Oakland Ca Real Estate Blog 
Shadow Woods In Oakland: Formerly The Skyline Hills Apartments
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 4:15pm. 2015 Views, 4 Comments.
Oakland Hills Condominiums
The Shadow Woods condo's are located at 500 Canyon Oaks drive, which is off of Keller ave in the Oakland hills. There are one and two bedroom condos that start in the mid $300k range and go up to the low 400k range. There are three floorplans to choose from, ranging from 815 t0 1315 square feet.
UPDATE: 8-16-07-I have been informed that they have lowered the prices on the remaining units at Shadow Woods. The new pricing is $309,990 for one bedrooms and $389,990 for a two bedroom.
If you are looking for a condo in a secluded area in the Oakland hills then Shadow Woods is worth looking at.
Search for other Oakland Condos, Townhomes and Lofts in all price ranges.
NOTE: It is true that you do not NEED a Realtor to…
Oakland's Fox Theatre is Being Rehabbed
Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 3:02pm. 513 Views, 0 Comments.
The Fox Theatre in Oakland on Telegraph ave has been closed since 1970, and has pretty much been an eye sore for decades. It's a 3800 seat Theatre which was built in 1928, and went through many changes is ownership until the city of Oakland purchased it. Now, with the help of "Friends Of The Oakland Fox" it is planning to reopen and house the Oakland School of the Arts.
Friends of the Oakland Fox is a non-profit organization that is trying to raise $1,000,000 to rehabilitate the building. American Express recently donated $75,000 to the fund, and hopefully other donors will help them reach the goal.
Real Estate info for other parts of the country:A world class university, great schools and wonderful community feel are part of what makes Davis…
New Live Work Lofts and Condos at Market Square II
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at 2:51pm. 980 Views, 0 Comments.
Market Square II is located on Clay street in Oakland. Like the other developments in the area, it's centrally located to farmer's market, Bart, Restaraunts, Lake Merritt and Downtown.
There are both live/work lofts and 1 and 2 bedroom condos which feature Caesarstone quartz countertops, Euro Style Cherry cabinets and top of the line appliances. The community amenities include a business center, fitness room, sauna, landscaped courtyard with a zen garden and a furnished roof-top deck for entertaining with a view.
The units will be ready in fall 2007.
Search for other Oakland Condos, Townhomes and Lofts in all price ranges.
NOTE: It is true that you do not NEED a Realtor to purchase a unit in a new development, but there is absolutely no…
The Freeway Collapsed!
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 at 7:43pm. 523 Views, 0 Comments.
As I'm sure you have heard, early in the morning on Sunday April 29 a diesel truck caught fire and burned a large section of the freeway near the maze. The fire was so intense it caused the section to collapse. It's estimated that the loss in productivity is costing the bay area 4-6 million dollars a day....wow. I knew that it was gonna be a big deal, until something like that happens it's hard to guage exactly how something like that will impact our city. I don't know many people who commute in a car to SF and back, so I personally havent heard any nightmare stories but Im sure there are plenty to be found.
They say it could take up to 3 months to fix, let's hope it won't take that long!
Jade - Another new Condo Development in Downtown Oakland
Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 3:26pm. 1363 Views, 0 Comments.
Jade is another one of the newest condo developments in Oakland. It's centrally located, similiar to Broadway Grand and Citywalk and was designed with urban living in mind. It's located at 15th and Jefferson, and the units range from 625 to 1544 square feet. There are studio, 1 and 2 bedroom condominium flats, and there are 2 bedroom townhome style condominiums. The developer is Meritage Homes, and they claim that extra attention was paid to insulating for sound suppression. The floorplans are open and modern, which is the trend for new condo developments.
One of the unique features about Jade is the state of the art parking system which uses a type of hydraulic shelving system to literally "stack" cars on top of one another. The development also uses…
Oakland Real Estate | The City Walk Condos
Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 1:28pm. 3088 Views, 6 Comments.
Oakland's City Walk is a community of 252 homes, consisting of flats, lofts and live-work city residences. It will feature 6 levels of metal stud construction, with below-ground parking and 2500 sq feet of retail space at the ground level.
These condos are centrally located, and according to City Walk they feature the following:
- Gated Community
- 24 hr concierge and fitness center
- covered garage with motorcycle and bike spaces
- high quality steel and concrete construction
- floor to ceiling windows
- spacious, well designed floorplans
- Urban retreat with Zen-like sensibilities
- First class design and finishes in the homes and common areas
- Structured Cat5 wiring
The units range from…
Oakland Real Estate-Sub-Prime Market Update
Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 1:24pm. 703 Views, 0 Comments.
The collapse of the Sub-Prime mortgage industry means that it will be much harder to obtain 100% financing for those who have low credit. In recent years, lenders offered 100% financing to anyone who met the basic qualifications, and the minimum credit score necessary to obtain these loans was pretty low.
Both lenders and borrowers relied on ever-appreciating home values to offset the risk involved with such loans. The problem is, many of these loans were interest-only type loans which allowed the monthly payment to be significantly less than they would be with a fixed payment. Many borrowers didn't understand how much the payment could increase once the interest rate reset after the two or three year period of interest only payments. In many cases,…
Mortgage Fraud In the Bay Area
Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 1:49pm. 771 Views, 0 Comments.
The FBI recently opened a new office in Contra Costa County to deal with the mortgage fraud caseload in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, mortgage fraud is most prevalent in markets with the highest activity, such as ours. There are many variations of loan fraud, but one of the most common scenarios is when a buyer submits an offer on a home and requests credits back at the close of escrow. Typically, credits to the buyer (for repairs or closing costs) are limited to 6% of the purchase price of the real estate. However in recent years, buyers have been requesting credits of 50-100k at the close of escrow. Techinically it was mortgage fruad then, but these credits were approved with most lenders when the market was hot. In reality this type of credit inflates…
Broadway Grand Condo Development Looks Interesting
Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 2:41pm. 4041 Views, 0 Comments.
Signature Properties is touting it's Broadway Grand development as Oakland's new premier condo community. Located at the corner of Broadway and Grand ave, this seven story art deco-inspired building is centrally located to Lake Merritt, Old Oakland's Farmers Market, the Paramount Theatre, Bart and Jack London Square.
Signature states, "Every inch of this new sleek and stylish condominium neighborhood has been designed for comfort and style." The eight floorplans range from one bed/one bath condos at 722 square feet that start at $419,900 to four bed/three bath townhomes at 2108 square feet that start at $899,900. The price of the units also varies depending on where they are located in the building.
One interesting aspect of this project is that…
Guest Article "When sellers won't budge"
Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 5:09pm. 1041 Views, 0 Comments.
WHEN SELLERS WON'T BUDGE
Ask any real estate agent worth her lockbox key to identify the No. 1 reason houses sit on the market. Her likely answer: The sellers want too much for them.
Almost any house will sell if it's priced right, agents routinely preach. But in today's market overpriced houses are increasingly common as supply continues to outweigh demand and would-be sellers balk when told that their house may not be worth as much as it was six months ago.
These anchors on the market ultimately hurt the seller's bottom line, agents say. "When you come on too high, and your property sits on the market with no activity, it gets stigmatized," said Aldo Congi, vice president and managing broker at McGuire Real Estate in San Francisco. "The first…
Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA)
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