Room for rent w/bay window & big closet in veggie home nr hwy 24, Berkeley

[Guest guest]

This is an opportunity to share a newly remodeled flat near the

Berkeley border with two mellow and communicative men, one 36 (who

owns the home) the other 29… and one short-haired cat. The household

is quiet, non-smoking, shoes-free, and vegetarian (no meat or fish).

Available now. The room is $595.

 

The flat is newly remodeled and features:

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Refinished hardwood floors

 

10' tall ceilings

 

Victorian features

 

Backyard with apricot, nectarine, peach, and Asian pear trees, plus

garden beds for growing vegetables or herbs.

 

Large remodeled kitchen with stainless steel appliances, gas stove,

granite countertop, skylights, tile floor, cherry cabinets, granite

countertop, and a big pass-through window open to the living room.

 

Kitchen is also equipped with a Vitamix, Multipure water filter,

Cuisinart food processor, sprouter, and deyhdrator

 

Top floor of a 2-story building

 

Furnace that serves all rooms, so you'll never be cold in the winter

 

1400 square feet

 

Remodeled bathroom with 6' tub, tile floor, glass sinktop

 

Redwood deck

 

Attic space for storage

 

Easy to park on the street

 

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The room for rent is 150 square feet and features:

 

Huge closet with storage units

 

Large sunny bay window

 

The walls around your room have been filled with a special insulation

to minimize noise

 

About your new neighborhood: --------------------------------

 

58th Street btwn MLK and Shattuck, near the Nomad Cafe

 

Halfway btwn the Ashby BART and Rockridge BART stations

17 blocks from Berkeley Bowl and Whole Foods

7 blocks from the entrance to hwy 24

 

Maccall is not a through street, so the only people who drive here are

the neighbors.

 

Most of the neighboring houses are owner-occupied. That means most of

the neighbors are mature and stable people. It's not a transient

neighborhood.

 

About your new roommates:

--------------------------------

 

Blake is a 29 year old PhD candidate working on his dissertation at

Cal. He keeps to normal sleeping (11pm - 7am) and working hours (9-5)

during weekdays and spends half the day in his room working. He's

open, friendly, neat, relaxed, and considerate. His interests run the

gamut from history and politics to sports and pop culture.

 

I'm quiet, respectful, and a good communicator. I keep wanting to go

to bed at 11pm, but in reality, I go to bed around midnight and wake

up between around 9:30am.

 

I'm a songwriter, ad copywriter, landlord, and workaholic who works at

home. When I'm home, I need a quiet space most of the time, and this

room is right across the hall from mine. If you play music in your

room at a soft to medium volume, you don't have to worry (unless you

have big speakers or subwoofers). But if you like to turn it up, this

probably won't be a good fit.

 

I occasionally play piano in the evenings. My songs are reminiscent of

Billy Joel, but more theatrical.

 

I have an assistant with an office that's detached from the house. She

comes in to use the bathroom and have short meetings with me (in my

room) on weekdays up before 7pm.

 

What we're looking for in a housemate:

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Since I have a cat and travel a lot, I'd love to find a cat-friendly

roommate who's willing to cat-sit when I'm out of town. I offer

$100/month for this favor, which is $3.33 per day.

 

Since I work at home, I'm also looking for someone with a 9-5 job (or

similar school schedule).

 

We're also looking for someone like this…

 

You're mindful about closing doors and cabinet doors gently and

quietly (not slamming them). If you get home late or leave early while

one of us is still sleeping, you'll be as considerate as we are in the

same situation.

 

You wash your dishes right after using them

 

If something is bothering you, you'll approach us to work out a

solution (i.e. we don't want someone who's passive aggressive)

 

We'd most like to live with a health-conscious vegetarian. However, if

you're a carnivore and we decide to live together, we'll ask that you

order take-out food when you want flesh foods.

 

If you want to cook fish/meat *very occasionally*, we can talk. But

there's no hood above the stove, and we don't want the house to smell

like meat (or have grease build up in the kitchen) on a regular basis.

Personally, I'd also want you to use your own pots, dishes, and

silverware.

 

If you have company over, you're welcome to watch a movie on the

living room TV. But other times, we prefer that you watch movies/TV in

your room (which is what we do).

 

Most of the things listed above are flexible, and the most important

thing is that I find someone considerate and compatible.

 

If you're interested, I'm open to reducing your rent in exchange for

running errands, doing yard work, dropping me off at the airport, etc.

(but this is completely optional).

 

Terms of the lease:

----------------------

 

The rent is $595/month, but I offer a $45/month discount for doing

certain basic things, like paying your rent and utility bills on time,

not leaving food where it'll attract insects, and doing your day's

dishes before you go to bed. (Unfortunately, past roommates didn't

always do these things… thus the discount.)

 

I prefer someone who'll stay for a year, but the lease is month-to-month.

 

The move-in costs are the first month's after-discount rent of $550

plus a security deposit of $1,100. If you don't have all of the

move-in costs upfront, I'm open to receiving $1,100 upfront and the

balance in installments. Sorry, no couples.

 

A house cleaner comes every two weeks to clean the common rooms.

 

Other shared utilities are: PG & E, water, and DSL (if you want web

access). In the winter, you can reduce your share of the heating bill

by lowering the amount of heat blown into your room by the furnace.

Here is what your share of utilities are likely to be each month:

 

DSL: $12

Water: $17

Housecleaning: $40

PG & E: $13-35 (depending on how often your home in the winter, and

whether you want the heating vent on in your room)

 

I'm committed to having a house cleaner every two weeks. So please

only reply if chipping in for housecleaning is OK with you.

 

Also, I'm very slender (no body fat), so in the winter, I keep the

furnace at 70 degrees. However, when a past roommate wanted to reduce

her share of the PG & E bill, I closed the heating vent that served her

bedroom, and we capped her share of the PG & E bill at $35.

 

If you feel we'd be compatible, please email me!