Just Listed: Beautifully updated home in Berkeley's Thousand Oaks neighborhood!

It's rare to find a home in Berkeley that has Bay views, a spectacular garden and is near Solano Avenue and Kensington Circle shops and transportation. You will find this rare combination on quiet 650 Vincente Avenue.

Visit 650Vincente.com for the entire photo portfolio and more information on this wonderful Thousand Oaks Neighborhood!

Open Sunday 19 Oct 2008 2:00 to 4:30 pm.

$775,000 2 Bedrooms 2 Baths
























Located in the desirable Thousand Oaks neighborhood, 650 Vincente is a sunny, two-story traditional home with spectacular Golden Gate, San Francisco, Bay Bridge, and Bay Views. The street has wonderful neighbors, and is in a USGS non-slide zone.

The large garden is beautifully landscaped. The redwood deck is perfect for watching the sunset over the Bay.

Updated kitchen with new stainless appliances/ gas stove. Refinished wood floors. New garden drip-watering system. New lighting. New wiring.

Main level: Living room with coved ceiling, dining room, updated kitchen, and a full bath with tub and shower.

Upper level: Two bedrooms, and a large, sun-filled study or family room with vaulted ceilings, operable skylight, and Golden Gate Bridge view. Bath with shower.

Extra space: Attached garage; large workshop/storage space on the lower level.
Work in San Francisco.... or downtown Berkeley? Take the AC Transit #79 bus directly to Berkeley or El Cerrito Plaza BART stations... or even the AC Transit G Line (perhaps with online wireless) directly to San Francisco.


Berkeley Compliance:
RECO (Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance) Compliant


Public Records:
Following data from the Public Records (and not confirmed by seller or agent)

Built 1924: House: 1,342 Sq Ft.; Lot: 3,800 Sq Ft; Source: Public Records

$775,000.

Ira & Carol Serkes & Nancy Lee Noman
Email

NNoman@pacunion.com or
serkes@berkeleyhomes.com for more information.

Visit 650Vincente.com for the entire photo portfolio and more information on this wonderful Thousand Oaks Neighborhood!

Gracious 1925 Mediterranean in Berkeley's Great Indian Rock Neighborhood

Visit 833SanLuis.com for our extensive photo portfolio.

Open Sunday 6 Apr 2008 2:00 - 4:30 pm - come say hello

Gracious 1925 Mediterranean extensively remodeled in 2006.

4 Bedrooms 2 Baths $1,400,000

Wonderful flow & vintage flair in Berkeley's great Indian Rock neighborhood.

Cherry Wood cabinets, Subzero & Dynasty Applicances.

Huge high ceiling'd master suite with private balcony... Golden Gate Bridge & Bay Views... and the walk-in closet you've always wanted.

Living room, dining room, small study all on main level.

Lower level - family room with separate entry + 4th bedroom, bath with sauna.

Rear deck and gentle upslope terraced lot

Two car detached garage

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

Considering selling your Berkeley Home? Read what Betty McAfee and Audrey Hazen said!

Dear Ira and Carol,

When it came time for us to sell our home in Berkeley, we thought we would sell it ourselves. After trying this for about a week, we realized there was much more to this than we had thought.

Over the years we had been receiving impressive postcards and brochures from Ira and Carol Serkes offering to help us sell our house should we ever want to. We called them up. They came right over to our home and we had a good meeting with them around our kitchen table.

We had planned to start with them and then meet with some other realtors for comparison. But we were so pleased with their approach, both appreciating our home and helping us be realistic in relation to the market, that we signed up with them right away.

There was quite a bit that we had to do to get our home ready for sale and they were exceedingly helpful in all aspects of the sale, in addition to which we found them delightful to be with.

Our home went on the market the day the SF Chronicle's three inch banner headline read "Mortgage Crunch!" It was a bit of a roller coaster ride for a while, but Ira and Carol rode it with us and we finalized a fine sale within a remarkably short time.

Hardly a day goes by without our saying how lucky we were to have sold our beloved home at a time when it was not the easiest AND how glad we are we chose to put the house in the hands not just of realtors, but of Ira and Carol Serkes.

If you are considering selling your home, we cannot imagine better people to help you. They know the real estate business well, are very computer literate and most important of all, they work with heart.

Betty McAfee and Audrey Hazen

Historic and utterly unique! "...one of the most intriguing houses in Berkeley"

Historic and utterly unique! “...one of the most intriguing houses in Berkeley...”

2652 Shasta Road: Four Units: $1,500,000

Situated in a lovely residential area on wooded and winding Shasta Road, minutes to North Berkeley shopping and restaurants; UC campus; public transportation.

The property was originally part of an 1880s rock crushing operation for the stone quarry above at what is now La Loma/Glendale Park.

About 1917, it was converted to a single family residence by noted architect Frederick Reimers, according to Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association records.

A 1949 article describes it as “...one of the most intriguing houses in Berkeley... [wooden] beams from the rock crushing equipment were utilized to build the house". Those massive beams can be seen in the Loft Unit (#3).

Several of the buildings Reimers designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: an Art Deco car dealership on Durant in Berkeley, and Olvida Penas in Pebble Beach. Reimers was also the original architect on Eugene O’Neill’s Tao House.

Now 2652 Shasta Road is a four unit building, stepped down the hillside with north bay and Mt. Tamalpais views. The Top and Loft level units have all the distinctive early century California hallmarks of the period: grand proportions; rustic wood panelled walls; redwood pillars and beams; vintage wall sconces; built-ins with glass paned cabinetry and leaded glass.

Interior staircases connect all units and this could once again become a single family home. The Top and Loft levels particularly have the potential of being combined into a spectacular tri-level living space. The lower two units are more modest with some updating of kitchens and baths.

Ground/basement:
laundry and storage

1st Level (#1):
One bedroom, one bath, north bay views

2nd Level (#2):
Two bedrooms, one bath, clawfoot tub & pedestal sink; redone kitchen, north bay views

Loft Unit (#3):
huge open space on two levels, one bathroom, shower only; leaded glass, built-in shelving; grand baronial fireplace, vintage wall sconces; there are seven steps up to the second level; wood floors; kitchen eating area has a Franklin stove; stenciled ceiling; two sets of dual paned French doors lead to balcony stretching across the front of the building with views of the north bay and Mt. Tamalpais

Top Unit (#4):
One bedroom, one bath; living/dining built-ins; newer fixtures and tiled kitchen and bath flooring; Franklin stove; wood floors; two sets of window seats with storage beneath; stenciled ceiling; distinctive diagonal crossbracing at each set of side windows; westward views;

Parking:
There is space at the front just off Shasta Road for three cars, possibly a fourth; also a single car garage

Utilities:
One meter serves all units

The Amazing Berkeley Hills Lodge - Once a Quarry Building, now versatile residential/income property

More than 30 years ago I rented a wonderful apartment in the Berkeley Hills. It was between the Temple of The Wings (2800 Buena Vista Way) and Hume Castle (2900 Buena Vista Way).

The scent from the Eucalyptus trees was delightful, and it was magical to wake up and be above the fog which blanketed Berkeley. On chilly evenings I had a roaring fire in the huge fireplace.

Why am I telling you this? Because you now have the opportunity for your own special place in the Berkeley Hills.

Imagine the most amazing loft, with golden wood floors, a wide deck across the entire front, painted ceilings, and a huge fireplace of your own.

And the ability for renters to help make the payments.

Historic rock quarry building converted to a residence in 1917, could be an amazing home, or combine top two units for utterly unique grand lodge living space. Stunning wood details, balcony with bay and Mt. Tam Views, stepped down the hill.

Four Units
The Top - high above Shasta Road
The Loft - Amazing! Will it remind you of a Cathedral... or the computer game Myst... perhaps an Amphitheater... or, with its huge fireplace, one of the Maybeck on Buena Vista Way or Maybeck Twin Drive?
Unit The Third - the most conventional
Unit The Lowest - Gothic Windows and an intriguing layout

This is one of our hand crafted homes where pictures are worth 10^3... or 10^6 words.

Are you interested in shared housing? Always wanted a piece of history?... Thinking of a loft, but really want a view?.. have an extended families (in a unique Berkeley kind of family) or son(s) or daughter(s) attend UC Berkeley? Then this might be just for you!

We realized that this isn’t for everyone.... so this unique property will be shown by appointment.

Email serkes@berkeleyhomes.com, call 510-526-6668 or Toll Free 800-887-6668 for more information.

Overseas Visitors... please let me know your country and time zone and I’ll set an appointment for a VOIP Phone Call or Video Conference on Skype or .Mac (just Skype Serkes or add serkes@mac.com on your .mac account.

Visit http://berkeleyhillslodge.com for the extensive photo portfolio... and what it’s like living in North Berkeley, the Berkeley Hillls... and owning/managing Berkeley Rentals.

USD $1,500,000

Approximate Price in your currency:

GBP £770,265
EUR €1,030,980
CAD $1,499,865
CHF SFr. 1,649,805
AUD $1,661,475
CNY ¥10,787,250
ZAR ZAR 11,756,895
MXN N$16,128,450
RUB 37,069,500р.
JPY ¥160,687,500

Source
http://www.xe.com 10 Feb 08

Median Home Prices in the San Francisco Bay Area

The above map is a link from the San Francisco Chronicle article "Zillow maps ups and downs of housing prices"

Zillow gives "zestimates" and all real estate is local. That's one of the reasons I'm no fan of Zillow or their zestimates. Two homes side by side can have vastly different values, as can similar homes put on the market at two different times. As far as I can tell, Zillow doesn't talk about market "temperature"

But I was trained as an engineer, and I think the methodology of aggregating that data by neighborhood or region (it's hard to tell from the map) is an interesting one and has merit.

And it pretty well describes what I've been telling buyers for the past few weeks. Well priced homes in Berkeley, Kensington and Rockridge have been receiving 3 to 7 offers, and selling for significantly over asking price.

However, if you go 5 miles from those desireable locations, the situation changes. Many homes are figuratively under water (worth less than their loan balance) or would be literally under water (SF Bay is just a few miles west of our Thousand Oaks home)

Zillow themselves describes why I'm no fan of using their site to determine value... "In the Bay Area, 35 percent of home sales come within 5 percent of the Zestimate, while 61 percent of sales come within 10 percent"

Let's put that in dollars and cents sense.

The median (half sold for more, half sold for less) sales price in for a 3 bedroom home in Berkeley's Thousand Oaks, Berkeley Hills & North Berkeley neighborhoods was $875,000.

In Elmwood/Claremont, it's $1,185,000.

The Data Source: East Bay Regional Data/BerkeleyMLS Sales of 3 bedroom homes 1 Jul 2007-31 Dec 2007. The MLS doesn't show all home sales, that's why I like Zillow's method of using County Sales information.

So... by using Zillow to decide value, a Berkeley home seller or buyer in these wonderful neighborhoods has a 61% chance (almost 2/3) of mispricing their home by up to 10% .... $87,500 to $118,500.

And a home seller or buyer who decides to be unrepresented, or represented by an agent who's prime benefit is that they sell homes for less, does so to reduce their costs by few percent of the purchase price.

The risk of selling too low, or paying too much, dwarfs the potential benefits.

So.. if you're selling, or buying.... we specialize in getting our clients the best possible deal!

That's such a good idea, I can use it as a book title. In fact, I did!

The assessed value on the tax records is only $276,000!

The assessed value on the tax records is only $276,000!

How come the sellers are asking so much more money for it?

That's because the assessed value is based on the purchase price plus the annual increases allowed by Prop 13. That means that there's no relationship between the assessed value and current market value!

Another Berkeley real estate tip for you!

Serene North Berkeley Retreat.. just steps to North Berkeley Shops

Visit photo portfolio at http://1305henry.com

$925,000 for a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath retreat






You’ll love returning to your serene retreat.... just steps to North Berkeley Shops, and easy access to UC Berkeley and San Francisco via Bus & BART. It’s really a single family home in disguise... with the benefits of condo ownership.

The main level has two patios - a garden for morning coffee, and another one for afternoon sun , wood detailed living room with fireplace, well designed kitchen, dining room, and a half bath

The upper level is a combination bedroom/sitting room suite ... with its own fireplace, full bath and shower, and a private deck with bay views.

And in the middle level - two more bedrooms (one for guests or your workspace, full bath, and washer/dryer)

Within just a few blocks of your new home is....
Live Oak Park & Theater (Himalayan Fair coming up on May)
Andronico’s Market & Safeway
Peet’s Flagship Store at Walnut & Vine
Cheese Board & Lococo’s Pizza
Black Oak Books
Chez Panisse, Saul’s Deli

French Hotel for coffee
Acci Gallery

Visit the North Shattuck Web Site for more details http://www.northshattuck.org/

Working in San Francisco? The FS bus stops right across the street ... and select buses have free Wi-Fi!. According the the AC Transit Web Site (http://www.actransit.org) it’s only about 30 minutes to the Trans Bay Terminal. Do you like morning coffee? Why not stroll to the Downtown Berkeley BART Station and stop at the French Hotel for Cappuchino along the way. It’s less than a mile to walk, and only a 20 minute or so BART ride. Check out http://www.bart.gov/ for details


And here's what the seller loves about living here:

Things that I love about living at 1305 Henry Street

1. Everything within easy walking distance including:

Restaurants like Chez Panisse, Saul’s Deli, Café de la Paz, the Cheese Board Pizza, and desserts at Masse’s Pastries

Wine and tapas as Cesar’s in the evening

Going to book readings at the Black Oak bookstore

Coffee at The French Hotel (or Peet’s or Starbucks)

Clothes and shoe shopping with my daughters on Vine Street

The Virginia Street Bakery for yummy cinnamon croissants

Tasting the cheeses at the Cheese Board, the incredible breads, and pear ginger scones.

The Farmer’s Market on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

The North Berkeley library that is open 7 days a week


2. Sitting in the gardens, reading and watching the birds take a bath in the fountain and the hummingbirds feed from the flowers

3. Enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony while watching the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

4. Relaxing in the master bedroom loft, reading and listening to music

5. Going around the corner to Live Oak Park for the Street Fairs and live theatre

6. Going to Cal Performances (10 minute drive) and the Cal football games

7. Getting to SF in less than half an hour without driving! (BART or the FS bus that stops right across the street)

8. Being able to walk over to the Safeway or Longs in two minutes when I need one item for a recipe

9. Strolling down Solano Avenue trying to decide on Mexican food, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Zachary’s pizza, Japanese, Noah’s bagels, or California cuisine.

10. Taking photos of the flowers in the garden and going to Berkeley Horticultural Center to buy more.

11. Walking up Marin Avenue to the Berkeley Rose Garden to see all the beautiful varieties in bloom.

12. Going to the “How Berkeley Can We Be” parades

13. Buying amazing produce at the Monterey Market and the Berkeley Bowl

14 Taking photos of the sunsets and rooftops

15. Hiking in Tilden Regional Park

We're living wonderful West Coast Lives

Carol and I are big fans of Sedge Thomson's weekly radio show, West Coast Live... and it made us realize how lucky we are to be living West Coast Lives!


We always try to make the show when it's at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA)... two hours of "hand crafted radio" which matches our Berkeley "Hand Crafted Real Estate Services" and an amazing assortment of guests.

Why the SFMOMA Show? Because the West Coast Live admission also gets us into the museum for free.. and ahead of the big line to see the Picasso Exhibit which just opened!

Whenever possible, we take BART in and walk over from the North Berkeley to the Montgomery Street BART Station.. but we were running late today so drove in. The parking garage on 3rd Street a block below the museum always seems to have room.. and the rates are reasonable (for San Francisco that is)

My favorite Architecture and Design bookstore in the San Francisco Bay Area is William Strout Architectural Books on Montgomery Street; SFMOMA and Berkeley's Builder's Booksource are also superb


More West Coast Living Adventures... we came home from dinner at the Kensington Pub the other night... and in the night sky was a beautiful silver slipper of a crescent moon, probably about a day after conjunction with Venus!

Berkeley Rocks.. in more way than one!



Rocks? In Berkeley?

For Valentine's Day Carol bought me a beautiful book "Berkeley Rocks" I've blogged about it earlier... but we happened to be showing a home near Indian Rock Park.. so took some photos. Yes.. that's really San Francisco in the background!


Still life with Seltzer!

Most of our clients are referred to us from other clients, their Realtors, or come to us from our BerkeleyHomes.com web site.

We were showing a Rockridge Home to one of our buyers... and I realized I was near Genova Deli in Temescal. Genova is one of those old fashioned delis.. now in much larger quarters than they had been in when I first came to Berkeley in 1974.

Genova is the Italian Deli which most reminds me of the New York Delis of my youth (born in Manhattan, grew up in The Bronx).

Genova has changed since 1974, when everyone behind the counter wore a clean white starched apron and a tie. And everyone behind the counter was an older Italian man.. or so it seemed

Now everyone behind the counter wears a clean white starched apron and a tie. And everyone behind the counter is now male or female, young or old, and reflects the diverse makeup of the wonderful East Bay.

Still Life With Seltzer


But I digress (or perhaps, I should say, I digest?)

I ordered a bunch of food to take home (delighting Carol when I arrived home)... and one of our first feasts was gallantina, mortadella, red peppers, beans, archichoke tort... and seltzer from the Seltzer Sisters.

Carol agreed with me.. the composition looks vaguely Japanese!

But there's more to our West Coast Lives. We've wonderful clients, so have had an extraordinary real estate week.

Our real estate week - helping wonderful people sell and buy homes in (and near) Berkeley

On Friday we closed escrow on 138 Behrens, a home which we originally sold to our client about 20 years ago as part of their IRC 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange.

Our Sobrante Road sellers signed their closing papers at the nearby Montclair Village Title Office.. and I rushed back home to take Carol to see Jersey Boys for her Birthday Wednesday

We saw some magnificent homes on Berkeley Real Estate Brokers' Tour Thursday (our clients receive extraordinary information each week on the homes we see)

Tuesday? A lender who heard my speak many years ago referred us to two sisters; we showed them homes on Tuesday, and ratified their purchase contract on a Piedmont Avenue home this afternoon (it's 11:40 pm so it's still Saturday).

That's not all we did on Tuesday.. our two IRC 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange offers were accepted on two 4 bedroom homes in Raleigh NC (we're diversifying the location of our Real Estate investments so it's not all in Berkeley)

Oh... did I mention that we listed a beautiful North Berkeley home on Thursday afternoon? It's about a 3 minute walk to Saul's Deli.

And there I am again, talking about corned beef, egg creams, matzoh ball soup, and seltzer.

Bookstores and food and Carol... some of the great loves of my life.

And for Carol's birthday this week we went to see Jersey Boys at the Curran Theater. It was WONDERFUL!

We also started work our front yard landscaping!

We truly are living wonderful West Coast Lives!

Ira