Here are a few of my favorite places to grab quality food on the run.  Cafe 15 is in Downtown Oakland at 597 15th Street behind the State building.  This is owned and operated by husband and wife team Lauren and Arash Ghasemi  (Arash was a chef at Eccolo restaurant on 4th Street in Berkeley, [...]

Finding a Voice by Marissa Anderson, (age 14!!) will be showing at Red Oak Realty Solano Avenue location February 8- April 3rd  Artist reception February 5th, 6-8 pm

When you are buying an older house it is common for a property to have $10,000 – $20,000 worth of needed repairs.  If a seller has owned their home for many years often there is newly found damage that is discovered during an inspection.  In many cases it is not that the seller intentionally neglected [...]

Berkeley:

Sold properties Median Price $726k down from $762k in Nov 2008
Sold units 43 up from 25 in Nov 2008
Current for sale properties Median price $699k same in Nov 2008
Units for sale 131 down from 159 in Nov 2008
Months supply of inventory at 1.7 down from 3.3 in Nov 2008
Days on Market at 65 up from [...]

The two charts, provided by Altos show this week in real estate in Oakland and Berkeley.  This is an overview so it includes homes in excellent and in poor conditions, (and every  neighborhood).  To get a better sense of the market, email me.  Some properties are still flying off of the market due to high [...]

When buying a home in the Oakland – Berkeley area you need to understand that our properties are sought after as many home buyers like that fact that that the majority of our homes are older with tons of charm.  When buying a house it is important to thoroughly inspect it before you complete the [...]

The other week, I attended the Eat Real Fest at Jack London Square.  To kick off the festival there was an ice cream evening.  It was  a 90 degree Friday night, Perfect!  Ice cream for dinner.  In the name of research  I sampled several scoops of creamy goodness.  If I had to pick my [...]

At Red Oak Realty, the real estate brokerage I hang my license, most of our agents were busy this summer!  At almost every weekly meeting  we would discuss the market and talk about the multiple offers that were taking place.  Red Oak has about 80 full-time Realtors and does a great deal of the Bay [...]

The blue areas on the map above = 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom homes priced above $800,000.
The dark brown area on the map above = 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom homes priced between $500,000 and $800,000.
The light brown area on the map above = 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom homes priced at $500,000 and below.
This chart applies to [...]

Berkeley:

2009                 2008

Active Listings             138                    188 Under Contract           47                      35Closed Sales                  38                      60 Average Sales Price   $828,624      $835,000Oakland:
Active Listings             1052                   2286 Under Contract           363                     226 Closed Sales                  280                    201 Average Sales Price   $335,000        $492,000
Keep in mind the Oakland stats include all areas of Oakland.  To understand a specific [...]