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About Me
Honored as Pacific Union's (Opera Plaza) Agent Of The Month for MAY 2008, Abigail Picache is a well-known San Francisco Broker Associate representing both Sellers and Buyers. She has more than 14 years of sales, marketing and negotiating expertise in the real estate, financial and technology industries.
Prior to joining Pacific Union, Abigail worked with Coldwell Banker for two years and earned the prestigious designation as both an "International President's Elite" and "Previews International" agent. In 2004 and 2005, she worked with ZipRealty, garnered membership into the company's esteemed "President's Club", and was honored as their #1 agent in San Francisco for 2005.
Abigail also worked for Merrill Lynch as a Financial Consultant/Stockbroker and for Comcast Corporation, assisting in the launch of their "Business Communications" division as a Corporate Account Manager.
Born in Newport, RI and raised in Virginia Beach, VA, Picache earned a full athletic Division I basketball scholarship to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, http://odusports.com/ where she graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration.
"As a natural and competitive scholarship athlete, I've learned that hard work and dedication can pay off beyond the world of sports. My skills as a reliable team player, my strong individual work ethic, and my ability to set goals and exceed those goals with inner drive and passion have prepared me well for Corporate America."
Abigail describes her approach as warm, friendly, professional, and non-'salesy'. Her goal is to help you get what you want by using the right tools and providing the valuable insight and support you need to invest in your future. She believes that your home is not only an investment, but it is also a place where you will live and dream.
"I look forward to meeting you and assisting you with what can be one of the biggest investments in your portfolio and in your life. It's time to start packing."
When Abigail is not selling real estate, she's training for the annual AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. Donations and messages of support are greatly appreciated! http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/abigailpicache
In addition, Abigail has a deep passion for music. She's the drummer of local San Francisco rock band "Valerie Orth Band", http://www.myspace.com/vlomusic. She is also a founding member of FUZZ, a new breed of music company -- combining a powerful artist promotion platform, a feature-rich interactive community of artists and fans, and a next-generation music label. http://www.fuzz.com/fan/Abigail
Prior to joining Pacific Union, Abigail worked with Coldwell Banker for two years and earned the prestigious designation as both an "International President's Elite" and "Previews International" agent. In 2004 and 2005, she worked with ZipRealty, garnered membership into the company's esteemed "President's Club", and was honored as their #1 agent in San Francisco for 2005.
Abigail also worked for Merrill Lynch as a Financial Consultant/Stockbroker and for Comcast Corporation, assisting in the launch of their "Business Communications" division as a Corporate Account Manager.
Born in Newport, RI and raised in Virginia Beach, VA, Picache earned a full athletic Division I basketball scholarship to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, http://odusports.com/ where she graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration.
"As a natural and competitive scholarship athlete, I've learned that hard work and dedication can pay off beyond the world of sports. My skills as a reliable team player, my strong individual work ethic, and my ability to set goals and exceed those goals with inner drive and passion have prepared me well for Corporate America."
Abigail describes her approach as warm, friendly, professional, and non-'salesy'. Her goal is to help you get what you want by using the right tools and providing the valuable insight and support you need to invest in your future. She believes that your home is not only an investment, but it is also a place where you will live and dream.
"I look forward to meeting you and assisting you with what can be one of the biggest investments in your portfolio and in your life. It's time to start packing."
When Abigail is not selling real estate, she's training for the annual AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. Donations and messages of support are greatly appreciated! http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/abigailpicache
In addition, Abigail has a deep passion for music. She's the drummer of local San Francisco rock band "Valerie Orth Band", http://www.myspace.com/vlomusic. She is also a founding member of FUZZ, a new breed of music company -- combining a powerful artist promotion platform, a feature-rich interactive community of artists and fans, and a next-generation music label. http://www.fuzz.com/fan/Abigail
Testimonials
"Working with Abigail Picache was ideal. At every step in the process, I felt my best friend and I were out to realize a dream that I had long hoped to achieve. She understood who I was and what I wanted and knew the market well enough to translate my interests, passions and personality into my dream home.
I chose Abigail after a lengthy search process. From the start, her intelligence and interpersonal skills were evident. She had great experience and qualifications, but it was her personality that made the obvious choice. She was professional but very personable--intense but sensitive and fun. She was a people person who would fight for her people. She had a background in Division I basketball, and I could see that she was a team player who knew how to win.
And win she did! There was an intense multi-bid situation on my dream home. Apparently, my dream was shared by many others! Abigail presented the bid in person and had me on the phone constantly advising me on the situation. She stayed up half the night fighting for me. I was excited but not nervous. I had full confidence that the same professionalism and expertise that I had seen in her would shine through in the bidding process. I was right. That night, while I had Abigail on one phone, I had my family on the other, and I remember telling them that I almost felt sorry for the seller and the other bidders because
they did not have Abigail in their corner.
From the time we put in a bid till the time I had the keys in my hand, I felt that Abigail gave me the upper hand. From dealing with the seller to the inspectors or banking folks, she was fighting for my interests and investment. Abigail was extremely professional throughout, and we closed faster than I could ever have dreamed. I told her on the day we closed that she should be ready to sell the very same place in several years when my family expanded. I stand by those words.
For now, I find myself in the home of my dreams happier than ever. I love the place and equally enjoyed the whole home-buying process. Abigail was such a delight to work with, and I jump at the opportunity to recommend her services. Pacific Union has found a gem, and I hope they realize and honor her value.
Sincerely,
JB
BUYER"
JB Mon Apr 7
JB Mon Apr 7
"I had been looking for a new home for the last five years. I must have toured 100's of homes all over The City, while putting down offers on 3 or 4 that did not pan out. I witnessed many agents on both the buyer and seller side simply riding the wave of the Bay Area housing boom. I was jaded by how little work some of these people seemed to be doing, knowing they were making a very handsome fee. After I decided to sit on the sidelines for awhile until the market became sane again, I met my fiancée Karen.
After Karen and I became engaged, we decided to sell her place in San Francisco and buy a new home together as soon as possible. We interviewed a few agents and chose Abigail Picache with Pacific Union. I still had the opinion that 'I can do this myself and why are we paying an agent'. Well, after our experience working with Abigail and Pacific Union, I couldn't have been more wrong!
I believe that Karen's place could not have been marketed any better and we sold her place for top dollar in an extremely short sales cycle. At the same time, we were able to close on a new home while Abigail and Pacific Union helped us navigate through the buy side and negotiate the important things. This week we closed on our new home and I believe that we received significant value from Abigail and Pacific Union on both the buy side and the sell side.
I would strongly recommend Abigail and Pacific Union to anybody looking to either buy or sell a home. She was proactive, patient, easy to work with and worked very hard. We never had to worry about her not following up with the homes we were interested in, buyer's agents on the sell side or her finding the 'answers' to the questions that we had not even asked. Thanks Abigail, we hope to work with you again!
Dave Shiba
BUYER and SELLER"
Dave Shiba Wed Apr 30
Dave Shiba Wed Apr 30
"Abigail Picache played an integral role in the successful sale of my home. From the get-go, she was active in getting me information I needed and information I didn't know I needed. She was very professional and easy to work with, making sure I understood every in and out of the process, and offering advice along the way. She was great at reading me on what type of communication style I preferred, and she fed me information accordingly.
The marketing she created for my home was very clean -- beautiful photographs, great website, I couldn't have asked for anything more. After seeing many, many fliers from other realtors, what she created was a great interpretation of my place.
After all was said and done, I had multiple offers to choose from after only 7 days on the market, and each one was over the asking price. I was more than overjoyed with the final outcome, and I definitely wouldn't have been there without Abigail. If you're looking for an agent, Abigail Picache is the one for you!
Karen Clausen
Gap Inc. Corporate Events
SELLER and BUYER"
Karen Clausen Thu Apr 17
Karen Clausen Thu Apr 17
"Abigail Picache represented us in a complicated sale, 1031 exchange and purchase in San Francisco (sale was of an investment/rental condo and purchase was of a 2-Unit TIC building). She was a pleasure to work with - professional, timely, responsive, and personable. She consistently went out of her way to provide us wonderful service.
In addition, Abigail diligently protected our interests, examples include:
• Worked closely with our mortgage broker to ensure the paperwork for the 1031 exchange and purchase were in proper order and timely submitted.
• Wrote in a "Sale of Buyer's Property Contingency" into our purchase offer so that we could sell our condo before purchasing the new home (in order to effectuate the 1031 exchange).
• Helped navigate us through an unexpected "Notice to Perform" from the seller of the property we wanted to purchase (which required us to waive the aforementioned contingency).
• Wrote in a 60-day close of escrow (standard is 21) into our purchase offer, ensuring transfer of our 1031 exchange and alleviating some of the stress created by the "Notice to Perform."
• Worked diligently to get our condo sold within a short time frame.
• Dealt with our hectic schedules - met with us late at night and over the phone when we were out of town and was very responsive to email.
I would recommend Abigail to anyone considering purchasing or selling in San Francisco. She really knows her stuff!
Stephanie Duchene
SELLER and BUYER"
Stephanie Duchene Tue Jun 26, 2007
Stephanie Duchene Tue Jun 26, 2007
"We have used Abigail Picache as our agent in the past year and half for two major residential transactions. She represented us as a Buyer's agent in November 2006, when we purchased our condo in South Beach, SF. We were so impressed with her service that we used her again in August 2007, this time as a Seller's agent, when we sold a house in the east bay.
Besides her real estate knowledge and expertise, what we like about Abigail is her service, professionalism and integrity. She exercised appropriate patience with our purchase decision process, worked hard and always responded promptly. She has excellent real estate sense and acumen, and gave us great advice. She was appropriately aggressive during the transactions. We felt well-represented. Above all, we felt that we could really trust her advice. She is an outstanding agent.
Pauline Mysliwiec, MD, MPH
John Yao, MD, MBA
SELLER and BUYER"
Pauline Mysliwiec, MD, MPH and John Yao, MD, MBA Thu Aug 30, 2007
Pauline Mysliwiec, MD, MPH and John Yao, MD, MBA Thu Aug 30, 2007
My Q&A
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Abigail Pica…'s Questions (0)
Abigail Pica…'s Answers (1)
Abigail Picache answered:
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your question. Yes, one of the positives in this weakening economy is our shrinking inventories. Historically, we've seen an increase in activity and inventory during this time of year--Labor Day through Thanksgiving. If you're thinking of selling soon (before the start of 2009), now is the best time to put it on the market. Summer vacations are over, school is back in session and those Buyers who would love to celebrate the holidays in their new home before ringing in the new year are touring homes now. As long as your home shows well (staging is vitally important in this market), is priced according to the fair market value and marketed correctly by your trusted real estate agent, now is the time to list your home.
As you're thinking of downsizing and purchasing a smaller home, there are some great SF properties on the market with quite a bit of value for you as the Buyer. It's a wonderful time to negotiate! I just ratified an offer contract for my Buyers at The Infinity in South Beach and negotiated a deal that per my clients, exceeded their expectations. FYI... building developers are offering incredible incentives and open to negotiating. :)
Another important factor to note--as the key mortgage rate drops below 6% (the typical 30-year mortgage rate is now 5.93%) Buyers are taking advantage of this potentially short-term opportunity and locking in favorable fixed rates on their mortgages.
Below are exerts that you may find helpful from The Goldman Report, a valuable weekly assessment of the current real estate market written by our CEO/President, Avram Goldman. If you'd like to subscribe to this report, feel free to contact me and I'll put you on my mailing list.
"The Goldman Report August 25th-31st 2008
...Sales under contract over last August are up in every county except for San Francisco, while closed sales were up in all but three counties. Only SF (-22%), Marin (-10%) and San Mateo (-2%) had fewer closed sales. Both positive signs.
The most positive sign in our current market for August was months supply of inventory. Every county except San Francisco had declining MSI compared to last August, some quite significantly. Here are the numbers comparing the current August with last August; San Francisco 3.8/3.2, Contra Costa 3.9/14, Sonoma 3.9/12.5, San Mateo 4/6.2, Alameda 4.2/9.7, Solano 4.3/19, Santa Clara 4.4/7.8, Marin 4.5/7 and Napa 7.7/14.4. These numbers are determined by using transactions under contract versus active listings. Whether pending or closed sales are used to determine MSI, the majority of our counties would be classified as balanced markets (meaning they have between a 4-6 months supply of inventory). Only Napa at 7.7 months would be categorized as a buyers market.
Last year the more expensive markets—SF, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were the most active. This year the trend has been reversing itself. Although San Francisco seemed to be immune, it is now coming back down to earth and appears mortal.
As we enter the Fall market it is challenging to predict how we will finish the year. The positives are shrinking inventories, low interest rates (confidence in the mortgage market, at least the conforming loan market, as the government takes over Fannie and Freddie), good numbers of buyers out at open homes, dropping oil prices and a Presidential campaign (real estate sales always improve during the election season). On the other side we have a weakening economy, rising unemployment , the word recession swirling around, the unpredictability of the weather, and global political turmoil.
If we don’t have a major disruption of oil supplies and if the Dow maintains stays above 11,000 mark, I believe this Fall will outpace last Fall. Sellers now understand that if they want to sell their homes they need to price realistically and prepare them for market (that means taking care of all the deferred maintenance and stage them attractively).
Each week is different. The rhythm of the market is like a symphony---a fast movement, then a slow movement and then another fast movement—the Italian style. So buckle up, it will continue to be quite a ride." - Avram Goldman, President/CEO, Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate
I hope you found this of value. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. I'm happy to assist you.
Best,
Abigail
Thanks for your question. Yes, one of the positives in this weakening economy is our shrinking inventories. Historically, we've seen an increase in activity and inventory during this time of year--Labor Day through Thanksgiving. If you're thinking of selling soon (before the start of 2009), now is the best time to put it on the market. Summer vacations are over, school is back in session and those Buyers who would love to celebrate the holidays in their new home before ringing in the new year are touring homes now. As long as your home shows well (staging is vitally important in this market), is priced according to the fair market value and marketed correctly by your trusted real estate agent, now is the time to list your home.
As you're thinking of downsizing and purchasing a smaller home, there are some great SF properties on the market with quite a bit of value for you as the Buyer. It's a wonderful time to negotiate! I just ratified an offer contract for my Buyers at The Infinity in South Beach and negotiated a deal that per my clients, exceeded their expectations. FYI... building developers are offering incredible incentives and open to negotiating. :)
Another important factor to note--as the key mortgage rate drops below 6% (the typical 30-year mortgage rate is now 5.93%) Buyers are taking advantage of this potentially short-term opportunity and locking in favorable fixed rates on their mortgages.
Below are exerts that you may find helpful from The Goldman Report, a valuable weekly assessment of the current real estate market written by our CEO/President, Avram Goldman. If you'd like to subscribe to this report, feel free to contact me and I'll put you on my mailing list.
"The Goldman Report August 25th-31st 2008
...Sales under contract over last August are up in every county except for San Francisco, while closed sales were up in all but three counties. Only SF (-22%), Marin (-10%) and San Mateo (-2%) had fewer closed sales. Both positive signs.
The most positive sign in our current market for August was months supply of inventory. Every county except San Francisco had declining MSI compared to last August, some quite significantly. Here are the numbers comparing the current August with last August; San Francisco 3.8/3.2, Contra Costa 3.9/14, Sonoma 3.9/12.5, San Mateo 4/6.2, Alameda 4.2/9.7, Solano 4.3/19, Santa Clara 4.4/7.8, Marin 4.5/7 and Napa 7.7/14.4. These numbers are determined by using transactions under contract versus active listings. Whether pending or closed sales are used to determine MSI, the majority of our counties would be classified as balanced markets (meaning they have between a 4-6 months supply of inventory). Only Napa at 7.7 months would be categorized as a buyers market.
Last year the more expensive markets—SF, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were the most active. This year the trend has been reversing itself. Although San Francisco seemed to be immune, it is now coming back down to earth and appears mortal.
As we enter the Fall market it is challenging to predict how we will finish the year. The positives are shrinking inventories, low interest rates (confidence in the mortgage market, at least the conforming loan market, as the government takes over Fannie and Freddie), good numbers of buyers out at open homes, dropping oil prices and a Presidential campaign (real estate sales always improve during the election season). On the other side we have a weakening economy, rising unemployment , the word recession swirling around, the unpredictability of the weather, and global political turmoil.
If we don’t have a major disruption of oil supplies and if the Dow maintains stays above 11,000 mark, I believe this Fall will outpace last Fall. Sellers now understand that if they want to sell their homes they need to price realistically and prepare them for market (that means taking care of all the deferred maintenance and stage them attractively).
Each week is different. The rhythm of the market is like a symphony---a fast movement, then a slow movement and then another fast movement—the Italian style. So buckle up, it will continue to be quite a ride." - Avram Goldman, President/CEO, Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate
I hope you found this of value. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. I'm happy to assist you.
Best,
Abigail
Specialties
San Francisco Single-Family Homes, Condos, Condo Lofts, TICs, and Multi-Units.
Experience
Latest:
Broker Associate / REALTOR® for Coldwell Banker
"International President's Elite" and "Previews International" Agent
March 2006—December 2007
Previous:
Director, Business Development / Founding Member for Fuzz Artists, Inc.
FUZZ is a new breed of music company -- combining a powerful artist promotion platform, a feature-rich interactive community of artists and fans, and a next-generation music label.
October 2005—October 2007
Previous:
Broker Associate / REALTOR® for ZipRealty
"President's Club"; Honored as ZipRealty's #1 agent in San Francisco for 2005.
May 2004—March 2006
Previous:
Corporate Account Manager for Comcast
Assisted in launching the Business Communications division.
December 1998—March 2003
Previous:
Financial Consultant / Stockbroker for Merrill Lynch
January 1995—January 1997
Certifications & Awards
Pacific Union Real Estate "Agent of the Month" (Opera Plaza) MAY 2008
Interests
Real Estate, Finance, Music, Drumming, Sports (Golf, Yoga, Cycling, Tennis, Basketball, Skiing, Krav Maga)
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