Haha, so I know you are thinking that this is the most self-serving real estate blog post that could come from a San Francisco Realtor but c’mon….hear me out!

Rather, hear out my buddy (not that we’ve ever met) James B. Stewart, a columnist for SmartMoney Magazine and SmartMoney.com who wrote recently in the Wall St Journal about what we regular citizens…you know Joe and Jane Six-Pack or for us San Franciscans Joe and Jane Latte…can do to help the markets.

“As president Franklin Roosevelt confronted far more dire circumstances than anything we’ve experienced in my lifetime, let alone last week, and yet he never succumbed to panic, desperation, greed or, most famously, fear….

The proximate cause of last week’s crisis in the financial markets, which evidently brought us to the brink of economic catastrophe, was paralysis: the refusal of banks to lend virtually anything…As paralysis seemed to grip our major financial institutions, I felt some of this myself…”

Sound familiar to anyone reading this? No, not you Ms. Fence-Sitter and certainly not you, Mr. Time the Market Perfectly!

But I digress.

“In times of financial crisis, collective action can achieve what would be unacceptably hazardous for any one individual… Put that way, $700 billion strikes me as a not unreasonable price to pay for the stability of the financial system on which our entire economy and collective well-being rest…..

The administration’s proposal hasn’t been accompanied by much high-minded rhetoric aimed at the American people. That is unfortunate. The plan, no matter how expensive or sweeping, will fail if all of us continue to be gripped by fear and risk aversion.

It is time for all of us to summon the courage to invest calmly and rationally and in doing so demonstrate our confidence in the potential of the global economy and our fellow man.

What, in practice, does this mean?

It means continuing to accept and even embrace a prudent degree of risk.

It means to continue following a disciplined approach to asset allocation and investments…

It means to continue rebalancing your portfolio…

It means considering investment alternatives. I found myself looking at real estate listings…

Based on my perusal this weekend, in some parts of the country we have reached the kind of opportunity to buy real estate that only comes along once a decade, if then.”

Read the entire column HERE.

How is the Inner Sunset real estate market doing?  What is the average list price / sale price?

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If you have a really fabulous San Francisco property, like a luxury condo near the museums and restaurants or a perfect home in Russian Hill with views to die for, you might be able to turn your real estate into a fractional property. Fractional real estate sells for 1-2.5 times a regular sale and it gives you the option of keeping a part of your property.

Say you are ready to retire to the Wine Country but want to have a place in San Francisco during Opera Season (or heck, Giants season for that matter)…how about selling a part and keeping a part? Continue to reap the benefits of San Francisco’s phenomenal property appreciation, while cashing out so you can buy your dream home in the country.

Just a thought…

Want to own a piece of San Francisco or Napa or Paris or Tuscany…but only just a piece? Then, fractional real estate ownership may be for you.

There is a great real estate brokerage called Global Quarters based out of Sonoma County, California that caters exclusively to the exclusive community of fractional real estate ownership.

According to the Broker/Owner Paula Gold-Nocella, the average owner of a second home uses their property approximately 17-21 days a year and with the cost of purchase, mortgage, maitenance, taxes and insurance, the total cost of ownership can be very steep considering the useage!

Paula says, “In any market fractional sales make sense financially…With fractional ownership you only purchase what you need according to what you will use, and you have deeded ownership. You stand to gain from the appreciation of your asset (the second home), all for a fraction of the cost of whole ownership.”

You may be thinking, “This sounds like a timeshare.”

The biggest difference between a time share and fractional real estate ownership is that with the fractional ownership, you OWN the real estate. Real estate is a solid, long-term investment. With a timeshare, you do not capitalize on your long-term ownership of the property. With fractionals, you do.

Other differences between Fractionals and Timeshares:

• Fractional = You own the real estate. Timeshare = You do not own the real property.
• Fractional = 4-12 Co-owners v. 500-600 co-owners in a timeshare
• Fractional = You have control and decision-making. You work with your small group of partners. Timeshare = Well, if you have ever owned one, you know there is very little power to improve things.
• Fractional = Potential for Long-Term Profit and an Appreciating Asset to pass down to your heirs

Personally, I think this is a very exciting real estate trend. Many of us aspire to own property all over the world and for some of us, it is a reality. Yet, do you really want 100% of the responsibility and ownership of the property? Maybe it does make sense to have a few co-owners to share the luxury home with so you can fully utilize your investment…

I’ll go back to what Paula has to say because it sums it up perfectly!

“Three things are changing where and how Americans buy real estate: retiring baby boomers, inherited wealth and technology.” - Paula Gold-Nocella

Just for fun, here are a couple of the properties that yours truly would love most. (Hey Daddy Warbucks, feel free to send a check!)

The Ranch on Soda Rock Sonoma County, California

7 rue Malher, Paris 4th Arrondissement Paris, France in the Marais

The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, San Francisco because why not? I love San Francisco and I LOVE the Ritz. You can trade your room for any Ritz anywhere. Yum.

And of course, pretty much anything in Italy!

First American Title is helping us in defining each neighborhood in the city.  As a homebuyer where do you want to live?  Here is a brief overview into the “High Tech” areas in the city by the bay.

SoMa (South of Market) was the hippest place to have an office, loft, bar or restaurant during the dot-com heyday.  When the bubble burst most of those “built to flip” companies and the restaurants that catered to them evaporated.  The good news is that the businesses of all types now filling the voids left by the bust appear to be solid companies with staying power.   Even the housing has gotten more real.

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