theFrontSteps - San Francisco » RealSpam

“We also have an ever-growing supply of short sale inventory” Love, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Co-President

thefrontsteps — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:35:23 +0000

When we were blogging up a storm we used to always get nice letters to the Editor, but now we just get spam. Something we’ve referred to as RealSpam, you know, the kind that you get from Realtors and those in this industry that you really just want to delete, but the next thing you know you find yourself not only READING it, but posting it to your frickin’ blog!

Well, we thought we’d share the most recent letter from our dear friend at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Cara Heiden, Co-President:

Our favorite, or least favorite quote (depending on how you look at it), “We also have an ever-growing supply of short sale inventory-and the sooner those houses can be sold, the better for all involved.”

Amen sista! Amen! Thanks for the personalized note to us. We appreciate it.

A “Villa” At Ocean Beach? Tisk Tisk. But A Pizza Place On Noriega…Brilliant!

thefrontsteps — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:21:52 +0000

The email to our office read, “Stunning Ocean Beach Villa”, and a link to 2006 47th Ave was included. We were expecting…well….a surprise, you know…a “villa”. Instead, we got your typical Outer Parkside “gem”.

We’re gonna go out on a limb and say that when 99% of Outer Parkside home buyers (and their Realtors) are shopping for homes at or near Ocean Beach, they’re not looking for “villas”. Maybe “Junior 5s” or “Center Patios”, but “villas”? Seems like a little bit of…shall we say…interesting marketing.

But a Pizza Place On Noriega? Now that’s marketing…it’s a pizza place…on Noriega. Genius!

(Yes, the Pizza Place is nearby this listing.)

-2006 47th Ave, Outer Parkside, $849,000.

The Real Estate Spam Has To Stop!

thefrontsteps — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:04:06 +0000

Are you a Realtor that at one point or another may have contacted another Realtor and now all of a sudden you get ALL of that broker’s “new listings”, “off-market opportunities”, “price reduced”, “open house”, and “won’t last” emails?

Are you a principal and walked into an open house, reluctantly gave your email and now you’re getting the exact same thing as mentioned above?

Or did you call a real estate brokerage, request info about ONE property, and now you’re getting blasted all of the properties that match those criteria (without giving them permission to do so)?

If so, share your thoughts, because it is really annoying, and we know we aren’t alone!

Realtors and Brokers….Enough Real Estate Spam! There is a thing called “permission based” e-marketing. sfnewsletter uses it, subscribing to an RSS feed is it, Twitter “follow” is it, Facebook “friending” is it, but somehow most of you just don’t get it. Just because you have an email in your dirty little mitts, doesn’t mean you have permission to spam it, and it certainly doesn’t mean that person wants to be your “friend” on Facebook. Think twice before sending that marketing, and feel good about making a change. We have a bad enough rap as is, so why not make a change for the better?

What Was Is Now Was, 465 Hoffman Is Here And Modern

thefrontsteps — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:25:38 +0000

Last purchased (or sold) in March of 2007 for $1,150,000 (asking $995,000), 465 Hoffman was a contractor’s dream,

This property is city approved and permit ready for demolition. New plans propose 3000+ square foot single-family detached residence. Disclosures and Reports include: Historical Evaluation, Geotechnical Investigation, Contractor’s Inspection, Advocacy letter and reduced set of proposed design.

The property saw itself on the market again in January of 2008 attempting to be sold for $1,625,000 (~41% more). This time around those plans now had permits and floorplans,

Developers! Start Building Tomorrow. Fully permitted & entitled project site in a spectacular residential location. Modern designed legal 2 unit or marketable as a magnificent 4BR, 3BA, VIEW, single family home. All permits, including shoring & underpinning approved & open, can start building immediately. Demolition of the existing house has been completed.

That was then, this is now:

Price is to be determined (place your bets!). There are: four bedrooms; four and one half baths; two car parking; two legal units; Silestone counters; Miele, Bosch, Gaggenau, Bertazzonni appliances; 100% Recycled Wood Flooring; wave pool; half-pipe; and on call massage therapist (last three are not true, but we can dream, right!?)

We’re still not 100% certain this thing is actually built, as we haven’t yet gone by (or received confirmation from the agent), but we’re assuming it’s definitely coming soon, so we’re sharing with you.

[Update: The home is not yet complete, "about 60 days out". Care to take a look before the masses? Contact us.]

-465 Hoffman, 4 bed, 4.5 bath, price TBD [property website]

You like dags? “Sexy, dog-friendly” condo awaits (1944 Green St.)

thefrontsteps — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:41:12 +0000

Ahhhh…San Francisco real estate is so much fun isn’t it? Our market is inundated with agents (4000+ at last count), there’s a growing number of real estate bloggers out there trying to separate themselves from the pack, and the amount of Realtor “marketing” hitting our Inbox is out of control. We like to call this RealSpam, and today’s little nugget reminded us of a line in one of our favorite movies…“Snatch” (The line isn’t actually on any clip we’ve found, but it’s where Brad Pitt turns and asks “you like dags” in the heavy pikey accent.)

“Sexy, Dog-friendly Condo one block off Union Street”

[You gotta love that peak-a-boo Golden Gate Bridge view.]

The moral of this story, 1944 Green was just reduced in price to $1,695,000 and the marketing has turned to the canine loving crowd. (Whether or not a building accepts dogs is actually a very common question when selling condos, but we’re not sure it needs to be the focal point. Of course, if it’s not selling, why not try.)

Hold on….this listing has more story. It is the first we’ve seen where we will learn (without getting into contract) what the sellers will miss most about their home…

Our favorite line…”Practically no stairs or drama coming in and out of home with my belongings”.

And for you to debate…”Green Street is like living in the palm of the hand of Pacific Heights-flat, gentle, yet still spectacular”.

Finally, this goes to show that if you select and track homes that were previously out of reach or just a pipe dream, every dog has its day, and yours might be just around the corner.

-1944 Green [listing detail]