John Protopappas of Madison Park Financial brings the Lampwork Lofts to Campbell Street in West Oakland.

For maximum return on investment, local experts recommend a spic-and-span home with fresh paint.

Red Oak Realty’s top producer, Deidre Joyner, talks strategies to fit home owners’ and buyers’ needs in the East Bay.

If the Seattle-based real estate analysis firm is right, Oakland home prices in 2015 will increase but only about half as much as they did in 2014.

Almost all the condominiums built as a result of former Mayor Jerry Brown’s push to bring 10,000 new residents to downtown have been sold. And there’s little new in the near-term pipeline.

A reverse mortgage is a “loan” of sorts, available to homeowners over the age of 62 to be used for just about anything—except stock market investment or speculation. Simply put, the traditional mortgage payback stream is reversed, and the lender pays the homeowner one lump sum at closing; a line of credit with a growth factor; or monthly installments of up to $625,000 over a specified period, depending on equity accrued.

Local brokers and banks make the case for service and sense of place.