| New Construction Update - The Hayes | November 30th, 2007 |
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Hayes Valley around Hayes and Gough is a fresh, energetic commercial district with great restaurants, small couture shops and unique galleries. It’s also a great district for the culture junkies with the Symphony, Ballet and Opera are all within walking distance. The Hayes will add a new dimension to the neighborhood, with fairly upscale amenities and an additional 128 households. Services and features at The Hayes include an attended lobby, state-of-the-art fitness center and roof deck with great city views. The Hayes marketing team is proud to boast of an assortment of European finishings inside the units– Italian tile, German cabinetry, and French fixtures. The footprint of the building offers multiple corners so many of the floor plans have windows on two sides and private balconies. |
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The Hayes condominiums, located at Page and Octavia is expecting owner move-ins in early 2008. Since The Hayes began taking reservations over two years ago, we all feel like it’s an option that’s been around forever– and I think some of us are overlooking the values available here.| New Construction Update– The Arterra | November 30th, 2007 |
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With 16 floors, the Arterra boasts 269 homes and is the City’s first LEED-certified green building. That mean’s it’s really really ‘green’– I recall it’s even got a giant lawn on the roof to offset carbon dioxide. Some of the environmentally correct bells and whistles include Trespa exterior cladding, made with end-of-lifecycle material that offers color and texture. Trespa also serves as part of a rain screen system that improves interior air quality. You can grab a view of The Arterra when you sweep on and off the 280 freeway at King Street. It’s location obviously perfect for freeway access, and over the next few years the area is going to become a dynamic walking district full of shops and restaurants. They’ve also got some sweet deals on financing that makes living there quite affordable. Move-ins are scheduled for mid-2008. Please call me for more information on the loan buy-down. I can also fill you in with more details on what’s available, which way it faces and what the square footages are at different price points. |
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When Arterra was just a hole in the ground at the end of Berry street, it was still hard to picture how Mission Bay would evolve into San Francisco’s newest neighborhood. Now, with the building nearing completion, it’s easier to see how The Arterra will fit into the landscape.| Unlocking Investment Opportunities In New Homes | November 19th, 2007 |
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There are some sweet benefits to owning and renting a condo in a larger development. When I owned one at The Brannan it was divine to simply call the staff whenever my tenant had a problem. I also enjoyed tremendous pride of ownership and never had to worry about general maintenance issues like a leaky roof or broken window. Many New Homes projects are offering substantial discounts below the advertised prices. My last two deals have been new construction, and I’m delighted with the values my buyers are getting. At Paragon we are continually swapping information about the deals we’re getting in different projects. Please call if you would like more details. |
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With the rental market so healthy, we’re seeing a number of investors making some shrewd buys. One of their vehicles of choice is the condominium, especially the brand new ones in projects with developers eager to strike a deal.| When Prices Drop, Rents Go Up | November 17th, 2007 |
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If you’re a real estate worry-wart who thinks your property is decreasing substantially in value, you can take solace in the fact that rents are going up-up-up! If you’re renting, you may also want to consider the fact that the gap between the cost of owning and cost of renting is narrowing. Since last spring the median rent for a one-bedroom has jumped from $2500 to $2900. The jump for two-bedrooms has jumped from $3200 to $3600. To support these numbers, I offer two fun resources: The first is a nifty site called SFRentStats: Using Craigs List as a resource, this website’s back-end program grinds through rental listings to calculate average rents in San Francisco by neighborhood. The site slices and dices the data a number of different ways –you can check average costs to rent a room as well as an apartment and look at maps to see which neighborhoods are the most expensive for a tenant (as expected, the City’s tonier neighborhoods on the North side command the highest rents.) The second is Paragon’s own rental listings.I’m partial to this site because it’s got nice eye candy– lots of pretty pictures and tons of detailed info on each rental. You’ll note that we have a lot more units rented than available right now– a reflection of the rental market shortage. |
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| Oink! Oink! Trades in Housing Futures | November 17th, 2007 |
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A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported on Apparently traders there are betting that home values in the “San Francisco Metro Area” will drop 24% over the next four years. This kind of news could send homeowner into a cold sweat until they realize that the San Francisco Metro Area also includes all of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin counties. It also seems pretty wacky to anticipate a 24% drop by 2011. The downturn of a market cycle usually doesn’t take that long. I also take solace in remembering that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is best known for its history of trading eggs, butter and pork bellies-not real estate. A more local point of view on the market is offered in a recent Chronicle article by Carol Lloyd– the gist of the piece is that the market in San Francisco is varied, but definitely strong in certain pockets. |
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| New Neighborhood Perspectives And A Word About That Rate Cut | November 2nd, 2007 |
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If you’re in the mood for facts– skip to the bottom for information on the Federal Reserve cut and its anticipated affect on average Joes like us. **************************** New Ways To Visit Your Neighborhoods Those of us who have lived in San Francisco for awhile pride ourselves on knowing San Francisco’s secret corners. In the past I’ve written about places like the Vulcan Stairway, the views from Green and Leavenworth, and the tower at the De Young Museum. Even with all (I think) I know however, I’m still surprised at what other people can teach me about SF’s neighborhoods and history. Following are three resources rich with ideas and info about new ways to learn and explore the City- San Francisco City Guides City Guides volunteers offer free walking tours design to share the fun of discovering San Francisco and its neighborhoods. Along the way they help preserve and perpetuate the history and folklore of San Francisco. Decades ago, I trained to become a City Guide– a phenomenal 6-month experience of Saturday seminars which led to a short career as a walking tour guide of North Beach-my tour started at northwest corner of Washington Square Park and ended at the North Beach Museum hidden away on the second floor of the Eureka Bank building at 1435 Stockton St. Today’s City Guides have an incredible, eclectic array of tours. There are between fifty to seventy different walking tours depending on the time of year. Among the unusual offerings are the “Cityscapes” tour through the Financial District’s hidden parks and rooftop gardens, and an “Inner Sunset: The Birth of a Neighborhood” tour which explains how this charming neighborhood rose from windswept dunes. Other tour titles are “The Palace Hotel,” “Lands End: Sutro Highs and Lows,” and “Art Deco Marina.” To see which tours, are on tap for November, click http://www.sfcityguides.org/current_schedule.html?month=November%202007 ************ SFGate.com Neighborhood Guide Buried deep in SFGate.com is the most comprehensive San Francisco neighborhood guide I’ve ever found. Written by San Franciscans for San Franciscans, it breaks down the City into 24 different districts. Whenever I read it, I learn something about something new-like the shoe garden in Alamo Square or Erich von Stroheim’s filming of the 1924 epic “Greed” at the corner of Hayes and Laguna. The guide is particularly rich with shopping, dining and entertainment tips. Even though some info is outdated (A-1 Hubcaps in NOPA land is sadly gone, as is the Lotta Jansdotter store on Lower Nob Hill), it’s still an amazing site to visit for a refresher on the cool spots you may have forgotten about and a good way to learn new ones. The list of eateries for each neighborhood is exhaustive and mouth watering, and they even have a section devoted to the “Deco Ghetto,” a neighborhood of vintage furniture shops centered around Market and Valencia. Joie de Vivre’s Joy of Life Joie de Vivre’s boutique hotel chain is renowned for offering inspired, creative lodgings. I recommended a perusal of these guides a few months ago when talking about my hidden views and secret spots. They are regularly updated and perfect for out-of-town visitors on their second, third or twentieth visit to San Francisco. Guide titles include “Mommy I’m Bored,” “Help!!! It’s Raining,” and “Romantic Hideouts and Peaceful Retreats.” The JDV Guides are also a treat for those who want to act like tourists for a day. Take a peek and I guarantee that you’ll find fresh inspirations on how to enjoy San Francisco. When I read them through today, I learned Herb Caen’s favorite rainy day route (too keep his fedora dry) from Café Le Central on Bush Street to the Chronicle Building at 5th and Mission. *********************** *********************** And now a word about that rate cut. . . The Feds cut a key short-term interest rate on Wednesday by ¼ point. If you have the stomach for incredibly dry text, you can read the Fed’s latest press release Generally a Fed Rate Cut means that: If you have a credit card with an adjustable rate, rates will fall. For a balance of $5,000, interest costs should fall a bit more than $1 a month. If you have a home equity line of credit, rates will fall. The decrease should come as soon as the November statement. If you have a maturing certificate of deposit, it is likely to renew at a lower rate. However, because banks need deposits, the rates paid on CDs should fall less than the quarter-point. If you want to borrow money for a car, impact will be minimal. Car loan rates are determined more by marketing concerns than pure economics. If you own stocks, prices should rise in the short run because the rates paid on some bonds will fall. This makes stocks more attractive. In the longer-run, however, the overall state of the economy will determine stock prices. If you are applying for a mortgage, the impact is unclear. I actually heard that jumbo adjustables rose the day of the cut, probably because most mortgage rates are tied to 10-Year T-Bills, which rose in response to the Fed cut. T-Bills tend to rise and fall on inflation concerns, not directly because of Fed actions. ************************************************* My aim with these postings is to inform and entertain and my interest in helping you and others continues.Should you think of someone who could benefit from my expertise, I’d love to hear from them! |
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Hello My Favorite People! If you’re in the mood for fun– read the first part of this Buzz.
