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2013 Decorator Showcase at 2800 Pacific Ave.

May 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday evening Zephyr hosted a private party at the San Francisco Decorator’s Showcase 2013 home. The home is in Pacific Heights at 2800 Pacific Ave. You can see us in the photo below at the entrance on Pacific Avenue. The home is on a corner lot at Pacific Ave. & Divisadero.

Curious about what to wear to a designer showcase? The popular answer last night was “black!”

Here we are, ready to decorate!

Important Disclaimer: 2800 Pacific Ave. is currently for sale. We are not the listing agents for the property, it is listed by Patricia Lawton with Alain Pinel. Any mention of the house is incidental to our experience of this year’s decorator showcase. If you are interested in the home and don’t have an agent, we are certainly happy to chat with you.

The view towards the bay from 2800 Pacific Ave.

If you aren’t familiar with the designer showcase, it is a fundraiser for tuition support at University High. They divvy up the house – each decorator gets a room, and every decorator then goes wild. Depending on your perspective, the results are either cacophonous or inspiring.

My favorite rooms were the bathrooms on the second floor. The master bathroom has an awesome living wall that is behind the bathtub and an absolutely gorgeous shower. The elysium guest bathroom off of the “teenager’s bedroom” was also a personal favorite. Bonus points go to the designer – Alfredo Gregory – for once being a Zephyr agent! The tiles were custom-made, as was the water closet. It’s a very sweet bathroom!

Honorable mention goes to the 1/2 bath on the main floor. I liked the materials and give it bonus points for removing the bathroom door! (although in fairness to this 1/2 bath, many of the doors in the home have been removed for the showcase. It just helps with traffic flow. A lot.)

I also loved the “spa” concept on the top floor, as you can see from the above picture the home has a pretty amazing view from the top floor rooms and roof deck.

The decorator showcase is open through May 27 of this month. If you haven’t attended and are looking for some design inspiration, we highly recommend it!

 

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, Pacific Heights

Condo Sales Outpace Single Family Homes

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

While I was doing some research about how many sales in San Francisco have been cash this year, I ended up on a tangent, which led to the graph below. As you can see, there have been more sales of condos year-to-date than there have been sales of single family homes in San Francisco.

Sales of San Francisco Homes by Property Type - 2013 Year to Date

Sales of San Francisco Homes by Property Type – 2013 Year to Date

The chart above is based on data reported to the San Francisco Multiple Listing Service, with the property closing escrow on or after January 1, 2013.

So far this year there have been:

  • 859 sales of condominium homes
  • 796 sales of single family homes
  • 128 sales of tenancy-in-common shares
  • 72 sales of lofts (which are technically condos, for those of you keeping score at home)
  • 26 sales of stock cooperatives (coops)

I have to say that the graph doesn’t really surprise me. While condos are often considered the red-headed stepchild of real estate in other parts of the country, many buyers in San Francisco prefer to purchase a condo over a single family. Usually, it is for one of two reasons: security or convenience.

Security:
We work with plenty of single buyers who travel a fair amount, and don’t want to have to continually be worried about coming home late at night after a trip only to be worried about the safety of their home. For any buyer with concerns about security, a condo building with attended front-desk and/or security staff on duty is often strongly preferred over a single family house.

Convenience:
Some buyers also prefer the convenience of having a homeowner’s association to worry about all the “un-sexy” parts of home ownership, like maintenance, replacement planning, long-range budgeting, and all of the other tasks traditionally associated with ownership of a single family home. They’d much prefer to spend their free time enjoying their neighborhood instead of cleaning gutters or washing windows.

Are you surprised that condos are as popular as they are in San Francisco? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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

Bland vs. Ugly

May 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Quartz is my latest obsession for news.

They’ve got an article today that highlights the ugly buildings coming out of the building boom in China. Which reminded me of all the complaints I’ve heard over the past few months that architecture in San Francisco is incredibly bland.

2299 Market St. – Icon SF (we aren’t the listing agents, it is a Gregg/Gorski – Paragon RE listing) is one example that comes to mind, with plenty of individuals panning a pretty bland building in the heart of one of San Francisco’s most treasured neighborhoods. Last week, there was a look at whether or not Mission Bay is ugly?

So here’s the question, which is preferable: Bland and Boring (San Francisco) or Over the Top (China)?

Take, for example the proposed rendering of 2299 Market St. If I’ve heard one recurring theme about the building, it is bland or uninspired. Which isn’t to knock the building – it is what it is, and if the aesthetic is modest, well then, that’s just the way it is:

2299-Market-Someday

If we take a look at some of the construction in China, by contract, we get buildings like:

penis-building-china

Under construction in China. Credit: HugChina/Weibo via Quartz.

So the question is: Which is worse – bland architecture that might not look like much of anything, or bold architecture that might look like something, um, else?

San Francisco is a progressive town in many ways, but it has never been (in my experience) particularly progressive when it comes to architecture. I don’t know if it is the cost of development, our lengthy approval process, or some other factor (feel free to chime in down below), but buildings in San Francisco, even though they might be filled with some of the most interesting people in the world, are rarely that interesting to look at.

The one recent exception, IMHO, would be The Millennium Tower. What are your thoughts?

 

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

Just Sold! My New Favorite iPhone App

April 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I’ve been a fan of the Theo team for quite a while, and I have to say that while I use their main products on a daily basis for my work, I’ve been using their latest app a lot in my spare time. It’s called Just Sold, and it’s a sweet San Francisco Real Estate App! (iTunes download link)

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Are You Ready?

It’s a pretty simple premise – the app shows you a picture of a home in San Francisco that recently sold (from participating brokerages), and you have to guess how much it sold for. They give you four choices, and as time ticks down they start to give you some hints, like when the property was listed on the market or what the list price was.

Just Sold App

Two Beds, Two Baths, Two Million?

The app lets you play by neighborhood (or you can choose to just mix it up from across the city), and as you progress you can unlock new levels that aren’t necessarily all about the neighborhood – Luxury Estates, High Rise, Ritzy Glitzy and TIC Fun are just a few of the levels you can unlock.

Just Sold San Francisco

The app doesn’t contain data from every sale in the MLS (it’s a long story, don’t ask) but it contains a pretty big chunk of San Francisco sales. If you are a San Francisco real estate addict, it’s a lot of fun and definitely a must have app! Download it and take it for a spin around the neighborhood, I’d love to hear what you think of it!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Theo Agent Advisory Board. I can’t take any credit for the creation of the app, but if you have any feedback (good, bad or indifferent) I’m happy to share your feedback with the Theo team. But you could probably just email them as well.

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

Board of Supervisors Ready to Hasten End of SF’s Middle Class

April 16, 2013 by 2 Comments

According to a blog post over at the city insider blog, tenant’s rights activists have teamed up with the Board of Supervisors to hasten the demise of San Francisco’s struggling middle class. In specific, amendments have been introduced to the condo bypass legislation that would essentially kill TICs as a viable form of ownership for all but the most well-off SF residents with aspirations to own property in the city.

bos

In particular, Supervisors David Chiu and Norman Yee introduced an amendment that essentially guts the condo conversion lottery going forward, eliminates the ability of five and six unit buildings to condo convert (ever), and increases the occupancy requirements for conversion in 3 and 4 unit buildings.

While I haven’t seen the amendment myself, based on what I’ve read it is a horrible idea that will hasten the end of the middle class in San Francisco. Here’s why:

  • The legislation, as written, already extorts $20,000 per unit (not building) from each owner as a bribe to allow them to bypass the condo lottery. 
  • The amendment proposed will essentially forward-load the lottery, with every building being allowed to convert now taking away the ability of a future building to convert. For example, if 3,200 units took advantage of the legislation (if adopted with the proposed amendment), then for the next 16 years there would be ZERO SPOTS in the lottery for any other units to convert. Why? Because the lottery is currently limited to 200 units/year (not buildings), and for every unit that pays the $20,000 extortion fee, a spot is eliminated in a future lottery. How many spots will be eliminated from future lotteries? Exactly the same number as units that are able to take advantage of the condo bypass.

The Board of Supervisors, and David Chiu and Norman Yee in particular, should be ashamed of this legislation. Home ownership for middle class families and rental properties for middle class families should never be an “either/or” proposition. The Board of Supervisors have pitted property owners against tenants, as though both communities can’t exist together.

If San Francisco has sensible growth and land-use policies, then the Board of Supervisors would never be in this position, and one group wouldn’t have to lose for the other to “win.”

The legislation, if adopted with the proposed amendments, is just one more loud and clear signal that the Board of Supervisors wants middle class families to leave the city for cities and neighborhoods where home ownership isn’t vilified and parents will actually know with some certainty what school their child will attend.

 

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers, Only in SF, Tenancy In Common Tagged With: , , , ,

Q1: Market On Fire (with Apologies to Alicia Keys)

April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It’s Tax Day! Which means that if you haven’t filed your taxes, you need to file your extension. Once you do that, come on back and we can talk San Francisco real estate for hours and hours.

Q1 Residential Sales in San Francisco

Q1 Residential Sales in San Francisco

As you can see from the chart above, the first quarter of the year was a very strong quarter for residential real estate in San Francisco. Sales held steady, down just slightly from last years sales in the same three month period. So inventory remains unchanged but demand is up, which is why being a seller in the current market is so much fun and being a buyer is, well, not so much fun.

Year over year, the list price is up by about 18%, and in Q1 of 2012 homes – on average – sold for asking. This year, homes have been going an average of about 4% over asking.

Days on Market (DOM) is down substantially, decreasing 38% quarter over quarter. And as I mentioned, supply remains roughly the same as in 2012 so the decrease in DOM is not a result of fewer homes being for sale, but a result of A LOT more buyers being in the market. Yes, everyone wants to take advantage of low interest rates, but the bigger story (in my experience) is that buyer confidence in the economy and housing market has improved substantially.

What trends have you noticed in the first three months of the year in San Francisco real estate?

PS – This is why I’m apologizing to Alicia Keys.

Disclaimer: All data is from the San Franicsco Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Data is believed to be reliable but is not warranted or guaranteed. The data does not include all off-MLS sales, which would include sales of new construction directly from the developer (unless it was listed in the MLS, which is rarely the case). Your mileage may vary. If you’ve got a specific question about our data or methodology, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or get in touch. 

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers, Market Commentary Tagged With: , , ,

Up2Code?

April 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

You know you’re in San Francisco when… your City Attorney launches an App.

Although, to be fair, the app launched a while ago and is actually part of the SeeClickFix network, which was co-founded by Ben Berkowitz, who describes himself as, “Ben is a proud resident of New Haven, CT. The inspiration for SeeClickFix came from a desire to improve his own community with his neighbors and his government. At SeeClickFix he is CEO and a Co-Founder. Ben was named Huffington Post’s 2010 Tech Gamechanger.”

Screen_Shot_2013-04-10_at_3.31.33_PM

See.Click.Fix. Narc on your neighbor?

The SeeClickFix website is interesting, if for no other reason than you can see how San Francisco compares to other cities in actually fixing reported problems. And the news isn’t all the surprising… while lots of issues appear to be reported, very few of them appear to actually be resolved:

SF Sucks... Less?

SF Sucks… Less?

The app itself is called “Up2Code” and is available both on the Apple App Store and Google Play for android phones. It also has a companion San Francisco centric website, www.Up2Code.Org. The good news is that an app is now available to instantly and easily report anything in San Francisco you find offensive. The bad news is that there is not an app available to make it easy for anyone to complain about anything they feel like, perhaps including that unwarranted in-law in your garage…

The Up2Code app is pretty straightforward – for me, the hardest part of using it was just finding it in the app store. You can see screen shots of what the app looks like below, it is very straightforward to report an issue (screenshots 1 -3), as well as see issues near you in either a list or map format, as well as see who your “neighbors” are that have been busy reporting you and your neighbors.

2013-04-10_15.25.34-2

Screen Shot 1: Up2Code Main Screen

2013-04-10_15.26.39

Screen Shot 2: Creating a New Issue Report

2013-04-10_15.26.20

Screen Shot 3: Pick Your Issue

After you have submitted your issue, it appears that you just sit back and… wait. And probably wait some more, based on San Francisco’s resolution rate as reported on the SeeClickFix website. You can also take a look around and find out who your “neighbors” are, and which have been busy earning “civic points” by pointing out issues.

2013-04-10_15.24.42

Civic Points?

The screen below is a list view of issues that have been reported in San Francisco.

2013-04-10_15.19.20-2

A list of reported issues in San Francisco from Up2Code

Most neighbors, in my experience, are pretty reasonable folks. Given that this app has been around for over a year, I don’t think that every in-law in San Francisco (or other code violation, for that matter) is suddenly going to be reported and remediated (torn out, permitted, etc.). But the fascinating part (to me) is how easy it now is for people that are so inclined to report their neighbors for a variety of issues.

Anyone has always been able to come through a public open house and report any issues they’ve found, but up until now the amount of time and effort that has been required to file a report has meant that it very rarely happens. But when the ease of reporting an issue is literally “pull out phone, snap a picture, describe issue, click submit” does it change what issues will be reported?

“Is This The Best Way To Be A Neighbor?”

The app implicitly suggests that the easiest way to solve a problem with a neighbor isn’t to talk to them, but to take a picture and report them with your smartphone. I understand that some neighbors are, for lack of a better word, jerks. Sometimes escalating issues is the only way to get them resolved. But I’d hate to see our default social norms around what it means to be a neighbor degrade to the point where we expect nothing more from our neighbors than to have them report us to elected authorities with their smartphone any time they get the urge to do so.

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

Where Exactly is Cow Hollow?

April 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Not to get too existential on everyone, but where, exactly, is Cow Hollow? This might sound like the dumbest question in the world, but even dumb questions can lead to interesting answers. The reason I bring it up is that our fair city has about as many neighborhood definitions as it does neighborhoods, and the groups defining the boundaries rarely speak to each other… Take, for example, Cow Hollow!

According to the San Francisco Association of Realtors, the Cow Hollow neighborhood is defined as:

The north side of Green street, north to Lombard (including the homes on the south side of Lombard, but not the north side). The east/west boundaries are Van Ness and Lyon. Below is a picture of the SFAR map for Cow Hollow, showing the boundaries with the Marina district to the north and Pacific Heights to the south.

SFAR Cow Hollow Map and Boundaries

SFAR Cow Hollow Map and Boundaries

 

The Cow Hollow Association, though, has completely different neighborhood boundaries, which are shown below:

As you can see, the Cow Hollow Association neighborhood boundaries begin further to the south than the SFAR, but do not run as far north. The Cow Hollow Association also uses Lyon as the western neighborhood boundary, but uses Pierce Street (instead of Van Ness) as the western boundary for the neighborhood.

Screen Shot 2013-04-09 at 10.19.57 AM

Cow Hollow Neighborhood Association – Different Cow Hollow boundaries

And while all this might seem to be just some guy with too much time pointing out how two maps don’t match, the reality is that the mis-match has some implications for homeowners, buyers, and sellers.

The Cow Hollow neighborhood is subject to neighborhood design guidelines,  which means that you could buy a house that is marketed as being in Pacific Heights only to discover that the property is part of the Cow Hollow neighborhood design guidelines. What are your thoughts on neighborhood boundaries and definitions in San Francisco?

Filed Under: Blog, Cow Hollow, For SF Buyers, For SF Sellers

Bay Bridge Light Show

March 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As you’ve probably heard by now, the SF Bay Bridge has an awesome light show happening every evening for the next two years.

I had the chance to get out on the water yesterday evening with some friends, and I took the above video. I’m sorry in advance if the video is a little choppy. I did the best I could between the (pretty calm) waves on the water and my shivering hands.

It was absolutely beautiful, and between the cheering fans in Giants Park (a game between Puerto Rico and Japan), the downtown lights, and the bay bridge lights, it was a pretty excellent San Francisco evening.

Have you seen the bay bridge light show yet? Plans to?

Have a great Monday!

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

What is a Mechanic’s Lien?

March 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Whether you are a first time San Francisco home buyer or a seasoned pro, you might not know what a Mechanic’s Lien is and how it can affect your purchase of a home in SF.

Simply put, a mechanic’s lien is:

A security interest in the title to the property for the protection of those who have supplied labor or materials that improve the property. It is called by various names, most often a construction lien.

Under Construction. Does it have a Mechanic's lien?

Under Construction. Does it have a Mechanic’s lien?

Other Names:

  • Materialman’s lien
  • Supplier’s lien (when referring to those supplying materials)
  • Laborer’s lien  (when referring to those supplying labor)
  • Design Professional’s lien (when referring to architects or designers )

Why?

Mechanics’ Liens were created by the legislature to protect contractors and suppliers in the building business.  The construction business can be a brutal field, so these types of liens were created to give contractors and subcontractors a stronger course of action for non-payment. Instead of just suing under contract law, they can file a lien. Under CA state law, the lien is usually created by the performance of labor or the supplying of material that improves the property.  If you can think of a construction job that improves a property, they can probably file a mechanic’s lien.

The state laws that make possible a mechanics’ lien, also (usually) give them a higher priority with respect to other interests in the title (which is normally based solely on the date and time when a security interest was recorded). Some states, like California, provide priority insurance for a construction loan mortgage recorded before work visibly begins and where the lender is obligated to disburse funds.

How do they work?

Once the work has been completed and a “Notice of Completion” has been filed, the primary contractor has 60 days and a subcontractor has 30 days to file a mechanic’s lien. The lien will last of an additional three months (90 days) and is dropped unless a lis pendens or notice of extension is filed.

Mechanic’s liens can be complicated. You would discover a lien when reviewing a preliminary title report, and your escrow officer, title officer, or favorite real estate attorney would be able to advise you as to the best course of action.

Filed Under: Blog, For SF Buyers
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