Environmental History and Real Estate

Business Insider SF Real Estate Market Explosion 

It's no secret that San Francisco Real Estate is hot hot hot, and Marin is not far behind in terms of multiple offers well over asking. The bidding war is just part of life now, alas. If you are focused and can afford to compete, I can help get your offer accepted, or if you want to sell I can help you do so smoothly and efficiently. Don't sell with out a good plan in place, as selling is soooo much easier then buying right now. My esteemed colleagues and reporters have covered the changing real estate landscape  very well, so I'll stick to my obsession with earth based real estate.

This fabulous article, via Richmond Blog from the wonderful Outside Lands folks, sums up how water shaped the development of the western side of the city. Of course water and topography also shaped the development of the rest of the city and Marin, and historical development across the globe.

Topography has a powerful influence on microclimates, on earthquake risk, tsunami risk, underground creek issues, even how well your plumbing works. Location is the one thing you cannot change when you buy property, and it is easy to forget that the earth is still underneath all this built environment we live in.

So, as you gird your loins to enter the fray, pull focus a little on that property you are so excited about. Will the climate suit you when the dust of the escrow settles? Is it in a landslide or flood zone? Will you be able to grow the things you want to grow, or will you have to spend extra on earthquake or flood insurance? Flood insurance rates are rising fast, but that's for another post.

Bold Italic - Microclimates

If you already own property here, and are staying put but curious, or renting and curious, the San Francisco Library has tips for researching buildings, and Nature in the City put together a wonderful nature map of the city. If you are in the market, though things are moving fast and furiously these days, do be sure review the Natural Hazard Disclosures, to be sure you know about long term environmental realities you may not notice underneath the fresh paint and newly refinished floors.

SF Rec and Park, Nature in the City

Happy Spring!

How Low Can Inventory Go?

Scott Erwert

Record breaking low inventory here in lovely land. This is a nationwide trend, but more pronounced in California, and especially in San Francisco. If no new listings were to come on the market, the existing inventory would be gone in 40 days. All of this wonderful earth based location info is great, but if you can't get into escrow, it's pretty moot. Here's some helpful perspective for buyers in this market.

Still an excellent, if challenging, time to be a buyer, and a fabulous time to be a seller.

Roller Coaster

Whoops, here I am! Surfacing from the emotional roller coaster of writing offers, Giants World Series win, election, Sandy and Athena. Not boring, these times we are living in, that's for sure.

Hurricane Sandy has put my last couple of posts about water intrusion into perspective, and then there is the earthquake in Guatamala, and various other enormous challenges people are facing. Construction professionals will be very busy.  So for today we give thanks that our housing and commercial buildings are intact, dry and functional, and send prayers and money to help those who are not so fortunate.

That said, the shadow side of the Bay Areas economic rebound is that competition for desirable properties is fierce. It remains an excellent time to buy (and a terrific time to sell), with the rental market also "hot hot hot", interest rates still at record lows, and prices moving up. Inventory continues to be especially low, and there is a lot of pent up buyer demand. Find a good realtor ( I can help you with that) and believe them when they tell you the time for low balling is long gone. Next post: game plan for success in this market, because all this interesting earth based real estate advice is nice, but home ownership requires actually getting in to escrow.