Maureen Kennedy, Piedmont CA Broker

I heard Chip Conley of Joie de Vivre hotels speaking at Wendell Rosen last week about creating peak experiences for clients--did you know this boutique hotelier just bought the Waterfront Plaza Hotel in Oakland earlier last week, and is revamping the Hotel Durant in Berkeley as we speak?  His "Pe...

Yep, some of you were wondering if it were a Freudian slip when I said in the Bolinas note that a property was ''over-priced'' at $1.395 million.A big part of our jobs as realtors is to provide insight on value--sales price, appreciation potential, renvoation costs, and so on.  So we don't do any...

It's my big new year's resolution.  When I left Alaska for the Kennedy School in the mid-'80s, I intended to study environmental economics.  After a year, I found myself drawn back to housing economics, resulting in a bit of a split personality.  For instance, after four years of serving as Henry...

The average price of a Piedmont home dipped about 3 percent in 2007 compared to 2006, from just under 1.7 million to $1.62 million.   The average sales price was about 2 percent below the original asking price. On a per square foot basis, the average remained flat at $610/sf, compared to last yea...

Konrad's alma mater, Reed College, opted out of the US News and World Report college listings with much fanfare years ago, but Piedmont High made the grade in the magazine's recent "Top 100 Public High Schools" list.  The cohort included all those magnet, charter and academy schools--in fact winn...

OK.  So you are on the fence about whether to do a major remodel (scrape it to the floor) or a minor remodel (replace appliances and countertops) for your kitchen.  It definitely needs something.  But you've been indecisive for months.  How to get off the fence?  Take a look at this year's Remode...

Took a tour of Bolinas recently with my colleague Terry Donohue (see their great site covering West Marin listings at  www.bolinasrealty.com).  She helped us find our house in Inverness, but lives and works in Bolinas.  It's the same town you remember from 20 years ago BUT a number of political a...

Feeling out of control?  I was--I moved offices (all my stuff went straight into--the garage), and realized how much deferred maintenance had accumulated in Piedmont while we were focused on Inverness.  A colleague mentioned Simply Organized, run by Nina Johnson in Montclair, so I decided to give...

Thanksgiving's coming up.  Let's give thanks that the Big One hasn't hit thusfar, and then let's get prepared.  See 72Hours.org and bepreparedcalifornia.ca.gov.   72Hours in particular has a really functional layout and walks you through what you need in your earthquake bin, how to think about wh...

421 Wildwood Avenue, central Piedmont:Please celebrate the Roaring '20s in Piedmont with a glass of Pomegranate Punch at 421 Wildwood AvenueFriday, July 20th, 5-7 PMIt will come to market Thursday at $3 million.RSVP to me on 510-986-9517. Check www.421WildwoodAvenue.Com on Thursday morning for a ...