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.

 

You can see photos here:

http://www.lonestartours.com/trevorlevine/gallery/

However, only photos 0675 to 0798 represent our flat. The first 18 photos on the

above page are shots of the ground floor apt.

 

Our household is quiet, non-smoking, shoes-free, and vegetarian (no meat or

fish). The room is $595/month and available now.

 

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:

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

 

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 answer these questions:

 

(1) Do you have a 9-5 job or school schedule? If not, what days/times are you

away from home each week?

(2) If you like the place, for how long could you commit to staying?

(3) What experience have you had living with cats, or caring for them?

(4) What are your kitchen cleanliness standards?

(5) In the common rooms, what kind of music do you like to play? How loud? How

often do you have company over?