Real Estate News

Interest Rates and March

2010-01-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

Some folks wonder whether interest rates will go up in march, what with the first time home buyer's program due to expire (again) in April ....and the fed's plan to stop buying mortgages.

To read more on the Fed's plan, check this out: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126291088200220743.html

To read more about the first time home buyer's program, check this out: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq1.php

As mentioned in the Fed article, interest rates have risen this month. It's not like we're at a 10% interest rate, 5.25% is still pretty good ....but it's good to keep in mind what factors may influence the rate in the near future.

Homeowner's Insurance - when a buyer or seller rents, before or after close of escrow

2010-01-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Whenever the buyer moves into their new home before escrow closes or a seller stays in their old home after they've sold it, everyone needs to make sure that the home's current home owner's insurance covers the situation. Usually, someone needs to call the company up and change the policy. (Make sure the company gives you a document noting this change.)

If a buyer moves in/rents the home before close of escrow: seller, make sure you call your insurance company up and change the policy so that it covers the buyer renting your home. Your insurance may change from regular home owner's insurance to insurance for a rental.

If a seller stays in the home/rents the home back after close of escrow: buyer, make sure you call your insurance company up before escrow closes and make sure the policy will cover the seller renting your new home. Again, the insurance company may charge this time as rental insurance coverage. Make sure to call your insurance company up again before you move in, and change it so that you are covered when you move in as an owner occupier.

Seller Rent Backs

2010-01-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

"What is a seller rent back?", you may be asking yourself. A seller rent back is when the seller wants to stay in the house after they've already sold it, and they arrange with the buyer to rent the house back from them for a little while. Usually this happens because the seller doesn't have a place to go right after they've sold the house. Maybe they are in escrow themselves as a buyer ...but the transaction won't close for a few weeks. There are a few key things one needs to do before entering into an arrangement like this.

Things to do when preparing for a seller rent back

1. Check to see if there's rent control, if you are the buyer. This house may be in a city with rent control. If this is the case, it is best for the buyer to seek counsel from a lawyer or the local rent board (both) to make sure that if worst case scenario happens, they can get the seller out of their new home without dropping a lot of money.

2. Make sure the paper work is done correctly. Make sure there's a contract or valid lease agreement, and that it covers all your standard tenant-landlord rights and responsibilities. i.e: How long is the seller staying? When will they be paying the buyer and what's the amount? How will they be making the payment? How much is the security deposit? Who pays what utilities? What is the process of terminating the agreement outside of it's agreed upon date (if the seller leaves early, or if the buyer needs to evict the seller)?, etc. That latter question might make some folks a little anxious, as they don't really want to talk about the "awkward" potential of things getting very messy. But, it's best to have yourself covered. The worst time to figure out how to settle an argument is when you're in one. On that note, another good thing to have down is whether there would be arbitration or not, if circumstances called for litigation. All of these items in the rental agreement may sound like a lot but don't worry, Realtors have standard paperwork for seller rent back agreements and we'll walk you through them.

3. Square away the homeowner's insurance. What happens if the seller burns the house down? They probably didn't mean it, but it happens. If the buyer paid for home owners insurance and the seller is renting the place, then the insurance company may not want to cover the loss. They may argue that the buyer did not get insurance covering a rental unit. This item can be avoided by having the buyer simply call the insurance company before closing escrow and making sure the insurance company will cover the buyer under a seller rent back situation. (And get the company's OK in a formal document.) They may charge an extra fee, but no worries, the seller should happily pay the difference, considering it's this option or live in a hotel until they square away their housing needs. Now, a seller may argue that they don't need to make sure everything's insured as it's not their home anymore. What they are paying for is coverage against litigation. It's the worst case scenario that the seller accidentally burns the house down, or the next big earthquake hits. ...but really, would the two parties rather be bummed out but ok, knowing their expenses will be covered, or end up in court bickering over who should pay for the loss? (on a side note: sometimes sellers continue to carry their insurance policy, instead of having the buyer's policy cover the added cost of a seller rent back. This seems a little too messy for me. The seller doesn't own the house anymore. Why give the insurance company the open to deny coverage based on this issue? Buyer's need to be insured to close anyway. Last thing anyone needs is two insurance companies pointing their fingers at each other.)

4. Insure your personal items, if you are the seller. Remember, the buyer's insurance covers the home, but this does not insure your magnificent blue ray tv or sophisticated art collection.

FDIC real estate for cheap ...?

2009-10-29T16:27:00.001-07:00

So I happened upon this website the other day when searching around for blocks of homes. And I'm not sure how realistic it is, but if so it has some potential and I'd love to share it with you. It's a search site for FDIC property for sale. They own a lot of stuff now and if you want to take a peak at what they're able to sell you, here's a good place to start:

http://www2.fdic.gov/drrore/

I've played around with it a little and it's interesting to check out, if only to see what the FDIC is disclosing for sale. There seems to be some ridiculously cheap houses out there. Though, who's to say what they look like or what condition they're in or what neighborhood they're in...yah-dah yah-dah yah-dah. There's a place I found in Oakland for $84k. That's not bad...the land's probably going for more just by itself. Is this home in the best of Oakland's neighborhoods? Probably not. Still, check out the website and have fun!

Where does a Realtor work?

2009-09-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a surprising number of clients believe that I cannot work outside of San Francisco. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE the city. It’s houses and architecture are beautiful, the culture cannot be beat and the food’s ridiculously delicious. But, I have and can work outside of SF. In fact, did you know that my license allows me to work anywhere in California? It does. A real estate agent’s license covers their state. Usually, agents focus on a certain region within that state that makes sense for them (perhaps they live there or grew up there) and that they can understand, research and effectively analyze. Now, I’m not planning on driving up to say…. Humboldt….., but I can find anyone interested in going there an excellent Realtor(R). I have found and referred my friends to excellent agents in numerous state. They end up pretty happy because I know what to look for in an agent.

If you are not sure if I’ll work in an area you’re interested in…. ask me, or think of it with this in mind – anywhere that’s not over an hour to drive to, I’ll go to. I’m a pretty fast driver and avoid rush hour. Particularly if you are already my client, I am more inclined to make the trek for you and will go a longer distance because I want to make sure you are taken care of!

An hour away from me is now San Leandro. I just moved!

Facing Foreclosure / AVOIDING foreclosure

2009-01-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, it's been a while since I posted - but here I go! My colleagues and I will be holding a seminar January the 17th, Saturday, at the Excelsior library from 1-2. (for info, click here.) The subject will go over: the history of the current foreclosure boom, ten options besides foreclosure, the most important rules to follow when facing foreclosure... and etc.

No, really, it's a safe space specifically hosted at the library because it's geared for learning and helping those in need. If you or anyone you know could benefit from this seminar, please come and we will do what we can to take good care of you.

Cheers, Jenny

New Requirements for ALL of my buyers

2008-11-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

New Requirements for ALL of my buyers

I am all about letting people learn their own lessons in life. This is super important, and sometimes nothing beats a good solid kick in the financial butt. A lot of my buyers have tried to work with various loan programs that are not familiar with San Francisco. ...they have also tried to work with weird loan programs offered from obscure loan agents based in cities hours away from SF that are tiny and hard to find on maps. I'm all down for finding an awesome loan with a stellar rate! However, these programs from tiny towns and obscure loan agents so far have a 100% rate of not working out (what's too good to be true usually is too good to be true) and my buyers get burned, and I am done with this. I usually tell my buyers this may happen and suggest they run a concurrent loan. From now on, when my buyers plan on working with these obscure loan agents or loan programs, it WILL BE A REQUIREMENT FOR ALL MY BUYERS TO RUN A BACK UP LOAN WITH A LENDER I TRUST.

(If you're reading this and this happened to you....you are not the only one. Right now, the market is a little confused and it's a breading ground for this type of hollow hope. It would be unnatural not to want to go for it. I just require a back up now.)

Heads up! - conforming loan limit to reset

2008-10-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Here's another heads up to think about regarding changing laws in real estate and how they may affect you: The original conforming loan limit, which was increased to $729,750 under the Economic Stimulus Package for the city of San Francisco, will go back to it's original limit of $417,000 on Dec 31st 2008.

This means: if you plan on buying a property with a loan for over $417,000, your rates and loan options will be affected by this change. Please talk with a professional loan agent to assess your situation.

Ok, that's that. It's Friday night and I'm gunna go dance now! :)
Jenny

Tax deduction law to change - coming soon! - effects sale of residence

2008-10-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER - I am not a tax accountant or an expert on taxes. Always seek the qualified opinion of a tax expert. Don't take my word on any tax related issues as your holy grail of information. Please, CYA and research. That said....

Some of you may know that I recently took a tax class. It was very exciting. Well, no... but I learned a lot of new stuff, which is always neat =D While in class, I learned about this rule that's going to change regarding deductions when selling your primary residence. You may have heard about this too ...in case you didn't I'm going to give you a heads up so that you can look into it. Especially look into this change if you plan on selling your primary residence/taking a primary residence capital gains deduction any time soon.

It is my understanding that the guidelines under the primary residence deduction will change coming December 31st ‘08/Jan 1st ‘09.... Traditionally, this deduction was utilized when someone or a married couple sold their primary residence and made a capital gain. They could potentially use this standard deduction to decrease the amount of gain that they were taxed on. The person or couple had to live in their property and declare it their primary residence any 2 out of the last 5 years. Then, if the property was sold, a single person could deduct 250k or a married couple could deduct 500k from their capital gains. (ex. A married couple bought a home for 100k. They rent it for a year, live in it as their primary residence for two years…and rent it for another year (total time lived there in last 5 or less years = 2 years). Then, they sell it for 650k. They are taxed on 50k as a capital gain.) This rule will change starting Jan 1st-ish of ‘09.

People will still be able to deduct something from their primary residence. …and the max amount will still be 250k for a single person or 500k for a married couple. However, it will not have the same time constraints and the deduction will not be fixed, but capped at 250k or 500k. The rule, so far as people know, says that you still have to live there at least two years out of the last 5…. But…… the amount of deduction will be a ratio where the denominator is how many years you’ve owned the home, and the numerator is how many years you’ve lived there. You take that ratio and multiple that by 250k for a single person, or 500k for a married couple. That will determine the deduction you can take. (Under this new rule, the married couple from our above example would be taxed like this: 2/4 = .5 x 500k = 250k. …they will be taxed on 300k.) That’s a significant difference. Therefore, if you plan on selling your primary residence/taking a primary residence capital gains deduction any time soon, figure out how this rule will affect you and PLAN AHEAD. I know, there’s not a lot of time left. The government is sneaky like that. If you need help mobilizing, contact me and I’ll get you covered!

Near the end?

2008-08-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

In the article a few days ago titled - Foreclosures smack home prices - down 29.3%, you should find a silver lining if you read it. (please click title link.)

The key part here is what Rosen (well known and respected for his thoughts on the housing market) had to say -

"In 18 months, prices will go up 3 to 5 percent. The DataQuick median series will show a big jump when the foreclosures stop; it will look like they go up 15 to 20 percent. That's not because house prices will have surged but because the data won't have all these foreclosures."

So, it won't be a lot, according to Rosen, but things should be geared to go up 3-5% in about 18 months. Where is that according to the election year/change of presidency?

My thoughts? I've seen some areas in San Francisco go down, but I've definitely seen some go up. (Condos seem to be doing pretty well... the areas Bernal and Mission, etc.) A lot of people say that two years from now, many mortgages are geared to change again as a wave of fixed APRs become variables, and that will surely lead to another crisis. Though, I'm hoping and positively thinking that my buddies at Freddie... and the government, let's say the next president... will get in line some new measures to adequately address these issues. In that case, Mr. Rosen should be on the right track.

Either way, I worry for my clients (the buyers) that they will miss the bottom of the market slope waiting for things to get worse... and one day they will realize that prices are up again and staying that way. I cannot foretell the future, and I don't know when that time will be. ...but please watch carefully and make sure not to miss the down slope if that's what you're going for!

Archived News from my website

2008-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

So, I have decided to try and replace the current real estate news layout on my website with this blog site. So, here's the history of articles that I have had on my website before the new blog layout. Some links, I've noticed, don't work anymore. My bad.

Neighborhood News:

The Reverse Graffiti Project in San Francisco

"Doug Pray made a great video about Paul Curtis (aka Moose) working on an installation for his Reverse Graffiti Project where he created environmentally clean street art by removing dirt and grime from walls of San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel. The project was a promo for Green Works plant based cleaning products..." more info

Real Estate:

So, here's an interesting link to the CAR (California Association of Realtors) official stance on props 98 and 99. I'm not saying this is my view. I'm torn on the subject of rent control, and don't think that eminent domain should be mis-used.

Oops! Bank Mistakenly Starts Foreclosure Process On Wrong House.
"KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- A homeowner was in England when he learned a Florida bank had mistakenly started foreclosure proceedings on his house..." more info (BTW, I've seen this happen in Excelsior.)

USA-wide:

Gay Marriage: where to now?
"In November, California voters will vote on marriage again. Prior to last week's one-vote majority decision, support for the marriage amendment led the opposition by less than 10%..." more info

Worldwide:

UAE oil minister says price spikes "crazy"

"...the OPEC member would be pleased to join in a meeting with oil-consuming countries to discuss runaway prices because they are hurting economies, Mohammed al Hamli said. Saudi Arabia will host such a gathering later this month..." more info

New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement

"...New Zealand is the first developed country to negotiate a free trade agreement with China.Securing preferential access to China's economy has the potential to deliver significant gains to our exporters. It is the fastest growing major economy, currently growing at 9.5 percent per annum..." more info

Neighborhood News:

3 S.F. public housing areas getting rebuilt
"Three more decrepit San Francisco public housing developments will be refashioned into denser neighborhoods that include some market-rate housing, under a new agreement between the Housing Authority and construction companies that say they're up for the job..." more info

Fire in Mission - nearly a block is evacuated. About 60 people flee homes - Dovre Club patrons chased out

"A fast-moving fire that began in a Mission District apartment building spread to an adjoining building and prompted the evacuation of nearly an entire San Francisco block Monday night..." more info

Bike share: Transit’s future in S.F.?
"SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - They may not be high-end racing bikes, but the bicycles unveiled Tuesday during a Municipal Transportation Agency board meeting were still a welcome sight to proponents of a citywide bike-sharing program..." more info

Gamed by the System Wherein Willie Brown details his valiant attempts to conquer homelessness and bring Muni into submission
"The following is excerpted from "Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times" by Willie Brown, which publishes Feb. 5, the date of the California primary. Gleaned from three years of intense conversation between Willie Brown and former Examiner columnist P.J. Corkery, it seems a realistic portrayal of our former mayor ..." more info

Is New College dying? The famed liberal arts school faces a financial crisis after a tough year
After a turbulent year in which its accreditation was suspended and school president Martin Hamilton reluctantly resigned, New College of California is in dire financial straits. Some even fear that the innovative liberal arts institution — whose central campus at 777 Valencia Street once housed a mortuary before the school was founded there 40 years ago — could be in its death throes. New College has experienced a 41 percent decrease in enrollment this year, seeing its population drop to fewer than 500 students...." more info

Real Estate:

Home Buyer's Fair ...if you plan on being in LA April 12-13th.....
http://www.homebuyersfair.com/

Wall Street Journal on Conforming Loan Changes

"One of the features of the economic stimulus package fashioned yesterday by Congress and the Bush administration would provide guarantees to more - - and much larger - - mortgages in an effort to boost the housing market. But it also would exposee the nation's two government-sponsored mortgage companies to greater credit risk..." more info

S.F supervisor vies to protect industrial land

" As land zoned for San Francisco's blue-collar business dwindles, one of the city's most influential supervisors on real estate issues is seeking protection for industrial property across a wide swath of the city..." more info

Ghirardelli Square hotel/vacation shares.

Designed like time shares, Fairmont Heritage Place offers an alternative to expensive and less spacious luxury hotel room while conveying real estate ownership in an exotic and valuable location..." Fairmont Heritage website/more info

TIC loan record: Spotless

"With defaults rising like the tide and cresting in foreclosures, the blame has often focused on lenders who took chances with "creative" loan products. But there's one kind of home loan that is reporting a virtually perfect record. No defaults, no foreclosures and, according to some experts, not so much as a late payment..." more info

Imagine San Francisco without rent control
"OPINION If you think the mortgage foreclosure crisis is big, imagine what would happen to San Francisco if rent control were repealed.With 180,000 rent-controlled apartments currently housing more than 350,000 San Franciscans, the end of rent control would be disastrous. Literally hundreds of thousands would be forced from their homes and forced to leave the city... The Save Rent Control Convention will be Jan. 19, 1–4 p.m., at Centro del Pueblo, 474 Valencia (at 16th St.), SF. For more information on the rent control repeal measure, see www.saverentcontrol.net or www.sftu.org. For more information, call (415) 282-5525...." more info

U.S. mortgage rates tumble. Fixed-rate mortgages at lowest in almost four years
"Mortgage rates for fixed-rate loans sank to their lowest levels in nearly four years, pushed downward by further evidence of weakness in the housing market and by an emergency rate cut from the Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac's chief economist said on Thursday..." more info

As upscale home complexes add great chefs, more buyers are biting
"The great chefs of San Francisco are selling real estate. No, they haven't all gotten their broker's licenses. And they're not participating in some strange reality TV show. They're opening restaurants in San Francisco's newest luxury residential complexes. And their cachet is bringing in buyers...." more info
Statewide:

State Senate committee kills health care bill

"Members of a state Senate committee voted overwhelmingly today to kill a sweeping overhaul of the California health care system that aimed to provide coverage to millions of uninsured residents..." more info

Citizens vs. spies
"San Francisco is at the center of a national debate over government and corporate surveillance of US residents

A Bay Area man and a San Francisco nonprofit are at the center of an epic, ongoing battle over privacy rights involving all three branches of the United States government. The outcome may determine the lines between national security and personal liberties in the 21st century..." more info

Schwarzenegger says he will declare fiscal emergency

"Schwarzenegger on Friday said he would declare a fiscal emergency in California so he and state lawmakers can start cutting programs before shrinking tax revenue from the collapsed housing market leaves the state with up to a $14 billion shortfall over the next year-and-a-half...." more info

USA-wide:

Sunday Night Special: The Bear Stearns Blowup (And Balance Sheets)
"From a market capitalization of over $10.8 billion last month ($20.2 billion last year), to $3.6 billion on Friday, to an implied $240 million today, roughly $10.5 billion in Bear Stearns’ shareholder equity has evaporated over the past six weeks..." more info

Obama wins primaries clean sweep Barack Obama has won the Democratic primary polls in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia by wide margins, according to partial results..." more info

The following is not a news article, it is a letter I received from Ms. Boxer in response to an email I wrote her, asking that she please keep the conforming loan section in the Economic stimulus package. (There was rumor this might be dropped.) Here is her response - click here.

Stimulus: Pay bills? Get a flat-panel?
"Is an extra $800 in your pocket enough to change the course of the ailing economy? President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and members of Congress seem to think so. Washington is talking about issuing tax rebate checks in hopes of staving off a recession..." more info

Fed Loans Banks $20 Billion
"Cash-strapped banks took the Federal Reserve up on its offer of $20 billion in short-term loans to help them overcome credit problems, but the interest rate wasn't as low as some had hoped...." more info

Worldwide:

Spielberg boycotts Olympic role
"US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing..." more info

CIA Blames Islamic Militants for Bhutto's Death; Pakistan Steps Up Security
"The CIA has blamed al Qaida-linked militants operating in Pakistan's mountainous tribal region for the assassination last month of former Prime Minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from Islamabad the Pakistani government is tightening security around the country to thwart militant attacks..." more info

Biggest Building Coming to Moscow
"Moscow's rapidly growing skyline will soon feature a new addition: Crystal Island, which will be the world's biggest building when completed." Featuring Green Designs more info

Bitten by Blackstone, China Wants Interest This Time
"Is China getting more savvy with its Wall Street deals?When the country’s investment arm took a $3 billion stake in Blackstone Group in June, it essentially bought straight stock at a slight discount, with the voting rights stripped out. That stock promptly fell after the private equity firm went public and the credit markets seized up, leaving China with a paper loss of more than $600 million, based on recent prices. Not a fun way to start a foray into high finance.With Wednesday’s investment in Morgan Stanley, however, the China Investment Corporation is taking a different and more complex approach...." more info

The Privilege of Sitting in Traffic

2008-08-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

aaahhh yes. ... shortly San Francisco may add a toll for driving in our city.

There are different options to how the toll might shape up:

General toll for entering San Francisco (bridge tolls will still be in affect)
Toll for driving during heavy traffic in the "most congested" parts of San Francisco (defined by Van Ness Avenue, Harrison Street, the Embarcadero and Broadway Street ...though there's some debate on what areas might actually be considered congested. The areas around Geary and California have been looked at as well). With this toll for driving in congested areas, there's talk of a flat fee, or a per mile fee. Residents of the "most congested" area and low income individuals may qualify for up to an 80% discount.
...and the plan that will probably make people the most upset....
a double toll. Yes, you may be charged to enter San Francisco ...and then charged the whole time you're actually driving in San Francisco.

Admittedly (and I hate admitting this because I don't want to get charged either!), I see the logic in a San Francisco toll. It has worked for many major cities. Also, it will undoubtedly decrease the amount of gas consumed in San Francisco, which will be great for the environment!

As someone who likes to look at how delivery affects mood, it seems that option 3 is not the way to go. Yes, there is the potential for more money involved...but that's not why option 3 should be ruled out. It should be ruled out because people get annoyed when they're nickel and dimed. They like to know what they're getting into and agree to it upfront. People will probably react the happiest if the fee was an entrance toll (option 1) ....even if the toll was way more likely to cost them more than the double toll.

see for more info - http://www.examiner.com/a-1500889~City__gateway_toll__considered.html

Everyone likes statistics .... right? :D

2008-08-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many of you know this, so I'm putting it out there on a blog...

I have access to a program called Agent Metrics. It allows me to work with all of the data on the San Francisco Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (SFARMLS) and see how it boils down statistics-wise. It is very helpful if you'd like a clear, unbiased perspective on how the San Francisco market is doing. For instance, have prices for a 2bd/1ba/1p condo in the Mission gone up or down this year? How many single family homes have sold in Noe Valley - at, over or under original listing price?

If you'd like to set up an appointment and check out the program with me, just let me know. ...It'll be fun! :)

This just in! - More info on the November ballot

2008-08-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just received this email from a colleague -

"Hello Everyone,

I have a client who is worried about this bill
passing before he decides to make a purchase. Like our job is not
difficult enough! I called Chris Daly’s office and they told me that it’s
“pending action sent to the Rules Committee.” Which means it has not gone
to vote yet. It needs 6 out of 11 supervisors to put it on the November
Ballet is what they said. It was supposed to vote a few weeks ago, I
believe. So there are delays.

Does anyone know any more
information? What is your take on this bill getting on the November
Ballet? I read the description and it will applied to 2 unit buildings
owner occupied as of Aug. 1, 2008.

Thanks everyone for your
opinions.

Christian"

Thanks Christian!

How the November Ballot might affect TIC conversions

2008-07-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a practical article for those of you who are wondering what will happen if the rule forcing 2-unit buildings to enter the lottery might affect you. (I will start this off by saying, please do not take this blog as your only source of information. I know you're smarter than that....always in the end defer to an attorney who specializes in TIC condo conversion ;)

There's a really easy to read article that summarizes how 2-unit buildings will be affected if the November ballot is passed, and this can be found on Andy Sirkin's TIC website - http://www.andysirkin.com/HTMLArticle.cfm?Article=114

To me, this reads: 2-units would need to enter the lotto like every other building...unless BOTH units were owner occupied by August 1st 2008 *cough* ...tomorrow..... and the owner's who were living there before August 1st are still the current owners, and they are NOT married to each other. Coincidentally, here is a nice loop hole that you might be able to take advantage of if you and your life partner are not actually legally married.

Well, I hope this information was very helpful! If you've just bought a 2-unit and you plan on condo conversion - change the PG&E over now and get a packin!

Gentrification - Entropy vs.Communism

2008-07-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

wow, that's a heady title. ...hehe...

Anyway, I don't know if you've noticed, but San Francisco is fighting a battle of gentrification. .....

This article, put out by The Examiner, talks about different ballots that may be put on a bill come November.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1435389~Measures_for_November_ballot_put_forward.html

Socketsite sums up the article like this:
"At least five real estate related measures are now six supervisor votes away from making it onto the November ballot. Yesterday’s introductions from supervisors Peskin, McGoldrick, and Daly:
1. Increase property transfer tax on sales of $2+ million from 0.75 to 1.5 percent (Peskin)
2. Establish staged tax increase on property sales starting at $1 million (McGoldrick)
3. Prohibit harassment by a landlord/provide rent reduction fines (Daly)
4. Prohibit OMI evictions of units with children (Daly)
5. Place two-unit buildings into the condo-conversion lottery (Daly)" http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2008/06/potential_november_ballot_measures_twounit_condo_lotter.html

Some people might focus on the details of the battle, like tenants vs. landlords and TICs vs. rental units, but this is really a battle over the rights of rich vs. richer-than-you vs. poor vs. poorer-than-you. How do you choose which side you want to win? It seems hard to draw lines as to where rich and poor really are in San Francisco in the first place…especially when an average starter home is easily around $800,000. …Should we all give up and move to Portland where housing is cheap? If we do that, we’ll drive up the price of real estate there even more, and we'll force Portlander’s to create tenant rules so that they can keep living in their city too. (Which they actually started to do, and they have looked into TIC rules as my Agent friend in Portland has told me.) This is somewhat ironic because most Portlanders want to live in Portland and most San Franciscans want to live in San Francisco. Meanwhile, India, China, England and yes, even Canada, have been buying their second/third homes in SF - where everyone wants to live and the dollar's so gosh darn cheap.

Can we save San Francisco from the Canadians? If we draw a line around who we decide is rich and who we decide is poor, will it work and let all of us poor people stay as renters? Are our options really that polarized?

....Barak Obama talks about people tending to polarize things in politics. Either you're a Democrat or a Republican. ...and somehow our country got into an "us vs. them" mind frame, when we really need to figure out what makes sense and what's best for everybody - be it a Republican's idea or a Democrat's. Well, I think that San Francisco is just as polarized as the rest of America. It's not really surprising, considering we're a smaller part of the larger USA. But we are trying hard to figure out how to stop the Canadian invasion by enforcing more and more communistic rules. (I make note, I feel I have license to mock Canada...as I am half Canadian ;) Anyway, we seem to be making all of these micro-management rules in order to support one side of a very polarized debate or another, and I’m not sure if it’s just buying time or what. Perhaps we need to refocus the issues and stop thinking of it in terms of a debate in the first place.

How would it be like to live in a San Francisco where landlords could evict tenants ...when they wanted to? I'm not suggesting that's a great idea. ...How would it be like to live in a San Francisco where landlords gave up, sold their buildings and bought in Tracy, or Sac or anywhere else where investments are cheap...where they can then rented their new units to the San Francisco firefighters? Making landlords follow so many little rules, which are mostly aimed to hurt them, is not a great motivator for getting them to own and maintain their rental units. If the government wants to keep housing at a reasonable price, then perhaps they should own units and manage them themselves. Oh wait, they do that and it's called subsidized housing. Perhaps it's time to beef up those issues instead and just come to terms with the fact that a lot of San Francisco cannot afford a $800,000 starter home. Also, we might want to make sure that the firefighters and teachers who work in SF really live here too. ...because when the bridges break/get backed up during the next earthquake, how will the firefighters get over in time to tackle the flames and save the city? When they're rebuilding, how will the teachers commute to teach our next generation?

I'm tired of all of this bickering and fighting over which side is just and fair. There's got to be a better answer. I don’t think we can find one in our current model of government. ...I don't actually have one. If you do, and it's great, send it to me and I'll post it. ;) ...or you can make a comment! :)