Today I went to do wash in our building’s single communal machine, which has recently been replaced with an energy efficient, water efficient model. Of course, though it surely costs less to run, the price to do wash went up two dollars (in quarters), so I will have to wait until I can find said quarters,… Read More
Until last week I had never heard of subway tile. (No, I don’t live under a rock.) While perusing a kitchen remodeling magazine, I came across the mention of subway tile used as a kitchen backsplash in a renovated 1930s home. So I did a little research and found that these primarily brick-shaped tiles were… Read More
Wow. What a fiasco. A friend and I decided to check out the One Rincon Hill sales office and see just how painful their process really is before letting you see an actual unit. Let’s just say we were even more disappointed than we expected to be. After the usual sign-in sheet where you put… Read More
The tenancy-in-common (TIC) has been San Francisco’s answer to shared, affordable housing in hundreds, if not thousands, of its architecturally significant Edwardian and Victorian buildings. But since the city restricted the number of annual conversions to 200 beginning in 1994, the pool of potential units and buildings has grown immensely. Owners of units in 3-6… Read More
In honor of the patron saint of Eire, this morning’s post takes you on a tour of current listings in the 6 counties we cover; each listing address giving a nod to the Irish. Bonus: All but two are under $1mil. San Francisco: 1947 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco 1/1, sq Unk. $499,000 lovely little ground-floor… Read More
Days are getting longer, which hints sweetly at summer time. Of course, every year I manage to convince myself San Francisco will defy Mark Twain and sparkle with sunshine for three solid months. Who knows? With global warming, maybe Fog City will for once give us 90+ days of pool side weather (at the very… Read More
I thought I would write about a few properties I have seen recently that strike me as either extremely overpriced or possibly even underpriced (if there is such a thing in this market). 301 Rhode Island St #B-17 in Potrero Hill $989k (reduced from $1.039M). I thought this loft was really overpriced at its original… Read More
Perhaps the title of this blog is sexier than the content, but any true market watcher keeps a close eye on the moves of the single-family home. And frankly, to this potential buyer anyway, the idea of owning an actual house as opposed to a coffin size “30% share” TIC in some building with a… Read More
Condo complexes are popping up all over the city these days- really high up, in some cases. And if you’re a fan of brand new and in the market for a condo, it seems the market has swung your way: many of these new buildings are not sold out. They’ve even had to include bonus… Read More
For the first time in recorded history, and likely ever, the number of homes sold at foreclosure auctions exceeded the number of single-family and condo resale home sales in a month, according to ForeclosureRadar.com and DataQuick Information Services. Foreclosure auction sales hit 19,821 in the month of January (454% increase over January 2007), while 19,145… Read More