Come join the Neighborhood Empowerment Network this Saturday morning for the first Clean and Green Summit!
According the the NEN Web Site “the NEN is a collaborative platform that serves as a central engagement point for communities to find and share information that will empower them to make their neighborhoods a better place to live. The NEN helps both established and up and coming community leaders learn of new ways to help their neighborhoods become safer, greener, cleaner, stronger, and ultimately be better prepared for natural disasters.”
The Clean and Green Summit will be held this Saturday on May 31st.Â
Space is limited. The Summit will feature a resource fair with dozens of agencies and non-profits ready to help you to clean and green your community, breakout groups and a NEN first – walking tours of the Mission to see first hand how this neighborhood is greening itself.
You can register for the summit and find out more by clicking here or by calling 551-7111.
Hope to see you there! 🙂
Archives for May 2008
Technical Difficulties
My apologies… we’ve been doing some upgrading around these parts, and as is often the case… upgrading does weird stuff. So pardon the dust while we’re under a bit of construction…….. we’ll back back to our regularly scheduled programming in no time.Â
San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts: 2-4 Unit Sales April 2007 vs. April 2008
Here’s the latest Fast Facts update from the SFAR. Updates are provided almost weekly and each week is a different sector of the market (ie. Condos, Single Family Homes, 2-4 unit dwellings, etc.).
Check back next week for more statistics.
| Fast Facts | ||
| 2-4 Units |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| District 1 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
7 |
8 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,450,000 |
1,380,000 |
| Average DOM |
95 |
90 |
|
|
|
|
| District 2 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
8 |
7 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,037,500 |
1,200,000 |
| Average DOM |
47 |
61 |
|
|
|
|
| District 3 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
1 |
0 |
| Median Selling Price |
800,000 |
|
| Average DOM |
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
| District 4 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
0 |
1 |
| Median Selling Price |
|
1,072,500 |
| Average DOM |
|
57 |
|
|
|
|
| District 5 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
11 |
9 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,675,000 |
1,500,000 |
| Average DOM |
55 |
35 |
|
|
|
|
| District 6 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
6 |
2 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,612,500 |
1,250,000 |
| Average DOM |
55 |
49 |
|
|
|
|
| District 7 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
2 |
2 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,685,000 |
1,875,000 |
| Average DOM |
185 |
15 |
|
|
|
|
| District 8 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
1 |
1 |
| Median Selling Price |
600,000 |
1,520,000 |
| Average DOM |
32 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
| District 9 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
7 |
3 |
| Median Selling Price |
1,160,000 |
978,000 |
| Average DOM |
126 |
70 |
|
|
|
|
| District 10 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
1 |
2 |
| Median Selling Price |
770,000 |
742,500 |
| Average DOM |
83 |
54 |
|
|
|
|
| District 11 |
April 2007 |
April 2008 |
| Number of Sales |
0 |
1 |
| Median Selling Price |
|
650,000 |
| Average DOM |
|
157 |
Good News In Real Esate?
Who woulda thought that someone out there was willing to report good news about the real estate market?
It seems that every other day I’m getting a call from my mother asking me how I can possibly afford to eat because the real estate market is doing so horribly. And when I’m not trying to convince my mother that I do indeed have enough money to eat, and pay for housing and gas and work expenses and (gasp) actually enjoy life and take vacations, I am talking to clients and strangers about the condition of the real estate market here in San Francisco.Â
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that it’s far from being all bad here in the City. There are plenty of homes that are selling quickly if they’re desirable and priced right. And while those that bought a year or two ago may not see any return on their investment if they are trying to sell today, those that bought 3 years ago, in most cases, are doing pretty well.
So after reading all of the real estate doom and gloom that constantly innundates the media – it was refreshing to stumble on Happy Real Estate News. They list all of the positive changes that are going on in real estate markets across the country from decreases in days on market to increases in prices to increases in sales volume.Â
And (drumroll please….)
… San Francisco is mentioned on every list. Prices are heading up, days on market is heading down, volume is heading up…. the gloom and doom hasn’t taken us down here in SF.Â
So if you’re feeling a little glum about the market, swing by Happy Real Estate News and take a little breath. Things aren’t as bad as the media makes them out to be.Â
Postings Will Be Light This Week
Hello to all the loyal readers! And to those of you that are just stopping by, a hearty hello to you as well!
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that postings this week will be light. In addition to prepping a few really cool listings for the market, and helping my buyer clients find the right place for them, I’m working on the launch of The City Updateâ„¢ – The Best San Francisco Real Estate Newsletter Ever!
Getting all of your favorite features into the newsletter is taking a little work – building the infrastructure takes time. The features I’m building into the newsletter are:
- New on Market Reports
- Recently Sold Reports
- The most current Market Updates brought to you by Altos Research
- Links to District Maps
- Foreclosure Reports
- … and Much More!
If there are features you’d like to see in  The City Updateâ„¢ – The Best San Francisco Real Estate Newsletter Ever!, please contact me and let me know, I’d love to hear your hints, tips and suggestions!
And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for the newsletter today!
Something New In the Avenues
And I’m not talking about Real Estate!
In addition to working with a handful of active buyers and helping several sellers get their homes ready to go on the market in the next couple of months, I’ve been working on a few new projects over the last several weeks. One of these projects is The Avenues Blog.Â
Why The Avenues Blog?
Well – I live of out here in the Outer Sunset in one of the most beautiful places in San Francisco (overlooking the Pacific Ocean!) and while a HUGE part of the City is taken up by the Sunset, Parkside and Richmond districts, it often seems like the Western side of the City is overlooked by the majority of the City’s residents. So … I decided to do something about it, and to blog about the side of the City that I’ve called home since I was 2 years old.
Don’t forget, I help home buyers and sellers ALL over San Francisco, but I have a soft spot for the foggy hoods a lot of people forget exist.Â
So swing by The Avenues Blog.  I plan on posting there a couple of times a week – but if readers like you start providing me with input, ideas, suggestions and photos, you might see even more frequent postings.  I hope to get feedback from y’all along the way to make The Avenues Blog as awesome as possible.Â
So please, add The Avenues Blog to your blog readeres or save it as a favorite – and don’t forget to tell a friend!  :-)Â
Open Shutter to the Past: San Francisco in Pictures – The National Guard Armory (1912)
Welcome back to Photo Friday – my little way of taking a break from San Francisco Real Estate and instead blogging about our great City’s past instead. All photos are published with permission from the San Francisco History Center and San Francisco Public Library.
I was catching up on the local San Francisco blogs and ran across a post on SFist about an event that was held at the San Francisco Armory titled the Mission Bazaar (a craft and performance expo).
You might remember the Armory in the news recently when it was purchased by kink.com for $14.5M in order to use the building as a porn studio. But apparently, there’s room there for more than just porn, and the owners want to share the building with the public by opening it up for more events than just the recent Mission Bazaar.
But the building had a story long before kink.com put it into the news.
According to Wikipedia:
The building was constructed as an armory and arsenal for the United States National Guard in 1912–1914 and designed with a castle like appearance in a Moorish Revival style. The structure was built as a replacement for the old San Francisco Armory in the Western Addition, which had been destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. In addition to its role as an armory and arsenal, during the 1920s, it served as a venue for sporting events, such as prizefights. The Armory served as a stronghold and rallying point for the National Guard in their suppression of the 1934 San Francisco General Strike (an event known as “Bloody Thursday”)The building closed as an armory in 1976, when the National Guard moved its facilities to Fort Funston.
After 1976, the building was largely unused for the next 30 years, though in 1978 the building was registered as a Class 2 historical landmark in the National Register of Historic Places. Several spaceship-interior scenes in the movie Star Wars were filmed there, and the San Francisco Opera used the large inner court of The Armory for set construction and rehearsals until the mid-1990s. By this time, The Armory was in a heavy state of disrepair. Various uses of the building were proposed from 1996–2006, including self storage units, a rehabilitation clinic, a gym with a rock wall, a dot-com office park, a telecommunications switching center luxury housing, and low-income housing. Many of these proposals were marked by acrimonious debates between various community interests. Concerns over gentrification, social and environmental impact or the unsuitability of the structure for various uses resulted in none of the various plans for the structure reaching fruition. The building eventually came to be described, variously, as “a herd of white elephants“,”cursed”, and “not a friendly building”.
Frankly, I think the kink.com purchase of the building was likely the best thing that’s happened to the historic landmark in years. The graffitti has been removed, broken windows have been fixed and the building from the outside looks clean and respectable these days – and the new owners are even kind enough to open the landmark to the public for events like the Mission Bazaar. Pretty cool.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s little look back on a slice of the City’s past.
Have a good weekend and don’t forget to pull out your umbrellas – rumor has it that there’s a chance of rain.
San Francisco Property Spotlight – 334 28th Street (and a little catching up to boot!)
Welcome back to the “San Francisco Property Spotlight” brought to you by yours truly.
I’ve realized I have neglected this little blog feature for far too long now. Not only that, I haven’t even had the decency to keep you properly informed of the latest properties I shone my little spotlight on. Shame on me! Shame! 😮
So today, I am making ammends! I’m bringing you an update on the last 3 properties I mentioned, as well as a brand new property for your viewing enjoyment.Â
Here we go…
57 Webster – A 3BR 2BA condo originally listed at $1,025,000. First, I was wrong in my original post about the place, I mentioned that the previous owner (who passed away on the property) had not done anything to the place and then just over a year later, the asking price was $155K more than the last time it sold. But, my initial instinct that the price was a bit high was correct.Â
So finally, after 59 days on the market, they lowered the price to $998,500. As with most price properties that experience a price reduction, the stigma of “why didn’t it sell?” followed it for a few more weeks when after 82 days on the market, they property went into contract at $983,000. With just an 8 day close, it appears that it may have been an all cash transaction (I’m speculating here, but most loans won’t fund that quickly.) The lesson here? After 90 days on the market, it sold at its fair market value. Gee, I wonder if it would have sold faster had it not been priced too high to begin with? (please read the last sentence with sarcasm)  Price it right the first time people!Â
1352-1354 Castro – This one was my baby – a shameless plug of one of my own listings (it’s my blog and I can do that, remember? 😉 ) It was a mixed use “diamond in the rough†with 2 residential and 2 commercial units listed at $1,299,000. We abandoned our original offer date when we got a really strong offer the first day on the market, and after just 6 days, we put the place into contract when the best of 10 offers came in at $1,575,000!!! Oh, and the offer was non-contingent and complete (meaning the agent representing the buyers brought a fully signed disclosure package with all i’s dotted and all t’s crossed. (Make sure your agent is thorough – you could lose an offer in a competitve situation if not!!!)
151 Alice B. Toklas Place #708 – This 1BR 1BA unit with 1229 sq ft and listed at $620,000 got it’s buyer after 30 days on the market. This place was a bank owned fixer without a kitchen and in need of some TLC. But with similar units in the building (with kitchens of course), my opinion is that at $620,000 someone with the right vision and patient enough to do a major remodel (hey at least you don’t have to deal with demolition right?) would be getting a great value. Final selling price? We’re not sure just yet – it hasn’t closed just yet, but I plan on keeping my eye on it and will report the sale price once it closes.
And finally (drumroll please…….)
Today’s Property Spotlight:
334 28th Street  is listed by Tal Klein of Hill & Co. This top floor 2BR 2BR 1150 sq ft condominium is listed at $1,145,000. It’s clean. It’s modern. It’s in a great location. It’s got great views. It has lots of outdoor space (a deck off of the dining room and the master bedroom AND a roof deck! NICE!) And while I’ve seen lots of other condos with a similar feel, this one just looks so bright and airy that it caught my eye.Â
The first showing is tomorrow night, so I haven’t seen it yet – but it’s the kind of eye candy that satisfies my real estate sweet tooth. But at $995.65 a square foot, it seems like it might be priced a smidge on the high side. I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before (just once or twice in my life – don’t get used to it 😉 ). And someone might love the built-in’s and bamboo floors and flush finishes and tall ceilings & doors and skylights and pre-wired ent.center and decks and views and gourmet kitchen and …… (you get the picture)….. enough to spend $995.65 a square foot. I’ll keep you posted on this one.
And as usual, if you have questions about any of these properties, or about the real estate market in general, don’t hesitate to contact me. I love to talk real estate! 🙂
San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts: Condominium Sales April 2007 vs. April 2008
Here’s the latest Fast Facts update from the SFAR. Updates are provided almost weekly and each week is a different sector of the market (ie. Condos, Single Family Homes, 2-4 unit dwellings, etc.).
Check back next week for more statistics.
Â
Help Me to Help You!
As this little San Francisco real estate blog gets more popular (it averages 1500 unique visitors a month), more and more of you reach out to me through email and instant chat to ask questions about specific properties, about the real estate market or even about blogging in general (though I can assure you that I’m no expert on that topic.)
And while lots of you email me, a fair amount also use the instant chat feature you see on the right hand side of the screen as well which lets you send me an instant message whenever I’m online.Â
Unfortunately though, I can’t be online all of the time because I need to be out in the field helping buyers find SF homes or working with sellers to get their SF properties ready for sale. And when I’m not online – you can’t have a live chat with me.Â
So please, please, please – if you’d like to send me an offline message, either email me or be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in the chat window (email or phone number are equally as effective).Â
Because if you take the time to ask me a question – I want to give you an answer!
But, Â I can’t respond if I have no way of getting back to you (and some questions are just too personal in nature to post for the world to read).
Now – all that being said, give me a holler if you have any questions about San Francisco real estate! I’m always happy to help! :-) And be sure to leave your contact info – help me to help you! 🙂
