Berkeley, CA

Drought Conditions Reinvigorate the Greywater Debate in Berkeley

Greywater:
Waste water from lavatories, showers, baths and sinks only. This water can be stored in special equipment and may then be used to water lawns, gardens or other relatively benign non-potable uses such as groundwater recharge. Water from toilets is called black water; it must be properly drained to the sewer or septic system.

It makes so much sence to re-use the mostly clean water from hand washing in bathrooms and from the kitchen sink, but getting a working plan through the City permitting process can be tricky business. This has caused a water underground to form, that eschews the permitting process altogether, which has inadvertantly contributed to the problem of non-cooperation in the planning department. Concern over renegade greywater contamination is one of the strongest arguements against making greywater systems simple and widely available to average consumers. If you get the chance, tell your city councel person that you are in favor of greywater and you vote!

Safety tips for using greywater:
1. Use greywater from bathroom sinks, tubs, showers, and washing machines and avoid greywater from kitchen sinks, dishwashers, and toilets.

2. Don't use liquid fabric softener or harsh detergents. Look for biodegradable, low-sodium detergents without phosphates, brighteners, boron, borax, enzymes or bleach. You can find Oasis biocompatible soaps at Berkeley Bowl.

3. Avoid storing greywater.

4. Apply greywater directly to the soil, not by spraying.

5. Root crops that are eaten uncooked should not be irrigated with greywater.

6. Don't use greywater on young plants or plants that like acidic conditions.

7. Water from laundry that includes diapers should not be used.

8. Don't use greywater when members of the household have a communicable disease such as staph or hepatitis.

Well I guess $300K over the asking was the magical number. I heard that my offer was not accepted but I was not told who got it and if it was an all cash versus an offer over mine.... My clients and I are bummed. Everyone around me is shocked that prices in Berkeley are still crazy and that people are overbidding by that much.

I can't say that it is true for every single house but given our lack of inventory I have seen many houses go over the asking price. El Cerrito has slowed down and prices have gone down too but the house around the corner from my office in the St jerome/1000 Oaks area received 4 offers so that is a good sign. Interest rates are holding up well and my upcoming listings should do well in this market. I just hope I don't have to compete against similar homes on the market at the same time as mine.

I recently posted a referral request on Active Rain from a friend of mine in Church. He lives in Berkeley, CA and is planning on buying an investment property in Raleigh, North Carolina. Well I posted the referral on Active Rain this last Saturday night and received 39 e-mails and 1 phone call that night!!!

Needless to say I was overwhelmed by the response. Most people offered 30% but some offered 25% referral fee. No big deal there. I wasn't sure who to go with but then one member made several very useful comments on one of my blog entries. Well I'm going with her and learned something important through this. If you are going to ask for business in this market you must go above and beyond and find creative ways to help your referral base build their businesses.

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.

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to tour the Thorsen House near U.C. Berkeley in Berkeley, California.

My client who happens to be a high ranking alumni member of the fraternity that owns the Thorsen House gave me a private tour of this beautiful Greene & Greene "Ultimate Bungalow".

Greene & Greene architects are the same architects that designed the world famous Gamble House in Pasadena California.

My client is getting his loan funded today and will be closing on his first home in Oakland's Montclair district tomorrow.

It was high time to take a break. My client chose to work with me because of my passion for and knowledge of historic architecture.

I will be doing a full series of blog postings later, but I want to give you this web link now. www.thorsenhouse.org to let you know that you can tour the home. The website is also set up to take donations.

Clinker Brick and beam detail

Living room details

Front porch details

Front Door Art Glass

I would love to work with you too. Give me a call