We moved to www.theFrontSteps.com!

To all our loyal readers,

We have officially moved this entire blog over to theFrontSteps.com, and we invite you to come on over, spread the word, and join us.

If you are subscribed to our email feed, or RSS feed here are the new links to subscribe again:
EMAIL
RSS.

Thank you so much! We’ll see you on theFrontSteps.

We know this site has been down all week, the new one will be up next week.  In the meantime, we just posted the newest Stage of the Tour de San Francisco (real estate), you can see it at www.tdsf.blogspot.com.  Forest Hill is the location today. 

We’re moving to a different location, name, and domain. There will be no posts here for the week of 6/11-6/15 2007. We’re going to take the week to set things up at the new spot, restructure, and organize. We hope to be up at our new location and look by 6/18 or thereabouts. As soon as all is up and running, we’ll announce it here. So check back.

If you’d like to join us, please contact us at info@sfnewsletter.com. 

Thank you,
alex

The newest stage of our Tour de San Francisco (real estate), Diamond Heights (District 4b), has been posted. We invite you to check it out, especially all you fans of Mid-Century Modern.

From the San Francisco Association of Realtors Advantage Online:

“SB 464 Amended

SB 464 (the anti-Ellis Act bill) still is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. The speculation is that the bill’s author, Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica, still does not have the votes needed for passage. But to improve her chances she has amended the bill once again by limiting its application to persons who have owned residential rental property for three years.

Six weeks ago, Kuehl amended SB 464 by inserting the following language in the bill: ‘[The bill] shall apply only to owners who acquired ownership of property pursuant to a purchase agreement or contract for exchange entered into on or after March 27, 2007.’

So, to review, SB 464 would amend the Ellis Act (the State law that allows residential rental property owners to go out of the rental business) by limiting its application to the owner of any residential real property who has owned the property for three years. In addition, SB 464 would apply only to owners who acquired ownership of property pursuant to a purchase agreement or contract for exchange entered into on or after March 27, 2007. It also would allow a public entity to require that if any tenant is at least 62 years of age or disabled, and has lived in his or her accommodations for at least one year prior to the date of delivery to the public entity of the notice of intent to withdraw pursuant to the Act, the date of withdrawal of the accommodations to be extended to one year after the date of delivery of the notice

Currently, virtually all of the Republicans and several key Democrats are opposed to SB 464. If these key Democrats reverse their positions on the bill, Kuehl could secure the votes she needs to pass SB 464. This is the last week that bills can be voted upon in their house of origin so, whether she has the votes needed for passage or not, it is likely that Kuehl will bring the bill to a vote before week’s end.”

-Previous Follow up post [sfn BLOG]
-Ellis Act a la SB 464 [sfn BLOG]
-Ellis Act getting tougher or easier [sfn BLOG]
-Leland Yee [website]
-San Francisco Tenant’s Union [website]
-the legal part of evictions [Sirkin Paul Associates]
-the low down [Senate Judiciary Committe]
-Rent vs. Buy, the old debate…in an interactive graph [sfn BLOG]

We know of a property on Vallejo that just came up for sale, but is not in MLS that would appeal to many a contractor. Asking price is $6MM. We have been asked not to post the location at this time, but you are free to contact us if you are a serious buyer, and we’ll gladly give you the details, or get you in to see the property.
We’re sure word will leak to some other blogs, but we won’t be leaking it, and out of respect for our colleagues, we won’t be posting it.
“Sleepiguy”, it is not the property we mentioned in our Property Pipeline on May 14th, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that leaked out soon too. It’s killing us not to be able to announce that one either.
We apologize for not being able to post on these, but think this is a fair solution to those we know read this site for information about purchasing properties of that caliber, and those sources that give us information asking for confidentiality.

We almost can’t keep up with some of the brisk sales we’re seeing. 3130 Pacific is “pending”, after 7 days in MLS. Remember 3100 Pacific (next door), the $15,000,000 home that never made it to MLS, received two offers and is sold.
A quick explanation of “pending”. In MLS, and real estate in general, there are four steps to tracking the sale with MLS data. First a property is “active”, meaning on the market and very much for sale. Then, if/when an offer is accepted and there are contingencies (loan, inspections, appraisal, etc.) the property will be listed as “active contingent”. Once contingencies have been removed a property will be listed as “pending”, and this usually means it’s as good as sold, but not quite there. Then, of course, it is “sold” (no explanation needed).
With a property like this that basically goes from “active” to “pending” (skipping “active contingent”), it could mean any number of things, but generally there were no contingencies, meaning the buyers are comfortable with the home just the way it is, and nothing else is really negotiable. It is also a pretty good bet that the sale will be a cash sale. Not always, but basically obtaining financing is not a problem.
So, it’s a good day for everyone involved with the two newest homes on Pacific that have sold in practically the blink of an eye.

BLŪ, San Francisco’s newest new is planning on opening their sales office in September (so we’re told), and they’re claiming “fresh concepts, crisp lines, attention to detail, clarity of purpose…in an intimate high-rise community.” The development will be one hundred eight condominium units total, and there will be six residences per floor. On the top will be six two-story penthouses with private roof decks, and glass walled solariums.
Judging from the 3D renderings, we’re definitely seeing crisp lines, and clarity, but of course, we have yet to see inside.
We’ve also been told that they recently sent a balloon up in the sky at the construction site to snap pictures that will enable the artists to create 360 degree view images for you to see. You’ll have to check back for those though, but if they’re anything like the 3D renderings zūm llc did, we’ll be impressed.

-zūm llc: a 3D “picture medley” [sfn BLOG]
-More New Development News [sfn BLOG]
-BLŪ [website]

Ask nicely and you shall receive. We did the Single Family Stats and Numbers last week, and a kind email request came for the same thing for condos. Thank you for reading, commenting on, and contacting the sfnewsletter BLOG.   Here are the graphs representing Median Price for CONDOS in San Francisco by zip code:

Inner Richmond/Presidio Heights

Richmond

Marina/Cow Hollow

Parkside

Pacific Heights

Mission

Noe Valley

Mission Bay/Potrero Hill/SOMA

South Beach

Sunset (added to post on 6/10/07 per request by reader)

Not too long ago, we were “Bettin’ Fools, now we’re looking more like Fools Bettin’. We predicted 2340 Larkin #2 would be sold by now…and we were wrong. We were also wrong about 1110 Fulton, but thank God we weren’t wrong too long…Fulton is, at least, on track to close escrow soon.

1110 Fulton, a property we thought would fly, did not. But…it is “pending”. Phew! Saved a little face at least. Rough day.

We showed it to you first, and before and after, then we bet on it, and now it’s closed…1326-28 15th Avenue is a done deal, and none of our readers guessed the sales price. In fact, we didn’t even come close, either. It might not actually be marked sold in MLS yet, but we know the scoop, and unfortunately we can’t give you all the dirt. What we can tell you is that they were asking $1,385,000, it went for over $1.6MM, received 11 offers and was only on the market 5 days.

-Some makeup (a little), some elbow grease (a lot), some action (a ton) [sfn BLOG]
-99 Surrey, A Done Deal in Glen Park for UNDER ASKING [sfn BLOG]

Thanks for finding us. We have moved. This post and all others are now at theFrontSteps.com.

Having driven by this construction project on the corner of 14th Ave and Clement countless times, I finally stopped, shot, and unfortunately couldn’t roll. And now I’m forced to quit dreaming. According to the construction crew, it is going to be a synagogue, and the vertical sides perfect for a frontside air, or McTwist, will hold seating like a “theatre” and they are “going to put a roof on it”. Imagine what Tony Hawk, or Danny Way could do on this thing:

[Danny Way pulling a 360 OVER the Great Wall of China...on a skateboard.]

Anybody else have any insight on this project?

In record time a reader comes through. It will be the Beth Sholom Synagogue, and the Architect is Stanley Saitowitz. Here is a link to their site, and here are the renderings:


[images pulled from Stanley Saitowitz, Natoma Architects, Inc. website (www.saitowitz.com)]

Nothing more, nothing less than cool looking Cube Condos starting at $168,000 in Dubai that have nothing to do with San Francisco real estate, except maybe inspire. That midrise pool could be a problem though, with our howling wind and persistent foggy weather.

We just posted the newest stage of our Tour de San Francisco (real estate). This week we tour Balboa Terrace, district 4a. You can find the entire tour here: www.tdsf.blogspot.com, and we turned comments on (per request), so you can share your knowledge. It was termed the “Definitive Blog on San Francisco Neighborhoods“, so you might want to check it out. And we’d love your help for districts we haven’t yet toured, which you can send to info@sfnewsletter.com. It’s your chance at über local stardom.

-Tour de San Francisco (real estate) [sfnewsletter]
-Definitive Blog on San Francisco Neighborhoods

Since its neighbor at 3100 Pacific was asking $15,000,000, received 2 offers and just closed escrow for a price we’re not disclosing, it is only fitting the other newest new home in Pacific Heights, 3130 Pacific right next door, should come on the market too (hit MLS).   It is asking a bit less than 3100 Pacific, and a bit more than we were previously told ($12MM), but who’s counting? We are…counting the days before it is sold. We’re bettin’ not many. 

[update 6/6/07: In contract after seven days on the market and looking pretty solid for a quick sale.]

3100 and 3130 Pacific [Sotheby's]
-3130 Pacific [MLS]

We had so much fun comparison shopping with 2901 Broadway (the $55,000,000 listing we have here in San Francisco), we thought why not do a drive by and scare the ___ out of the Gettys and Ellison, and Trainas, who live on this block? Not that kind of drive by, but a Google drive by, with Google’s new “street view” mapping technology that promises to take up hours of your time once you discover it.
In a nutshell, you can search an address, move this little icon onto the map, and voila! You’re street level. Take a stroll down the street by clicking the N,S,E,W arrows, do a 360 degree turn, and zoom in insanely close. This is a Peeping Tom’s delight.
As for real estate, it could mean us Realtors won’t actually have to put you in a car. We’ll just direct you to Zillow, Redfin or PropertyShark.com for all the listings and the comps, send you the link to this street level mapping so you can check out the area, put a Starbuck’s Frappucino (yuck!) coffee card in the mail to you, and consider our 6% made.
Do the “drive by” by following this link to the corner of Broadway and Baker. Just make sure to stop at all the STOP signs. The neighbors might complain.

-Comparison shopping on the sfnewsletter [sfn BLOG]
-60 minutes, 60 billion, and one Redfin lurking in the waters [sfn BLOG]
-Google Maps on Broadway and Baker

The teensy weensy 790 square foot “condo alternative” at 99 Surrey in Glen Park that had all the blogs abuzz, has sold. Asking $599,000 sold for $573,000 or $725/square foot. It did also have “RH-2 lot with renderings of contemporary 2 unit building with parking”, so we’re thinking we’ll be hearing about this in a few years.

[Update: After browsing MLS a bit longer, we see it last sold 12/29/06 for $499,000, but then it "needed work and creative ideas".  That means it appreciated $73,000 in 6 months, even though it sold under asking.  Of course we know nothing of how much they put into it, if any, and how much they spent in mortgage, but those are the basics for you to ponder.]

Following up to our previous post about 1326-28 15th Avenue (awesome before shots, so make sure to click that link), we know it received multiple offers, and it is scheduled to close June 4th, 2007.  We thought we’d do another little wager. We’re staying out of this one. We leave it up to you. Here are some photos, and here’s the MLS Fact Sheet, and some Inner Sunset comps to help you make a more educated decision. In case you don’t click those links, they’re asking $1,385,000.  What do you think it will sell for?
Pass this around your office and amongst your friends, post your answers in the comments, and feel free to change your guess as much as you like. Just let us know how much you win. A sort of March Madness in May.

Update: It might not actually be marked sold in MLS yet, but we know the scoop, and unfortunately we can’t give you all the dirt. What we can tell you is that they were asking $1,385,000, it went for over $1.6MM, received 11 offers and was only on the market 5 days.

-4065 25th Street: a done deal, and our fun spoiled [sfn BLOG]
-Some Makeup…a little… [sfn BLOG]

[Before photos provided by seller to us exclusively, after photos taken from MLS.]

Thanks to “Boom”, who commented on one of our posts, and provided us with this link to the latest Bay Area Home Sale Activity for April 2007, which we copied below to show you just how San Francisco stacked up to the same month last year. [source: Data Quick]

Our problem with relying on zip code data for median prices and market trends in San Francisco is the fact that the zip code doesn’t necessarily jive with the neighborhood and common type of property being purchased in those areas.  Examples: 94115 is Pacific Heights, but it also includes Lower Pacific Heights and the Western Addition; 94110 is the Mission, but also Bernal Heights; 94121 is Central and Outer Richmond, but also Sea Cliff.  See where we’re going with this?  

Regardless, here are some cool “real time” graphs you might find interesting as well. (Graphs are only for Single Family Residences.)

Innner Richmond, Laurel/Presidio Heights

Central/Outer Richmond, Sea Cliff

Marina/Cow Hollow

Parkside

Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Western Addition

Mission, Bernal Heights,

Noe Valley, Corona Heights, Duboce Triangle

Mission Bay/Potrero Hill/SOMA, South Beach

South Beach, SOMA, Financial District

Sunset (added 6/10/07 per request by a reader)

If you’d like your zip charted, contact us.

-Your chance at fame…or missed fortune [sfn BLOG]
-More Stats & Numbers [sfn BLOG]
[image sources: Data Quick; and Altos Research]