San Francisco Schtuff

San Francisco real estate, events, food and neighborhood

A change is gonna come–PART II

About one year ago I wrote about some changes that were taking place on or near Potrero Hill in regards to housing and retail space. About 1 year later, I thought it was worth revisiting to check up on the progress. Above (click on pictures to expand) you see the hole that was once S&C Ford, then an empty lot for years and now a major construction zone. This project will eventually be a Whole Foods grocery store and several condo units on the North Slope of Potrero Hill.

Directly above are some images of a building that was demolished about 11 months ago and is now under construction at 7th and King Streets (601 King St.). The planned building is a David Baker design and will include 224 living units and 7200+ sq. ft. of retail space.

Both projects are moving forward during an interesting time in the real estate market. Often times when projects are completed in “soft” markets the developers decide to rent the units for a few years so as to take the tax benifits. Though neither of these projects are taking deposits yet, it will be interesting to see how they go about bringing the completed units on the market.

Stay tuned for Part III
A Change is gonna come… [Greg and Garrett's Real Estate Blog]

Filed under: Potrero Hill , , ,

Klein’s Deli is leaving the ‘Hill

It’s sad to see, but it is official, Klein’s Deli is leaving its current location at 501 Connecticut in Potrero Hill at the end of the year. Rumor has it another high-end deli will be moving into the spot and it is going to be owned by the current landlord of the building who raised the rent for the space that Klein’s currently occupies (I have not received absolute confirmation of this yet). I’m not sure where I’m going to get a better chicken salad sandwich, unless I fly out of SFO (Klein’s has two airport locations in Terminal 1 and 3 at SFO).

Filed under: Potrero Hill, neighborhood changes , , ,

Bernal Modernism

680 Peralta St. is Modernism. The listing agent has created some high-end marketing pieces that show off the amazing lines and style of this house. The place isn’t incredibly large, but it screams MODERN! The house looks like it came straight out of the Dwell Conference.

Take a look: 680 Peralta St.

Filed under: Bernal Heights, real estate , ,

Green Livin

arterra.jpg

Sitting @ 5th between Berry and King St is the Arterra. Offering “green” living, the newest of the Mission Bay housing complexes offers something unique — 1 project with several styles – “Park” “City” and “Sky”

Grand opening on September 30th

Arterra SF [website]

Filed under: Ggold, neighborhood changes, new developments , , ,

Mortgage Market Snapshot

By Jason Russell:

This month I’ve decided to offer some words I’ve recently read about regarding Bankrate.com – and a great way to avoid 411 charges.

The Bankrate website draws millions of visitors, promising to give a listing of companies and their rate and cost offerings for mortgage loans, and even passes that information on to most of America’s largest newspapers as fact. It has always proclaimed itself to be a tool for the consumer – delivering information and advice.

A lawsuit is in the works against Bankrate, after hundreds of consumers complained about lenders who failed to deliver the rates and terms they promised on the website. Why would a lender post rates and terms they are unwilling or unable to honor ?

Unfortunately, this is a common tactic to lure consumers who want to believe that they are getting an interest rate or cost package that is significantly lower than all the competition. When the consumer finds out they are not getting the package they were promised, they likely have wasted enough valuable time that they feel somewhat stuck to use whatever terms the lender offers .

There are genuine reasons that the terms of a loan package can change. When working with a reputable lender, it would generally only be caused by a change from what was submitted on the loan application, a change in credit, income, employment, debts or assets.

There are reputable lenders on Bankrate, and some of those lenders were the ones who prompted the lawsuit in the first place. As they were offering ‘real’ interest rates and terms they could actually honor, they could see that consumers would instead be contacting the less-reputable lenders who were posting completely unrealistic rate and cost offers. And the consumer might not find out the difference until it was too late.

The internet at large can be a great place to gain basic information about a home loan, but the lawsuit illustrates the need to tread carefully when using the Internet in researching mortgage rates. A home loan is generally the largest financial transaction of your entire life – working with a real professional who can advise you on correct strategies and programs for your needs is a must.

A quick consumer tip….this is not an ad…..
The average amount an individual spends on directory assistance calls each year is $36, but heavy users can spend over $300 a year. And those calls can cost anywhere from $1.25 – $1.75 each…worse yet, directory assistance calls from a land line come with an even steeper price tag, as carriers often charge anywhere from $2 to $4 per call.

Use 1.800.373.3411 from your cell phone or land line and avoid those charges. The service works just like GOOGLE, commercial radio, or television in that businesses pay to sponsor the service in exchange for presenting their advertisements to customers. When you call 1.800.FREE.411 an automated voice recognition system will ask you for a location, type of listing and name. And in return for the free info, you’ll occasionally hear an advertisement from one of the sponsors.

*Market Insights*
The news week has been slow but the Fed speakers were out in full force, injecting opinions about inflation and the economy. San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said that inflation was still a risk, and the Fed should be prepared to raise interest rates further. Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto believes inflation is moderating…and further believes that the economy still has not fully absorbed the rate hikes. She voted for a pause in order to accumulate more information before deciding if further hikes are needed to keep inflation contained.
So is inflation running rampant, or under control? Is the economy still picking up steam, or moderating?

The market isn’t quite sure how to react to the somewhat mixed messages of the week – and home loan rates remained relatively stable for the week overall.

For what it’s worth, inventories are increasing, which means more choice and buying power for the consumer…..always a good thing.

Best Regards – Jason
_____________________________
Jason Russell, Broker Rob Wolf and Associates
Residential & Commercial Financing
850 Montgomery Street, Suite 100
San Francisco, CA 94133
1-415-788-1334 – office 1-866-313-5709 – fax

Filed under: mortgage , ,

Get ready, Get set, GO…..

Historically the San Francisco housing market sees a large jump in inventory after the holiday weekend. Though in the last 24 hours there have only been 12 new listings, stay tuned as we expect to see more homes, lofts, condo’s and TIC’s go on the market in Potrero Hill, Noe Valley, Glen Park, SOMA, and Bernal Heights.

Filed under: Uncategorized

award winning home for sale

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