Congress Fails to Deliver $700 Billion Check. Will San Francisco Real Estate Finally Fall Victim?


Surely you heard the news yesterday of the failed passing of the $700 Billion economic recovery bill, but today the Monkey gives one last effort to convince Congress to act before he rides off in the sunset to tend to his hogs. [Photo Credit: New York Times] The stock market has rallied today, but what … Continue reading Congress Fails to Deliver $700 Billion Check. Will San Francisco Real Estate Finally Fall Victim?

Ask Us: “Change in Home Buyer Mentality?”


Where readers ask and we (the community) try to answer: We’re planning to put our house on the marketing in a couple weeks. Have you seen any change in the SF home buyer mentality resulting from the recent news from Wall Street? I assume it varries by price range, but I’d be interested in your … Continue reading Ask Us: “Change in Home Buyer Mentality?”

As a realtor in these times, I get a s#*tload of spam, BUT …


Most of it is hot garbage. However, this one struck me as something that might actually come to pass” “Dear Kenneth,I am sure that you have read about the $700,000,000,000 government bailout of the financial markets and you are probably wondering what this means to you as a real estate professional. Well, I have good … Continue reading As a realtor in these times, I get a s#*tload of spam, BUT …

This property caught many of us off-guard


2448 Folsom went on the market on August 1st. It got an offer within 11 days, went pending a week later, and sold on 9/22 for $1.509M. That was 34K above its asking price of $1.475M. This is Folsom street between 20th and 21st. Those of us familiar with the area were very surprised by … Continue reading This property caught many of us off-guard

Just a reminder, theFrontSteps is under construction


Although it may look exactly the same to you, behind the scenes theFrontSteps is going through a massive redevelopment project and it’s going to take some time. Thanks for your patience, browse and converse on the current posts at will, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding San … Continue reading Just a reminder, theFrontSteps is under construction

The “have we hit bottom?” thing.


Saw some interesting numbers today. The Data Quick numbers came out for August. They basically indicated that the Bay Area is going to cease to exist. Apparently, we are all going to get sucked down a rather large submerged drain. A gigantic rubber stopper is located in the silt about 600 yards to the northeast, … Continue reading The “have we hit bottom?” thing.

A Front Steps request — can we get some lender input?


What does this latest round of failure and acquisition do to the mortgage market? We keep hearing the same refrain. Basically (to paraphrase), “Interest rates will likely get lower short term. But conversely credit will be even more difficult to obtain.” To put a fine point on it, what does this mean to the average … Continue reading A Front Steps request — can we get some lender input?

Changing Technology on theFrontSteps


I’m officially forcing myself to switch my blogging platform here behind the scenes and as much as everyone is telling me, “It’s so easy!”, “It’s seamless”, I anticipate many, many bumps in the road. With any luck, it will go easily and we’ll be up to blogging full speed and all that good stuff soon … Continue reading Changing Technology on theFrontSteps

Millennium Tower, San Francisco: A walkthrough, a few photos, a little scoop, and my opinion


For those of you that read this San Francisco real estate blog on a regular basis, you’ll know I’ve been watching the progress of many of the new developments around town. One of my favorites happens to be Millennium Tower (301 Mission). Not because I’ve sold many units there, but because it truly stands out … Continue reading Millennium Tower, San Francisco: A walkthrough, a few photos, a little scoop, and my opinion

Name It and Claim It


We thought about trying a little something new here on theFrontSteps for your Friday. That is to test your knowledge of your surroundings, since we’re all experts right? ;-) It goes like this: we post a picture of something in San Francisco, you name it and claim it (your uberknowledge of San Francisco and its … Continue reading Name It and Claim It

Well that was fast, 2730 Fulton returns 6 months later and $793,000 more


We think this would qualify as a “flip” in every sense of the word. From this 4 bed, 2.5 bath home in March 2008, which sold for $1,605,000 (asking $1,500,000): — To this 5 bed, 4.5 bath home six months later asking $2,398,000: — Very interesting to say the least. We’ll see how this goes. … Continue reading Well that was fast, 2730 Fulton returns 6 months later and $793,000 more

Ask us: How can I add a roof deck to a 2-unit building?


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 … Continue reading Ask us: How can I add a roof deck to a 2-unit building?

A Good Deal for Everyone: 727 Grafton ($369,900)


It’s not often a deal like this comes around and everybody shares in the goods, but 727 Grafton promises not to disappoint. Here’s the deal: 1. The seller gets to walk away (its a REO)…DEAL! 2. The contractors didn’t have to pull permits (“permit status if any is unknown”), or put in a kitchen, “The … Continue reading A Good Deal for Everyone: 727 Grafton ($369,900)

theFrontSteps is Dabbling in Porn


As always, we like to share some of the behind the scenes traffic and search word humor with you. Still one of the all time most random and continued successful search terms to find this site is “Monstertruck” (not sure if that’s a good thing), but climbing the ranks recently…..”Video Porn”. We kid you not. … Continue reading theFrontSteps is Dabbling in Porn