Your Real Estate Expert for Berkeley and Beyond
“Marilyn is exceptional. Her knowledge base, enthusiasm for her job, professional ethics, organization, sensitivity to our aesthetic requirements, loyalty and gentle perseverance set her apart.”
-- Bill and Carol Seidel
Marilyn Garcia, PhD
Broker Associate, Realtor®
DRE# 02014153
District Homes
1758 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Direct:
(510) 390-5406
THE OUTLOOK: Berkeley Hills, Summer 2018 wrap-up
I mentioned in the last newsletter that there have been some rumblings of changes in the market, with higher inventory spreading out the buyer pool. This was true again over the summer in the hills. We had 68 active listings over the summer, compared to 66 last summer, 63 in summer 2016, and only 41 in summer 2015. Happily there were also lots of sales over the summer — 61 properties sold in the Berkeley hills. The higher number of properties competing for buyers did show in prices somewhat. The median sold price for the summer was $1,375,000, and the [...]
THE OUTLOOK: North Berkeley, Summer 2018 wrap-up
There has been a lot of talk lately about changes in the market triggered by higher levels of inventory. Higher inventory was a factor again over the summer in other areas of Berkeley (see the post with data for the Hills area this summer, for example), but not in North Berkeley. There were only 26 active listings in North Berkeley over the summer, compared to 40 last summer, 33 in summer 2016, and 31 in summer 2015. 29 North Berkeley properties sold over the summer, at a median price of $1,400,000. This is up 8% compared to the spring, but [...]
Go UC!
Money magazine just released their latest ranking of colleges and universities, and the University of California got 5 of the top 11 spots! Wow! To come up with the rankings, Money combines measures of “Quality of Education” (based largely on graduation rates), “Affordability” (net costs after financial aid, borrowing, time to graduation and student loan repayment rates) and “Outcomes” (measured mostly by alumni salary data). UC San Diego ranked 2nd overall, after only Princeton University. UC Irvine was 3rd, UCLA came in 4th, UC Berkeley was 7th, & UC Davis was ranked #11. One can definitely quibble about the order, [...]
REAL ESTATE ANSWERS: Why are there so many wild turkeys around these days?
This is not exactly a real estate question, but it is something I have been really wondering about myself! When I was growing up, I don’t remember ever encountering a wild turkey. Now it seems they’re everywhere, not just in the Bay Area, but in other parts of the country as well. A quick google search turns up articles about the abundance of wild turkeys in Massachusetts, Alabama, Chicago, Tennessee, Ohio, and lots of other places. Just a few days ago, I sat in my car at a stoplight and watched a gang of turkeys cross Marin Avenue at the [...]