For Buyers

Feb

Interest Rate Watch!!

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, General Real Estate News, Mortgage & Finance

Finally some good news for the housing market! Mortgage rates went down again, with the 30-year fixed-rate down nearly a full point from November, when it peaked at just over seven percent!! According to Freddie Mac research, this one percentage point reduction in rates can allow as many as three million more mortgage-ready consumers to qualify and afford a $400,000 [...]

Nov

Oh, no! The roof sprung a leak!

Posted In: For Buyers, For Sellers, For the Home, Home Maintenance

It is Tuesday, and I am sitting here in my studio / office, catching up on some emails. The weather is forecasted to be rainy with a chance of thunder. Through the 20-light window panes I see the tree-tops near Strawberry Creek Park, watching bubbles rise up from the cafe below, when it begins to pour. I mean POUR. I [...]

Sep

Gratitude

Posted In: Berkeley, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, For the Home, Home Improvement, Lofts, Condos, & Townhouses

It’s a beautiful day in North Berkeley! Karl the fog is away and the leaves are starting to show their fall colors. Plus, it’s Thursday, which means it is Broker Tour day, the day that agents go out and preview all of the new houses that hit the market for the week. And sometimes we are lucky enough to get [...]

May

Virtual Open House Schedule for 821 Polk St in Albany

Posted In: Albany, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers

Click here to see the entire open house schedule! {Virtual Open House schedule}

Mar

Buy, Sell or Wait? What’s Changing and Isn’t? Coronavirus and the Real Estate Market

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, General Real Estate News

Although we have weathered dramatic changes in the real estate market in the past, the unprecedented global health threat posed by coronavirus is unlike any other potential market disruption we’ve experienced before. In this time of uncertainty, our clients are asking a lot of questions. We want to try to address them the best we can, keeping in mind that [...]

Feb

Tis’ the Season For Love Letters

Posted In: First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, General Real Estate News

It is February, and February means L O V E . Well, for some it does- at least for the first half of the month! Have you ever written a love letter to a special someone? Did that letter spell out what it was you loved about them, or how you felt? I remember being in the 3rd grade and [...]

Jan

Albany 2019 Year in Review

Posted In: Albany, For Buyers, For Sellers

By Krista Miller I live in Albany and love to track the numbers. People always want to know what is happening in the market so I make sure to keep tabs. I just put together the 2019 year-in-review for Albany. These figures include single family homes (no condos or multi-family homes, because those skew the numbers too much). 2019 saw [...]

Jan

Where is the East Bay Real Estate Market Headed in in 2020

Posted In: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, First Time Home Buyers, For Boomers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Investing, Local Market Statistics

It’s a new year, time to dust off our crystal ball and gaze into the future of the East Bay real estate market. Will the new year be a good time to sell a house? Can you finally afford to buy that starter home? Should you invest in a rental property? The good news: As we head into 2020, we [...]

Dec

Success Story #225

Posted In: El Cerrito, For Buyers, For Sellers, Success Stories

1327 Norvell in El Cerrito was a special treat to work on. Two years ago we helped the Seller’s purchase this home as a fixer. It was a bit of a mess and needed everything. The kitchen was small, outdated and closed off from the living space. The floors were a mess, and the windows old. The yard had zero [...]

Oct

Is the Market About to go kerplunk?

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Local Market Statistics

Buyers, Sellers + Realtors were all chatting about the market at our open house this past weekend. It seems that everyone is confused about the market and what was happening: Is it shifting? Is it dropping? Is it seasonal? YES!!! All of the above. The problem is that we won’t know which it is until it passes. The other problem [...]