Luba Muzichenko

San Francisco Realtor

Uncategorized

San Francisco – Spring has SPRUNG!

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My favorite sign of spring in SF is always forget-me-nots!

Of course, with that comes a busy spring home buying season.

I was busy with sellers and buyers since January, but it seems things are ramping up to get even busier, which may mean less blog posts here.

Hopefully, I’ll get a little break and stop and smell the flowers (and yes, I know forget-me-nots don’t smell) and maybe even catch up on some blog posts!

Stay tuned, and hope you have time to take in all of the awesomeness San Francisco springtime has to offer!!!

Front Row Seats to 2010

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The blog has been on hiatus due to the holidays.

But I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a happy 2010!

May you always have front row seats to all the amazing moments life has to offer!!! 🙂

Posted by ShoZu

Waves to Wine – Give up Some Money

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CLICK HERE TO GIVE MONEY
I have a friend in her early thirties.  Several years ago she discovered she had MS.     
At this point, her symptoms are minimal – but it’s obvious that even at this young age, the effects are setting in. 
Because she’s not just a friend, but an incredibly awesome person, she has other friends to help fight the battle in ways she can’t. 
Personally, I can barely ride a bike – at least not without crashing into a car (that’s a totally different story)…. But luckily, one of our friends can.  And she’s riding to raise money for MS. 
Whatever you give will help.  Even if each of you gave just 1 dollar, we’d raise a couple hundred bucks.  If each of you gave $5, we’d easily hit the $1000 mark and then and then and then some. 
Here’s the request:
Dear Friends & Family,
This is my eighth year participating in Waves to Wine, the bike ride from San Francisco through Sonoma County, to raise awareness and funds for MS research. This weekend I’ll be riding a total of 90 miles (40 on Saturday; 50 on Sunday). This year, our team of six riders will be cycling farther than ever before in Team TNT history, for a total of 840 miles!
I’m super excited about the event this year because I have never ridden this far in one weekend before. Despite my history with this event, I’m not a cyclist. In fact, I’ve only had my own bike since last year (I bought it the night before the ride). Before that, I rented a bike for the ride every year. So let me tell you: it’s a big deal doing the ride as a non-cyclist. It hurts. A lot. But it’s worth it. Waves to Wine is an awesome event and it’s for a great cause. I ride for my amazing father-in-law, Bernie, and my friends with MS. 
Thanks to the efforts of the MS Society and the dollars you donate, researchers are making great progress, but the cause and cure are still over the horizon. Last year, cyclists and volunteers raised almost $1.6 million. This year, with the registration being the largest ever, we hope to hit the $1.75 million mark.  Please help me meet my fundraising goal by making a tax-deductible contribution. Small or large, all contributions are appreciated! 
Whatever you can give will help! I really appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for your support! I will even oblige those who are interested with unflattering shots of myself in biking spandex, which–even if you don’t know me–are good for a laugh. 
Nikki
P.S. If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from the MS Bike Tour are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit http://www.facebook.com/l/;nationalmssociety.org.
 
Click here to get to my personal page and make a secure, online donation.
To send a donation: Make all checks payable to: National MS Society and mail to: Nikki Jong 1265 Washington St Apt 5 San Francisco, CA 94108. Don’t forget to keep your copy of the check for tax records!

Gone Fishin'

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gone-fishing.jpg

It’s that time of year for me again.  It’s time for summer vacation.  And as I do most years, I am heading up to Lake County for some fishing, boating, kayaking and general relaxation. This year, I’ll add smoke inhalation to the list thanks to all the fires that are burning, but I digress.

I’ll be back in town on the 12th Of July, and will resume the usual blog posting schedule when I return, along with a hectic listing schedule (I’ll have a handful of new listings on the market when I come back – check back towards the middle of July to get the full scoop on them.)

If you really miss me,  you can follow me on Twitter where I might pop in occasionally to say “hi.” 

When I come back, I’ll be ready to jump back into the San Francisco real estate market, so if you need help buying or selling property in the new year, know that I’ll be relaxed, refreshed and ready to work my butt off!

Get Real The Latest San Francisco Real Estate Updates

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Just a little blurb to let you know that I’ve just addes a new market report feature to the blog. 

If you just can’t get enough San Francsco real estate market updates between this blog and The City Update(TM), you now have one more option when it comes to getting the latest deets on what the market is doing. 

You can narrow down your reports by zip code or property type, and you can sign up for as few or as many zip codes as you like (you just have to reenter your info for each new zip code/property type). 

You can sign up in the sidebar on the right, or you can sign up right here.

Go ahead, get your SF real estate data fix on!

Oh – and as always, your info will not be sold, rented, shared, abused, danced on, or in any other way misused.  In fact, you’ll never hear from me unless you contact me directly.  Just thought you’d like to know.

 

SF Home Buyers – It's Time to Get Real

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A hint… if you’ve seen 30 properties, and you can’t picture yourself living in any one of them, it’s not that there’s something wrong with all of the properties on the market, it’s that your search criteria is unrealistic.
If you get to this point, it’s time to reevaluate your search, and ask yourself “Do I really want to own a home?” Some people are commitment phobic, and aren’t really ready to commit to buying a home. There’s nothing wrong with that. Keep renting. Renting is OK. Owning a home is not for everyone.
But if you find that you do have the desire to own a home, but you’re just not finding the right home in your budget, you will be faced with two choices:

  1. Reevaluate your standards – you may have champagne taste and a beer budget.
  2. Keep renting temporarily, and SAVE until you CAN buy the home that’s right for you.

Your REALTOR® will be able to tell you from the beginning whether your goals match your budget. In fact, that’s one of the first things I do when I meet a buyer for the first time. 
I’ve had to be the “bad guy” on many occasions and have told potential buyers that their goals are unrealistic, or at times, that their financial situation is too risky to stretch to buy as much as they’ve been approved for.
If I’m your REALTOR®, I want to help you buy a home that you like AND that you can afford. 
The reality is that in San Francisco the first home you own will never be as nice as your last rental. 
In SF, it’ll cost you less to rent a home than it will to pay the mortgage on the same home. 
That’s why many people rent and continue to do so – because they can’t afford to purchase.  (Of course, there are other reasons not to purchase a home, but that’s a different topic altogether.) 
If you have homeownership goals but don’t know if they are realistic, contact me.  I can let you know if you need to adjust your goals, your budget or both – and I can do this BEFORE you set out house hunting so that you don’t waste your time chasing a pipe dream. 

San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts: Condo Sales May 2007 vs. May 2008

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San Francisco Association of Realtors District Map

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

 

 
 

 

 
Condominiums

 

 
 

 

 
District 1

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

17

15
Median Selling Price

905,000

850,000
Average DOM

30

62
 

 

 
District 2

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

1

3
Median Selling Price

790,000

937,000
Average DOM

2

33
 

 

 
District 3

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

4

3
Median Selling Price

440,000

380,000
Average DOM

50

86
 

 

 
District 4

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

7

5
Median Selling Price

585,000

606,000
Average DOM

37

40
 

 

 
District 5

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

42

32
Median Selling Price

911,000

938,500
Average DOM

29

52
 

 

 
District 6

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

15

8
Median Selling Price

842,000

831,500
Average DOM

26

35
 

 

 
District 7

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

31

32
Median Selling Price

1,295,000

1,075,000
Average DOM

36

50
 

 

 
District 8

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

51

45
Median Selling Price

699,000

775,000
Average DOM

36

47
 

 

 
District 9

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

59

42
Median Selling Price

750,000

795,000
Average DOM

46

77
 

 

 
District 10

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

8

4
Median Selling Price

509,500

349,475
Average DOM

64

34
 

 

 
District 11

May 2007

May 2008
Number of Sales

7

3
Median Selling Price

478,000

539,500
Average DOM

51

79

Weekend Blog Linkage

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Here’s the weekly collection of the internet’s greatest hits (so to speak) from the past week. Some have something to do with San Francisco Real Estate, and some don’t even come close to being SF Real Estate related. Expect these to pop up sometime during the weekend – as my time permits. Enjoy!
“Tread” Carefully [Apartment Therapy]
Another Example of a “Savage” Pit Bull (note sarcasm) [Bad Rap]
That IS Rather Hideous! [Curbed SF]
Can this Really be Safe? [Laughing Squid] 
Is that a Mini-City Driving Down The Street? [What I’m Seeing dot com]