Luba Muzichenko

San Francisco Realtor

Archives for January 2011

San Francisco Realtors and Homeowners Support Condo Conversion

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Fair warning….. this post is taken STRAIGHT from an email from the folks at Plan C, an organization of moderate voices that support San Francisco home ownership and, thus, condo conversion.
San Francisco’s condo conversion lottery requires luck, patience and nerves of steel, but Plan C and its supporters (SF Realtors and property owners to name a few) are yet again, hosting a rally supporting changes to the current condominium conversion rules that would allow TIC owners a chance at owning more than a fractional interest in their properties.
So here’s the scoop, straight from Plan C’s mouth, er, um, email:

Wednesday morning, February 2nd at 8:15AM (before the condo lottery that is scheduled to be held at 9AM),  Plan C San Francisco, in conjunction with the Small Property Owners of San Francisco, will be sponsoring a rally for Condo Conversion reform.

This is one of your primary opportunities to bring attention to the fact that City Hall has failed to support homeownership for the thousands of people that seek it as a means of solidifying their place in our community.

If you are a first-time homeowner please take the time to attend this important event! Let’s show our city’s elected leaders that those seeking housing stability through ownership are the lifeblood of our city. You are the teachers, healthcare workers, public service employees, first responders, even members of our very own Board of Supervisors that are seeking to put down roots in our community. Public policy should be helping you to stay in San Francisco not harming you.

If you are not able to attend, we encourage you to contact the Mayor and city supervisors through our website. Write a note identifying yourself and tell them your story. Tell them that you support overall reform of the completely broken condo conversion process. Tell them that your only path to homeownership was through the purchase of a TIC, but the financial stability you seek won’t fully come until you can convert your shared interest into a condominium. Tell them that as a former renter you are tired of being ignored and vilified for pursuing the American dream.

You can e-mail the Mayor and city Supervisors here. After you have written your e-mail, only click “submit” once. Although it may look like you message has not been sent, it has!

Learn More About Plan C

To learn more about Plan C visit www.plancsf.org

Mortgage Rates Going UP and How it Affects Your SF Home Purchase

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Per the folks over at Daily Real Estate News mortgage rates are heading upwards.  And while rates are STILL historically low, the increase in rates CAN affect your purchase power significantly.

How significantly, you ask?

Well, using some really round numbers, a couple with NO debt that makes $200,000 a year can afford a mortgage of about $780,000 at 4.5% interest.  At 5% interest, the loan about is $745,000.  And at 5.5%, the loan amount is $705,000.  ALL of these amounts will cost you $4,000 per month.

So, remember, rates ARE at historical lows, and if they do go up, they are still expected to stay historically low (let’s not forget, the 1980’s saw double digit interest rates!!!)

But if you pass up a property because you are looking for a bargain, you may find that you can’t afford that bargain if interest rates creep up, even by 1/2 a percentage point.

Good luck and happy hunting!  And if you need a great mortgage broker to provide you with advice on what you CAN afford, give Tim Higbee of Guarantee Mortgage a shout!  He’s professional, honest, available and even does FHA loans.

Sunshine in the Sunset

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The sun here in the Outer Avenues is breaking through the clouds making the Sunset district gem at 1466 42nd Avenue sparkle! 

Stop by from 1-4pm today to see the brilliant juxtaposition of a traditional center patio style home and how it blends with an urban loft!

Get Spayed and Neutered for Free! (Your PET, That is!)

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As the folks over at SF Appeal so kindly informed us, February is Spay & Neuter month!  And that means that the San Francisco SPCA is so kind as to provide free spay/neuter services for the month of February!
Personally, I don’t need to keep up with the current freebies since my 12 year old Pit Bull mix, Ohm, was spayed ages ago.  (In the photo, she’s the one on the left.  Powder, in the middle, and Lace on the right, passed away and left big gaping holes in my heart in 2008. I still miss them desperately every day.)
But if you, or someone you know has a pet that is not yet spayed or neutered, and you’re a SF resident, contact the SF SPCA to get yourself on the appointment list.
Aside from controlling overpopulation of pets in shelters that leads to increased euthanasia rates, spaying or neutering your beloved 4 legged friend brings a variety of benefits to you AND your pet.  According to PawsperousPets.com these are just a few of the benefits of taking care of your pets needs.  (And as as aside, if you live in San Francisco and have a Pit Bull or a Pit Bull Mix, spaying or neutering your dog is mandatory!)

Benefits of Spaying
• Prevents pregnancy and the complications arising from pregnancy and delivery
• Eliminates the heat cycle – you won’t have to listen to the sounds of your female in heat, trying to get out and find a mate
• Prevents unwelcome males from trying to seek out your female pet in heat
• Reduces the urge to roam. This makes it less likely that you will lose your pet, which in turn makes your pet less likely to contract a disease, get in a fight, get injured, or become a victim to cruelty, poison, or traffic.
• Eliminates sexual discomfort, distress, or distraction … making your pet happier and more content.
• Reduces or eliminates the possibility of disease in the reproductive system.
Benefits of Neutering
• Reduces the distracting and destructive behavior associated with the male’s efforts to get out and find a mate
• Reduces the urge to roam. This makes it less likely that you will lose your pet, which in turn makes your pet less likely to contract a disease, get in a fight, get injured, or become a victim to cruelty, poison, or traffic.
• Eliminates sexual discomfort, distress, or distraction … making your pet happier and more content.
• Eliminates testicular tumors and reduces prostate gland problems.
• In cats, neutering stops or reduces marking behavior (territorial spraying of urine).
• Reduces the urge to fight.

And while the SPCA is offering these services for free, remember, they also DO need money to keep taking care of the animals in their shelter, so if you CAN afford to pay to have your pet spayed or neutered, please dig deep into your pockets and donate to the SPCA or a number of other great local pet rescues, including Muttville, Bad Rap and the Give a Dog a Bone project, just to name a few!
AND while I’m at it, I may as well take a moment to tell you about this pair of adorable (spayed and neutered) dogs that recently lost their owner and are desperately looking for their new forever home!!!  Read about them here!

Ranchland in San Francisco?

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I’ve always had a soft spot for cows.  In fact, I envy those with the willpower to be vegetarians.  I even tried it.  Granted, it was only for a week, but I love meat.  I love beef.   But I definitely love cows.  (And yes, I’m  just city slicker enough to make “MOO” noises at them when I drive by them on the back roads of the Bay Area.)
And well, given the state of our current urban environment, it’s hard to believe there was a Ranch in Glen Park.  Even harder to believe that there were ranches and farms all over San Francisco, but I’ll tell you more about that some other day.
I found this photo taken in Glen Canyon where the Good Brother Dairy, among several other dairy companies, had dairy farms.  The notes attached to this photo read:

“Valborg C. Tietz, owner of picture below. The lady pictured was my mother-in-law: Elise Beneke, who later married Alexander William Tietz in 1910. Her husband Alexander Tietz was crushed by 2 railroad cars at the Santa Fe yards in 1920, where he worked. He was taken out beyond the ‘Three-mile Limit’ where he was found. There never was anyone charged with throwing the wrong switch. The family was paid $9000 for his death by the Santa Fe R. R. She never re-married, and lived with her son Wilhelm or ‘Bill,’ who was my husband. We married in 1955. She lived with us for 25 years, and died at age 86 in 1976. This picture was taken of her in the Glen Canyon, where there was a dairy for years. The cows were quite tame, as you can see. The Good Brothers owned the dairy.”
“ca. 1910. originally part of the San Miguel Rancho, by the 1890?s there were several dairies located in the Glen Park Canyon. (Loaned to the San Francisco Public Library by Mrs. Tietz)”.

Poor Mr. Tietz.  I’m kind of curious how you can be crushed by not one, but TWO railroad cars, but I think I probably don’t want to know the answer to that.

I hope you have a safe and happy weekend!  And be sure stay away from railroad cars. 

Google Waves "Good-bye" to Real Estate (But I'm Still Waving "HELLO!")

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Just about this time last year, Google jumped onto the real estate band wagon.

All the other cool kids were doing it, and since Google DOES do lots of things better than their competition, many Realtors in San Francisco and well beyond wondered if this would impact the way buyers searched for properties online.
I, for one, actually rooted for the G-team in the hopes that the various MLS agencies throughout the country would go the way of the dinosaur and that the public would have access to the same listings as Realtors, but at their speed, on their terms and at their leisure.
But as of February (or at least according to the internet gossip), Google will be bowing out of the real estate search game.
Home buyers in some locations will be left high and dry, or relying strictly on emails from their real estate agents (that hopefully are providing them with access to ALL available listings) to search from their dream home.
But here, in San Francisco, you can count on me to get you the real estate listings you crave! 😉
There is a small catch – you DO need to sign up for an account (hey, these are the SF MLS’s rules, NOT mine!!!), but as soon as you sign up, you can start searching MLS listings all day, every day.  You don’t even need to get out of your PJ’s if you don’t feel like it. 😉
So WHERE, you ask?  WHERE do you get this full-blown access to all the listings in San Francisco?
Why, RIGHT HERE!
Yes, you too can have 100% access to the listings on the MLS, even without the help of Google.
So if you’re in the market for a residence (house, condo, TIC, loft or co-op), click right here, sign right up, and get to searching!
And you want one more insider tip???
Not ALL listings are on the MLS!  For a variety of reasons, some agents need to keep a listing in their pocket (that is, NOT public) … and more and more of those listings are showing up on the quickly growing PocketListings.net website.  You won’t be able to see addresses, but your agent can.  And if that agent is me (and hopefully it is!), give me a shout on the ‘ole tellie, or shoot me an email and I’ll make sure to help you get the keys out of the listing agents’ pocket and into yours!
Either way, even without Google, if you’re in the San Francisco area and searching for a home, you have plenty of tools. 🙂  Happy hunting, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Great Highway is still Closed and it's Still Summer in January

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It’s another beautiful day at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach!
The sun is still shining and the clean-up on the Upper Great Highway still has the road closed to automobile traffic.
It might just be the perfect day for a picnic atop of a sand dune with the views stretching clear to the Marin Headlands.
Hope you get a chance to enjoy the sunshine even if you don’t make it down to the beach!

Landlords – Get Your Calculators, Tenants – Get Your Checkbooks! San Francisco Annual Rent Increases Announced

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It’s that time of year again…. rental property owners in San Francisco get to hear how much they can increase their tenant’s rent.  Depending on the amount you might be paying in rent, this might mean having to cut back on 1 latte a month, or maybe several lattes a month.
Here’s the scoop from the San Francisco Board of Realtors:

Effective March 1, 2011 through February 29, 2012, the allowable annual increase amount is 0.5%. In accordance with Rules and Regulations Section 1.12, this amount is based on 60% of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose region for the 12-month period ending October 31, which was 0.9% as posted in November 2010 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To calculate the dollar amount of the 0.5% annual rent increase, multiply the tenant’s base rent by .005. For example, if the tenant’s base rent is $1,250.00, the annual increase would be calculated as follows: $1,250.00 x .005 = $6.25. The tenant’s new base rent would be $1,256.25 ($1,250.00 + $6.25 = $1,256.25).
The Rent Board also has announced the interest rate payable on security deposits for the 3/1/11 – 2/29/12 period—0.4%.

And property owners, don’t forget, you also need to pony up the interest on your tenants’ security deposits too.

Testing, Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

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So the blog has been dead.  Some folks didn’t notice, some folks did, and others missed it so much that they sent me nasty emails expressing their displeasure that this San Francisco real estate agent needed a break. 

The break has been great, but I’m pondering bringing this thing back to life.  I *would* like to bring it back bigger and better, so for the next couple of months, I’ll be working on a few things…. and if all for a ad planned, this SF real estate blog will be back and bringing you the stuff you crave brought to you with a funky edge. 
And…. this post is being brought to you from my phone, so it’s also serving as a test to see if this thing is on!  🙂

As always, even if not not blogging, I’m working, so if you need real estate advice, find me at 415-307-1394 or at [email protected]  🙂