In my research into my San Leandro developer/mayor Earl Derry ( Derry, Weaver & Derry / Derry Bros.)  I have discovered that in several tracts they constructed that they have used architect Irwin Johnson.  It appears that Johnson was the architect who did most of their ranch house designs. I think that the relationship between Derry and Johnson began with the "Broadmoor Park" tract.  This tract was started off in the late 1920s by developer EB Fields and sold off to the Derrys for completion. As you may know Irwin Johnson and EB Fields collaborated hugely on Sheffield village.  I have found evidence of Johnson and Derry in the "Lealand Heights", "New Broadmoor" and "Broadmoor Park" all by Derry, Weaver & Derry or Derry Brothers. Lealand Heights:  Parker, Sandelin, Norene, Rantoul, Graff... 05/29/2009

Dec 7, 1941 and the outbreak of World War II surely had an impact on development on The Broadmoor.  Below is the listing of homes built in The Broadmoor for the year of 1942. With home owners and construction works going off to war, work on the area homes came to an almost standstill. One street was the exception to this rule and that would be Georgia Way off of East 14th Street. Street Number 101  GEORGIA WAY 89  GEORGIA WAY 149  GEORGIA WAY 137  GEORGIA WAY 161  GEORGIA WAY 658  VICTORIA CT 111  GEORGIA WAY 875  VICTORIA AVE 162  GEORGIA WAY  138  GEORGIA WAY 125  GEORGIA WAY 173  GEORGIA WAY 05/21/2009

Hello blog readers, This Saturday, May 23rd, I will be hosting an open house in the Lealand Heights area of San Leandro's Bay-o-Vista. The home is a probate sale priced at $450,000.00.   I will be holding it open for Ernest, a Realtor in my Prudential California Realty office. I asked Ernest if I can hold this open, because I love this neighborhood.  I'd really like to sell you one of these Lealand Heights homes. Lealand Heights was built in the late 1930s and early 1940's by the Derry Bros. Co.    Homes by the Derry Brothers will be very well built and with lots of charm and character.  This home that I will be holding open as described by Ernest in the MLS "Large, spacious older home with lots of original charm. Terrific bay views. Two fireplaces. Two bedrooms upstairs, one downstairs... 05/21/2009

1939, a year that stands out in the 1930s.  One of the best years ever for Hollywood Glamour and the Art Deco lifestyle. Such movies as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Destry Rides Again,  The Young Mr. Lincoln and Dark Victory. Homes built in this era would reflect a 1939 Hollywood Glam Art-Deco feel to them.  If this is the type of home you are looking for these streets would be the places to look. The Lebon tract, which includes Diehl and Fortuna Avenue appear to have been the hot spots within The Broadmoor during this period.  The Lebon tract was built by the Diehl Family as developers. Across Dutton Avenue the New Broadmoor tract was begining with the Derry Bros., building the upper portions of Glen, Oakes and Begier as well a... 05/19/2009

Here in my second posting of this series, I wanted to share with you the timeline of what homes were built when. Here is a list of homes constructed in San Leandro's "The Broadmoor" neighborhood in the year 1926.   It looks like Alice and Helen Avenue was the hot construction zone during this year.  119 homes constructed during 1926 in this, our area. Some contruction on Lewis, Diehl and Mitchell.  Superior Avenue is just starting to gear up.  West Broadmoor also has quite a bit of activity also. 104  CAMBRIDGE AVE 147  WARWICK AVE 189  EUCLID AVE 205 W BROADMOOR BLVD 215  BROADMOOR BLVD 217 W BROADMOOR BLVD 237 W BROADMOOR BLVD 259  CAMBRIDGE AVE 268  KENILWORTH AVE  271  BROADMOOR BLVD 279  CAMBRIDGE AVE 284 W BROADMOOR BLVD 301  BROADMOOR BLVD 305  HOLLISTER CT 313  BROADMOOR BLVD 31... 05/15/2009

Always the historian, I have been just itching to find out what was built when and where within The Broadmoor.  I collected this information from Alameda County Public Records. Starting with the homes in my area, Derry, Weaver and Derry's "Cherry City Tract".  As you can see, 1927 was the year for Superior Avenue being the hub of activity.  Streets such as Diehl and Lewis only having a few homes being constructed. 1927 is a great year for storybook style homes right smack in the middle of that design style's lifespan. It shows you the difference between a tract of homes vs select custom home constrution 520  SUPERIOR AVE 580  SUPERIOR AVE 574  SUPERIOR AVE 544  SUPERIOR AVE 538  SUPERIOR AVE 583  SUPERIOR AVE 527  SUPERIOR AVE 543  SUPERIOR AVE 557  SUPERIOR AVE 537  SUPERIOR AVE 565  S... 05/15/2009

Hi there blog readers, Just to let you know that I have been elected to the board of The Broadmoor Neighborhood Association.  I hope that I can do my neighborhood justice as their representitive.  Being on the board of "The Broadmoor" is something I have wanted to do for a while. Having lived in The Broadmoor all of my life I am happy to finally be on the board.   I am so proud of my wonderful neighborhood. I have got to be The Broadmoor's greatest cheerleader.   It truely is a great place to live and I am so very proud of it. If you are looking for the East Bay, consider San Leandro's "The Broadmoor" neighborhood.  Give me a call, because I would love to help you find a great home! 05/03/2009

First time home buyers are looking at a market that shows no mercy, is highly competitive and does not reflect the conditions of a so-called "depressed real estate market." It is not easy to find a good house at the entry level without having to compete with other buyers, but with persistence, good preparation and the help of a professional local Realtor your chances of becoming a homeowner are better. Above all, be realistic, your very first house is not your "Dream House" but getting on the homeownership wagon will eventually get you there. Many home buyers have decided to jump off the fence and buy their very first house; perhaps it was the drop on interest rates to historical lows, or maybe the number of perceived bargains offered by the banks and a high inventory of homes for sale,... 05/03/2009

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) Becomes effective on May 1st. 2009 and it will hurt home buyers, home sellers, real estate brokers, appraisers and lenders amongst others. Be aware, be prepared, be patient, and... don't talk to the appraiser! The New York attorney general after concluding an investigation into Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's appraisal practices along with several government agencies, decided to adopt new changes for appraisals in the mortgage industry. Loan brokers and lenders are no longer allowed to chose their appraiser, all relationships with them are almost illegal!  This is what the first paragraph of the newly enacted resolution says:  Home Valuation Code of Conduct: No employee, director, officer, or agent of the lender, or any other third party acting as ... 04/28/2009

Well blog readers, sorry I have taken so long to post a new blog post. Guess what I have been busy helping clients.  I just finished with two closed escrows.  I was working with Tommy and Rachel finding them a nice ranch styled home in Hayward.  I was also working with Xiaodong and Faqiang getting them an investment property in Pittsburg. I have been trying some new marketing.   On Sundays when all the house hunters are out looking for open houses, I have been placing my tent sign out at the corner of Bancroft & Dutton with large print printout reading "LIST OF LOCAL HOMES FOR SALE".   I then printout the MLS list for the area and supply them in an large envelope attached to the tent sign.  Home hunters have been very receptive of this house hunting tool.   If you're in the area on a Su... 04/28/2009

What if you client ask you to write it? the seller can only accept ONE offer, what would be your contribution to this frenzy bidding? what about the other 59 Realtors? and their clients?  At what point would you say, I am not going to be a part of this frenzy bidding. Apart from that, what type of an offer would you counsel your client to write in order to have a chance to be the highest bidder? What would happen if you go too high and then the appraisal does not measure up? What would happen then? who's fault is it that this one sale went out of control? How much time was spent here by would be home buyers and Realtors? As I browsed this morning our MLS, looking for a house for a first time home buyer in Hayward, CA, I come across a very nice house in an average neighborhood slightly u... 04/04/2009

The local real estate market is showing signs of life! Finally! we are sensing more activity at open houses and sales at all price points. It does appear that home buyers are more aware of what this market is offering to them right now and they are finally taking the plunge. The $8,000 credit to first time buyers is a big pull plus fix interest rates below 5% shown all over the news is a confirmation to them that this market is turning around and if they don't buy now, they could simply miss the boat entirely. Spring time is the PERFECT time to buy a house. I predict that as we get closer to the November 30th deadline for the $8,000 tax credit there will be a rush of first time buyers trying to get into the market, but probably they will not find by then the number of properties availab... 03/27/2009

Here is a woman burning with desire to buy a house. For years, she worked towards saving money, cleaning up her credit rating, all the while pining for a house. Because of the language barrier, she has to rely on both her son and her daughter to help her in the process. So they go to the bank. She gets preapproved. She's ready. Step by step The first time that we met, I walked them through the process. I even gave them a Home Buyer's Guide and asked that they read it so that they know what to expect. I asked them to get prequalified. They said they already did, and handed me their preapproval letter. I call the lender, he confirms they can afford to buy a house. Then I gave them ideas on where we can look for homes in their budget. We find her a house, a really nice bank-owned, in San L... 03/15/2009

Last night, Gary and I "graduated" from our dance class taught by The Realtors in Motion, Active Rainers and competitive ballroom dancers from San Leandro CA, Alexia and Antonio Cardenas who were gracious enough to invite us to join their class. Now, when Gary and I attend some dance parties, maybe we won't end up being such wallflowers. I truly expect to be dancing in my late, late, late years. Just to give you an idea of what dancing can do to and for you...take a look at this 80 plus years old grandma dancing an energetic salsa! Just keep watching. It gets really fast and furious later. It's almost unbelievable. Now...doesn't that make you want to get up from that couch and start dancing? 03/12/2009

I love San Leandro I am deeply saddened however by the destruction of the 1950s mid century modern "googie" style EBMUD office on Washington Boulevard in the Downtown area. What a cool building this "was".  It had a precast concrete roof in a really interesting rolling wave pattern. The water utility EBMUD gave up on selling the property and let the city tear down the building for a parking lot.  This parking lot would serve the shoppers for the downtown farmer's market on Wednesday evenings. Why didn't someone on the city council or the library's historical committee speak up and save this crazy googie mid century modern building. To me San Leandro is only content on knocking down everything that is not Mission Revival stucco and with a red tile roof.  I am not in favor of a fake hacie... 03/12/2009

Hello again blog readers, I've seen some great opportunities come up in the coveted North area of San Leandro come on to the market in the last few weeks. The economy has finally hit our area hard and we are seeing some real affordability here now.  If you are looking to shorten your commute or to get into Roosevelt Elementary School, now is the time to buy.  If you see anything that catches your attention, please give me a call and we can talk about it.  Give me your email address and I will gladly forward you the complete listing.   Let's set a date for a tour of these homes. The Broadmoor has some interesting opportunites.  Fortuna Avenue has a property listed for $299,900.00  Superior Avenue has a property at $349,950.00  Broadmoor Boulevard has two properties listed at $300,000 and... 03/10/2009

     I am sorry that I haven't been supplying you with my regular blog content. I have been a little busy. and for several reasons.       The first reason is that I was robbed at gun-point while with a client.  We were looking at a property near Oakland's Castlemont High School.  We had just seen the small two bedroom ranch house and were in the backyard looking at the detached garage when five armed punks came down the driveway and ambushed us.  They stole from us our money, cell phones, wallets, my brand new GPS (worked so hard to get that).  The leader of this gang was next to me and he specifically asked the car keys.  With the keys, they then stole my mother's minivan and had keys to our homes.      The criminals then ran back down the driveway and departed in the aforementioned mi... 03/01/2009

I believe that it is time for all of us to begin fighting back! Yes, we must fight for our jobs, our careers, our industry. We can no longer just sit and wait for better days. I would like to challenge everyone who reads this post to give us ONE idea that we all can use to spread the word to the general public that is really not as bad as it looks, help us get our economy back on track. Can you think of something positive to do? to say? to write? and to publish?Can we all start printing newsletters with ONLY POSITIVE NEWS? I challenge EVERYONE to speak only good news about our real estate market for one week. ONE WEEK ONLY! I think that we could not only influence our audience, weather it be our family, friends, colleagues, and obviously home buyers and home sellers, but more important ... 02/26/2009

As a professional Realtor with over 24 years of experience, I have never seen so many bad news about my business put together and shown all over the media day after day after day. You will think that there is a conspirancy to drive us out of our business. I certainly have noticed the drop of phone calls, the lack of transit during open houses, the dissapereance of  good, reputable real estate companies and associated and supportive service companies like title insurance, pest control, roofing, mortgage and others that depend on a healthy real estate market. But is it really that bad for everybody?  Just as when the market was in the upswing, we knew that it will have to stop one way or another, we clearly see that it did stop and that is going nowhere right now... Or is it?  Despite the... 02/22/2009

The Tax Credit passed by congress have given home buyers a better incentive to go out and make a purchase of their first home. But are they stimulated enough to do that? I believe the problem we have is not simply the apathy of the home buyer but rather the confidence level of the average buyer, any buyer of any product. What I encounter in my small town in San Leandro, California must be typical of the rest of the country. The people I talk to are average Jane's and Joe's who if not unemployed, at this time are simply glad to have a job. We need to seek help for other areas of the economy, so as to restore the confidence that the home buyer has to have in order to sign the dotted line that promises to make payments for the next 30 years. Nobody would even think of doing that not knowin... 02/17/2009