Grand Craftsman positioned just a block from Lake Merritt in the wonderful Haddon Hill area of Oakland. Immaculately maintained period home with Lake Merritt and Downtown Oakland Views. This property offers a Rustic Sun-porch off the second level of the home, Large friendly kitchen with warm wood slider doors onto a level grassy private backyard and deck, formal living room which breaths natural light and a formal dining room with built-ins. This home also has a large basement with dedicated laundry room and large bonus room and closet. You Can Take A Virtual Tour Here! The current owners have put significant time and money into structural upgrades to the home including drain systems and foundation piers (the stuff that costs a lot and you can’t see!) The owners are also very green conscious and have recently repainted the whole interior of the house with low VOC paints. This is a rare find ideally located in one of the friendliest areas in Oakland (just a ½ block from great Pizza and Coffee). Did we mention that we will guarantee your 100% satisfaction when you buy this home? Check out the details here!

Labels: 607 Brooklyn Ave, China Hill, East Bay Oakland, Haddon Hill, Lake Merritt, Open House, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate For Sale

Coming soon and offered by Dave and Carla Higgins: www.daveandcarla.com This fabulous Victorian Period Home sits proudly in the hills along the border of El Cerrito and on the wonderful Arlington Blvd. Massive in scale the home has undergone fabulous upgrades as well as been meticulously maintained by the owners of over 40 years! Stunning Bay Views are offered from the property and the lower level of the home has a complete in-law unit which could easily lend this home to being used as a duplex (as it shows itself on public records). TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR HERE Years ago the current owners converted the power to one meter and decided to solely use the house in its entirety for themselves, but the meters could be switched back if the new owner(s) so chose. The backyard of the property offers a lush and mature Northern California garden (complete with trails and paths). Large decks and patios make the home great for entertaining and the current owners have completed massive foundation improvements, drainage systems and pest clearance. Get all the open house and showing information here at http://www.houseopeneveryday.com/

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Kensington Homes For Sale, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate, Safe Neighborhoods, Save Thousands When You Buy

1101 66th Street,Oakland, CA 94608

Price on request, or visit our website
www.DaveAndCarla.com

This Home and We'll Buy Yours, GUARANTEED!*

For more information go to http://www.guaranteedtosell.com/

This two-level condo is being offered by Dave Higgins and all details as well as fabulous virtual tour can be viewed at www.DaveAndCarla.com. This was the builder’s premier show piece model and comes with all the upgrades that the builder was offering. Built-in surround sound, premium chef's kitchen with gourmet appliances and stone counters, fabulous hardwoods in the main common areas, vaulted ceilings, custom blinds and drapes, the list goes on and on! The lower level of the home has a great bedroom or office area with full bath and entrance to the attached two car garage. As an added perk the seller is leaving ALL the wonderful furniture and decor that you see here in the pictures. Contact us directly for more details at (510) 595-7699 or email us at info@daveandcarla.com

(Virtual Tour Here)

Get all the open house and showing information here at http://www.houseopeneveryday.com/ or go to http://www.daveandcarla.com/for further details. Posted by Dave and Carla Higgins

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Open House, Real Estate, Save Thousands When You Buy

Stunning New Contemporary Tucked In To The Montclair Hills (See Pictures Here)! Brilliant cathedral ceilings, deluxe chef's open kitchen, arched formal living room, and fabulous multi-level floor plan. (Virtual Tour Here) The home also features a luxurious au-pair in the lower level of the house which has direct access in from the street and also doubles wonderfully as a home office, rumpus area or exercise room. Built by A Legendary Engineer (for himself!), this two year NEW home offers simplistic opulence around every corner! Glistening hardwood floors radiate the brilliant natural light which flows from the overly abundant windows offered throughout this entire house (walk the home with the lights off and you will be astounded). Towering ceilings and open floor plan make the space perfect for entertaining while a formal living room on one end of the house balances out the open family room on the opposite side. In the master bedroom you will find a luxurious bath area with oversized walk in shower and soaking tub offering a marvelous view out over the wooded canyon (views also await you from most every room in the home). Complete privacy is found in this truly unique, design rich home. The main bedrooms are all up and the master bedroom suite also features a separate terrace for evening wine or morning coffee. Get all the open house and showing information here at http://www.houseopeneveryday.com/ or go to http://www.daveandcarla.com/ for further details. Posted by Dave and Carla Higgins

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Open House, Real Estate, Safe Neighborhoods

Oakland Real Estate at its finest!
Tucked into the Montclair Hill's and just minutes from the Village or Hwy 13 you'll find this fabulous oasis. 301 Capricorn Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611 Open floor plan with glowing wide-plank hardwood floors and a kitchen afar with concrete counters greet you as you walk in the door. A new exotic hardwood deck sits just off the family room and is perfect for entertaining. The upstairs area has three bedrooms and a bath, while the lower level offers another bathroom and bedroom with exit to the back. Behind the house sits a fabulous level fenced yard and as you walk around the house you are continuously surprised by secret gardens and magical play areas. A cozy fireplace sits in the middle of the family room adjacent to a fifth bed (or plus) room. 301 Capricorn Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611 is truly a dream, this home is a delight and a must see here in the East Bay! For full details on this home feel free to click here! Great Montclair Home! If you would like to use our free Oakand & East Bay MLS Home Search or get free real estate reports on buying a home please visit our website Dave and Carla's Website !

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Open House, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate, Safe Neighborhoods

5 Highland Blvd offers wonderful walls of glass with Bay views from almost every room! Warm, glowing hardwood floors throughout, Master Suite w/updated bathroom and office/nursery room, Open kitchen w/granite slab counter tops, lower area perfect as in-law or au-pair with separate laundry, kitchen, bath and entrance, spectacular back patio with custom flagstone surface area and pond w/waterfall, massive lot which allows the opportunity to build a second house behind! Truly a must see and rare opportunity. Brought to you by Realtors Dave and Carla Higgins . Learn more about Dave and Carla's exciting real estate programs including the East Bay Guaranteed Sale Program where you can move up to this house and have Dave and Carla buy yours! Lastly - Dave and Carla are the only realtors in the area that will offer their buyers 100% satisfaction on their home purchase! Find out more about Dave and Carla's Real Estate Buyers Protection Plan here!

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Kensington Homes For Sale, Open House, Real Estate

Come enjoy an exclusive opportunity to view eight very special Homes and Gardens in the charming, tree-lined Crocker Highlands Neighborhood of Oakland. The self-guided walking tour takes place on Sunday, October 7, 2007 from 10 AM to 5 PM.
This year's showcase will display the broad range of architectural styles that are the hallmark of this historic neighborhood, while also celebrating the diverse design approaches that homeowners have brought to the task of both modernizing and preserving homes that were built in the 1920s. This is a tour about education and inspiration.
In addition to the tour, there will be a Green Design Expo held on the school grounds highlighting eco-friendly construction and landscaping techniques and giving the public access to professionals knowledgeable about sustainable products and design. Al fresco dining will be available throughout the day.
This event is a PTA fundraiser for the benefit of Crocker Highlands Elementary, one of Oakland’s most diverse and successful schools. All proceeds will fund student enrichment programs. The tax-deductible admission tickets are $40 before October 7 and $45 at the door. Purchase your tickets online anytime prior to the tour. Tickets will also be available at select local merchants starting August 15th.For further questions, or if you are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact us at shadesofgreen@crockerschool.org or 510-325-0950.

Labels: Crocker Highlands home tour, East Bay Oakland, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate

Carla and I were preparing for a listing presentation with a seller in the Lake Merritt area of Oakland who has a large two bedroom, two bathroom condo with Lake Views. In preparation for the meeting we pulled all activity for the area back to April 1st to get an up to date history of the local activity. We were shocked to see that there were 16 properties of roughly the same size that had been on the market during that time period but only three had sold or were pending out of all 16. The rest of the units were either cancelled, withdrawn or were still active without a sale. What was even more surprising to us was that all of the sold or pending units were our listings! That’s right, every one of them!

When we started to see the market softening in this segment, Carla and I started sharpening our pencils and brainstorming on ways that we could continue to successfully sell our clients properties. We have added several amazing programs and guarantees to our portfolio geared toward bringing more home buyers to our real estate listings then that of our competitors. Our overall marketing is over the top and the exposure we give our clients is a given so we don’t want to get into that discussion now, but the following information is newer and worth mentioning in case you were not aware of just how dedicated we are to this business.

The first program is our new East Bay Buyers Protection Plan in which we offer our buyers an 18 month 100% satisfaction guarantee on their home purchase here in the East Bay or we will buy the property back or sell it for free!

Next is our new East Bay Cash Rewards Incentive in which we can offer the buyer or the seller of our listings up to $10,000.00 back in form of a cash reward (we are the only area realtors with this program to offer). This is a great tool for not only a great cash reward to compensate for the commissions paid out by the seller of a property but it can also be used to help bring a buyer and seller together in more of a win-win situation should the sales price be an issue or a negotiation item pop up during the escrow which could end up impacting the actual sale.

Dave and Carla’s Guaranteed Sale Program is our most exciting offering out of the three discussed in this note! We now offer to buy the house from a buyer if they buy one of Dave and Carla's real estate listings! In this market this can be huge since so many buyers who already own are caught in the real estate catch 22 of not wanting to sell before they buy (wondering where they will move to or whether or not they will be able to find something else they like) and being worried about buying before they sell and then having a hard time selling and being stuck with to homes and mortgages!

Obviously all of our programs have some conditions attached to protect us from those who may want to take advantage of us rather then the programs, to learn more about our guarantees or if you know someone looking to make a move in the future please call us directly at (510) 595-7699 or log onto one of our websites, http://www.daveandcarla.com/ or http://www.oaklandhomefinder.com/ for details!

Labels: East Bay Oakland, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate

We have been getting numerous calls from sellers in the greater Oakland, Berkeley and East Bay market area telling us that they are considering the sale of their home but are wondering if now is a good time to sell with current market conditions favoring the buyer at this time. We have been highly focused on this issue for several months now and do our best to always communicate with industry leaders both locally and nationally to help us better understand the broader implications of this East Bay market change. We also believe It is our responsibility to make sure that we don't suggest strategies that are short term reactionary responses to local market changes based on worry or fear. We recently had a lengthy conversation with one of the top local East Bay real estate appraisers who is fully versed on market activity in Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito, Alameda as well as many other near by communities. In a nut shell when we asked him what he saw in the market place he responded by saying that "the less expensive the property was, the harder it was to sell." He went on to say that properties in the upper end neighborhoods approaching the million dollar range or greater were still selling with shorter market times and often selling in multiple offers and for over asking. This phenomenon is also continuing in the hot neighborhoods around solid and fun retail streets. Upper Rockridge, Trestle Glen, Crocker Highlands, Piedmont, Berkeley Hills and Alameda still have a market that favors sellers when the home is marketed and priced correctly. One program that we are exclusively offering to all of our buyers who make offers on our listings is a buyers protection plan aimed at easing the fears of buyers and helping them pull the trigger on a home purchase. With this program, if the buyer is not 100% satisfied with the purchase of their home in the first 18 months, we offer to buy it back or sell it for free 'BUYERS PROTECTION PLAN' Regarding the question of when is a good time to sell is, our response is this, if you plan on selling one way or another in the next five years then we believe you should sell now. The last down real estate cycle lasted approximately seven years with the following pattern: The first three years were market decline where homes continued to loose value, the next three years the market was basically flat and the general public had a distaste for real estate and the last year showed a mild pick-up in the market signaling the change toward a sellers market again. We are currently in the second year of this cycle so if you do not want to sell now you should be prepared for a possible continued loss in equity and understand your options should the market prophecies of the last down cycle repeat themselves. Things to understand are as follows; How much equity do you have in the property and can you sell without taking an actual loss? Do you have a pre-payment penalty attached to your loan and if so when does it expire? Do you own a home in one of the still hot neighborhoods or are you in one of the less fortunate. If you would like more information regarding these questions, thoughts as well as other real estate tips and support click this link and we are happy to help! Great Real Estate Information!

As always - Thanks for reading and may you have a prosperous real estate experience!

Dave and Carla Higgins
(888) 627-4399
info@DaveAndCarla.com
http://www.daveandcarla.com/
http://www.oaklandhomefinder.com/

Keller Williams Realty

Labels: Berkeley, East Bay Oakland, Piedmont Alameda, Real Estate, Safe Neighborhoods

Some Clients of ours recently came to us looking for a homes that have swimming pools. You don't tend to see a lot of homes in Oakland, Berkeley,Piedmont, Albany, Emeryville,Alameda (Greater East Bay areas) with pools but we thought with summer here it was a good idea to add a blog about pool safety with kids.
A backyard swimming pool can be a child’s ultimate playground during the summer months, but it can also be very dangerous if not monitored properly. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to help minimize the risk of a child "accidentally" falling into the family pool.
Make sure to set down definite pool rules covering its use. Also consider talking with babysitters about pool safety, supervision and drowning prevention.
Do not allow children to play in the pool area. Remove all toys and any other objects that could attract your child. Children who would not normally go near a pool because of fear may not even think about the water if they are in pursuit of a favorite toy.
Keep lifesaving equipment, such as a pole, life preserver and rope, in the pool area. Hang them from the fence so people won’t trip on them.
Have a phone handy to the pool area. Do not answer the phone while your children are in the pool; use it only to call 911 should a problem occur.
Ensure that any doors from the house to the pool area are kept locked. Lock doggie doors as well—small children can easily fit in the small opening of a doggie door.
Have adult supervisors learn CPR, and refresh their skills every year.
Keep in mind that having a pool can make you popular with neighborhood friends of your children. Signage about the pool, with "pool rules" is a good idea and make it clear that If rules are not followed, they will not be allowed to use the pool.

Labels: Berkeley, East Bay Oakland, Piedmont Alameda