Whats going on with all these high rate loans?  Any mortgage brokers or finance guys care to comment?  Is this going to get better or worse?  Seems like the effects are spreading across the country?  Is this just temporary?  Thoughts?  Commercial trends tend to follow residential, so I'd like to get a rought idea of other professionals' opinions... The Wall Street Journal Rides The Subprime (Tidal) Wave   According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2006 a little over 14% of all new mortgage originations in the San Francisco MSA (which includes San Mateo and Redwood City) were "high-rate" loans. In San Jose (which includes Sunnyvale and Santa Clara) the percentage was 19%. And in Oakland (which includes Fremont and Hayward) it was 25%.And while those percentages are likely to be both more a... 10/12/2007

Curious how the present tenants are going to feel when they find out the terms they bought into Frank Norris place are going to be changed and the units are now being given away for a 10% discount with concessions.  If you live in San Francisco or want to this might be a good time to pick up a nice condo and not so ridiculous price. 10/11/2007 10:19 AM  The SocketSite Scoop On Frank Norris Place (81 Frank Norris)   What most people already know about Frank Norris Place (81 Frank Norris): it's a new development of 32 one bedroom "luxury condos" on Polk; it's been selling for about six months; and it was originally designated "City Living For City People 55 and Over" (i.e., at least one occupant per unit had to be 55+).What plugged-in people know: it's roughly 50% "sold"; prices have been... 10/12/2007

Letter of Intent From:  To:       Re:      This is a nonbinding letter of Intent to lease the above subject property under the following terms:    1.   This agreement is a nonbonding letter of intent and no party is bound to anything.  Notwithstanding either party's execution hereof, nothing in this letter shall create a legally enforceable contract and no party shall be bound to anything unless and until a definitive purchase agreement has been fully negotiated, drafted and executed by both parties.  This letter is therefore for discussion only and no party shall have any obligation to continue negotiations.                                                                                     Very truly yours,                                                                               ... 10/12/2007

We helped this client relocate from Virginia and did it for about the same price as some of the major discount brokers.  It was tough finding her a home that met her specific criteria in San Francisco because We only had two weeks to come up with the property.  Apparently she was happy with what we found her. You took the time to make the purchase of the home less stressful. Our situation was not simple due to the cross country communications, but you instilled confidence and you made some very important suggestions. Thank you." -Vera Stoutemire 10/12/2007

So you hate your landlord, or your tenant? Or maybe you own a TIC and you and your co-owners can't seem to agree on anything? Or is your neighbor the neighborhood nuisance? No matter what the situation, Elizabeth Erhardt, a litigation attorney and partner of Sideman & Bancroft LLP will provide you with answers at the upcoming FREE public seminar sponsored by Zephyr Real Estate and yours truly. The presentation will feature attorney Elizabeth Erhardt. Liz concentrates her practice on resolving real estate disputes including: landlord-tenant matters co-owner disputes purchase and sales agreements boundary disputes nuisance actions probate disputes involving real property Ms. Erhardt will be discussing recent legal decisions affecting real property acquisition and retention and will be ava... 10/10/2007

SAN FRANCISCO - October 10, 2007 - LighthouseListings.com, an online real estate listing service, announces today that all their property listings will now be shared on Google Base, Google's open database program.  This gives property owners greater visibility for their advertised property by making them searchable on Google.  As property ads are submitted to Lighthouse Listings, they are automatically included into Google Base, therefore, when a potential buyer or renter visits Google and searches for a particular home, any Lighthouse Listings' ads that match their specifications will appear at the top of the results.  Because Lighthouse Listings manages various property details such as location, number of bedrooms, year built and even a short summary, each property detail becomes a se... 10/10/2007

While everyone’s all abuzz about the Sunset Idea House, we thought that we would comment on the Greenness of the attached TIC. True the bargain priced $1,089,000 two-bedroom TIC has received a lot of interest because of the Mission location, and its Green attributes. Sure, the new owner will undoubtedly pay close to nothing to PG & E with the wind turbine system as well as the solar and rain catchment system. Our shock and dismay came after we entered the upstairs during the recent Build It Green Home Tour. What are those Ikea built in cabinets doing in this Green house? First, from an esthetic standpoint we certainly would not want to pay six figures and have Ikea cabinets. Ugggh. But on a more serious note these Ikea cabinets contain some nasty materials. We have a little problem wit... 10/08/2007

Whenever I browse other agents' websites I see that many of them have a page for testimonials for clients. Why didn't I? Frankly, while my clients are always very thankful for my services and express this freely to me whenever we see each other, none of them ever thought of putting it in writing.So, this week I started emailing my clients to ask them if they could write one or two sentences about their experience in working with me, so that I could place these testimonials on my website. Everybody was more than willing to give me a recommendation. Now I'm collecting them all and will be uploading them to my website soon.Here's a particular nice one I received from Dr. R.S. and Dr. J.H.: "To say that house hunting in San Francisco is difficult is an understatement.  Bettina made the proc... 10/05/2007

It was like the perfect storm. The combination of a fundraiser for a Green sustainable non profit organization (From the Garden to the Table), tasty food and organic cocktails (Square One organic vodka, 4 Copas organic tequila) in a LEED certified location (Orchard Garden Hotel) and even Green minded celebrities (David Alan Grier) to boot.Both the checkbooks and bottles of wine and liquor opened last night in an effort to bring awareness to the organization that brings Green awareness to the Bay Area low-income communities and schools. Much of the money is headed toward the funding of a Green Center that will bring health education, environmental awareness and social justice to many people of the 7 X 7 who normally get overlooked.Garden to the Table CEO Jeffrey Smith joked about how low... 10/04/2007

The big question is "How is the market for real estate in San Francisco?"  Being a Realtor in the heart of SF, I get asked this question all the time.  Regardless of what you hear or what people or the media says, you should always be informed, check statistics, and make sure the opinions you listen to are backed by numbers.The following are some interesting facts:There are 514 single family residences listed in San Francisco that are currently active.  The average list price for a home under 1M is $732, 657.  The average days on the market for these listings is 54 days.There are 214 single family residences over 1M that are currently active in SF.  The average list price is 3,126,843.  The average days on the market is 48 days.For sold houses:In the last 3 months, there have been 332 s... 10/02/2007

"Meet the DBI (Department of Building Inspections) Pros" When: October 11 and 12, 2007, between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Where: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco Civic Center. What: The summit will offer free public workshops on how to obtain a permit, residential kitchen and bathroom remodels, earthquake safety, landlord and tenant responsibilities, training on the new International Code standard, and more. Cosponsors of the Summit are the American Institute of Architects, the Building Owners and Managers Association and the San Francisco Association of REALTORS®. RSVP: Is required through DBI’s web site: www.sfgov.org/dbi by Friday, September 28, 2007. You also may call 415-558-6401 or e-mail DBISummit@sfgov.org.Questions About Permits and Inspections [gtwice.blogspot.com]  09/27/2007

Condominiums   District 1 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 9 12 Median Selling Price 675,000 907,000 Average DOM 30 30       District 2 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 1 1 Median Selling Price 500,000 784,900 Average DOM 29 18       District 3 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 4 5 Median Selling Price 560,000 505,000 Average DOM 40 81       District 4 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 6 3 Median Selling Price 487,500 525,000 Average DOM 45 27       District 5 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 46 29 Median Selling Price 774,500 1,000,000 Average DOM 41 23       District 6 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 26 11 Median Selling Price 695,000 885,000 Average DOM 30 28       District 7 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 22 21 Median Selling Price 879,000 1,325,000 Average DOM 30 38       District 8 Aug-06 Aug-07 Numb... 09/27/2007

A few months ago, Yahoo! Real Estate released its thoughts on the top 10 cities that are doing a great job at putting residents first in terms of "greenness." According to Yahoo! "that means they're obsessed with clean air and clean water, renewable energy, reliable city buses, trams, streetcars and subways, a growing number of parks and greenbelts, farmer's markets and, very important, opportunities for community involvement." Though the cities were ranked in no particular order, San Francisco did make the top 10, along with Portland, Burlington, Santa Monica, Austin, Minneapolis, Boulder, Madison, New York and Chicago.San Francisco, CA"To the superlatives the City by the Bay has acquired over the decades -- steepest, foggiest, most expensive -- add greenest. With bus, subway and ferry... 09/27/2007

  74 Parnassus St - $949,000 - 3 bed / 1 bath - 1600+sqft / 2 car parking Those are the facts - but they don't tell the entire story. The TIC is located in the perfect Cole Valley location - steps from Cole and Parnassus. The space has incredible period details and while a buyer / family can move in and comfortably live without changing a thing there is also potential to create an incredible living space. Heart of Cole Valley [gtwice.blogspot.com]  09/27/2007

To compare and contrast the data from previous months, click here Single-Family Homes           District 1 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 14 16 Median Selling Price 1,087,500 1,233,944 Average DOM 49 33       District 2 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 52 42 Median Selling Price 805,000 897,500 Average DOM 34 32       District 3 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 19 20 Median Selling Price 740,000 731,000 Average DOM 36 45       District 4 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 22 25 Median Selling Price 868,000 1,070,000 Average DOM 34 36       District 5 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 42 33 Median Selling Price 1,252,500 1,228,000 Average DOM 45 36       District 6 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 2 4 Median Selling Price 900,000 1,284,500 Average DOM 20 19       District 7 Aug-06 Aug-07 Number of Sales 5 ... 09/27/2007

I believe the key to success is enjoying what you do! Let's laugh out loud uncontrollably with tears in our eyes and out of breath!  We will live longer, work harder, and have fun doing it! This Blog is dedicated to making us laugh out loud (LOL)! I encourage you post funny stories, jokes, wild exaggerations, etc to get a Big Fat LOL !  Ernie CabreraREAL ESTATE AMERICA - REA(916) 439-4663www.erniecabrera.comERNIE@REAREALTORS.COM 09/26/2007

Normally San Francisco offers tough parking challenges for those silly enough to drive a car in this fair city. The past Friday, the challenges became that much tougher with Park(ing) Day. In this case the 50 some odd “parks” (temporary repurposing of a metered parking spot turned into mini parks and social meeting spaces) and “plazas” (larger “parks” that occupied two spaces and contained diverse public amenities) made it that much tougher to find a spot. Rebar, the San Francisco arts collective, created the statement day in 2005 and groups such as David Baker + Associates, San Francisco Bike Coalition and the San Francisco Department of Health took part in the 2007 version. We, of course, support this human space idea as a way to demonstrate that over 70 percent of many cities’ downt... 09/25/2007

If San Franciscans and out-of-towners didn't get enough Green Home examples at the just concluded West Coast Green then yesterday's (Sept. 23) Build It Green Tour would have sent them completely over the Green ledge. The modest seven home tour offered up a smorgasbord of Green homes, condo, new construction and remodels with a Green slant. Probably the busiest home on the tour would have been the much talked about San Francisco Sunset Idea house. We got some ideas from this remodel job. Even from the outside we could see the 52 foot tall (1.8 kW) wind turbine energy system which the builder expects to generate one-third to two-thirds of the home's electricity needs. The interior offers a what’s what of Green home remodeling, which we plan to tackle in a later post. The Lorax 22nd Stree... 09/24/2007

                                   If your usual parking spot has a chicken running around, or has a park bench, or looks like an art gallery, don't be surprised.September 21, 2007 - PARK(ing) DayConceived by REBAR, a San Francisco-based art collective, PARK(ing) Day is a one-day, global event centered in San Francisco where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform parking spots into "PARK(ing)" spaces: temporary public parks.Check out these links for more info:Got EggsPARK(ing) Day 2007PARK(ing) Day 2007 Locations PARK(ing) Day 2007, Turning Parking Spaces Into Parks   09/22/2007

 Rents in San Francisco are (surprise) on the rise! As less people qualify for loans due to the tighteninig restrictions in the mortgage industry (restrictions that I agree with wholeheartedly), more people need to rent, rent, rent their homes in San Francisco. And what happens with supply & demand? As demand goes up, supply goes down, and prices skyrocket. One analysis points out that "In San Francisco, a full-time worker needs to earn nearly $30 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. In West Virginia, the same "housing wage" is about $10 an hour." Check out these thoughts from across the internet on the San Francisco rental market: Bay Area rental market roars backRents on the rise in San Francisco As rent prices rise, families seek shelter 09/22/2007