I’m looking to enlist your support in some public shaming. You can also point-out the utility of installing a video camera system during a renovation
This Grinch stole the Christmas wreath from the front door of my house early Friday morning. She looks like a fairly put-together person, why is she out stealing in the middle of the night? Pacific Heights of course…
The Grinch comes then goes, and returns (cloaked/disguised) at 2:07.
[Update #2: From the reader when we informed him/her of the # of links coming to our site for this post, "Good stuff indeed. Channel 7 wants to run a story on it tonight. And it seems the mystery lady has a name..." Guess you'll have to check Channel 7 (anybody got the link to a report) for the name, and apparently a friend of the owner has placed a new wreath on their door, with a lock hopefully. ]
After what must seem like an eternity (we lost track of the days on market), we’re told the metal lair on top of Pacific Heights at 2505 Divisadero (originally asking $12,500,000 now just $8,995,000…it is on top of Pacific Heights and does include a sound studio and party room built for, and occupied by, Metallica for chrissakes!) has found a buyer.
Was “The Black Album” conceived in this room…their worst album if you ask us, and all down hill from there. Give us “Master of Puppets” again!
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“Is that…Is that James? Is that James in the mixing room?”-Bonus points if you know which PUNK band has that quote. And no, it does not refer to James Hetfield (of Metallica).
Picture “Garage Days” and picture the parties…Metallica did party didn’t they?
Who is the lucky buyer catapulting themselves into the home of one of the largest rock bands ever? Enquiring minds want to know….
Congrats to all involved in this one, especially Kirk Hammett.
[Update: We asked our source about the price and got this (no surprise) reply: "It's a "confidential" sale... although we all know who sold it [Nina Hatvany], just no one is saying who bought. Word on the street is that Ronnie Garfield rep’d the buyer, but I don’t know for sure.”]
We’ve always said a skatepark or velodrome in the backyard of 2901 Broadway (last check it was still listed for $45,000,000) would be a most excellent idea (see red arrow).
Maybe we should have Tony Hawk and crew come teach the Pacific Heights crowd a thing or two about what to do with all of that space:
Or maybe Bob Burnquist’s backyard is a better example:
The skiers/snowboarders had the right idea, but getting snow in San Francisco proved a bit problematic:
But with the naturally steep hills here, maybe a skateboard megaramp is the answer? They could launch over the Getty compound.
Those are a few things you’ll see on our Christmas list to Santa this year….
Fridays are for less serious real estate topic-age, so here is a meaningless poll and a tribute to another characteristic that makes SF unique.
Riding my bike through the Presidio last Saturday, I decided to cruise Presidio Heights. And oh my, the elevation- in status, I mean. It’s dizzying. The homes are palatial, complete with giant grand pianos, harps, chandeliers, all of which one can glimpse through elaborate stained glass windows. This got me wondering: why did I pick “teacher” as a career path?
But I digress. From a real estate standpoint, which Heights are really the highest (as in, highest class)? Where would you most desire to spend your halcyon days?
For my money, the top four are Presidio Heights, Pacific Heights, Telegraph Hill, and Sea Cliff.
No offense to any other Heights or Hills. Let’s be honest: SF is chock full of breath taking views from almost every corner (and I’d be thrilled to own a house in any of them), but if we include proximity to open space (like the Presidio or the ocean), the size of the homes and their lots, yards (front, back, side) and those cool carriage houses in back that are bigger than most people’s primary residences, then really, these four take the cake.
But I’m a sucker for parks and beaches, and if I have to pick from there, it’s sand and surf forever. My vote then is Sea Cliff.
Here are four ridiculously lush listings, one in each of my hypothetical contender’s neighborhoods. Study them, perhaps shedding a tear for your own career choice. From your own city explorer insight, which height is really the tops? Are certain areas more steady as investments? Are these places really worth all this dough? And are there really still enough buyers for places like this? After all, the four below are just four of myriad listings on the MLS for well over 3 million dollars, when the the San Francisco Census put the median income in our fair city at less than $70k.
Designed in 1922 by Frederick Meyer (think Bill Graham Auditorium) [2950 Broadway] is a serious presence on outer Broadway’s Gold Coast and I think the only one with a pool.
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…and not yet on MLS, but we’d be glad to get you in early.
Asking $39,500,000.00.
Lifeguard not on duty, and Toyotas parked out front not included.
You gotta love when you pick up some clients in the “price is not an issue” category (thanks to this blog mind you), a good opportunity like 2712 Broadway (7 bed, 5 bath, Gold Coast Single Family Home originally asking $9,495,000, immediately reduced to $7,750,000) comes along while your clients are on vacation and unreachable, and they come back and ask, “What happened?”
While everyone else is talking about the end of the world, we’re talking about opportunities (pricing aside)! (Edited for syntax.)
Permits issued and complete plans available to finish this spectacular three story home in AAA Pacific Heights location. Down to studs, completely reframed, needs electrical, plumbing, floors, mechanical etc. & will be a 4900 sq ft home with elevator & private alley entrance off Webster St. Three quarters of foundation is brand new with all current seismic upgrades.
This dream opportunity could be yours for the bargain basement price of….$3,495,000.
By Home Girl, aka real-estate blogger Tracey Taylor).
Go to Piedmont and you feel you have entered another world. That’s if you live in Berkeley or Oakland or anywhere else where you are a mere mortal.
I suppose Piedmont is the East Bay’s equivalent to Pacific Heights. Rarefied, privileged, cocooned. The median list price here for a SFH is $1,236,000 (admittedly a tad lower than Pac Height’s $3,357,000, but you get the picture).
I saw a couple of Piedmont listings this weekend. The first was a pink chateau (above) priced at $3,295,000; the second, a 1950s one-level given a complete contemporary overhaul (below), was $745,000 less expensive, but by far the more interesting proposition in my humble opinion.
If you are the old-school type who favors traditional interiors and bourgeois accommodations, the chateau is for you. If, however, you like something a little more risque — a splash of California indoor-outdoor living, a few floor-to-ceiling windows and a handful of sumptuous bathrooms thrown in — then opt for the newer model (below).
Both homes have been on the market for 64+ days, and I would want to know why the second one, at 43 Farragut Avenue, has changed hands no less than four times in the past 11 years (beginning in 1997 — a snip at $1,250,000). But if you’re after more bang for you buck than in the Heights, these are both worth investigating.
Oh, I did visit a third open house on my tour of Piedmont: 224 Ricardo Avenue is a perfectly nice house in a perfectly nice area, but it costs $1,275,000 and, to be honest, I felt like I was slumming it. That’s the effect Piedmont has on you if you spend more than enough time there.
Above: your new neighbors should you choose to buy 43 Farragut Avenue in Piedmont.
Hello out there, theFrontStep Readers! You may (or just as likely, may not) know my name from my blogs for Redfin. I’ve kindly been invited to write also for theFrontSteps, so here I am, on the steps, with my first blog.
So here’s the setting: last night, 2:00am, sultry night, people walking up from the bars, falling down, giggling. That noise doesn’t bother me much. I’d have to be a hypocrite if I tried to pretend I’ve never, after closing time, made too much noise under someone’s window as I staggered home. But another noise does bother me: some a-hole flooring his car and slamming on the breaks as he reaches the stop sign in front of my house. Then, from fully stationary, he floods the car again, tyring to go from zero to sixty instantaneously. Then he screeches off, circles the block, and comes back to do it again.
But we all live in a city. We can’t really expect quiet, can we? We can hope for it, and maybe in some areas, get it most of the time. But in the end, we’re sharing with a lot of people, some of them loud and possibly crazy. That’s why this new law aiming to curb SF noise interests me. (more…)
As always, theFrontSteps is open to new contributors and writers joining us, so if you think you have what it takes to blog (doesn’t take much), give us a shout and let us know. This comes to us from Arrian Binnings, via his new blog Inside SF Real Estate. We found it quite good (void of most Realtor spin, and generally informative) and have asked him to write a column for us (hence the full content version, rather than just a link). What say you, the readers? Good stuff?
Pacific Heights. Mmmmm, what an incredible part of our City. Just imagining it conjures up images of huge mansions, gloriously landscaped yards, jaw-dropping views, and:
Standard Pac Heights TP Roll
Seriously though, we wanted to take out our San Francisco micro-market magnifying glass and see what condo prices are doing in the area. Are they up? Down? Major bubble burst (aka, Bubblicious)??
Well that’s exactly what we set out to do, and here’s how we did it.
First, we looked at Median Sales Prices for condos in Pacific Heights, dating back to the year 1995. All sales are per MLS. We capped each year at October 20th, so we could include 2008 and get an even comparison (something about saying apples to apples just drives me crazy). As you might expect, we left out Single Family Homes, TICs, Lofts, and Stock Co-Ops.
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.
Just a bit busy, so this from today’s sfnewsletter:
“Hi Alex,
I just heard a rumor that 9W at 2190 Broadway asked for $3.45M and closed for $5M. An overbid of 43%?”
Rumor mill says…TRUE! Also true: that puts the price per square foot of this condo that “needs updating” at $1,562.50; HOA dues are $2254.50; Days On Market 39; built in 1973; 3200 square feet; and one parking space.
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.]
-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.]
Hats off to the developer for a job well done and having the cajones to see this project at 2542 Fillmore through. Had you seen the before, you’d realize how great is the after. Oh…we have the before:
…and the after
…and even more. The before price of $2,675,000 (August 2005), the after price of $4,950,000 (two weeks ago) and the new after, after price, $5,250,000? Wait, what’s that? They actually RAISED the price after two weeks on the market? As our reader notes, “[Twelve] Days on the Market and no sale. What does Malin [Giddings, Maximilian Armour] and team do? Raise the price 5% from $4.95 to $5.25. Classic!” So what gives?
We’ve known about this property at 2542 Fillmore for quite some time. We tried to secure a buyer to take it from the current seller prior to this recent remodel, but nobody we knew was up to the task. This is a sweet home, who wants it!?
Defying the odds and defying standards of redevelopment 2542 Fillmore is certainly a property to watch.
[Update: ...and according to a reader, now in contract (6/11/2008).]
--------------------------- 45 Van Buren, Glen Park Condo $729,000
Top Floor 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 pk, views, decks, hot tub, remodeled kitchen, fireplace, Hardwood, W&D, feels like Single Family Home
Recent Transactions
Below is a PARTIAL list of my recent transactions:
-------------------------- 1119 Hopkins Ave in Palo Alto!
Buyer Representation
5 bed, 3.5 bath, 3626 sqft, Single Family Home
New Construction
Original Asking $3,475,000 (Purchased for much less) Contact Alex Clark for details
-------------------------- 195 Beacon
Buyer representation:
4 bed, 3 bath, Mid Century Modern "Green" Home
Asking $1,650,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------------- 2185 Bush #307
SOLD $790,000,
3bd,2ba,1pk condo
Lower Pacific Heights
Top Floor, High Ceilings, Living/Dining Combo, Fireplace, bright, patio & balcony, views, Earthquake Insurance, A+location
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details.
--------------------------- 62 Buena Vista Terrace
Buyer Representation
2 bed, 1 bath Top Floor Condo
$885,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------- 2186 33rd Avenue
Buyer Representation
3 bed, 2 bath Center Patio Home
$815,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------- 442 41st Ave (SOLD $1M) $1,049,000
3 bed, 1 bath up
1 bed, 1 bath down (unwarranted)
2 Pk, Outer Richmond Single Family
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details
--------------------------- 613 Peralta (SOLD Cash $520,000) 2bd, 1 ba, 1pk, $539,000
Bernal Heights Condo
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details
------------------------ 241 7th Ave (SOLD-$950,000 cash) PRICE REDUCED $1,129,550 $999,000!
2bd, 1.5 bath, 2pk, Inner Richmond Single Family
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for Details
]
