for sale

  • Ursula LeGuin’s gorgeous Berkeley Maybeck home for sale

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    From the listing:

    Located in North Berkeley among architecturally significant homes and prominently sited at 1325 Arch Street, this 5-BD Swiss Chalet-style house was designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1906, a true architectural jewel. Shielded from the street, a wisteria-covered arbor greets you as you enter. Filled with the brilliance of its heritage and the beauty of natural materials, it has been restored with exceptional attention to its lustrous originality while blending modern features and amenities. Spaces for gathering and other rooms for private contemplation blend throughout. Redwood interiors, wraparound balconies, private flourishing garden, & magnificent views to SF, Golden and Bay Bridges & Mt. Tamalpais. The feeling of union with the environment can be experienced throughout. The suppleness of the wood, anchored with copper nails, can best be appreciated as the sun flows in through the many windows and doors. The flourishing garden offers a private portal to flora & fauna of surrounding lush landscape.

    Anyone know who updated the wood? Parts look more modern, although they certainly match Maybeck’s original interior & intent. Looks like it could have been Kip Mesirow or another Berkeley woodworker of a similar aesthetic & high level of skill.

  • Finding a Dependable Real Estate Agent

    infographic created by National Land Realty – land for sale in Alabama

    regular contributor Joel McDonald forwards us some good advice on selecting the best real estate agent to work with you:

    When you want to buy or sell real estate, having the right realtor on your side makes it easier to find the perfect new place to make your home, or bringing buyers to the table as the case may be. Having helpful and reliable assistance and resources in any endeavor can make all the difference. For some people, it may seem too hard to get a good agent to help them with their purchase or sale needs. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid when shopping for the right realtor.

    Ask Questions – Lots of Questions
    The final mistake which anyone shopping for an agent should steer clear of is being hesitant to ask the ones they are interviewing a lot of questions. Some feel as if they are being too much trouble and do not want to ask a lot of questions regarding fees, procedures, etc. Asking questions is the only way to really know if you’ve found the one you can best work with. Any reputable real estate agent will be able to answer your questions as you are purchasing your first home.

    The Belief That Only Big Real Estate Operators Have Really Good Realtors
    Some who are looking for an agent may think that only the biggest realty firms will have the good realtors. Although they may have some excellent people in their employ, you should also evaluate smaller firms as well as large ones in your search. For example, in Canada, a local firm like REP Calgary Homes has excellent agents for both buying and selling residential property.

    Failing to Ask About the Fee
    Before you decide on someone to work with, you must be sure to find out about their fee arrangement. A seller's agent will charge a set percentage of the price as a fee for their expenses and effort. It is in your best interest as a seller to make sure the percentage is a favorable number. It might seem strange, but a fee that is too low can be a warning sign too; a lowball fee offer will most likely short you when it comes to service. The buyer's representative, on the other hand, is paid from the commission amount set by the seller. For this reason, if you are a buyer, there is no extra cost for having an agent represent you.

    Not Inquiring About The Realtor’s Qualifications
    It is definitely worthwhile to ask the Realtor questions concerning their professional experience and accomplishments in the business. Answers about length of time working as a real estate agent, how long with the company and any type of business specialties they may have in their resume are all good ones. An experienced realtor will be proud to mention any professional awards.

    Deciding on a Realtor Too Quickly
    An all too common mistake is selecting the first Realtor you come across. Some people are so anxious to buy or sell a home that they get a name and go with that person without looking into even a little bit of the wide spectrum of choices available. This is a mistake which anyone who is looking for the best realtor should avoid. You need to look around, a little at least, even if only to add some depth to your education on the subject.

    partnered post from your Colorado Louisville real estate experts at Automated Homefinder • cc-licensed image by Marco Verch

  • 8 lies estate agents will tell you

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    House sellers can make terrible mistakes when dealing with property. These errors in judgement and holes in their knowledge can cost them thousands or tens of thousands of pounds and one of the most desperate is the use of a scurrilous estate agent. Regular studies into the behaviour of an average agent rarely show a positive side, simply because of commonly heard falsehoods such as these:

    Idyllic/rustic/peaceful

    The art of the short property description is a skilled one. And some words and phraseology, while undoubtedly correct, just don’t sell (‘must sell’, for example).

    So other, more effervescent wordsmithery is employed, such as ‘manicured gardens’ or ‘elegant’, even if the former is a patch of grass and the latter is about as dignified as an abattoir. The key lesson; don’t believe anything until you’ve seen it with your own two eyes.

    “We’ve already had several people looking around the house already”

    or

    “We had another offer just after yours that was higher, do you want to match it or beat it?”

    Two heads of the same beast, both designed to extract more money. They may not have had anyone even look at the property for three months or longer, but it just so happens that on that particular day a glut of visitors decided to book spots. Or bizarrely, table an offer a couple of thousands of pounds north of yours. Totally unproved, of course.

    “You like this place, don’t you? We’ll get a good deal for you”

    If they’ve picked up on the fact that it’s perfect for you, then they know that they can exploit your emotions, especially if you’ve spent some period of time searching before landing here. Some clients look at 40 houses over a weekend, others get excited by the first they see and don’t search any further – just be careful not to reveal your hand too early.

    “Selling a home is too complex for a non-estate agent.”

    It’s 2015. Knowledge on every process and step in selling a home can be obtained online, from advice on photography and writing, to templates of forms, to legal clarification. Companies such as HouseSimple.com can also negotiate and manage the entire process for you – it’s worth looking around before diving in.

    ‘The fffsss sound’

    Estate agent David Pollock writes here about this sound that an agent might make, in the form of a sharp intake of breath, when a buyer puts in a low offer. Sometimes that one sound convinces the buyer that their bid is unrealistic or silly and they bump up the price, costing them several thousand pounds in the process.

    “You have to get a mortgage with xx company for this house”

    “…because I’ll get a commission that way” is the unsaid communication. Many estate agents have connections with mortgage companies and are keen to pick up a little slice of the transaction. Do your own research and look for a lower mortgage rate than what your agent has ‘found.’

    “We’ve searched all the mortgage companies and arrived at the best deal”

    …which is coincidentally the same mortgage provider mentioned above. It’s very possible that they have scanned hundreds of lenders for deals, but not all of them will benefit the agent or broker.

    Before signing up to a mortgage that could cost you thousands of pounds, have a quick search on the Internet, using exactly the same information you gave the estate agent. You might be surprised.

    partnered post • CC-licensed photograph by Paul Mison

  • for sale: Mediterranean Revival in Berkeley, CA

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    The house I grew up in, in Berkeley, California, is for sale. We moved out in the 1980s, and the current owner/seller has been there since; the house looks mostly unchanged. It's probably the nicest neighborhood in the East Bay, but I am biased … if you're looking for a beautiful Mediterranean Revival home for a small family, though, you could do much worse. Supposedly it needs about $60,000 worth of work, but if it actually goes for anything near the asking price of $575,000, it'll be a steal; similar houses in the neighborhood frequently sell for over $800,000. My dad planted that gingko tree in the front yard, and the bougainvillea at the base of the steps. I'd love to grab it up myself, but it's both out of my price range and 100 miles away from my office.

  • ed & alice syszynski: ready to build

    We've been big fans of Alice Suszynski's cabinetry ever since we first saw a small cabinet of hers at a bungalow show in San Francisco. Now, Alice has teamed up with her engineer husband Ed to produce a line of ready-to-build kits – small chests, cabinets and boxes intended for jewelry and other precious small items – showing off some of her signature styles. Dream Mountain Studios' ready-to-build line currently includes almost a dozen different designs, all firmly part of the Arts & Crafts tradition – Alice's prairie, bird and floral motifs are my personal favorite.

    While you're at it, take a look at Alice's larger (and often custom) case goods.

  • the appeal of the wooden library card catalog

    My parents met while students at UC Berkeley and I was born while they were in graduate school; my father stayed on at the university, eventually becoming a faculty member and administrator there. It's no surprise, then, that I spent a lot of time roaming libraries and their stacks.

    One of my fondest memories of that time is of the wooden card catalogs that used to document the holdings of the graduate and undergraduate libraries – vast, long room-fulls of tiny little drawers, all in cases polished smooth by generations of student fingers and hands.

    Since then, I've always loved these things; it might be that they offer an ideal of secure compartmentalization of everything, with each item having its own correct place, certainly an ideal for a perfectionist like me. Or it could be the inflexible grid that they are designed along, which appeals to my technician side. The grain of the wood, the warmth of it, always seemed to match that beautiful Craftsman finish, the fumed oak look that has become the hallmark of the Arts and Crafts movement.

    Whatever the reason, these things are beautiful, and you don't find them in good shape all that often. Certainly, you get them more often than a decade ago, with so many libraries going all-digital, but they're still hard to find.

    Here are a few that are up for sale right now:

    • a 60-drawer catalog in Palm Beach Gardens, FL ($300)
    • a gorgeous set of 3 60-drawer catalogs in Minneapolis, MN ($150 ea)
    • an interesting and well-kept card catalog / file cabinet with inconsistently-sized drawers in Minneapolis, MN ($800)
    • a small tabletop 15-drawer unit with pretty brass hardware in Detroit, MI ($299)
    • a "library bureau card catalog" that is actually a refinished/restored printer's cabinet – drawers for type and cuts and sorts (although not full-size type drawers); inclined top for composing – absolutely beautiful! – in Long Island, NY ($900, and a good deal at that price)
    • an "immaculate" all-cherry 70-drawer cabinet with pull-out shelves in Cleveland, OH ($975)
    • an interesting 60-drawer unit, looks like 1930s or '40s design, in San Antonio, TX ($1500)
    • a table-top 15-drawer cabinet with attractive stainless steel or nickel hardware in Milwaukee, MN ($250)
    • A good looking, circa 1930 20-drawer unit on top of a pretty, decorative stand/table in Annapolis, MD ($800)
    • a small unit with large drawers, this 4-drawer piece is rather original, in Sarasota, FL ($145)