Rockridge is one of the most popular neighborhoods in the San Francisco East Bay thanks to many factors: Being a popular place to buy means lots of competition. It also means prices have gone up and up. But what I really wanted to write about, as a longtime Rockridge homeowner myself, is what to look…
With a title like that, you probably think I’m going to talk about paint colors, changing the toilet seat, or should you add splashes of wallpaper or not. Probably the most important decision you will make once you buy a house is…drumroll: Which brand of cordless power tools will you commit to? Why is this…
Location location location ! Location has always been the most important feature when buying real estate. That’s how “location location location” said 3x became a saying that transcends time. But what does “location” mean exactly? The right location may mean a coveted school district or neighborhood known for its name, such as Pacific Heights in…
If you are thinking of selling a Berkeley 1-2 unit property that currently has natural gas any time soon, you may want to time any energy-efficiency upgrades based on the sale date. Why? Because Berkeley limit the number of years a home upgrade qualifies for points toward their energy efficiency program. As of this writing,…
With relish, I devoured the Wall Street Journal “Retirement Rookies” article by Stephen Kreider Yoder and Karen Kreider Yoder. The title was “We Considered Leaving the City in Retirement. We’re So Glad We Didn’t.” Mind you, this isn’t the “city” as in New York; some people insist that’s the only city that deserves that moniker….
When looking at houses with clients, I often point out that a living space can essentially be extended at relatively low cost by plunking an 8×10 studio in the backyard — not to mention the bigger investment of an ADU. So when the 2026 Bay Area ADU Expo in San Jose popped up in my inbox,…
My most passionate home buyer clients seem to be Costco members. Is there a “Costco Connection”? As a real estate agent and Costco member who visits a store every chance I get — whether in the U.S. or abroad — I’ve noticed a trend among my clients. A surprising number of my successful home buyers…
A successful artist based in Los Angeles contacted me with thoughts of moving to the Bay Area. Specifically the East Bay. Helping home buyers who are not familiar with towns like Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito and the specific neighborhoods, is a passion of mine! Because I know the character and features of each neighborhood,…
When it comes to looking for properties for clients, showing the same houses everyone who’s house hunting can find online is not an option. These days there are many condos, houses and multi-family properties in the Berkeley area that did not sell (for whatever reason) and were taken off market. That’s how I ended up…
When it comes to real estate investing, the old adage “location, location, location” couldn’t be more true, especially in higher-priced East Bay real estate markets such as Berkeley and Alameda. The BRRRR strategy, which stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat, is a formulaic real estate investing approach that has helped many hard-working, risk-taking…
