The Richmond and the Sunset.

Sometimes referred to as second Chinatown, home to a string of spirited Irish pubs, and crowded along its main thoroughfares with eateries of every nationality, th Richmond is a true cultural melting pot.  To start experimenting, walk down Clement Street and don’t be scared off by the lack of polish.  Delicious Chinese, Burmese Thai or Vietnamese food may be served in dining rooms that look a little rough around the edges.  The Plough & Stars, at the eastern end of Clement, is a good place to enjoy a perfectly poured Guiness, perhaps hear some live Irish music and ponder your next move.

That move may be to head out to the ocean’s edge.  Along the way you’ll pass by block after block of nice stucco single family homes.  Known as “the Avenues”, 48 streets that run north-south from the Inner Richmond out to the ocean (not to be confused with numbered “Streets” running east-west from Market Street south through the Mission), this is a largely working class neighborhood.  Geary Boulevard a block south of Clement, is the main traffic artery and where you’ll find grocery stores, post offices, home furnishing stores, the old Coronet movie theatre, and hundreds more small restaurants.

On the shores of the Pacific Ocean you’ll find the recently remodeled Cliff House, a great place for lunch or a glass of wine overlooking the water.  On a sunny day you may want to join the dogs frolicking on the beach for a walk in the sand.  Another perfect sunny day spot is the back patio and lawn of the Beach Chalet.  Located next to the Dutch Windmill at the end of Golden Gate Park, the Chalet houses a park visitor’s center as well as a restaurant and brewery.

Continue along the Great Highway and you’ll find yourself in the Outer Sunset.  Like its neighbor to the north, the Sunset is another large working class neighborhood characterized by modest single family homes.  Although commonly recognized as the foggiest neighborhood in the city, its unpretentious atmosphere and proximity to the ocean and Golden Gate Park, make it an extremely livable neighborhood.

Popular restaurants and shops are centered around the intersection of 9^th and Irving, a block off the southern edge of the Park and not far from the UCSF campus.  Ebisu serves up some of the best sushi in the city and Blackthorn Tavern is a friendly spot to linger over a pint.

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.

Here is the Real Estate Report this week for Bernal Heights. 

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Week to week we are reporting what the monthly real estate activity is for the Inner Sunset neighborhood.  This week the results are…

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Presidio Heights, Seacliff, Laurel Heights

If Pacific Heights seems a little too crowded or pedestrian for your tastes, head for Presidio Heights or Seacliff.  The homes in these neighborhoods are downright palatial and not for the faint of pocketbook.  But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for and these homes are absolutely stunning.  Bordering the Presidio, now a national park, or the ocean, these are quiet, serene residential neighborhoods.  A favorite haunt of residents in this area is Liverpool Lil’s, a classic English Pub and restaurant located near the Lyon Street gate into the Presidio.

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Any changes in Bernal Heights Real Estate from last week?  Take a look….

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Any changes from last week? 

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Recently, a client asked me about how to choose a mortgage broker.

She wanted to know if it was necessary or smart to get preapproved by more than one lender since she was still figuring out who would have the best interest rates and programs for her. She wasn’t ready to choose a mortgage broker yet so she was unsure of how to get more information and proceed on preapproval.

Here’s what I told her.

My recommendation is to work with one mortgage broker. You will get the best service and the best rates from someone who knows that you are committed to working with them.

They can feel confident knowing that you are taking their time and their help seriously. This will make them more attentive and more apt to give you the best options available. Experience shows that the best professionals, be them Realtors, mortgage brokers, CPAs, attorneys etc, get most of their clients through referral so it behooves them to provide excellent, valuable service.

No mortgage broker can forecast precisely what rate you are going to get ahead of time. They can give you estimates based on today’s rates but until you have a property and lock in a rate, it will change. Imagine a stock broker telling you that you will be able to buy Google stock in a month, 6 months, a year for $x amount. Interest rates like stock prices fluxuate daily and it is impossible to 100% predict the future.

So what should you do if you are not ready to buy but want to have a sense of what you can afford so you can casually look at property? Get prequalified.

I recommend my clients interview a few mortgage brokers (preferably referrals from me or other trusted advisors in their lives) on the phone and then set up an in-office meeting with the 1 or 2 person they feel will best represent them. Based on your consultation with them, choose a mortgage broker with whom to help. Have this person do your full preapproval when you are about 3-6 months away from your desired moving date.

Do not have your credit score run by multiple mortgage brokers or lenders as it can lower your score. You can look up your own score with no harm done by going to www.myfico.com and pulling a report yourself.

Use this score to get prequalified rather than preapproved. You’ll have a good sense of what you can afford so you can look around. When you get serious about home buying, you can do the full preapproval.  

What is new with Bernal Heights Real Estate?  How does it compare to last week?

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Taking me up on my offer to publish pertinent and helpful info of interest to my readers, i.e. San Francisco home buyers and sellers, Frank Sandoval, mortgage broker extraordinaire of Pacific Bay Financial  has sent over his take on the mortgage news and how it affects us here in the City by the Bay.

Frank says,

“Mortgages are in the news again, but this time, the news is good! Especially for people looking to buy or refinance a home, as interest rates have dropped to the lowest levels seen since April.

You’ve probably heard that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over or “bailed out” by the Federal Government over the weekend. The announcement came as the government felt that both of these institutions were potentially unable to meet their obligations.

These agencies must pay off maturing Bonds every month, and they do so by selling new Bonds. But during the last twelve months, investor appetite to purchase new mortgage-backed security Bonds has deteriorated.

As such, it has become more difficult for Fannie and Freddie to replenish capital to fund more loans. If both Fannie and Freddie became insolvent, the housing market as well as the mortgage market would come under further pressure.

With the Treasury stepping in to provide a “backstop” for the mortgage giants, investors now have confidence to purchase Mortgage Bonds. And the greater interest has helped lower interest rates today.”

Frank Sandoval is an excellent mortgage broker. My clients have happily worked with him many times over the years. For more info, visit his website.