Chances are most people weren’t paying attention to Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget & Finance Committee (the name alone is enough to discourage most potential viewers), but one vote could end up having a profound impact on your neighborhood. We’ll break it down for the benefit of anyone who wasn’t there: What … Continue reading Why SF Might Be Buying Homeless Hotels On Your Block
Mammoth Mill Valley A-Frame Asks $1.15 Million
We’ve talked before about the nearly cult-like fascination some people have with A-frame homes, spurred in large part by the muscular simplicity of their design and their association with remote NorCal locations, American post-war prosperity, and 20th century nostalgia. But not every home of a certain style has to fit the formula: In the case … Continue reading Mammoth Mill Valley A-Frame Asks $1.15 Million
SF’s Oldest Home Listing Dumps $10 Million Off Price
Some things get better with age; home listings are not usually reckoned one of them, but there are exceptions. The penthouse at 1080 Chestnut Street is currently the oldest public San Francisco home listing, having gone on the market way back in October of 2019; in fact, in two weeks it will be precisely two … Continue reading SF’s Oldest Home Listing Dumps $10 Million Off Price
Before & After: 1890 Castro Victorian Renovation
Sellers love to push the “r-words”: “renovate,” “refurbish,” “remodel.” Sometimes this is a practical consideration: Certain homes really could do with a new look and more modern sensibilities. Other times it’s simply a shrewd marketing move: People feel motivated to buy things that are new, and University of Western Ontario, Canada researchers find that one … Continue reading Before & After: 1890 Castro Victorian Renovation
Maximum Overbid: Top Sellers Close After Two Weeks Or Less
Even when we’re talking about overbids, money isn’t everything. After all, the most valuable commodity of all is time. Case in point, this week’s top overbid, a three bed, one bath circa 1943 house at 1735 39th Avenue, which listed for just under $1.1 million and closed this week for $1.6, more than 46 percent … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Top Sellers Close After Two Weeks Or Less
PG&E Building Deal To Oust Famous Falcons From Roof Nest
The big news downtown is that Hines, the developer that bought the longtime headquarters of embattled power utility Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) for $800 million back in May, plans to redevelop the entire block and create a new, 800-foot building with over 700 homes. That’s all well and good, but the question remains: … Continue reading PG&E Building Deal To Oust Famous Falcons From Roof Nest
What Does It Really Cost to Rent In San Francisco?
For the second month in a row–and for only the second time in the history–the SF-based rent platform Zumper says New York and not San Francisco is the most expensive place to rent a one-bedroom apartment. This time, SF is a full $150 behind NYC (last month it was a mere $10 difference), with an … Continue reading What Does It Really Cost to Rent In San Francisco?
Rich People Are Still Buying Homes In the Sinking, Tilting Millennium Tower
Last week saw the news of still more structural problems in the sinking and tilting Millennium Tower, which is now seeing some plumbing problems due to its uneven settling. It’s just more bad news for this top-dollar building with rock-bottom problems. What’s interesting though is that even after five solid years of basically nothing but … Continue reading Rich People Are Still Buying Homes In the Sinking, Tilting Millennium Tower
Barren Glen Park Lot Becomes $5.3 Million Home
They grow up so fast. Just two years ago, Glen Park’s 80 Thor Avenue was a weedy, overgrown lot about the size of a standard tennis court, as it had been for years. That was when its owners put it up for sale, seeking a hopeful $1.85 million, with the addition of permits for an … Continue reading Barren Glen Park Lot Becomes $5.3 Million Home
Maximum Overbid: Great Recession Loser Returns With a Vengeance
Sometimes an overbid gives you perspective on the past as well as the current market–and boy can perspective knock you for a loop. Case in point, this week’s number one spillover is 2242 17th Avenue, a three bed, three bath Parkside house that sold this week for more than $2.2 million, 47-plus percent more than … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Great Recession Loser Returns With a Vengeance
“Modified A-Frame” North of Lake Tahoe Asks $675K
If you’re looking for decisive vindication of the idea that Lake Tahoe is an entirely different world from San Francisco in housing terms, consider that a two bed, two bath house in Truckee (on the north side of the lake) can be had for the SF-frugal price of $675,000. Now of course this is not … Continue reading “Modified A-Frame” North of Lake Tahoe Asks $675K
The Truth About Marin County’s Floating Homes
The Sausalito waterfront is thick with a peculiar varietal of home-buying prospect, the ever-whimsical and increasingly popular floating homes. Most of us have seen them, but few understand how they really work. For one thing, more often than not outsiders refer to these piscine properties as “houseboats,” but in most cases that’s not strictly accurate. … Continue reading The Truth About Marin County’s Floating Homes
San Francisco Named Best City In the World–But Is It?
The venerable UK-based travel magazine TIME OUT this month named San Francisco the best city in the world to visit; this is not necessarily the same as being the best city in the world to live, but it certainly adds something to that case for anyone who wants to make it. Is it true? Well … Continue reading San Francisco Named Best City In the World–But Is It?
“Worst House” In Noe Valley Asks $995k
Selling a home–or anything really–demands a deft approach and a certain way with words; the smallest thing can mean the difference between a sale and a close call, and you have to always put a property in the best possible light. Sometimes, however, you’ve got no choice but to just plain tell it like it … Continue reading “Worst House” In Noe Valley Asks $995k
Bay Bridge Designer’s Condos Fall Short In Week’s Biggest Underbid
Every week we chronicle the highest housing overbids in San Francisco–after all, what’s more exciting than a bidding war and a big payday for someone at the end of it? But of course, that’s only half the story: Even in a sky-high market like SF, some homes fall short of their original ambitions. This week, … Continue reading Bay Bridge Designer’s Condos Fall Short In Week’s Biggest Underbid
San Francisco Overbids: Golden Gate Heights Home Crushes Old Overbid
Usually, SF overbids are fairly modest affairs–but there’s always room for a surprise, or even consecutive surprises. In this case, it’s the second week in a row that our top overbid landed at higher than 160 percent of the original asking; the beneficiary this time is 2021 14th Avenue, a Golden Gate Heights house circa … Continue reading San Francisco Overbids: Golden Gate Heights Home Crushes Old Overbid