Will You be My Eichler?

In what seem like a blink of an eye, we've lived in our current home for over 9 years. Our little family has doubled in numbers since the day we laid eyes on our Queen Anne Victorian in the North Oakland flats. Over the years we've done what seem like an endless list projects to update, maintain, and improve our home. But we always knew that we would leave one day because we need more space for our growing family.

I had kind of given up hope on finding a home that fits all our criteria in the budget that we had set for ourselves. The Bay Area real estate market is notorious for being one of the most competitive and expensive in the country so finding something that fit our budget would mean a fixer-upper. Something that most home buyers don't want to deal with. We are not really phased by renovation because this is not my first rodeo as they say.

A few weeks ago, as I was browsing through the Multiple Listing Service, a house in a neighborhood that we've always liked caught my eye. The asking price was high enough for a fixer that I didn't pay much attention to it but I did mark it to keep track of the sales trend. The house quickly went pending which I wasn't too surprised because it was an Eichler home and they usually command a premium over homes of similar size due to the its' association with the Mid-Century-Modernism.

Much to my surprise, the house came back on the market a few days later with a slight price reduction. I sent the listing to my husband as I often do without expecting to hear back from him. But he asked if we could go see it. I said sure, we can see it the next day. We decided to make an offer on the house immediately after seeing the house, with the help of my friend, a fellow real estate agent.

The offer was submitted on a Friday night, the agent had scheduled 2 open houses for that weekend and said they will mostly likely accept our offer but not until after the Sunday open house. Saturday and Sunday, we were in a holding pattern, cautiously optimistic about our offer. I didn't want to fall in love with the house and have someone come in at the last minute to submit a higher offer. When we finally received the seller signed contract on Sunday night, we were kind of in shock and couldn't believe we are in escrow for an Eichler! I love MCM and to be able to live in Modernist architecture is like a dream come true!!

The house will need a lot of TLC to bring it back to its' former glory but I am positive that we'll do it justice by updating the house without comprising its' Modernist aesthetic.




















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