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Old 04-21-2018, 07:42 PM
 
28,005 posts, read 60,680,217 times
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It's been kind of a family joke for years...

Already had the layout for the cover... a picture of me leaning on my first Landlord Car... my 1972 Plymouth Valiant... that car was my work truck... had the back seat out and built racks... put a lumber rack on the roof and built a hitch to haul one yard gondolas of concrete or my utility trailer...

Lots of stories over the years...
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Old 04-21-2018, 07:56 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
The Oakland Zoo has really come into it's own... many school field trips from all over the Northern CA...
And it’s the perfect size for kids. Not too big, not too small.
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:17 PM
 
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The zoo will celebrate 100 years in 2022 if memory serves.

My Grandmother late in life adopted the Hippo Exhibit as a donor because her Grandchildren enjoyed the zoo so much...

Being an exhibit sponsor back in the day was something like a $500 annual commitment that came with a family pass...

Urban areas have their problems... no doubt about that.

What we are seeing is a resurgence of people seeking urban and shunning suburban... quite a change.

In part... I call it the SF effect as the prices in SF and Peninsulas climb ever higher the East Bay becomes more desirable due to proximity... plus Oakland has near perfect climate... few have or need A/C and we have the lovely SF City Lights as a back drop at night...

It is actually closer/faster to downtown SF from Oakland than many parts of SF... plus Oakland has it's own amenities... first wildlife sanctuary at Lake Merit... Redwood Groves, birthplace of the University of California, home to world wide leaders of Industry like Kaiser, APL, etc... air and seaports, train, etc...
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Old 04-22-2018, 01:11 AM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
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The zoo lights at the holkdays are really nice.

While there is definitely an upswing of people seeking “urban living,” east Oakland is pretty darn suburban. It is not exactly strip mall suburbia like Fremont, but it isn’t that far off.
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Old 04-22-2018, 04:05 AM
 
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The Avenues have never been the same since the streetcar tracks were ripped out....

Adams Point, Jack London, Uptown are popular locations for the 20 somethings I know that have left Pleasanton, Danville, etc...
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Old 04-22-2018, 10:15 AM
 
Location: State of Transition
98,533 posts, read 96,995,185 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
The zoo will celebrate 100 years in 2022 if memory serves.

My Grandmother late in life adopted the Hippo Exhibit as a donor because her Grandchildren enjoyed the zoo so much...

Being an exhibit sponsor back in the day was something like a $500 annual commitment that came with a family pass...

Urban areas have their problems... no doubt about that.

What we are seeing is a resurgence of people seeking urban and shunning suburban... quite a change.

In part... I call it the SF effect as the prices in SF and Peninsulas climb ever higher the East Bay becomes more desirable due to proximity... plus Oakland has near perfect climate... few have or need A/C and we have the lovely SF City Lights as a back drop at night...

It is actually closer/faster to downtown SF from Oakland than many parts of SF... plus Oakland has it's own amenities... first wildlife sanctuary at Lake Merit... Redwood Groves, birthplace of the University of California, home to world wide leaders of Industry like Kaiser, APL, etc... air and seaports, train, etc...
Yup. This is what we need to tell the Oakland fraidy-cats; the people who won't even go to their friends' parties, because they're in Oakland: If Oakland was good enough for Henry Kaiser, it's good enough for the rest of us.

BTW, did you see that the Kaiser place sold a couple of years ago? Nice place in Montclair. I don't remember exactly--it sold for somewhere around 2 mill, IIRC.

Ah, here it is:https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/...-1-85-million/
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Old 04-22-2018, 11:35 AM
 
6,030 posts, read 2,931,108 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Yup. This is what we need to tell the Oakland fraidy-cats; the people who won't even go to their friends' parties, because they're in Oakland: If Oakland was good enough for Henry Kaiser, it's good enough for the rest of us.

BTW, did you see that the Kaiser place sold a couple of years ago? Nice place in Montclair. I don't remember exactly--it sold for somewhere around 2 mill, IIRC.

Ah, here it is:https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/...-1-85-million/
I don't believe that statement is true any longer. Well, at least in New Oakland. Deep East is still plagued by violence, social issues, etc... but Oakland as a whole is now desirable. Where as before, you only moved here b/c you had no choice or you grew up here. I'm, obviously, glossing over this over and there is a lot more going on but you get the idea.
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Old 04-22-2018, 02:33 PM
 
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Pretty much... I grew up here and wanted to be a homeowner and found the only place I could afford was the least expensive single family home on the MLS at the time.

Lots of good memories and learned a lot... since I moved... only have rented to two families and the second one is still there...

She has never had any issues either.

What I found coming up in Oakland is nothing bad ever happened before noon... over simplification but was my experience...

All the druggy and gang-bangers were now resting as they had been up all night.

I know people shot and shot and killed... without exception it was always on a street corner at midnight or later... their "Moms" knew something bad would happen because of the life they led and who they associated with... very rare for it to be truly random.

What I have also learned is bad neighborhoods don't always stay bad and good neighborhoods don't always stay good.

Three things happened to the bad guys... they either died, went to prison or found Jesus... take that anyway you want and sometimes it was a combination of the last two.

My Dad gave me good advice... don't make yourself a target and be respectful of all... in other words don't give anyone a reason.

In truth, lots of improvement and good things were happening up until 2008... then the Real Estate crisis and 20 years of improvement vanished...

This time it looks a little better and I hope it takes...

The fact is so many single family rental homes are going owner occupied... this isn't you parent's Oakland.

Can't overemphasize the value of getting along with your neighbors... I've found I can live anywhere as long as I don't have to worry about my immediate neighbors... this is why I say Oakland is very much a collection of neighborhoods.

There was a time when Section 8 was almost the only option in many parts of Oakland... this has changed dramatically... the majority of new Section 8 Voucher Holders simply are unable to find housing.

At one time I managed property and the 80% was low income... due to the changes in the program and experience... it is something my owners do not want any part of... I still manage some legacy Section 8 and they will be there as long as they want... never once have I asked a Section 8 family to move without cause... when Vouchers became portable... I lost half the families over 3 years... they moved to San Leandro, Hayward, Vallejo, Antioch... etc...
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Old 04-23-2018, 10:48 AM
 
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we moved to the east bay from ny about 3 years ago, just as the market in the east bay was really taking off. I think the best piece of advice on this thread is that the prices you see are totally bogus. Expect to pay AT LEAST 30% more. For whatever reason, in "desirable" areas like rockridge, that is more like 50% or even 60% more. All cash. You won't have much of a shot at these houses with bank financing, and inspection contingencies and all the rest of the normal real estate strategies. It is flat out insane.

The second best piece of advice is that the market will decline again. It always has, and it always will, and those who say it wont have a vested interest in the psychology of constant rises in price. It will lose 10-20% on average. But that average masks a very important fact for the first time buyer. Edge areas (with undesirable schools, safety issues, etc) will lose much more value than established areas.

We're renting in Rockridge, and we keep looking at houses that seem interesting, but we are disinclined to buy at what feels like a market peak.

I think renting for at least a year is a smarter way to go.

e
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Old 04-23-2018, 12:01 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
98,533 posts, read 96,995,185 times
Reputation: 109850
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
It's been kind of a family joke for years...

Already had the layout for the cover... a picture of me leaning on my first Landlord Car... my 1972 Plymouth Valiant... that car was my work truck... had the back seat out and built racks... put a lumber rack on the roof and built a hitch to haul one yard gondolas of concrete or my utility trailer...

Lots of stories over the years...
This is cool. I'll tell you what. Why not start writing a couple of chapters? Write up an experience. Then another. Then go back, and refine the writing on the first one. Play with it, tweak it. Run it by some friends. No deadlines, just fun. Right there, you have something; when you're pretty satisfied with it, you have two chapters of a book. And all you did, is relax and tell stories on some pages. Easy, fun, right?

2 chapters are something you could send a prospective publisher, as samples, but don't do that yet. Have some more fun. A few more stories: "The Early Days" (your Part I ). Don't forget to throw in some history of the neighborhoods, the house/s, Oakland evolving, mayors come and go, maybe some notes about how different city admins affect City and neighborhood development, neighbor anecdotes about the neighborhood, SF RE values pushing people to Oakland, etc. Maybe include a couple of property-management stories. Oakland's great weather being a draw. All that good stuff.

There must be local publishers, who would take on a thing like that. There's probably someone in Berkeley or Oakland who would jump on it. But in the beginning, just have fun telling your stories. Don't worry about who'll buy them, who'll publish them. Just get them out of your memories and onto paper. (Or screen).

Now's the time, in this crazy market, in which people like the OP are half terrified, half discouraged, but still motivated to find something, in a forgotten corner, to buy. Keep the OP and people like him in mind, when you're writing.

When it becomes a local best-seller, I get a free copy. . You'll be the Herb Caen of Oakland!

Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 04-23-2018 at 12:55 PM..
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