‘Don’t Cut the Agent Out’
Years ago, when I was taking some time off from actively selling real estate and focusing on family matters and on my real estate investments, a guy rang my doorbell and said he was looking to buy so...
THE BUZZ BLOG
January 21, 2019
January 18, 2019In The Doggy House
There’s something about a property that doesn’t sell within the first month it hits the market. Usually it’s due to overpricing. Perceived as a poor value, it develops an ugly stigm...
January 14, 2019How NOT To Sell Your House
I’ve been thinking lately of all the weird things sellers do without thinking to put buyers off when they go to look at houses. If your house is on the market or you are thinking of selling, her...
January 11, 2019How much was the highest priced home sold in 2018?
The highest sales price achieved in 2018 was for a home at 2900 Broadway (cross street Baker), a 5BR/6BA home which sold for $32,000,000 in November. Yes, you read that right. $32 million. Those mus...
December 27, 2018Video! How to Make Ceilings Look Taller
Felipe Rodriguez of Spaces Design is passionate about his work. He’s also a charismatic and enthusiastic teacher....
December 25, 2018MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wishing you all a safe, warm and happy holiday with family and friends....
December 21, 2018Holiday Fun in San Francisco
Here are a few holiday treats to check out in San Francisco this weekend. Macy’s teams up with Union Square to present their annual holiday tree, ice skating rink, SPCA holiday windows and photos wi...
- December 20, 2018
Video! An SF Diamond in the Sky
We worked very hard on this video, and our Seller loved the result, which shows off the things she loved most about living her old Noe Valley home. You can learn more about the 1500 Diamond at www.SFD...
December 19, 2018Christmas is almost here – How do I decorate?
I’ll admit it: I hate decorating. The garlands around the doors are the worst part. My arms wind up over my head for so long they go numb, and it’s a b*tch trying to get them up without nailing bi...
December 14, 2018Looking for Some Discounts?
October 2018 saw the highest number of price reductions in 6 years– a signal of changing market conditions. The number of expired and withdrawn listings – no sale – also started to c...
December 13, 2018Video! Ebony, Bamboo and Bleach
This 60-second video displays Meredith’s knowledge and opinion on flooring styles. She has a much better eye for design than I do....
December 12, 2018How Does Your County Stack Up?
Were you to study appreciation all by itself, the market looks quite healthy–and San Francisco held its own when compared to other counties buoyed by the tech sector. My own speculative brain wo...
December 7, 2018Six “What were we thinking?” home design trends
The 1990s brought us saggy pants, sideways baseball hats and Catholic school girl attire. They also delivered some home design trends we are happy to wave goodbye to. This slideshow offers up the ones...
December 7, 2018Happy Faux Fur Friday
Animals rejoice as we celebrate Faux Fur Friday! Now is your chance to pull out that neon leopard print fur you’ve been waiting to wear. ...
December 6, 2018Video! Tenderloin Apartment Tour
We closed on this TIC up the street from the Curran Theater earlier this year. This video was one of my earlier efforts at a home tour, but it I still think it nicely shows the space. Some people thin...
December 4, 2018More Ways To Improve Your Credit
Yesterday we began a discussion on improving your credit before going to get qualified for home financing. Today we’re going to continue looking at that topic to look at some more tips from MyFico...
December 3, 2018How Can I Improve My Credit?
There’s really no getting around the fact that in order to get the best deal on home financing – and often to even qualify in the first place – your credit must be in good shape. Here’s the g...
November 30, 2018Happy National Mason Jar Day!
It’s hard to imagine what food photographers, hipster coffee shops, bloggers and DIYer’s would ever do without the mason jar. You can make a dull green smoothie look like a delectable treat. Strin...
November 29, 2018Video! Open House Tips
I know. It was a bad hair day. But the information here is really good and you should watch it....
November 29, 2018Video! How to do a Real Estate Selfie Video
People make selfie videos look so easy! This was originally intended for Meredith’s eyes only but she loved it and begged me to make it public. So here I am—in all my awkward glory....
November 28, 2018San Francisco Mines Gold in Michelin’s 2019 Bib Gourmand List
Michelin’s Guide star rating carries enormous cache in the restaurant world. The precursor to the Michelin Guide stars awarded each year (coming out next week) is the Bib Gourmand List, a lesser fir...
November 23, 2018Happy National Flossing Day!
It’s National Flossing Day. And what perfect timing considering most of us spent all day yesterday chomping on turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie....
November 21, 2018Famous SF Restaurants: Ernie’s
If you’re pining for the legendary restaurant Ernie’s, go rent Vertigo and fast forward to the part where Scotty gets his first glimpse of Madeleine. For this scene, Hitchcock recreated the restau...
November 21, 2018Video! The Transformation of 16th Avenue
I already posted a video of this 2BR/1BA home in its full “Before” state with some goofy captions. This one shows the “show-ready” version with some before and after film work. Hat tip to Spac...
November 15, 2018Video! The Little House that Needs Some Love
When I dropped by this fixer listing at 2347 16th Avenue before the renovation was completed. It was fun filming it in all its current glory. The after version of the home will be posted next week. Yo...
November 14, 2018JUST SOLD for $3.5million: Haight Ashbury Painted Lady
I call this landmark Haight Ashbury Victorian the “Prettiest Listing I’ve Ever Had.” Originally a grand mansion, today it’s a 4-unit building, with a lavish owner’s unit, a ...
November 12, 2018Median Home Values in SF Less Than 1M Very Rare These Days
San Francisco has 102 neighborhoods from its borders to innermost heart. And as a rather startling snapshot of just how expensive SF is for buying a home, only 15 of those neighborhoods have median ho...
November 9, 2018Happy Peanut Butter Lovers Month!
It’s good with breakfast, lunch, dessert, in smoothies and even cocktails! To celebrate, here is a recipe for my absolute favorite peanut butter cookie, the Peanut Butter Blossom. Enjoy! View th...
November 8, 2018Video! Hayes Valley Then and Now
I love chattering about the old days. Meredith grabbed this footage when I was talking about a listing I had back in 1992....
November 7, 2018The San Francisco Luxury Home Market
In these charts, various price thresholds will be used for the “luxury home” designation, depending on when the chart was first created, if different property types are being combined, or the angl...
November 6, 2018How Far Does $6,500 Go In Renting in San Francisco These Days
If you have somewhere around $6,500 in your pocket every month to doll over to the landlord for rent, then—in a variety of neighborhoods in San Francisco—this is what you’ll get for your money. ...
November 5, 2018Famous SF Restaurants: Blum’s
Located in Macy’s on Union Square 1955-1970 In the summer of 1965, 13-year old Betsy Block’s favorite thing to do each weekend was eat dessert at Blum’s (“never lunch, only dessert”) and see...
November 2, 2018Happy National Deviled Egg Day!
What would a cocktail party be without this easy little, paprika sprinkled favorite?...
October 31, 2018High Altitude $20,000 A Month Condo in San Francisco
It’s a sort of castle condo in the San Francisco sky. Measuring in at 3,750 square feet and covering two floors this condo is not only sky bound, but pretty much stratospheric in terms of rent. Try ...
October 19, 2018Office Leases in San Francisco in 2018 Break the Ceiling
Back in 2017 the record for large office leases was broken when 20 were signed and office tower space was filling up fast. It was predicted that the age of very big office leasing was finished in SF. ...
October 14, 2018$1 Billion Warriors’ Center Featuring Popular Local Restaurants
Warriors’ balletic basketball and award-winning local SF food go together like passes from Draymond Green to Steph Curry. A perfect 3 pointer. With the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center dribblin...
October 12, 2018LIRA: Low Interest Rates Addiction LIRA: Low Interest Rates Addiction
Have we been suffering/benefiting from Low Interest Rates Addiction – or “LIRA” – for too long? This week, the US Equity Markets dropped notably, with the DOW down 832 points (...
October 11, 2018San Francisco Early Autumn Market Report
Due mostly to seasonal issues, median sales prices typically drop in Q3 from Q2 peaks, and did so this year as well. The median SF house price was up 15% and the median condo price was up 4% from Q3 ...
October 6, 2018Iconic San Francisco Ferry Building Has Proud New Owners
Must feel pretty good to be able to outright buy one of San Francisco’s most beloved landmarks, the SF Ferry Building, with its iconic Port of San Francisco signage, and wedding cake clock tower. Th...
October 4, 2018The Multi-Unit Residential Property Markets of San Francisco, Alameda & Marin Counties
The big political issue facing the market is CA Prop 10, which, if passed in November, repeals the limits on local rent control laws enacted in the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. This would almost...
October 2, 2018CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index Update
The CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index does not evaluate median sales price changes, but employs its own proprietary algorithm to measure home price appreciation over time. Since its in...
October 1, 2018Rain Could Be Finally Coming to Very Dry San Francisco
A welcome prediction from the National Weather Service is for the possibility of rain in San Francisco in these last days of September and first days of October. The city hasn’t seen rain in since t...
September 27, 2018A Brief Primer on San Francisco Real Estate
This week when I was managing the front gate for our listing on Polk Street, I noticed the three buildings across the street represented three very different kinds of housing styles. So I made a quick...
September 26, 2018The Fed is Expected to Raise Interest Rates Today
DID YOU KNOW? The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point today and indicate it plans to keep hiking them in what many expect to be a hawkish message for markets. Wall Street econom...
September 21, 2018SF’s Cool Urban Park On Top of New Transit Center Hot Real Estate
San Francisco has got a new urban park – 5.4 acres of trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, walkways and waterways on top of a roof five stories up. That’s a pretty big and a very cool rooftop sitting pr...
September 14, 2018SF’s Financial District Home to First Women-Only Coworking Space
Last month I wrote about the hot competition among coworking space companies in San Francisco, and their pitch battle of amenities offered to attract in clients. Coming up in October in the Financial ...
September 11, 2018San Francisco September Newsletter
September is typically the single month with the highest number of new listings coming on market in San Francisco, a big spike in inventory which fuels the relatively short autumn selling season. Ver...
September 7, 2018Just Listed: 1013 Cabrillo Street
Set near the edge of the world’s greatest urban park, this is the home where you’ll dig for treasure in the back yard, test Grandma’s secret recipes in the sunlit kitchen, and build small but pe...
September 6, 2018$3,000 Gets You What in SF Rentals Right Now, This Week?
Three thousand dollars a month for apartment rent is certainly not cheap in any city, but in SF it’s only going to go so far. However, surprisingly (depending on your neighborhood, of course), it ca...
August 31, 2018Coworking Spaces in San Francisco Competing With Big Amenities
San Francisco’s coworking scene is undergoing a makeover as competition heats up between companies vying for the coworking market. Coworking is when workers from different companies work independent...
August 24, 2018Making Laundry Sexy Again
How Laundry Rooms soothe and restore It was the first room to the right just inside the front door. She walked in and twirled around like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. Visions of fitted sheets ...
August 22, 2018SFRealEstateBuzz Makes Some News
Our most recent sale, referenced above was a modest bungalow in the Outer Sunset. It went for a lot more than asking because it was in a highly sought after neighborhood with a heavy beach vibe, had a...
August 20, 2018Robots Working in Restaurants in the Bay Area
Robots are part of the SF Bay Area food scene. Not the foodie scene. But definitely the food scene. Check out a scene on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley recently where a DoorDash robot at two feet tall was ...
August 17, 2018Four Charts About San Francisco Luxury Home Sales
The second quarter of 2018 saw the highest quarterly number of SF homes selling for $2 million and above – probably because quality family homes in good neighborhoods easily sell in the $2-2.5...