Room for rent in clean, quiet veggie home nr hwy 24 & Berkeley - $525/mo

[Guest guest]

If you're looking for a clean, quiet, vegetarian home, we have a newly remodeled

North Oakland flat. Check out the photos here:

 

http://www.lonestartours.com/trevorlevine/5740maccall-2/14.php

 

This is an opportunity to share a spacious, sunny flat near the Berkeley border

with two clean and communicative men, late 30's and mid 40's (and one lazy cat).

The household is shoes-free, smoke-free, and vegetarian (no meat or fish).

 

It's available anytime between now and June 1st -- for one adult only.

 

** We cannot accommodate any other pets. **

 

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:

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

 

Paul is a builder who works 5-6 days per week. When he has leisure time, he

enjoys playing guitar and watching movies. He likes living with people and being

social, but he mostly hangs out in his room. (He has his own private bathroom.)

On weekdays, he goes to be between 10-11pm.

 

I'm quiet, respectful, and a good communicator. I go to bed around midnight and

wake up around 9:30am.

 

I'm a workaholic who works at home. I run a vegetarian membership site, do

property management, and occasionally write songs. When I'm home, I need a quiet

space most of the time, and the available bedroom is right across the hall from

mine.

 

If you play music at a soft to medium volume -- using a small boom box or

computer speakers -- that's fine. But if you like to crank up your music or TV,

or you have big speakers or subwoofers, 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 I'm looking for in a housemate:

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

 

I work at home and can concentrate better when the house is quiet. So I'm hoping

to find someone with a 9-5 job (or similar school schedule).

 

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

carnivore and we decide to live together, I'll ask that you order take-out food

when you want flesh foods. Cold cuts for sandwiches might be OK, but I

definitely don't want flesh foods being cooked in our kitchen.

 

What we're both looking for:

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

 

You're mindful about closing doors and cabinet doors gently and quietly (not

slamming them). If you get home late or leave early while we're 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)

 

If you have company over, you're welcome to watch a movie in 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 we find someone considerate and compatible.

 

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

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

(but this is completely optional).

 

Terms of the lease:

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

 

The rent is $625/month, but I'm willing to discount it by $100 for someone with

a day job who honors the house rules. It breaks down like this:

 

If you have a 9-5 schedule (or close to it), I offer a $60/month discount.

 

I offer another $40/month discount for doing 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'm looking for someone who can commit to staying for either three months (thru

Sept 1st , 2010) or through March 1st, 2011. You can certainly stay longer than

that. I just want to avoid a vacancy in the late fall or winter, because fewer

people are looking for rooms during those seasons.

 

The move-in costs are the first month's after-discount rent (either $585 or

$525) plus a security deposit of $600.

 

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

 

Other shared utilities are: PG & E, water, and high speed Internet (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:

 

Internet: $10-23, depending on whether we stay with Comcast or switch to AT & T

Water: $17

Housecleaning: $40

PG & E: $15-35 (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. Since we have 10' ceilings, it doesn't feel very hot at that

temperature. 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 (or similar) schedule? If not, what days/times are you

away from home each week?

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

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

(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?