Archive for the ‘San Francisco North’ Category
July 1, 2008
Sign of the times #1 : The Internet has changed how real estate is bought and sold.
Sign of the times #2: Slumping sales mean sellers sometimes have to sweeten the pot. Not wanting to reduce prices, said sellers might throw in a mo-ped, no interest for the first five years, or free parking. Such incentives are pretty common now in SF, particularly with condos, since we’ve a glut of pricey pads without the reciprocal glut of buyers. For instance, The Heritage bulding on Fillmore is offering free tickets to Yoshi’s, among other incentives. The Cove at Candlestick Point is offering cash payback which you can use to pay down your HOA or closing costs.
But now the Internet, with its complete array users (spanning the full, rich, and frankly comical spectrum of humanity) has brought seller incentives to a new level. Whether this level represents a high or a low, I leave it to you to decide.
My first sad example comes from Australia, where MSNBC reports “Guy auctions off life, selling price disappoints.” Indeed, not satisfied with just selling his home after his divorce, Ian Usher added several unlikely incentives to the deal, basically auctioning his life off an Ebay. On the block were his ”house and all its contents, car and a motorcycle, a jet ski, skydiving gear, an introduction to friends and a trial period in his sales job.” Sadly, he netted just $382,712 (he claims the house alone is worth more), which seems to lend creedance to one pundant’s insightful question: Dude doesn’t want his life, so why would you?
Back in the US, things are even stranger. A Florida single mother, weary of the dating scene and the sluggish market, is offering herself in marriage to the buyer of her home. Kelli Kennedy of the Associated Press writes:
After a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her South Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet.
“I figured let’s combine the ad because I’m looking for love and I’m looking to sell the house,” said Trabosh, who teeters around the nearly 2,000 square-foot house in patent leather heels.
Will desperate sellers in the Bay Area follow suit, offering up first born children, virginity, award winning pie recipes? Is nothing sacred?
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Photo credit: DandTBargains.com
June 30, 2008
An interesting blog and subsequent debate over at The Front Steps caught my eye today, not in small part due to the title: “That Dog Should be Taco.” But this is not, in fact, a treatise on dog names nor a macabre recipe. In fact, it is a blog posing a rather existential real estate sales question: to disclose or not to disclose; or: I disclose, therefore I am …. but am what? Stupid? Shooting myself, or my neighbor, in the foot?
Because the blog warns as follows:
If you own a unit in a condominium and happen to pass by when potential buyers are milling around enjoying the garden setting in the common area, and marveling at how quiet it is, do not come by and say, “Just wait for the parties from that blond girl (nodding head toward unit directly next door). And that dog (blond girl’s pet), oh!………..that dog should be taco.” …..If anything, it is the worst thing you could do, because if the sale doesn’t go through based on what you just said, …..you just might have caused a longer listing period and subsequent price reductions, which could, in theory, lower the price of your own personal unit when it comes time for you to sell…[insert choice explicative here]!
But really? How many people would turn from a sale based on finding out a neighbor is noisy or has a dog better fit for eating than patting on the head? I live in a nice enough neighborhood on 9th, but if my landlord had told me that one of the couples living next door have horrible, thrown down yer beer can, Jerry Springer brawls (they do!), would I have reconsidered living here? Not a chance: Would I do any better anywhere else? Have you seen the rental market in SF? I was lucky to get this place. Noisy neighbors become free entertainment after a while. We have parties and place bets on who will be the first to slur his/her sentence beyond recognition, or who will be first to drop an f* bomb that can be heard for 6 city blocks.
Okay, but the Front Steps addresses an own situation, not a rent one. Big diff. If anything, it’s harder still to own than to rent, so if someone plods up to me, uninvited, and announces that the condo I’m now in love with is a) haunted; b) adjacent to the practice space for a group of tone deaf musicians, or c) too close to a party girl and her brat dog…well, I’m not likely to change my mind. I can always call the cops to come shut those people (and their pets) up, right, because the cops in SF don’t have anything else to do.
Hmm. Maybe it would make a person think twice.
So is disclosing tidbits of information that aren’t legally required to be disclosed a bad idea then? If those tidbits are unflattering? Or, if this information actually truly affects the quality of life in the new home, are we sort of ethically obligated to spill our guts? It’s a question to ponder, certainly.
In the meantime, here are a few interesting condos on the market now, both in SF and Daly City. I can’t vouch for the quality of the neighbors…if you really want to know, try a door-to-door survey. Someone is bound to tell you the truth.
SF
Mission Bay 1/1 at 300Berry St., #520: $535K with fitness center and parking.
Eureka Valley/Dolores 1/1 at 237 Collingwood St.: $575K= parking, Twin Peaks views and low HOA.
Russian Hill 2/2 at 2121 Taylor St., #1: For $699K, you get a very highly sought location, parking, and low HOA.
Daly City
Southern Hills 2/2 townhome at 495 Mountain Vw. #04: spacious, parking for $565K. Pretty sure after over a year on the market, the place would sell for less.
Crown Colony 2/1 at Philip Dr., #4. Pool, tennis, rec room, parking for $409,950.
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Yech dog photo credit: Tailored.com
June 27, 2008
Forget your psychic friend and magic 8 ball. CurbedSF has it that today’s savvy home hunters leave it to programmers to come up with a way to tell them, via scientific survey, whether a neighborhood is a good fit or not. Indeed, Hoodeo is the “neighborhood match maker,” your online connector of human to ‘hood.
So I gave it a spin- God knows I am having a hard time finding a place I can afford in SF; maybe Hoodeo knows something I don’t. Among its questions, the survey asks me if I wanted to stay in this city or if I would go anywhere. Since my job and friends and life are here, I actually do want to stay here, but just for fun, I chose “will go anywhere.” Hoodeo also smartly inquires how much I make and how much I “want to spend” on my next home, as well as how big I want it, cleverly reminding me that those square feet I desire will also have to be cleaned (I picked 1000 square feet, and since I had the option, 2 beds and at least 1.5 baths since I share with a man whom occasionally disgusts me). I decided the fair amount to pay, based on what we make, and that we would like to have money left over to travel and buy beer and such, would be 400 to 450K.
I should be, according to Hoodeo, living in Philidelphia. Wait, but you didn’t ask if I like sub-zero winters! I don’t!
Back to Hoodeo then, this time insisting on staying in the Bay Area. If I am to spend what I want to spend, I will need to think about Pacifica, San Bruno, South San Francisco, or– if I want the city proper– Bayview. Wait, you didn’t ask if I like gunfire in my front yard. I don’t!
Needless to say, Hoodeo has left some poignant questions off the list in determining if a ‘hood will fit you. For instance, nowhere am I asked what I think of On Deadline’s report that
Members of the Presidential Memorial Commission tell the San Francisco Chronicle that they’ve already collected 8,500 signatures on a petition to put the proposal before voters this November. If it passes, the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant would be renamed [the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant.]
To which I say: I am home.
June 24, 2008
Today’s Chron had one of those stories many of us are a bit weary of, the headline a deja-vu harbinger of bad news: “Regional home prices continued to fall at an accelerating pace in April, establishing yet another record low!” As usual, the term “Bay Area” includes not just SF, which is actually still holding up overall well, but also areas harder hit, such as the East Bay and Contra Costa. Still, a closer look at SF data specifically shows some interesting trends.
Most often when we read S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index numbers, we are looking only at single-family home sales. That’s why this time I wanted to look at condos, since many first time buyers lean toward the relative ease of condo life for their first tast of homeownership.
Garrett Goldman, realtor and founder of San Francisco Schtuff, is a great resource for this kind of research. For instance, here are condo sales ending June 23, 2008.
Quick analysis shows us that in general, condos are not flying off the market, nor are they getting much over asking: in fact, most of these got less or exactly the list price. These trends seem to carry through many different neighborhoods as well.
Also interesting, condo-wise, is Goldman’s comparison of condo sales in the 10 districts in May of 2008 verses May, 2007. Again, the DOM is telling: all but district 10 spent much longer on the market in ‘08 than in ‘07. Also, though you can see appreciation in most of the districts, it is not a huge jump, and makes you wonder if sellers covered their expenses if they tried to flip in one year.
The upshot seems to be cautionary, and again, deja-vu. If you want to buy a condo, buy one you like, and can afford. You will likely need to sit on it, or in it, for a few years if you want to make a real profit.
Still in? Here are some condos on the market now…
237 Arguello Blvd, #10: Very nice Lake area 1/1, on the market over 70 days. See if you can’t get it for less than $535K.
2855 Golden Gate Ave.: Lone Mountain 3/1.25. DOM: 39. All pets welcome!! Yours for $795K.
11 High St., #104: Top of the world type 2/2 in Noe, on market over 60 days and reduced to $689K.
2628 Sutter St.: Listing wants to call it “Lower Pac Heights.” To me, that’s Western Addition. This is 2/2 in a nice building, on market almost 40 days, asking $689K.
June 21, 2008
Mark Twain would be really confused if he woke up today, to yet another morning of 80+ degree temps and nary a wisp of fog in sight. Never thought I’d say this, but I’d welcome a wisp of fog right now. A shroud, even. Best would be a nice rain storm!
But on the other hand, days like these are the ones when the people out in the Avenues start looking pretty smug. Not for them the sitting in traffic, fighting for a spot in the Ocean Beach lot; they just put on flip flops and walk down to the ocean, sip margaritas on their decks, and preen.
It’s true that SF and Daly City largely enjoy borders of water, and sometimes that the properties most “water’s edge” are not the most sought after– except on days like this. Still, even a foggy day at the beach has its charms. If you agree, these listings are for you.
San Francisco
1638 Great Hwy: 3/1.75 Outer-Sunset TIC for $749K or #1636, also 3/1.75 at $699K (or buy the 2-unit building: MLS#342165). One street off Ocean Beach.
1714 48th Ave: Also an Outer-Sunset TIC, this very attractive 3/1.5 has been having some trouble getting sold, so after 90 days on the market, and just a few blocks from the sea, it could be yours for less than current asking of $604K.
762 Great Hwy: Richmond side of the Golden Gate Park, this 3/2 condo is close to Sutro Baths and the Cliff House. $769K.
298 32nd Ave.: SF’s Seacliff is not what one would call an undesirable neighborhood. Here’s why: lovely 3/1.25 SFH for $1,799,000. Stellar views all around.
3725 Webster: As long as we are going high rent, here’s a Marina area 3/2 condo, deliciously close to Crissy Field. $1,695,000.
75 Folsom St., #1401: Head to South Beach for this newly listed lux 1/1 condo with an end of the world type setting-
Nothing between you and the Bay. Well, except $750K….
Daly City
383 Glenwood Ave: classic Daly City 3/2 SFH for $629K. On market a long time, very close to Fort Funston.
333 Glenwood Ave.: Same street as above makes for easy open house visits! This cute 3/2 SFH in Daly City also offers proximity to the ocean, for $739K.
June 17, 2008
The square foot is one of SF real estate’s most precious measurements. It’s also a frustrating one, when prices force buyers to shell out as much as $1000 or more (so! much! more!) per square; or, on the other side, equally frustrating when owners find themselves assessed for taxes or HOA fees on square footage that isn’t actually livable space.
This last point came up in an interesting blog from The Front Steps. A reader, David, asked if unmodifiable and not independently owned structural concrete should get included in the condo square footage. The same question might also be extended to houses, since owners often wonder how the county assesses square footage for taxes. Again I show up on The Front Steps for an indepth answer to this quandry, where another reader offered the following:
Having recently finished construction on a ground up new single family, I had occasion to discuss how the ‘tax’ sqft (I presume this is what is listed on the MLS) is calculated by the City assessors office. Here is my question and their response:
Q. Do you have guidelines on calculating the sqft? is it the gross area
(i.e. to the outside extent of the envelope)? Should voids be deducted?
A. For detached houses, measure from the exterior face of the walls.
· For attached units (i.e. – townhouses and side-by-side duplexes), use
the centerlines of the common walls as the outside dimension. It may be
easier to measure from the inside surface wall and add 6 inches to account
for the common walls on both sides.
· For condominium units, measure from the inside surface wall since the
airspace is what is being purchased. Remember to include the partition
walls within the condominium unit as part of the GLA.
· Begin measuring from any corner and work your way around the house.
· Measure to the nearest inch.
· Draw a separate floor plan for each level in the house. Do not assume
that each floor is identical.
· “Square the house” by checking whether the measurements of parallel
sides of the structure are equivalent. The total front building measurement
should equal the total rear measurement. The total left-side measurement
should equal the total right-side measurement. Minor discrepancies may be
due to the corners of the structure not being at perfect right angles.
Exclusions from the finished area:
· Attached garages - Use the interior wall surface of the garage next
to the house as the outside wall of the house.
· Openings to the floor below - Subtract the opening from that level.
· Exclude porches and converted garages that are not finished or
considered habitable living area.
· Chimneys that protrude beyond the exterior surface are not included.
– Houses are described by their total room count. For example, the
shorthand designation 5/2/2 describes a house with 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths:
· In general, a kitchen, bedroom, living room, dining room, den, or
office study is a room. Bathrooms, laundry rooms, sunrooms, and storage
rooms are not counted as a room.
· A bedroom should have a door, a window that provides for an emergency
exit, natural light and ventilation. In modern homes, a bedroom always has
a closet. In many older homes, closets were not included.
· A full bathroom includes a toilet, sink, a bathtub and/or shower. If
the bathroom only has a toilet and sink, it is a ½ bath. If it only has a
toilet, it is a ¼ bath.
– Attics, Lofts and Low Ceilings:
· Level ceilings must be at least 7 feet high. If a room has a sloped
ceiling, at least one-half of the finished floor area must have a ceiling
height of at least 7 feet. Otherwise, omit the entire room from the total
GLA.
· Lofts and finished attics must be accessible by a conventional
stairway or other access. If you need to reach the loft by climbing a
ladder, then it is not part of the finished area.
– Guest Cottages, Detached Rooms:
· Finished areas that are not connected to the main residence by a
finished hall or stairway must be listed separately. If you have to leave
the house to get to the room, it is not part of the finished area.
Very informative, no? So then, now that sellers are squared away, let’s turn to buyers, who in this market might reasonably expect to get more square foot for their dollar.
Here are a few chocies in SF that list at under $550 per square. (Let’s just hope the squares counted are livable…).
1655 21st Ave: 3/1 Mid-Sunset SFH offering 1,690 square feet, at $518 per, or $874,950.
2 Sumner St: Unique 2/1.25 SOMA SFH offering 2,539 square feet at $338 per, so $999,000 total.
149 Topaz Way: 3/2.5 Noe SFH selling its 3,800 square foot for $365 each. Total then: $1,388,888.
1690 9th Ave.: Included this one as it is on my street (a great street) and just a smidge over the $550 limit. A 3/2 SFH, Inner-Sunset/Golden Gate Heights-ish. You pay $556 for each of the 1,615 squares for a total of $898K.
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Square photo credit: Sharp Brains.com
June 17, 2008
Almost exactly a year ago, we first mentioned Tiny Tumbleweed homes in a blog post “Small AND Beautiful?” Since then, I have been following along on designer/founder Jay Shafer’s journey as he promotes, sells, and encourages America to go small. How small? Well, you can build a house as small as 60 square feet and go right on up from there. Want it on wheels to take camping? No problem. Want to build an extra dwelling for the kids to come and stay? He’s got something that will work for you. Thinking about putting something on that vacant 10 acres you bought in the boondocks? Multiples to choose from. And if you are just thinking about downsizing, reducing your carbon footprint, going as green as possible (without living in a tent or teepee), then Jay probably has the answer for you. And fortunate for us, he is making his way down the West Coast on tour, to display his homes and offer workshops.
Starting in early July, Jay will be traveling from the Canadian border and heading south to Seattle, Olympia, Portland, Ashland, Mountain View, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego. He and Small House Society co-founder Greg Johnson will be pulling one of the Tumbleweed designs behind them, making use of it as shelter on each of these stops. In addition, they will hold Building and Design Workshops in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Here is the local schedule:
7/19 - Building Workshop in San Francisco @ 9:00 a - 5:00 p
7/20 - Design Workshop in San Francisco @ 9:00 a - 5:00 p
7/23 - Open House in Mountain View, CA @ 5:00 p - 7:00 p, location: Google
7/24 - Open House in Santa Cruz, CA @ 9:00 a - 11:00 a, location TBD ?
Full-day Building Workshops will be $275 and focus on how to build a tiny house from the foundation to the roof. Topics include: building basics, types of trailers, heaters, kitchen equipment, windows and more. Jay will talk about different building materials, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The full-day Design Workshops will run $375 and will concentrate on how to design a small house of your own. The cost to attend both days is $500 and a friend can come along for $99. Go here for workshop signups.
Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Top of the Line New Listings in Fremont
All Aboard the Foreclosure Bus
Berkeley Homes Get Price Cuts As City Discovers Its Inner Paris
June 14, 2008
Never thought I would see homes in the city for under 600K that weren’t actively falling apart (hard hat required for inspection) or infested with rats or housing 3 protected tenants. Yet this market has brought lower price tags to San Francisco, and some of them seem to be pretty good deals.
In Daly City, where the market has had a more serious impact on housing prices, you can get a lot more house for your money, so I’ve included some of these listings too.
All of them are under 600K, which to the buyer on the fence or the renter waiting for her chance (this writer here, for instance) is good news. Apologies to sellers getting a lot less than they may have hoped, but maybe these newer lower prices will usher in a more realistic median price overall.
Today I am feeling optimistic.
SF: Single Families and Condos
223 Anderson: Bernal 3/1 SFH for $575K
131 Lowell St: Mission 3/2 with extra bedrooms/rental income potential. Multiple price reductions lands this SFH at $475K.
2627 47th Ave: Sunset SFH 2/1 with bonus room, garage: $590K.
36 Blair Terrace: Potrero 2/1 townhome- very strange photos but still, a lively and interesting neighborhood and a garage! $549K.
758 Haight St., #5: Yep, this is a TIC, but it is also a 2 BR/1 bath in a nice Victorian building. Very classic Haight-Ashbury charm, all for 523K and open this Sunday.
2727 Jackson St. #2: Pac Heights 2/1 flat, also a TIC, but I could not resist as I have not seen a 2BR in this hood for less than 600K in years.
This one lists for $599K, which is not much less, but it’s also been on market over 100 days, so make your move accordingly.
Daly City: Single Family Bargains Abound
Actually, I am far from the expert on this. If you really want to check the situation on Daly City, pop over to San Mateo Homesellers in Trouble. Still, here are a few I picked out.
585 Skyline Dr: 4/3 SFH begging a buyer after 100 days on market. Asking $415K.
526 Niantic Ave: This 3/2 SFH hurts a little: asking now $499,900, the home sold for $700K in 2005.
443 Bonnie St.: Another painful hit, here is an attractive 4/2 SFH.
Sold in 2005 for $740K. Now asking $554K. For some reason the cars in the photo strike me as ironical.
June 13, 2008
Only in California will you find a Pirate Festival, right? I mean, how fun does that sound and it’s the perfect venue for Father’s Day. Make a family outing out of it and have some fun in the sun. This second annual event is held along the waterfront in Vallejo on both Saturday and Sunday, and features music, swordfights, and the chance to shop for pirate booty. The Brotherhood of Oceanic Mercenaries (BOOM) will be blowing things up, you can learn a bit about swordfighting and swashbuckling, or how to load a cannon (might come in handy some day, guarding the castle, you know), go on a treasure hunt, or listen to one of the dozen or so musical talents being showcased. You can partake of Blackbeard’s Beverages or dine on Fyne Pirate Grub. You are encouraged, but certainly not required, to attend in costume. Transform yourself into Captain Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard, or the infamous Anne Bonny. Admission is free and you can get there via the ferry, public transit, or car. Warships will not be allowed within the vicinity. For directions, you can check out this link.
If pirates are not your thing, or want to attend one of the most popular of San Francisco’s summer festivals, then head on over to North Beach to their annual shindig. I spent about 10 years working a booth at this festival, which takes place in the heart of North Beach. Sidewalk art, great food from vendors and the local restaurants, beautiful art and jewelry, as well as crafts of all kinds can be found here. Block and blocks and blocks of venues, plus music in Washington Park. It will make for a great day in the city, especially with this gorgeous weather.
Lastly, over in across the Golden Gate Bridge, is the Marin Art Festival in San Rafael. The public is invited to attend the fine arts and crafts festival representing over 250 artists. Location: Marin Center Exhibit Hall and Fairgrounds, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Cost: $8 approx.; 14 and under free.
June 11, 2008
With the passage of Measure G, the Lennar Construction Group has the green light to clean up toxins from the Naval Shipyard and then “partner with other companies to construct high raises, build ‘green tech’ buildings and restore and expand open space areas. Also contained in the measure is a ‘pad’ for a 49ers’ stadium surrounded by ample parking and a promise from Lennar that they would provide infrastructure and $100 million to the team in their effort to build the stadium” (sfgate.com). It will also:
- Allow 33% of the residences to go to affordable housing for families of differing income groups.
- Include some accommodations for those in the lowest-income bracket (Ballotpedia).
Opponents of G mainly focused on the packaging of the 49er stadium with the overhaul of the area, because it would seem to divert the main focus from rehabbing the for human interest to the profit reaped from professional football. The SF Bay View points out that G will “authorize a swap of state park lands for new “parks” that will be flexed between “green” stadium parking surfaces for stadium events.” The article also details the complex political machinations between the Mayor, Lennar, and the 49ers, that gave birth to this bill.
Also included in the article is worry that
Despite claims to the contrary, there is nothing whatsoever in the legal text of Proposition G that guarantees any precise percentage of housing that will be designated as “affordable.” Lennar, under the non-binding Proposition G, may end up building only market-rate housing in the Bayview Hunters Point.
And that
San Francisco is about to hand a gift to Lennar Homes and Lennar Urban worth billions of dollars, in both the value of the land being gifted to Lennar and the eventual sales Lennar will reap from market-rate housing. Financially-troubled Lennar will do so without being required to complete cleanup of the toxic Superfund site.
One wonders how market rate homes will ever sell, however, if no clean up is accomplished. The pollution of Bayview/Hunter’s Point is well established, and frankly shames the city as that toxic enviroment has been linked to multiple health problems for the people living in the area now.
But if G does prove to give new life to an area that clearly struggles now, with high crime, poverty, and pollution, then the property there may soon be worth a lot more. In fact, currently the majority of SF foreclosures are concentrated in District 10, which includes Bayview/Hunter’s Point. Even normal sales show the area to have the most dramatic decline in property value when compared to other parts of the city responding to the current mortgage crisis.
The upshot then? The area offers those in position invest here the chance to possibly see real appreciation for their properties. Of course, the transformation won’t be overnight, so investors would have to be willing (and able) to wait indefinitely for the turn around. And don’t under-estimate anti-gentrification groups fighting the measure, or supervisors throwing in obstacles.
If you’re one who believes Bayview/Hunter’s Point is the next Marina District, here are a few options on the market (note the affordability in contrast to other city ‘hoods):
1180 Palou: 3/1 SFH with 2/1 possible rental down. Reduced to $475,888.
11 Yound Ct.: 3/2.5 SFH with 2-car garage, deck, lots of light and (fittingly) a bay view. $425K
191 Cleo Rand Ln.: 2/1.5 condo/townhome with 1 car parking. $470K.
133 Marlin Ct., #55: 3/2 condo/townhouse with patio and in-unit laundry for $205K. (!!!)
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Photo credit: Bay Nature.com
