About Berkeley's Berkeley Hills

Time was when a prestige neighborhood in the Berkeley or Oakland hills was the destination of choice for people looking for a house. Well, get out of your car and put on your walking shoes, because now the determining factor is becoming how “close to coffee” you are. Or to put it another way, what’s your “Walk Score"?

I was working with a young couple determined to buy their first house in Berkeley. They have unilaterally eschewed the “Hills” as being too far away from everything. And we are focused on homes within 10 blocks of coffee. That would be the “flats” or bungalow neighborhoods of Berkeley, where houses and lots are smaller, neighbors ... and coffee are closer. (That translates into Walk Scores of 80’s and 90’s versus 40’s for the Berkeley Hills.) I’ll bet Alfred Peet never knew he was starting a real estate revolution when he started the coffee revolution.

Actually, my clients are not alone. In fact, we bid on a house in the Elmwood area, close to coffee, shops and restaurants ... and so did six others. The home went about $150,000 over asking while similar sized houses in the Berkeley Hills, priced $300,000 less, are languishing.

It turns out being connected -- not just electronically, but physically -- is all important to this generation of Buyers – the Millenial’s and GEN X’s in their 20’s and 30’s. They would rather have a more modest bungalow than an expansive home with a view ... as long as they are close to coffee. In this day and age, coffee ... not the street you live on... determines how well connected you are. And what price your house will sell for.

If you’d like to see what houses are for sale in the neighborhoods of Berkeley and Oakland, just give me a call: 510-847-2409.

Barbara Reynolds, your East Bay real estate specialist

This is a quick follow up blog to a story I posted on October 25th (The Past Couple of Weeks...) regarding a client of mine who wanted to sell her Berkeley Hills home. I referred her to a great agent at Marvin Gardens Real Estate (yep...that's the name of the company), and he did a wonderful job pulling everything together in order to promote a smooth selling process and garner a clean offer.

It's two weeks later...results? You bet. 2 offers, the higher of which came in $11,000 over the asking price with a 45 day free rent-back after close of escrow. (I love it when that happens)...

To be safe, I'll leave it at that. Although anything can happen between now and COE, the first hurdle has been cleared. Let the escrow begin! So far, so good.

Localism is what it's all about. Although I could have taken this listing and given it a whirl, the truth is: Had I done that, it would have been all about me and not about what was best for my client. Berkeley may be a 20 minute drive across the Bay, but it might as well be a 2 hour flight where market conditions and local ordinances are concerned. It's not my area of expertise, nor is it an area where other agents know who I am. There's a lot to be said for those nuances in our business.

This is for my 'circle' of 'Los Angeles' friends...(and yes, you may "enter")...

Just saw this street sign in the Berkeley Hills after having lunch with a client of mine who recently left "the City" for greener, suburban pastures! Well, the picture had to be taken. (And I love her new neighborhood!). It's a little misty and grey out today, but the sun should be back this weekend! Happy Friday, everyone. ;-)

I wrote a few weeks ago about this house in the Berkeley hills where there were 12 offers. The bank still countered everyone for the highest and best offer despite offers $200,000 over the asking price.... That is pure gluttony. And then the worst part is they accepted an offer with 10% cash down on an REO where the previous owner had stripped the house of everything. You name it and it is GONE... so the house cannot appraise as a livable space. After 2 weeks the buyers backed out because they did not get a loan so the bank decided to lower the asking price and put the house back on the market instead of calling the agents who had written an offer!! I don't understand the reasoning yet again. We are back at our second shot hoping to get our offer accepted. I know that there were several over-the-asking all cash offers written on that property with 10 day closes and still the bank glossed over them. Do any of you know what to do to avoid all the countering back and forth and reason with banks? I would sure appreciate any tips you have....In my mind this is insane but nowadays if you don't want to deal with short sales then you have little choices and REOs are the norm.