Oakland Real Estate

Oakland: The Bay Area’s Best Kept Secret

Those of us who live here know what a terrific place Oakland is, but many people who don’t live here (and never have) are absolutely certain that it’s a very bad Place indeed. Buying a home in Oakland means being prepared to explain the decision to the many “experts” who have advice about better places to live.

There are several interesting and diverse groups who have bought homes in Oakland within the past few years. In fact, last year there were well over 1,800 homes sold to People who have promised their lenders, at least to live here regardless of advice to the contrary.

Many of Oakland’s new residents are first time buyers. They approach home buying with varying degrees of information and trepidation. Not only are they stretching their dollars to the maximum just to get into the market, but they usually don’t know the neighborhoods, the shopping districts, or local resources.

For various reasons (almost always price and location) they decide to look in Oakland. To their surprise shown the neighborhoods in their price range, whether they be Maxwell Park,the Laurel, the Glenview, the Oakmore, Montclair, or Crocker Highlands, prospective home buyers are unfailingly surprised and delighted with what’s available. If lucky enough to come upon a Realtor who knows the neighborhoods, they learn what many of my clients have learned: we have more affordable, interesting, stable, centrally located neighborhoods than any city within driving distance.

Additionally,  there are terrific programs still available for first time buyers, with down payment requirements as low as 3-5 percent and variable interest rates beginning at 4 percent. Thus on a $250,000 sale price, buyers would need as little as $7,500 plus closing costs.

Another group of Oakland home buyers are the experienced home owners who have either “bought up” or moved here through job transfers. These buyers could afford to live anywhere. They are mid to top level executives who are very savvy  about urban living. “We’ve lived in many places because I get transferred every few years,” says Ken, a vice president with Pacific Bell. “After house hunting extensively, we choose Oakland for several reasons. First, we found the people to be friendliest here. Wherever we went in Oakland, whether restaurants, stores, even on the street people said hello and smiled. We felt more welcome here than anywhere else. Second, we love old homes. We think they’re built better and have more character than the newer tract homes we looked at. Third, we love the weather. The suburbs are too hot, San Francisco is too cold. Fourth, our dollars bought more house here than anywhere else. Oakland is one of the Bay Area’s best kept secrets!”

An elderly couple I’m working with have lived here nearly 50 years. Their home is no longer suitable for them as it has stairs to the bedrooms and they’ve both fallen in the Past year. They too looked in the suburbs at Rossmoor, but felt it was too far away from friends and family, and too hot. “Also, there were too many old people,” the wife says chuckling. They will stay in Oakland and will buy when we find them a new, level home. “We really have no reason to leave,” she says.

Another group of buyers in Oakland will be a surprise to many. They are the “refugees” from close-by suburban areas who are returning to an urban setting. While there is not yet gridlock on Highway 24 from buyers  pouring into Oakland from the “burbs,” the number is significant and growing. These buyers are by  no means short of money, nor are they naive about Oakland. They are widely diverse age-wise and ethnically, and are able to buy quite expensive homes, well into the half million dollar range.

Some have bought in the fire area, some in Montclair, Crocker Highlands and Rockridge. The only thing they have in common is the wish to get out of suburbia. And they were all subjected to the same distress and disbelief when they revealed to their neighbors that they were moving to Oakland.

“I love my new neighborhood” says Martin. “We have block parties and I’ve gotten to meet so many nice people. In Lafayette, everything was so child-centered that as our kids grew up the neighbors stopped talking to each other. Plus everyone commutes so far they don’t get home until late. I always got home in a horrible mood.”

As author Peter King wrote in a Los Angeles Times article after the fire, “What separates Oakland from other troubled cities is an almost perverse civic pride in its ability to absorb great blows. This is the Timex of California cities. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

Joan Dark is a senior sales associate with Pacific Union Residential Brokerage in Montclair.