The Voice of East Bay Living

In this hot market, believe it or not, there are some listings that have not sold. Inventory that remains on the market can be due to a listing price that was too high  or boring staging. As our industry says, some stale goods make tasty bargains.  There are not many of them but these homes are out there. In San Francisco during the month of March, only 7% of homes sold below the asking price. In Oakland, we are dealing with a similar situation. If you are looking for a good home and have been outbid many times, don't give up... There are deals in this sizzling market, give me a call when you're ready to buy!

Parlour Restaurant , from the owners of 355, is one of the latest in fine dining in Uptown Oakland.The food is fresh and with creative preparation.The service is fantastic,relaxed and friendly.This restaurant expresses the spirit of the Oakland revival scene- authentic,artsy and a lot of fun. For sure, a big thumbs up!!

Every Friday night from 5pm to 9pm, the  Oakland Museum  is the place to be.  Off the Grid  offers a wonderful display of activities for the entire family. There are gourmet food trucks, a live band, dancing and half-price admission to the museum for adults (18 and under get in for free!). ^Above:   Dukes of Manouche  and Streatery food truck menu from April 17th Off the Grid event at Oakland Museum ^Above: The main entrance to OMCA

Berkeley Chief of Police, Michael Meehan, was the guest speaker at this week's Berkeley Rotary meeting. He presented some very interesting facts about the Berkeley Police Department: Berkeley police dept. was founded in 1909 All police policies are online Police officers can type & email reports from their cars. They are the pioneers for Social media for police activates-go NIXLE.com to view Crime in Berkeley is at a  50 year low Over 20% of force are female officers (this is twice the national average!) 100% of officers have a college degree Their motto is to be  compassionate, fair & reasonable the Police department hosts periodic public open houses where one can view artifacts and also see how the things are run. Chief Meehan ended is talk by saying,  “I come to work each day with a passion for what I do.”

Every Spring, the de Young Museum presents the Bouquets to Art . This amazing exhibition presents the best floral designers in the Bay Area whose individual floral designs follow the themes of the paintings on exhibition. ^Sheila Sabine - Out and About - de Young Museum in San Francisco

The current NAR statistics say that 92% of all buyers begin their search on the Internet. 50% of all home searches use a mobile device.The total mobile property searches exceeded total PC property searches. Timing is crucial for agent response. Many clients are communicating solely through text messages. The highest response rate in fact from the consumer is through text messages. Additionally handwritten note cards have a surprisingly high rate of response. As agents, we are learning new skills to understand how to communicate via text message. We are trying to figure out exactly what the consumer wants from us. Are they just searching for general information  or are they really serious buyers or sellers. Our job is to give quality service, keep an open mind and help wherever we can. * It's not uncommon for today's consumer to be browsing the internet on more than one device throughout the day. The photo shows my nephew heading off to work at the Met on typical day wi

Earlier this month, The Grubb Company sponsored a night at the Oakland Symphony . Notes from Mexico featuring renowned pianist LLewellyn Sanchez-Werner and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno. 

Join me in the beautiful kitchen of one of my listings, a stylish Montclair Contemporary.