East Bay Realty Pro Blog

Halloween is coming to the Oakland Zoo, one of our city’s prime attractions.
October 24th is the first day of the zoo’s annual, “Boo at the Zoo.” You and your kids can also choose from two other days for fun – the 25th and 31st. Plan to ride the Boo train and to participate in the [...]

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Yesterday, my wife and I attended a very special event, the 20th annual “Festival of Harps, a Celebration of World Harp Music.” We heard about it through the e-newsletter of our favorite harpist, Aryeh Frankfurter (Lionharp Music). The venue was the unique and fabulous Chapel of the Chimes on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. Built in [...]

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Huge earthquakes shook Samoa and Indonesia in the past few days. Scientists predict the Big One in Northern California within the next 30 years.
A large scale, fire/earthquake drill is taking place on October 15, at 10:15 AM when everyone is being encouraged to “Drop, Cover and Hold On” as though you were experiencing a major [...]

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There are so many things to see and do in the East Bay. Years ago, my wife, Sonia, started a list of “must do’s.” Eventually, she expanded it into what is now the Neighborhood Connections page on my Web site, East Bay Realty Pro.
The page not only contains lists (and links) to fun places throughout [...]

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With the weather being so wonderful, it is a great time to take advantage of Oakland’s free walking tours before they end for the season. Running from May through October, there are eight itineraries. A few examples are “Old Oakland,” “City Center,” “Uptown to the Lake,” and “Waterfront.”
Check the full schedule at the City of [...]

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I had a double reason to visit Oakland’s Montclair Farmers’ Market this morning.
Started in 2005, the market has been a huge success. A large section of LaSalle Avenue is closed to traffic and filled with vendors whose stalls are brimming with gorgeous fruits, vegetables, pastries, ethnic foods and so much more.
The primary reason for my [...]

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With the East Bay’s wonderful Mediterranean climate, I’ve been able to grow everything from tomatoes to garlic to several varieties of peppers in our Oakland garden.
In March 2008, my wife, Sonia, brought home a packet of Padrón pepper seeds she picked up at Berkeley’s Spanish Table. Although an avid gardener for many years, I had [...]

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Sometimes it’s difficult to make social appointments when you work in real estate. My wife and I were planning to join this morning’s tour of Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, “Noted, Notable and Notorious,” but work intervened. It may seem strange to some to go traipsing among the tombstones, but think about it as a place [...]

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My Sunday day off was all planned in my mind: watch the last two NCAA basketball games before the Final Four and spend the rest of the day spiffing up our garden. So, when my wife, Sonia, asked if I would like to join her and a friend on a hike in Joaquin Miller Park, [...]

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Yesterday, I received a call from a fellow asking for advice for his friend. He said she was having mortgage payment problems and wanted to know who she should call to help her deal with her lender. Given her situation, I warned him how, in southern California, some people are getting ripped off by shysters [...]

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