Real Estate

Well, today was the day for real estate deals. We pretty much signed off on a deal to sell our Seattle condo, and we were approved for an apartment in Albany, across the bay from San Francisco just next to Berkeley but with a lower level of moonbattery.

Our plan is to hunt for someplace to buy in the area. I am pretty determined about sinking the equity from our Seattle abode into something down here. It boils down to two questions: how small are we willing to go, and how far out from the city can we tolerate?

Over the weekend we went shopping in Emeryville, an up-and-coming neighborhood on the other side of Berkeley. They recently put in a really nice outdoor pedestrian mall of the Banana Republic/Williams & Sonoma variety. Above the retail strip are new 1- and 2-bedroom condos. I popped into the sales office to check out the brochure, and overheard a staffer telling another visitor that the 1-bedrooms started at $650,000 while the 2-beds were priced between $750-$850,000.

Ho. Ly. Crap.

You know you're in a crazy housing market when you see a 900 sq ft 2-bedroom condo for $410,000 and your first reaction is "Wow! That's cheap!"