Pacific Heights of San Francisco as you can imagine is a very high end and well taken care of more established community.   Now one of the city landmarks which was also the mansion of Richard Chambers (former silver tycoon and US Senator).   According to The Wall Street Journal this house is haunted and has had reports of windows and doors opening on there own.   What could have caused this you may ask?   Well according to Haunted San Francisco, it was the niece of the former Senator who had a horrible death at the home and now sill "haunts" it.   In the past this same home was actually used as a hotel for many years until they decided to convert it into two separate homes one of which is currently listed for sale and is supposedly "haunted".  While talking on the phone with someone thi... 01/01/2009

Mexico was freed from the Spanish custody in 1821, which allowed it to go out of this earth by the North, in the direction of California. The Mexicans built several missions throughout their journey leading them to San Francisco.. Captain John Montgomery planted the American flag on Plaza, renamed Portsmouth Square. Today, in the financial district, a street was immortalized with the name of this national hero. San Francisco was called at first  Nova Albion  by Francis Drake. Then when John Montgomery arrived on the lands of California, the city was renamed Yerba Buena. It was called San Francisco since January 30, 1847. Sam Brannan was the first millionaire. In 1850, California obtains its status of American state. San Francisco became an overpopulated city with the crime and corrupti... 12/30/2008

In case you haven't read the last featured article in the San Francisco Chronicle's Real Estate section, "Here Comes 2009 - More pain or at long last relief for the Bay Area's housing market? Ready or not. . .", I have summarized 4 key points (actually a wish list from Bay Area experts) so you won't have to:   Hopeful push from Obama's administration on a loan modification program Tax credit for home buyers Push by the Federal Reserve to do whatever it takes to restore the flow of credit  Jumbo loan money more accessible for San Francisco Bay Area     12/30/2008

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 ... 12/29/2008

Commercial Real Estate Brokers are quite aware of how few transactions are occurring in the current marketplace. We feel it in our own pocketbooks. As much as it hurts brokers financially, it may be that we are coming into an extraordinary situation. What is happening in the commercial leasing market right now is setting up some incredible opportunities for tenants. There are very nervous landlords in any direction you throw a stone in San Francisco and the entire Bay Area. Nervous landlords means an edge up in negotiations for tenants. This means better rental rates, more concessions like free rent or tenant improvements, and lots of other perks for tenants. While it seems counter-intuitive to expand or to step out and take a risk to secure space in this economy, it might be a recipe f... 12/29/2008

Keeping in mind that this quiz was from a few weeks ago--but also doubtful that much has changed--here are the first few answers to the True and False questions in the San Francisco short sale and REO quiz that I posted recently. Also bearing in mind that this was aimed at Realtors, let me share with you the link to our San Francisco Association of Realtors real estate district map so that you will know what the "district numbers" refer to: http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/areamaps.htm Let me repeat the first few questions, ponder a moment--and then I will give you the answers--along with some commentary/explanation. Some may surprise you!! 1. Every district in San Francisco has at least one distressed property.        T ___  F ___ 2. One in 10 homes in America is in danger of foreclosure.  ... 12/26/2008

With home prices falling across most parts of the country, investors in real estate are finding good value in certain rental properties.  Unfortunately, they're also finding it harder to get approved for a home loan. After getting stung by defaults, conforming mortgage standards for non-owner occupied home loans tightened dramatically last quarter. One major change was the reduction in the total number of homes Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will finance for any one borrower.  Prior to the chance, the number of financed properties could be as high as 10.  Today, that number is 4, stinging investors with large real estate portfolios.  Going forward, buying properties isn't the problem; financing them with conforming mortgage money is.  Another guideline change mandates larger downpayments. Ve... 12/26/2008

For the first time in over a year, the sales of "used homes" fell below the 5-million unit trendline, helping to push the total home inventory higher by 0.1 percent nationwide. Based on the rate at which homes are selling nationwide, it would take 11.2 months for the existing housing supply to be exhausted. For home buyers, this is an opportune time for negative news on housing.   First, sellers know that between now and the Super Bowl, housing activity will be light.  The general scarcity of buyers may force a seller to accept a bid he wouldn't have accepted otherwise. Second, the economy is showing weakness and that, too, can concern a home seller.  Buyers are less likely to extend themselves during times of economic uncertainty, further reducing the buyer pool and, again, putting pre... 12/24/2008

With all of the bad economic news the realty is that San Francisco is holding its own as far as commercial real estate leasing is considered. Bottom line there is plenty of tenants looking for office space and there is no sign of a let up.   Starting right after Labor Day until the first week of December it is typically one of the hottest periods in commercial real estate leasing. Tenants planning a year-end move will be out in force trying to secure their deals. Retail tenants hoping to catch the holiday season will also be out in force. Industrial and warehouse tenants looking to spend money on equipment before year end will also be out in force.   So far the office retail and industrial markets have remained pretty consistent throughout the year. Overall office vacancy rates in San F... 12/23/2008

Talking about the "top" seems to be in fashion. There are shows for Top Chefs, Top Models, and more. Not to be left out, I'm going to start a new weekly feature called "Top Listing". Here is how it works: Each week, I am going to pick a community, or a luxury hise rise building, and feature the most expensive listing currently available, talk about what you get for the investment, and discuss the market trends. There is a certain glitz and glamour associated with hotel living, and hotel residences certainly are of appeal. So, for the pilot espisode, I am going to start with the St. Regis Residences in San Francisco. The top listing for this luxurious hotel residence tower is unit #31B which is currently offered for, at the time of writing, $2,698,000. Major props to Robyn Kaufman at Pa... 12/21/2008

In the past year I've been meeting and discussing housing policy with anybody interested in the subject. As I've delved more deeply into the subject I found a passion for policy that I didn't know I had before. San Francisco is at a historic junction, discussion revolves around developing or not, where to develop and where not, various visions of the future are on the table. I have returned to study Urban Planning at SF State Univesity which is giving me the history and adding a level of knowledge to my activism. Last night I was a gathering of neighborhood activists from around the City and we could have talked all night. I truely enjoy building relationships with passionate, intelligent people that are willing to discuss and work towards a vision of the city. I would rather be in conv... 12/20/2008

San Francisco Housing Trends Compared to bay area markets we should feel blessed. Many of the bay area communities are seeing price declines of close to 45% from 2007-2008. DQnews.com reports: The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in the nine-county Bay Area fell to $350,000 last month. That was down 6.7 percent from $375,000 in October and down a record 44.4 percent from $629,000 in November 2007, according to MDA DataQuick, a San Diego-based real estate information service. My personal take on this is that Google, Apple, Ebay and Genentech and others have created a reverse commute by busing employees free of charge from neighborhoods in San Francisco to work and back to the city. Our relative housing stability and high rent rates relies on the health ... 12/20/2008

In a supposed progressive green city, it won’t be until today that San Francisco finally gets its own biodiesel station – Dogpatch Biofuels. It’s been a long time in the making with permits, and inspections and the like. Hasn’t San Francisco seen biodiesel before? You’d think that they were dispensing nitroglycerin the way the approval process worked like molasses. We’re not counting the Olympic Station that sells B20 to mostly fleet vehicles and trucks or the op-op that used to operate in SoMa. Here, we have an honest to goodness B100 (or rather B99.99999) biodiesel station for autos. All the Mercedes and converted vehicle owners can rejoice at not having to drive to the East Bay or San Mateo to fill up their tanks. Even better, we can all rejoice at the fact that the station owners ge... 12/19/2008

As one of the few people in my office who does these transactions, I did a brief presentation on Short Sales and Foreclosures Statistics in San Francisco last week at our weekly business meeting. Try taking this quiz yourself to see how knowledgeable you are...answers someday!   SHORT SALE & REO QUIZ (As of December 7-8, 2008)   TRUE OR FALSE:   1. Every district in San Francisco has at least one distressed property.   T ___  F ___   2. One in 10 homes in America is in danger of foreclosure.                      T ___ F ___   3. There are more than 100 short sale listings currently on the market.    T ___ F ___   4. There are no short sales or REOs in Districts 6, 7, and 8.                     T ___ F ___   CIRCLE ONE:   5. The median price for single family homes increased OR decreased... 12/18/2008

On Wednesday 12/18/08, our Keller Williams San Francisco office had a great guest speaker, Mike Mueller, the Regional Technology Director of Fidelity Title. Mike showed us Linkedin, Facebook, ActiveRain, Flickr, Twitter, and much more. Not sure if I am gonna use twitter, but I vowed to start my real esate blog there on the spot. Rebecca white, a swell gal from keller williams sf worked late that night and helped me set up my blog. I am stoked, thanks rebecca! most folks don't know my background is in photo and I went to artcenter in pasadena, CA. For over ten years I had an advertising photo studio in San Francisco called cooperphoto.  I love it when other agents use my photos on their newsletters and buy the content from corbis. I take photos, edit them down, then ftp them to my agent ... 12/17/2008

It became public knowledge a few years ago that there was a movement to get free public Wi-Fi all over San Francisco. Apparently EarthLink and Google both tried to make it a reality. However, there were many snags having to do with financing and city politics that derailed both attempts. A local company called Meraki has continued the battle, but with a different approach. Currently there are portions of the city that are covered by this free public network. It is unclear if or when the entire city will be covered. For an interesting article about free public wi-fi attempts, check out this article in the Wall Street Journal. Also, check out this article about Meraki's recently developed solar powered technology meant to extend free public WiFi. Office Space San Francisco 12/16/2008

There is a saying: "If it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it." There is no greater example of this than when it comes to exotic cars - they are habit forming not to mention expensive and the car will depreciate faster than some hedge fund portfolios. Think about this -- If one were to pursue their investment portfolio the same as when buying an exotic car, said portfolio would always be in the red. How does that make sense? Luckily there's a support group for those who enjoy the ride but aren't fans of the financial hangover, and it's called the DRIV Luxury Car Club in San Francisco. I recently had the opportunity to meet with Brad Johnson, Managing Partner, to test drive the latest additional to their portfolio, the Audi R8. Audi has incorporated the name and the genes o... 12/15/2008

As Bugs Bunny used to say “What’s up Doc?” In the newly opened chiropractic office the reply would be “green”, as in green building. Yes, green building continues its march into the homes and offices across America and some doctors realize that sustainable interiors means healthy patients (or at least healthier). Take for instance, the new Executive Express Chiropractic designed by Martinkovic Milford Architects and built by Peacock Construction. A small place to be sure but the designers make good use of space to mention the healthy additions. When we entered, we couldn’t help but notice the curved leather wall. We even stuck our grills right against the wall to smell the leather. Yep, it smells like leather. It actually is. But the green minded architects didn’t lose their minds, they... 12/12/2008

There is new information out regarding the state of the retail market. Unfortunately for everyone, the news is not encouraging… and neither are the projections for 2009. However, the truth is that people still buy even in the worst of economies. Being strategic and making the most of one’s business model can pull a business through. I think this business below could hardly fail! Here is the article with the report. Office Space San Francisco 12/11/2008

In San Francisco, many (if not all) of the residential and commercial developments that have been in the pipeline are completely stalled out due to the condition of the economy and the lack of demand. However, there are still some projects that are so lucrative that even a failed economy can't stop them. One of those projects is the new Transbay Terminal project. If you want to read an interesting article about its progress, click here. 12/09/2008