Pete Flint’s Blog

I had dinner with some friends last night and one of them had just put in an offer for a 2 bed condo at the The Infinity in San Francisco and I thought I'd do some research on how the market was doing and get your opinions. His rationale for making the purchase at this time was the following:

• Given the low financing available for 30 year fixed mortgages, he is able to lock in a low rate, that was lower than paying rent in SoMa for similar places
• He went on a tour off the condos and loved the style, views and quality of the building.
• He felt he was able to negotiate a good deal and get a good price per square foot rate compared to overall San Francisco condo prices and also get a few extras thrown in
• As a first time home buyer, he was about to qualify for the $8000 home buyer tax credit and the $10,000 california home buyer tax credit and save a little more.

We all pretty much agreed, that while San Francisco condo prices could well fall in the next 12 months, the upside of low rates, quality of life and good prices made 2009 a good time to make this sort of purchase.

Chart of SoMa price per square foot.


That said, I'm sure there is more to the story and if you're not concerned about losing your job and can afford one of these luxury condos in San Francisco, what else should a prospective home buyer be thinking about.

I looked around on Trulia Voices and found the following insights:

From this question on sales at Infinity 2, it looks like there is a lot of demand and some discounting going on:
"prices are quite competitive actually and are lower than when Tower 1 first started out" From Mark Choey
And the views on diffierent units seems to make a big difference in demand/quality:
"Be care of what your unit will look out on as new construction is planned for the west side and Tower Two's best side is East for views. Be sure to ask about south side of building as well." from Sally Roesenman
"There are significant differences among prices in the corner stacks between the 5th and 30th floors. The fifth floor is just above street level, while the 30th offers great views..." from Jason Chapin

While my friend is buying a place at the Infinity, what about all the other buildings in the area? I'm curious about the pros/cons of different buildings like One Rincon Hill.