Bay Area Real Estate & Development Blog | Oakland, Piedmont & Cupertino - Piedmont Homes for Sale

HOME STYLES--THE ENGLISH TUDOR HOME IN THE OAKLAND HILLS AND PIEDMONT NEIGHBORHOODS

One of the most popular homes found throughout the Piedmont and Oakland area is the English Tudor style home.  Designed to give the impression of the English Tudor period of castles and wealthy aristocracy, it was very well received in the 1930's when homes were being built in expanding areas of both cities.  Interestingly, a California touch was added to many of these homes, and the interior often has more of a stucco, or Spanish influence, rather than the classic wooden paneling that should characterize the classic Tudor. It's overall interior design is to focus on home and hearth, with a large fireplace dominating the living room, and a sense of warmth and security throughout the house. 

If this style appeals to you, look for the following…

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WHAT ONE THING MOST BUYERS WANT TO SEE WHEN VIEWING YOUR PIEDMONT HOME

When you put your Piedmont home on the market, potential buyers are looking for many attractive features that interest them.  However, one of the most attractive things to them is space.  The more space that you can show them, the larger, and more appealing your home can become.  Space and room allows them options--the option to fit in their new furniture, redesign the dining room, or perhaps make a bedroom into an badly needed office.  

Your goal, then, should be to present them with an open, uncluttered, visually appealing home, that allows them to envision their things in that space, and encourage them to want to live there. One of my roles as your Piedmont and Oakland real estate agent, is to assist you in carrying out this plan. 

After living…

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THE PROBLEMS WITH OVERPRICING YOUR OAKLAND OR PIEDMONT HOME

After you have lived in your Oakland or Piedmont home for a while, and invested money its repair and restoration, you are convinced that you have the very best home in the neighborhood.  While this may or may not be true, when it comes time to put it on the market, you need to take a truly realistic look at your competition before you decide on a final price.  As your Oakland/Piedmont agent, it is my job to assist you in coming to a price that will move your home in a reasonable amount of time, and allow you to realize a realistic profit at the same time.

Why is it important to price correctly?  Here are the reasons:

1. Brokers and Agents Will Not Show Your Home to Their Clients:  With the large amount of real estate web sites on the…

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Smart Updates for Piedmont, CA Home Buyers

If you have been reading any information about preparing your Piedmont home for sale, you will have learned that the most important elements that impress potential buyers are new hardwood floors, upgraded kitchens, and fresh new bathrooms.  While these are certainly ideal projects to develop, there are some unexpected projects that impress buyers as well:

1. A Simple, Well Thought Out Entryway--Since this is one of the very first things that guests see in your home, take the time to research and develop an attractive home entrance.  Have it be light and airy, simple yet tasteful, and one that fits the design of the home.  It will make a wonderful first impression to assist in your sale.

2. Upgraded Lighting--Most home improvement centers have a…

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How to Choose The Best Sales Price for Your Piedmont Home

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…

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Buying A Home--Take Time to Study Your Credit Report

In yesterday's blog we talked about the need to obtain your credit report from the 3 major credit reporting agencies-Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The reason for doing so was to have this information in front of you before you consider submitting your loan application to lenders.  Once you have these reports, you need to see what your FICO scores are.  If they not in the mid 700's, your chances of getting a good loan is poor.  This score is composed of many elements about you and your credit history-things like how many loans you have, what kind of payment history you have, what type of loans you have, etc..  A value is given to each of these elements, and a score assigned by each of the different agencies above.   

Assuming you are still eligible…

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How To Help Sell Your Piedmont Home

While it is my job as your agent to sell your Piedmont home, there are many things that you, as a seller, can do that will move the process and the negotiations along sucessfully.  Here are some ideas:

1. Know What Your Property Is Worth--You are considering selling your home.  One of the most important first steps that you should take is to go my website, or to the various real estate web sites like Trulia or Zillow, and get a sense of what homes like yours are selling for today.  You will be amazed at the wealth of information available.  It may be a shock to you.  If you bought your home at the peak of the home selling cycle a few years ago, you will become aware that your home may not be worth what you want it to be.  If you have a true sense of…

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Good News For Home Sellers in the San Francisco Bay Area

As the result of a recently published analysis of various housing markets, Zillow-a multi use real estate web site, has concluded that the San Francisco Metropolitan Area is the second best area in the United States for home sellers.  The first area is the San Jose Metropolitan Area-not too far away.

Since the San Francisco Metropolitan Area, by definition, includes Oakland homes, Piedmont homes and other East Bay cities, that is encouraging news for those making plans to sell a home in our area. 

The criteria, for defining a seller's market, according to Zillow, is "one where sellers are more likely to sell their home for close to asking price, and where listings spend less time on the market."

Obviously, this situation varies from city to city,…

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What Home Inspectors Will Look For When You Are Selling Your Piedmont Home

In a previous blog, I stressed how important is is to have your home inspection done before you put your Piedmont home on the market.  It will give you a sense of how ready you are to sell, help with proper home pricing, and motivate you to fix things first, before potential buyers discover them, causing future negotiation issues.

While this is not a comprehensive list, I would like to give you a general idea of some of the most important things that the inspector will be checking on the inside of your home:

1. Heating and Air Systems:  Are they efficient?  Do they serve your needs, or are they worn out?  Have you replaced your filters on both at least once a year?  When was the last time they were inspected?

2. Ducts and Vents:  These are…

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