I recently attended the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco’s event hosted by Gaul Searson showroom in the Design Center. There the Harrison Group presented their Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America and summarized highlights from their recently published book, The New Elite…Inside the Minds of the Truly Wealthy.
It was an extremely informative presentation which I captured some of for your viewing. I hope you enjoy it.
I polled all attendees to my open house today and the results are continuing to run fairly consistently: print advertising appears dead. I did have one person in two weeks say they saw the newspaper ad but the largest numbers are coming in with their agents or told by their agents (30%); online ads (25%); signs (25%); neighbors (10%) and then those invited by me (10%).
This continually speaks to how the public receives and uses information and where sellers should make sure they’re present. The old school history in me pulls me toward print but even when you pick up one of the free-bees like ‘The Real Estate Times of San Francisco’ it’s a ghost of what it was in its hey-day.
So the next time you’re searching for real estate, I know you’ll start ‘on-line’….just like me.
All the Best,
Lance
415-793-6140
1862 15th Avenue
Multiple offers are back! Today a house at 1862 15th Avenue priced at $849,000 received 5 offers. 3 of the offers were countered at $900,000 and the seller accepted one from a buyer who offered to remove all contingencies within 5 days. The key to this deal was that the buyer is going through Wells Fargo for their loan and Wells Fargo is now offering a ‘rush’ appraisal for an extra $200 that sends the appraiser out on the weekend to look at the house. The appraiser in this instance is going out on Sunday to see the house.
I attended a regional meeting for Alain Pinel Realtors in Marin on Friday where the East Bay was discussed because in that market they’re receiving 15 to 20 offers on certain properties. In these instances, the listing agents are going back to the buyers with terms that compel the buyers to come up with more cash if the property doesn’t appraise.
Individual lenders are slowly dipping their toes back into market segments they had previously abandoned. Wells Fargo announced this week that they are back in the ‘Super Jumbo’ loan market in a big way. Previously ceding that market segment primarily to 1st Republic Bank, now Wells is muscling back in to take back what is probably the most profitable loan market to higher net worth individuals along with all the other ancillary services that go with those customers.
Lenders’ gradual loosening will support this market trend in a real estate market that overall has a shortage of inventory. As the economy slowly improves, so does the investor psyche and the appetite for risk. This is on top of a hoard of cash that has been accumulating over the last 18 months as folks sat on the sidelines waiting for a signal.
I have buyers in all price ranges up to $3million and I’m seeing the best properties fought over at every level.
I’ll keep you posted…with more to come.
All the Best,
Lance
415-793-6140
The Living Room of 622 27th Street
Sunday I was holding my listing at 622 27th Street open between 1pm and 4pm while a steady rain covered the City and the attendance was brisk…to my surprise. This home is listed at $2.229million and is a gorgeous example of contemporary architecture with downtown views. In fact, every Sunday for the last 6 that I’ve been open have all be very well attended. Today with attendance high despite the rain I was convinced I was seeing a strong market in action.
The Kitchen at 70 Valley Street
My business partner, Dan Marshall, was at our new listing at 70 Valley Street, a newly completed townhouse listed at $1.25million. He reported high attendance as well. He also told me he spoke to a woman who said she was looking for a home between $1.5million and $2million and that she couldn’t find anything. That price point has become the real sweet spot in Noe Valley/Eureka Valley and throughout most of the popular South-Central neighborhoods. Multiple offers are entering our real estate jargon again more and more regularly.
Today, Sunday, I conducted a poll of attendees on how they found my open house. The largest percentage, 40%, came in off of the signs I had placed in the neighborhood. The next highest number, 25%, were from the internet. So the two least expensive means of advertising brought in the highest number of attendees. As for quality of attendees, I’m sure the internet will be the winner. We have one of those circling the property at the moment so we’ll see how it ends up. I’ll keep you posted.
All the Best,
Lance
415-793-6140
Jaynelle's Noe Valley Neighborhood Valentines' Pie Giveaway
I met a neighbor at my Brokers’ Open on Tuesday while in Noe Valley at 70 Valley Street. Her name is Jaynelle. She exemplifies what San Franciscans love about their neighborhoods … that sense of community. Jaynelle made homemade pies and gave away slices as neighbors and visitors walked by last Sunday on Valentines Day. What a treat. I would say ’she’ is one of our San Francisco Valentines. Wouldn’t you agree?
This re-iterates my first piece of advice to clients moving here from other places. Step 1: Pick your neighborhood. I advise them to take the time to hang out and go to dinner, shop, have coffee. Just see which areas feel the best. Many times, they choose to rent for a year before buying. I have clients who are currently renting on Russian Hill and love it but are also exploring other neighborhoods. If you’re just moving to our City or considering it then check out www.nabewise.com for a key to our neighborhoods. Then visit the ones that appeal to you the most.
All the Best,
Lance
415-793-6140
New government mandated appraisal rules went into effect earlier this year and have quickly spread to becoming the biggest vulnerability of any transaction if not ‘managed’. The government now forces the banks to put all their approved appraisers in a pool and when your loan application comes up the draw one randomly out of the bin. Sounds simple enough ….unless you’re buying in San Francisco and your appraiser is from Modesto and has never been to San Francisco. Can you see the issues now?!
So, here’s the management techniques. Once you go into contract on a home if there is a lockbox on it the listing agent should take it off immediately to limit access. Secondly, when the appraiser calls to make the appointment with the buyers agent or the listing agent the appraiser will request a date and time. AT THAT POINT, the agent should say ‘well, I don’t know if I have that available. By the way, where are you from? Where’s your area of specialty?’. Once the appointment has been booked …YOU”RE STUCK with that appraiser. However, if there is no appointment made then a request for a new name can be made with the lender. This should be done until an appraiser with expertise in your location is booked.
At the appointment, the agent meeting the appraiser should show up with comps for the appraiser and HAND THEM TO THE APPRAISER.
These steps are key and could save your transaction. My good friend, Tawni, is going through ‘hell’ just to get a refinance due to appraiser hi-jinks with her lender. Even in a refi situation, the consumer needs to know the management techniques to keep their loan from going ‘South’.
All the Best,
Lance
415-793-6140
1188 Lombard
An exciting week in Bagdad-by-the-Bay, I toured the Mediterranean Villa at 1188 Lombard which is nice but the owners’ art collection is fantastic. And, I thought it extremely interesting that he/she is moving into the Millenium Tower on Mission Street from this ‘oh-so’ upscale address on Russian Hill. Looks like they’re moving to where the ‘action is’. Good for them and good for the City.
1896 Pacific Penthouse Suite
I went through the penthouse 1 bedroom condo at 1896 Pacific asking $4,495,000 and was a bit confused by the floor plan but expect this one to go to someone as a peit-a-terre. It has great decks and views and would be a great party pad but I’m not so sure about that price tag. It’s a ’spec’ for a local stager. Only time will tell on the pricing.
465 Hoffman
Over in Noe Valley, the second house in less than a week priced at $3million plus has gone under contract. That just continues to show you the strength of the market on the South side of the City. This is also the area that is projected to have the biggest appreciation going forward from the reading I’ve been doing. Location, location, location which is attached to all those jobs down the peninsula and in the fast growing pharmaceutical circle around the UCSF Medical Research campus. Looks to me like the energetic center of the City is really shifting this time……if those hob-nobbers on the Northern Hills are leaving for the Southland with a Mission Street address you know something is different.
245 Randall
The lower end of the spectrum is moving too….245 Randall asking $799,000 had 7 confirmed offers on Tuesday afternoon. Woo hoo!
That’s a short re-cap.
All the Best,
Lance
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UDwomeRGQ]
Jackson Street near Lafayette Park is one of the most picturesque in the City with some of the most attractive period architecture. We’ve just listed the penthouse unit in a very attractive building built in 1917. I’ve produced a short video with some highlights of the unit…the grand living room and dining room with a wall of windows facing South making it sunny, warm and full of light.
I’ll be posting the latest statistics shortly as the numbers for January have just been tabulated and we’ll be able to get a better picture of what’s going on than with the end-of-December numbers that I believe are skewed a bit due to the holidays.
All the Best,
Lance
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9nm4o2gDwY]San Francisco’s neighborhoods are filled with historic homes. One of the most famous is the circa 1858 Feusier octagon house on top of Russian Hill at 1067 Green Street. I recently had a private tour and was able to photograph some of the wonderful details of this property. I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did walking through the property.
If you want to know more about historic homes in San Francisco check out the San Francisco Historical Society.
All the Best,
Lance
So my family and I arrived in South Lake Tahoe today at the invitation of family friends and like many times and many places around the Bay Area as we assembled after dinner, it became an exchange of ideas. I got to share with the group the progress I’ve made so far this year as I’ve gotten whole-heartedly into my blog and really pushed myself to look at “the practice” of real estate in a whole new way. As we move technologically forward, the field will continue changing and I plan on being an innovator. It has certainly changed over the last 19 years since I started and I’m excited about how technology will creatively change it going forward.
I’m working on a new logo and website which will launch in the next month and I’ll keep you posted on that. In the interim, I’ll post events and market observations along with my thoughts on what’s happening here in our City.
I can tell you that the normal exit we see in December happened much earlier than is usual. The Tuesday Brokers’ Tour list dropped faster than I ever remember it following Thanksgiving. That could have been due to Thanksgiving falling later than it has and there only being three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas but the issues with lending and appraisal are still present in the market. While The Urban Land Institute 2010 Trends Report says that the new year will present “generational buying opportunities” it also says that the credit markets will remain constricted and those opportunities will only be available for those with cash. As far as I can tell this is true for both residential and commercial markets.
More to come….
Lance
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