Chris Word

Patricia, it's possible you could be unrealistic. BUT, you haven't had a real estate agent into your home to really discuss the value. Every property is unique, and therefore, should command a unique price. Also, the basis of what the local neighborhood recent sales are for a home of comparative size, with comparative amenities and upgrades, comes into play for comparison reason. Have you been out to see other homes that are in the 900K range to see if your home compares for the local area? That would be a first thing to do in terms of homework for you - perhaps this Sunday. Also, select an agent to come give you a sales presentation so that you can understand the opinion of a professional who facilitates the selling and buying of homes many times a year. - Fri May 9 2008, 06:43

Per, I think I understand the origin of your comments, as there was an article in the Chronicle today outlining the general results of the S&P index. There were also comments by a few readers which I took the time to read and understand. I get the idea that very good advice being given by realtors here in SF is discounted because there is a trend by some very opinionistic individuals that what has to be said and reported locally is in ill repute. I disagree, and I think you should understand that here in SF there are some micro-markets that perform very differently than the region at large.

In the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco, you can see some declining home values that might mirror some of what you have read in the press at large. In the outer Sunset and outer Richmond, some pockets and some blocks are experiencing this effect as well. But for the most part, the Sunset and Richmond are holding values because there are other blocks and pockets of homes that really shine in value.

I have the personal opinion that what we are seeing is a correction in the local market. Those who could barely afford the subprime loans, or those that could barely afford to move forward after purchasing their homes (not being able to improve, not being able to fix the fixer, etc) here in SF are those that are seeing they are in trouble. Not everyone is in this predicament. The correction we are seeing is that of those who made subprime loans, paying only on interest for short terms, not being able to increase their equity in the homes they bought, and now seeing the payment terms of those homes rise significantly. It is a minority of homes and situations like this that we find in SF propery.

Outside SF, in the surrounding areas like outer Contra Costa county, newly developed areas of Alameda and Santa Clara county, where a lot of developments were sold based on subprime mortgaging supporting (then) inflated home prices, YES, you will see declining values en masse. And that's what we have. - Tue Apr 29 2008, 10:52

Hey there Mike! They are offering 10K in credits for you to use in any way. That's fairly good. They cannot reduce their pricing and I can tell you the reason: If they drastically reduce the price of the unit you want to buy, they actually reduce the value of all the other market-rate properties in the building. After all, other buyers have come to buy before you and they bought at the list price. If the developer begins to accept offers below his list prices, that will erode value to those who are already in the building. Also, if YOU buy into the building, how would you feel about the developer allowing his pricing to be eroded reducing the value of your home?

So what is there to do? If you're NOT working with an agent for yourself, then you may not have the best advocate for buying into a unit and getting more than the 10K concessions the developer is offering you. If you've only worked with the developer, and negotiated only with their agents, they have no interest in offering you more concessions - they are in league with the developer after all.

I can only surmise that you are supposing the developer is not dealing with you because you think there are too many BMR units there. That is not correct. This is tactic for all developers. They are not beholding to reducing their list prices. They are, however, listening to you if you have reasonable requests for reducing costs associated with the transaction, loan and escrow fees. - Wed Apr 16 2008, 14:48

Michael, buying at 888 7th Street probably won't affect your future resale too much. Since BMRs are not considered market value, they don't (and shouldn't be) consider as comparable sales. They are set aside. A lot of questions are posed to real estate agents about the future of a property. The unfortunate thing is that we've got as much connection into the future state of things as you might. Here is what we know: in the past the area around 888 7th has been WORSE. Presently it is BETTER than it has been. There are other development projects that are close by. There might be a "halo effect" with it's proximity to the Ball Park, China Basin and lower Potrero Hill and SOMA. The development is within walking or mass transiting most of the business district of SF and the Peninsula.

One of the main things you should consider for yourself is if this property is an opportunity for you to own NOW. Are you going to increase your wages/pay in the next 5 years? Most people experience raises or bonus payments. Will you be staying in this property for about 5 years or more? Most properties perform well for their owners in equity over time. Would you be willing to upgrade your units baths and kitchens over the next 5 years? (this helps increase value).

As for getting the appliances, you should see if you can get concessions from the developer for those items (and you can usually get some sort of concession from them if you're working with YOUR OWN agent - the developer's agents have little interest or direction to give concessions away unless there is an agent on the other side).

Good luck, hope this helps. - Wed Apr 9 2008, 11:50

With the market in SF being the way it is, many owners have not yet reset their expectations to come more in line with what COMPARATIVE properties around them are selling at over the last 3-5 months. And, realistically, one should only go as far back as 5 months to find the comparative sales to determine a basis for offering a price, or setting a price; many appraisers are limiting how far back in time they go to appraise properties because the banks are putting them under a microscope.

I say the previous because it is important that you don't offer a price that can't appraise at the loan value (at the very least). So, even though the price for a home seems high, YOU as the buyer - making up the buying market - should speak to the seller in the form of what you think is a good offer for the property based on recent comparative sales. Even if you're offering lower than the list price, or not at what one would expect, you may be the only one to issue an offer to this seller. If that's the case, let them speak back to you (perhaps there can be a meeting of the minds in counter offering for terms or pricing).

If you never make the offer, you never know at what points the seller would be flexible at. - Sun Apr 6 2008, 11:57

Hi Page, smaller TICs and smaller Condo associations tend to make reasonable allowances for dogs that are larger than what the HOA documents say you're supposed to have. I have a dog as well, and I am to understand that there are more registered dogs in SF than there are children in SF public schools. This tends to give SF a more flexible attitude about dogs than most large cities. The larger the HOA or complex, sometimes the more restrictive or literal the interpretation of what sized dogs are allowed on the property.

TICs tend to be much more flexible since you are usually dealing directly with members of your community. I have seen restrictions on certain breeds, especially Carnio Presarios (I know I spelled that wrong), Pit Bulls, Rotweillers, Dobermans etc. Forgive me if I've spelled any of those wrong, I happen to have an American Mutt so I don't keep track of the various breeds! - Thu Apr 3 2008, 17:46