What condition are most of the homes in Berkeley?

Been several fixers on the market lately, so a client asked if most of the houses in Berkeley were fixers.

We have the exclusive LTC home rating system, and I figured I'd check out the data to see the results

Here are the ratings.. and the count

4 Paw - 422
3 Paw - 649
2 Paw - 71
1 Paw - 14
Hairball -11

So.. it looks like the majority of homes are ranked 3 Paw, and most of the rest are 4 Paw. Fixers and Hairballs are in the minority!

And, you ask, what is our LTC Rating? Why it's named after Lucy The Cat, our dear, departed Calico. But her spirit lives on in CyberSpace

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Email serkes@berkeleyhomes.com or call 510-526-6668 for more information.

Live update of East Bay Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, Rockridge...homes by neighborhood!

Silver Crescent Slipper of a Moon.. and Venus

Silver Crescent Slipper of a Moon.. and Venus

Carol came into Casita Adela and said you have to come out and see this.

And now you can

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Email serkes@berkeleyhomes.com or call 510-526-6668 for more information.

Live update of East Bay Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, Rockridge...homes by neighborhood!

What have 3 Bedrooms homes been selling for in Berkeley?

My friend and Tech Wizard Alan Mah created a pie chart for me showing the distribution of sales prices of 3 Bedroom homes in Berkeley. This shows 2008 sales between 1 Jul 2008 and 31 Dec 2008.

And if you're buying or selling in Vancouver BC.. Alan Mah at http://321sold.net is the man to use. Tell him Ira sent you!

Click on the image pie chart below to access the animated pie chart, then click on each slice to find out what percentage of 3 bedroom homes sold in Berkeley



Click the above image - then mouse around the pie chart - it is VERY cool!

Note: The resemblance to the International Peace Symbol is simply coincidental - or is it?

Are you relocating to Berkeley? Time to migrate your email address

Are you relocating to Berkeley? Time to migrate your email address.

Most of our clients move to Berkeley from other areas... and I've noticed that lots of them use "local" email addresses from their local internet provider.... local phone carriers, rr.com etc.

Thinking of moving?

Set up an email address which isn't dependent upon your internet provider. Gmail is the most common one I see.

Then start using your new email address so you won't miss a beat when you come home to Berkeley.

Here's how I organize lots of photos into folders

I create new folders within the digital camera memory card's DCIM Folder, labelled as follows.

yyyy.mmdd xxxx-yyyy What It Is
2009.0212 1456-1497 Oakland Fox Theater Night

I usually do one folder for each day. That's my "first cut" of labelling. I usually know about what day it was I took the photo, and also recall what I was shooting that day

I then move that FOLDER to one of my hard drives, and back it up compulsively

And then put the memory card back into the camera

After several days, week, or months of shooting, the card fills up. I double check to makes sure I really did move all the folders of photos off it (good TV project) then reformat the card in the camera.

Next step - change the card's name to SERKES, and slide over a series of blank folders I created just for digital camera memory cards. That way people know how to find me if the card gets lost.

serkes
serkesira
510-526-6668
800-887-6668
510-684-3334
berkeleyhomes_dot_com
Canon 8 GB Card _ of _

When it's time to label the photos, I COPY the folder to Carol's iMac (the latest and greatest computer in the house, which is as it should be), open Adobe Bridge, select and organize using star ratings, rearrange each group, and then batch rename the ones I like.

Saving them to folders? A different blog topic.

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Email serkes@berkeleyhomes.com or call 510-526-6668 for more information.

Live update of East Bay Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, Rockridge...homes by neighborhood!

At Fonda on Solano in Albany they're fond a dogs.

The New Old Oakland Fox Theater!

There's always been a there, there.


Now there's a new old Oakland Fox Theater there. A new Deco Gem next in Downtown Oakland's Art Deco Downtown district... kitty corner from the Flora Cafe in the Floral Market Building.

The first time I've ever seen the marquee lit - it is a beautiful sight!

Welcome home, Fox

In honor of the occasion, I created my very first Flickr Slide Show - here's the Flickr Link

A rare photo of Ira & Carol

We went to Yoshi's in Oakland's Jack London Square with friends Linda & Dick, and Linda took this photo of us. Linda and I met at UMass Amherst in 1971, where we were both in Graduate School. We've been friends ever since.

Why is it rare? Because I'm usually the photographer, and rarely in the photo!

Ira, Carol, Baby T ... in our book-filled dining room.

Travel books Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe & United States - with special focus on NYC, are on the right, Design/Architecture with special focus on Art Deco on the left. Mexican Crafts and a little devil on the top shelf.

Colors were too subtle, so Carol repainted them to be more vibrant.

We love travelling across this wonderful country, particularly the desert and to major cities. Over the years I've been to 49 States - North Dakota is only one I need to complete the collection.

Was amazed to realize that I've visited over two dozen countries, including some which no longer exist.

More colorful Berkeley Plumage

More colorful plumage in Berkeley's Northbrae neighborhood. Curtis Street, just up Gilman Street from our Dentist, Sy Kurtz.

Birds of a feather - flocking together

Walnut Street just a block from Peet's Flagship Store in North Berkeley. Another reason I LOVE living in Berkeley.