Barbara Hendrickson
Realtor
510.708.3800
barbara@redoakrealty.com
www.justsellmyhouse.com
BRE #00780582
I remember my Mama.
Do you remember yours?
Mine died almost 21 years ago.
But I remember her.
She was an artist and musician. She is remembered by her students as an
exemplary art teacher who motivated them to do their best work.
She was Sylvia Applezweig until she married Lee Deiro, when her name was
inadvertently misspelled on the invitations to their wedding. After than
she became Silvia not Sylvia; not that it really mattered.
She studied music and played her 1924 Baby Grand Steinway until she died. I
had it shipped to Berkeley thinking I would like to have some of her
around. "Moonlight Sonata" and Chopin's "Impromptu in A Flat
Major" were two of my favorites. Last year I donated the piano to
Congregation Beth El because no one in my life wanted to play it and it
took up too much physical space in my life.
Food was not her thing. Her idea of a stew was stew meat cooked in ketchup
with canned vegetables. And dessert alway s had Cool Whip on it. But she
was also sly. She frequently prepared TV dinners and set the food out on
different platters, giving the illusion that she had cooked it all herself.
After she was divorced, rumor has it that had a quite a social life,
although she was discreet and I don't know much about it. I am just glad
that she had fun.
She wanted me to be popular, giving parties for me and my friends from
school, camp and the village from the time I was 12 at Downtown Community
School until I graduated from Music and Art. I am not sure that it worked
the way she wanted it to, but my friends still talk about my parties on
Barrow Street.
She invented Trail Mix and delighted in setting it out along with drinks
and chips and the other uncooked foods she bought at the store across
Hudson Street. My mother, a progressive woman, didn't care who slept over
or where they slept in our three story brownstone as long as she didn't
find them in her bed. As you might imagine she was very popular with my
friends.
When I applied to Music and Art, she matted all of my work so that I had a
stunning portfolio. She taught me how to use white paint to change the
colors in my paintings.
And of course she encouraged me to be a painter.
Mama sold that brownstone in 1961 for $54,000, even after she changed her
mind because the Realtor told her that she would owe him his fee even if
she didn't sell it.
It recently sold for $4,700,000.
Don't worry, I never make anyone pay if they change their minds, but that
was then and this is now and here.
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer she told me not to be afraid,
that she wasn't. She lived for 12 years after the diagnosis.
Towards the end of her life, I would work on one of my paintings in the
morning, take a Polaroid of it and Federal Express it to her so that we
could discuss it the next day. We liked doing that and it helped us end our
relationship on a positive note.
Of course it wasn't all good. But this is a moment to remember Mama is her
best light and so I do.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are and to those of you who aren't but
remember your Mamas.
Barbara
Click to friend me on Facebook!
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Real Estate Update
 ARE WE BACK IN A BUBBLE?
Even knowing that prices are rapidly rising, every week brings at least one
astonishing closing. It was not so long ago that a different boom was
followed by the bursting of "the bubble." Is this another bubble?
We don't think so and here is why:
- More stability: Most loans are now at fixed rates. You can't get a
sub-prime loan, and the old ones have been mostly purged from the
system.
- More investment: Buyers now have higher down payments - most have
at least 20% - and many have all cash. A boom is not a bubble unless
it is empty.
- More truth:
Both lenders and borrowers are required to disclose more. Buyers have
a clearer idea of loan terms, and must undergo a more rigorous
examination of their finances to qualify.
- Less inventory: Inventory in our area will increase as more owners
are free to sell because they are no longer "under water."
But that is not likely to come in a surge.
- Less speculation: In the previous decade we saw properties
"flipped" multiple times before they were even built.
- No more phantoms: Fear of back-logged foreclosures has dissolved.
And new whispers about a mass sell-off by investors are improbable.
At some point
buyers will have more choices, or rising interest rates will hold them
back. But this will stabilize the market, not kill it.
Not everyone agrees. Karl Smith writes
in Forbes Magazine:
"Sometime in
the near future it is very likely that credit standards for homebuyers will
fall. This will allow homebuyers to make larger offers and it will allow
young people to buy a home even when they lack a down payment. This rapid
increase in the number of buyers and their purchasing power will likely
drive home prices into a bubble."
But our money is on Berkeley-based economist Ken
Rosen and others presenting at the annual Fisher
Center Real Estate Conference last
month. Red Oak Realty CFO Kevin Hamilton attended in search of a deeper
understanding of the underlying economics, particularly on the local level.
Here is what he reported back to the Red Oak agents:
"The speakers
outlined the many reasons why the Bay Area has experienced an expedited
road to recovery and higher than average appreciation rates. We still
maintain a disproportionate percentage of high paying jobs, in-demand
technologies, and venture capital funding - all long-term boons to a stable
and organic recovery."
So what's a buyer to do? Buy what you love, what you can afford, and what
you anticipate holding for the long term. Get a fixed rate mortgage and
save for a down payment to increase your buying power. Robert J. Shiller,
Professor of Economics at Yale, seems to agree. In the concluding paragraph
of his recent
New York Times article:
"With rates
now relatively low, this could be an auspicious time to buy a house with a
fixed-rate mortgage. That could make good sense for people who aren't out
to bet on the housing or mortgage markets but are instead focused on
settling into a home for the long term."
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Monthly Market Snapshot
As
the spring real estate market picks up its pace, the stats continue to impress.
After suffering from a dearth of new listings, there has finally been a
modest 5% increase in sales over last year. But the increase in inventory
has not slowed down price appreciation, with median values up 80% - and in
Oakland they're up 121%! Even more homes are selling over asking, now a
median 10.3% above original list price. As we head into May and June, We
expect the high end of the market to pick up, and prices will most likely
follow. |
Mortgage Rates
Employers created far more new jobs in April than expected
-- and hiring was much stronger during the prior two months than originally
reported. Both conditions led to a day of panic in the bond markets as
mortgage investors expecting another weak report from the labor market.
Non-farm payrolls rose 165,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to a
four-year low of 7.5%. Payrolls rose 138,000 in March, 50,000 more than
previously reported, and job growth for February was revised up by 64,000
to 332,000. The burst of job growth in February was the biggest since
November 2005 for any month that did not include temporary Census bureau
hiring.
At first glance the numbers looked solid, but the devil is always in the
details.
Nearly one of every five new workers hired in April took jobs as temps,
indicating companies are still reluctant to add permanent employees. The
probabilities are high that employers are adjusting their operations ahead
of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act later this year.
Rather than being an anomaly, the hiring of temporary workers will likely
increase and the hours worked by these temporary hires per week will edge
lower as companies focus on avoiding the significant cost government
mandated health-care dollar-outlays for full-time employees will add to net
operating expenses. The national jobless rate was reported as 7.5% for
April, but that number is an even larger 13.9%, up from 13.8% in March, if
everyone who wants a full-time job but can't find one is included. The likelihood
this measure of labor market conditions will grow in the coming months is
high.
The bottom line is that there is nothing in the recent data, or in
forward-looking labor market forecasts, likely to dissuade the members of
the Federal Open Market Committee from continuing their $85 billion monthly
purchases of Treasury debt obligations and agency-eligible mortgage-backed
securities. This means that the prospect for steady, low interest rates
looks very good.
 It is still an ideal time
to purchase or refinance a property. If you have any questions, please
contact Faramarz Moeen-Ziai at Bank of Commerce Mortgage - fmz@bocm.com / 510-250-8725.
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MONTCLAIR'S MOVIE NIGHT SURVIVAL GUIDE
Lawn chair. Check.
Snacks from your favorite restaurant in the Village. Check.
Beverages. Check.
Action!
 What's the Red Oak
Montclair Outdoor Cinema you ask? Picture this: local residents gathering
outside in the heart of the Montclair Village, equipped with blankets and
lawn chairs, setting up camp in the parking lot of a local business to
watch a movie projected against a huge outdoor screen on a warm summer
night.
And... it's free!
 The 2013 Red Oak Montclair
Outdoor Cinema series begins June 15th with the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate
Factory. The movie will be shown in our parking lot at 6450
Moraga Avenue in Montclair Village, Oakland. The lot opens at 7:30pm and
the movie will start shortly after 8:00, complete with free popcorn.
Future movie nights will be held on the third Saturday of the summer, June
through September, so stay tuned for more titles. Hope to see you there!
 RESTAURANT
REVIEW:
BELLI OSTERIA
With wood-beamed walls, exposed brick and an overall industrial vibe, Belli
Osteria is a welcome addition to the campus neighborhood. You'll have to
like gluten if you want to dine here as ravioli is the signature dish. On a
recent lunch hour I stopped in for the watermelon radish and truffle
vinaigrette salad paired with black ravioli with salmon, grilled prawns and
lemon zest in crema smitana. Different AND fabulous. The perfect amount of
dressing on the salad and the perfect portion of ravioli. The wait staff is
friendly, prompt and knowledgeable about the locally grown organic menu.
Between the great weather and the slew of new dining options, we don't
expect many Berkelyites to leave the Bay Area any time soon. Here's to more
months of low inventory.
Belli
Osteria 2016
Shattuck Ave at University, Berkeley, 510.704.1902. Lunch M-F 11:3 0am-2pm;
Dinner Mon-Thu 5:30-9pm, Fri-Sat 5:30-10pm, Sun 5-9pm. |
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