What a difference a week makes! Last week I was attending business meetings downtown and having lunch at restaurants and grabbing coffee with friends in cafes. This week I am sheltering at home with my husband, Michael, and living my life on Zoom. Signs abound around town with closings of restaurants, clothing stores, and other businesses. Needless to say, Open Houses and Broker Tours are currently a thing of the past. I have been reaching out to clients to check …
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: Thoughts & Tidbits
Every February, a British Film Festival is held at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco. I regularly host at the festival a group of clients and people who have referred me business. This year, the movie I selected was “Extra Ordinary” with Will Forte, a former SNL star who grew up in the Bay Area. He attended the screening of the movie and was interviewed afterward. He’s an interesting and quirky guy – a perfect Bay Area native! My husband, …
One of the fun things about being a realtor in San Francisco is being able to preview new properties before they are viewed by the public. This afternoon, my firm, Compass, was given a sneak preview of the Crescent – a new luxury development that sits on top of Nob Hill. It is located at 875 California Street at Powell. It is comprised of 44 luxury condos with 4 penthouse units at the top of the eight story building. You …
As 2019 comes to a close, we look back at what has been a fairly robust economy in the US this year. The question is: what will 2020 bring and how will that affect the housing market? I attended a First Republic Bank holiday luncheon recently where a talk was given about what to expect in 2020. I will provide you with a few of the highlights from their presentation, and my thoughts, here. The Year of Two Halves For …
San Francisco Bay Area’s earthquakes last month – one a 3.5 just south of SF on October 5 and the other a 4.5 in Pleasant Hill on October 15 – literally woke everyone up again to the potential specter of the “Big One.” People are starting once more to pay attention to earthquake preparedness. I, for one, am having an engineer look at our two-unit condo building to determine if there is anything we need to do to make it …
I love staying at Airbnbs and by now I have stayed at quite a few. Why? It feels like having a second home in many different locations. My husband and I enjoy relaxing at someone else’s home or condo that often has beautiful views, a kitchen for us to cook some meals, and occasionally a hot tub to soak in. The photo is of the hot tub we relaxed in at our most recent Airbnb in Russian River. From Oregon …
“When selecting agents, I interviewed a number of them but ended up selecting Carol. Everyone I talked to had a past history of real estate but Carol was the only one who had a plan and clearly outlined a strategy for what she was going to do. And she did indeed execute on that plan! My property had a challenging situation but she was still able to sell it for over asking. She took care of pretty much everything including …
Recently my student, Leilani, who I tutor through ReadingPartners.org, was celebrated at its annual fundraiser, “A Novel Night in San Francisco.” We read letters we wrote to each other on stage, capturing our fun tutoring experience. Kristi Yamaguchi, an Olympic champion skater who hosted the event, presented all who attended with her latest children’s novel, “Cara’s Kindness.” ReadingPartners.org is a wonderful organization started 20 years ago which has helped underserved children. They place trained, dedicated volunteers in low-income schools to …
Parking can be challenging sometimes in our Presidio Heights neighborhood because of the neverending construction which takes up parking spaces. We park on the street because we don’t have a garage. Normally, we can park within a block or two of our place but at times during the day, it can be a little more challenging. This brings me to January 10 after we had just come back from the holidays. On that date, I drove back from an early …
My favorite thing about the holidays is the various traditions that people celebrate. Coming from an Italian-American family, one of the things I fondly remember about the holidays is my mother baking Italian cookies, like the almond cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar, similar to Mexican wedding cookies. There were also the tasty sugar cookies my Aunt Sue, who lived up the street, baked. As a little girl watching my aunt make the sugar cookies, I could hardly wait to try …