Oakland Victorian
by Al
R and I visited a house that was listed for sale by the owner today. He agreed to meet us at 8:00 PM at the place. It’s a restored Victorian (the owner is a real estate investor and has had people working to clean up and restore the place). It’s an 1890’s era house with a large back and front yard and off-street parking.
It is in West Oakland about two miles from where we live. The overall area is ok for Oakland and likely to get better. The main floor has had the hardwood floors restored and they are in the process of putting a new kitchen into the place. There is a new deck out back, a new roof, and the exterior has been sanded and painted. It’s a very nice place. The only things that I did not like about it are that the basement under the house is completely unfinished (dirt floor) and the second floor is a converted attic (which is cool) but the ceilings are slanted enough that R would not necessarily want to walk around there much (she’s a few inches taller than I am). Of course, the main floor has a huge living room with bay windows, a large kitchen with space for a dining room table, and two large bedrooms. All of this with hardwood floors, original molding and lighting fixtures. The place is beautiful.
Here are some pics…
Unless someone else goes for it, we have until this coming Monday to decide if we want it. On Monday, the owner will go through the process of listing it and the price will go up.
One of the other things that we’ve discussed is getting a mixed commercial/living space. We’ve seen a few for sale around. This would allow us to turn the lower portion (front portion or whatever) into a space for work, classes, events, etc.
We’ll see.
Comments
what’s something like that go for, in that area?
Between $480K and $550K depending on location and qualities. This is listed by the owner (without an agent at the moment) for $489K.
wowzers
Welcome to the Bay Area, one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.
This is cheap compared to the rest of the area. The same house in Berkeley would be at least $800K or so.
That’s it? Shoot…I thought a restored victorian that nice would still fetch over a mil in Oakland. We just moved back up here from soCal, where prices were crazy, but not as bad as here in the bay area. We’re renting a little ’50’s tract home in San Leandro, and THOSE are still listed at over 500K….it’s nuts.
Only issue we have is that we have a 3-year-old (oh…and hubby is the poster child for “suburbia boy”….has never lived in an urban area and is a tad paranoid). I do need to be careful about neighborhoods mainly for her safety. I wouldn’t feel comfortable living in an area with a lot of gang activity and violent crime, but don’t mind an area to be a bit “rough around the edges”.
If houses like this are this affordable in Oakland, maybe there is hope beyond this 1950 box, especially when we are ready to buy in the next year or so, which I expect prices to fall quite a bit in that time, though maybe not so much in urban areas.
That house is a beauty, btw.
Michelle
For most of us, its way to expensive, but in the end, this kind of market isnt build for ALL OF US.
I wish I can aford one though