San Francisco
Proposed New SFUSD School Boundaries
http://sfusd.ggnet.net/resources/changes.php
What factors were considered when drafting new elementary attendance areas?
Balancing enrollment with the size of the school.
This included taking into account the size and location of schools, where students live now and where enrollment changes are expected in the future, historical choice patterns, and historical enrollment patterns.
Avoiding major roads, highways, and natural topography such as
Market Focus: a monthly analysis of the SF real estate market
Recent stock market declines and worries surrounding of the possibility of a double-dip in the housing market, caused some potential home buyers to exhibit restraint and delay home purchases. Completed home sales declined by 18% year-over-year in July 2010 as a cloudy economic outlook weighed on buyers. Compounding the effect of these economic trends on home sales data are the seasonal summer slowdown combined with an especially cold July that kept more buyers from touring homes than usual. However, despite the slowdown in recent sales trends, the accelerating pace of job growth combined with a continued decline in interest rates fueled by the Federal Reserve’s purchase of treasury bonds, as well as tight inventory levels should propel the market forward in the coming quarters.
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San Francisco Neighborhood Restaurants
While not all inclusive, here is a handy guide to making reservations at local restaurants in your neighborhood.
Click the image for a downloadable PDF:
Online Resources: All Things San Francisco
San Francisco & Bay Area…
Restaurants, wine, arts, sports, nightlife, things to do with kids and dogs, biking, hiking, transit, real estate, maps and other online resources
Read moreProposition F Alert (June 8 SF Municipal Ballot)
If you are a San Francisco voter, please read this message:
From time to time, measures appear on the municipal ballot in San Francisco that have the potential for adversely affecting the interests of tenants and rental property owners in San Francisco. Such is the case with Proposition F (“Renters’ Financial Hardship Applications”) which will appear on the June 8 municipal ballot.
Proposition F is described below. It is being actively opposed by the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® because of the possibility that passage of the measure would cause owners of rental properties to remove their properties from the rental market, thereby diminishing the supply of rental housing in the city. Joining the Association in opposing the measure are such diverse organizations as such diverse organizations as the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and the San Francisco Chronicle.
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What Proposition F Would Do Read more
Paragon Community Fund
Two of the many things that make San Francisco such a wonderful place to live and work are the appreciation for what’s most important in life and the care we take of one another.
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Residential Builders Association Stimulus Reform Package
Two days ago, at the Full Board of Supervisors hearing, the Supervisors were presented with the proposed Stimulus Reform Package.
Phase 1 of the Stimulus Package includes;
1) Fee Consolidation
2) Fee Deferral
The items passed with an 11-0 and 10-1 vote respectively.
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The Artisan Group Luxury Listings
The Artisan Group is a strategic alliance of locally-owned, high image real estate companies who have joined forces to create a greater level of service for our clients. We offer individualized local service through an expanded network of professional, meticulously managed real estate brokerages. Our dedication to building relationships in the local and extended communities is a time-proven asset to our clients. Through our alliances, we are able to provide top-quality service in an expanded market area.
No matter where you decide to buy or sell, we connect you with an agent from a company that offers you the personalized service you expect. The Artisan Group agents know the neighborhoods, schools, shopping, zoning, and commuting conditions that are relevant to buying a home in any community of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe region.
Here are a few of the Luxury Listings with the Artisan Group:
Paragon Real Estate // San Francisco
336 17th Avenue, San Francisco (Central Richmond)
$1,749,000
http://www.paragon-re.com/ParagonListingDetail.aspx?ID=2911
2777 Pine Street, San Francisco (Lower Pacific Heights)
$1,850,000
http://www.paragon-re.com/ParagonListingDetail.aspx?ID=2924
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San Francisco Farmers Markets, 2010
Sixteen farmers markets are going on around the city, and most are running now!
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Status of the San Francisco Real Estate Market
Suzanne Gregg, Paragon Real Estate Group
April 26, 2010
Since I can hardly get out the front door or into a night club without being asked, “How’s the market, Suzanne?” I think I’ll give you the short and semi – sweet answer ‘cause I just know you’re curious! Buyer demand in the San Francisco home market is continuing to strengthen, while supply (as measured by months’ supply of inventory) continues to tighten and median prices remain surprisingly stable, jogging up and down in small increments. The real story here in town is that for the past year and a half, as folks started easing back into the market, the mantra has been all about value.
One particular value – oriented condominium building in the Mission has been a real hit because they are priced for the entry level buyer, nicely built out, in a good central location and priced so that buyers can qualify for a conforming loan with little down payment. Also, we are starting to see small apartment buildings trade for reasonable multiples of the units income…not like the days when you had to pay close to what the units would be sold for as TIC’s. The upper end tier of the market is slowly but surely making a comeback mainly in the northern side of town, but we do not see clients swarming over million dollar condos in Noe Valley, the Mission, etc. Not when you can buy a home in those areas at reasonable asking prices.
The spring season is typically an active sales period, though some people believe buyers have been rushing in recently because 1) the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit (which expired the end of April), and 2) an expectation that mortgage rates will rise now that the Fed has just ended its mortgage bond buying program. Interest rates have started to tick up a little, but remain very low by historic standards.
Some people are not going to like this quote I saw in a Newsweek article, but here goes, “If you are not buying Real Estate now, you are either broke or stupid”. Not the exact words I use when working with clients, but I do concur, that purchasing property in San Francisco is like “owning a piece of the rock”. If you do your homework and locate a property that that works for you in location, size, style, plan on holding it for a while, you should buy it – using the California Tax Credit, tax shelters of property ownership, and lock in all-time low long term interest rates. With all of this in your favor, in the most desirable place to live in the country (ok, that was a proud SF native statement), I don’t see how you could go wrong.
The wild card going forward is still how many people can qualify for loans. Bank loan underwriters have far stricter qualifying requirements than I have ever seen in 20 years in the business.
Where do we go from here? I don’t see the market really changing a whole lot until self-employed individuals can get stated income loans and the local unemployment rate going back to 8% or below.
InvestSF
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