Bay Area California Real Estate Blog and News

I recently assisted buyers in the purchase of a townhome located on Tice Valley Blvd. Walnut Creek and while helping them search for a home, I became fascinated with Iron Horse Regional Trail, a magnificent multi-use trail stretching across Alameda and Contra Costa counties, from Dublin to Concord. It passes through Walnut Creek where many homes, townhomes and condo complexes are located right next to the trail, including our Eichler listing at 52 Los Cerros, in the Eichler neighborhood of Rancho San Miguel.

Originally a Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way established in 1891 and abandoned in 1977, it is now managed by the East Bay Regional...

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2013 has been a very busy year in Marin Real Estate.

Marin cities homes' rose on average 16% (!) for an overall county average price of:
$1,195,823.
(SFR, YTD, YOY).

In addtion, the number of homes that sold rose 6% to 2268 (from 2133 homes the year before).
(YTD and YOY)

The Story....

It started out with low inventory and plenty of buyers.

By March it was evident that we were in some sort of super accelerated bubble. Prices were rising a full 1 to 3% monthly. While we Realtors were thrilled, we were also nervous; If the prices continued to rise, would there be another market correction in a few years?

While this was an exciting time for Realtors and homeowners, it was very frustrating for our buyers as properties were bid up sometimes as much as $100,000 by (often times) all cash buyers.

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Winter Lawn Prep: 4 easy tips

Did you know that doing a few things at the beginning of winter can give great results for your lawn next spring? Your lawn will continue to grow roots even during the dormant season so take a little time now to reap future benefits.

1.       Utilize a mower deck system that mulches leaves and blows them back onto the lawn.

2.       Aerate the lawn especially if it has received heavy traffic and has become compacted.

3.       Utilize a vertical cutting machine for dethatching scores about ¼" to ½" and then reseed.

4.       Don't forget to fertilize...

This month's report begins with a couple of timely and relevant Holiday real estate stories. The author promises that there are actual statistics contained in this report, and those who are eager to find them sooner, rather than later, may, of course, scroll down!

People often ask me about the state of our local real estate market. This year, I've been telling them about the tremendous opportunities for sellers due to the low inventory of homes for sale, escalating prices, and frequent multiple-offer situations. Last week, on my way to a class, I picked up my friend Anne in the East Bay, and it wasn't too long before the conversation turned towards real estate. I told her things were slowing down a bit, with lots of buyers and sellers...

What's interesting about Thanksgiving this year is that it's also the first day of Hanukkah! This hasn't happened since 1888, so as you can tell, it's rare that Thanksgiving and Hannukah fall on the same day. The next time this will happen will be 70,000 years from now. That is a very long time. 

For those who may be celebrating the two holidays together, there are some great recipes that incorporate the tradiational Thanksgiving foods and flavors with Hanukkah ones. Some recipes include potato latkes with cranberry sauce, Maneschewitz brined turkey, sweet potato bourbon noodle kugel, horseradish-chive mashed potatoes...There are some other great ones, too.

One recipe that really stands out is the challah-apple stuffing. Here's the recipe (which can also be found on buzzfeed.com):

Ingredients: 

• 2 1 pound loaves of challah
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• ...

Ultra Sophisticated Mid-Century Modern Estate

Designed by Renowned Roger Lee

Be prepared to have your breath taken away by this authentic piece of California architectural artistry. It is rare to find a pure mid-century modern home that is in amazing condition and located on a marquee lot in a fabulous neighborhood.

This private 3 bedroom/2.5 bath 1982 square foot home is located on a large and secluded 2.53 acre lot (all per tax records) in the highly desired neighborhood of Happy Valley Glen.

This is the ultimate California lifestyle home with walls of glass, high open beam ceilings, expansive panoramic views of hills and valleys, highly desired in-floor radiant heat, warm dark honey colored wood walls, a large wood burning...

I recently sold this fabulous West Oakland loft designed by noted local live/work guru and architect Thomas Dolan. 

This light-filled unit is a spacious 1,244 square feet with exposed wood beams, wood and concrete floors, lots of windows and skylights, two separate entrances and a private balcony overlooking the common courtyard.  Stainless steel appliances and granite counters are in the kitchen, and there is one full bath upstairs in the loft space and a half-bath downstairs for guests.  There's even an assigned gated parking spot!

Are you ready to make a move?  Please contact me and I will navigate you through the process to finding your dream home.

Ken Fox

510.999.0923

My 2790 Heatherstone Dr. listing in Marinwood sold in a heartbeat! My sellers were smart and got inspections done up front before the house hit the market. This enabled perspective buyers to know what they were buying prior to making an offer. This tactic is worth the money spent as it really helps to eliminate escrows falling apart after inspections and additional negotiating. We closed escrow today @ $625,000.

This fantastic Marinwood single story "diamond in the rough" has a lot of potential with 4 bedrooms 2 full baths, multi-purpose room and pool. Harwood floors...

What started as an interview with Lou Thoelecke about the "Traffic Circle" in front of his house on Santa Margarita in San Rafael turned into a fascinating conversation with a West End neighbor who is a passionate environmentalist, accomplished winemaker, a Bronze Life Master at Bridge, a musician, trained chef, former competitive tennis player, real estate investor and one-time neighbor to Jerry Garcia.  Between sipping Six Corners Zinfandel, I took notes for the Neighborhood Spotlight column in the West End Neighborhood Newsletter.

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