening. This week a property came on the market in the mid five hundreds. We had a buyer who could only go up to $600,000. I called the listing agent and asked how many offers she was anticipating. She said that so far we were the only ones but that she was anticipating a couple more. I asked her "if we are lucky enough to be the only offer and our buyers offer full price, would your seller accept their offer?" This seems like a reasonable expectation. She said emphatically, no.
This is happening all the time and I wonder how Realtors get away with this sort of business practice. It is so disappointing for buyers to be constantly writing offers on properties that they could not afford if they knew the real price expectations of the seller. So much time is wasted reading through disclosure packets and getting hopes up, only to be disappointed.
I believe that sellers should price properties keenly in order to generate as much interest as possible but that they should not list them at a price that they would not accept. The fear, of course, is that no one will bid on the property-followed by the fact that the longer you are on the market the lower the offers will be. It's a fine line.
All systems are go in our beautiful new office. After selling my company in 2002, I did not think I would open another office. However, it became very clear over the past two years that working with my son Scott made Real Estate fun and challenging again. It only made sense for us to start up our own company.
We have found the sweetest office in the heart of the Claremont, above Rick and Ann's and Pete's. Our windows look out to The Berkeley Tennis Club and The Claremont. We have excellent technical support, as well as Scott's expertise in graphic design and my experience at having run the most successful real estate company in Berkeley for 8 years. We bring all of this to our new company.
Because I have seen what works in selling and buying real estate, I intend to cut to the chase, remove all the unnecessary smoke and mirrors and assist our clients in the best way possible. Our only formula is that your goals are our goals.