Archive for the ‘Readers’ Reports’ Category
Friday, November 14th, 2008
This from “asad” on “An Interesting Sale and Theory“. In that post, fluj essentially contributes strong home sales and prices in the southerly neighborhoods of San Francisco to their gentrification largely as a result of the jobs available even further south (think Silicon Valley and such). “asad” is not so convinced it will last:
Wait til Google [and] Cisco start to announce layoffs early next year. Sure some people still have money but it’s like a tide going back to the ocean. You still have tide pools here and there but if the tide doesn’t come back in soon, the tide pools are going to dry out, they just take longer.
Good analogy. Thanks for the comment. Google announcing layoffs would be a huge deal for the national economy, so we’re all ears if anybody else would like to share some knowledge in the comments below.
Tags: cisco, google, San Francisco Real Estate, tide
Posted in Readers’ Reports, comment du jour | 14 Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
For those that aren’t quite aware, there is this great little invention called email that allows you to send questions, comments, topics directly to us. The email is thefrontsteps@gmail.com. Go ahead, give it a try. 
From “Noe Guy“:
This is so way off topic, that I sincerely apologize in advance, but we had a thread last week regarding TICs and whether or not they were more risky. Fluj said that banks like Sterling were doing quite well with fractional loans, so I wanted to point out an article in [11/12/2008] WSJ:
Sterling Bank & Trust FSB recently raised its rate for TIC loans to 7.75% — a loan for a similarly priced condo would require only 6% to 6.25% interest — and now requires a down payment of at least 20% of the purchase price. Other banks are now requiring 30% down. In the past, lenders required buyers to put 10% down.
Residential TIC loans “are definitely more risky,” says Richard Yurich, a loan officer at Sterling Bank. “Once we make the loan it’s ours; nobody wants to buy them.” His bank raised rates and requires more money down to protect itself from a bad investment, he says.
There is another catch: There are no fixed-rate loans for TICs, meaning that buyers are forced to accept new terms after three to five years. This wasn’t a holdup when property values were increasing and mortgage rates were trending down, says Glenn Rodriguez, a mortgage broker. “That’s where we’ve lost a lot of the buyers over the last couple of months,” he says. “People are worried.”
Just sayin’.
You are forgiven for “just sayin’”, because we can’t even find that thread you were talking about (truth be told, we didn’t look that hard), but thanks for sharing and thanks for reading!
If you care to send the link to the article, we’d be happy to pass it along.
[Update: Damn, that was fast...Residential-TIC Tack Hits Snags-WSJ.]
Tags: Interest Rates, mortgage, TIC
Posted in Readers’ Reports, theFrontSteps | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
This comment du jour comes to us from “James” in our most recent Cole Valley vs. Noe Valley Battle Royale, where he provides his explanation of why Noe Valley is the way it is:
Noe Valley has the feeling of being a small suburban village unto itself and this has been the case for a long while. It feels very similar to places like Mill Valley and Palo Alto (which, i admit, some people consider quite different in themselves).
Having lived here [in Noe Valley] for years, I will admit that there is certainly more of a ‘car culture’ here. Obviously there are an endless number of families who made the very self-conscious decision to move here. The suburban quality is not primarily caused by Noe Valley’s feeling of being physically removed from the city, though. I think it is more caused by the feeling that everyone in Noe Valley is deeply focused on the practical going-ons of their individual every day life. For instance, you are more likely to see young people off on their own in Cole Valley, just sitting in a cafe with a book. In Noe Valley, on the other hand, one is more likely to see a group of women having coffee, with their local jogging group, with their babies, with their jogging strollers, on the way to a play dates, or shopping, and then yoga, etc.
What I mean to say is that while Noe Valley feels removed from city life, that such a feeling may be just a manifestation of this suburban mindset on the neighborhood’s residents’ parts. They may not want to live entirely ‘in the city’ in every sense of the term. They want to be near a lot of things (which Noe Valley certainly is, and not at all far away from great things as some posts here have stated), without sacrificing the feeling that their neighborhood is ‘more home’ in a certain sense than the rest of the city.
So, the people in Noe Valley simply have a fully realized liberal fantasy. The ‘charm’ of a tightly controlled social environment, while being near all of those other parts of the city that they can’t quite bear to give up…
Well said James! Thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading theFrontSteps.
Tags: comments, Noe Valley, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate
Posted in Noe Valley, Readers’ Reports, comment du jour | 11 Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
From “44yo Hipster” in yesterday’s Stats & Numbers for Single Family Homes [edited for flow]:
Di’cha [Did you] check out the DQ #’s for sept…ouch!
And the #’s on this chart don’t paint a much better picture, especially with the financial/stock market/oil price melt down. Man, a lot (most) investors are taking a big hit on their portfolios. Even Kerkorian got his ass handed to him on his activist investment forays with Ford Motor Co. and just wait, the shit is going to hit the fan big time for oil rich nations (think: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran.)
So…I guess taking a 10% hit on SF investment property values (while the rents have continued going up) is *really* minor. I have friends who lost 30% of their stock portfolio in 3 weeks. and others I know who lost > 30% in RE investments in Southern California in the last 2 yrs. Those who own in SF should thank their lucky stars, methinketh.
We’d have to agree.
Tags: comments
Posted in Readers’ Reports, comment du jour | 28 Comments »
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
From “S”:
What do you do when you go to visit some close friends or extended family (people you really care about) and for convenience, meet in a restaurant. They announce they are packing and moving. You Zillow/Trulia them, and sure enough, the house just foreclosed.
It’s the family house they’ve owned for many, many years, and they took a very reasonable amount of equity out. The foreclosure amount being for the amount of the loan…they lost everything.
What do you do?
a. Tell them you know about the foreclosure
b. Pick up 100% of the evening tab which is in a fair priced restaurant
c. Offer some help. What kind?
d. Simply respect their loss and say nothing, avoiding to be too cheery
e. Act as if nothing happened
f. ??
Sounds like a bit of a tricky little situation. At last check we didn’t know to Zillow or Trulia was a verb like to “Google” something, but we’re sure those companies would be flattered.
As for what to do…at the very least you gotta pick up the tab even if it’s Aqua or Gary Danko!
Tags: advice, foreclosure
Posted in Ask Us, Readers’ Reports | 10 Comments »
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer:
Firstly, thanks for such a great site! It has really given me some amazing insight into the San Francisco market. One item I’ve been trying to research to no avail, is just how hard it is to add a roof deck to a two unit building. Specifically, are the permits easily obtained? How long would such a project usually take to construct? Estimated costs etc? I’m not looking to do this without professional help, so if anyone has any recommendations of an architect and/or contractor who has any experience with roof deck design/construction it would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!!!
Unfortunately this came to us anonymously so we can’t thank the reader or direct any experts to them directly, and that, in turn, opens the door for you to plug the hell out of your (or anybody you know) services in the comments. Just answer the question first, so we all benefit.
Tags: real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in 2-4 Units, Ask Us, Readers’ Reports, Remodeling, San Francisco Real Estate, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 21 Comments »
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
This chart was sent via email (anonymously), but we’ll go ahead and give credit to where we think they found the info, and, of course, share with you:
Interesting…
Tags: real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in Readers’ Reports, San Francisco Real Estate, Single Family, Stats & Numbers, market info, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 2 Comments »
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
We love to get tips and comments from all y’all, so keep sending them either to thefrontsteps@gmail.com or use the contact form This from “44yo hipster”:
Apparently some big time landlords were smoking a lot of crack in 2006. Apparently these NY landlords didn’t get the memo that rent control is real, and unfortunately, one cannot just wish it away. I wonder if the Lembi’s were also this dumb, given their buying binge of apartment buildings in San Francisco? Peace out.
-Fear of Defaults After a Flurry of Apartment House Sales [New York Times]
-Lembi Juggernaut Selling Units? [theFrontSteps]
Tags: real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in 5+Units, Readers’ Reports, San Francisco Real Estate, market info, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 2 Comments »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Because we know many of you don’t read the brilliant comments. From time to time we have to bring them to you (edited slightly for flow):
I did not read over the hoards of posts, but i would like to leave a comment! I really do not care how much Realtors make, matters not. But, i do care that in fact, my Realtor is a PRICK. I am in the process of buying a house (within a couple of weeks of closing, supposedly) and my Realtor called me, YELLING at me, telling me I’M lagging behind and not working towards getting this loan closed. Although Every single fucking stressful day I’m getting two or three calls from the lender wanting “just one more” document of some kind to “get this thing pushed through”. Would you believe that the sellers/Realtor expect ME to paint over the window frames to pass an FHA inspection? Yup, the buyer who doesn’t even own the house yet……….. two weeks ago my friend went and built a HAND RAIL on the front porch for me, because the sellers, and the Realtors say it is my job to put the house up to code, not theirs.
Meanwhile the Realtor, if he actually is a Realtor. ([We left it out, but it's in the original comment] at Remax Select, Flint Michigan) is belligerent with me, rude, and forceful, telling me that because they are willing to sell the price for “so Low” and willing to agree to “all my terms” which they didn’t anyway!! that I should just march my happy ass over there and make sure their house passes an inspection.
Alas, I will paint the fuckin windows, because I want the house. but I’ll tell you what i don’t want…….. i don’t want that cocksucker to get one cent commission when i close, so, I am up at 5am researching [so that's how you found us] if it’s possible to change Realtors right before close… because you know what? I wanna stick it to the fucker and teach that little man a lesson.
[Much Love, Sarah]
As we said, “Ouch!” That hurts and we’re sorry you had that experience, surely this would never happen in San Francisco… It begs the question, why didn’t you fire this guy sooner!?
-Why are Realtors so arrogant and such assholes [theFrontSteps]
Tags: san francisco, theFrontSteps
Posted in Readers’ Reports, comment du jour, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 4 Comments »
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Well, our frequent reader and commenter, Sophie, doesn’t really say it, the article on BusinessWeek.com does, but she tipped us off, so we’re passing it on.
And yes, we still focus on San Francisco real estate, but find ourselves looking more and more that way (San Jose/Penisula), and receiving more and more tips from there, so why not talk about it. Half of our residents work down there anyway.
Unlike other California markets that have been battered by foreclosures, real estate in Silicon Valley, part of the pricey San Francisco Bay area, has remained relatively strong and has been buoyed by the job growth in the technology sector and some of the highest salaries in the nation. The subprime problems that have vexed other parts of California have been relegated to parts of San Jose and to the outskirts of Silicon Valley. The towns with the best schools, including Palo Alto, Woodside, Los Altos Hills, and Cupertino also tend to have the most robust markets.
Please don’t go moving there. The city is more fun.
Tags: real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate
Posted in Readers’ Reports, San Francisco Real Estate, San Jose, market info, real estate, san francisco | 5 Comments »
Friday, July 11th, 2008
San Francisco real estate just keeps on throwing curve balls our way, as do our totally awesome readers. It would also appear theFrontSteps has highlighted three sub $400k properties this week alone! That has to be a record. This one from “AMinSF”:
TICs anyone?
Note the DOM (Days on Market)- 451!!!!! That’s insane! I looked at that project when it came out, they were not bad 1 BR units with tandem parking per unit. I think 3 out of 4 sold w/in 4-5 months, so why would the last one be such a dog? Ouch.
That project is 2671 Bryant. The link does not show the DOM, but AMinSF is right on. To provide a little more history, the original asking price was $454,500 (now $399,388), and it appears (according to MLS) to have been in contract around January 14th, 2008.
We thought maybe you’d like to see the hourly wage earned for this Realtor, on this unit, should it sell today at asking, assuming a 2.5% commission. But then we figured there are so many ways to slice that pie, we’d rather see what you come up with.
Or, if you’re not a math whiz, maybe you’d rather tell us if you’d prefer this sub $400k condo on Monterey, this sub $400k condo at 888 Seventh Street, or the sub $400k TIC mentioned in this post here? We know “Garrett” would like to know.
All things to ponder, discuss, and debate on a Friday. We look forward to your responses. Have a great weekend!
-Sub $400k at 380 Monterey (#101) [theFrontSteps]
-888 Seventh Street, 85% sold and looking for your $399,000 [theFrontSteps]
-2671 Bryant [sfnewsletter listing detail]
Tags: real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in Just plain fun, Readers’ Reports, San Francisco Real Estate, market info, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
For the new readers, the comment du jour is our way of saying thanks to those that participate in commenting, and a way to show all of you that don’t comment just what kind of good stuff you’re missing. Today’s comment du jour comes from Sparky in “Should I even Start a Blog” after we suggested he, the Fluj, and Alex sit down and have a little chat about the future of blogging real estate in SF:
I am not savvy about the blogosphere, but funny, interesting or horrible things happen to me at work every day. So I can write about that.
Since I wrote the above, my demolition contractor ripped out the one tree I was supposed to save at a house, and now me and the home owner have to pull it out of the dumpster and have a ceremony and tell it “we are sorry it was a mistake”. Dead Serious.
We can’t wait to get you up and running!
Tags: real estate
Posted in Just plain fun, Readers’ Reports, comment du jour, real estate | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
From our reader:
Is any house in the central sunset worth 1.4 million? The average price in the central sunset 800k -900k.
Please take a look at 2960 22nd Ave, San Francisco which just came on the market.
…and the kitchen:
We must first say that this home is technically located in the Parkside, near Stern Grove and that area is quite nice. Having not actually been in the home, we can’t speak to the price, but if the pictures are any indication….oh wait, those are the before shots from the last sale in December 2007 at $900,000.
Read on for the after…. (more…)
Tags: Before-After, Parkside, real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, Sunset
Posted in Ask Us, Before-After, Neighborhoods, Parkside, Readers’ Reports, Remodeling, San Francisco Real Estate, Single Family, Sunset, real estate, san francisco | 15 Comments »
Monday, June 16th, 2008
From a New York reader:
I was reading an old blog post of yours about starving real estate agents. Boy can I relate. I have been forced to get a “day job” ugh, and do [real estate] at night and weekends. I need to get back on track so I can quit that damn day job!
-J
Expired and FSBO(for sale by owner) Listings my Specialty!
We’re feeling your pain, but likely our reader “Ramen4Realtors” is laughing his/her head off. Regardless, we’re always looking for good writers…(it doesn’t pay, but at least you can vent.)
-Theory of the Starving Real Estate Agent [theFrontSteps]
Tags: real estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in Letters to Editor, Readers’ Reports, real estate, theFrontSteps | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Nestled into, or perched atop (it’s all perspective), one of the most prestigious hills in San Francisco (we’d almost go so far as to say the world), 2950 Vallejo appears to be coming soon…for $25,000,000.
From our reader:
One of my absolutely favorite houses is hitting the market. You probably already know this, but I haven’t seen it on any of the blogs as of yet… 2960 Vallejo is now on Barbara Callan’s website for 25 million… that’s almost 5000k per foot, which is just astounding.
Hang on now, before you start freaking out about location, and size, and price, and square footage, and all that…the next email moments after:
Oops! I gave you the wrong address.. It’s 2950 Vallejo… and it’s 4000 per foot.. sorry!!
Apology accepted, still astounding (it’s all perspective, you do get seven bedrooms and eight baths after all), and thanks for the tip.
[Update: "It's definitely 2950... 2960 Vallejo is the shingle property next door on the left. It sold in 06 for like 8 million"-from the same reader, whom we love!]
[Update #2: Some interior pictures are now available at Barbara Callan's website.]
Much nicer than expected, to be perfectly honest.
As a reminder, you can send tips, comments, or questions to theFrontSteps@gmail.com.
-2950 Vallejo [Barbara Callan, direct link to property not working, please navigate your way. At this moment the only pictures and details are what we've told you above.]
-2960 Vallejo [Byzantium Brokerage...Yasoo Steve!]
Tags: Announcements, Luxury Homes, real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
Posted in Announcements, First Look (tm), Luxury Homes, Mansions, Pacific Heights, Readers’ Reports, San Francisco Real Estate, Unique Property, coming soon, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps | 9 Comments »
