| Update on homes at 829 Folsom | June 20th, 2009 |
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829 Folsom, a 69-unit boutique building on a great block of Folsom, across from the Yerba Buena Center, has five units in contract. Their studios start at $399,000. Their 1BRs start at $524,000. Their 1BR+Den start at $589,000. In order to qualify for FHA financing programs, the project can only release a certain number of homes at a time. Right now they only have published pricing are on the 1st through 4th floor. Since 2BR units start on the 5th floor, they have yet to set pricing for those larger units. When I toured 829 Folsom, I was impressed by the finishings. The baths in particular were wonderful with big, deep tubs. The kitchens often have islands and always feature thick granite countertops. The other advantage of the building is the location. This address is set in the heart of the only true walking district South of Market, with easy access to the Westfield Shopping Center, Metreon Movies, MOMA, Yerba Buena Gardens and Art Center, and a multitude of restaurants. All prices are negotiable. No one is allowed to reveal what the current properties in contract sold for, but a typical response to any inquiry is “Bring us an offer!” For more information, call 415-577-0809. |
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| The Montgomery Offers Sweet Deals on Studios | June 19th, 2009 |
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There are only four studios left at The Montgomery, but they are all well priced, and they all are high enough up to clear the view of the wall on the building’s South side. All are 489 Square feet. Prices start at $350,000. All sales include three years of free parking in the building next door. For more information call 415-738-7214. |
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| Arterra Raises their Prices | June 15th, 2009 |
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Nope, that’s not a typo. On Friday the Arterra notched up the prices on all the listings they have in the MLS by more than $100,000, save one 1BR that’s been sitting on the market since February, and remains at $509,000. Here are the units in the MLS with the price increases. All are one-bedroom units: #417 660 square feet. Was listed for $449,000. Now $539,000. #423 660 square feet. Was listed for $439,000. Now $539,000 #414 670 square feet. Was listed for $525,000. Now $640,000 #1406 693 square feet Was listed for $519,000. Now $649,000 #721 730 square feet. Was listed for $550,000. Now $675,000 #4919 730 square feet. Was listed for $565,000. Now $695,000 Up until now, the Arterra has been accepting offers that were way (way!) below listing prices. Whether this indicates less flexibility on the developer’s part remains to be seen. |
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| Availability at the SOMA Grand | June 13th, 2009 |
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The San Giacomo building on SOMA Grand’s West side has topped off its first building– so you’ll know what the outlooks will be like from some of the units on that side of the building. For details or showings please call 415-577-0809. |
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SOMA Grand: As of three days ago, SOMA Grand was 70% sold. 1BR+den units on view side are almost gone. JR-1BRs (that means ’studio) start on higher flors in the high 500K range for 630 sf. You have a wider selection on the 2BR floor plans.| San Francisco New Homes Update | June 11th, 2009 |
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Mosaica: There are only 2-3 units left. These apartment style condos offer excellent square footage for the money. Some of the units have three bedrooms. For details or showings please call 415-902-4978. 1521 Sutter (at Octavia): 28-U building. As of two days ago there are 10 units available: 3-1BRs and 7-2BR’s. Pricing is mid-to-high $700s. 1BR floor plans face the front. 2BR floor plans face the back. For details or showings please call 415-701-2610. Radiance: Radiance had units in Phase I. 18 units left. They are negotiating. They have reduced prices across the board over time, and are now selling well. They are committed to building the remaining phases, although it’s unclear if they have broken ground yet. For details or showings please call 415-577-0809. Arterra: The sales office was crazy busy for awhile, but things have settled and slowed down slightly. 19 units went into contract in May and the sales office says they are 75% sold. They now have FHA/VA financing available so buyers can get in for as little as 10% down. For details or showings, please call 415-738-7214. Millennium: 30% sold. Continuing to hold firm on pricing since they did 15% reductions some months ago. They are willing to consider lease options and contingent sales. NW corner on higher floors is sold out. For showings please call 415-577-0809. Infinity: Selling like crazy but this is a big project so there’s plenty left. 1/3 of Tower II is gone. Few if any left in Tower I. Tree Tops building sold out some time ago. Very little negotiation on Tower II for most desireable units. For showings or details please call 738-7214. Esprit Park: Getting FHA approval to allow lower down payments for first-time buyers. For details or showings please call 415-738-7214. Cubix: Sales office has shut down during financial reorganization. May reopen in fall with new listing agent. One Ecker: Big-time holding pattern until developer straightens things out with their lender. Call 415-577-0809 for more details. 901 Bush: Aggressive price reductions with further negotation possible. For more details or showings please call 415-902-4978. |
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Here’s a mixed bag of notes and news on different projects as per our New Homes Group. This information was gathered yesterday. I can’t guarantee any of this information, but we’re usually pretty good at tracking inventory and pricing:| SF Blu Two-Bedrooms Starting in the Low $600K Range | March 2nd, 2009 |
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Now that the finishings are in and they have this floor plan staged, my opinion of it has changed. The building’s ’saw-tooth’ design means that each window is set into a cut-out so while you look in a wall in one direction, from another direction you can see through a set of windows onto Folsom Street. The square footages are generous by new homes standards – as I recall they run 1050+ square feet. And the staging gives them a cool high-tech feel. They are worth a look. Best of all, pressure from lenders on getting SFBlu pre-sales at more than 50% sold before they will allow closings is forcing the development to drop prices signficantly. Other developments are feeling a similar squeeze and are also going through some serious price cuts. If you would like more information on how prices run at all new homes projects, please call me at 415-577-0809. |
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There’s a floor plan at SF Blu– a two-bedroom facing the AT&T substation next door that I haven’t been wild about. It’s a tough sell because the most of the windows look right into the building next door. The first time I went through, when the property was still under construction, it felt cramped and claustrophobic.| New Intelligence on the Artani Condominiums in San Francisco | August 6th, 2008 |
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The Artani has 52 units total, with a combination of one bedrooms, one bedroom plus dens and two bedrooms. There are no studios or three-bedroom units. All of the units come with one car parking. Square footages run from just over 700 sf for a one bedroom to the 1400 square foot penthouse units– . Tentative pricing puts an entry point at $599,000 to $1M+ for a penthouse unit with indoor/outdoor terrace and water views. Almost all the units have some outdoor space. There will be a ‘knockout, fabulous’ (sales agent’s words) roof deck with fountains with landscaping designed and installed by Living Green of SOMA The principal amenity will be a doorman/concierge. The Artani not heavy on bells and whistles– I like to call these kinds of buildings “stylish, not stylin.” High end finishings include Caesarstone countertops, and hardwood floors come standard in all the units. Multi-paned windows with floor-to-ceiling glass will be the building’s hallmark and a major architectural feature of the project. Relative to other large condominium buildings on the Van Ness Corridor (Chelsea Court, Symphony Tower, Opera Plaza), the Artani will have a much higher end feel with richer finishings and lobby attendant. |
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One of my bosses is Artani’s developer. So Paragon is handling marketing and sales for the units. The sales office is scheduled to be up and running right after Labor Day weekend.| Clean Living, Clean Air at the Arterra | July 28th, 2008 |
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The Arterra has 270 units in two buildings. I hadn’t been that wild about the project until my first hard hat tour a few weeks ago. The architecture seemed a little bland and it’s set way out at the edge of the Mission Bay district, which is still being built up. Three-to-four years out it will feel like a very different neighborhood, but right now it feels a bit remote. The tour changed my view. There’s a good energy about the building and the prices are very reasonable. My clients have a 2br/2ba in escrow in the $775,000 range with big corner windows, some city skyline views and a small deck. The plan for Mission Bay also includes bike trails, esplanades running along Mission Bay Creek and a very cool urban park with basket ball courts and storage for kayaks. The most striking about touring the Arterra is the absence of toxic smells. Usually when I tour new construction I’m slightly overcome by paint fumes and off gases from carpeting. There’s none of that at the Arterra– it just feels really, really clean. The Arterra has a variety of unit sizes at different price points. For more information on availability and pricing, call me at 415-577-0809. |
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I and some other associates in my office at Paragon Real Estate in San Francisco have a number of units in escrow at The Arterra, San Francisco’s first LEED-certified condominium development. Move-ins are scheduled to begin later this summer.| SOMA Grand Demographics | July 20th, 2008 |
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Soma Grand represents San Francisco’s true spirit of a diverse community. Our residents vary in age, education and profession as well as marital status. So, what is the common denominator with these folks? Every one of the residents who chose Soma Grand as their home are smart, savvy, stylish early adapters who embrace the pioneering spirit of the Gold Rush that made San Francisco what it is today. Over 85% of our residents have earned a college degree or higher. Over 20% work in the technology, while marketing/advertising, real estate and medical fields follow closely behind in occupation. About 50% are between $100K ~ 250K in household income level and 60% are married. 69% are between the ages 25 to 44 while the remaining 30% are over 45. . . . The posting also reports that 61% of the residents are unmarried– and from the anecdotal information I’ve gotten on the building, I’d lay odds that most of them are men. . . . I sometimes joke that there are “girl” buildings and “boy” buildings (The Brannan), and there are buildings that seem to attract dozens of empty nesters. If I were to predict the population at SOMA Grand, I’d say it will be skewed slightly younger and all the residents will share a common ‘pioneer spirit.’ I know this term sounds hokey, but you gotta’ be a visionary to see where this neighborhood is going. . . I don’t mean to be sarcastic– Mission between 7th and 12th is due for dramatic changes over the next three years. Most significant is the San Giacomo project next door to the SOMA Grand, which will add 440 units to the neighborhood along with a major grocery store and other shops on the ground floor. In the immediate future, look forward to a new Charles Phan (Slanted Door) restaurant on the ground floor of the SOMA Grand building, with more upscale dining spots across the street. |
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I’ve gotten a scolding in the past for ‘profiling’ my buyers, and sellers by specifiying their (general) ages and (specific) sexual orientations. I think the SOMA Grand website blog avoids these ethical dilemmas by focusing on general population demographics. Here is what they have to report:| Beware of Signing in at New Homes Projects | July 19th, 2008 |
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It’s just one of many things that make buying a new home different– and sometimes trickier than purchasing an existing one. Once you sign in, it’s possible that the developer won’t pay a commission to an outside agent. Different home projects have different policies on the matter. But I’ve had clients sign in without me and sometimes it’s been very difficult for me to represent them afterwards. It’s frustrating, because I can’t guide them through things like negotiating the price, upgrades and credits back for closing costs. My new home buyers also benefit from my careful review of every page of the developer’s purchase contract and disclosure documents. Builder contracts are naturally one-sided, and designed to take away many of the rights a buyer has in ordinary resale contracts. Some of the differences are contingency timelines, which are often quite short. There are also extensive liability protections built into the contract to keep you from pursuing damage in the event of a disagreement. I go in and out of new home developments all the time to stay on top of what’s available and where. Agents in Paragon’s New Homes Group also meets monthly to review all new homes projects, and swap insider information on different buildings. As a result we know how much different developers are shaving off their prices, how fast different buildings are selling and which ones have a large number of units coming back on the market because of buyers who have been unable to obtain financing. When I work with a buyer interested in new homes, my experience helps them quickly assess the different projects how one stacks up against another. We usually get a lot accomplished in an initial meeting at my office, where we can review the marketing collateral for each development and discuss neighborhood, amenities, price, and size. After that first meeting we generally zero in on three or four new homes projects to visit on an initial outing. Please visit some of the New Homes I’ve sold in the Featured Listings section of my website. I will be adding two additional sales the Arterra and Soma Grand soon. |
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You shouldn’t even think about visiting a new homes project and signing in by yourself– at least if you want to be represented later by a real estate agent.
