Piedmont Home

Enough about You; Now about Me--

2012-02-11T13:32:00.001-08:00

I have a number of listings--including 145 Caperton Ave. and 33 Pacific Ave. in Piedmont--hitting the market this month and next. More on those very soon. Meanwhile, I advised clients as they bought or sold nearly $15 million in real estate last year (excluding our own purchase), and have advised clients on nearly $7 million in purchases in the past three months, including one that the managing broker at Highland Partners called ''by far, the most complex of my 25-year career.'' (And buyers, sellers, and brokers are all still talking to each other!)

Your confidence and referrals have been a huge part of that market expansion.

I'm still doing all my own award-winning marketing work and transaction negotiations. Mary Parise continues to make sure my clients and I stay on top of our paperwork, as she has for a few years. My trusted colleagues--staging professionals, painters, and handypersons--will continue to compete for my sellers' business as we prep for market. And I'm still bringing coffee to the high school parent club meetings, and supporting our community's strong schools, excellent arts venues, and safety net.

Energy Upgrade California

2012-02-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

I think I've written about Energy Upgrade California before. Now that we've moved into our new house (312 Pacific Avenue in Piedmont--yes, Konrad now has a view....), I'm scheduled for a whole-house analysis next week. Will report on it shortly afterward.

My colleague from the Clinton Administration, Lori Bamberger, ran a roundtable at Berkeley recently on strategies to increase the uptake of energy efficiency around the home purchase and sale moment, and I rep'ed the realtor community. My big issue has been the cost of these ''whole house'' blower analyses. How do I convince a buyer to pay more for an energy analysis than for a conventional home inspection?

Solar City intuited my concern, and appropriately knocked the price for the evaluation down from the $800 everyone else charges to $295. At the end of the day, we'll make more thoughtful and strategic energy efficiency investments based on the insights, and will get some state rebates as well (you need the blower evaluation in order to get the rebates, which are not income-eligible).

Meanwhile, we've been installing occupancy- and vacancy-sensors around the house and a dusk-to-9pm switch on the front door lights.

Stop by anytime to check it out--

The Go-To Site on Piedmont

2012-02-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Check out and then bookmark the Piedmont Portal! Developed by the schools and school-support community (with specific thanks to my neighbors Holly Hanke and departing school board member and former president June Monach, together with new school board member Andrea Swenson and high school parent club prez Mary Ireland). June says:

The goal of the site is multifold:

*Raise awareness of important district funding issues, especially parcel tax information and how state funding works
*Educate parents and community members about our collective purpose -- how we all work together to support our schools and sense of community
*Highlight events and activities related to fundraising efforts in town via a shared calendar
*Share news items related to schools that are of interest to all
*Streamline fundraising across all groups by making online donations easy
*Feature photos of students and community members supporting our collective purpose
*Eventually host a secure, online version of the Student Directory

But the content is juicy--everything from discussions of capping AP classes to thoughts on the future of the transitional kindergarten class to tickets for the high school's production of Bye Bye Birdie, to links to the Center for the Arts. And that's just in the first week!

Case-Shiller Index

2012-02-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

While the press releases today on the Case-Shiller update (for November) were generally negative, San Francisco's data were more complex--those homes costing over $585,000 at acquisition (the top 1/3 of the regional market) dropped 1% between October and November, and only 1.9% year over year according to Socket Site's quick and deep analysis. The New York Times's wonderful interactive graph was just updated; see it here. Note that I was doing a bit of research on a Berkeley and a Piedmont home today, and Zillow reports that home prices in both areas have seen a tick upward.

Relatedly, Decluttering

2012-02-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

If you're vaguely thinking about selling your home but haven't yet picked up the phone to call me, it's OK--you can take a few first steps by looking at my colleague Nina Johnson's newest blog posts on decluttering. This home organizing whiz can also work by your side to power through 20 years of accumulated belongings, as I know from personal experience. Get her regular postings by subscribing.

Market Ready

2012-02-04T17:25:00.001-08:00

Have you seen the Market Ready series in the Times? (That missing adjectival hyphen drives me nuts.) I find the advice to be spot on, whether discussing installing appliances or repainting in advance of a sale.

Making Sense of the Euro Crisis

2012-02-04T17:24:00.001-08:00

I'm at a get-together of former banking regulators this weekend, and saw a great PP deck providing insight on the euro crisis, and potential impacts in the US. Email me if you'd like a copy. One thing that crossed my mind while here was potentially adverse effects of low low mortgage rates over the long term.

The S&L crisis was caused, in part, by the squeeze faced by S&Ls when they had 30-year mortgages at 5%, but interest rates spiked to the 20s in the early '80s. I remember hearing about the resulting ''disintermediation'' in my housing finance class at Harvard in the mid-'80s.

Since then, the market has gotten by through a combination of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs radically reduce interest rate risk) and the hedging effects of securitization. I haven't seen an ARM loan in a couple of years, and the mortgage securitization business is still seized up. But we're blazing forward with 3.75% 30-year loans. What happens when broad interest rates go up to a moderate 7-8%?

Our securitization system will probably be back in shape by then, but I imagine a number of owners will say, ''should I take that job in LA if doing so means leaving my 3.75% mortgage behind and shifting to a new 8% loan on a replacement home down south? That's $20,000 more in post-tax income going to housing costs! Maybe not.''

I hear about this labor market ''stickiness'' already, either because of low Prop 13-protected taxes, or because potential sellers are underwater. Moving to LA means finally taking the hit on a home that's currently underwater.

So let's re-fi into those low low rates while we can, but hope that the economy firms up so we don't get too dependent on them--

Pesky Trusts and Estates

2012-02-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

Just bought a house and realizing that the estate taxes won't stay at zero forever? Thinking about wills, a trust, guardianship and such? Forgot to put the new house in an existing trust? Let me know and I'll pass on a few names for you.

Meanwhile, take a peek at a story from Schwab's most recent On Investing issue. (You'll have to leaf through the issue--it's called ''Estate Planning is a Family Affair.'')

Your title company is likely willing to write up the documents needed to put a house into an existing trust, as long as you go down to the recorder's office to record the document. Your estates and trusts attorney can take care of it as well.

And just today, the Wall Street Journal had this story about clearing out a parent's home.

Turning to Sewers

2012-02-04T17:21:00.001-08:00

You've probably seen references in the local papers to the new sewer lateral ordinance in town. Beginning in August in Piedmont, and now this month in Oakland, sellers (generally) are responsible for ensuring that the connecting sewer line (or ''lateral'') from the house to the City main is intact, with no offsets or root intrusions. The city main may be in the street in front of your home, or perhaps in a right of way at the rear of your yard.

Berkeley has had such an ordinance since 2005, so agents and sewer specialists are quite familiar with the process and timelines. By the time most Piedmont transactions have closed in the last few years, buyers have been inspecting, and then insisting that sellers either address a sewer lateral problem, or give a credit so the buyer can do so. The typical culprit is clay pipe which in our moving landscape tends to crack and ''offset'' over time, allowing fluids to leak in and out. Some older homes might even have storm drain or sump pump water going into the sewer line, which as you can imagine can overwhelm the treatment plant further ''downstream.''

Replacement is typically taking a couple of weeks these days, and costs can range from $1200 to maybe an absolute high of $16,000, depending on how far your house is from the City main, and how complicated the journey might be. Typical charges total about $5,500, I would say, and include a video inspection in the $100 range and about $350 for EBMUD's testing. If you know your line is clay pipe, many would argue that you should save the video inspection fee and just jump to replacement as 99% of the laterals from the clay-pipe era have failed.

Buyers clarify in their standard purchase offer who will pay for replacement (if necessary), so it's good to get testing and replacement out of the way early as you plan to go to market. Once replaced, the EBMUD inspection certificate is ''good'' for 10 years, so you could even do it this fall and use the certificate when you sell in three years.

Of course just because a buyer wants a seller to replace the sewer doesn't mean it must be that way. Everything is negotiable. But EBMUD has a very detailed process, including a $4500 performance bond and an 180-day completion deadline, should the buyer take on that responsibility. I even heard this morning of a case where the lender wouldn't allow the transaction to close, even though the buyer had agreed to jump through the hoops and take care of the sewer after the closing. At this stage, the ''default'' is definitely for the seller to do the work.

Call me for sewer replacement recommendations--

Fuzzy Logic Hits Thermostats

2012-02-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

You'd have to have been in Tahiti for the past three months to have missed all the press on Nest.com's high-tech thermostat.

Programable thermostats are great if you have someone else install them just after painting your walls. Otherwise, they can be complicated to program, and nothing is more frustrating than taking the '60s thermostat off and putting a new on in, and then realizing you have a halo of newly exposed paint gracing your living room wall….

Nest's shape is eerily like the '60s thermostat--no halo!--and best of all, it takes the ''programmable'' out of ''programmable thermostat'' and does the programming for you. Fuzzy logic runs our rice cooker, and it apparently runs the brain of this thermostat too.

It can tell if you're in the house, adjusts for your early-to-bed-on-Thursdays-before-Friday's-dawn-bike ride routine, and can be adjusted remotely over the web. Stuck in Chicago for another 3 days? No problem. Just tell your machine to drop down to 55.

They'll be doing over-the-net system improvements through time. I gather Best Buy sells and installs them. Will try it out and report on that next quarter. Nest.com, $249.

Piedmont Market Firms Up in 2011

2012-02-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

While the number of homes sold in 2011 surged a strong 22% over 2010's 99 sales, prices inched up three percent to an average $1.446 million from last year's $1.401 million. The homes sold in an average 29 days, a sales window that remains the shortest in the East Bay market.

Prices ranged from $550,000 to $4.5 million, and while the average price per square foot remained right around $500, the top price was $727 per square foot. Through the year, the typical home sold for one percent below the asking price, though that ratio ranged from a low of 74% of the asking price (typical of “problem” or distressed properties) to a bidding-war high of 33% over the asking price (an occasional outcome with fixers).

Buyers brought all cash to the closing table for 11 sales, while eight homes sales were “distressed.”

Turning to the 4th quarter of 2011, prices softened, as is typical after the spring and summer flurry. We saw 22 sales close (compared to 25 last year) averaging $1.383 million (compared to $1.413 million in 4Q10). The average days on market was flat at 30, and only one home sold was distressed.

Thusfar in 2012, however, the market seems to be heating up again: In the first ten days of the year, two homes I know of are pending off-market, and one end-of-the-year special slipped into contract and closed in ten days.

The Fed's low interest rates mean that, to buyers, homes feel like they are on sale: A million dollar mortgage (translating into a $1.3 million home with 25% down) can be had for well under $5,000/month. When interest rates were in the 6s, that same home would have required $6,300 a month, and the jobs to generate it.

I anticipate another firm market in the coming year, and perhaps even a bump up in prices. Typical slowdowns in the housing market (in the early '80s and early '90s) last about six years. If that pattern is reliable--a big question of course--we should see slow increases this year as the top of the market in Piedmont was November, 2005.

Across Oakland, the number of homes sold last year bumped up 8% over 2010, though the average price dropped 9%, reflecting distressed sales. Similarly, the number of Berkeley sales increased 8% while average prices dropped 6%. Looking at all six East Bay cities, prices were flat at all price ranges, while the number of homes sold under $1 million slumped about 5%, but was flat above $1 million.

Be sure to let me know if you'd like more detailed information on a neighborhood, and/or price band. With today's tools, it's easy to give you a clear snapshot of our submarkets. And take a look at Pacific Union's hot-off-the-press regional update here.

Moving to the state level, California expects about a 3% decline in average prices across 2011 among all home sales. Just over 520,000 homes traded hands last year. The California Association of Realtors anticipates a 1% increase in the number of homes sold, and 2% increase in the price of homes sold through 2012. The amount of unsold inventory (that is, the number of homes on the market) declined 16% during the course of 2011, meaning that the supply of homes has dropped while demand (based on the number of closed transactions) has remained rather steady compared to last year.

Alameda County remains the most affordable county in the ''inner'' Bay Area--a household income of $58,000 is required to purchase the typical entry level home here.

Click here for home-by-home information on this quarter's Piedmont sales, and for a Clarus Market Metrics analysis of 2011.

Perfect for the Holidays--

2011-09-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

If you're planning ahead for holiday parties for the office or home, consider the Berkeley City Club. It was the setting for the Tea Collection Holiday catalog, so it must be perfect.....

I'm President of the Club this year, and with our stellar new general manager just arrived from Napa County, Laura Bourret, we're ready to meet your every need.

Contact me at kennedy@maureenkennedy.net or Laura (at 848-7800) to schedule your holiday event or to house your holiday guests in Julia Morgan's "Little Castle."

Calling All Gardeners---

2011-09-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Merritt College Plant Sale is coming up October 1st and 2nd! They have great stuff--I got some marionberry plants for Inverness from the spring sale.

Search "Bay Area Fall Plant Sale" for upcoming sales at UC, the SF Arboretum and beyond. Bay Nature has not published its list this fall!

If you're reading this before my October quarterly newsletter, consider a run to Bolinas this weekend for the fall tea and plant sale to benefit the Inverness Garden Club (I'm secretary of the Scholars Fund of the IGC). It's scheduled for Saturday the 17th of September--tea available in the afternoon--and is located as you enter Bolinas.

The Furnace Filter Story---

2011-09-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

Literally, I've been driving around town today thinking, "there must be a killing to be made on self-filtering furnaces. Everybody needs new filters and no one installs them." (Did you know your furnace efficiency can go down 25% with a dirty filter? I found that out. I wasn't thinking that.) "It's just like the old 'pierce with metal funnel and make a mess' oil cans before someone came up with the self-funnel idea--messy, dirty, but essential. And look at that elegant fix. I bet that guy is a quadrillionaire now." But I've found the next best thing to a self-filtering furnace.

Last week I sat down and made a couple of home maintenance appointments--had Harry Clark come and service my furnaces, and scheduled Gorilla Gutters to clear my gutters and downspouts. Every inspection I've been involved with (unless the furnace is new and the asbestos is gone) concludes that the filter is dirty and the furnace should be serviced. Tell me straight. Is your furnace filter clean?

Harry Clark replaced the filter in our basement furnace (disgusting....), but didn't have the unique filter for the attic furnace. It's like that line from What Movie Was It?? Sex and the City? where someone says, "but I hired her as my personal assistant. She's supposed to deal with this stuff. And at the end of the day she comes to me and says 'I don't know how to find an [insert your essential item here]'? UGGHH. I don't think so."

Do you know where to find a 12" by 30" by 1" pleated furnace filter? Not at Ace. Not at Home Depot (they have 10" and 14" but not 12" by 30"....).

Then I ran into a client at Mulberry's--she said, "I change my filters regularly. I get a reminder from my filter provider! I order on-line." Now that's a revolutionary idea! The internet making life immeasurably better.

So I went to AirFiltersDelivered.com just now and ordered the right filters for both furnaces and paid no shipping, and will have fabulous air quality for at least the next three years. And then I'll get reminded by my air filter provider to buy more and replace them. Amazing. Try it!

How Much Energy IS that Refrigerator Chewing Up?

2011-09-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm providing feedback to the NorCal Solar Energy Association on its Resource Guide, and noticed a cool feature they reference in their energy efficiency discussion. Click here to get to a cool lookup function for your refrigerator. Enter the make and model number, and you can see the kilowatt-hours your refrigerator is estimated to consume annually. My SubZero I'm sure consumes way too much compared to the American average (reconfiguring the kitchen would have cost much more than just putting a new SZ in the opening from the old), BUT, I can see that a 2000 model consumed about 80% more energy than our 2004, and it consumes about twice as much as the latest model.

Maybe the best approach is to check your fridge's usage, and then do a quick check of your favorite on the web. Across the state, 20% of total residential energy usage is related to refrigeration--

Emergency Prep Month---

2011-09-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

I used to update my trash can/earthquake barrel every year or two, but with two of the boys off at college, I don't have the image of kids with too-small pants up to their knees and open at the waist to spur me. But that barrel is just waiting for me to do the update; I know it. If you're in the same situation, or if you don't have a barrel yet, you have two options:

--contact my colleague Nina Johnson (simply-organized@sbcglobal.net), personal organizer extraordinaire, and ask her to help you get organized on the emergency prep front. Or,

--click here for detailed notes from her wonderful blog to drive your own gameplan.

We haven't had an emergency around here for a while, but you can't be too prepared!

2Q11 Piedmont Real Estate Update

2011-07-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Recall that in early April, I reported that the market got off to a slow start this year (one sale at $699,000 in all of January) but finished with a bang (10 sales in March, averaging $1.502 million).

Our historically active second quarter continued that trend:

42 homes sold during the 2Q11 (compared to just 25 in 2Q10). They sold in an average 20 days, and for $1.539 million, or $482/sf. The final sales price was just a tad over the average asking price (though the range went from 80% of original asking price to 124% of asking price).

A year ago, the average home in Piedmont sold for $1.395 million, and in a still-short 18 days. During both quarters, homes sold all along the price spectrum--this quarter we saw seven homes sell for more than $2 million. One home was a short sale, one high-end sale was bank-owned, and two sold for all-cash.

Contact me for more details (adjusted for credits) on this quarter's sales.

Berkeley's market bounced back compared to last quarter's drop: A total of 170 homes sold for an average $672,600, a bit above the average asking price of $666,400. they sold in an average 30 days. Five homes sold for more than $1.5 million, and 14% of sales were bank-owned (triple the Piedmont rate). Recall that while the average sale price in 1Q10 (fifteen months ago) was $660,000, last quarter the average dropped to $570,000, with distressed properties comprising roughly a quarter of all sales in Berkeley earlier this year..

Turning to Oakland, 853 homes changed hands during 2Q11. Nearly a third sold for all-cash, and for an average $347,600 (compared to $299,000 last quarter). The average home took 54 days to sell.

Looking only at the 72 sales in Oakland-94611 (roughly Montclair, and including condos), the average sales price was $581,200 (compared to $539,000 last quarter). Homes sold in an average 49 days, and about 1% below the asking price on average. About a quarter of single-family home sales in Montclair were distressed (I informally excluded condos, most of which are closer to Piedmont Avenue, and of course have been hard hit in this market).

The market urgency seemed to slow as June wound down--for example, a buyer for one of my listings decided against an offer at the last minute--he was concerned about the economy. But if you check the Bureau of Labor Statistics stats for the San Francisco-Oakland market, you'll see that trends locally are much stronger than they are nationally or across the state.

We have one new development likely to affect the market this fall: At the end of September, the ''conforming'' loan limit will go down from nearly $730,000 to $625,000. Conforming loans, guaranteed by the federal government, offer lower interest rates than non-conforming loans (though the margin has gotten very narrow these last several months, suggesting that this weaning process may go off without a hitch). Nevertheless, now's a great time to re-fi or buy if you'll need a loan between those two figures. Loans must close by the end of September, so you'll want to be in contract or on your loan officer's radar by the end of August. Contact me if you'd like my list of five great local loan officers.

Here's the usual NYT link to the Case-Shiller graphic (most recent info, through April).

Tour Frank Lloyd Wright's Buehler House in Orinda July 30th!

2011-07-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

From the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association:

In 1948 Maynard and Katherine Buehler began construction on the house designed for a large property in Orinda, California. The land included striking contours, mature trees and two streams. Maynard Buehler, an inventor and business owner, required a large workshop.

Wright designed the three bedroom house with one of the most dramatic living room spaces created for a Usonian. The octagonal room is covered by a square roof dramatically cantilevered off of columns encased in lapped redwood board that grow outward as the boards build on each other. The craftsmanship was initially exquisite and the home has just been completely restored to very high standards.

The breathtaking gardens were designed by Henry Matusatani, designer for the Japanese Gardens at Golden Gate Park, with bridges over the streams. There are also several auxiliary buildings, including a greenhouse and tea house. Daytime tours include the house and immediate grounds. The entire garden will be open for the Saturday evening tour and reception with wine and appetizers served on the terrace.

Registration is $125 for the tour and reception / $50 for the tour only and is open to the general public. Proceeds to benefit the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy

For more information,click here.

But First--Mid-Century Modern in Montclair

2011-07-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

But First--Mid-Century Modern in Montclair
Just up Colton Boulevard from the Village in the flat area of Montclair, 6924 Ridgewood Drive is a mid-century modern gem! A balance of original architectural details, attractive energy-saving updates, and the rare flat backyard so rare in Montclair, the three-bedroom, two and a half-bath home is a great value.

Few true mid-century homes come to market, and the owners of this home have retained the classic elements of mid-century modern design. The entry walls are sawn redwood, emphasizing the connection between the interior and exterior in classic Cal Modern fashion; the sliders along the rear bring the outdoors in. The thoughtful split-level layout, particularly when combined with the long views to the rear, injects a real feeling of spaciousness.

From the inviting entry landing, a master suite, two additional bedrooms and a second bath are upstairs, and the open-plan living room, dining room and kitchen are just a few steps down. Rear decks on both levels expand the living area: With the living and dining rooms sliders open and the adjacent deck just a couple of steps above the flat yard, entertaining is a breeze. The larger kitchen offers counterspace for breakfasts or homework with a TV room adjacent. In addition, the owners fitted out the garage as a large play room. The home lives and feels as if it’s much larger than its 1907 sf (excluding play room)!

The home’s first owner was a builder, so the systems and foundation were the best the era had to offera big improvement over the East Bay’s typical shallow foundations, small bedrooms and too-few baths. The current owners have continued to maintain and improve the home (see List of Improvements). The yard is fenced and pet-ready, and raised beds are already planted!

Located close to the East Bay’s famous parklands and Montclair’s excellent public schools (per API score), 6824 Ridgewood Drive is convenient to the Sunday farmer’s market, and excellent restaurants and theaters on Piedmont and College Avenues. Route 13 links right up with Rt. 24 through the Caldecott Tunnel, with Rt. 80 to San Francisco or Berkeley, with 580 to Silicon Valley (where an owner currently works), and with SFO and OAK. To see the house, be sure to pass Ridgewood WAY and continue on Colton Boulevard one more block to Ridgewood DRIVE in Montclair. And be sure to enjoy the stunning Bay views on the way back down to the Villagethose views could be yours!

Open this Saturday and Sunday 2-5 pm, and next Sunday, 2-4:30 pm.

For more info and photos, click here!

Offered at $720,000.

Short Stories from the Front this Quarter

2011-06-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm Cranky

My Home Is Unique

I always say "Your home is unique, and requires a unique marketing blueprint." And then I develop a unique marketing blueprint for each home I market. You've heard about the persimmon muffins and the rosehip tea bread (for homes with great gardens to hype), the Renovator's Open Houses lauded by the SF Chronicle (for "fixers" in Piedmont and Berkeley), the Highland Avenue home I had open during the CSL Home Tour this year and even marketed directly in the CSL Home Tour book, the postcards delivered to cyclists at Redwood Park (for a home high up in Montclair with a massive garage). In each case, it was the first time that strategy had been created in the local market, and others have gone on to copy these strategies.

But you should trust your agent when s/he says "your home is not unique-er than anyone else's." All homes benefit most from the widest exposure to the buying market possible (assuming highest price is more important than family privacy or some other factor). Whether it's a backyard pool, or a special architectural pedigree, or an incredibly tiny yard, the goal is to identify potential buyers, given the attributes, and make sure we reach those buyers through our marketing. We'd rather draw in 100 buyers interested in a backyard pool than 1000 buyers, none of whom can live with a pool.

Not Even a Phone Call?

I spent a few days six months ago working with a couple in the area who wanted to downsize. We spent hours discussing minor repairs needed for the house, whether to update the kitchen for sale, pricing, sample marketing strategies, handypeople who could take care of the work, transfer taxes and other seller costs, and so on. They said, "We've decided you'll sell our house, Maureen."

In the end, they decided to postpone their move-down purchase and the corresponding sale of their current home. Six months later, their home was on the market with an out of area agent (at more than 5% brokerage fee, I might add....). What's that about?

It could be that we realtors don't adequately explain proper etiquette in these circumstances, so here goes:

--We realtors work for a living: We do our work, and we get paid for it. We often (some of us more than others) invest our time and resources in advance, hoping and assuming that when the client goes to sell, we will get the phone call, and after more excellent work, we will get paid. On a million dollar sale, I will typically earn about $20,000, of which a large portion goes to taxes, benefits, and expenses. If I don't get the call, I don't get the $20,000.

--Hire whom you like, whether you think they will do the best job, or if you feel you "have to" for some reason. If possible, interview three agents, and just mention you are talking to others. We will be impressed.

--Change your plans if, over time, you become close to a different agent, or feel the first agent is not at the top of his or her game. If you go to market within a couple of years of asking for more than an hour of exclusive personal service from the first agent, drop him/her a note saying that you're now "heading in a different direction." Most will understand.

--If you buy a home in a different area (that is, outside Oakland/Berkeley/Piedmont), ask your agent for a referral to a great agent in that other area. We know we serve our clients best by not pretending we can be all things to all people in all areas.

--If the agent who helped you buy your home in Pleasanton or San Francisco suggests that s/he help you here, politely decline. They shouldn't have asked, and you shouldn't feel you have to say "yes." See the story below for more on why.

--If the agent who did all that preliminary work for you did and does great work, by all means don't say to yourself "these guys asked; let's go with them. Our first agent will understand." And definitely don't give his/her thoughtful work product to the new guys to use. It's just not fair. Instead, say, you know, so and so did that great work for us last year. S/he understands the house inside and out. We trust her. We owe it to her.

Why Not to Hire an Out-of-Area or Low-Cost/Low-Service Realtor or "Go Bare" with No Realtor

You've heard the story about my clients who made an offer on a house the tax record said had a garage, that in fact didn't have a garage.

Piedmont is very picky about its garages. They must be there, or there must be a permit for a prior demolition (at least since the '80s). You can't get a water heater installed in this town if your garage was demolished without a permit.

Knowing that, my clients had the sellers pay for their new $80,000 two-car garage. Because I know how Piedmont works. An out-of-area agent doesn't know that that's how Piedmont works, and buyers who make offers on their own have no idea.

More recently, I saw disclosures for a house with suspicious cracks in the stucco. The pest inspector noticed it too, and suggested test holes to determine whether there might be dry rot in the framing, under the stucco--often a $60,000 fix. No further inspection was done by the owner.

A buyer relying on a rebate realtor (one who rebates 80% of the brokerage fee back to the buyer) made an offer on the house and got it. The realtor did a little work and was paid his little fee. I recently drove by and saw that the stucco has been taken off the house. How would a realtor in Milpitas know there was dry rot under the stucco? Exactly.

But all of us local agents knew, and we never would have let a client buy that home without doing that test drill in the stucco .....

I'll Let You in on a Secret----

2011-06-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's never been a secret to my clients, because I always walk them through the whole thing.

Realtors often mention that the "standard" brokerage fee is 6%. In Piedmont, it's actually 5%. Only 8 of the 56 transactions that have closed in Piedmont since 1/1 involved a brokerage fee above 5%. I always say to my clients that I feel 5% on a million-plus transaction is fair enough, that I work very hard and won't work any harder for an extra percent (only a small portion of would make its way to my pocket), and the last thing I want to do is start out our relationship by having a fight about brokerage fees.

By the way, the 5% flows through to the listing agent's brokerage, which in turn splits it with the buyer's agent's brokerage, and each brokerage, in turn, splits that fee with the agent who was involved. The percentage "split" between brokerage and agent varies based on sales volume, as you can expect, but with so many fewer transactions, many at an incrementally lower sales price, all our incomes have been hit in the last few years.

So don't ask your realtor to market your home at a super-low rate--you can't afford that strategy. On the other hand, know the facts before you negotiate the brokerage fee--

Head to Head Competition

2011-06-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have a competitive streak. Tonight I took a few moments to examine how things have gone for the two top firms working in Piedmont since the beginning of the year.

We've had 52 successful transactions (or 104 "sides," as each has a buyer and a seller). Of the 52 homes, just over 70% were marketed by Pacific Union or Grubb--54% of these by Pacific Union, and 45% by Grubb.

Across the board, the Pacific Union-marketed homes garnered a higher price per square foot ($503/sf) than did the Grubb Co. listings ($488/sf)--this could be because the Pacific Union homes were nicer, larger, and so on.

A more interesting figure, however, is the final price relative to the original asking price: How appropriately was the home priced to begin with, how well did the listing agent gauge true market value, and/or how convincingly did s/he convey that true market to the seller prior to going to market?

About 60% of the Grubb listings sold below the original asking price, while 60% of the Pacific Union listings sold above the original asking price. Typically, homes that sell above the asking price garner competition, and go into contract promptly after the second open house, while those closing below the asking price stayed on the market for a longer time.

Which group would you prefer to be in?

After Bird Calling Is Over, Go to the Bird House Gala!

2011-05-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

Support the arts in Piedmont schools while having a great time. Each year the gala showcases the work of Bay Area artists as well as our own student artists who donate original works that range in style from elegant to whimsical, humorous to political.

The pieces (bird houses, paintings, prints, sculptures, etc…) are sold through a lively auction which is held in a lush Piedmont home garden, and is a sell-out event each year with attendance of 200+ people. The P A I N T S gala has grown in popularity due to its unique character as a fun and original arts event where the art, wine and food are all first rate. To top it all off, the Piedmont High School Bird Calling contestants make a brief appearance to regale us with their calls. Organizer Karen Stanton says there is no more popular party in Piedmont, and I agree! Tickets are $75 at the door, and if you are the first to email me (Kennedy@maureenkennedy.net) I'll give you a free ticket (I'm an annual sponsor of the event). For more info and photos from past events, click here.

Rare Centennial Home in Central Piedmont--35 Highland Avenue

2011-05-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Filled with graceful proportions, high ceilings and classical lines, 35 Highland Avenue, on nearly a quarter-acre was handcrafted in 1906, before Piedmont's 1907 founding. Its private entry is on the side of the home, as is so often the case in the Golden Rectangle neighborhood.

Outside a lush wisteria vine graces the arbor and an allée of cherry trees marks the path to the rear of the garden and grassy play area. Raised beds at the rear and perennials in the front yard are fruitful and gorgeous year-round.

In fact Kevin Numoto of famed Ace Garden says “this garden is like a fabulous, favorite sweater. Relaxed. Comfortable. Inviting. I would describe it as informal with classic elements, the pergola for example. Romantic. English country garden. Sun drenched. Versatile, poised for either sumptuous flowers or serious vegetable production. This is the kind of garden that Martha Stewart would love--contemporary, but rooted in tradition.''

Architectural Integrity

35 Highland Avenue is rich in architectural details! The public rooms offer high ceilings with coving, plate rails, boxed beam ceilings, leaded glass windows, extensive wood trim, unique matchstick parquet flooring, and deep crown molding. And there’s plenty of room for the grand piano!

Invite guests into the large foyer and through grand pocket doors to the living room or stunning dining room--French doors then lead to a spacious deck with Bay views and steps down to the lush garden and grassy play area. Freshly picked flowers from the garden can grace your table every day!

Upstairs off the generous landing is the layout so highly sought after in Piedmont: Five bedrooms on one level, with two bedrooms en-suite and two others sharing a “Jack and Jill” bath. The large master suite provides deep walk-in closet space, a sitting room and sumptuous spa-style bath. Relax with your favorite novel, with Bay views to distract you.

Move-In Ready

The current owner has taken meticulous care of the home, from renovating the kitchen and baths to creating a master suite with sitting room and walk-in closet to building the extensive deck to updating the foundation and replacing windowsall with permits of course!

The roof and water heater were recently replaced and a home warranty provides additional peace of mind. Zero Section 1 pest at closing!

With a family room on the main level, and a recently renovated rumpus room (and full bath) below, everyone has a place to relax. There’s plenty of easily accessible storage on the lower level, as well as a sizeable workshop/garden prep area to keep your projects or hobbies on track.

Move in and enjoy the restful, private and quiet views!

Convenience

A more convenient location would be hard to find! Just a couple of blocks to rebuilt Havens Elementary School and two more to the middle and high schools, your mornings will be a breeze. With plenty of staffed cross walks and child-friendly drivers, playdates and games of catch or Frisbee are easy to organize!

Mulberry Market and convenient internet-equipped express buses and casual carpool are a short distance away; the typical commute for Piedmonters is only 27 minutes.

Stroll to Piedmont Avenue for a Michelin-star meal at Commis, followed by an arthouse movie at the Piedmont Theater. Restaurants and shopping in Rockridge, Montclair and the Elmwood are just a short distance away.

San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville and the Lamorinda/Tri-Valley area are all a convenient commute on Rt. 580/80 or Rt. 24, as are SFO and OAK.

The Community

Piedmont is one of the East Bay’s most sought-after communities. Offering wonderful views of the Bay and San Francisco beyond, San Francisco magazine declared the town the “best place for kids” in a 2005 article. Its school district offers excellent public schools (the high school is currently 73rd in the nation according to US News and World Report), and locally controlled emergency services and police are based a few blocks from the home.

Open this Saturday and Sunday, 2-5 pm, and Sunday the 22nd, 2-4:30 pm.

For more info and photos, see 35HighlandAve.com; for a google mashup see this link.

Heart of Piedmont, with All the Modern Conveniences

2011-04-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

If friends or colleagues have been searching for a home with all the modern conveniences that typical Piedmont homes just can’t offer, see 221 Highland Avenue! Situated in the center of town, 221 Highland Avenue offers gorgeous space, architectural integrity, convenience and eco-friendly systems and features:

Space:

Unassuming from the street, the home opens up with light and space as you move from formal rooms to informal rooms to the rear terrace and big fenced backyard.

Including its major 1999 expansion, the home encompasses 2744 square feet, including a master suite with two spacious walk-in closets and a home office area, a master bath with separate steam shower, a second master suite, and two additional bedrooms on the upper floor. The 4-bedroom/3-bath arrangement on the upper floor is a rare find in Piedmont.

On the main level, enjoy tranquil views of the park-like lot next door through the home’s signature banks of south-facing windows. The East Bay’s famous sunshine floods into the open kitchen, dining area with banquette seating, and family room. Entertain indoors and out, with easy access through French-door sliders to the rear terrace and big, flat, and extraordinarily private backyard beyond.

And then there’s the garage--constructed at the time of the 1999 expansion, it provides room for all the camping equipment, kayaks, bicycles, and woodworking equipment you might have in mind. Currently set up with a wall-mounted television, it does triple duty as an indoor gym, or play area protected from rain.

Architectural Integrity:

Originally built in 1924, 221 Highland Avenue seamlessly blends the woodwork, hardwood floors, gracious bannisters, and crown molding you might expect, with up-to-date fixtures and contemporary layout.

The owners have carefully extended these architectural elements throughout the Christopherson/Graff-designed addition. Built-ins abound. And one of Piedmont’s oldest Victorians offers additional architectural interest toward the rear of the home.

Convenience:

A more convenient location would be hard to find! Just a block to rebuilt Havens Elementary School and two more to the middle and high schools, your mornings should be a breeze. With plenty of staffed cross walks and child-friendly drivers, playdates and games of catch or Frisbee are easy to organize!

Grab a latte at Mulberry Market and take casual carpool to the Financial District; take the internet-equipped express bus back, pick up kids at Schoolmates after-school care, and stop by Mulberry’s again for a gallon of milk.

San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville and the Lamorinda/Tri-Valley area are all a convenient commute on Rt. 580/80 or Rt. 24, as are SFO and OAK. And Piedmont is a perfect jumping off point for weekend cyclists heading for the East Bay Hills!

Updates:

Older homes too often sport drafty windows, soft foundations, and roofs in need of replacement. Not this house! The rear of the home, from foundation to roof, from kitchen to master bath, was newly built in 1999, and the original baths have all been beautifully updated.

The owners relied on trusted vendors such as Kohler, Grohe, Thermador, Dacor and Amana to source their fixtures and appliances. Whether it’s energy-efficient lighting, double-paned windows, efficient radiant heat, water-efficient fixtures, seismic upgrades from bolting to shearwalling, drainage systems or insulation, this home has it.

These improvements translate into lower utility bills and greater comfort--a winning combination.

The Community:

Piedmont is one of the East Bay’s most sought-after communities. Offering wonderful views of the Bay and San Francisco beyond, San Francisco magazine declared the town the “best place for kids” in a 2005 article. Its school district offers excellent public schools (the high school is currently 73rd in the nation according to US News and World Report), and locally controlled emergency services and police are based a few blocks from the home. Restaurants, movies and shopping in Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue, Montclair and the Elmwood are just a short distance away.

For more info and thirty photos: Click here.
For a Google mashup,click here.

Four bedrooms, three and a half baths. Open Friday and Saturday during the Children's Support League Tour (10 am-4 pm; tickets available at Better Homes in downtown Piedmont) and Sunday 2-5 pm.

Offered at $1.595 million.

Risk Management Covers the Waterfront----

2011-04-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

Was at our semi-annual risk management seminar in San Francisco today; this is when our fabulous in-house counsel walks us through a range of new laws and regs, and tells us cautionary tales his latest travails--the non-refundable deposit that was refunded, eventually; the short sale situation that went awry, and so on.

A few quick notes:

--Before a home sale can close, the home must have appropriate smoke detectors and double strapping on the water heater. These rules have been in effect for years. New this July is a requirement for carbon monoxide detectors. Unfortunately, there's currently no clarity on how/where to install them, and how many a home should have. That should get worked out by the time you go to sell your home, but meanwhile, consider buying at least one when you're next at Piedmont's Ace Hardware--they cost about $25 each and plug into a standard outlet. Note that your garage (if any--hey, this is Piedmont after all) and your hot water heater are the classic sources of CO.

--Also new this year is EPA training for painting professionals in lead paint safety, and requirement that whenever a professional paints more than six square feet (etc. etc.) a trained professional be used (homeowners are to some degree exempt). As a corollary, then, is the agent's disclosure as to whether any painting was done, and if so, if it met the extent standard, was done by the owner, and was done by a professional.

--I didn't realize that there are 2007 rules regarding kid-safety features for pools at private homes (I just knew about the community pool requirement regarding a "fix" to counter the suction effects at typical pool drains). If you have a pool in your backyard, ask your pool servicer for an update.

--Finally, as noted in an earlier post, the CA Energy Commission is trying to effect change in one of the more wasteful parts of California living--your home. The Commission developed the Home Energy Rating System (HERS), and has issued an informative booklet for buyers and sellers at http://www.energy.ca.gov/HERS/booklet.html.

The Energy Commission created this booklet, so I immediately thought, "even though it's not required by the Dept. of Real Estate, must we all provide this to our buyers? Has the standard of care just changed?" And sure enough, my firm(unlike others in the area) now requires that buyers and sellers receive the booklet with their earthquake and lead booklets, and maybe in a few years, sellers might hear "we want to reduce our offer by $25,000 because the HERS rating is only 120 (out of 250)."

Because I'm an EcoBroker, I've been paying for the HERS evaluations for clients using a home inspector who is also HERS-certified--they get a standard home inspection, plus an energy evaluation of the home and advice on where the next most cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements might reside.

I give my sellers an EcoBroker checklist of "green" features so we can highlight them in our marketing, as appropriate, but I'd note that with our older homes and single pane windows, my sellers' homes rarely would rate high up there on the HERS rating--so I best represent my seller (after all, that's my job) by staying mum.

(Back in 2007 when John McComas did a HERS evaluation of my 1908 home, we ranked 72 out of 100 points on the then-standard scale. The real disappointment was the suggestion that our rating could go up to seventy-six points out of 100 if we implemented all recommendations.)

But the effort will be powerful. Did you hear today that EBMUD has to change its cost structure because East Bay'ers have been installing too many water-saving devices and thus EBMUD isn't distributing enough water priced at a point that covers its costs? That's the effect of one-toilet change-out every 20 minutes!

I'll be collecting contact info for HERS-certified inspectors (there are very few this early in the game)--let me know if you want a referral!

Open This Sunday and Next--7180 Buckingham Blvd., Berkeley

2011-04-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Rare Two-Level Living in the Claremont Hills--7180 Buckingham Blvd., Berkeley

Live comfortably on two levels in an open floor plan. The kitchen, with nearly new appliances, opens up to the family room, with the dining and living rooms beyond. The cathedral ceilings add to the feeling of spaciousness while the hardwood floors convey warmth. A bedroom and full bath on this level are perfect for guests or as an office.

The home's large master suite and additional bedrooms and bath are on the lower level. Enjoy a sauna after a weekend of skiing. Or a nice long soak in the master bath Jacuzzi. An en-suite fireplace keeps things nice and cozy! Walk-in closet--of course!

Great Indoor-Outdoor Feel

Sizeable decks adjacent to the living, dining and family rooms, and each bedroom, create a wonderful indoor-outdoor flow, expand the functionality of the home, and create spaces in which to enjoy the privacy, peace and quiet and canyon views. The protected banana-belt location mean you can really put those decks to use!

With its south-facing orientation, this home's big windows and numerous skylights bring in the famous East Bay light.

A No-Worries Home

Carefully maintained by its current owners (see the List of Improvements), the home has been seismically improved. Air conditioning, so rare in the East Bay, reduces allergens. With towering redwood trees rather than a lawn, there's no grass to mow!

The big two-car garage can handle your sports toys, and there is additional storage below the home. A security system provides peace of mind, and the neighborhood offers a real sense of community.

Homes in this area of Oakland bear Berkeley mailing addresses (though owners pay lower Oakland taxes, and can attend the highly rated neighborhood elementary school rather than participate in Berkeley's school lottery).

Convenient Location

Hear birds, not traffic! Just a block off the classic cycling route to Skyline Boulevard and Grizzly Peak, the home is just a short distance to the mountaintop’s many parks and preserves. The current owners have walked out the front door and enjoyed a long day of hiking! Imagine returning to the master-suite sauna and dinner on the deck.

Commutes are a breeze, whether to San Francisco (via Rt. 24 or Rockridge BART), the South Bay (via Rt. 13) or Berkeley/Oakland/ Emeryville. Avoid the Caldecott Tunnel entirely and commute to Lamorinda and the Tri-Valley area up and over Fish Ranch Road--the secret "back way." Perfect for households with split commutes.

The home is in the catchment area of highly ranked Kaiser Elementary School, and is near Bentley and the Hiller Highland Country Club's pool, putting green, gym and facilities (monthly fees). Domingo Avenue, College Avenue, and Orinda shopping and restaurants are surprisingly closeby.

For photos and more, see this link.

Piedmont Market Update

2011-04-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

After a very slow start, the quarter is ending with a bang. Only one home sold (that is, the transaction ''closed'') in January--a two-bedroom/one-bath home for $699,000. Five homes sold in February, some of which were homes that had been on the market through the slower portion of last year. These sold in an average 89 days, and for $1.117 million.

In March, ten homes sold across the price spectrum for an average $1.502 million ($479/sf), at just a bit over the original price, in an average 21 days. Two of these sold for cash.

Turning to the 18 homes that are pending right now, and excluding the two distressed sales that have been awaiting final closing instructions for months, the average days-on- market has been only 19 (typically, homes that sell within the first 15 days sell at or above the asking price, and we have a number of pending homes that went into contract in less than a week--including 301 Pala in my own Golden Rectangle neighborhood which I understand garnered 16 offers). Some of these homes have sold promptly, after having been on the market during last years prime selling season--without an offer then.

As you know, I'm not one to throw these words around, but most of us in the business would say that Piedmont homes are selling like hotcakes this spring. If you're on the fence about a sale, don't forget that our low-interest-rate government guaranteed loans up to $729,750 will be a thing of the past for homes closing after September 30th (meaning those that go into contract sometime in August). The conforming limit is scheduled to drop to $625K, and policies around broader interest rates and the future of Fannie and Freddie are all in flux now. We think that buyers are seeing those shifts on the horizon too, and have decided that now is the time to literally make a move.

See this quarter's data by transaction below (click on the image to enlarge).

A Way to Age Gracefully in Place

2011-04-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Margie Bowman dropped off material on North Oakland Village--a membership organization based on Beacon Hill Village in Boston. The group offers and organizes around transit to shopping and appointments, home repairs for elders, home health care providers and more. Sounds like a great idea! See www.northoaklandvillage.org for more info.

Crime, and Emergency Prep in Piedmont

2011-03-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

Particularly if you live in Piedmont Police District 3 (the Golden Rectangle, north of Blair, and Piedmont-94618), stop by my house on Tuesday, April 5th at 7 pm for brownies, decaf, and a chat with Officer Mather about trends and tips. And personal organizer extraordinaire Nina Johnson will discuss emergency prep. We'll shoot to be done with the core of info by 8 pm, though feel free to stay longer for Q&A.

A Great Bible for Home Maintenance

2011-02-22T16:10:00.000-08:00

Well, more like a computer game.

This month's Realtor magazine had one useful item: A reference to their new website called HouseLogic. Check it out here. You enter a bit of information on your home and location (I hate it when we get home maintenance lists that start with "bring clay garden pots in to avoid freezing and cracking"). And it generates a great body of information and background on keeping your house in tip top shape.

It integrates some of that "Cost vs. Value" information I keep talking about; it focuses you on opportunities to save money--kind of like a Mint.com for your home.

I've already got a few points from creating a profile, and reading and taking quizzes on a couple of articles.

Now I have to go change my furnace filter------

If Your Home is Cluttered or You're Selling in the Next Year---

2011-02-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

My organizer colleague Nina Johnson (click here to sign up for her weekly blog or call her at 482-1619) sent a note about Oprah's March issue on decluttering.

Check out a great list to work through, one chunk a week, at this older article.

If you're organizing donations (for instance, to Dress Best for Less, supporting the Piedmont schools), take a look at the list of Salvation Army values for donations.

Nina, who's a fabulous resource for recycling and reuse opportunities, mentions Bookmark Bookstore in Oakland, a non-profit whose proceeds go to the Oakland Public Library--we brought 60 boxes of books from the East Coast, and that was before the kids became bigtime readers. I imagine we can divert many many of those to the Bookmark Bookstore!

Finally, the February issue of Realtor magazine has two nice pieces on prepping a house for sale here and here. Some of these ideas (spray painting stainless-look paint over appliances (and disclosing it)) won't fly here in Piedmont, but changing out outdated light fixtures, having dark cabinets professionally re-painted, changing out original cabinet knobs and pulls, replacing large frameless bathroom mirrors with framed ones that look like they walked out of the pages of the latest Pottery Barn catalog (yes, all buyers really do want that look), and replacing some tile grouts can make a house look "move-in ready" rather than like a "fixer" in buyers' minds.

And that can mean a huge amount in terms of pricing!

If we're working together, let's make sure to discuss these and other options before you invest.

Update: Check out this article from the NYT regarding how minor changes can completely change a buyer's perception of your home.

If You're Refinancing---

2011-02-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

Had a chat with "our Schwab guy" last week, who mentioned infrequent appraisal issues for their bank's refi operation.

I've mentioned before that appraisals have been relatively straightforward these last few months, after a difficult period (difficult because there were too few sales in some cases to provide a basis for cautious appraisers to assess value, and difficult because the appraisal community went through a regulatory overhaul, which led to a variety of transition problems).

One continuing issue is that in trying to avoid inappropriate communication between lender and appraiser ('hey; can we get this value up to $1.5 million? My owner would really like to refi and take out $100,000....'), regulators created intermediaries. Lenders call the intermediary, who in turn assigns an appraiser to the property. Too frequently, the appraisers on the list bid low (with only some of those savings passed on to you), but they haven't been west of Manteca in a year.

We agents or brokers have the right to essentially take a pass on an out of area appraiser assigned to appraise your home. Your refi lender (like our Schwab guy) can't do the same, but you can.

When your appraiser calls to set the appointment, you can probe his/her experience in the area and price range. If you don't hear a good story, you can say "let me call you back." Call your lender and ask for a new appraiser. (They'll in turn call the appraisal management company, and you'll be assigned the next appraiser on the list.)

And don't forget to ask me for comparables, in case your appraiser doesn't realize that Piedmont Avenue is not the same as Piedmont, CA.

Not long ago, my sellers were assigned an appraiser from Sacramento. With trepidation, I called the appraiser expecting to have to take a pass. Instead, it turned out that she had only recently moved to Sacramento, had previously practiced in Oakland, and had lived off Park Boulevard. She did a beautiful job on the appraisal (and by that I don't just mean that she hit the purchase price).

Questions you might ask include: Where are you based? How many appraisals have you completed in the East Bay on this side of the Tunnel in the past year? When did you last do an appraisal in Piedmont? If the answers hang together, you should get a solid appraisal, even if the number isn't as high as you might prefer.

Piedmont Connect and Google PowerMeter---

2011-02-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

You know, our house in Inverness is in the epicenter of the anti-Smart Meter movement. I have to say I've been attempting to contact PG&E and tell them "please, come to our house and install a Smart Meter!" but I can't find a contact for the program on their website!

Most likely as at your house here in Piedmont, our Smart Meter was installed with no fanfare (notice intentional use of the passive voice). It just--was there. It should be producing some decent data in the next month or so (you can set up an info-account easily at pge.com, and can review your past electric and/or gas usage on a monthly retrospective basis already).

Along with a lucky dozen or so other Piedmonters, we've taken an additional step however, and worked with the great Piedmont Connect team to install some real-time electricity monitoring equipment in the house.

Based on the notion that you can't change what you can't see, the two monitors (see TheEnergyDetective.com and check out the TED5000) send a stream of KwH usage data to our computer network and to Google.Org as part of Google's PowerMeter effort (see google.com/powermeter/about/index.html--thanks you Google meisters!).

In turn, we get moment-by-moment feedback on our usage and costs. We can turn the outside lights off and see what a difference it makes. We can set them up on automatic timers and see what a difference it makes. A great tool for teachable moments regarding stocks and flows.

But seriously.....

It's been making a difference. Every day I can see, when I choose to go and look at it, a comparison of this Monday's usage compared to last Monday's usage, including a break-out of "always on" energy draws. We can set goals--e.g. stay on track compared to last Monday's usage, or shoot for a 10% reduction (in which case all the data are relative to that target). The impact can be measured by KwH, by $, by pounds of carbon, and by estimated annual utility bill. It all depends on what tickles your toes. You can see that for Type A personalities, this can spin out of control.... But it hasn't; I promise.

What really matters is not the input, or the output, but the outcome, so what gives? Well, in mid-January, our daily usage on our main monitor linked to a yearly bill of about $2200. And now we're seeing annual bills in the $1400 range. And this is likely because our usage reduction has been very high-leverage: The Bay Area has a four-tiered billing structure, and our lowered usage is pulling us out of the top tier and into the cheaper-by-the-KwH third tier.

Check out PGE.com and see what your electric and gas usage are, be shocked as I was, and then spend a bit of time making some adjustments. Get that insulation in the attic, install that programmable thermostat, have a chat about the "always on" use, and save some money!

(I'm assuming that we'll keep our monitors forever, but if you want one of your own, I'll pay to get one of these set up at your house--first come first served!)

Update: The week after the beginning of daylight savings time, I realized our programmable thermostat was still set to PST--so the heat was coming one even though we'd all left for school/work. Take a quick peek and make sure yours is clicking on and off at the right time.

Great New Pacific Union Report on the Bay Area's Real Estate--

2011-02-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Maybe the firm has been taking notes on my research and writing---

See this great-looking report on the Bay Area's real estate trends broken down by region. If you're thinking about a move to Napa or Marin or the City, start there!

Selling? Ask for your Marketing Blueprint----

2011-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a seller-client recently after forwarding her a typical "pricing memo." The memo covered a number of topics all related to value, but her reaction was "when we moved from the City, we didn't get nearly this level of detail and insight on the market, how our home fits into it, and pricing for our home!"

My memos probably are about the best in the local market, but I'm frankly most surprised by information the typical Piedmont agent offers regarding marketing a home they are in competition to sell (as opposed to pricing it).

Fundamentally, most agents or brokers take a "trust me" approach--"here are samples of my past work (flip, flip, flip through a presentation binder); if you sign my listing agreement, I'll do the same for you. I can't really answer too many questions right now because I'm not yet hired to do the job, so haven't spent much time thinking about your situation. And I won't--not until I have the signed listing agreement."

If you've ever worked for an ad agency (as I have) or if you've ever watched an episode of Mad Men, for that matter, you know that's not how advertising agencies get the "deal."

The "creatives" slave away deep into the night trying to clearly understand the product; they come up with concepts, and cast them off, finally settling on the "ah-HA" marketing effort. The pieces all fall into place and the client says "yes, you understand the essence of our product."

And while the ad guys probably won't have a sample ad that's perfect and ready to go to the media buyers, they have enough of a gameplan to let the corporate decisionmaker know with whom he'd like to place his sizeable marketing budget for the next several years (we're still with Mad Men here).

And make no mistake--when you go to sell your million-dollar home, you're putting $50,000 to $60,000 in the hands of your agent for, fundamentally, marketing.* Half will go to the buyer's agent for responding to the marketing and bringing your buyer, and a bit less than a quarter will go to the brokerage to provide back-office support (much of it marketing-related), and a small amount will go to E&O insurance, and to cover time spent in negotiations and while in escrow. But the vast majority of what you're paying for is the marketing of your home--the framing of your home within its market, the marketing ideas themselves, and then their implementation.

I think it's fine for agents to say "trust me" on implementation--the ads, postcards, brochures, e-newsletters, broker open houses, Sunday open houses and so on, assuming they have a good reputation on these fronts. And of course many agents don't realize that real estate is, in fact, not a one-size-fits-all business. (They were taught that marketing a home involves nine nice photos, a bullet list of features (*3 bedrooms *two baths *2100 sf *Lush landscaping *Rich details) and a paycheck.)

But it's what I call the Marketing Blueprint for a home that actually sells it. The blueprint gets inside the head of the buyers for your home, and then feeds them the details they need to make an offer on your home.

So if it's a "fixer" and buyers may be uncertain about how big a job it is, I have suggested a Renovator's Open House (with vendors who can give your buyers the information they need up front). The San Francisco Chronicle thought that was such a cool idea that they wrote a cover story on me in 2007.

If it's a mid-century modern home, I bring my library of mid-century modern books to the open houses, I place the home in the mid-century pantheon, and I've even added a Google Earth shot from above to emphasize the boomerang shape of the home for buyers.

If it's an historically important home in Piedmont, I've had a Piedmont historian at the open house telling stories about how the home fits into the neighborhood and how life was "back in the day."

If it's a great value for the money, there will be plenty of detailed information outlining that fact for value-sensitive buyers.

And so on.

Developing that Marketing Blueprint takes some time, expertise, good punctuation, and risk. I can pull together a fabulous Marketing Blueprint for your home, but if your brother is a real estate agent in Alameda, I may not convince you to hire me (and I'd hope that you wouldn't pass all my hard work on to your brother, but I completely understand the temptation).

Of course the strategy comes into better focus and the missing pieces (OK--how old exactly is that roof?) get filled in once we sign the deal and get seriously working. Nevertheless, I feel sellers deserve to know my gameplan--how I plan to market what's likely their biggest asset--before they hire me.

The Marketing Blueprint is the rough equivalent of the specs you expect from a contractor giving you a bid for a new kitchen, or the roofer giving you a bid for a new roof. You'd never accept "trust me" from those vendors; why would you say "yes, I trust you; just go and sell my house" from a real estate agent?

Instead, you should expect each to say, "this is how I suggest you position your home; this is how I would propose to do so; this is what I am planning to do; and this is what I anticipate you will net."

When you go to sell, expect each of the three agents (or better yet, brokers) you interview to give you a Marketing Blueprint. Your house is unique; doesn't it deserve a unique Marketing Blueprint?

*$100,000 to $120,000 for a $2 million home......

Missed the Boat on Low Interest Rates? Not.......

2011-01-25T19:56:00.001-08:00

If you were concerned about low appraisals or were waiting for rates to hit bottom, you're about to miss the boat. Email me at Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net for a list of five great local lenders to call and discuss your situation.

Speaking of Inverness....

2011-01-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

An acquaintance is hoping to garner a private offer on a gorgeously finished home with beautiful hill and forest views (just a few steps to killer Tomales Bay views)--the main house is a spacious 2/1 I believe and the guest house was recently finished. Here's the link to photos that look professionally shot.Let me know if you'd like to get in touch (he notes the guest house is available for vacation stays at VRBO.

Prices Essentially Even During 2010

2011-01-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

Buttressed by low, low rates and a stabilizing economy, prices in Piedmont dropped only about 2% over the course of 2010, based on both average prices and price per square foot. The average price of a Piedmont home sold in 2010 was $1.401 million, down from 1.432 million in 2009, according to the MLS. The typical price per square foot was $513, down from $522.

A range of other measures supported the positive outlook: Total sales increased to 99 (from 76), typical days on market declined to 29 days (from 44), the number of distressed sales (bank-owned and short sales) remained very low at under a half dozen in each year.

Fifty-five homes were pulled from the market for various reasons, similar to the number from 2009, though lower on percentage basis given higher overall sales this year.

Given that homes sold in the fourth quarter typically went into contract during the unsettled period in August and September, it's comforting that the quarter's figures were quite strong in the end: 25 total sales (compared to only 19 in 4Q09) averaging $1.413 M (compared to $1.216 M in 4Q09).

Prices during the year ranged between $479,000 and $5.15 million, and within the quarter ranged between $479,000 and $3.4 million, suggesting good activity all along the price spectrum. The typical home sold for 4% less than its original asking price. (See detailed info at the bottom of this post.)

Oakland sales totaled just over 3200, a drop from last year's torrid 3700 pace, while total sales in Oakland 94610 and 94611 (roughly Montclair and Crocker Highlands) increased from 307 last year to a total of 445 this year. The average price across the city increased from $296K to $350K, an increase of 18%. Don't forget that this average is affected by the proportion of lower-priced homes in distressed circumstances that were on the market last year (and remain to a large degree this year). In fact the median (half of properties sold for figures above the price and half below) is only $194,000, suggesting a huge presence of low-priced sales in Oakland.

Berkeley's sales figures also increased, from 424 to a total of 528 sales in 2010. The average price increased about 5% compared to 2009 (from $667.5K to $712.4K), though the median is much closer to the average than is the case in Oakland. The typical days on market in both Oakland and Berkeley was about 35 days.

Communities typically considered our competitors--Lamorinda and Mill Valley--fared well. Lamorinda sales were up 20%, and prices inched up from $957K to $961K on average. The typical home sold in 55 days, a tad fewer than in 2009. And Mill Valley saw a 4.6% rise in prices in 2010 compared to 2009, though the median price declined gradually during the course of 2010. The total number of sales was up about 10%, and the typical home took about three months to sell.

(See this link for more on the pattern of defaults and foreclosures in Piedmont--while I'm sure more of us are having a tough time making payments and may be underwater on our mortgages, Foreclosure Radar reports only three foreclosures in town through November, 2010. One of these was represented on the MLS.)

The Region

The New York Times interactive graphic examining home price trends (through September) across 20 MSAs can be found here. The San Francisco MSA is the ''strongest market in the country,'' they say. S&P just released the October data--it shows the San Francisco MSA's index is up 38% since 2000, down 1.3% (seasonally adjusted) in October compared to September, and up 2.2% over the course of the year.

The State

The Ca. Assoc. of Realtors, meanwhile, has data through November: Total sales (#) across the state were up nearly 10% in November compared to October, though down about 9% from November 2009 to 2010. Median prices were down about 2.5% across the state during the same window.

The proportion of REO sales was down through the year, while short sales (meaning direct negotiations among the seller, his/her lender(s) and a buyer) were up--perhaps lenders are realizing they will do much better to take a market-based offer from a straightforward seller and buyer than to incur all the costs and risks associated with a foreclosure, empty house, and bottom-feeding distressed sale specialists. The proportion of ''discretionary sales,'' the new moniker for non-distressed sales, was up from 38% of total sales to 47% through late July, '10.

The scale of unsold inventory has been stable and consistent with trends over the last few decades--6 to 7 months. Interest rates were about a half point lower in November compared to the previous November (but have now increased about that much through the end of the year).

(Click on the photo to enlarge and review it.)

Half of HOAs Struggling Financially

2011-01-18T14:48:00.000-08:00

I always advise condo buyers to carefully review homeowner association documents carefully before closing a purchase, and now more than ever! Too many homeowner associations in the region have delinquent HOA dues accounts (some with owners still in place and some with bank-owned properties where the bank hasn't decided to pay arrearages yet), high proportion of renters (which can affect bankability for new buyers), and low reserve accounts. Of course I'll help you navigate these shoals. For a story describing the situation nationwide, ask me for an article from this month's Residential Specialist magazine (the magazine of the Council of Residential Specialists, of which I am a member) or read the source press release here.

I'm Heading Out to the Hardware Store-----

2011-01-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

We're not in Connecticut, but I know this house is drafty. After reading this story in today's Times, I definitely need to get some insulating tape for the (interior) garage door, the ski closet (basically a conduit to the garage space), and the 1908 casements at the front of the house. And though our living room fireplace works, we never use it--I want to see if these fireplace plugs are permanent or not.PGE has plenty of resources to help you evaluate your electric and gas usage, by comparison to regional norms and goals, and I'm happy to refer you to a state-certified home energy usage evaluator. And our newly installed Smartmeter data-collecting meter will generate useful findings in another couple of months.

A Message from the CEO of Christie's Great Estates, Kay Coughlin

2011-01-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this video from Kay, discussing the advantages with working with a firm with important national and international reach, discretion and expertise.

Now that We Live Here, Here's Why We Like Piedmont--

2010-12-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Was visiting a couple of days ago with clients who moved to Piedmont in 2007. Out of the blue, he said,

"You know, all this [renovation] stuff with the house has been fine, but we had no idea how great this move would be for our lifestyle. Compared to [living in Oakland and our kids going to private school with friends all over the area], it's all so easy. They walk to school. They walk to friends' houses. I catch the bus a couple blocks away to the Financial District. Our friends elsewhere have to have logistics meetings every night to organize for the next day."

That's essentially what you said, right?

And If You Don't Want to Rent Out but Want a Housesitter---

2010-12-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

A mature client has a friend who does longer term housesitting (1 month to 8 months) in the East Bay Hills in high-end homes. She knows the ropes, from security systems to feeding complicated pets to touching base with neighbors. Email me if you'd like her contact info---

Thinking about Renting?

2010-12-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

Friends who sold their beautifully maintained home in town a year or so ago are looking for a Piedmont rental--let me know if you have what they'd love to rent sometime in the spring:

-About 2500sf
-About 4 bedrooms/2+ baths
-$4500 max.
-They'd love a long-term arrangement with a young one about to start school.

Trying to Make It Real Compared to What---

2010-12-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Like my family, you all probably decided to move to Piedmont after looking at Berkeley, Montclair, Lafayette/Moraga/Orinda, and Mill Valley/Marin County. I hear it all the time with my new buyer clients: "I should let you know that we're also looking in ....." or better yet, "do you know a great agent who could help us take a look in .....?" (I have tried and true agent contacts in each of these areas.)

But the Piedmont pride nevertheless shines through. I while ago I pulled together a factsheet comparing 2000 census and API schools data on Piedmont and the Lamorinda towns, and over the years I've expanded it to discuss proximity to Chronicle 100 restaurants, and so on.

Over the break, I took a moment to check on updated info from the American Community Survey ('05-'09 data) and to take a detailed look at the Mill Valley vs. Piedmont choice--Konrad grew up in Mill Valley, went to Tam High, and still has lots of friends there, so particularly given the Inverness house, I probably spend four times as much time in Mill Valley as I do through the tunnel these days.

Let me know if you'd like either of the factsheets to pass on to friends and family. If you're looking for what we've got, it's a pretty clear choice!

Cost Vs. Value Report Again Available

2010-12-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

Once again, the Realtor magazine/Remodeling magazine annual report is available. If you want to know how much added value (at resale) you can expect from that new deck, added bedroom, or remodeled bathroom, the report can give you some insight.

Eleven of the improvements generate a greater than 100% return when compared to the cost (though the returns don't reflect ongoing comfort improvements or efficiency savings, such as fewer drafts and lower utility bills from window replacements). Last year's review, with a slightly different project mix, included only seven with ratios over 100%, though back in the mid-00s, the ratios were consistently above 100% in the Bay Area. Throughout the decade, the Bay Area's cost vs. value ratios have been consistently higher than those across the Pacific region, and across the nation.

"Best" investments (meaning ratios over 100%) include: attic bedroom, basement, bathroom, minor (not major) kitchen remodels; garage door, entry door and window replacements; and deck additions (wood better than composite, though I've got to say that with most of Montclair's 30- and 40-year old decks carrying high dry rot inspection price tags, a composite deck is sounding awfully good to me....). Least effective investments include master suite additions, sun room remodels and backup generator installations.

Which leads me to say, all real estate is local. There's no question in my mind that the sale value of a Piedmont home with a master suite will be much higher than a home of comparable size without a master suite (and I ran the numbers not long ago for a client). Our buyers "expect" a master suite and are willing to pay for it (or conversely, some will skip past a home without one, and of course value buyers willing to live without a master suite will be pleased with their cost savings). Likewise, a bedroom addition in Piedmont often comes with a new foundation and second garage space expense attached--it may make little sense without also considering the needs of your family, tax bill considerations, and emotional attachments to neighborhoods. In that case, you might get exactly the arrangement you want for your remaining years in your home, at, say, 60 cents to the dollar of cost paid, after resale is reflected.

So don't hesitate to invite me over to look at plans or add my two cents to your discussions. And don't forget, you need a remodel without a permit like you need a hole in the head.

A Useful Guide to Small Claims Court

2010-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

I've only considered going to small claims court once in my real estate career: Nice young clients were in contract to sell their 600 sf condo in 2005 to a young man who apparently was trying to buy the home with pretty much no money down. At the closing table, he was short--he and his agent assumed he could use part of a credit from the seller against his first month of mortgage interest and the our side knew that wasn't legal. Given that another unit had just gone into contract at a figure a few thousand less than ours, I knew that we'd be up a creek if the transaction failed. So I covered the shortfall out of my paycheck (small condo--small paycheck), and figured it would be a slam dunk in small claims court. Well, that was more than five years ago and I've missed my chance.

This month's CA Assoc. of Realtors magazine has a nice primer on small claims court, however; you can find it on the web, or email me and I'll send you the PDF of the issue. The article starts on p. 18.

Lots of Home Care and Maintenance Tips--JMC Inspections

2010-12-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

If you're on Facebook, link up with JMC Building Inspections, owned by John McComas--he just sent me a link and his Facebook page is a nice walking encyclopedia of tips, videos (how to check your deck for safety), and upcoming events. When John does my client's home inspections, I pay for him to also do an energy audit of the home as he's one of the few inspectors who is also a state-certified auditor.

Another View on Window Replacements

2010-11-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

The National Trust's e-newsletter reports today on the downsides of increasing energy efficiency. Sometimes it's tough to balance the eco agenda with the preservation agenda.

The eco-ists often talk about the annual utility bill savings as the argument for replacement; the remodeling crowd will talk about the high "cost vs. value" ratio (meaning forget miniscule utility savings--the big bucks are in the higher price you'll garner when you go to sell your home).

The preservationists argue that original is beautiful, and it's a shame to lose all that great aesthetic and historic value just for a few dollars. Don't forget--those aluminum windows that the Piedmont building inspector will cite you on were once the New New Thing.

Let me know your thoughts!

Time to Get Apples

2010-11-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

A Piedmont friend who I helped make a purchase in Inverness last year made the questionable decision to let me pick apples and pears from her trees out there. So I've been making applesauce cake, and apple-rhubarb crumble, with rhubarb from our Inverness garden these last few weekends (while closing some of the more complex transactions I've had the honor of handling these last few years). If you too love apples, Sunset had a story this month about day tripping (no pun intended) to apple-centric Sebastopol--see the story here and don't forget to call me if you have an interest in West Marin real estate--I have very insightful and deeply experienced realtor contacts out there to help you with a purchase.

Appraisal and Inspection at Divorce---

2010-11-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Did you see this short story in the New York Times this week? The key take away is that if you need to estimate value for any reason (including the passing of a relative, etc.), it's good to hire an inspector in addition to your appraiser--

I'll let you in on a secret: I know that there is dry rot at the junction of our rear deck and a shingled pony wall near our property line. It will cost money to fix (and will be fixed before we sell!). It will not be cheap. But if I needed a good estimate of value on this classic 1907 shingle home with its share of quirks, I'd want to reflect that anticipated expense. A mere $600-750 for an inspection (and I have great referrals for you) might save a bundle of heartache and recriminations later!

Note that Nina Johnson, a great networking colleague whom I've written about before for her personal organizing expertise (simply-organized@sbcglobal.net) put me in touch with a wonderful advocate for a seriously ill neighbor (What in-home care does Kaiser cover? What should I ask my case worker for? Whom do I call for in-home nursing care? How is that different from care from an aid?), along with an architect who specializes in ADA and other accommodation ideas. Let me know if you're facing some off these issues locally and I can pass on these contacts.

Scouting for Food Pickup Nov. 20th

2010-11-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Piedmont's progressive Boy Scout Council provides a key administrative umbrella for a wide range of Piedmont youth activities--Oakland Strokes, Piedmont Language School, the High School's Community Service Crew, and the Boy Scout programs all operate under its purview.

But maybe the way the Council touches the most lives across the region is during the Scouting for Food Drive.

On Saturday November 20th, yours truly and a number of other adult and scout volunteers will fan out across Piedmont to pick up your donations of canned goods and staples.

If you'd rather join me and go electronic this year, consider a contribution to the Virtual Food Drive: go to this link, read and click on the ''more info'' link, and choose ''Piedmont Council, BSA'' from the Alameda County Food Bank's drop down menu. You can shop for needed staples virtually, or cut to the chase and just donate. This year perhaps more than ever!

And if you forget or know you'll be out of town, just email me and I'll swing over to pick up your canned goods.

Will You Be in Town on Thanksgiving?

2010-11-03T17:08:00.001-07:00

Then you have two choices: Run/walk the 5K race, or....be a course monitor! It's a very limited time commitment. You get your corner assignment, show up with your chair and coffee mug in hand, watch all your friends and neighbors pass by, and then head home for breakfast! Email Susan Freeman (susanfreeman1@gmail.com) if you have the time, and enjoy!

A great way to support lifetime exercise among Piedmont youth--the funds underwrite the PHS Track and Cross Country teams.

Wrapping Up a Renovation

2010-11-03T17:07:00.001-07:00

Stopped in at the sleek mid-century home of clients who bought a couple of years ago and are getting close to wrapped up on their renovation, with the help of Piedmont architect Ahmad Mohazab (ahmad@tecta.com). What a gorgeous architectural update and what wonderful surfaces!

When I got home, I remembered I'd pulled The Punch List out of Consumer Report's latest Kitchen Planning and Buying Guide (why do I read this stuff given we finally wrapped up our kitchen and bath remodels over a year ago?--For you.....). I'll scan it; just email me for an e-copy. Included are such easy-to-miss items as ''Contractor has provided countertop care instructions'' and ''All light fixtures have working bulbs in them.'' Perhaps most important in Piedmont is ''inspections completed and permit finaled?''

By the way, one of the most satisfying hours I've had in years (what does that mean about me?) was when I picked up adhesive silicon and felt ''buttons'' at the hardware store and walked around the house installing them everywhere a cabinet or window seat lid bumped up against a wall, or a shower door could hit a door jamb, or the microwave door intersected with a shelf edge. It's those final little touches that make all the difference.

At What Price?

2010-11-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I just said, “homes that sell, sell promptly, while those that aren’t meeting serious buyer interest just sit.” How do you make sure your home is priced in a manner that attracts buyer interest?

Careful and thoughtful positioning in the market is key! I work hard to ensure that we get it right on two fronts: price, and positioning compared to the real competition.

Price

We need to get the price right. Let’s talk about “last listing price” vs. “original listing price” focusing on Oakland’s 94611 zip code for a moment: 64 homes sold in Montclair during the third quarter. The average ratio of sales price to original asking price among the homes that found a serious buyer was 97%. About a third of these sold promptly for over the asking price, while the balance sold for as little as 70% of the original asking price, usually after one or more interim price reductions and quite a bit of anxiety-producing time on the market.

Today, 138 homes are on the market in Oakland 94611, and most of these were on the market when the 64 homes above went into contract. (The average days on market for those that did not attract a real buyer is 72 days; twice as long as those that met market expectations.)

Serious buyers were purchasing other homes, and leaving these to sit. In many cases, the sellers of these homes can’t sell for much lower--in fact 49 of the 138 are either bank-owned (in which case the owner presumably couldn’t find a buyer so the bank foreclosed) or short-sale distress situations.

And it’s a mistake to think “well, 64 homes out of roughly 200 sold this quarter, so if I just leave my home on the market for 3 quarters, it too will sell. I’m willing to wait to get the price I want.” If only that were how it works! During those 270 days, dozens of new listings will hit the market, and the real buyers will continue to buy the pick of the litter, and leave the rest to sit. In fact 183 homes--that is, 183 hopeful but unrealistic sellers--have come off the market since the beginning of the year in Montclair (admittedly some came back on and their homes finally sold).

Homes are definitely selling in our neighborhoods, but only serious sellers who are willing to meet the market are successful; serious buyers are not wasting time with sellers who want or need more than the market is willing to pay (to say nothing of those pesky appraisers, who need to see value before they’ll give the thumbs up for the buyers’ loan).

Positioning for the Real Competition

Sellers in our market need to know what their real competition is. A nicely located home in central Piedmont is competing against other homes of similar size, condition, and location in Piedmont. But serious buyers looking at it are also looking to other communities with good public schools--most typically Lamorinda and Marin County.

Just last week I received a call from a buyer with an interest in Piedmont, who respectfully wanted to make sure I knew that they were also looking in Mill Valley. Buyers from earlier in the year found they could meet their schooling needs best by focusing on renting in Lafayette. It’s true that particularly at the higher end, many of our buyers are cross-town move-up buyers. But you need a good sense of the market in communities your buyers consider interchangeable (even though we, together with San Francisco magazine, know Piedmont is the place to settle down with its short commute to the financial district, better schools (Gold vs. Silver according to US News), greater diversity, and higher incomes and education levels than these competing communities).

Did you know that Piedmont is within biking distance (2 miles) of seven of the Chronicle’s Top 100 restaurants in the entire five-county Bay Area while all of Lamorinda has only three restaurants on the list? Or that Yelp says there are 53 burrito outlets within 2 miles of Piedmont while Orinda has four? I know these factoids as well as other objective demographic data because they are in my “Comparing Piedmont to Lamorinda” factsheet I prepare for buyers trying to get a better handle on their choices.

You want a broker representing you who understands the underlying market dynamics facing your real buyers, and spends the time to make sure interested buyers get the ammunition they need to decide that Piedmont, and your home, is where they will get good value and a great lifestyle.

Prices Firm through Ups and Downs in Broader Market

2010-11-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

The third quarter of 2010 in the East Bay saw a continuation of the strong and stable spring market (as agreements struck in the spring closed 30-45 days later) in combination with signs of slowing at the end of the quarter.

Across Oakland, 810 homes closed (compared to 1051 in 3Q09 and 961 in 2Q10). The median price for these was $257,000 while the average was substantially higher at $359,000. This differential suggests a large number of homes selling at the lower end of the market, likely distressed properties (in fact, 30 percent of all Oakland sales were for all-cash, and of the all-cash sales, the average price was $276,000). Prices ranged between $2 million and $38,000, with about two dozen selling for over $1 million.

Average “days on market” was a brisk 37 days, (34 days for single family homes excluding condos, etc.). Thirty-three homes sold in 94610 (roughly Crocker Highlands) and 39 in 94611 (roughly Montclair) with roughly the same days on market as the city-wide average, and with sold prices just a tad below the last listing price.

Berkeley, meanwhile, saw 143 sales (compared to 146 in 3Q09 and 177 in 2Q10). Prices ranged between $1.8 million and $220,000 (for a single-family home rather than a condo, by the way), and typical days on market was 27 days. Twenty homes sold for over $1 million, and about 20% of all sales were all-cash.

The California Association of Realtors reports that across California, as of September, that sales (# of purchases) are off 12% and prices are up 4.5% compared to a year ago, while median time on market and inventory levels (and the time it will take to put a home into a new household’s hands) are both up substantially. Also less-than-comforting are the county data: Alameda County saw a 10% drop in median prices from August to September, though a 5% drop in prices since September, 2009. The number of overall sales throughout the county is down by 25% compared to a year ago, though up by nearly 10% between August and September of 2010.

Zeroing in on Piedmont, we saw a total of 39 homes close in the third quarter (compared to 30 in 3Q09, and 37 closings in the second quarter), and they closed after an average 30 days on market. Prices ranged from $593,000 to $2.3 million. The average price was $1.435 million ($508/sf) compared to $1.495 million last quarter, and $1.433 million a year ago. the final sales price was typically about 3% below the original asking price, though that final vs. asking ratio varied from 115% to 80%. Median prices were consistent across the periods and at a somewhat lower number.

Sales seemed to slow quite a bit in the late summer (very few homes went into contract after July 15--usually we see the slowdown kick in a few weeks later) but activity has picked up again since Labor Day.

Thirty homes are currently on the market. When you look only at these homes for which buyers have not yet made a successful offer, the average days on market is 92 days. Two homes have been sitting on the market for about two years, while four are coming up on 6 months to a year on market, which drags up the average--homes that sell, sell promptly, while those that aren’t meeting serious buyer interest sit.

Thirty-four homes have left the market during the entire year, though in a few cases they return to market or have sold privately.

Low interest rates continue to be an extraordinarily significant factor in buttressing the pace of sales--I did a quick exercise last week to compare the ''how much house'' a household with $100,000 in income could purchase at today's low rates compared to 6%, which we were happy to see about 18 months ago. Ignoring things like car payments and student loans, etc., that buyer's monthly take-home pay can accommodate a $600,000 home today following standard underwriting guidelines, but could ''reach'' only to about a $500,000 price point at 6%. The flip side of the equation is that a seller can interest that buyer to pay $600,000 today, but would have to drop the price down to $500,000 to entice that same buyer if rates were at 6% (because the lender would not sign a pre-approval letter for that same buyer in a higher interest rate environment. Of course there will always be buyers able to pay $600,000, but there will be many fewer of them.)

Bottom line--home prices in Piedmont have stayed strong this quarter; saw an early slow down in demand at the end of the summer, but appear to have recovered for a good fall season. One home formally closed in October (reflecting that slow market in the late summer) while nine are currently pending.

Call me if you’d like the detailed Market Metrics report on the Piedmont market over the past two years; I’ve developed reports city-wide, and for the higher-end price band. (You know that when looking at value, you need to consider the price ''band'' or sub-market, in which you sit, right?)

Well, No Need to Worry about Fire Now--

2010-10-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Or maybe now's the best time to worry about fire?

See this nest of stories from the September issue of Sunset magazine , and this resource list for more about how to get ahead of the danger for next year. Many of us lived through the East Bay Hills fire, but too many did not, and just don't remember.

Someone's Going to Get a Good Deal!

2010-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

My corporate client is relocating back to Milan, and you might know someone interested in a spacious and open, low-maintenance townhome above the Claremont Hotel. Because it won't be staged and the garden wasn't planted this year, it's priced at an attractive $679,000!

This sunny and gracious 1995 Hiller Highlands end-unit townhome offers an effortless lifestyle high above the bustle of the East Bay and San Francisco. Relax in the living room with its fireplace, hardwood floors, open feel, canyon views and cathedral ceilings, or on the rear patio with its unusually large garden and spa. The elegant master retreat and large spa-like bath are just a half-flight above the main level. The home's three bedrooms and two and a half baths are spacious and sport the large closets you don't typically find in older East Bay homes. There's even more storage in the two-car garage (with workshop).

Just a bit above the Claremont shopping area, enjoy easy access to commute routes to Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco or Contra Costa county. Enjoy a picnic and stay in shape at the nearby Hiller Highlands Country Club's pool, tennis courts, and gym room (at an affordable additional fee). Get energized by the spectacular Bay view as you descend the hill. Leave cutting the grass to the homeowner's association, yet enjoy gardening in the patio's planting bed!

1995 construction, and a very well-positioned homeowner's association. Note that photos are from the 2006 sale.

See 85Starview.com for all the details; open Labor Day Sunday and 9/12 from 2-4:30 pm.

33 Sotelo Coming to Market this Weekend!

2010-08-03T02:43:00.000-07:00

Set among Mature Oaks and Surrounding a Sunny Courtyard….

See www.33SoteloAvenue.com for more photos.

If you appreciate cohesive mid-century design, pay attention to interior light, enjoy your privacy, require great indoor-outdoor flow for entertaining, and value one of the best locations in all of Piedmont, then don’t miss 33 Sotelo Avenue!

This beautifully updated, artfully situated and carefully maintained four-bedroom, four-bath level-in home faces some of the most impressive estates in the entire Bay Area; the rear courtyard, perfect for gathering, overlooks a gorgeous grove of trees and a peek-of-the-City view.

Located near the Hampton playing fields, tennis courts and pre-school, the home is just over a mile to Piedmont’s highly rated schools and to Montclair shopping.

With a light-filled and high-ceiling living room, dining room, family room, recently updated kitchen all opening onto the courtyard patio, the home is a rare mid-century gem, and a perfect setting for the coming years!

The site

33 Sotelo sits like the prow of a ship at the top of the prestigious Sotelo Avenue/Glen Alpine Road loop. Fanned out across the street are some of the most impressive estates in town. One of only a few properties that flow through from Sotelo to Glen Alpine, the long sightlines are remarkable: the San Francisco city lights, a distant redwood grove, oaks and bay laurels at the rear, and private entry drives at the front. Sitting on an outcropping of rock and surrounding an ancient live oak, the home is private yet close to recreation and shopping. The fenced rear yard is pet-ready and in a few months, those utility poles and wires will all disappear underground!

The home

33 Sotelo is one of a limited number of true mid-century homes in Piedmont with four full bedrooms and a lot big enough to accommodate a classic central courtyard.

The expansive living room (with newer gas fireplace that can be turned on with the push of a button) and adjacent west-facing courtyard are perfect for entertaining. Garden-style glass doors offer wonderful flow between the courtyard and the living, dining, family and master bedroom suite, and the several skylights bring in even more light. Each bedroom offers a bath en-suite or adjacent; the guest bedroom on the lower level provides an exterior entrance.

Much of the house has been updated in the last decade, including the creation of a gorgeous chef’s kitchen (with a GE Monogram six-burner gas range and two-drawer Fisher & Paykel dishwasher), and addition of a family room and breakfast area adjacent to the kitchen. The master suite feels like a high-end hotel room, with its clean lines, and sleek stone bath, complete with relaxing tub and spacious shower stall. Plantation shutters in many rooms manage light in keeping with the design’s integrity. See the Improvements List at 33SoteloAvenue.Com for more details.

The systems

33 Sotelo has been very carefully maintained; the owners rely on contractors with excellent reputations. Given electrical and plumbing upgrades, installation of two 50-gallon hot water heaters, fire-proofed cedar roof shakes, newer insulation in the crawlspace, a two-furnace heating arrangement, and triple pane windows (all permitted, of course), ownership should be worry free. The driveway was recently replaced, and service contracts on kitchen appliances run through 2011!

The community

Piedmont is one of the East Bay’s most sought-after communities. Offering wonderful views of the Bay and San Francisco beyond, San Francisco magazine declared the town the “best place for kids” in a 2005 article. Its school district offers excellent public schools (the high school is currently 64th in the nation according to US News and World Report), locally controlled emergency services and police based about a mile from the home, and short and convenient commutes to San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and destinations through the Caldecott Tunnel. Restaurants, movies and shopping in Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue, Monclair and the Elmwood are just a short distance away.

Amenities

-Sleek, classic mid-century design with level-in access on a nearly quarter- acre lot;
-Secluded location at the top of the prestigious Glen Alpine-Sotelo loop;
-Close to neighborhood park, tennis courts, ball fields and pre-school;
-About a mile to downtown Piedmont’s services and schools;
-Four bedrooms, four baths (guest suite with exterior access on the lower level);
-3252 square feet, 9030 square foot lot (per public records);
-Interior access to two-car garage with storage;
-Expansive living room, adjacent dining room and large courtyard;
-Recently updated chef’s kitchen with wonderful stone counters and stainless steel appliances;
-Family room, breakfast nook and full pantry adjacent to kitchen;
-Second slate patio for added privacy;
-Many recent updates and systems improvements! (see Improvements List under Documents).

Click here for a Google mashup of this prime location! Zoom in to see the boomerang shape of the home as it wraps around the central courtyard.

Put September 15th on your Calendar----

2010-07-02T16:05:00.001-07:00

Put September 15th on Your Calendar Today!

That's the deadline for submitting an application for a downward adjustment in your property assessment (resulting in a reduction in property taxes). Your current-year assessment will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. If you see a problem, two great resources are:

--The county assessor's site , which includes all the forms and deadlines, and

--This video from the state Board of Equalization, which walks through the process piece by piece.

Remember that only your ''Prop 13'' property tax will be affected by a reassessment; the other charges on your bill (for instance, city and school parcel taxes; and 911, East Bay parks, library bond payments) won't decline. And if you, like we, bought your home a dozen years ago, your assessment is unlikely to have increased in the intervening years to current market value, much less to higher-than-current value.

I'm happy to run comparables for you to build your case, or to see if an appeal is worth it; just ask.

Case-Shiller: It's a Turnaround----

2010-07-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Their words, not mine: “A year ago, San Francisco had among the steepest price declines in the country. The market has now completely turned around, with the strongest price increases of any city.” See the graphic (with data through April) at this link.

Piedmont's Market Firms; Prices Are Up a Bit

2010-07-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

The second quarter’s data suggests lots of energy in the Piedmont market: 25 homes sold at an average price of $1.413 million or $532/sf (compared to an average asking price of $1.394 million or $523/sfabout 1½% over the asking price). About half the homes sold over the asking priceas much as 18% over the asking pricetypically in fewer than two weeks (the average “days on market” was 18). This usually suggests that there were multiple offers for the home. The balance of homes sold for about 10 percent below the original asking price, after as long as 20 months on the market. None were identified as short sales or bank-owned properties (and the MLS now requires that, where appropriate).

The inventory sold varied from homes in the $700 thousands to homes over $3 million (and a wonderful home priced at over $5 million just went into contract, with both the seller and buyer represented by Pacific Union agents).

Recall that last quarter was extraordinarily quiet, with only 8 sales, averaging $1.2 million ($541/sf). At the time I suggested you not draw any conclusions from that snapshot. But a year ago, in the middle of that market’s financing, appraisal and economic turmoil, we saw average home prices of $1.4 million ($509/sf).

While the national media have been reporting a slowdown in pending sales (and attributing it to the end of the homebuyer tax credit), we’re not seeing a slowdown in the over-$500,000 market in the “inner” East Bay. In fact pending home sales have, in the main, increased about 16% in the last three months compared to the first three months of the year (though there was a lag the first week of May: buyers who might have bought that week likely pushed their decisionmaking forward to 4/30 so they could take advantage of the credit where eligible).

In Piedmont, this issue is mostly irrelevant as the tax credit applied only to homes under $800,000. In fact, there are 19 homes pending right now (none distressed), most selling in very short order and all along the price spectrum.

The wider East Bay seems strong as well: About 40% of offers accepted in my office are in multiple offer situations. The average price in Berkeley over the past quarter is right at $775,000 over 169 transactions, with a typical 27 days on market (the average price was $665,000 last quarter in 74 transactions). Nearly 900 properties in Oakland changed hands last quarter (compared to 620 in 1Q10), with an average sales price of $367,000 ($312,000 in Q1) and 42 days on market. About a third of these transactions involved all cash; prices on those homes averaged about half of the city-wide average. The Oakland portions of 94610, 94611, and 94618 saw 171 sales and average prices of $711,000 (compared to 107 sales at an average $617,000 the previous quarter).

Case-Shiller reports that prices across its 20-city index are up 3.8% this April compared to a year earlier (see more below).

I came across an example of the ways in which data on the housing crisis can be misleading in a Ca. Assoc. of Realtors analysis from a few days ago (ask me for a copy; the report overall is very insightful; it’s just this data point that’s less-than-helpful): Prices in the SF Bay area, from the “trough” or bottom of the market (which for us was Feb., 2009) to May, 2010 were up over 48 percent. Of course the value of your home isn’t 48 percent higher than in February, 2009; it’s just that the mix of homes sold has changed dramatically as distressed homes have moved through the system.

Email me for a Clarus MarketMetrics analysis of the past two years of this or any other market (by geography, price point, size, etc.) in the East Bay. I have one for the Piedmont market all ready to go!

Freebies---Sue Johnson Lamp Wiring and Lowe's in Concord

2010-06-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Because I did something very nice for Sue Johnson Lamps on Solano Avenue, they gave me a $40 gift certificate for lamp wiring/rewiring services. So if that antique lamp with the cloth wiring has been making you nervous, contact me and I'll drop off the certificate.

And if you're willing to drive to Concord for home improvement projects, I have a $25 off ($250 min purchase) coupon and a $10 off ($50 min purchase) coupon. Both expire at the end of the month. Just let me know!

Good News for Refinancing!

2010-06-06T08:05:00.001-07:00

A year ago, I was helping a number of you review appraisals: rates were very attractive, but because of the new appraisal rules and the declining market, appraisals were coming in very low. I saw appraisers working here who were from Discovery Bay; I saw appraisals that included the data from very high-end fixers in Wildwood Gardens, but had the photo from a (truly comparable) house on Wildwood Avenue; I saw appraisals that used as comps Oakland properties that had closed recently; I saw homes that should have appraised for x appraise for much less. Together with the higher equity requirements the lenders had imposed, some of us were stuck with paying high rates!

It's a different world now. The appraisal practices have adjusted (and at least for a new home, realtors can refuse an appraiser assignment if the appraiser is not experienced in the area), there are many more sales so no one is comparing Piedmont to Montclair, and prices have definitely stabilized.

Particularly if you bought your home or refinanced between January and November of 2008, you may want to contact a lender about refinancing into a 30-year loan--rates are under 5% in many cases. And especially if you "gave up" in the last year or so, take a few minutes to make a phone call. Email me for a list of five local mortgage brokers and in-bank lenders who do excellent work. (And be prepared for a long slog if you're thinking about using Bank of America.)

Rebuilding Together Oakland Rebuilds

2010-05-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Piedmont Community Service Crew, comprised of Piedmont High students, finished their spring project about a month ago. See this link for a Mercury News story about their project. For more about RTO, joining the Crew,or joining me to financially support the Crew, email me at Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net.

520 Cragmont Hits the Market: "Killer" Bay View and Sun-Drenched Garden.

2010-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

If you crave a “killer” Bay view, and want to live in a Gardener’s Eden, take a look at 520 Cragmont Avenue!

While the 1935 Monterey Colonial home is easy to miss from the street, you’ll realize it is uniquely sited as soon as you step inside: The Golden Gate and City view is unobstructed by neighbors’ trees and buildings. Moreover, surrounding neighbors have gorgeous gardens soaking up the abundant southwestern light—the lot feels truly massive in size, and private. Enjoy your morning coffee looking out over it all, every day!

The home’s interior offers fabulous architectural details—ceiling beams, gracious wrought iron banisters, and wide plank peg floors. Plan to entertain—with an open floor plan among the large living room with stone surround fireplace, central dining room and the spacious viewing deck. You can organize dinner for 12 or cocktails for 40. The owners have hosted Thanksgiving dinners and a wedding on the deck!

Just as important are the four large view-laden bedrooms upstairs--the master with its en-suite bath--and their spacious closets so unusual in a home of this age. Together with the largest hallway bath this agent has ever seen, the upstairs spaces can be used very flexibly to meet your needs.

If you’d like a private home office (or separate room for an in-law), the space downstairs is ideal. On one side is a large family room (called the “Social Hall” in the original blueprints) with original fireplace, and adjacent full kitchen; on the other is a bedroom and full bath, all with exterior access—to that fabulous garden!

Both the private front garden (gorgeous from an east-facing living room window) and the carefully curated rear garden have been tended for years by the current owners. Filled with a weeping birch, dogwoods in bloom, calla lilies, fruit trees, and a calliope of roses, the rear garden can easily include vegetables, and more!

When your body needs a break from tending the garden, head over to Tilden Park just a couple blocks away. The world-class photographer Galen Rowell said in Bay Area Wild, “we bought our Berkeley home a block from [Tilden] so we could run, hike, ride, and bike the extensive trail system through this section of a thirty-mile greenbelt that rims the back of the East Bay hills from Richmond to almost Hayward….No other major metropolitan center in the world boasts such an extensive system of wild greenbelts…. For years we surprised out-of-town guests by taking them on wildland walks along our favorite trail, frequently seeing deer, foxes, and coyotes at dawn or dusk.”

The original owner, a sea captain, erected a flagpole in the yard so that he could see his home as he entered the Golden Gate.

Owned and loved by the same family for 30 years.

Join us for open houses:

Saturday May 22nd, 2-4:30 pm: Renovator’s Open House, featuring designer Jacquelyn McCormick and contractor Bruce PaoliSunday May 23rd, 2-4:30 pm: Open House
Thursday May 27th, 10-1 pm: Broker’s Tour (open to the public)
Sunday May 29th, 2-4:30 pm: Open House

Features:

--A spectacular Golden Gate and City view
--2702 square feet of living space (per public record), and a sun-drenched 6750 sf lot that feels three times as big
--Beamed-ceiling living room with stone surround fireplace
--four bedrooms and two baths upstairs, plus a 1/1 in-law downstairs
--spacious eat-in kitchen with a four-burner range and a double JennAir grill
--family room
--just installed high-efficiency furnace and ductwork, newer roof insulation
--washer and dryer
--roof replaced in 2007
--freshly painted
--a couple blocks from a public playground and the 67 bus to Berkeley BART, and around the corner from Step One preschool.

All less than a mile from Kensington shopping and less than 1.5 miles to the top of Solano Avenue.

For more information:

Maureen Kennedy, DRE#01446878
Broker
Pacific Union
510-290-8535
Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net
MLS #: 40467529

For more photos:

www.520Cragmont.Com

For a Google mashup:

click here.

Increasing Capital Gains Rates? Sell Now or Sell Later--

2010-05-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

A client pointed out that if the tax law does not change, long term capital gains taxes are likely to go UP after the first of next year.

That means that if you sell your long-held home this year, you may pay 15% in federal capital gains taxes (after your $250K or $500K exclusion, and after subtracting your ''basis'' from the sales price), while if you sell next year, you might pay 20% in federal capital gains taxes. (See this link for good information about this issue, and of course check with your accountant and legal advisor before making any decisions....). Depending on your circumstances, this could make a big difference in your taxes, or just a small difference.

Give to Think College Now--

2010-03-30T21:43:00.001-07:00

What's Her Name?

2010-03-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

My business is grounded in you and the people you refer to me. When I look back at my business these last few years, the vast majority of it started with an "oh, you should talk with Maureen Kennedy" conversation. Thank you!

I appreciate your confidence, and when I know about the source of a recommendation, I try to say thank you with a bottle of great wine, a stay out in Inverness, or a contribution to a local organization I know you support. And the strength of my business, along with my family's commitment to our town, allows me to contribute dollars and leadership to this community we all love--to our schools, to our arts programs, to Camp Augusta, to the Oakland Museum's school programs, to the food bank and Rubicon, Inc., to the cross country and track teams, and to our inclusive Boy Scout program (celebrating 100 years of Piedmont scouting this year!).

But you have to remember my name.

It's ok. My dad seems to have some issues with this too. When my grandfather passed, he listed me on the memorial service program as Maureen Kennedy-Alt. Around here, I'll respond to anything, but with Dad, it's a bit different. I said to him, "this is really easy: Think 'what's my last name?' And then say, 'oh, yeah, that's Maureen's last name too!'"

If you're not my dad and if you find yourself on a chairlift in Tahoe and need to retrieve my name from your mental rolodex, just think about President Kennedy. Maureen Kennedy's the name. Google "Kennedy Realtor Piedmont" and your friend's good to go!

Scientific American's Take on Eco-Improving Older Homes

2010-03-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

My buddies at the National Trust offered this piece from Scientific American on our LinkedIn page this morning--a nice summary not of the top ten things you can do to reduce energy bills and carbon emissions.

Instead, the author sits back for a moment and thinks about all the drafty, energy-inefficient older homes that are hard-wired into the American landscape (the New Scientist article he references mentions the fact that in the UK, 85% of existing homes will still be in use in 2050 at current rates of rebuilding--and today, there are more homes built before WWI than homes built since 1980. I did a quick check of census data for 94611--38% of homes were built before 1939; less than 10% were built since 1980).

He's frustrated that his careful insulation work has generated relatively little in the way of reduced energy (although he does mention greater comfort, reduced drafts and so on that are often the unsung benefits of our retrofit efforts). He points out that tearing down the old home and rebuilding it using cutting edge strategies is very energy-consumptive in itself, though I'd be interested in a life cycle analysis on this.

Meanwhile, see this draft of the state's first-in-the-nation green building code, scheduled for implementation 2011. I imagine it adopts much of the analysis and approach of the Build It Green community--two immediate take-aways were the focus on water conservation and construction material recycling.

What I've Done this Month---

2010-03-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

I've:

--Spoken at a roundtable on financial issues in San Francisco;
--Brought coffee to the Piedmont High School parents club meeting (which I do monthly) and committed to bring coffee to the Piedmont Community Service high school crew managing a house renovation as part of Rebuilding Together Oakland;
--Conferred with a client on renovation plans;
--Provided background resources to a client whose tenant is departing early;
--Advised a client in Japan and a client living in San Francisco about dynamics within different "price bands" in the Piedmont market, and sales strategies for their homes;
--Helped buyers and sellers buy and sell homes in the East Bay.

2009 and 2010 Tax Credits---

2010-02-25T18:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been tracking down receipts for the energy-efficient double-paned low-e windows we installed during our remodel last year. And I came across a nice list of home-related tax credits available for doing the right thing, courtesy of the National Association of Realtors. See the list below:

Tax Credits for Solar Water Heaters

A federal tax credit makes energy-efficient solar water heaters a more affordable and sustainable option for many homeowners. Read
Tax Credits for Replacing Heating and Cooling Systems

Upgrading to an energy-efficient heating and cooling system can save hundreds on your utility bills and earn you a tax credit worth as much as $1,500. Read
Tax Credits for Replacing Your Roof

Replacing your roof with a qualifying energy-efficient metal or asphalt roof can cut your cooling bill and earn you a $1,500 tax credit. Read
Tax Credits for Adding or Replacing Insulation

A federal tax credit makes adding insulation an even cheaper way to improve your home’s energy efficiency and cut your heating and cooling bills. Read
Tax Credits for Replacing Windows, Doors, and Skylights

If money seems to be escaping through drafty windows, doors, and skylights, this federal tax credit might make energy-efficient replacements more affordable. Read

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

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Ready to Renovate?

2010-02-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

Click here for the National Kitchen and Bath Association list of trends for 2010. The highlights seem quite conservative, meaning nothing flashy and new: nickel fixtures, gas ranges, tile flooring, stone countertops. Undercounter drawer-style dishwashers, and undercounter refrigerators make the grade; I've been surprised at how affordable the latter can be!

Meanwhile, Winans Construction announced their selection as National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) regional contractor of the year, based on an Alameda renovation. Congrats!

Where's My Stuff?

2010-02-13T20:12:00.001-08:00

Well, after you've been broken into is not the time to ask.

Check out Know Your Stuff from the Insurance Institute. Yes it will take a while to fill out, but if the worst occurs, you'll be all set to file a claim and move on with your life.

Allstate has an iPhone app along the same lines here; I recently saw an ad for an app specifically for auto accidents--photograph the damage, fill in the form, and you're off!

Data--You want Data?

2010-02-13T14:52:00.001-08:00

Lots of real estate agents are great at talk, but less great at data (a balance of the two is generally optimal!).

Know that as you begin to organize for a purchase or sale, I'll be forwarding research to you from time to time: Everything from Wells Fargo's synthetic housing market report (email me for a copy) to Clarus Market Metrics reports on trends in your area of interest--by zip, city, size or type of home, etc. (ditto for a copy).

I get this material because of my relationships in the financial and housing policy fields (see more about my background here), and I read this stuff regularly to keep my finger on the pulse of the local market. All that in addition to visiting properties during Monday and Thursday brokers' tours, and touching base with realtors with pending listings--those often are the most up to date indicator of changing demand or pricing.

In fact, know that recent sales of attractive properties (meaning good location, good mix of amenities, not too many steps or too many floors, not too dramatic in style) are very often selling with multiple offers (and therefore often over the asking price).

It's all about getting you the big picture, so you are comfortable and confident as you make your offer!

Selling a Long-Held Home---

2010-02-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

You probably remember that Dewey Watson and I have a nice brochure on strategies to save on capital gains taxes as you sell your home (email me for a copy, and see this link for an IRS site on this topic). I was reminded of another strategy when getting together with the local major donor team of my alma mater (at Mt. Holyoke, it really is an alma mater rather than an almo pater).

Alumnae have been donating a portion of the proceeds of the sale of their homes to the College, furthering their charitable goals while reducing capital gains taxes. So if you anticipate $500,000 in capital gains after accounting for your purchase price and transaction costs ("basis"), and after your $500,000 (married) or $250,000 (single) capital gains exclusion, you could donate say 30% of the sale price to a favorite charity and further reduce your capital gains tax bill. Here is an article about donating real estate proceeds from the Boston Globe. As always, you need to consult with your tax advisor on these tax-saving strategies.

Calling All Sellers!

2010-02-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

Maybe you're thinking about selling in the next couple of years, but here's why you should consider selling now:

On the selling side, there's very strong demand for well-priced properties. A three-bedroom mid-century home on Requa just garnered 12 offers (the young families are likely battling the move-down buyers looking for level living) and a contemporary home on Maxwelton with four bedrooms upstairs is hearing at least four offers this afternoon. Both homes will sell with fewer than the "standard" 14 days on market. Together with a three-bedroom home on York that went pending late last year with three offers, they demonstrate that as always, buyers are anxious to move to Piedmont. The story is different now though--we have half as many properties as usual hitting the market through the year, and the mid-market $1 million to $1.5 million homes are particularly hard to find these days.

On the buyer side, interest rates remain near historic lows, and many buyers feel we're now past the bottom of the market--they're ready to jump in. Carrying costs are in rough allignment with rents right now, and with a number of school districts facing major budget cuts, and private school tuition escalating as usual, Piedmont's great schools look ever more attractive.

Don't forget that if your junior has attended PHS for the past three years, you can secure "senior privileges." Your child can attend PHS for his/her final year, even if you're living in your move-down location.

Now may be the perfect time to put that house on the market! Call me for more info about the market, and to get a competitive market analysis of your home's value.

And meanwhile, if you've ever thought of retiring to the Benecia area, take a look at this new listing! I'm ready to move right now!

Wash Where You Flush

2010-02-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

That was Realtor magazine's headline.....

EcoHaus, the EcoHome of Seattle and Portland, is advertising another innovation from water-starved Australia: a combination sink and toilet. Check it out here. Great for cabana and tiny powder room installations--

An Interview with Sarah Susanka

2010-02-02T19:50:00.001-08:00

You may know I'm a fan of Susanka's Not So Big House books. The best "green" home renovation maximizes the functionality of the home you already own.

Realtor magazine has a nice interview with Susanka in February's issue. Read it here.

A Visit to EcoHome on San Pablo Ave.

2010-02-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

Have you been into EcoHome since they opened a few years ago? This showroom, design studio and paint bar offers eco-friendly advice for renovators. Have a hands-on look at no- or low-VOC paints, flooring, American Clay plasters, custom cabinetry, countertops, tile and more that's easy on the earth.

I popped in last week to pick up material on Marmoleum, the new-wave linoleum, for clients who are in contract to buy an Eichler, and had a great chat with co-founder Taja di Leonardi. She gave me a coldwater catcher she prototyped and manufactures(to catch and re-use the cold water that preceeds the hot water you need), and we talked about a shower timer they sell (won't work in my house because boys won't voluntarily turn the timer on before then step in). They are about to start selling the shower tool we've discussed here before that turns your shower water off as soon as it gets to temperature (if, say, you're off folding laundry or brushing teeth). This post at Treehugger.com includes a great video on the Roadrunner (the turn-off valve with shower head, for $39.99);

(By the way, while searching for the Roadrunner, I came across an Australian post for an Aqualim shower head that offers x gallons of shower water, reduces shower flow to signal impending shut off, and then shuts off. A nice way to make sure the showers are reasonable in length! And there's a temperature-sensitive light fitting you can add to your showerhead that lights blue when the water is below 100 degrees, and turns red when the temp goes above 100. Now that might excite the boys.... )

EcoHome sells lots of other handy energy- and water-saving devices, and are a great one-stop shop. Check 'em out!

Finally, 2009 is OVER!

2010-01-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Home prices in Piedmont dropped an average seven percent year-over-year between 2008 and 2009, and a bit less than 12 percent on a price-per-square-foot basis, according to data from the MLS (click on the image above to see a more readable version). The typical home sold in 44 days (compared to 26 days on market across 2008). Seventy-six homes sold during the year, roughly half the figure from several years ago, but essentially the same as last year's 77 sales. Final prices were about four percent less than asking prices, across the board, and ranged from $710,000 to $4 million.

The market was quite active all across the price spectrum. Seven homes sold for $2.5 million or more during the year. Only four of the total were identified as distressed--either bank-owned or short sales. Agents brought homes to market 57 times last year but failed to garner a committed buyer, however. That's a lot of Sunday open houses with no paycheck to show for it! This figure compares with 36 expired or withdrawn listings in 2008 (and only 17 in high-flying 2005).In a number of these cases, undoubtedly, sellers couldn't reduce their prices to market-clearing levels and pay off their outstanding mortgage and closing costs. We're also seeing some situations in which a home is pulled from the market, and a few months later a private sale takes place.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, prices actually increased a bit over fall of last year: 19 sales averaging $1.216 million sold in an average 39 days, compared to 17 sales averaging $1.147 million, typically sold in 18 days in 4Q08 (an increase of six percent, though that's not particularly meaningful with such a small number of sales in each of these quarters).

Surrounding areas fared similarly: 307 single family homes closed in Oakland 94611 and 94610 (roughly Montclair and Crocker Highlands) at an average price of $773,430 in 43 days, with 11 homes selling for more than $1.5 million. Last year, prices of the 340 single family homes averaged about $841,000, about eight percent more. A much larger percentage of these sales were distressed, however.

If we open up to all of Oakland, however, the story is more consistent with the headlines during the crisis: There were just over 3700 sales of all housing types in Oakland in 2009, averaging $297,600, with a median price of only $195,000 (I generally check to see if median prices are dramatically different from the averages, which more people intuitively understand, and they are typically relatively close. But not in Oakland last year!). This means that half of the sales were below $195,000 and half above. I scrolled through all 1000 sales between $200,000 and $400,000, and the vast majority were distressed, and the vast majority of those were bank-owned. In contrast, about 2600 Oakland homes sold in 2008, with an average price of $434,400 (and a median of $324,000). The MLS didn't have a notation for distressed sales until the middle of 2008, but even so, I had to scroll through the first 2/5s of all sales before they weren't very consistently identified as REO.

In Berkeley, 444 single family homes sold across the city in 2008 for an average $803,300, while roughly the same number, 424, sold this year for an average of only $716,000, all in roughly a month on average. This represents about a 10 percent price drop. About half of the lower-priced properties that sold through the MLS in Berkeley were bank-owned.

Across the state, the California Association of Realtors reports that the median price of a home was up nearly six percent in November, compared to a year earlier, that prices have increased in each of the last nine months, after reaching its lowest point in February 2009. Note that in all these markets, the "peak to trough" drops--that is the drop from the highest month a couple of years ago to the lowest month toward the beginning of this year was much larger than these year-over-year figures suggest. For instance, across California, prices dropped 57% peak to trough, and have climbed up 24% since then, largely due to the dramatic changes in the makeup of what's actually selling in the market. We've talked in the past about the massive influx of lower-priced homes that hit the market last fall and winter. Housing affordability (meaning the relationship between the median income and the median home price) has meanwhile improved dramatically across the state and county in the last year.

As I sit at the computer running through these transactions, I can feel the waves of foreclosures, and hear the tough conversations around dinner tables about whether to pay the mortgage this month, or to save the money to cover the possibility of a lost job or a slow period of consulting. And I can feel the pits in the stomachs, the free floating anxiety, about where this is all heading. I'm sure for many under financial stress, it feels like an impending train wreck, though unfortunately in slow motion. For those of us with plenty of equity and peace of mind, let's give thanks. And for those still uncertain about what the future holds, let's cross our fingers and vow to be generous and understanding. This last quarter has been much more stable and active than earlier in the year. While the bargains may no longer abound, the risks are likely lower as well. A good time to buy or sell--

If you'd like more data--a full powerpoint presentation of economic and housing market stats from the CAR; or a copy of the two-year market analysis from Clarus MarketMetrics for Piedmont or another sub-market, just email me at Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net.

"My Tax Record Isn't Right-----"

2010-01-06T10:39:00.001-08:00

With our older home stock, it's always been the case that the County Assessor's record of our homes is sometimes different from what's on the ground. Sometimes this is because of illegal construction (naughty, naughty! Unfortunately a past owner's illegal construction is now your problem--). But sometimes the inconsistency is more innocuous.

If you know your house has four bedrooms and two baths rather than three and one, and the construction was all permitted, go to this form at the Assessor's Office website. Fill it out, be prepared for the possibility of an Assessor visiting your home, and wait for the record to be corrected. Assuming you purchased the home as a 4/2, there would be no change in your assessment.

In contrast, if you improved the home with permits, and the Assessor's office has not caught up with the changes, you can fill out the form and you'll eventually see a bit of an increase in the assessed value, but not a wholesale gross-up to current market value--Prop 13 still "protects" the assessment of the pre-existing elements of the home.

Why go through this rigamarole? When you go to sell your home, your buyers will expect all permits to be "finalled" and all space to be legal. If your rumpus room was informally drywalled in the '50s, your windows were replaced without permits with aluminum ones in the '60s, or a bathroom was added without permits in the 20s, a smart buyer and agent will notice, and you'll likely have to negotiate the issue through. While maybe 15% of sales were affected by these issues in years past, it seems like 50% are seeing them these days.

Call me if you want to discuss your situation further--better now than a day after you accepted a great offer for your home!

Click here for access to the current assessment record on your home.

Selling a Long-Held Home (with Lots of Capital Gains)

2010-01-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Former school board president, Boy Scout council president, and tax lawyer Dewey Watson and I put together a little brochure on this issue a couple of years ago--if you're lucky enough to have a million dollars or more in appreciation on your long-held home, how might you defer paying the capital gains taxes on the home?

This story, from colleague James Callejas at Fidelity Title's qualified intermediary, IPX, does a really nice job of laying out the tax-saving strategy.

Contact him, me, Dewey, or your tax advisor for more information--

All You Want to Know about Joe Montana's Home--

2010-01-05T21:18:00.001-08:00

See the latest issue of the Christie's Great Estates e-newsletter here for a bit of background on this Pacific Union-represented estate in Wine Country, along with a link to the property's website. I also loved the NC Wyeth illustrations that Christie's auctioned recently!

Thinking about a Remodel?

2009-12-24T10:50:00.001-08:00

You may not realize that I discuss potential renovation projects with a good dozen clients each year--I not only provide referrals for contractors, architects and vendors, but also review needs and wants and provide feedback regarding how the market might view your plans, whenever you go to sell.

Improvements are sometimes complicated to suss out. I like Sarah Susanka's Not So Big Remodeling because she's very thoughtful about the creeping incrementalism that can overtake remodeling projects, and how to avoid it. Bumping out a room involves not just those construction costs, but also the new foundation, and sometimes even the extra garage space. Can we go back at it and carve out an office niche somewhere, rather than expand the footprint of the house?

Remodeling magazine offers some very interesting insights for your deliberations. Each year, they survey Realtors regarding the cost vs. value ratios for various home improvements. See the graphic above for a nice summary of recent trends: As construction costs have held relatively steady, but home prices have declined, the ratios have trended downward at the national level across projects. See also this article for great resources to inform your decisionmaking. (And don't forget that if a new bath downstairs returns 80.6% of its cost (as the analysis suggests), that you're enjoying all the functionality for your years of ownership for only 20 cents on the dollar, throwing NPV out the window for the time being.)

The Bay Area is a unique area for these analyses. Across the board, the returns on home improvement investments here outstrip those nationally by about 20% (except for installation of backup generators...). In fact eight projects return more than their cost on Day One: Vinyl and wood window replacements (and that excludes the lower utility bills you'll see); major and, even better, minor kitchen remodels; entry door replacements (first impressions are everything); deck additions; basement remodels; and attic bedroom additions. Only replacing the front door garners a cost vs. value ratio over 100% at the regional and national levels. Other key takeaways: minor remodels are more cost-efficient than major replacements, and middle-of-the-road remodels generate stronger returns than upscale remodels (what most would consider "over the top").

For a copy of the San Francisco area report for this year (or for past years' reports), email me!

Continuous Improvement---

2009-12-08T12:39:00.001-08:00

I spent a couple of days in December sitting in front of my computer, listening to 12 hours of lecture from a professional from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since so many of the homes I've sold have historic roots (and my 1907 home is the "youngest" of those I've lived in over the years), I thought it made sense to get their special training for real estate agents.

We walked through architectural styles, of course, but also federal and state/local preservation ordinances and approaches.

Over the years, I've taken over 600 hours of training--everything from classes to earn my broker's license (most agents are licensed "salespeople" rather than brokers), to EcoBroker certification to Institute for Luxury Home Marketing training to training in staging from the doyenne of staging, Barbara Schwartz (though I know enough to suggest that clients rely on the fabulous stagers we have here in the East Bay).

And I can't tell you how many times I've come back from these trainings with ideas I'm able to put to work for clients immediately. From a words/few photos marketing campaign (as with 26 Slater Lane, thanks to Austin-based Stan Barron), to developing an offer from the seller and handing it to a wavering buyer, hoping to get him/her to come off the fence (thanks to Florida-based Frank McKinney) to organizing a cocktail or renovation party to sell the house (as with 25 Mesa Ave. and 421 Wildwood Avenue in Piedmont, thanks to Dallas-based Laurie Moore-Moore), the benefits all come home.

Continuous improvement

26 Slater Lane, above the Claremont, Coming 12/7!

2009-12-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

If low rates and great economic news lead you to consider a purchase:

Imagine waking up to a great Bay view, marveling at it while eating breakfast out on the deck, and then descending a classic city path for coffee at Peets, only to catch a bus ride to BART, the University, or the Financial District.

Imagine working at your home office with a great Bay view, needing a break, and heading down to Rick and Ann’s for lunch.

Imagine having friends over for drinks on the cool east-side patio in the summer, and then shifting to the dining room for dinner and a great Bay view. Soak in the hot tub overlooking San Francisco on the deck afterwards (ah, yes, the timer makes sure it’s nice and hot)?

Imagine reading a book in your living room with the great Bay view to your left, while enjoying a fire in the fireplace that anchors the north wall.

Imagine admiring the great Bay view as you head down to meet friends for tennis, a spa date, dinner at Meritage or Paragon, or a play date at the Claremont Club pool.

If you’re looking for great value, take a look at 26 Slater Lane, Berkeley:

--A stupendous location:

• 250 feet above Rick and Ann’s (according to Google Earth--see this GoogleMap mashup);
• Just a short distance from the Evergreen Path AND the Eucalyptus Path which end near the express E bus to San Francisco’s Financial District;
• Facing the end of a small private cul-de-sac enveloped by oaks and bay laurels;
• Easy access through the tunnel to Lamorinda and beyond, OR avoid the traffic and go over the tunnel and down Fish Ranch Road!
• Berkeley address, Oakland taxes (and schools);
• In a neighborhood whose sales prices averaged over $1.3 million over the last three years (according to the MLS).

--Wonderful mid-century design in a mid-century enclave that survived the East Bay Hills fire;

--Shares many elements with an Eichler: Lots of built-ins, Philippine- or luan mahogany-paneled walls, open floorplan, and dramatic roofline;

--Just a couple steps below the carport level, the house is otherwise level-in, on a single story, and offers effortless indoor-outdoor flow;

--Big windows let the east, west, and north light pour in;

--Cathedral ceilings allow this space-efficient house to “live big”;

--A “killer” Bay view from the master, living room, north-side deck, and third bedroom/den;

--cedar hot tub on the deck overlooks the Bay and San Francisco beyond;

--Private and pet-friendly enclosed patio adjacent to the second large bedroom; Garber Park is closeby and dog-lovers abound;

--Ned Clyde seismic retrofit and piers installed 10 years ago; updated kitchen; entire roof and hot water heater replaced in November, 2009. Pest inspection, home inspection, seismic work outline, and deck repair estimate available.

Three bedrooms, one bath, washer-dryer, two-car carport, and plenty of storage for $575,000.

Act now: The sellers found a perfect home in Sonoma and want to sell their long-held home first. A departing relative of the owner, and a roommate, currently live in the home. No time for staging, and no photos yet! Offers, if any, Sunday, December 13th.

Don’t forget: 26 Slater Lane faces a private cul-de-sac drive. Tunnel Road to Alvarado. Left off Alvarado onto Slater. You’ll pass the For Sale sign. At the end of Slater, turn right onto Evergreen, and then take the first hard right turn into the cul-de-sac. Or better yet, park on Slater and wander around the neighborhood and private trails! We're organizing open houses for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Email me (Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net) for a schedule. As I never represent both sides of a transaction, if you decided to get serious, I'd refer you to an excellent colleague for representation.

Palo Alto Reports Piedmont (Not Palo Alto) among Top 3 Districts in CA

2009-10-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

My daily Google search for Piedmont picked up the City of Palo Alto announcement that their K-12 district is now fourth in California, after San Marino, Canada, and Piedmont. Go Highlanders!

The three elementary schools in Piedmont ranked exceedingly well in the 2009 Academic Performance Indices: Beach-971, Havens-927, Wildwood-964. PMS's API was 930, and PHS's was 904 (an eight-point drop compared to the previous year, by the way). Five high schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties bested Piedmont High (though of course scores wobble up and down each year): Mission San Jose in Fremont, Oakland Charter High (a tiny school on 12th Street downtown), Campolindo and Miramonte in Lamorinda, and brand new Dougherty Valley in the Windemere neighborhood of San Ramon.

For more info on the data, see the API site here.

Pacific Union is Christie's Great Estates Regional Affiliate

2009-10-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Only Pacific Union has access to the international reach and highest caliber marketing expertise of Christie's Great Estates, which in turn is the only firm formally associated with an international auction house.

The Great Estates third quarter newsletter can be found here, if you'd like to hear a bit more about two sumptuous listings--a Frank Lloyd Wright home and Yves St. Laurent's Tangier home--and upcoming auction items.

Let me show you what I can do with Christie's materials and unique marketing placement in marketing your home.

What's that Color?

2009-10-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

READ THIS POST BEFORE YOU CLICK ON THAT LINK!! Check out this site--and turn down your audio! Totally cool site that will match a photo you take to Benjamin Moore paint colors (which in turn can be matched at your non-Benjamin Moore paint vendor).

Whether You're Borrowing or Lending--IntraFamily Strategies

2009-10-03T15:30:00.001-07:00

A nice piece in today's Journal about tax-savvy strategies to borrow funds from Mom and Dad, or lend funds to the children--perhaps for a home purchase?

Read it here.

Market Trends Back Up--3Q09 Update

2009-10-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Following the national trends (see the cool NYT graphic we've been watching here.) Piedmont's average home sale price as reported by the MLS increased by 8 percent over prices last quarter. Recall that last quarter was the first time we saw a clear drop in prices--they were down about 16% compared to the second quarter of 2008. While the third quarter's prices are back up, they remain about 8-9 percent below the average we'd seen since November of 2005.

The average home price was $1.49 million, and $525/sf, and the typical home sold in 33 days at 95% of the original asking price. Prices ranged from $770,000 to $4 million, and $409/sf to $720/sf. No portion of the market seemed to have difficulty garnering an offer, once prices represented good value to serious buyers. Twenty one homes sold, moving us rather close to the typical volume of homes sold in the late summer.

Remember that these closed transactions reflect deals struck 30 to 60 days ago (as our escrow periods have lengthened due to changing financing and appraisal processes). If we look at pending transactions, the good news continues. Sixteen homes are pending (two were short sales, and several received all-cash offers), and while we don't know exactly how pricing will turn out yet, the typical stats based on asking prices are very consistent with this quarter's outcomes.

In contrast, Berkeley average prices are off 13 percent (to $671,000) compared to the third quarter of 2008. Oakland's situation is very complex. The average price across the city has declined 27 percent compared to 3Q08. There were 200 more sales, however, and 200 more all-cash transactions (now representing fully one-third of all sales in the city).

Note that of the 21 homes currently on the market in Piedmont, none is distressed (defined as either a potential short sale or a bank-owned property). But life is not necessarily rosy in all quarters. I imagine there are a number of Piedmonters who are underwater (that is, they owe more on the property than it is currently worth) but can keep up with payments as long as jobs or savings hold up. Today's news that personal expenditures increased 1.3% (1% excluding durable goods like cars-for-clunkers) offers a nice shot-in-the-arm for those concerned about the broader economy.

I have a vision of households going off to Costco to replenish their stores of paper towels and jarred spaghetti sauce, having subconsciously cleared out the shelves these last several months, a story line from one of Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories. The future looks bright if you're laying in the larder.

See details on transactions here and email me if you'd like a copy of Clarus MarketMetrics report on the Piedmont market.

Elements of the Principal-Agent Relationship

2009-09-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

I’m on the advisory board of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, which in turn has a relationship with the Luxury Institute, which gives me access to the LI’s Wealth Report 9 times a year.

An article in this month’s issue was a great reminder. The managing director of the Bessemer Trust discussed five elements of a great principal-agent relationship:

1. Put the clients’ interests first.
2. Understand the clients’ total situation.
3. Be honest and transparent.
4. Deliver truly proactive client service.
5. Maintain absolute confidentiality.

A great list I aspire to!

Stop the Phantom Watts Dead--

2009-09-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Remember last year when I ran our home through an eco-efficiency review, and found that the most powerful change we could make was to unplug our [many] computers? The New York Times just got the point.

See yesterday's story, and check out the "smart" power strip they discuss at this Treehugger post.

Speaking of Piedmont School Privileges----

2009-09-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that if your Junior has spent all three years at Piedmont High, you could move next summer, and still retain the right to attend Piedmont schools for that final year.

Check with the principal's office to confirm, but selling in the late spring might be a good strategy if your looking for cash to help convert your IRAs to Roth IRAs next year.....

Note to Self-----

2009-09-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Was reorganizing my Outlook Control Panel today and came across a note I'd made from a book called "Made to Stick." The note says, "why would you buy a house in a neighborhood you didn't know, in a market you didn't "get," and with someone you'd known for 5 minutes?" I don't know if that's my language or language I picked up from the book, but it's exactly right.

I think back to the time I was making an offer for a Victorian house with an ancient furnace and brick foundation in Piedmont. I'd checked the tax record and noticed it referenced a garage, though there was none currently on the property. I raised the question of the garage just informally as I made our offer, and the sellers said they'd taken it down just after moving in.

Long story short, the sellers paid for a new garage for my clients. We knew the City wouldn't issue a permit for any work, including the essential foundation work, unless off street parking was part of the renovation package. And who removed the garage without a permit?

If I hadn't known how the system works here in Piedmont, I might have missed it--and then my clients would have been incensed (or worse) when they found out what they'd gotten themselves into--a bill for an extra $83,000 for a garage they were happy to live without.

An acquaintance who lives right on the Piedmont border motioned to the house next door and said, "those folks bought their house thinking it was in Oakland, but once they moved in, they realized they could go to Piedmont schools." Well that's a coup! For the typical 3/2 home in Piedmont, that difference translates into about $325,000 in home value. And neither the seller's agent nor the buyer's agent thought to call the school district and see if the house had Piedmont school privileges. In fact, I bet they had no idea that there's a list with addresses very clearly identified, sitting on the desk of the Superintendent's secretary.

Buying a home in Piedmont is likely your largest financial commitment ever. You deserve to spend more than five minutes deciding which agent has the insight, contacts and energy to best represent you. Buy with someone you've known for 5 minutes? Indeed! See http://tinyurl.com/AboutMaureenKennedy for at least two minutes worth of an introduction-----

Off to College-----

2009-08-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, the Spouse took our Oldest off to college (at Reed in Portland) this week. After the emotional breakdown, it occurred to me that our move to Piedmont in 1996 might generate enough savings to pay for college.

You may know that I developed a biz school-style spreadsheet looking at whether it's cheaper to move to Piedmont and go to public k-12 schools, or move to surrounding Oakland neighborhoods and pay for private schools. The usual question buyers face.

After 2 years, even with one child, the tuition payments are higher than the marginal Piedmont payments, assuming one could afford to buy the more expensive home, of course. One ah-hah insight is that you'll eventually sell the Piedmont house and recoup your investment, while the tuition costs are a straight outgo, with sizeable inflation, no less. Email me (Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net) you want a copy of the factsheet summary or spreadsheet....

But back to college. I went back to the spreadsheet, and noticed that the present value savings, after 12 years of Piedmont schools, assuming 2% appreciation on the home increment, are:

For one child: $61,000
For two children: $236,000
For three children: $411,000
For four children: $586,000

So we've roughly paid for college at Cal for the three boys, or paid for half of private college expenses, if our alternative in 1996 were to live in Berkeley and put the kids in private schools (and of course, for many, that's not the alternative).

It's Back to School!

2009-08-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

And I've been working furiously this week to get prepared! This week I've been shifting to newer, cooler business tools.

I'm trying to complete my shift from aol (home since 1993--that's a long time....) to gmail. Shifted my blog locus from Active Rain (the original blog platform for real estate) to Blogger. Staying with CoolerEmail for my e-newsletter. So here's the summary:

My best email remains Kennedy@MaureenKennedy.Net. MaureenKennedy@aol.com will continue to work for a long time (and no need to send to both, folks--both flow through to my Blackberry immediately).

Check out my new gorgeous Piedmont blog format at http://piedmonthouseandhome.blogspot.com/ or, to keep it simple, http://tinyurl.com/PiedmontHome.

All past e-newsletter articles continue to reside at my blog (and I've been up til 2 am these last few nights cutting and pasting everything to the new site). So if you know someone who's interested in moving to town, tell them to check out the archive or subscribe!

I now have four Google websites you or your friends and colleagues may find useful--just email me and I'll give you the links. They collect resources I've delivered to clients in various less ecofriendly ways over the years. They include:

Piedmont Information (links, photos, documents,school info, factsheets, resources for buyers)
Marketing Samples for Piedmont Sellers (case studies, ideas, background and resources for sellers)
Renovation Resources (energy and water efficiency incentives and rebates, eco-tips, Cost vs. Value reports, vendor lists, build-it-green ideas,links)
Distressed Sales in Piedmont (Q&As on taxation, legal liability, and so on for owners struggling to meet their payments)

Separately, I regularly offer buyers:

An email list of Sunday open houses delivered to their desktop every Saturday morning; automatic e-notifications every time a property meeting their parameters hits the market; a review of typical buyer costs for homes at various price points; a memo outlining strategies buyers can use to increase the chances their offer will be accepted; a table identifying East Bay public schools with high API scores, with click-thrus to sites with more information about those neighborhoods; a list of four deeply experienced lenders to call for financing ideas and insight; and a package of buyer factsheets from the National Association of Realtors.

My website (still www.MaureenKennedy.Net) allows buyers and sellers to organize e-notifications of new listings on their own, and includes a form to request an analysis of the current value of your home.

Bottom line: Jazzier presence, clearly organized information, and a seamless transition.

And don't forget that I'm never too busy for your referrals!

All You Need to Know about Shower Heads

2009-08-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Just today, the New York Times Home section included this story comparing several shower heads. The author was looking for that WaterPik feel from our teenagerdom-----