California home buyers have a few excellent programs to help you buy a home and offset the costs of building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) — a backyard cottage for family and income. The California Downpayment Resource Directory is a great place to see what you and the property you’re interested in might qualify for….
What’s the strangest thing you can grow in Berkeley or Oakland? SPONGES! Ask anyone where they think loofah / luffa sponges come from. I guarantee 80% of the time you will hear “the ocean” as an answer. Maybe even from yourself. My friend gave me loofah seeds from sponges she grew on the East Coast….
California’s Proposition 19 went into effect on April 1, 2021. It’s known as the “The Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families, and Victims of Wildfire or Natural Disasters Act.” The goal of Proposition 19 is to help millions of older homeowners who want to downsize without huge increases in property tax, homeowners with severe…
States all across America have legalized home-based “cottage food” businesses that allow making and selling food from home — the perfect way to offset a mortgage and have the freedom and flexibility to work at home. In 2022, California revisited the law and made serious improvements, allowing gross income, before expenses, of $75,000-$150,000 depending on…
Home Price Data in neighborhoods near the Whole Foods that opened in December 2021 in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood The 94609 zip code includes the Temescal area around 51st and Telegraph. The 94618 includes Lower Rockridge and other parts of Rockridge I will pull new numbers every few months to see how the median estimated…
Some home owners wanted to sell their property quickly and easily. They mentioned this to my family, who told me. One month later, I had a vacation home property that is truly my second home. This was in Maine, where I hired a lawyer to review documents and take care of the title transfer and…
What makes a place a happy place to live? WalletHub analyzed the factors that are known to contribute to happiness and ranked the 50 states based on economic, emotional, physical and social health data from people living across the United States. Their happiest states to live in list revealed some interesting data. Especially when you…
When it came time to plan a new garden fence and gate for the front of my Rockridge home, I did something better than look on Pinterest: Look around Berkeley and Oakland neighborhoods! Arbors are an especially charming and welcoming feature of brown shingle and Craftsman East Bay homes. If you’re planning on building one,…
Julia Child gave us excuses to cook with vermouth. How could I resist following her recipe for living with abandon? Within hours of choosing “Rule #1: Live With Abandon,” I prepared to savor the challenge Karen Karbo put forth to bloggers to celebrate the release of her book Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life….
