theFrontSteps – San Francisco

Real Estate, Insight, Statistics, Gossip, & News…With a Twist and Some Flavor

Entries Tagged ‘advice’

Ask Us: Income Property, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Rent Control & Impatient Realtors All In One!

Where readers ask, and we (the community) try to answer: Dear tFS, I have been following your newsletters for awhile, now that my husband and I are considering investing in an income property, we are coming to you for advice. A friend of ours has referred an real estate agent and we have worked with [...]

Ask Us: Color Me Condo!

We get all kinds of questions in every shape and size and this one has got to rank right up top with one of the most off the wall, but we love it nonetheless and will coddle it like one of our own: Which Condo complex in the City has the nicest hallway color scheme, [...]

Get While The Gettin’s Good: Sell Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace

We’ve been on a lot of listing presentations lately where the motivation to call us in off the bench has been, in so many words: We’re thinking we should sell our place now before it gets any worse. The media (and certain local real estate blogs) are certainly good at creating panic, and Realtor blogs [...]

Ask Us: WTF Is Going On With 409 Ulloa (A.K.A Pandora’s Box)?

Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: I have a few questions. I have been looking at 409 Ulloa St in the Forest Hill Extension area. Basically, this property seems to have been on the market since December 2007 as a REO starting at $1.19 Million and then the price keeps dropping [...]

Ask Us: Single Family Home On RH2 Lot, Can You Claim The Second Unit?

Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: If you own a RH2 lot with a SFH [Single Family Home] on it, can you claim the second house number? For example: to establish a professional address – no separate unit, kitchen or entry door, just a second mailbox with a second house number? [...]

Ask Us: Can Condo Conversion Save You From Rent Control?

Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: This is a doozy of a question, so put your game faces on: Hi there, Being fairly new at the SF real estate/landlording game, I am still discovering the fascinating mine field of Rent Control laws through the numerous websites on the subject. At least [...]

Ask Us: Should I Buy A Single Family Or 2-3 Unit?

Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: Hello, I have been following your blog with great interest. I have a comment/question and wasn’t sure of the best place to put it. I was curious to know what you thought of something. Due to family circumstances, I would love to buy something in [...]

When Making Comps, is Price, or Price Per Square Foot King?

Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: There is a new listing in my building, which if it sells will be a good comp for my condo. I like the price they are asking, and if it sells anywhere near that, I would be happy because my unit is a better one. [...]

Comment du Jour: WTF! Sellers Living in 2007?

Ahhh, we love our readers, especially when they come up with money quotes a lot of you are missing. So, we often take it upon ourselves to bring them front and center. This from “MichelleL” on “Getting Twisted in Cole Valley“: WTF? Are people still paying 3-million to live in Cole Valley sans view? There [...]

What to do when your BFF Forecloses

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 [...]