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Helen and Kathryn's Newsletter | |
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Please check out our Facebook page for great real estate and community information
We recently launched our Facebook business page. It will be filled with information for Buyers and Sellers as well as highlighting local events and interesting information in our community. We will be sharing news on restaurants, festivals, theater and our favorite local urban hikes. Plus tips on home improvement, maintenance and gardening ( one of Kathryn's favorite hobbies). Please visit our page and "Like" it.
 What's up in the current
East Bay real estate market?
Some homes are selling as fast as in the hot market of a few years ago and some are just waiting for the right buyer to come along and sometimes it takes a few months for this to happen. Certain areas in Berkeley are always going to be popular but several areas of Berkeley and certainly the surrounding cities have been affected by the declining market. Our best advice to sellers is to make sure your home shows well including painting, gardening and staging as well as making obvious repairs. Our best advice to buyers is for them to be comfortable with the price they are paying.
Interest rates are historically low so buyers have very good purchasing power making this a good time to purchase or refinance a home.
We hope you find this newsletter useful and interesting. If you need more information on any real estate related needs, please let us know. If you don't want to receive this newsletter, please click on "Unsubscribe" at the top or bottom of the email.
Scroll down to see complete newsletter or click on article headlines on right hand side.
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New Carbon Monoxide Law as of July 1
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As of July 1, California Law requires all homes to have a carbon monoxide (CO) detector installed. Carbon monoxide installation is important because you can't smell it or see it. Compliance with the new law will be checked during real estate transactions whether it be a rental or purchase. If a housing unit is caught without a carbon monoxide detector, owners will have 30 days to install necessary detectors and may be fined up to $200. As Realtors, we will make sure that alarms are installed prior to the purchase or sale of a home. Prices for detectors range from $25 to $60.
Please click here for more information on this new law. |
Some Recent Sales in Berkeley
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Street |
List Price |
Sales Price |
Bd/Ba |
Sq. Ft. |
Date
Sold | |
Lincoln nr California |
$569,000 |
$586,000 |
3/2 |
1143 |
5/27 | |
Station nr Catalina |
$675,000 |
$772,000 |
2/2 |
1482 |
6/2 | |
Fulton nr Prince |
$825,000 |
$1,017,000 |
5/2 |
2642 |
6/22 | |
Acton nr Bancroft |
$595,000 |
$655,000 |
3/2 |
1836 |
7/8 | |
Neilson nr Portland | $644,500 |
$740,000 |
3/1 |
1344 |
7/13 |
Data from Multiple Listing Service
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Some Recent Sales in Albany
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Street |
List Price |
Sales Price |
Bd/Ba |
Sq. Ft. |
Date Sold | |
Albany Terrace nr Neilson |
$599,000 |
$585,000 |
2/1 |
827 |
5/25 | |
Santa Fe nr Thousand Oaks |
$825,000 |
$852,000 |
3/2 |
1752 |
5/31 | |
Sonoma nr Peralta |
$649,000 |
$695,000 |
3/1 |
1305 |
6/9 | |
San Carlos nr Portland |
$789,000 |
$767,000 |
3/1 |
1802 |
7/8 | |
Tulare nr Marin |
$965,000 |
$945,000 |
3/2 |
1781 |
7/14 | |
Ventura nr Marin |
$825,000 |
$825,000 |
4/1 |
1766 |
7/19 |
Data from the Multiple Listing Service |
Some Recent Sales in El Cerrito
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Street |
List Price |
Sales Price |
Bd/Ba |
Sq. Ft. |
Date Sold | |
Bonnie nr Colusa |
$699,000 |
$699,000 |
4/2 |
2520 |
5/5 | |
Colusa nr Terrace |
$598,000 |
$565,000 |
5/2 |
3488 |
5/21 | |
Brewster nr Arlington |
$635,000 |
$631,000 |
3/2 |
1800 |
6/6 | |
Don Carol nr Arlington |
$699,000 |
$767,375 |
3/2 |
2522 |
6/17 | |
Burns nr Shevlin |
$545,000 |
$550,000 |
3/2 |
2098 |
7/12 |
Data from Multiple Listing Service
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Some Recent Sales in Rockridge
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Street |
List Price |
Sales Price |
Bd/Ba |
Sq. Ft. |
Date Sold | |
Mendocino nr Lawton |
$825,000 |
$804,000 |
4/2 |
2124 |
5/5 | |
Masonic nr Moraga |
$914,000 |
$920,000 |
3/2 |
2094 |
6/8 | |
James nr Hudson |
$719,000 |
$710,000 |
2/1 |
1191 |
6/10 | |
Taft nr College |
$699,000 |
$680,000 |
3/2 |
2025 |
7/12 | |
Lawton nr Clifton |
$850,000 |
$905,000 |
4/2 |
2037 |
7/22 |
Data from Multiple Listing Service
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Search for Homes in the East Bay
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Search East Bay MLS |
Mortgage Rates
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National Average
Mortgage Rates
as of 8/19/2011
15 Year Fixed Conforming 3.45%
30 Year Fixed Conforming 4.25%
5/1 Year ARM Conforming 2.95%
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Shedding New Light On Incandescent Light Bulb Legislation |
Shedding New Light On Incandescent Light Bulb Legislation
Panicky home owners fearing the light bulb police will take away their incandescents should not
worry. Federal legislation doesn't ban Edison's bulb; it just requires that 100-watt incandescent bulbs become roughly 30% more energy efficient by January 2012; 75-watt bulbs in 2013, and 60- and 40-watt bulbs in 2014.But your pulse should race at the number of light bulb choices currently on the market and the change in terminology on the horizon, says an article in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/garden/almost-time-to-change-the-light-bulb.html?_r=1
CFLs, LEDs, lumens, and watt equivalents - it's enough to make you shut off the lights and take a nap. Times reporter Bob Tedeschi grabbed armloads of different bulbs and tested them throughout his house, so you don't have to. He likes GE Bright from the Start Energy Smart CFL for the kitchen; Philips EcoVantage and Sylvania SuperSaver for the dining room; and Philips AmbientLED for reading in the living room. Tedeschi also provides some tips for the light bulb challenged - basically, all of us. His top tip? Take it slow."Don't shop all at once for every socket in the house," Tedeschi says. "Lighting technology, particularly for LEDs, is improving rapidly, and prices are dropping steadily, so it makes more sense to replace bulbs as needed."
Article From BuyAndSell.HouseLogic.com
By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon
Published: August 11, 2011
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| Interesting Local Events & News | |
The San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Giants are once again teaming up for a free simulcast performance of Turando at AT&T park. This year the opera is a matinee at 2 pm on September 25th. Here is a link so you can sign up for the tickets.
Here is another interesting and unique idea. Every Tuesday from 6 to 7:30, there is a Local Garden Swap in Albany. If you have too many tomatoes in your garden and not enough eggplant, you can bring your tomatoes to share. Isn't his a great idea?
There is a new book called, Secret Stairs of the East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland, by Charles Fleming. Fleming's book describes the historic stairways that permeate the Berkeley hills and it ranks the walks for their difficulty, distance, and the number of stairs. We can't wait to get a copy of this book as we have both been walking the hills in our surrounding areas for years.
And the new Apple store on Berkeley's Fourth Street opened on August 20th. Should be a great addition to an already wonderful shopping area.
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For more information about any of the properties or events listed above, please call us at 510-207-2968 (Helen) or 510-593-7311 (Kathryn), or simply respond to this email. We'd love to share our real estate tips and experience in the East Bay community with you!
Feel free to visit our website at www.helenandkathryn.com for more information as well.
We honor your privacy and requests to be deleted from the mailing list. Simply click on to the Unsubscribe link below if you are receiving this newsletter, but would prefer not to. On the other hand, if you'd like to pass it along, please do so!
Helen and Kathryn
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