Spring is Passing Through

The title of the post refers to the weather in the area over the last week. Spring may be in the air but its feeling a lot like summer.

Last Wednesday afternoon I spent a few hours volunteering at the Alameda Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo and monthly mixer which was very well attended. Those who participated or attended will surely vouch for its success. Although a long day, a second wind is never far behind a Chamber of Commerce event.

Friday was road trip day. Early this year we sold a home in the Clipper Cove development of Harbor Bay for a very nice retired couple. Although their home was on the market for some time, they realized that to get their up leg property they needed to get in tune with the market at that given time and forget about their expectations of the market. The plan worked, far better than they ever expected. An offer came in that was acceptable to them and they ultimately purchased a larger home in the Napa Valley for less than they sold their Alameda home and were ecstatic at the end result. What makes this story even happier is that my wife’s maid of honor in our wedding, Ingrid, is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in the Napa Valley. Our clients in Alameda used her skills in Napa to purchase their dream home.

Our road trip first involved finding a hotel close to everyone, the Chablis Inn, which was dog friendly for my miniature American Eskimo (Snowy).

So we checked in and headed off to Ingrid’s who guided us to our friends in the area.

As we walked up the walkway you couldn’t help but smell the roses along the walkway to the front door. Lou opened the door, his wife Carol standing alongside him and we just knew they were completely content.

For the next four hours Nancy and Ingrid celebrated with Carol with a bottle of champagne, while Lou and I sipped Martinelli’s cider walked the neighborhood and listened as Lou showed his re-invented machine shop in the third stall of his garage.

Lou owned a machine shop in Oakland before retiring and kept much of his equipment to handle his hobbies.

For those unfamiliar with Napa (as I am), the neighborhoods are not the style found throughout some areas of Alameda. Take a lot in this area of Napa and it might be well over 15,000 square feet and have 2 to 3 homes on it sharing a driveway. Now these aren’t your typical architectural style, one home may be colonial, behind it may be modern, next lot over a Tudor. It was surprising to see the mix of styles in such a short distance of one another. I took a few pictures, from my flip camera but they don’t give the full view of the neighborhood but a good perspective. Two hundred yards away was a newer home with a setback of less then 20 feet from the road. Seventy-five yards or so behind the home on the same lot was a garage for multiple recreational vehicles, (at least four) with living space above and a single family home alongside. In the other direction, a newly built Tudor with manicured landscaping viewable from the street, ten feet up was the driveway with a wrought iron gate. Standing in the driveway looking past the gate, and under the vines, stood a home I’d expect to see in the more exclusive areas of California, I’m guessing it had to have been close to 10,000 square feet in size.

I wish I had brought my better camera, you can bet I will in the future.

I mentioned the Chablis Inn earlier, the hotel was well appointed with wet bar, coffee maker, pool and a Jacuzzi that was out of order, but we didn’t have time for it anyway. Overall I’d give the accommodations an 8, the street noise was more than I could handle in the early morning hours. My recommendation, bring earplugs or an IPod.

Mothers Day back home consisted of three parties in this household. The Saturday before the traditional Mothers day was spent with my in-laws and Nancy’s brother and his wife and our niece, Nancy’s sister and our brother-in-law, and her 98 year old father. Oh, and the three dogs under foot.

My brother entertained my mother and his mother-in-law on Sunday. We are planning another Mothers Day dinner at the Colombo Club in Oakland on Tuesday with my Godparents the Castagnetto’s.

On the real estate front I held 146 Basinside Way in Alameda’s Harbor Bay open Sunday and had a respectable 15 groups pass through a pretty good turnout for Mothers Day.

Tomorrow’s brokers tour appears to be pretty light with only five homes listed so far, but it’s still a little early. All are single family homes except one that is a townhome here in Bay Farm.

If you need more info on any of these just call or email me.

Ciao for now..Chuck