| Hot New Properties and Listings Not on Open Market | September 4th, 2008 |
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We have some mouth-watering Russian Hill listings this week– along with some other properties in sweet, classic San Francisco neighborhoods. $589,000 to 1,999,000/ New Construction/THE ARTANI-818 Van Ness The ARTANI is in the cultural center of the city. We have something to suit all styles and tastes with one bedroom, one bedroom plus den and two bedroom units with parking available. These homes offer sophisticated living in a beautifully appointed 52 unit building with an extraordinary roof garden, doorman and so much more. To see, please call Sharon Collier at 415-738-2608 for more details. And make sure to tell her you saw it in The Buzz! $1,799,000/ Russian Hill / Single Family with Au Pair. Quintessential San Francisco location at crest of Russian Hill. Total bedroom/bath count is 3/2.5, with 2-car parking. Big lot, terraced garden. R-3 lot, charming architecture, designated historic by League of Women Voters. Call Meredith at 415-312-1616 to get inside early– just tell her you learned about it in The Buzz. $1,165,000/ South Beach / Penthouse at The Lansing on a charming block of Rincon Hill. 2br/2ba/1-car parking. Large terrace. Full-on City views. This was a model unit and has wonderful upgrades. Call Ashley at 738-7035 to get in early– just tell him you learned about it in The Buzz. $659,000/ Excelsior Single Family/ 3BR/2BA/2-car parking. Charmer with great floor plan and nice upgrades including remodeled kitchen and new plumbing. Convenient location near Geneva. Call Mary to get in early at 738-2621. Just tell her you saw it in The Buzz. $589,000 /Haight Ashbury /1BR/1BA:1/1 . Adorable, remodeled, Victorian condo in 6-unit building. With 4 rooms total, could be used as 2-bedroom (if you really like each other :)). This is a winner for the price. Call Sharon to get in early at 415-269-2268. Tell her you saw it in the Buzz. $2,000,000 / South Beach /200 Brannan penthouse. 2BR/2BA/2-car parking. 1500+ square feet. Great floor plan, high end finishings. Huge private terrace, wood burning fireplace, City and Bridge views. Call Sharon to see early at 415-269-2268. We also have an unusual Buyer need for a 2-unit view building or house that’s suitable for extended family and can be partitioned into two homes. Our price range is 6-7M. We will consider properties in any of San Francisco’s better neighborhoods, including Cole Valley and Sea Cliff. The upper living quarters requires the view and needs at least 2-bedrooms. The lower portion of the home needs at least 3-bedrooms. Please call Sharon if you have/know of something at 415-269-2268. |
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| Places Where You Can Safely Take Your Aunt To Lunch | September 3rd, 2008 |
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My readers tell me they love the postings about places to see and visit in San Francisco– even ones who have lived here for years enjoy being reminded of forgotton nooks and crannies. With that in mind, here’s a posting about SF dining that may jog your memory about some cool places to eat. ******************** Realtors tend to be big foodies. We eat out a lot and we fancy ourselves very up-to-the-minute about which restaurants are in or out of favor. I’m personally not a huge food fanatic, but I love a really nice dinner out in a great, fun new restaurant. But. . . when relatives visit, I’m often frustrated by their culinary timidity. Dim Sum overwhelms them and restaurants with things like bacon ice cream and duck fat french fries are out of the question. Even so, once they’re done trying out Scoma’s or Aliotos on Fisherman’s Wharf, they want to try someplace the natives frequent, where they can feel like a bit of an insider. If you have relatives like mine and want to take them someplace where you can all enjoy the meal, here are some “oh-my-gosh-I-totally-forgot-about-that-place-its-great” restaurants: Tadich Grill Tadich is one of the places my Dad took me when I was a kid when we were having ‘father-daughter time. Today, when I enter Tadich I’m transported to the glamour and style of the past. Its old-world atmosphere, with dark wood paneling, 80-foot mahogany bar, and natty staff in shirts and waistcoats always makes me expect to see Herb Caen or Dashiell Hammett pop out of one of the booths any minute to surprise me. I love the waiters at Tadich. They are funny, polite, efficient, and often Croation (no I don’t know why). They will happily deliver any cut of meat or fish just the way you want, be it charcoal broiled, grilled, poached, or baked to perfection. If you’re really up for playing tourist guide afterwards, you can all jump on the California Street cable car right outside for a trip up Nob Hill. Greens I love how Green’s unassuming front door next to the City’s Yacht Harbor opens up to wide open space that always bowls me over with a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge, framed by swaying masts and bobbing boats. On sunny weekends, a brunch at Greens can be followed by a scenic walk along the Marina green and shoreline. You can also take your visitors to walk off the calories on nearby Chestnut Street. Momos I stay away from Momos like the plague during a ball game, but any other time of the week it’s a great place to power lunch and a perfect choice for sports fans who want to make a pilgrimage to our beloved ball park. The superb front patio deck takes in a view of the Embarcadero, the Ball Park and the South Beach Harbor, and is a great place to people watch. Momo’s indoor dining room offers the same spectacular outlook, along with an open kitchen, wood-fired oven, and busy earnest staff. BTW, on non-game days, MoMo’s offers the entire restaurant for special events, and can hold up to 400 for cocktails. For smaller groups of 125 or less, there’s a “Hall of Fame” room, lined with oil paintings of the Giant’s famous stars in action. LuLu Including LuLu right after MoMos may make me seem a bit SOMA/South Beach eccentric, as well as inclined towards cutesie names. But I include it because it’s one of my favorite ‘forgotten’ restaurants– and a solid choice for foodies and conservative eaters alike. Lulu opened in 1993, when the Yerba Buena complex was still an apple in San Francisco’s eye and open kitchens with wood-fired ovens seemed very cutting edge. Today, it still feels fresh and new, with consistently good food that continues to meet the high standards set by San Francisco’s fine dining crowd. Lulu’s central restaurant area is noisy and showy, with raised tables, a long crowded bar, and open kitchen. I love Lulu most for its reliability. When I met a girlfriend there last week for lunch, it was exactly what I expected. Fun, easy, casual and elegant, with great food and good service. |
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| FHA Loans Have a Fresh New Look | September 3rd, 2008 |
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FHA loans used to be out of the question for San Francisco home buyers. The loan limits were way too small (around $417,000) and required squeaky clean credit and healthy incomes. Today, FHA loan limits in San Francisco have been boosted to $729,750. With 5% downpayments acceptable to the FHA, this makes a $750,000 purchase price much more doable. The FHA has also substantially loosened their lending requirements. Excellent credit is no longer required and buyers can get into a single family home or condo below the $750,000 threshhold with as little as 3% down (no you did not misread that–). The FHA’s target audience for their loans are: First-time homebuyers, borrowers with mediocre credit (or even no credit), those with limited resources for a downpayment, and homeowners who want to refinance. It may sound like there’s a catch to all this– but there’s not. These are real loans are we are closing deals at Paragon with buyers who are obtaining them. Other FHA loan perks: Easier Qualification - With the FHA backing the loans, lenders are willing to loosen their lending requirements– and will often lend more money to you than they might through other kinds of loan programs. Low Downpayment OK - Other loans require at least a 5% downpayment and it has to be your own money, so gifting a downpayment isn’t allowed. An FHA lender is fine with downpayments as little as 3% down and getting that 3% from a friend or family member is not a problem. Cash Reserves Not Required - Most lenders insist that you to have 3-6 months carrying costs in the bank. FHA loans don’t require that kind of cushion. These loans are not for everyone. FHA loans are fixed for thirty years and those with itty-bitty downpayments will be required to pay a 1.5% fee for mortgage protection insurance. If you have at least 10% down, good credit and a job with W-2s and pay-stubs, you would probably be better off going with a different loan product. |
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FHA loans are loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The FHA is anxious to help first time home buyers get into the market and those with ugly rate adjustments refinance into more affordable house payments.
