Don't Your Just Love Fraud?

Nearly 1 million home buyers must repay tax credit


Approximately 950,000 of the nearly 1.8 million Americans who claimed the federal first-time home buyer tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to repay the government, according to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
TIGTA's study found that an estimated 4.1 percent of the approximately 1.77 million individuals receiving the tax credit had incorrect purchase dates recorded at the IRS. While this is really too bad and most likely is just a mistake that is going to make the home buyers mad but most likely wasn't entirely their fault, check out the next item:


The report also found that $10.1 million in home buyer credits were claimed by taxpayers who were identified as deceased by the Social Security Administration.

TIGTA recommended that the IRS take steps to correct the errors and IRS officials agreed with the recommendations and stated that they plan to take steps to improve controls.

And now for 1415 Keoncrest Drive just a Minute from BART

I am using a youtuble video for the first time with this post. One of the sellers of this sweet home makes videos for a living and offered to showcase his home so here it.

This spacious home is located just blocks from BART and within easy reach of Monterey Market, Fanny's, The Gourmet Ghetto and the new Trader Joe's. The street is quiet without much traffic but close to these great places and the park.

The house is really sweet and has great separation of spaces. It was added on to at some time so it is a two bedroom home with the addition of an extra bedroom and bath and a converted garage. Need the garage back ? Just open the door and pull up the rug and pull your car right in. One nice thing about this home is that it is ready for its new owners to move right in!

The living room has a fireplace, the dining area has French doors that open out to a private fenced yard. There is a storage shed in the yard which is great for tools, bikes and general clutter. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, plus family room/office, an updated kitchen, and a laundry room,. The house has been freshly painted, hardwood floors have just been refinished, there is new landscaping with irrigation on a timer and there is  new carpeting.

I am waiting for the sun to come out. Sun, please come out. It used to be that by 2 PM on Sundays the sun always came out but with climate change this isn't always true any more. Or maybe it is just bad luck.

Today 1415 Keoncrest, 1633 Portland and 5490 Kales will all be open.

Portland Avenue Revisited

My in-laws lived at 1665 Portland Avenue in Berkeley and my kids virtually grew up there.  Needless to say I spend a lot of time there  thought of the neighborhood as my second home. I also, over the years, sold the homes at 1645 and 1655 and feel well enough connected to say that with its location so close to Solano Avenue, Kensington, El Cerrito and San Pablo it is one of the best in town.

 

1633 Portland Avenue is a fabulous house. The owners who owned it before my clients remodeled it within an inch of its life making it seriously "move-in ready". They enlarged the Master bedroom  and added a second bath, something that is rare in a two bedroom home. They remodeled both baths, adding heated tile floors. The remodeled the kitchen adding hardwood floors and state of the art appliances, a list of which can be found on my website http://www.justsellmyhouse.com/. There is a 40 year roof, a 50 gallon water heater and there are insulated windows that look like they are the original ones. And there is much, much more.

 

There is a lot to see and and a lot to love. I suggest that anyone who wants a low profile, sun- filled home with a happy disposition take a look at this one. It will be open today and tomorrow 9/12, again for brokers and other on Thursday the 16th from 9:30 until noon and then again on Sunday the 19th.

 

Or you cans see it with your Realtor.

Selling Camelia

Every Real Estate agent should have to sell something of her own every so often in order to be able to empathize with her clients. So here I go selling a piece of property that I love dearly. I bought it on a whim with my then husband, Dennis after running into it on tour one cold Thursday in late November of 1996,

It belonged to the estate of a kinetic artist named Sid Gordin. He had apparently lived and worked there for many years, taking a simple West Berkeley Victorian with a yard and some land on the side and filling every inch of the yard with house and studio whenever he had any extra money.

This video shows some of the rooms. When the photos were taken by the able Jenn Kelly of Red Oak Realty, our son Jonah was still using some of the studio to store his sculptures there.

In the future the new owner can use the studio for her or his own purposes; art being one of them.

There is more to be said but I am very sleepy after launching three new properties today: 1415 Keoncrest Drice listed at $595,000,
1633 Portland Avenue listed at $699,000 both in Berkeley, and with Janet Kaplan, 5490 Kales Avenue in Rockridge listed at $995,000. These launchings are the result of two months work . Now we market the hell of them all and then we wait until the week of the 20th to see what the fruits of our labor will bring. I think that they will be rich and juicy but there is no telling.

Camelia, by the way is a fabulous live work property at the corner of 7th Street. It measures 3400 square feet and sits on 4300 square feet. It is a block from Picante and is 104 years old. It has a long driveway with a sexy yellow roll-up door and the potential for a wonderful roof-top garden. Right now the roof-top garden has steps to get up there but needs a serious railing to make it safe.

We have listed Camelia at a very realistic $895,000. The last time that we listed it, in 2008, we had our heads in the sand and had it listed way too high. Now we are my advice and pricing it to sell.

I will talk more about all of these properties when I am not so tired. Stay tuned.

Yes There Are Multiple Offers Now and Then

Thank you to all of you who noticed this blog and commented it on facebook. I appreciate you.

And yes there are multiple offers in our community when the property is really special and in demand.
I cannot say much yet but we did have three offers from three gracious agents whose clients all were passionate about their offers and reasons for wanting to buy this unusual and truly special unit at 1519 Oxford Street in one only five elevator buildings in North Berkeley. Please correct me if you know of a sixth.
 
It is always exciting to hear offers especially when there is competition and you know that there is going to be a gold coin buried somewhere in one of the offers.When I put a listing package together I always ask my sellers to write a letter telling prospective buyers about their home and why they liked living there to give the buyer a personal feeling for the home beyond the views and the staging, ( you can read this seller's exceptional one on my website-- there is a link to it there). And I always have my buyers write letters when they are making offers to tell the seller about themselves so that they seller will at least have a notion of who they might be passing their home on to, and at best will fall madly in love with with my buyers and feel that they must sell to them above all others.
 
Over the years I have found that while many buyers do not bother or care to tell the sellers about themselves  others write wonderful, thoughtful  letters. I believe that I could write a book, ( if time permitted and I had a muse, but then I would probably be painting) adding my own details based upon what I have learned about all of the interesting people who have submitted offers.
 
My sellers and I have always enjoyed knowing about the people who have sent letters with their offers in pursuit of one home or another. It is a truly fastening business learning about all of these people. And sometimes it really does help the sellers to make a decision. Sellers cannot decide on the basis on race, race, religion or gender or other prejudicial factors and no photos are allowed with the letter but sometimes when a seller feels a kinship with a potential buyer and there are two offers that are very similar, the one with the letter that "speaks to the seller" gets the nod, or at least the counter.

Today's Question Begs for An Answer

When things go well with a property I have listed, it's rewarding to enjoy the experience with the sellers. Even when we don't get offers when we had hoped, as long as there are showings, it is only a matter of time until someone shows up and wants to buy it. 

But what happens when for some unfathomable reason, a beautiful home in great condition with terrific amenities  in an awesome neighborhood, isn't being shown frequently enough to offer that optimism? What do we do then? Traditionally, we declare that the price is too high, that the market has spoken and and we reduce the price? What if that strategy won't work for the sellers in this situation? What do we do next?

1317 Sruce Street Story

Did I say that we trimmed the trees at 1317 Spruce Street and now there is a fine Bay view from the front bedroom and lots more light in the whole house? It is funny how when one lives in a house and likes the feeling of trees, they can grow over the years without the owners noticing that they are slowly cutting off the views at least in the eyes of the objective Realtor,who is supposed to be the getting the best price for the house.

This house has many of the qualities a country home: privacy and an intimate relationship to the outdoors while being close to everything one needs for a busy urban life. It is just blocks from Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto and The University of California.

The property has three parts. A main house with three bedrooms, one with the Bay View,  and another with its own entrance, and one and half baths. The inside has been beautifully remodeled over the past dozen or so years. The light fixtures are especially nice. There is even a closet remodel that most people would kill for although those in search of a second bath upstairs might like to know that it would fit nicely in that space. The laundry is also upstairs between the finely remodeled bathroom and that closet.

The main floor has an  Living Room, Family Room with fireplace and Dining Area plus that flow into one another making a vary good pace for entertaining with smaller more intimate places to sit and read or talk within the larger spaces. There is also a delightful and colorful eat-in kitchen and a separate pantry and half bath.

For extra income, there is a legal studio apartment which could be combined with the main house at some point. The owners rented it for $1000.00 before it was enlarged and remodeled. It is quite sweet and they believe, after living in it themselves for a couple of years, that the rent would be much higher now.

There is a yard with new sod and a patio for long lunches and evening barbeque's.

The property is accessed from a secret alley called the Rose Glen Alley that is right off of Rose Street between Spruce and Arch Street. There are two parking places off of the alley.

Unfortunately the photos that Scott Hargis, Red Oak Realty's  awesome architectural photographer could not to take a Bay view shot because the view was hiding under the fog  o we don't have one but if you come to view the house on a sunny afternoon you will see it.

being a painter myself, what I love best about this property is Loren's 400 square foot ( according to the sellers)  art studio with its high ceilings and skylights.You can be anything you want to be in that studio. Artist, musician, yogi, professor, business person-- the uses are yet to be determined by the new owner. This is creativity central with a future unknown.


The price is $1,149,000
It will be open tomorrow Sunday August 22nd from 2-4 PM
Come see it and enjoy and of course I hope that you will want to buy it. One thing it isn't is a museum although Loren will be happy to sell you some of his wonderful paintings.

Better Late Than Never

A week after offers were due to be presented on my Fabulous Craftsman Fixer at 406 61st Street 4 offers showed up within 24 hours. The week before I had had the sad task of telling my clients that even after all of my marketing, plus two Broker's opens, two Sunday Open Houses, many individual showings and 10 disclosure packages emailed to eager agents that I had no offers in hand to present. 

They were disappointed, as was I, but they quickly said they knew I was working hard ,doing a great job and they we should all be patient and see what would happen next. I cannot tell you how good it was to hear that. They have been encouraging all along. Every time I speak with them they say something supportive and appreciative. They make me want to work harder and harder.. 

Their attitude and behavior is a lesson for all of us in our dealings with each other.

Coming Soon

Scott Hargis is taking photos tomorrow at 1317 Spruce Street. I can't wait for you to see them .
I can't decide exactly what to call the house so I am calling it a "1910 Classic". I know that means it could be a Craftsman or a Bungalow and it isn't either. It looks sort of like an Edwardian but I think the architect borrowed a bit from the Victorians as well. It will be open on Sunday from 2-4 PM for the first showing so you will have to wait until then to see it for yourself.

I will post the photos as soon as Scott has them ready. The property is so close to Berkeley's wonderful Gourmet Ghetto and The University of California -- (and a block from the big house on Arch Street where Dennis and I lived for 17 years and raised our sons) that one can pop down to Chez Panisse for dinner, something we did for every occasion that we could think of, or to Peet's coffee, The Cheese Board or Saul's and I suppose to shop at a regular supermarket  although these days I am  Trader Joe's fan myself - and there is one not far from 1317 Spruce Street at university Avenue and Martin Luther King.

Ah what about the house? The house is awesome. But will have to wait until tomorrow morning for more details about the house. It is worth waiting for, I promise.

406 61st Street, Rockridge

As promised, I have great photos of my new listing!  This fabulous fixer is located just a stone's throw from Colby Park in Rockridge and is close to many notable  restaurants, markets and shops as well as transportation to everywhere you want to go!  This 2 bedroom, 1 bath 1910 Craftsman with original details, hardwood floors, beveled and leaded glass windows, box beams and built-ins, and a large eat-in kitchen that opens out to the yard, is ready to be revitalized.

Situated on a large level lot filled with sunlight, fruit trees, and a tiled pond as well as a "get away from it all" bonus office or studio with 220v wiring, this home is a rare find for only $579,000.

Needed?  Tools and imagination!  Available to see beginning this Thursday, July 29, and open Sunday, August 1st and 8th from 2:00-4:30.  See you there.

Rockridge, Oakland, CA. AKA 94618 and 94609

I have a another favorite neighborhood which has the charm and chatter of  the New York City neighborhoods where I hung out until I left for The University of Wisconsin after graduating from high school.
I recently spent a couple of weeks, well almost, rummaging around the upper west side, Chelsea and Greenwich Village, all places that were my stomping grounds  while growing up.  When I returned to the East Bay the place that I felt most energetic was while shopping at Market Hall and then sitting in out in front with friends, drinking coffee, watching people with their packages, babies and dogs stroll by. It was like watching an unchoregraphed dance but it did have rhythm.

Rockridge didn't start out the way that it is today. It was named for the outcroppings of rock jutting out from shutter ridge that forms the Hayward Fault. Some of the rock can still be seen from the old quarry that now serves as the reservoir for Claremont Country Club. And it wasn't always flourishing, either.

It was divided by Highway 24 in the 70's. At first businesses languished. It wasn't until the addition of the Bart Station (considered a model for the integration of transportation, residential and commercial neighborhoods) that began its recovery and renaissance. In 1991, Upper Rockridge lost hundreds of homes to the Oakland fire, but many of the old homes from the from the early decades - the 10's, 20's and 30's close to College Ave. were spared and are some of the most coveted properties today.

One of those properties, a Craftsman bungalow is 445 62nd Street, a property I sold to a client of mine in 1996 for $230,000 and then listed in 2005 for $695,000. It sold after two weeks of marketing with 6 or more offers for $855,000. The sellers, who married after getting to know one another while remodeling the kitchen and adding value to the house (he was the architect and she was the owner) had also enhanced the lower level, and created a fabulous deck and garden.

I have listed and will soon be marketing a true Craftsman on 61st Street just west of Colby almost directly across from the  wonderful  Colby park. It's a fabulous  FIXER on a huge lot with a 10 X 14 office or studio in the back. It still has many of its original details so hone your tools, get out your imagination and stay tuned..

Photos and more later this week.....

62 Stratford Road, Kensington, CA. Romantic Mediterranean Home

Speaking of Kensington and Real Estate, I have a fabulous new listing at

62 Stratford Road between Coventry and Beverely Road. It's a Romantic Mediterranean home with Bay views,  and magical gardens built in 1931, just under 3000 Sq Ft --according to public records--on a very large lot sloping gently towards the bay.

Hidden behind a tall hedge the setting is unusual with brick paths and mature landscaping. Coming home to this house is coming home to privacy and tranquility.

62 Stratford Road has an exceptionally comfortable feel. While getting it ready for market I have become extremely fond of it. I like the way I can go from the living room and dining room out onto the deck. I am a sucker for French doors. Any house that has French doors from a public room or a breakfast room, like this one, gets my vote. At night the dramatic Tiffany style light fixture suspended over the dining room table is drop dead gorgeous.

I am also really happy about the way this updated and efficient kitchen leads right into a family room. If I lived there I would be able to watch the rest of my brood while I assembled meals-- I don't cook, I assemble what I collect from Trader Joe's at El Cerrito Plaza which, by the way, is down the hill from this house.

The "in-law" on the lower level is a great plus. My ex-husband says that every inch of a house should pay for itself. Well, the seller recently rented the "in-law" for $1600. It is a studio but it is a classy studio with its' own private deck and access to the yard. If you don't want to rent it out or don't have an "au pair" it might fold nicely into the main house as a master suite, space for visiting relatives, home office or artists' studio. The possibilities are almost endless.

Additionally, the house has 3 bedrooms upstairs, 3 baths( including a new one) a breakfast room, working fireplace in the living room, hardwood floors and an a magical front courtyard. There is a laundry in the one car garage.

And oh, yes, the price... well price at $995,000. And  IT IS OPEN THIS SUNDAY from 2 until 4 or  later. Come by and see it and say hello to me.

Musings From a Kensington Girl

Do you ever wonder about the history of your neighborhood, how it came to be? Most of the time, change is gradual, but this was not true of the unincorporated town of Kensington where I have lived for the past 12 years. Kensington, just a minute north of Berkeley, is filled with trees and feels like the country; most streets don't even have sidewalks. It has gorgeous Bay views from so many places including my house where on a clear day I can see past the Golden Gate.

The Earthquake of 1906 and the Berkeley fire of 1923 spurred growth, with displaced families fleeing their homes. Later on people built summer homes in the hills.

I bought my barely completed new spec home after it was rejected by my pregnant clients who thought it was too much of an adult house. Actually it has been a very friendly home for people of all ages, a place where I paint, friends and family visit and sit for hours over potluck dinners and conversations at my round dining table, yes round, I think that is the best kind of table for conversation. That is a little bit of my life in Kensington.

Barbara Hendrickson, Realtor

I grew up in New York City, went to the High School of Music and Art, and then to the University of Wisconsin. After graduating, I continued west to San Francisco where I was never actually a hippie. Here I met and married my former husband, Dennis, and then taught primary school for several years before we started a Berkeley Real Estate company called The Hendrickson Company in 1979.

I am also an artist, and the mother of two grown sons: Jonah, who lives in Oakland with his wife Nicky, and is a sculptor and a real estate property manager, and Ben, who lives in New York City with his wife Sara and their 2 dogs, Porter and Sadie. Ben is a personal trainer and a passionate ice and rock climber.

I live in a loft like house filled with my paintings where sunlight bounces off the colors and makes me laugh. My home is in the Kensington redwoods just a minute north of Berkeley looking out at the Golden Gate.

When I am not helping my clients sell or buy residential and commercial properties, I relax by painting or going for rides in the country, to movies, or the symphony, or having dinner with friends. And I love to visit my sons and their families.