Last weekend, the Chronicle posed a titillating question, "Is selling a vacant or occupied house best?" In my opinion, the question is not really whether selling a vacant or occupied home is best. The real question is what will it take to sell your home for top dollar in today's market? The San Francisco real estate market is different than it used to be. Sellers need to come to terms with the realities of the current real estate market. Yesteryear's hot seller's market may not return for a … [Read more...]
November 30, 2008 by the collective
To Stage or Not to Stage…or What does it take to sell your SF home in today’s market?
Filed Under: Home Selling, Hot Tips & Advice, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: choosing an agent, Home Selling, pricing, San Francisco Real Estate, selling in today's market, staging
Spare us. Don’t List Your Home if You Don’t Actually Want to Sell.
Spare me and yes, spare us. Putting your house on the market without the true intention of selling is bad for you, bad for your agent, and bad for the entire San Francisco real estate market. Heck, it's even bad for the economy, in general! When there are listings on the market with unrealistic sellers (& their unrealistic prices), they just sit around and clog up the inventory. Over time, these listings will skew our figures and make our market look worse than it is. In addition, it is … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home Buying, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: just listed or selling your home?, overpriced listings, San Francisco Real Estate
November 15, 2008 by the collective
Want my $.05? Danielle’s advice to San Francisco home buyers and sellers.
My advice to folks considering buying or selling San Francisco real estate in today’s market: To the first time buyer: BUY BUY BUY (This is a “once in 10 to 15 years” kind of opportunity. TICs, Condos, Lofts and some single family homes are ON SALE. Rates remain historically low and loan options abound for those with low or high down payment.) Read more here. FHA loan info here. To the home owner of 1-3 years: HOLD* ** Stay put and enjoy your home. It will be a great … [Read more...]
Ok, we must be near the bottom now. Manhattan has joined the fun!
At the risk of sounding bitter and petty (not for the 1st time, I'm sure), I found just a wee bit of glee to read in the New York Times that even holier-than-thou Manhattan real estate is feeling the downturn. Of course, be careful to understand the broader picture. Some neighborhoods have seen median home prices go down while others have seen their real estate values go up. Most notably, "the neighborhoods that fared the best through the third quarter included Fifth Avenue and Park … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Economic News & Market Updates, Home Buying, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: downturn, home values, manhattan real estate, San Francisco Real Estate
San Francisco Real Estate Closing Costs: Who Pays What?
Here's a guide to closing costs. In other words, who pays what? This list is a general guideline of charges and may not be wholly inclusive for your transaction. … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home Buying, Home Selling, Hot Tips & Advice, Real Estate Financial Knowledge Tagged With: closing costs, real estate
California Housing Prices Continue Down BUT Number of Home Sales Continue Up
According the 2009 California Housing Market Forecast from the California Association of Realtors, prices will continue to decline into early 2009 while the number of sales will continue to increase. Of course, we usually have a holiday/winter slowdown. What does this mean? On the one hand, prices continue to adjust downward. Most economists foresee the decline to level soon-ish. How's that for vague? On the other hand, more homes are selling than was projected. This signals the beginnings … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Economic News & Market Updates, First Time Buyer, Home Buying, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: CAR Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast
But my San Francisco condo’s value is down. Why on Earth would I trade-up now? Um, b/c it could make you money.
Trading Up in a Down Market: The Benefits I've blogged before about the benefits of trading up or moving up in a down or flat market like we have here in San Francisco (i.e. going from your "starter home" to one that has more room and the location you really want). However, I never took the time to actually lay out what I mean. Here goes. Example: You bought your starter condo for $600,000 at the top of the market which was 2004/2005. The place you really wanted (we'll call it your dream … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home Buying, Home Selling, Real Estate Financial Knowledge, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: down market, moving up, trading up
More News on what the Freddie & Fannie Bailout means for San Francisco Home Buyers and Sellers
We're all a twitter over here in the San Francisco real estate world due to the ongoing credit mess. Last weekend, the government (finally?) stepped in and took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As there are hundreds of articles, blogs, and opinion columns on this and sure to be more, I want to share some information that I feel well-described what the bailout means to you, me and other folks interested in local SF real estate. How does this affect you if you are a San Francisco first time … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Economic News & Market Updates, Home Buying, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
What’s going on in the San Francisco Single Family Home Market? August ’08 v August ’07
How's the San Francisco single family home market doing in this economy, you ask? Well, it's a mixed bag. Overall, our market is holding up VERY well. Kiss your sidewalks, folks. There is some price depreciation in areas but it's minimal as compared to the greater Bay Area, California and certainly nationwide. August 08 v August 07 shows an overall median single family home price decrease of 7.4%. Of course, 2007 was already past the peak so prices may be down more than that from the top of … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Economic News & Market Updates, Home Buying, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: August '08 v August '07, market report
What’s my Bernal Heights House Worth?
Right now, the real estate market can be tres confusing. Frankly, I am confused too! Many houses continue to fly off of the shelves, while others sit around...not selling. What is the deal? In markets like ours, there is a wide variation of both inventory (housing stock) and marketing (presentation/staging and exposure of home to the public by agent). Some houses are priced to bring in the crowds and presented to get those crowds to pull the trigger, i.e. write an offer to purchase. Other … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Economic News & Market Updates, Home Selling, San Francisco Real Estate Tagged With: bernal heights, San Francisco Real Estate, single family homes
