You are here: Home / 2012 / Archives for July 2012

Hello Sutro Tower, Hello Moon

July 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Today is San Francisco broker’s tour, which means I’m writing this while I drive around and look at home across the city. That’s a joke, folks… I don’t actually write this while I’m driving. Or between houses. Or while stopped at traffic lights and intersections. I don’t even dictate it to Siri. If you haven’t  yet noticed, I have a bit of a fascination with Sutro Tower. I’m far from being the only San Franciscan that loves to plaster the internet with images of our godzilla-like-robot-tower.

Hello Moon!

As I was out last night, I noticed the moon hanging nicely next to Sutro Tower. Apparently, the moon is also a big fan of our wacky tower and showed up early to get a nice view before the sun turned the lights out for the evening.

And fortunately for me, there was no traffic behind me so I could actually stop my vehicle (safely) and snap a few pics of Sutro Tower and the moon. This version has been cropped and tweaked in Lightroom, but I assure you I *did not* cut and paste the moon into the image. I’m just not that good at photoshop, and besides we all know that reality is much stranger than fiction.

Hope you enjoy the photo. My legs are still a little tender after Sunday, so I’m hoping that the homes on broker’s tour today are ground floor flats or in elevator buildings. But even if today’s tour is filled with stairs, I’ll be there – climbing up and down stairs across the city… because just like the moon, I can’t get enough of this city and its awesome homes.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Filed Under: Blog, Only in SF

Sorry about that traffic jam

July 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Marathon runners are a strange group, and I feel like I can say that without being judgemental since I include myself in that group. We’re strange for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we enjoy running 26.2 miles (a strange and arbitrary distance if ever there was one). San Francisco’s annual marathon was yesterday (as well as half-marathons, 5ks, progressive races, fun runs, and just about every other combo you could think of) and I was out there running it (on a whim, but that’s another story).

26.2 Miles Later…

The marathon follows a beautiful course that highlights so many beautiful parts of the city that I won’t name them all here. But it also manages to completely mangle traffic until early afternoon, so I wanted to take a moment to apologize about that.

If you woke up and – for example – couldn’t back out of your garage on Haight Street because thousands of runners kept running (or walking, or limping) by I’m sorry about that. If you made brunch plans across town and arrived an hour late because you couldn’t get across the city and sat in traffic (on a Sunday morning!) cursing marathon runners, I’m sorry about that too. And if you were late to church, I’m sorry about that too but I’m also hopeful your church believes in a forgiving God, so hopefully no one ended up eternally damned yesterday…

While I was out running the marathon, I also noticed a few teams running together. I think the google running team probably had the best algorithm for optimizing their speed, distance, pace, and projected finish time but all anyone could think was “Oh man, the Apple team looks so much more elegant.” The Apple running team, of course, could neither confirm nor deny their existence. Yelp also fielded a running team, and I think they all would have finished a little faster if they didn’t pull out their iPhones to review every water station. I mean really, people, it’s free water. How can you not give that five stars?

And finally, I’d just like to end on a high note with an enormous Thank You to:

  • Everyone who came out to cheer the runners on. You probably didn’t come out to cheer for me, but your good vibes and enthusiasm are always contagious. So thanks!
  • To the volunteers who helped keep us hydrated and safe. We literally couldn’t have done it without you, so thanks!
  • To the volunteers who followed behind us and cleaned up the mess we left behind (you try getting a dixie cup in a trash carton after running for hours). Thank you!

See you next year! (June 16, 2013 for those of you that make brunch reservations really far in advance and don’t want to be late).

 

Filed Under: Blog, Only in SF

Lottery Bypass – Condo Conversion Update

July 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Tenancy in Common lottery bypass legislation was proposed several months ago, so I wanted to take a moment and update you on where the legislation stands and why supporting it is so incredibly important.

A row of homes on 17th St. in San Francisco.

For those of you that are so inclined, you can read the draft legislation (pdf file). Here’s a summary of important points about the TIC lottery bypass that is being proposed:

  1. It does not increase tenant evictions- tenants that want to continue to rent their home in a building that converts through the proposed legislation will receive incredibly generous leases. The way the legislation is currently written with is as follows:”No subdivider or subsequent condominium unit owner shall refuse to renew a lease or extend a rental agreement to any non purchasing tenant as of the date the building makes the fee payment pursuant to Section (c) above. Any extended leases or rental agreements made pursuant hereto shall expire only upon the death or demise of such tenant or the last surviving member of the tenant’s household, provided such surviving member is related to the tenant by blood, marriage, or domestic partnership, and is aged 62 or older at the time of death or demise of such tenant, or at such time as the tenant voluntarily vacates the unit after giving due notice of such intent to vacate. Each lease shall contain a provision allowing the tenant to terminate the lease and vacate the unit upon 30 days’ notice.
  2. It raises a lot of money for the city in a tough fiscal environment-”The fee amount is $20,000.00 per unit. Said fee is reduced for each year the building has participated in the condominium conversion lottery up to and including the 2012 lottery in accordance with the following formula:
    (1) 2 years of participation, 20% fee reduction per unit;
    (2) 3 years of participation, 40% fee reduction per unit;
    (3) 4 years of participation, 60% fee reduction per unit; and
    (4) 5 or more years of participation, 80% fee reduction per unit
  3. It does not change eligibility requirements – Building that were already excluded from the lottery or condo eligibility because of a building eviction history or other factors that might exclude a building still apply. This is by no means a “collect $200 as you pass go and condo convert” opportunity. It is expensive, and it is only open to buildings that have already been in and qualify for the lottery!

What Happens Next?
The fill-the-city-coffers-with-condo-conversion-fees legislation has been assigned to the Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors.  The three-person committee will vote on whether or not to approve the legislation and send it to the Board of Supervisors – you can find agendas and meeting minutes for the committee here.  The bill can die in committee, but if it does make it to the Board, then it will need 6 votes (out of the 11 supervisors) to make it to the Mayor’s desk.  Mayor Lee has been very quiet about whether or not he will sign it.

What Can You Do? 

  • Get Involved – The good folks at Plan C have been working hard to help supervisors understand how important passing this legislation is.
  • Contact your Supervisor and express your support for the “one time lottery bypass condo legislation.” Give them a call. Then an email. And a real old-fashioned letter too!
  • Share your story with us! We’d very much like to put a human face on this legislation, so please share your story about how being able to buy a TIC has kept you in the city, or how the ability to condo convert will impact your decision to remain in San Francisco or leave the city. We’d be happy to come out and make a video, take a photo of your building, or otherwise help you in putting a very human face on the middle-class dreamers and do-ers that will be most impacted by this bill.
Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, Tenancy In Common

1242 – 1244 Pierce St.

July 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday we wrote about an amazing Glen Park single family home (already in contract!), but today we are going to switch gears a little bit and write about a sweet two-unit building in the Western Addition. The property is 1242 – 1244 Pierce St.between Ellis and Eddy streets.

1242 – 1244 Pierce St., image courtesy of Patrick Lowell

The upper unit is a nicely done two-bedroom, one-bath flat that has been nicely remodeled and will be delivered vacant. The lower flat is a one-bedroom, one bath flat that is currently tenant occupied. There is a large and sunny rear year that both flats have access to. As I’m sure you’ve noticed from the picture, there is no parking for the building, which is a bummer. On the upside, though, the building may qualify for the TIC lottery bypass, and it might just be a great candidate for condo conversion.

While some of you might hear “Western Addition” as the location and tune-out, in a lot of ways it’s a sweet location. It is just a few steps from the redone Kimbell ballpark and soccer fields, and the Fillmore Farmer’s market is about a block away.

1242 – 1244 Pierce is also very close to the Divisadero corridor, so for those of you that purchase a home based on proximity to the tech shuttles, you aren’t far from any of them that make stops along the Divisadero corridor. Plus, Little Star Pizza isn’t far away, and how can you not like that?

I am not the listing agent for the property – that lucky individual is Patrick Lowell, a fellow Zephyr Agent.  He’s a sharp guy who has a GRI just like me, and here’s a link to his website. This property appears on our blog courtesy of Patrick Lowell – thanks for letting us write about your two unit listing! If you are interested in seeing this property and don’t have an agent, please drop us a line. If you aren’t ready for that kind of committment, though, we totally understand – you can find an open house schedule on the property website.

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, Western Addition

An Amazing Glen Park Home – 1317 Bosworth

July 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I’ve written about Glen Park Canyon before, so it shouldn’t surprise you to hear that I’m a big fan of a home at 1317 Bosworth St. that is nestled directly against the park. Bosworth is a strange little street, and perhaps the only street that I can think of that essentially runs parallel to itself.

1317 Bosworth St., image courtesy of Eddie O’Sullivan

When most people think of Bosworth, they think of the busy four-lane section that carries traffic from O’Shaughnessy through to I-280, the Glen Park BART and points beyond. There is, however, another section of the street that runs for a short distance and is directly off O’Shaughnessy, ending at Glen Park Canyon. There street only has about 8 or so homes on the north side of the street.

That little section of Bosworth is where you’ll find this beautiful home. The lot is incredibly large, but even better is the fact that the park is behind and beside you, so you’ll only ever have one neighbor to “worry” about. If you are a dog-owner, parent, or just a nature-lover, then you’ll understand how wonderful and rare it is to find a house built directly against an open space in San Francisco, particularly an open space as varied, fun, and enjoyable as Glen Park Canyon.

And the beauty of 1317 Bosworth isn’t just the lot, but also a very well done home with beautiful finishes and a very spacious and inviting open layout on the main level with lots of light and windows. The enormous front patio and rear deck don’t hurt, either!

I am not the listing agent for the property – that lucky individual is Eddie O’Sullivan of Hill & Co. He’s a great guy, and here’s a link to his website. This property appears on our blog courtesy of Eddie – thanks for letting us write about your sweet listing!

If this home interests you, move quickly because from what I understand he has had tremendous interest.

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, Glen Park

The End of an Era

July 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The end of an era… a few weeks ago, we got a company-wide email that Peter Stupar was going to be ending his real estate flyer distribution service.

So this post is to mark the end of an era – he started about 23 years ago, and every single week he reliably picked up property statements from all of San Francisco’s top real estate offices and delivered them to all of the other top real estate offices. He was the original sneaker-net, although it was actually more like a “drive-around-town-net.”

Good Evening and Thanks, Peter Stupar!

When I first started in the business – almost a decade ago – if you had a listing and you wanted to make sure everyone knew about it, you had to make sure that you paid Peter Stupar to deliver your property statements. It went something like this:

  1. Make a lovely property statement.
  2. Print it out in black and white.
  3. Make 700 copies of it on the office copier.
  4. If you were feeling really creative you could use colored paper!
  5. Leave a check for $60 bucks (I think) and a pile of paper 700 sheets thick at the front desk
  6. Wait a few days…

This service continued up until July of 2012! I honestly have to say I’m amazed that he lasted as long as he did. I’m pretty sure that real estate flyer distribution wasn’t his full-time gig, and that his passion in life isn’t distributing flyers, but is rock concert photography. Either way, July 2012 marks the end of paper property distribution for real estate in San Francisco.

So thank you, Peter Stupar, for your years and years of tireless assistance in helping San Francisco real estate agents flood other real estate agents in reams of paper. Before the internet came along and made his service obsolete, his flyer distribution service was the way to get the word out, and his service featured in many a listing presentation back in the day.

 

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, Only in SF, RE Industry

A Graphical Guide to Pre-Paid Interest

July 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Pre-Paid Interest is a Closing Cost that Often Confuses Buyers

At the close of escrow, a buyer is responsible for providing both the remainder of their down payment as well as any closing costs associated with the transaction, so that the loan can fund and the transaction can close. Pre-paid interest is a charge on the settlement statement that often confuses buyers, so let’s break it down:

Rent is paid in advance, mortgages are paid after-the-fact. By which I mean – When you make a rent payment at the beginning of the month, July for example, it is for the coming month. You pay rent on July 1 for the July rent. Mortgage interest is paid after-the-fact (in arrears, if you prefer). If you made a mortgage payment on July 1, it would be a payment for the interest that accumulated in the prior month (plus principal), in this example that would be June.

Closing in the middle of the month

In the slide above, with a June 15 closing, pre-paid interest covers the period from June 15 (the closing date) to July 1 (when mortgage interest begins to accrue as part of the August 1 payment).

 

Closing escrow early in the month increases pre-paid interest

In the above slide, closing happens early in the month, which increases the amount of pre-paid interest due at closing. However, the first mortgage payment is not due until August 1 so the increase in pre-paid interest is balanced by the fact that the first mortgage payment is due farther in the future.

 

Closing later in the month decreases pre-paid interest

This slide illustrates what happens when you close later in the month – pre-paid interest will decrease. However, to balance the decrease in pre-paid interest, there are fewer days between the close of escrow and the first payment on the mortgage being due.

Some people prefer to close later in the month because it lowers their closing costs – as you can see, though, in the end it is all a wash because closing later in the month just reduces the number of days before your first payment to the bank is required.

So should you close early or late? In my opinion, it really doesn’t matter – the bank makes sure they will be paid their interest sooner or later, when you close only affects how that interest payment is made.

Don’t forget to check out our San Francisco homebuyer’s guide if you found this information helpful.

 

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers

June 2012 Market Statistics

July 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Zephyr has launched a monthly feature that will include market snapshot videos for San Francisco, as well as for almost all of the neighborhood MLS subdistricts in San Francisco. Above is the June 2012 real estate market statistics video for all of San Francisco. While there are a lot of ways to talk about the current market, I think this video does a great job at capturing the trends we are all feeling.

When compared to June of 2011, the number of active listings in the San Francisco real estate market was down 59%. Which is not just a little bit down, but down an incredible amount. If you are looking for more real estate market statistics to say that inventory is low, here it is for you!

If we look at month over month inventory, the June 2012 market inventory was down 18% from the month of May, when it was already low – so we still aren’t seeing sellers jump into the market like one might expect. There are a variety of theories about this – and while I have mine – I’d love to hear your real estate market statistics thoughts in the comments.

The June 2012 median listing price for a home in San Francisco was 799k, which was $200,000 higher than a year ago, when it was 599k.

Year over year, Days on Market (DOM) was down 15% – you might think it would be more with inventory moving so quickly, but the way the San Francisco MLS calculates days on market, it includes the days after a contract has been accepted but before all contingencies have been lifted – and since an escrow is an escrow is an escrow and banks move as quickly as they want, there are “Days on Market” in the SF statistic that include days that the property isn’t really available… that was probably clear as mud, but what I’m trying to say is that since financing and inspections can only be done so quickly, and those days contribute to our DOM statistic, if we took those out, the decrease in DOM would be even greater…

What are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, Market Commentary

Beautiful St. Francis Wood Shortcut

July 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Hello from Tuesday Broker’s Tour – I’m writing after departing property #20 out of 33 on today’s list of things to see.

While out and about, I stumbled across this sweet little sidewalk that connects St. Francis Wood to Claremont.

Enjoy!

20120717-132555.jpg

Filed Under: For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, St. Francis Wood

Changes to Mortgage Disclosures Coming

July 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released proposed rules that will change what information is disclosed to consumers, and also how and when those disclosures must be made. They’ve got a phenomenal website, and describe the program as the “Know Before You Owe” program.

Know Before You Owe – Image Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

One of my favorites pages on the site (at least that is focused on this rule change) is the comparison page where you can compare the existing disclosure documents and directly compare them to the proposed mortgage disclosure forms. If you take a look, I hope you agree with me that the new disclosures are much easier to read.

The benefits to the proposed changes, per the CFPB are:

  • Combines several forms into two – reducing paperwork!
  • Uses clear language (vs jargon) and a clean design to make finding information easily.
  • Highlights the information believed to be most important: monthly payment, interest rate, and closing costs will all be on page 1.
  • Provides more info about the cost of taxes and insurance, and how interest rates and payments may change in the future.
  • Warning consumers about features they may want to avoid, like penalties for paying off the loan early.
  • Making the cost estimates consumers receive for services required to close a loan more reliable, for example, appraisal or pest inspection fees. The proposed rule prohibits increases in charges from lenders, their affiliates, and for services for which the lender does not permit the consumer to shop unless a specific exception applies. Examples of the specific exceptions include when information provided by the consumer at application was inaccurate or becomes inaccurate, or when the consumer asks for a change in the services.
  • Requiring that consumers generally receive the final loan terms and costs at least three business days before closing on the loan. Currently, consumers often receive this information at or shortly before closing. This additional time will allow consumers to compare the final terms and costs to the terms and costs they received in the estimate. That will better equip them to raise any questions before they go to the closing table.
  • Providing new and better measures to help consumers compare the cost of different loans offers, including the costs of the loans over time.
  • Improving regulators’ ability to monitor compliance by requiring lenders to retain the new forms electronically
I have to say that, in general, I fully support the changes. My only concern is the 72 hour requirement for final loan terms and costs prior to closing. San Francisco is a highly competitive market, and things often are tight (schedule wise) by the time we get loan docs. I need to look closely at the rule to see if weekends and holidays count, and if the disclosures can be made via email to the consumer or must be emailed. Please don’t get me wrong – I think it is important that buyers absolutely understand the loan they are getting, and consider it a part of my job to make sure they do. But I also know that timelines are always very time sensitive in real estate, and I don’t want to add three days to every escrow if there is a better way to handle it.
The CFPB is taking comments now – be sure to chime in with your thoughts!
What are your thoughts?

 

Filed Under: For SF Buyers, Home Financings & Mortgages
«Older Posts
Please view our comment policy, disclaimers, and copyright notice (if that's your thing).