Greetings,

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.

Poor Pacific Heights. It gets such a bad rap…Maybe we need to put a little “Chopper” in Pacific Heights.

[Update: Some questions answered...

[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. ]

More Fun Posts:
-Sexy, Sexy Realtors [theFrontSteps.com]
-Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Finds A Buyer For His Pacific Heights Monster Den [theFrontSteps.com]
-San Francisco Needs To Harden The F**k Up! [theFrontSteps.com]

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….

If you want to see the party room pre staging and fancy photos, this is what we snapped back in 2007 upon first taking a look at the property.

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.”]

-2505 Divasadero [Property Website and Details]
-Fly On the Wall, 2505 Divisadero hits the market [sfn BLOG]

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….

With the un-denying success of Digg, and the millions and millions of users, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of people that personally follow Kevin Rose, I got to thinking…the dude needs a phat pad! Sure, you’re all going to think I just found one of the most expensive homes on the market…not so. As always, there is a reason for my madness.

I’m thinking Mr. Rose could shake things up in otherwise quiet Pacific Heights. Here’s how.

The home is 2901 Broadway and wouldn’t it be cool to have a monthly Diggnation on that empty/lonely tennis court. It’s just screaming to become a venue for something! Why not frequent Diggnations?

You could throw up a tent, or go open-air. Get a few kegs of beer, run valet parking up the drive, invite the Gettys and the Bebo founders (they just purchased down the street), and turn it into one sweet venue. The neighbors would certainly love it. I mean, how awesome! Throw Diggnations on that court by night, turn it into a half-pipe and invite all the local skaters by day (or just play tennis). You following me?

It’s my guess Digg and Kevin Rose are worth a couple hundred million dollars, so go on Digg fans…Digg it up and get cozy with your Pacific Heights neighbors!

-2901 Broadway, $48,000,000 [MLS Detail Page]

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.

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:

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.

Here’s the tale of the tape:

Prices have steadily increased over the 14 year history. A dip in ’01-’03, and another dip this year. Let’s take a look at those appreciation rates. The three year rate is 106%, the five year rate is 130%, and the seven year rate is 147%. Not too shabby.

And how about the most expensive condo sale this year? It was at 2190 Broadway #9W, which was listed for $3,495,000 on 5/23/08 and closed escrow just 39 days later for a whopping 143% of the asking price… a solid $5,000,000. That put it at ~$1,563/square foot, also the high for the year in Pacific Heights (for condos).

And how about the cheapest condo this year? Well that honor belongs to 2001 Sacramento #9, which sold for $345,000 back in February after just 20 days on market. 2001 Sacramento is just across from Lafayette Park… a great location. The unit sold for ~$862/square foot and is an approximately 400 square foot studio condo.