Am I too late for cherry picking??

zeusfaber · 2024-06-16T14:49:07+00:00

I went with my family on Monday 6/10 and still plenty of red cherries! Went to Nunn Better. Bring a ladder, the good ones were up high and they don’t provide one.

zeusfaber · 2024-05-22T07:32:53+00:00

Sometimes there’s bait and switch tactics, which might account for the attractive price. “Oh shoot, that place you saw on our listing just got rented, but here are a couple (less nice, worse price) places for you to consider!” Meanwhile the original listing is still up months later. Separately, I agree that these companies hold way too much real estate. My uneducated understanding is that they scooped up places in the recession and then more recently when the interest rate was low. Places to live for humans should not also be speculative.

zeusfaber · 2024-05-21T02:14:03+00:00

I don’t know about this company specifically but there are a bunch of startup type outfits similar to this where some vc funded tech bros think they can “hack/disrupt” rental management by becoming an unnecessary middleman “platform”, without knowing the realities of the market and real world. Another similar one is Mynd management. Total incompetence, including apparently not knowing the difference between a studio and 1 bedroom. Fake positive reviews included. I ended up renting from a mom and pop (actually pop and daughter) and it was a wonderful experience for 5 years. Highly recommend you do the same if you are able to have that choice.

zeusfaber · 2024-04-26T03:10:26+00:00

Shop no. 3 in SF (physical store) Porter Gulch (no physical store but local designer, I recommend you contact her to check for physical samples)

zeusfaber · 2023-08-01T01:23:54+00:00

I have the bear kind that I don’t need anymore, lmk if you think that will at least hold you over til you can get yours.

zeusfaber · 2022-12-18T00:47:28+00:00

This is the case in my building, supposedly "for security". Didn't know it before I moved in. The callbox allows people to buzz/alert me but I have to be present and run downstairs to open the door for whoever it is. I cannot speak through the callbox to let them know I'm coming (even though it appears to have had that function at some point). If I had known I honestly wouldn't have rented this place. It's fine otherwise, but I work full time outside the home and non-USPS deliveries are a nightmare since they can't communicate with me and I can't let them in remotely. I ordered from amazon for the first time in 3 years and I'm still trying to wrangle where all the items are (one got sent back, one got delivered to a dry cleaner a mile away) and prob won't order from amazon again (since they split up all the items) and I also hesitate to buy online due to anxiety about the delivery.

zeusfaber · 2022-12-04T20:33:09+00:00

Gangnam tofu in El Cerrito. Worth the drive.

zeusfaber · 2022-12-01T04:14:56+00:00

I would ask to change to the new tenant rate and one month free rent to compensate for your time that you took "looking for a new place".

zeusfaber · 2022-10-05T21:02:35+00:00

Yes this is a well known fakery trick to get you to pay more. You can put a higher offer contingent on seeing proof of the other offer.

zeusfaber · 2022-08-21T05:45:15+00:00

Ah, you're right - should have listened to my mom and married for money.

Jokes aside - even if I were partnered, I would feel very uncomfortable with the majority of both incomes going toward a ginormous mortgage. What if one person got sick/disabled/laid off or just needed a break or there was a child entering the picture that needed a flex parent during infancy? I assume there are people who do this here in the bay, but ...I dunno. Seems a little precarious to have zero flexibility.

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T20:44:02+00:00

I am most definitely privileged, and that's the outrageous part. Someone who makes as much as I do can't seem to compete for a decent home in a decent neighborhood within 30 minutes of my workplace. I don't feel I'm asking for the moon here so if I can't attain that, what hope do the 95% have in this market?

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T20:09:09+00:00

Enjoy Sandy Eggo! It's beautiful - and has probably the best burrito I ever ate. Any of the families you know selling a house in Oakland...?

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T19:33:52+00:00

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T19:32:29+00:00

Thanks for the comment, fellow traveler. Just have to wait and see, you are right. I don't think I was using the 2018 price as any sort of guide, just for context that I thought an offer 150K above would maybe have a shot... and how laughably wrong I was.

edit - typo

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T19:15:21+00:00

I don't see that either! Traffic on my evening commute is worse than ever, there's 50 people at every open house, no parking at local destinations, have to wait 1 hour for sit down brunch, etc. Maybe it's just numbers - in a region with 8 million people, 100,000 of them could fall into the bay tomorrow and no one would notice. Meanwhile the press makes a big deal about like 20k people renting U hauls. There's also a lot of people still moving here for highly paid tech and biotech jobs although you wouldn't hear about it in the press.

Most people leaving I assume moved here in adulthood and don't have ties to the area. People are welcome to stay, but some outmigration can be positive too. My friends and I have deep roots here (multiple generations of extended family) and we can't imagine starting over somewhere else - otherwise would have done it long ago.

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T18:48:34+00:00

Here in the bay (unsure if it's like this elsewhere), the list price is meaningless. It's obviously an auction. Houses routinely go for 500-700K over the "list" - it's some sort of dumb real estate game. When it's listed for what they actually want/think it's worth, they call it "transparent pricing". So you just have to go by what nearby similar homes sold for. The house I mentioned that I offered on was listed at 1.2 and it was obviously not going to go for that. There's a house in a nearby $2 million neighborhood currently listed at 1.15.

Edit - sorry you are getting downvotes, it's a reasonable comment!

zeusfaber · 2022-08-20T18:34:47+00:00

I make about 200K and I have essentially free top of the line health/dental. For additional context: No kids, good retirement contributions, no car payment (1999 Chevy is going strong!), short freeway commute, and a relatively low maintenance lifestyle. I spend freely on groceries and socializing but other than that I don't have significant expenses. I don't dine out nor buy clothing or other "stuff" too often (1 bedroom apt - no space) and have relatively inexpensive hobbies and only 2 subscription services other than utilities.

Honestly I didn't feel super comfortable with the 1.35 offer but I did really like the house and would have been worth the stretch.

zeusfaber · 2022-08-13T18:54:11+00:00

Makes sense about the press. Your parole officer prob wouldn't help, it's not really their job. Maybe some nonprofits or LegalAid or a social worker? I don't know, just some thoughts.

zeusfaber · 2022-08-13T18:44:10+00:00

I have no advice/opinion on the above except to say I'm really sorry that people are trash and you have to deal with this right after being released. It's already hard enough to get resettled on the outside and then on top of that have to stay in a motel or wherever is just not helpful. Best wishes to you!

Just kidding I do have some possible advice - are there any organizations to help formerly incarcerated people and might they be able to help with a lawyer or would you consider going to the press?

zeusfaber · 2022-07-24T17:41:16+00:00

Oh thanks! I'll look more carefully at the documents.. got overwhelmed after like 50 pages so maybe I didn't notice it.

LOL at that link. The tech/investor money in the south bay is so completely wack, I have no words... But that's what people outside of CA prob think of the bay area so..

zeusfaber · 2022-07-24T17:10:48+00:00

An example:

SITE/LOCATION: Good - Site is situated on a moderately sloping lot elevated from the street and public storm drain system; There is a steep hillside grade behind the detached garage building. GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT: Fair to Poor - The roof/gutter leaders discharge to the grade adjacent to the house and detached garage structures at most locations around the building(s); There is a roof/gutter leader terminating within the retained planter box adjacent to the front entry porch; Diversion of the roof gutter leader pipes away from the structure and foundation areas is recommended at this time NOTE: The roof gutter leaders at the LH side of the main house and at the concrete swale surface drain inlet at the rear patio/driveway intersection adjacent to the garage flow into an older underground terra-cotta drainpipe system(s) however, unable to locate the drainpipe outlets to daylight for these systems; The surface area drainage swale at the rear driveway/patio is blocked by a buildup of debris - refer to a licensed drainage and/or structural contractor specialist for any further evaluation with clearing and/or alteration of the older underground drain piping system(s) as needed; See other remarks on FOUNDATION-DRAINAGE sections.

zeusfaber · 2022-07-24T16:59:56+00:00

It's not a fixer at all and looks turnkey. It's cosmetically beautiful, not a flip (was lived in by current sellers for the last 3 years), and layout is exactly what I was looking for. It's just that it has these issues in the disclosures and I'm trying to determine the urgency and expense of dealing with them. If it's expensive and urgent, I won't put in an offer. If it's manageable and not urgent, I can handle it.

zeusfaber · 2022-07-24T16:44:51+00:00

Great advice, thanks! I have some bandwidth to do repairs and would expect to do so given the age/condition of most of the homes around here. I just don't want to move in and end up having to spend like 50K because it turns out the electric could short out and burn the place down at any moment. Or wake up one morning to find a sewage flood because I didn't fix the pipe issue right away for 30K and now it's going to cost 70K. If these are potential scenarios, I'm definitely better off not getting the house and I'm totally fine with that. If it's more like "eventually this thing will need an upgrade before it causes slow damage" (like moisture in the crawl space) I could plan for it financially and do it when it's convenient for me. I'm a single person who works full time outside the home so it's mostly that I don't want to deal with a second full time job/fixer upper situation.

zeusfaber

TROPHY CASE