What Do You Know, the November Market is Here
This is the time of year where the clocks go back, where properties that check all the right boxes sell early and fast (buyers still in the market are now seasoned and ready to act in many cases), and where inventory will start to decline with many agents (including us) thinking about their 2022 listings. That being said, a lot is happening as you’ll see below.
There are about 1,337 active listings on the MLS right now — down from a peak of 1,500 just a few weeks ago. As the month goes on, the number should continue to decline as we move closer to the holidays.
Interest rates are now coming up just a little more with 30-year mortgages hovering the 3 to 3.125% range. Given inflation and the Fed announcing its schedule to draw down its corporate securities program over the next year, it’s reasonable to assume that rates will go back up slowly but surely.
Take a read through our latest client win, see the latest of our YouTube Walkthrough Videos (there are at least 400 of them now) and check out the always interesting Tall Tales of Sales to see how things are selling these days.
As always, thank you for reading In the Know. We have more than 725 subscribers and our readership keeps expanding. But we can’t do it without you, your referrals and your loyalty. Thank you. So be sure to think of us anytime real estate comes to mind as we’ll be here to help you and yours out.
Very Truly Yours and Best,
Kevin K. Ho, Esq.
Vanguard Properties
Broker Associate | Attorney | Top Producer | REALTOR
DRE 01875957 | SBN 233408
(415) 297.7462 | kevin@kevinandjonathan.com
Jonathan B. McNarry
Vanguard Properties
Broker Associate | Top Producer | REALTOR
DRE 01747295
(415) 215.4393 | jonathan@kevinandjonathan.com
Raffi McNarry-Ho
Real estate super dog and Black Labrador Retriever extraordinaire. See his listing resume here.
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What Mr. Raffi Went As for Halloween. Plush, super soft, and well-loved (if not sought-after), Raffi shows off his very simple, yet effective at getting treats, Halloween costume over at Duboce Park last Sunday. A typical Kevin+Jonathan undertaking — Jonathan had the brilliant idea and Kevin made the dang thing with joint quality control of course. In addition to all that, we were working on our clients' winning offer, so it was a treat for everyone involved.
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Congrats to our repeat clients Pavan and Rupa on getting their lovely home that we helped them get 7 years ago updated, prepared and marketed with us. After searching for a few weeks in 2014 our clients got the corner house at 4367 21st Street. After having a great time there the family of four decided it was time for something different and after they left in August, we helped implement a preparation and marketing plan for the 3-4 bed, 2.5-bath, 1-car garage, 3-level home that is fully detached. Perched on the Noe and Eureka border, we helped the sellers unlock the potential of the home with updates to the lighting, finishes, and curb appeal. After coming on a little higher than folks like, we reset the list price to $1.995M and the adjustment worked instantly with agents and buyers alike appreciating how wonderful the home is. Indeed, on the offer date, we received multiple offers and are set to close in November well above previous list price. Stay tuned for details but do check out the property videos and website here.
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Congrats to our buyers who scored a coup at 1251 Waller Street. This top-unit, two-level 2-3 bed, 2-bath condominium has the unique combination of being a top-unit that has direct yard access. With just under 1,800 sqft of space and listed at $1.895M, we knew this one would be special and popular. Indeed, 1251, part of a 2-unit association has a finished attic space, period details and a modern, open kitchen and dining with a 17-ft vaulted ceiling above, huge nearly 150-ft deep parcel, and great yard.
Our clients saw this property, which is right next to Buena Vista Park, on a Saturday afternoon. After getting the “this-is-the-one” message, we went back together that night for a couple of hours (seeing it in both daylight and nighttime) and confirmed that this was the right one for the couple, who had been looking for the better part of a month for a new place together. Disclosures weren’t ready yet, but we moved regardless to write an offer subject to review of those forthcoming disclosures. By Sunday night, the sellers and their agents (who we’ve worked with before) had most of the disclosures to us which allowed our clients’ offer to be fully non-contingent. Meanwhile, another offer had come in during this time. After talking with the listing agents, we advised our clients to amend their offer upwards just a little to avoid a multiple-counter offer. The fact we acted early, responded quickly when disclosures came in and because of our past successes with the listing agents, we were able to get the place for our ecstatic buyers edging out the other set of early-acting buyers.
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OUR PROPERTY VIDEOS + WALKTHROUGH VIDEOS
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As you may know, we have made hundreds and hundreds of YouTube property walk-throughs of the things we see in San Francisco. Shall we walk and talk?
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A Mission District fixer.
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Check out 1251 Waller on the inside.
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Literally a jewel-box condominium next to Duboce Park, which is where Raffi thought we were going originally. Apart from a winning location, the details are so very well done.
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Here are some of the Tall Tales of Sales we've overheard over the past 2 weeks. Because this is heary for certain, details may vary and you know this is all subject to change as you never know what might happen in real estate. In any case, if you want details, get ahold of us.
Better Late Than Never? 1080 Chestnut — the Penthouse — listed since May 2019 (650+ days on the market) at an original $25M, the sprawling, midcentury-era, 5445-sqft penthouse view views of almost every San Francisco landmark, Marin, the East Bay and beyond is finally in contract. With a much-reduced price tag of $14.9M, the co-op unit needs a full makeover apparently but assuming the co-op approves the buyers, will still sell in the $2,400/sqft range. What do you get for that amount of money? 62 feet of skyline views, a 19-ft tall atrium/oculus in the entry hall to the 5-bed, 6-bath home.
What A Difference a Decade Makes. The 4-bed, 3-bath, 2-level, 3,900+ sqft house at 104 Funston sits right at the busy part of Park Presidio at the corner of Lake Street. When it sold last time in 2011, it took more than a year for the house, which was then owned by a Nobel-prize economist, to sell at $2.2M at just over $690/sqft, which was well under the original list price of $3.15M. Fast-forward a decade and upstairs remodel that left the kitchen alone, and you can see how much the market has changed. Listed at $3.95M (that’s $996/sqft) it took 11 days for 104 to sell with 6 offers coming in with the winning offer being a reported $1M over list price.
One Down (well, up). The odyssey of the two-unit building at 246-248 Carl Street continues. Selling in 2015 as a 2-unit building with just over 3,000 sqft as an absolute fixer, it was transformed into a pair of stunning, beautifully done, premium TIC units that now totals around 7,000 sqft of space with the lower unit getting the deeded yard and the upper unit getting a crazy roof deck with a combined list price of $9.3M when it debuted. Now listed at $3.995M for the lower unit and $3.495M for the upper, the property has had interest over the year it's been on the market. After pondering which unit to go for, one buyer opted to get the upper unit (248 Carl) because it had an elevator, views, light and that 1,200-sqft roof deck was pretty compelling too. Apparently, 248 Carl is in contract right at the current list price.
Everybody all together now. As is oftentimes this time of year a listing may sit on the market for a bit with little activity but then, suddenly, you have an interested buyer, and then another and another. Such is the case for the 2-unit building over at 2037 Greenwich. With a nicely updated upper unit that’s vacant and a tenant-occupied unit paying just over $3,100 a month, the marina-style building has about 2,500 sqft on a 1900-sqft parcel; despite the size, there are side-by-side garages and a small outdoor space. After being on the market for more than a month, two sets of buyers came upon the property each making an offer for the $2.495M building. While it’s early to say where they all ended up on price, we can surmise by the fact there is one ratified contract with a backup offer, that they must have done decently well once there was a little competition.
Right time, right terms. Another two-unit building in the Precita Park area of Bernal Heights at 1600 York Street was listed at 1.995M for the 2,500-sqft, nicely remodeled, vacant building with 2 garages and smaller (but typical for Bernal Heights) parcel at 1,755 sqft. The winning buyers from the 3 offers that came in for the property live in the area and are downsizing from their current home that they’ll sell next year. Oh, and their winning, all-cash, offer landed at $2.25M.
So, You Really Want to Sell? Then Why Are You AirBnb-ing your place again? That pretty much sums up the difficulty in showing the otherwise fabulous 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,800+ sqft condominium at 2812 19th Street. With AirBnb guests in the lower part of the condo and the sellers in the other, showings were hard for the $1.85M listing. Maybe the limited access drove competition, maybe it stifled interest, but after one Monday open house where three groups came through, two offers emerged with the winning one landing at $1.95M.
A Super Modern, Well-Designed Condo Still Can’t Overcome the View of the Freeway. A 3-bed, 3-bath, 1,750-sqft modern-design condominium right off Duboce at 51 Elgin Park has all the finishes, updates and elements to do well except for the fact that the back bedroom window looks out directly onto the Octavia on/off ramp. That was too much for many buyers. Originally listed at $1.795M, a $50,000 reduction did the trick as the condominium is now in contract just near the current $1.745M list price, just under $1,000/sqft.
Elizabeth the Popular. The super-central, Valencia Corridor condominium at 1 Elizabeth Street was listed at $1.295M for the 1st-floor, 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,400-sqft condo with 2-car parking. The circa 2001building sits on a corner and has, well, 2001 finishes (electric baseboard heaters, no recessed lights, divided-dual pane glass sliding windows) with some updates. Monthly dues for the 3-unit HOA are at $350/month. Despite being the lowest of the three units, unit number 1 does get a good amount of light. With a low list price, it was bound to be popular. Indeed, there were 15 offers with all of them being above $1.5M. The sellers did not counter formally and all we know now is that the winning buyers initially submitted their offer at $1.6M.
Strong in NoPa. The 3-bed, 1-bath, 1,300-sqft, no-parking condominium at 1670 Grove Street at Central has your typical mix of wood floors, batten-board walls and coved ceilings with a circa 2007 updated (but small) kitchen. The 1st level unit has a long hallway with recessed (wide-diameter) lights above, split bath with claw-foot tub, and easier access to a patio that leads to the shared, concrete-heavy backyard. Listed at $1.095M, interest was nonetheless brisk with 2 offers coming in the first 5 days on market both over $1.3M with the non-contingent one winning the day.
At the top of Alvarado (again). The flipped house at 919 Alvarado was one of the most illogical (if not ill-fated) ones we’ve seen in a while given the neighborhood and the standard you’d expect to see in the Noe/Eureka area. Poor design choices and dismal finishes squandered an otherwise great opportunity of revamping a home in this otherwise great block (take a drive around and check out the amazing-detail facades and pride of ownership if you want to see what we mean). Having failed to sell in 2020 (even after an auction process with a starting price at $2.4M), the property sold for $3M in November 2020. Apparently, its owners didn’t want to hang around much longer either as it came onto the market in late October with a $3M list price. One set of determined buyers with a budget cap of $3.3M went in with a $3.3M offer just a few says after 919 came onto the MLS that was accepted. But, of course, after the big rain storm a couple of Sundays ago, the roof (of course) leaked.
Maybe it’s location? The black and white house at 956 Noe Street sold after 46 days in November 2019 for $2.425M. Why did it take so long? It may have to do with that 3-bed, 1.5 bath Queen Anne-style house has dated finishes — suitable for daily life but nothing special, or perhaps that expanding the Category A-historic house on a smaller-than-average 60-ft deep parcel would be challenging at the very least. The folks who got the house in 2019 got a decent deal on a single-family house in Noe Valley. Fast forward two years and one Pandemic later, the owners, who had moved to the Bay Area from the EU decided to move back there given the Pandemic’s impact on life, decided to put the property on a “coming soon” status before embarking on doing extensive property preparation with a list price of $2.895M not thinking there would be takers. Within days the property received a non-contingent offer that was just a little under that price the owners took.
Hot in NoPa. 526 Broderick, a lower, 2-floor, 4-bed, 3.5-bath condominium with nearly 1,800 sqft of living area and parking dating from 2010 was listed at $1.85M. With finishes befitting of its era — travertine vanities in the bathroom with medium-format rectangular tile of the earth-tone hues mixed in with a lot of mosaic tile, hand-carved, engineered wood floors, and remote-control gas fireplace, the unit does have an open floor plan and super central location with 3 of the bedrooms being on one level (the holy grail for many). Within a few days there were 5 disclosure packages out with multiple offers coming in; with the winning one landing at $2.1M.
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