Special offer

San Francisco, CA Real Estate News

By Lottie Kendall, Helping make your real estate dreams a reality
(Compass)
Just look at that view! Are you familiar with WalkScore.com?  The San Francisco condo we're buying ranks 98 out of a possible 100. Just what hikers and walkers like my husband and I are looking for (well, that plus the views, plus 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1-car parking, en suite laundry, modern kitchen and great design, all in a secure building less than 8 years old, with a pool, spa and gym no less!) If you haven't clicked onto www.walkscore.com I suggest you do -- great information and lots of fun! Here's a snapshot of the screen: Find a Walkable Place to Live. Walkable Neighborhoods  |  Why Walk?  |  Walkability  |  How It Works  |  How It Doesn't Work  |  Real Estate Services  |  Blog Address: United States   Walk Score: 98 out of 100 -  Walkers' Paradise  
Comments 3
By Myrick Tantiado
(Alain Pinel Realtors)
With the National Association of Realtors index of pending home sales, which measures contracts signed but not closed, in December jumping to around 6.3% (about 2.1% higher than December 2007), there are flickering signs of upward growth toward a recovering housing market. Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the index shows a modest rebound.  "The monthly gain in pending home sales, spurred by buyers responding to lower home prices and mortgage interest rates, more than offset an index decline in the previous month," he said. NAR's Housing Affordability Index rose 10.9% in December to 158.8, the highest on record.  The HAI shows that the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income is the most favorable since tr...
Comments 6
By Howard Bell
(www.yourpropertypath.com)
From the HUD web site: Section 8 Rental Voucher Program increases affordable housing choices for very low-income households by allowing families to choose privately owned rental housing. The public housing authority (PHA) generally pays the landlord the difference between 30 percent of household income and the PHA-determined payment standard-about 80 to 100 percent of the fair market rent (FMR). The rent must be reasonable. The household may choose a unit with a higher rent than the FMR and pay the landlord the difference or choose a lower cost unit and keep the difference. Landlords Can Find Suitable Tenants by Considering Section 8 The Section 8 Housing program is a rent subsidy program in which low-income tenants pay 30 percent of their income and the state or local housing agency pa...
Comments 1
Late last year San Francisco's fabulous California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park received a Platinum LEED certification and now is considered to be the greenest museum in the world.  It is a truly remarkable place.  Not only does it combine under one roof (one amazing roof - but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves - back to the roof later...) a natural history museum, a planetarium, an aquarium, plus a 3-D theatre, library and science labs to support their scientific education and research goals, but it also has an amazing 4 story rain forest in the facility!  And then, to (literally) top it off, there is a 2.5 acre living roof with 1.7 million native plants!  This amazing roof garden is surrounded by a solar canopy containing 60,000 photovoltaic cells.     In building thi...
Comments 11
By Caroline Huising
(Huising)
.style1 {color: #FF0000} Price: $1,189,000 FIZBER.com ID 9431028 Single Family with 2 bed, 1.5 bath, in 241 7th Avenue San francisco, CA, 94118 http://www.fizber.com/9431028/ 241 7th Avenue - For Sale By Owner Property Details: Type: Single Family Address: 241 7th Avenue, San francisco, CA, 94118 Sq footage: 1352.0 Floors: n/a Bathrooms: 1.5 Bedrooms: 2 Year built: 1911 View full property details and seller's contacts. View more California homes for sale. Homes for Sale by Owner. Description: Beautiful, unique Inner Richmond single family residence. Charming home with 2 bedrooms plus a sunroom/porch (currently used as an office), 1.5 baths, formal dining room, remodeled kitchen, 2 car parking, a FRONT yard, garden views from every window, period details, stained glass windows, W&D, ext...
Comments 2
I know that sounds crazy, but having just studied absorption rates for San Francisco single family homes over the last two years and compared them to median prices, I don't see a correlation.  ie.  Even when there is a lot of supply (inventory)  in relation to demand (sales), it doesn't appear that prices soften.   For a full discussion of why this might be the case, see my blog and website at www.pegasusventures.net
Comments 0
By Howard Sobel
(yourpropertypath.com)
  First Republic Bank produces the Prestige Home Index each quarter. They report California luxury home prices declined in the third quarter of 2008 from a year ago. 1. Los Angeles area values fell 1.9% from the second quarter of 2008 and 4.2% from the third quarter of 2007. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now $2.33 million. 2. San Diego area values dropped 2.1% from the second quarter of 2008 and 7.5% from the third quarter of 2007. The average luxury home in San Diego is now $1.98 million. 3. San Francisco Bay Area values declined 0.7% from the second quarter of 2008 and 3.0% from the third quarter of 2007. The average luxury home in San Francisco is now $2.99 million. It seems that the indexes all tell different stories, so its hard to come up with a definitive understandin...
Comments 0
By Cece Blase
(Paragon Real Estate Group)
This Chronicle article reports discounts at The Millennium, Cubix, Radiance and One Rincon, and discusses the general tenor around negotiating good deals for new homes. The Millenium Tower in San Francisco is very high end, with a brand name known for cutting edge, luxury projects. Besides offering a downtown location, and massive square footage, the project also offers a second building with distinctive architecture that's full of loft style 'shells' ready to be finished out by the new owner. I have an associate who is under contract for one of these units. She looks forward to finishing it out exactlly to her own taste-- an advantage over purchasing a resale where you have to rip the whole thing apart and put it all together again. The price per square foot at the Millennium ran up to...
Comments 0
By Aaron Wheeler
(Oakville Properties)
Dine About Town is back in San Francisco for 2009. From January 15th through January 31st, many restaurants (including some really top notch restaurants, like Town Hall) are offering special three-course, prix-fixe menus. Lunch is available for $21.95 and dinner for $34.95. Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax, or gratuity. Please ask for the official Dine About Town menu when you are seated. To view a complete list of participating restaurants and make reservations online via OpenTable, please click here. You are also welcome to submit a request at our Concierge Desk and we would be delighted to make recommendations.
Comments 0
By Garrett Goldman
(Home San Francisco)
Buongiorno! Our weekly installment, Seductively Sold will be available for your viewing pleasure each Monday. If you would like to see the actual sales price for the properties listed, you must agree to the terms and conditions and ask…   Single Family Homes         Address District Asking $ Selling $ D.O.M. 306 Argonaut Ave Visitacion Valley 319,000 sign up 9 1959 Quesada Ave Silver Terrace 498,000 sign up 28 61 Ina Ct Excelsior 554,900 sign up 54 223 Moscow St Excelsior 565,000 sign up 45 810 Le Conte Ave Bayview Heights 649,000 sign up 182 2219 34th Ave Parkside 699,000 sign up 47 1442 46th Ave Outer Sunset 738,000 sign up 45 370 Lansdale Ave Sherwood Forest 799,000 sign up 84 730 Noe St Eureka Valley 899,000 sign up 67 127 Denslowe Dr Lakeside 1,134,500 sign up 79 14 Cragmont Ave G...
Comments 0
By Loan Mod Expert
(Loan Modification Department)
Home Loan Modification and Your Credit Score A home loan modification can help you stop foreclosure and stay in your home. But if you’re like most homeowners, you’re probably wondering how it will affect your credit, and whether in a good or bad way. Unfortunately, there’s no single answer—it all depends on how far behind you are and the kind of mortgage loan modification you’ll be granted. Best-case scenarios Technically, since you’re not borrowing any money, a home loan modification won’t hurt your credit score. If you’re paying less in interest, you have a smaller debt burden. And since most lenders prefer an interest rate reduction, there’s a pretty good chance that a mortgage loan modification will improve your credit score. The implications are even better if your lender forgives...
Comments 0
By Andrew Bates
(Bates Real Estate Group Inc)
    Pacific Heights is a quiet neighborhood, a perfect place for families with children offering lots of activities.  There are several playgrounds, recreational centers and parks in the neighborhood. Some of the best schools in the country are also located there, including Hamlin School which has provided girls with the finest quality education for over 140 years. Pacific Heights mostly sits atop hills in the northwest area of San Francisco. Most homes in the area cost millions of dollars. These single family homes and condos are stately and well maintained. There are spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and Alcatraz. There is plenty of shopping in the area including Whole Foods, Cal Mart, Peets, Starbucks, and Noah's Bagels. Click on batesrealestategroup.com for a...
Comments 0
By Ryan Jones
(TRI Commercial Real Estate Services)
New statistics coming out for the fourth quarter of 2008 show what we all have been seeing and feeling: vacancy rates are increasing pretty rapidly. In fact a new report says that the downtown financial district vacancy rate currently stands at just over 18%. (Read the article about the report here.) This is significant in terms of understanding how rental rates are affected. With supply increased, demand is lowered - putting downward pressure on asking rates. In some cases rates are dropping fast enough that counteroffers from the tenant are actually coming back lower than initial offers. This all goes to say that it is a great time to be a tenant in the marketplace. www.OfficeSpaceSF.com    
Comments 0
By Andrew Bates
(Bates Real Estate Group Inc)
Fisherman's Wharf accessible from downtown San Francisco is a must see area of the City. Getting there you can take busses 9X, 47Van Ness and the world famous Cable Cars. On the way to the wharf some of the cable cars will travel pass the crooked street, also known as Lombard Street to the locals. Bring your camera because you'll need it to take some great pictures. Fisherman's Wharf is a fun place for young and old. There is something for everyone. For the children there are many activities offered, such as watching the sea lions take a sun bath and a magic show at Pier 39. They can also ride a carousel. World famous for its crab restaurants, the crab boats dock at the kitchen entrance of the restaurants. Eat only the freshest crab at some of the best restaurants in the country at the ...
Comments 0
By Luba Muzichenko, Realtor - San Francisco
(Zephyr Real Estate)
Are you looking to buy a house in San Francisco?  Or maybe you're pondering selling that little SF condominium or TIC?  Whether buying a house, condo or TIC, investment property,etc. or looking to sell any of the above in the City, you want TOOLS! I'm not talking hammers, table saws and drills - I'm talking about tools that provide you with HONEST and UNBIASED information about the San Francisco Real Estate Market! So - you want to know what kind of tools you can get your hands on?   The City Update(TM) - The Best San Francisco Real Estate Newsletter Ever! The City Update(TM) is a little SF real estate newsletter delivered straight to your inbox (almost) every Friday.  It has ALL sorts of awesome features including: San Francisco Market Reports from the Altos Research folks All of the N...
Comments 0
By Luba Muzichenko, Realtor - San Francisco
(Zephyr Real Estate)
This was one of the headlines in the weekly email I receive today from the San Francisco Association of REALTORS®: "Association's New Open Home Site Launched-Success Will Depend on Promotion by REALTORS®" So, I'm doing my part to promote the site by throwing a little link love their way - as well as telling you a little bit about what the site is all about.  Straight from the horse's Association's mouth: The San Francisco Association of REALTORS® has finally launched its new real estate portal, www.sfopenhome.com. The portal features listings of properties that are being held open for public viewing (including details relating to the property and relevant showing information). www.sfopenhome.com offers multiple search criteria to make finding the right homes to view fast and easy. And, ...
Comments 0
By Rebecca White, Real Estate Agent - San Francisco
(Alain Pinel REALTORS)
It has been a month since I last did an analysis of the short sale listings in San Francisco.   Let me share how these numbers—or percentages—are changing…   The percentage of short sale single-family residences (SFRs) has increased from 13% to 18% in the past four weeks. Should we worry about this? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The net increase is ONE new listing. The percent of short sale SFR listings is up because the inventory is down. The first week of December, there were nearly 600 homes on the market; by the first week of January, the inventory dropped dramatically--by nearly one-third--to only 438 homes.   As far as condos, I realized an error in my previous analysis that diluted the numbers. In San Francisco, all type 2 properties are lumped together despite there never being—to the best of...
Comments 0
By Marcy Moyer, Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist
(eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales)
Saving the Magic Theatre isn't just about retaining one of San Francisco's most valuable historic landmarks and cultural institutions--it's about saving modern theater itself. For 42 years the Magic Theatre has stood for what's new, ground-breaking, and yes, magical, about the stage and its stories, about the possibility behind the curtain.  The theatre's impact isn't just on the Bay Area. It extends into the national theater community and beyond. The Magic has acted as a haven for playwrights that rose to the forefront of the artistic world: Sam Shepard, Nilo Cruz, and Paula Vogel are among the four Pulitzer prize winners whose voices came to life here. The Magic Theatre is one of the places that makes San Francisco a cultural destination rivaling cities like New York and Chicago.  Now...
Comments 0
By Howard Sobel
(yourpropertypath.com)
 Quiet Enjoyment Is now a service included with ones rent. Quiet enjoyment includes untimely repairs, refusal to accept lawful rent. It defines varoius kinds of harassment that landlords have sometimes been guilty of. Most of this was already illegal. but now you can take these issues to the rent board for a rent reduction rather than to a civil court. What is newly defined as harassment is holding a tenants rent check. No longer can a landlord refuse to cash checks for any length of time. I know of one owner who is harassing a tenant by not cashing her checks for almost one year. If the landlord were to cash them all at once it would be a real problem for the tenant. Prop M makes that illegal now. Here is the new definition of tenant harassment Sec. 37.10B Tenant Harassment direct from...
Comments 1
By Connor T. MacIvor, 661.400.1720
(RE/MAX Gateway)
We arrived on the 1st of January 2009 just in time to bypass the Hilton Hotel in the Financial District and to make it to one of our Favorite Restaurants, the Franciscan in San Francisco. I just wrote about it at our http://iBlog911.com- in fact Wordpress has a plug in for iPhone's.  You can then post from your phone and add pictures with ease - I am still having Kinetic Knowledge work on why the pictures are not appearing, but coming into the blog posts as code. But I am sure they will figure it out. Read about our experience with Alex, Augustine and Israel at the Franciscan Restaurant in San Francisco that I mobile posted. Connor with HONOR!
Comments 0