SF Building Boom and Beyond- Millennials Are So Smart

I recently attended a panel discussion San Francisco 
Building Boom and Beyond. I actually came away inspired. 
As much bad news as there is regarding changes in affordability 
and diversity in our fair city, the good news is that new development
is focused, (as many of us idealistic greenies visualized 30 years ago
when downtown's were dying) around transit and walkable 
communities. I commend the perseverance of planners (including 
SF's heavily burdened Planning Department) and placemakers, in 
the face of multiple very complex issues. 

sfstreetsblog

One part of this that I found so inspiring is that the buildings with .5
or less parking spaces per unit sold out quickly. and continue to do
so. I know part of this is that people just need any place to live in 
San Francisco these days, but peak US driving was in 2006, and 
Americans have been driving less since then, even in this booming 
economy. This next generation is less car centric and is flocking to 
places where "your apartment is your bedroom and your community 
is your living room".  Small spaces are hip and design creativity is 
making more them pleasant to live in.  Life with a smaller carbon 
footprint can be fun!

As a Realtor I drive a lot, so I know I am a little hypocritical 
advocating transit, cycling and walking.  My bicycle commute 
was one of the best aspects of my previous work. Driving here 
can feel like a stressful and complex video game these days, 
and I'm sure I'm growing new neural pathways as more and 
more bicycles and pedestrians are on the roads, but these 
trends are here to stay. Hallelujah I say!

sfstreetsblog transbay terminal

Off work I get out of the car as often as possible, and always feel 
better for it. Transportation here is reaching peak usage. Walkers 
and cyclists take a lot of pressure off of existing transportation 
systems. Transportation infrastructure is phenomenally expensive, 
so this is one of the bigger challenges facing us as a city, but policy
is in place and we are moving the right direction on a number of
fronts. 

walksf.org

Call me a foolish optimist (I'm not the only one).  I know the 
problems we face are legion, and walk-ability, cycling and transit 
are not panaceas, but I feel more confident about the future as I 
watch the priorities of "kids these days" play out.


Happy Friday!

Why Bay Windows Are So Awesome

Italianate Style Victorians

"When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from one side unused and empty."  When I first read Christopher Alexander, in A Pattern Language articulating the importance of light coming from more then one direction in a room, I was so struck by the truth of this observation.

Studying biogeography and working as a botanist continually impressed upon me the importance of aspect, or exposure, ie which direction the location faces to receive the changing angles of light of the day and the year.

I remain a little obsessed with light, and as a realtor I see the effects of exposure and fenestration on the quality and livability of rooms everyday.

As I've rambled on about on several occasions, sunlight moves around during the day, and the light from the different directions has different qualities.  Bay windows allow for light to come from more directions, as the windows in them face different directions then a flat window, considerably enlivening interiors.

In San Francisco, where there are relatively few freestanding homes, bay windows allow for light to come from more then one direction in buildings that are adjacent to each other and blocking each others light. Bay windows also open up views up and down the street that are not visible from a flat window, and generally help a room feel more spacious.

Plus, they are gorgeous.





P.S.

Note that the middle lower window is really just a pop out window, not actually a bay window as I am describing them. While these are also lovely, and provide some variety on the face of the building, the sides do not have window panes and not allow for light or views down the street.

San Francisco Property History and What Is This "3R Report"?

SF Building Dept

The "3R Report" is the Report of Residential Building Record, (get it? 3 R's). Sellers are required to include this report in a residential sale, unless the building is brand spanking new.

Metapicture.com

Here and here are some comments on the 3R and what it means to home buyers and sellers. Here is the San Francisco Property Information Map, which is super cool and useful for your property history research, and here is a place to search for permit and complaint information related to a particular address. The San Francisco Public Library also has helpful resources, and occasionally they hold workshops on researching buildings.

RichmondSFBlog

Isn't modern life wonderful?  Marin is less centralized, I'll save that for another post.

"Moving to San Francisco? This Map Will Tell You Where to Live"

Retiring Guy Aerial SF

I'm not sure how I missed this awesome post from Far Out City, it almost makes this whole blog obsolete. It is really worth a look. I'm a little stunned at how helpful a collection of information it is.

Stanford Digital Humanities

If you like that San Francisco map thing, this post from Stanford University Libraries is really cool too.

National Park Service

Smart creative people are mapping San Francisco in newly possible ways, and the old maps are so quickly available now in a Google image search. This guy is integrating old and new maps. The San Francisco Planning Department has a Map Library.  There are seemingly unlimited options for interesting SF mappish-ness. Fun!

Stormwater, Sewers and Sinkholes

Though SF is plagued with a combined sewer and stormwater system, the city is very forward thinking regarding waste water issues.

SFist - New Plan for Valencia St Gutters

Which is a good thing, because SF has old sewers that can really present problems.

SFGate Inner Richmond Sinkhole

Exponent - Sea Cliff sinkhole

Sewer lines are clearly relevant to real estate, and to potential development, such as the planned 8 Washington project.  So, again I say, inspect and care for your sewer line, because you are responsible for it till it meets the city line, and prevention is always better (and cheaper!) than crisis repair. In Marin the sewer systems are managed by individual or combined districts, more info can be found here.

Settlers and Location Location Location

Inspired by today's open house on the sunny hidden culdesac of Houston Street in North Beach (er, technically Russian Hill), I am thinking about microclimate and historic settlement.

JK Hendricks

Did you know that Washington Square in North Beach was Jauna Briones's corral? She spent much of her youth in the El Polin Springs area. She and her husband moved to that funny little indent in the Lyon Wall on the east end of the Presidio- when her husband proved abusive, the resourceful Jauna moved to the east to farm in the sheltered valley near Yerba Buena Cove (which was closer to the water at that point) and later moved her ranch to the sunny climes of the Los Altos/Palo Alto area, which were more suited to ranching once the gold rush hit.

google books

To find the friendliest local microclimates, one can often look to the very earliest buildings. Once the boom and bust cycle hit San Francisco, real estate speculation encouraged construction beyond the most salubrious locations, but since the earliest settlers (unlike the soldiers in the Presidio) had the choice, they chose sunny sheltered relatively level spots near water. At Point Reyes, where real estate speculation was stopped by creation of the national park, you'll find the old homesteads, and remnants of homesteads, in beautiful sheltered dells.

PRWeb.com

Permeable Sidewalks and Yards

The Watershed Company

As a follow up to last weeks hand wringing over illegal paving of yards and lack of permeability, I wanted to pass on that Plant SF has quite a few projects going to remedy the situation. Check those before and after photos! San Francisco Department of Public Works site also has lots of info. While it takes a bit of neighborhood organizing (which is also great for crime prevention), a permit, and a little jackhammering, you can bet it will improve the quality of life in your neighborhood. and your real estate values. Happy Friday!

Streetsblog

Pavement and Runoff

This morning 3 different friends posted this article, about people paving their yards.  As a young and passionate plant ecologist I fled to the wilds of West Marin, wanting to be far away from paved over cities. Now I have been lured back, and love being in San Francisco for so many reasons. My transition was eased by the abundance of parks and wildlands in and around our beautiful city, and by the resurgence of urban farming, and other plant positive policies.  Plants are awesome, and are good for real estate values too. Cities are finding that chronic water pollution problems can be mitigated with green infrastructure.

EPA

Pavement to Parks and Friends of the Urban Forest are places to start if you want a little help transforming your paved over spaces. Keep in mind the mature size of anything you plant, and the importance of planting the right tree in the right place, and if you really MUST pave, consider permeable paving option.

Then when the rain comes down it can sink into the earth, and grow things, rather than roll on into pipes, gathering grossness along the way, and pour out in to our beautiful bay and ocean.

Big Waves

Bill Martin Meteorologist

Today I was planning on discussing earthquakes and real estate, but for now all the buzz is about the big swell due this weekend, and the Mavericks contest planned for Sunday. As Bill Martin, Channel 2 weatherman and surfer points out "This weekends big surf is being generated from thousands of miles away. Oceanographers refer to this distance as a "fetch" We get some of the biggest waves in the world because we have one of the largest fetches in the world."

So, regarding coastal real estate, as I've said before, do consider rising sea levels, high tides, big swells before you make that offer, and in the meantime, may the best man win.

King Tides

What is all this about King Tides? Well, the simple answer is that a King Tide is the highest tide of the year in a coastal location. Since we are blessed with many coastal locations, if you are photographically inclined, you can join the California King Tide Initiative, which is dedicated to capturing images of King Tides. Just be smart and alert about it, there have been several tragic losses of late. It's always good to know whether the tide is incoming or outgoing before we strand ourselves on a narrow beach. Even with your wits about you, sneaker waves are no joke.

Weather.com

We had King Tides last month and more are upon us, January 9-11. What does this have to do with real estate you might ask? Well, you may want to consider King Tides if you are considering buying property in Tam Valley, for example, or near the Embarcadero or even in the Mission. With sea levels on the rise, King Tides can spell flooding, and offer insights into future conditions.

WCGH

Also it's just cool to know what the ocean and bay are up to, especially if you sail, dive, canoe, fish, surf, swim, or like to hike or play along the seaside. There is no shortage of tide apps for the smart phone user. Three I like are Shralp Tide, Tides Planner, and Tide Graph. Or you can just pick up a simple tide guide at surf and marine shops, spend a little more on the awesome Tidelog  (The Warming Hut carries them) or go here online. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

Why Winter is a Great Time to Look at Property Part 2


Yes yes, I know this is nothing compared to so many snow covered "real winter" places. My favorite Christmas card came from beloveds at Denali National Park in Alaska who say that the "only lights they see right now are the aurora borealis kind."  Sounds so magical, but brrrrr! Good thing they are snow people.

Still, within our own range of expected temperatures, it is cold right now, so naturally my thoughts turn to microclimate. Let us review what makes a home location colder or warmer within the range we expect here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We all know this intuitively somewhat, but I love to spell it out because I am a microclimate real estate nerd.

Wikipedia

Elevation: Cold air sinks. Besides being blocked from the sun by the surrounding hills, bottoms of valleys are where the cold air sits, and they are the first to frost. Large buildings can also act as hills creating canyon light and weather regimes.

Aspect: the direction the land faces determines how much light/heat it gets throughout the day, depending on the time of year.

Proximity to large bodies of water:  The ocean and San Francisco Bay have a moderating effect on the temperature. Closer to them it does not get as hot or as cold as it does farther away.

If you seek a frosty location for say, peony growing, a valley blocked from the immediate maritime influence might suit you. In that case you'll ideally want to be on the south facing slope, in a solid house with a thrifty furnace. Wherever you choose to live, there will be microclimate variables. If you want to grow things, you'll factor in the climate needs for your priority plants. If you're not a plant person, you'll still want to contemplate your personal warmth and light and wind (or lack thereof) preferences.

NBC Bay Area Weather

So again I say, it's a great time of year to be sussing out locations. No need to intellectualize it, your body will understand individual microclimates just fine.

The Skinny

Perhaps because I am feeling anything but, skinny seems to be my word of the day.

C A Home and Design

Though I am indoors eating still more treats and hiding from the wet windy weather, I will spare you more weather and extreme weather references. Since everyone else in the whole world has discussed Solstice from every possible perspective, I'll also spare you more of that. Today I am randomly loving this collection of skinny buildings in San Francisco, and this more international collection, and the news that skinny storefronts enhance walkability. Plus they are just fun. Oooh, here's some more.

Cocomale

Happy Holidays Everyone! 

Maps Are Your Friends

Fern Hill Walking Tours

Curbed SF's  post today about locations of former cemeteries, and other cool posts tagged Cool Map Thing, highlight the usefulness and beauty of maps. When you are searching for your next home, maps can really be your friend, especially historical and topographical maps, which can give you a sense of the environmental and human history of a home site. We often think of the environment as somewhere out there in a national park, but every home site is located within topography and history, space and time. Some history is fun to learn about, some not so much, but better to learn before closing escrow.

Kroll Antique Maps

If you are the curious sort, who likes to muck about with research, and you are in the early stages of your home search, here are some tips from the environmental research field. Libraries in Marin and San Francisco have wonderful collections of old maps, photo's and other archives. The San Francisco Planning Department also has a terrific collection of maps of all sorts, and a quick google image search will pull you down endless fascinating rabbit holes.

Marin Library

If you are busier, farther along and/or not a researching type, fear not, because sellers/listing agents pay a service to prepare a  "real estate natural hazard disclosure" which is included in the disclosure (or buyers) package. JCP and Disclosure Source are commonly used in San Francisco and Marin. These services comb the various maps available, such as the liquefaction hazard map, the FEMA flood map etc, and compile the data specific to the property into the report. Do take the time to read these reports, better to understand the location you are committing to sooner then later.

Game Plan

Morales Group

Here at last is the promised game plan for success in this low inventory market, for those who don't have a couple million in cash. What you need to understand in general, and in this market in particular, is that the listing agent is likely looking at many offers, and will choose the highest offer which is most likely to close in a timely manner.

Going into contract and falling out, due to lending issues or buyer cold feet, can be very costly to the seller. This adds significantly to the days on market, which can seriously inhibit momentum, and diminish market value, so shaky looking offers do not get accepted when there are alternatives. I am told that FHA loans are closing, but with the low down-payment, they will not be the seller's agents first choice - unless the seller is so charmed by your buyer letter that they override the agents preference for a large down-payment and the commitment that more cash shows on the part of the buyer.

1) Get pre-approved

Fully pre-approved, not casually pre-approved from a phone call, but laboriously, document intensively, pre-approved. Ideally with a well known in this market, solid and experienced lender/mortgage adviser.
The sellers agent will give this more weight, as lending trouble late in the escrow period is a nightmare they want to avoid.

2) Pre-inspect

If you really love it, and many other offers are expected, pre-inspection will allow you to forgo the inspection contingency, which will accelerate closing. Yes, this is potentially throwing away $500-650 if you don't get the property, but we are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars here. Your agent can run market comparables for you, and assess the level of competition. If it's a hot property, and you want it, pre-inspection shows commitment, and will give you a realistic sense of whether you really want to make an offer in the first place.

3) Submit a fully executed (signed) disclosure package with your offer.

This is a fair bit of work for you and your agent. You will have to do it anyway if you get into escrow though, so if you are really interested in the property you may as well do it, as again, it shows commitment, and gives you a realistic sense of whether you really want the property.

TorontoLife

All of this is dependent on the sellers holding to their offer date, and not accepting a preemptive offer. If you are fortunate, you will not be up against a no contingency cash offer, and your excellent agent's well presented offer package (including: your 20% plus down-payment, solid pre-approval letter from a solid lender, stellar credit score and nice buyer letter), may just get you into contract.

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.

Here Comes the Rain

Stormy weather this way comes.


What a sky this morning, the gold and pink cloud lid so glowing! Red skies at morning, sailors take warning. We've got a day or so to clean out gutters and furnace air filters, plant and mulch, maintain trees, bring in the bicycles and deck chairs, before "THE SEASON`S FIRST SIGNIFICANT STORMY WEATHER". If you work outside, or have some other burning need to know more about how the weather will go, here is the discussion of NOAA meterologists from a few different perspectives, and here is your satellite animation.

AlYoung.org

Not to go all school marmy on you, but this is one of those "stitch in time saves nine" moments. As a Realtor I've seen how astonishingly expensive it can be to defer your roof and siding maintenance. Once your buildings shell is breached, dry rot can set in, You can get more time out of your roof and window frames if you remove accumulated leaves etc, so they don't rot in place, stopping moisture from flowing away and clogging your drainage systems, allowing moisture to collect and eventually invade the structures beneath the buildings shell. Once the fungus gets established, it can move into the dryer sections of the building, happily growing through the dry season, and reinvigorating when the rains begin.

Fred Varley

This is why a pest inspection is such a critical part of a buyers investigation of a home, and why sellers should do one up front (and if you happen to be in inspection mode, maybe have an arborist take a look at any trees on the property- first wind/rain events can shake weak limbs loose to wreak havoc). I've seen homes of the same age, in the same neighborhood, with Pest Inspection Section One amounts ranging from $500 to $75,000. So homeowners, now is your chance to be in the first, happier group with solid dry homes.

Wild City

Today I must enthuse about the joy of living in/around such a world class city in such close proximity to wildlands and wildlife.  Otters at Lands End, hawks at the Golden Gate, and dolphins and seals and pelicans etc etc etc. So awesome. So lucky are we.

Richmond Blog

Bay Nature

Liquefaction

While on Zephyr tour recently, en route to a new pocket listing in the Arterra, (which a building guy proudly told us was the first LEED certified building in the city) the question of whether we were in the liquefaction zone came up. I looked around and guessed that yes, it was likely, and it got me to wondering how on earth we keep building buildings in the liquefaction zone.

USGS

As discussed here, liquefaction refers to areas of young geologic deposits, and/or fill, in low lying areas, where "soft muds are subject to the phenomenon of saturated soils losing their stiffness and strength during shaking. Young deposits will liquefy, or turn into a sandy liquid due to the strong shaking a big earthquake will produce."

Alex Clark wrote a pretty great post with maps for the Front Steps while back that gives a good sense of liquefaction locations.

The Real Dirt on Liquefaction, has a table: Techniques for Liquefaction Hazard Mitigation on page 20, if you are curious, and of course, the guide below. My curiosity about modern earthquake engineering is not fully slaked, so there will be more on this subject...