Many are drawn to the unique neighborhoods

There are certainly many people in the Bay Area who believe that Oakland is populated exclusively by folks who can’t afford to live anywhere else. Or aren’t smart enough to realize how terrible off they are.

Suburbanites (some are my dear friends) look on us with pity and shake their heads at the nightly news broadcasts which detail robbery, murder and mayhem on the streets of Oakland. To live here is to be more or less constantly on the defensive about your choice of location, and to be mad and saddened at the stubbornness of our problems. To live in Oakland is to routinely meet with rock solid convictions that there’s nothing excellent to be had here.

How then to clarify the approximately 1,800 home buyers who took on mortgages here in 1993, thus promising to live at least for the near future in this city of contradictions ? Surely they all knew of Oakland’s awesome reputation.

Interviewing some of my own clients revealed fascinating perspectives.

Many of Oakland’s new residents are first-time buyers who do approach our town with trepidation, having heard the worst from friends and family (none of whom have ever lived in Oakland; many have never visited). High crime, terrible neighborhoods, uncaring, hostile neighbors, terrible schools, all await the home buyer native enough to consider Oakland.

And yet, shown the neighborhoods in their price range, whether Maxwell park, the Laurel, the Glenview , the Oakmore, or Crocker Highlands , prospective home buyers are unfailingly surprised and delighted with what’s available to them.

Many searched diligently in other areas before coming to Oakland, leaving this town as a last resort. If lucky enough to come upon a Realtor who knows about the neighborhoods here, they will learn what many of my clients did: we have more affordable, fascinating, stable, centrally located neighborhoods than any other city within driving distance.

What brings first-time buyers to Oakland? The past years saw interest rates at historic lows, enabling hundreds of buyers to get into their first home. Lenders encouraged this new clientele  by offering low down payment and low interest rate packages. When interest rates were lowest , buyers could go with 3-5 percent down payments and start out with a 3.25 percent interest rate. These variable loans can adjust up two percent every year (and probably will) with a cap of 9.875 percent. People who are comfortable with the probability of their payments going up took advantage of these loans to buy “more house” in better neighborhoods.

The low interest rates combined with reduced prices made a huge difference to my clients, Amelia and Jim. We looked diligently for several months until the home of their dreams came within their reach in the Grand Avenue area. By that time they understood the loan process and had seen many areas of Oakland . They were ready to go forward with confidence. Amelia says, “We really fell in like with this house and this neighborhood. Initially we looked in Berkeley and found it too expensive, so we came here. What started out as fiscal choice as we fell in like with our house and our Rose Garden neighborhood.”

Jerry and Wendy, another young couple, found themselves able to afford a lovely Craftsman bungalow  in the Glenview. The came from San Francisco, where there was no possibility they could have bought a house. In Oakland, we found a house which needed some work — drainage, interior paint, floors refinished. After exhaustive inspections and much agonizing, they chose to go ahead and buy, because they liked both the house and the neighborhood. I felt the projects to come for them would not be beyond their capabilities. The price was a real stretch for them, but they’re glad the did it. Spending every weekend painting walls has replaced trips away and movies for the time being, but they did manage to go camping this summer.

Jerry says, “I like living in this city. My co-workers in San Francisco say, ‘you must live high in the Oakland hills if you like it so much,’ but I tell them, no, I live on a hill in Oakland, but it’s pretty close to the flats. My neighbors are just fantastic… we were welcomed when we went in, and this month everyone’s trading apples and plums from their backyard trees. I have coffe with my elderly neighbor down the street  every morning before I walk our new dog. Oakland turned out to be just fantastic for us. I’m proud to live in Oakland now.”

‘Everything is so simple here. You can drive 10 minutes, park, and delight in yourself, no hassles.’

— FRANK, A JOAN DARK CLIENT

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City offers families more for real estate their money

There are several populations other than recent newcomers who’ve bought homes in Oakland and are pleased with their choice.

One group is composed of first-time buyers who’ve been here well over two years. They have much better feel for the city now than in their first hectic year of home ownership. “During our first year, all we did was paint and dig in the garden every single weekend,” says Carl. “We were either in a fog of paint fumes or covered with redwood compost dust for months and months, but we wanted to get the house the way we wanted it. We didn’t have money for frills anyway, after making the house payment.” But after a few years, salaries catch up with house payments and the new buyers get some relief from the close ratio of income to house payments that qualified them to buy in the first place.

“We had no thought what a fantastic neighborhood the Oakmore is when we went into it,” enthuses Jackie. “We thought it looked excellent, and we loved the house, but we got really lucky with our neighborhood, I have a friend who fell in like with a house in Walnut Creek, bought it, and found his neighbors to be terribly snooty, nosy and disagreeable. He despises it there now. I have another friend who went into the Oakland hills, and he’s so sick of his neighbors fighting over views that he’d like to live somewhere else more peaceful, too. On our street, people are really nice and friendly. My husband can work on his car on the weekends and nobody complains.

Lincoln Heights district for over four years, and has recently married a woman with two teen-age boys. “My elderly next-door neighbor “adopted” me when I first went here. I was the only single guy in the neighborhood, and I reckon she worried that I’d starve to death or something. Now she’s adopted the boys, gives them books and cookies and watches our place when we’re gone. She’s fantastic.” The fact that James was the first minority in the neighborhood is further testimony to the welcoming atmosphere in this town.

James has to chuckle, though about people’s perception of Oakland. “When I tell them I live in Oakland, people say, “I didn’t realize IBM (his employer) paid so poorly,’ or they don’t say anything, but they just look at you strangely. Oakland has a reputation and image even in Chicago, where I’m from. But I say, give it a chance. Come and take a look. You’ll be surprised how nice it is.”

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