Found 17 blog entries tagged as Oakland Homes.

Families in the Redwood Heights neighborhood can look forward to fun tomorrow night at the Redwood Heights Recreation Center. This Friday, September 13th (weather permitting), the center will be offering a Movie in the Park designed to appeal to all ages.  The movie is held in the park area next to the center, and is free of charge.  Previous movies have included "Spy Kids", "The Princess Bride", Brave, "The Lorax", and many more.  This week they are showing the very popular "Back To The Future".

Nearby Montclair and Oakmore homeowners are encouraged to join in as well.  The advice from the Recreation Center is to plan to dress warmly, bring your own food and lawn chairs, or, if you want to get into the movie mood, popcorn will be available for…

1802 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

For those Piedmont and Oakland area residents who treasure the stunning historical and architecturally varied homes in the area, an opportunity arrives each year to tour some of the most amazing ones.  This year, the annual Heart of Home Tour celebrates its 25th year of providing just such an opportunity. 

This week, on April 26th and 27th, four Piedmont homes, and one Oakland home, are on the schedule.  The tour is sponsored by the Children's Support League of the East Bay, who, since its founding in 1986 have given $2.9 million in grants.  One of the homes featured as the designer showcase home is a Georgian Colonial Revival home . The owners of this home have generously allowed local designers to come in and redesign some of their rooms for…

2931 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

 

 

  While the Victorian Style home is seen in Berkeley and Oakland, it's true location in the S.F. Bay Area is Alameda.  Alameda has one of the largest collections of Victorians in California.  The name itself is based on Queen Victoria of England.  During her reign in the nineteenth century, various styles of home were developed, all bearing the that name.  Titles like Victorian Gothic, Stick Style, Shingle and Queen Anne Victorians are just a few of the variations that arose in that period.  The most popular, and frequently seen is the Queen Anne, which began to appear between 1880 and 1910. The development of power tools and mass production techniques lead to the development of the excesses in architecture that was to characterize all the homes…

2530 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

While the Colonial Revival style is more common in eastern states, it is still seen quite frequently in Northern California.  Homes with this style are seen in Piedmont and surrounding Oakland neighborhoods.  Often, while not exact copies of the classical definition, they still fall within the basic descriptions of this style, which are:

a. Small porticos with pillars or columns.

2. Double-hung multipaned windows with accompanying shutters.

3. The facade is often symmetrical, and it may have, depending on its substyle,  a gable, gambrel or hipped roof.

4. Two or three stories and dormers.

5. The interior often has a center-hall floor plan, and multiple fireplaces. 

The Colonial Revival style became quite popular in America after the 1876…

5291 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

In Part 1, we talked about some practical tips designed to make moving day a bit easier for your move into your new Oakland home.  In Part 2 - we will consider some simple, yet, important personal and family issues that need to be part of the same plan.

1. Consider The Impact Of The Move On The Children: It is obvious that there is going to be a great deal to do in terms of a broad array of paperwork to be signed and dealt with, plus arranging for the children to attend a new school, addressing how the new home will be decorated, what needs to be bought to complete this, and who is going to do it.  Often in all of this, no matter what their age, the children are often just asked to be patient, and to decide what they want to take with them, and just…

2935 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Once I have completed and processed any homes for sale in Oakland, CA I realize that the thought of moving can make the buyers anxious about the issues revolving around the actual move itself.  In Part 1, I will suggest some tips to assist you in the actual packing preparation.  In Part 2, we will talk about the family and pet preparations.

To pack and move in a way to protect all your goods, and save time and money in moving costs, take the following steps:

1. Make a Floor Plan: Your first step, before packing, is to make a floor plan of your new home.  On this floor plan, map out each room.  Actually measure out the room to decide what furniture will go where, and whether it will fit as you hoped.  Many new homeowners are surprised that their new…

1898 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

When you have finally decided to sell your home, you will be surrounded by all kinds of advice from friends and family as to the best selling price.  Much of this advice is well meaning, but it is not the best source of information to arrive at for this valuable point of information.  Whether your are considering selling a Piedmont home or perhaps an Oakland home, there are three very effective sources that you should use if you want to be assured that you are pricing your home at its best.

1. My Website--www.brucewagg.com--With its comprehesive Multiple Listing sources and search engines, you can search by city, town, price, etc. to see what homes in and around your home are selling for.  It will show you pictures of the houses, and, in most…

1872 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

You have just bought your new Oakland home.  You are going to move locally from your Alameda home, and now you need to begin to make some plans to do so.  One thing that is important to know is that local moving costs are based on time. You are charged for how much time it will take the movers to move your household items from your first to your second house, and you are charged on an hourly rate for a van and the men needed to complete that move.  In essence, in local moving, time is money.  The more time involved in moving you, the more money it costs!   Below are some tips to save you valuable funds:

1. Pare Down Your Items In Every Way Possible--The longer you have been in your home, the more things you have accumulated.  Start considering what…

1833 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

When buyers are considering purchasing a home, its size, and how it will fit their needs, becomes very important to them.  Even though you tell them that your Piedmont home is 2445 sq. ft., if it does not actually look that size when they enter, will cause you to lose much of the valuable first impressions of spaciousness that you want to convey.

Additionally, many Oakland homes and Berkeley homes are often quite large inside, but need to be presented in the best way possible.

 Many things can cause a home to look smaller than it is. Here are some tips to make it appear to be the size it actually is:

 1. Before you begin showing the home, go through each room and remove as much furniture as practicable. Side tables, end tables, bookcases, chairs and…

1892 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

It would be ideal if you had plenty of time and money to upgrade your Oakland home before you put it up for sale.  Realistically, the odds are that you might not have either one.  If it is important to get your house on the market in a short time period, and still be able to make it attractive to potential buyers, there are some ways that are flexible in terms of both time and money. 

Four Quick and Reasonably Priced Ways to Upgrade Your Home:

a. Paint Your House--One of the quickest, and most effective ways to give a facelift to a tired home is by using paint.  You can choose to paint all the rooms, or some of the rooms, or just concentrate on the exterior trim.  That is the appeal of paint. Take a complete tour of your home, and look at it as if…

1765 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post