Memorial Day Weekend approaches, as does the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Appropriately enough, I know of two military related occurrences going on around the Bay this Saturday. 

First, the USS Iowa is finally going to be towed out of her berth in Richmond and down to San Diego, going through the Golden Gate Bridge Saturday sometime between 12:00 and 3:00.

On an earlier blog I mentioned that the ship was leaving last weekend, but rough seas delayed her departure.  This time they're pretty sure she's heading out, and they expect a crowd lining the headlands to watch her go.

Second, the 12,000 square foot Visitor's Education Center for the Rosie the Riveter/World War 11 Home Front National Historical Park will be dedicated at a celebration from 10am to 5pm Saturday in the Oil House at the Ford Point building. 

Here's the fun part and the good news: If you're a WWII history buff you don't have to miss either event.  You can head for the Rosie the Riveter celebration in the morning, and have a ring side seat as the tugs hook up to the USS Iowa and tow her out.

Check out this map:

As you can see, the battleship will sail right by the Ford Point Building Craneway Pavilion, right where the Rosie the Riveter celebration is taking place.  Pretty cool!  

I hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend! 

For more information about local happenings, real estate, free and cheap events, and home sales and values in the Berkeley Area, keep reading this blog.  If you're interested in buying or selling a home in the Berkeley Area, Call Coldwell Banker Berkeley Real Estate Broker, Chris Neddersen at 510-527-0174 or if you're a buyer go to  That House Detective.  If you're a seller go to What's Next Homes.

If you'd love to live in this amazing area, here's where you can search MLS real estate for Berkeley area homes for sale, and to get a personalized search of on-the-market properties that meet your specific criteria delivered to your email in box, go to Coldwell Banker's REAlert and find the home you.

Bridging the Gaps

This week we honor two Bay Area monuments.  Both are monuments to personal freedom: Harvy Milk; and The Golden Gate Bridge. Both inspire us to follow our hearts no matter what blocks our way. 

Harvy Milk, with amazing courage and humour, galvanized both gays and straights to go beyond cultural constraints and claim the freedom to be the people we want to be.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a beautiful landmark that symbolizes both connection and freedom by encouraging us to extend the boundaries both man-made and emotional and travel freely. 

Take this week to fully appreciate how far we've come, how much more is available to us, and how far we can go.  We can overcome the barriers that keep us from living the life we want. May we be an example to others by bridging the gaps in understanding and compassion that may exist in our own lives and embodying freedom of choice.

And, now for the FREE FUN.

Tuesday May 22nd:
Harvy Milk Day: Free admission to the GLBT History Museum 

Wednesday May 23rd:
Free Comedy in Oakland: Senseless Bureau of Improv

Thursday May 24th:
Live Music at Jack London Square: SoundWaves

Friday May 25th:
"Summer Nights" at the Oakland Museum of California: 1968 Movie Night.  BTY, if you haven't seen the historical display here about 1968, check it out.

Saturday & Sunday May 26th & 27th:
Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Celebration


For more information about local happenings, real estate, free and cheap events, and home sales and values in the Berkeley Area, keep reading this blog.  If you're interested in buying or selling a home in the Berkeley Area, Call Coldwell Banker Berkeley Real Estate Broker, Chris Neddersen at 510-527-0174 or if you're a buyer go to  That House Detective.  If you're a seller go to What's Next Homes.

If you'd love to live in this amazing area, here's where you can search MLS real estate for Berkeley area homes for sale, and to get a personalized search of on-the-market properties that meet your specific criteria delivered to your email in box, go to Coldwell Banker's REAlert and find the home you.

My daughter got a two-for –the-price-of-one ticket to the Oakland museum and invited me to go with her to see the exhibits.  As a budding graphic novelist herself, she was interested in the work of cartoonist Daniel Clowes—an exceptionally gifted man with a pen, I must say.  The drawings were superb. 

As we paid our fees to enter, another show caught my eye.  It was called “The 1968 Exhibit”.  I expressed interest in seeing that, and after an exhaustive (and exhausting) look at what else the Fine Arts Wing had to offer, and a delicious lunch in their café overlooking the koi pond, we went to see the 1968 show. 

Wow. 

Seeing this amazing time in my life, especially that year, so strikingly displayed was an incredible experience.  I, and others my age, led kids and granddads around the displays to add our two cents about what was happening in our own lives when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were shot and men went to the moon.

We admitted that, yes, we did wear pants like that, watched TV on those awkward looking sets, spent time on the panhandle, used those bulky phones, thrilled at the moon landing and wept for King and Kennedy. 

Musing about those times, and the kinship we felt with kids like us in Chicago, L.A., Berkeley, San Francisco, and all over the United States and across the world who wore peace buttons in their lapels and flowers in their hair. I realized I miss that feeling of being kindred spirits with so many others my age, sharing a language and life so different than our parents.

It’s  so different in this divisive time.  However, as I eavesdropped on others like myself, sharing memories with their companions, I realized that we are still those people.  We lived through an amazing time and were deeply and indelibly effected by our experiences working to change the world and ourselves.

As the lyrics goe in the song "For Good" in the musical “Wicked”:

See this show about 1968 at the Oakland Museum.  It will be there through August.  Remember what happened, remember those things we did, and more importantly, remember yourself!

For more information about local happenings, real estate, free and cheap events, and home sales and values in the Berkeley Area, keep reading this blog.  If you're interested in buying or selling a home in the Berkeley Area, Call Coldwell Banker Berkeley Real Estate Broker, Chris Neddersen at 510-527-0174 or if you're a buyer go to  That House Detective.  If you're a seller go to What's Next Homes.

If you'd love to live in this amazing area, here's where you can search MLS real estate for Berkeley area homes for sale, and to get a personalized search of on-the-market properties that meet your specific criteria delivered to your email in box, go to Coldwell Banker's REAlert and find the home you

The Perils of Puppy Training (and the lack of it)

Mother's Day on May 13th (for a bunch of cool info about Mother's Day, click HERE).  Those of you who still have your moms, be sure and let them know how special they are.  I know, you hear it every year.  You take her to brunch or give her some flowers and thats the end of it.  I imagine some of you feel a little annoyed at the "have to" feeling about Mother's Day, cursing the card companies for creating a fake event just to make a buck. I'm not going to guilt trip you with my "If my mom were alive" wish list. I'm just saying: You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.  Nuf said.

 

Okay, Home Sellers: LISTEN UP.
"After several years of an oversupply of homes on the market and an undersupply of qualified buyers, the tables have turned for the Bay Area’s housing market. It may be hard for some consumers to believe, but our local housing market has bounced back in a big way over the past year or two. Eager buyers are once again out in force ready to purchase their next home. But ironically, the only thing stopping them is a serious shortage of homes for sale!"

Here's Where YOU Come In.
"We’ve come a long ways from the recessionary days when homes sat on the market for many months or even a year or longer waiting for a buyer. Today, properties are once again being snapped up quickly, often with multiple offers due to the shortage of inventory. While this imbalance is frustrating some would-be buyers, it is also creating a great opportunity for savvy homeowners who have gotten the message that now may be the best time in many years to sell their home.

It's About INVENTORY.  That's Realtor-speak for YOUR HOME.
"In the Bay Area, inventory levels are down more than 62 percent from a year ago in some areas. This comes as the economy gains momentum and the job market and the financial markets improve – all providing more ready cash and incentives for buyers to purchase. The result is that there are more offers for good homes for sale. Sellers are getting higher prices and properties are moving faster than they have in years."

So We're Back to Multiple Offers and OVERBIDS.
"As a result of this shortage of homes for sale in the Bay Area, we are back to seeing offers with no contingencies in some cases, and buyers making offers on several properties before they actually get into contract on one. Multiple offers of $100,000 to $200,000 over asking price is not unusual in some prime neighborhoods. In one extreme example, there were 28 offers on one property that sold over listing price by 20 percent.

"The Bay Area isn’t alone. According to the California Association of Realtors, the state’s overall housing inventory declined in February, with the unsold inventory index for existing, single-family detached homes decreasing to 5.3 months, down from a revised 5.7 months in January and down from the 7.5-month supply in February 2011. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate."

And, of course, there's those LOW Interest Rates.
"Adding to the strong buyer demand are record-low interest rates. Interest rates fell to historic lows again in April. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.87 percent, down more than 1 percent from a year ago, according to Bankrate.com. Fifteen year fixed rates dropped to 3.11 percent and adjustable-mortgage interest rates were 2.73 percent in April.

"To be sure, the housing market is once again coming alive. Real estate agents are seeing 80-100 visitors at some open houses, multiple offers are no longer exception, but the rule in many communities, and buyers are showing a sense of urgency perhaps out of concern that record low interest rates could be heading higher before long. Some recent comments from our local managers:

“Stale listings are selling, there are sales in one day, 17 offers on a fixer-upper, most probates are being overbid, heavy open traffic, frustrated buyers, off-market pre-emptive sales, cash deals winning the bidding. Great time to list!”

“A condo that was listed 12 months ago and did not sell came back on the market with a five percent higher listed price and sold within a week at over asking price.”

“New listings are flying off the market with double digit multiple offers, which are making final prices over asking. Inventory is still low. We are also seeing cash buyers more frequently. Buyers are ready to go.”

“Our office had a high-end property listed on the MLS last year for 90 days that did not sell. The seller re-listed it this year and received multiple offers and it will close escrow over list price. What a difference a year makes!”"


Here's Your Action Item:
"Sellers need to sense the same pent up demand, excitement and urgency in the market that buyers have sensed for the past year. They need to take the long postponed leap to list their homes for sale now.

Simply put, there just aren’t enough homes on the market to meet the tremendous demand from buyers. And this is true in all price segments, from small starter homes and condos right up to multi-million-dollar Previews properties."

Make a Buyer Happy!
"The days of buyers being only interested in distressed properties at bargain basement prices are over. Homebuyers are pounding the pavement looking for good, well-maintained properties at fair prices in every segment of the housing market.

The real estate market has always come down to two simple factors: the law of supply and demand, and consumer confidence. Right now, both of those are creating a sellers’ market here in the Bay Area. Consumers are feeling more confident as the economy picks up steam and the stock market turns in strong gains in 2012. Clearly, the scales of supply and demand are tipping heavily in favor of sellers today."

Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, BE Sharp:
"Smart, strategic homeowners understand all this, and they’re making their moves right now – not six months or a year from now. They’re the ones getting multiple offers for their home because there just isn’t a lot of competition for buyers’ attention. They’re out there now, before everyone else joins the “house party” and tips the scales back in favor of buyers once again."

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is the time. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have, and to help you get the very best possible price for your home while demand is so strong!

May is one of our favorite months in the Berkeley area.  We usually have beautiful days, then a bit of fog to cool things off.  This week, however, cloudy days are in store, with rain this weekend. 

So maybe the crystalline days of May are going to be a little less than beautiful, but you can get your required dose of beauty at all the art museums that abound around here, for this is the week when most of them have FREE DAYS!

You can see pretty crazy fashions from that guy that designed Madonna's ice cream cone bustier at the DeYoung, and some pretty cool cartoon art at both the Cartoon Museum in SF and the Oakland Museum.

On the 5th celebrate Cinco De Mayo.  There will be parades on both the 5th and 6th at various locations around the bay.

All and all, plenty of fun, beauty, and gaiety are in store whatever the weather.  Here's a short list:

Tuesday May 1st

Free Museum Entry:  Legion of Honor, DeYoung Museum, Cartoon Art Museum, SF MOMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
       
Wednesday May 2nd

San Francisco Zoo free day

Thursday May 3rd

Berkeley Art Museum

Friday May 4th

First Fridays Temescal Alley Art Walk 

Saturday May 5th

Cinco De Mayo Festival at Dolores Park

Sunday May 6th

Asian Art Museum Free Day 
 

If you live in the Berkeley Area,
Now's Your Chance.

The California Associate of Realtors sent me this encouraging article.  If you've been thinking of selling your home, this will be of interest to you.

"While analysts debate when the housing market will hit bottom, for a surprising number of cities the turnaround has already begun.  In December, prices rose in 109 of the 384 metro areas tracked by data firm CoreLogic. 

Making sense of the story
There are certain signs to help determine if a particular neighborhood is on the verge of a rebound.  For instance is local employment on the upswing?  That’s a critical factor for a region to get itself on the path to recovery.  Improving jobs picture has led to shrinking housing stock across the country, as investors and bargain hunters have started buying up foreclosures that have been preventing a recovery.
 For years, buyers were scared of overpaying for a home, but less so now.  Many buyers have grown accustomed to thinking they’ll score deals, so they tend to act slowly, and typically start bidding around 10 percent to 15 percent below list price.  However, a growing number of buyers are beginning to realize that if they wait too long in this market, they may miss out.

For more information about local real estate, free and cheap events, home sales and values in the Berkeley Area, keep reading this blog.  If you're interested in buying or selling a home in the Berkeley Area, Call Caldwell Banker Berkeley Real Estate Broker, Chris Neddersen at 510-527-0174 or if you're a buyer go to  That House Detective.  If you're a seller go to What's Next Homes.

If you'd love to live in this amazing area, here's where you can search MLS real estate for Berkeley area homes for sale, and to get a personalized search of on-the-market properties that meet your specific criteria delivered to your email in box, go to Caldwell Banker's REAlert and find the home you want.