Now that the holiday season is here, I have been attending a number of parties and not surprisingly, people want to know what is happening with the Bay Area market. At Pacific Union we have an economist, Selma Hepp, who serves as a great resource to help advise our clients. She formerly worked at Trulia, California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. Two conclusions from Selma: • The supply/demand imbalance in the market of recent years in …
Carol Solfanelli | Compass | DRE License # 01347033 |
415-297-7031 | carol.solfanelli@compass.com
2022 Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Professional
Top 1.5% of 1.6 Million Agents Nationwide
2022 Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Professional
Top 1.5% of 1.6 Million Agents Nationwide
Category: Buying
I am honored and thankful for having been selected for the third year in a row for the Five Star Professional Award, representing an elite group of less than 2% of real estate agents in San Francisco! The award appears in this month’s issue of San Francisco Magazine. According to the group that sponsors the award, the research process incorporates a statistically valid sample in order to identify the professionals in the local market who score highest in overall satisfaction. …
Rents are still very high in SF and prices for properties appear to be stabilizing. Now is the time to buy instead of rent because it is actually less expensive on a monthly basis in some instances to own rather than rent in the city right now. A client of mine rents a two bedroom apartment in Pacific Heights for $8500 a month. For what she pays in rent, she could pay less than that for a mortgage and expenses …
There are a number of ways that buyers can get a good price for a property, even in this heated market. Three things a buyer can look for are 1. an out of town listing agent; 2. an overpriced property; or 3. an unusual issue with a property. The first two things – an out of town agent and an overpriced property – often go hand in hand. My clients wanted to make a low ball offer on a home …
Recently, I was thinking about how to get clients into the places they want which are often over their price range. For most people, not having parking is a deal breaker. But, for those who don’t have oodles of money and want that perfect place, they may take advantage of the opportunity that listings which advertise “no parking” can provide. Typically, these properties are less expensive than those with parking and stay on the market longer which improves the ability …
Recently, two different clients of mine contacted me about a recent sale of a property near his home. Each client had bought a unit in 2011, a year that the real estate market was just starting to come back from the 2008 downturn. Properties were staying on the market a bit longer then and motivated sellers were negotiating. Just five years later, each could likely now sell his property for $500,000 more than he paid! One client bought a two …
Yesterday, on Broker’s Tour, I went to see the Harrison, a new luxury development in SOMA designed by Ken Fulk. I have known Ken since he was doing basic stagings for $700,000 homes, and now he is an internationally celebrated designer. Upon entering from the valet parking area, my colleague and I came upon the pantry, pictured above, which is a terrific amenity available daily for the residents. We were offered many tasty treats, including delicious pastries, coffees, teas, pellegrino, …
An often asked question is what can you buy for $1M in San Francisco? In many parts of the country,$1M can buy you a mansion – not so in SF! When I did a search for properties listed on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) between $985,000 and $1M, 32 properties came up. What are these properties? There are 11 single family homes, 18 condos, and 3 two-unit buildings. The homes are from 1 – 4 bedrooms and average 1435 square …
We are at a half-way point in 2016, and the market generally, and even in Noe Valley, started to change the beginning of this year compared to the last half of 2015. Looking back at the last six months at a hot neighborhood like Noe Valley and comparing the prior six months (June – December, 2015) confirms what agents have been saying generally about the market. In Noe, fewer homes and condos sold in the first six months of 2016 …
The Lake Street District is a popular SF neighborhood. Its borders are the Presidio on the north, 26th Street on the west, California on the south, and Arguello on the east. A client of mine who lives in this district usually refers to her home as being in the Richmond. However, the Lake Street District, named after the main street that runs through it, commands much higher prices than the Richmond due to its elegant Edwardians and large Victorians plus …