San Francisco Schtuff

San Francisco real estate, events, food and neighborhood

Snapshot of New East Bay Listings

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By Farrah Wilder:

Four new East Bay listings and some thoughts from Farrah:

  1. Steal: This 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo in Concord is only $105,000. This is right around the prices of other similar condos that have sold recently. It’s a short sale but someone with patience may be able to buy a spacious home to live in or rent out for a very low price.Screen shot 2009-11-09 at 5.45.46 PM
  2. Splurge: The priciest home that came on the market this weekend is this spacious home situated on half an acre of land in Danville. For about $3.5 million, this could be all yours.
  3. De-Lux apartment in the sky: Not only is this condo gorgeous, it has breathtaking views of Lake Merritt and all of Oakland. It’s in one of my favorite neighborhoods, right on Lake Merritt. The HOA fees will also take your breath away at $686 but you will get a lot of amenities for this fee – pool, gym, cable, security, etc. The condo is listed for $415,000.
  4. Most expensive foreclosure: This home may seem expensive at $839,000, at $288 per square foot, it’s a much better deal than nearby Lafayette homes that sold recently for $325 per square foot and $404 per square foot. This home is almost 3000 square feet and on over a quarter of an acre.

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Bay Area Homes For Under $190K!

By Farrah:

As prices have dropped in many East bay neighborhoods, people who were shut out of the market before are finding that they might finally be able to afford to purchase a home. Of course, if you’re looking for a home in the lower price range, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding your dream home prince. I’ve found several neighborhoods that are cute, conveniently located, have well maintained homes and are very affordable.

  • Durant Manor: This tiny community is on the eastern most edge of Oakland between East 14th Street and Bancroft bordering San Leandro. The modest two and three bedroom Bungalow, Storybook, English Tudor and Mediterranean style homes built from the 1920s through the 1940s sold for up to $575,000 several years ago with an average sold price of around $430,000. The average sold price in Durant is now about $225,000.

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Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, real estate , , ,

The People’s Grocery–Bridging the Food Gap

By Farrah:

logo courtesy of People's Grocery

I wrote several months ago about West Oakland’s struggles to attract a new grocery store. I recently learned about an amazing grassroots organization that offers low cost, healthy food alternatives to people living in West Oakland. Every Tuesday from 2pm to 7pm, the People’s Grocery sells boxes of low-cost organic and seasonal fruits and vegetables in the heart of West Oakland. In addition, they also have monthly events in West Oakland, provide cooking classes and workshops for youth and they run several greenhouses and urban gardens.

If you want to get involved, the People’s Grocery welcomes volunteers and donations. Or course, you don’t have to live in West Oakland to buy their delicious produce or go to their events.

No Grocery For You [West Oakland] [SF Schtuff]
People’s Grocery [webiste]
Participate and get involved [People's Grocery participation page]

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Filed under: Food, east bay, farrah wilder, news, oakland , , , , ,

East Oakland Homes For Sale (open 7/13)

By Farrah:

Many people think that Oakland is this horrible scary place where you can get shot by a gun toting gangbanger just for looking him in the eye. There are even some Oaklanders who are afraid to venture into East or West Oakland.

As a real estate agent and Oakland resident with friends who live all over Oakland, I know that these stereotypes are unfair and often untrue. The good thing about these beliefs is that they keep demand from driving prices out of control in some of East Oakland’s nicer neighborhoods.

Some of my clients prefer the quiet, tree-lined East Oakland neighborhoods such as Maxwell Park, Oak Knoll, Laurel and Sequoia Hills to the more expensive and transient Temescal and Lake Merritt areas.

There are some gorgeous homes for sale right now in East Oakland that are very reasonably priced. I’m not a home inspector but unlike homes of the same condition in North Oakland, these seem to be in pretty good condition.

Last Saturday, I toured 9608 Castlewood Street with a client. When we walked in, we saw beautiful vaulted ceilings accented with wooden beams and gleaming hardwood floors. The kitchens and bathrooms, although not ultra modern, were large and clean. The home is a spacious 1557 square feet on a nice sized corner lot. A home like this probably would have sold for hundreds of thousands more just a few years ago. Right now, it’s listed at just $419,900.

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Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, oakland, real estate , , , ,

Goats Fighting Fires

By Farrah:

Oakland is known for a lot of things – the hyphy craze, insane Raiders fans and hot weather. Well, there are a lot of things about Oakland that aren’t widely known. I’ve lived in Oakland for years but I just learned that there are herds of goats grazing in the Oakland Hills.

Several months ago, I was turning onto Park Street not far from Montclair and I saw goats off in the distance. I was in the middle of a huge city and here are some goats complete with a little herder guy chillin’ in the grass nearby. I felt like Doogie Houser in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay when he sees the unicorn over a police officer’s shoulder. But, I was completely sober and coming from a morning meeting.

I did some poking around on the internet and learned that these goats are a part of an effort to decrease excess vegetation and reduce the chances of fire. They are owned by EcoSystem Concepts, a company that provides environmentally friendly solutions for removing vegetation. Nice!

Vicious slaughter of young goats provokes outrage; attacker sought [SF Gate]
Oakland’s Goats Prevent Fires [Today in Montclair, 94611]
EcoSystem Concepts Inc. [Website]

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Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, oakland, random , , , ,

No Grocery For You [West Oakland]

By Farrah:

A Better Oakland reports that there won’t be a new grocery store coming to West Oakland. The City was unwilling to reach an agreement with Fresh & Easy, a grocery store company that wanted to open a store in that neighborhood.

Although it has its challenges, West Oakland is a popular hood for first time buyers, artists and investors looking for reasonably priced but nice home. Its stunning turn-of-the-century Victorians can be purchased for at least a third of the price as a similar home in San Francisco. Designer lofts and condos are cropping up amid old warehouses and crumbling homes. It is also an extremely convenient location for BART and Transbay riders. Unfortunately, it has few restaurants and stores.

Finally, a clear answer on Fresh & Easy [A Better Oakland]

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Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, news , , ,

Oakland Developments Going To Extremes

By Farrah:

New condo developers in Oakland have been forced to find creative ways to sell condos in a market with too much inventory and not enough buyers who can meet lenders’ high standards.

Since the successful Eight Orchids auction, two other condo developments have announced auctions. This Sunday, Shadow Woods in the beautiful East Oakland hills will be auctioning off 33 one and two bedroom condos with a starting minimum bid for the smallest units of $220,000. Next Sunday, the developers of Jade in Downtown Oakland are auctioning their remaining one and two bedroom condos starting at $259,000.

Although Jade isn’t near as many cute restaurants and businesses as Market Square, it has few amenities and relatively high HOA fees, and the units do not have as many high end finishes as Market Square and Broadway Grand; after seeing the results of the Eight Orchids auction, I believe that this auction will be a success. The condos will all be sold for what the market is now demanding. The developer will be happy to have moved the condos for at least 75% of list price and auction winners will get a brand new condo in a decent location for a bit less than the market rate.

You’ll have to bring a cashier’s check or “cash equivalent” for a few thousand bucks and there’s no loan or inspection contingency (you can pay for your own inspection before the auction).

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Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, new developments, real estate , , , ,

Hood Wars Part II: Noe Valley v. Grand Lake

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By Farrah:

Grand Lake (Oakland) vs. Noe Valley (San Francisco)

These hoods are cute, convenient and family-friendly. Let’s see what happens when they go head to head in a good old fashioned grudge-match…

Results:
Meeting hottie at local bar: Grand Lake
Getting around: Noe Valley
Kid friendliness: Grand Lake
Cool stuff to do: TIE
Likelihood that your neighbors aren’t just like you: Grand Lake
Necessary Stuff: Grand Lake
Price: Grand Lake

Meeting at hottie at the local bar: Grand Lake

Don’t people move to Noe Valley when they’re boo’ed up? When I moved in with my boo, we moved to Noe and didn’t go out to bars. Oh yeah, I guess I did pass a bar called Bliss on my way to the grocery store from time to time. Does anyone really go there?

Grand Lake has tons of bars. If you like cat daddies you can go to the Serenader. Hip young professionals can be found at Easy or Vine Wine Bar. Unprentious, dive-loving hipsters go to the Alley or Smitty’s. Lesbians (one Wednesday a month) and everybody else goes to Lucky’s.

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Filed under: Noe Valley, east bay, farrah wilder, hood wars , , , ,

Oakland Hecka Hearts Building Controversy

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By Farrah:

For several years, thanks in large part to the efforts of former Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, once decaying blocks of Jack London square, downtown and uptown Oakland have been abuzz with the construction of mid-rise condo developments. Last summer, the City of Oakland’s Planning Commission began considering and holding public meetings to discuss a proposal to build Emerald Views, a One Rincon Hill-style, 42-story glass residential tower that would be the tallest condo developments and the tallest building in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco.

Although Emerald Views stands to be a significant change to Oakland’s skyline and the surrounding communities, more significant than the building itself right now are the scandals surrounding it.

On the main stage of the Emerald Views scandal arena is a battle to save a historic park. The proposed site for Emerald Views is a 32,000-square foot garden that is the last remnant left from condo development of the estate of August Schilling, a spice magnate who lived there in the 1890s. Although the garden is closed to the public, those who oppose destroying the garden such as John Klein, say that it had the potential to be reclaimed as a public park. Some supporters of the development like Eric from the Transbay Blog say that this “secret garden” is closed to the public and that it is better to use the land for some purpose than not to use it at all. The developer, I’m sure leaving out driveways and definitely leaving out the fact that the construction would dig up the entire park, says that the tower would be very slender with a footprint of only 12,200 square feet so some of the park would be preserved. Turns out that the City of Oakland made a major error that gave supporters of the project a huge advantage, it recently admitted that it missed an opportunity to accept an offer by the most recent owner to take possession of the garden. A city official stated that they didn’t realize at the time that it would be a high rise, wait – what?

In a side show, cute kids, all from an East Oakland boxing gym, were apparently bussed in to speak at the planning commission meetings on behalf of the development. How are these kids connected to a downtown Oakland high-rise? Folks are whispering that the developer might have stuck a deal with the gym owners to rebuild it if the condos are approved.

Also in the mix, of course, are the preservationists, pro-development folks, affordable housing activists, and people who just hope the building will bring a Starbucks to their hood.

A Wasted Opportunity [East Bay Express]
Friends in High Places [East Bay Express]
Fight Over The Secret Garden [Transbay Blog]
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photo [Flickr via user leporello87]

Filed under: east bay, farrah wilder, neighborhood changes, new developments, real estate , , , , ,

DAMN, we’re HOT!

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theFrontSteps has started what might be the funniest thing to hit the SF real estate blog scene, EVER. The whole thing began from one of the most painful pictures ever published in the Nob Hill Gazette and now we have a full blown beauty contest goin’ down. One of our contributers officially made the list and another received an honorable mention and would have made the list if she was a SFAR member.

Alright ya’ll, we want Coach A to win this one, so make sure to Vote for Greg here

Our two hotties (click pictures for full size):

farrah1.jpg vote.jpg

…and the Nominees for Sexiest Realtor are [theFrontSteps]
Vote!!! [theFrontSteps]

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