San Francisco Real Estate with Matt Fuller and Friends

 

This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we wrap-up our first podcast visit to the San Francisco home of our past clients, Josh and Carlos. If you missed the previous two episodes in this three-part visit and would like a little intro to our guests Josh and Carlos, please listen to episode 27 and episode 28. Otherwise, welcome back to the final episode of the house tour!

Misconceptions, Lessons Learned and Good Advice

[00:50] The biggest misconception about buying a San Francisco home is about the length of the home buying process itself. Josh and Carlos explain that, while the negotiation and the offer process itself was quick, they expected the overall process to be a lot quicker. So don’t schedule your holidays ahead! Another misconception is that you will only be dealing with professional individuals on the other side.

[7:50] Advice from the couple that made it through the house buying experience in San Francisco, successfully. To begin with, choose the right realtor team. The right agents will know the market, the neighbourhoods, other agents, and that makes all the difference. They can help guide you and provide invaluable advice making the whole process easier and a lot more enjoyable. Which leads us to the second great tip. You’ve probably heard this one before, but it holds true: know what you really want!

[14:28] Moving into a fixer upper was a fun experience. Carlos and Josh share some more fun stories and how the house inspired bursts of creativity, especially for Josh.

We hope you enjoyed these interviews and a huge thanks to Josh and Carlos for welcoming us into their beautiful San Francisco home!

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This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we continue the interview with our first guests. If you missed last week’s episode and would like a little intro to our guests Josh and Carlos, click here for the part one of this three-part interview. Otherwise, welcome back to part two of the house tour!

[00:46] We pick up the tour in the downstairs area, where Josh and Carlos did an incredible job tidying up the space for various creative endeavors. We also find out what happened to the little house that was outside on their deck… with a shoutout to local store Scrap.

[11:28] How do you make a room appear bigger? Get some scale sized furniture of course! Looking at some furniture around the room, Matt is reminded of a staging company that did this.

More Chandeliers!

[14:30] When they bought the house (REO) it didn’t come with any fixtures.  Josh, who is particularly fond of chandeliers, took advantage of this opportunity to put up as many of them as he wanted. Urban Ore in Berkeley became a great resource as they look for authentic or vintage finishings for their home. But how does he keep them sparkling? He has a system he shares with us.

[15:57] Buying and working on a fixer-upper can become a full-time hobby – especially when you do some of the work yourself. However, Josh and Carlos explain how it's also extremely rewarding seeing it all come together. We talk about, what can sometimes be, an overwhelming cost of some of the repair work and how they found a great painter who did an amazing paint job on the outside of the house (to the great approval of the neighbors, too!)

[17:27] Finally, we talk about what might have been. When house hunting, there are sometimes properties we love but miss out on for various reasons. One of the properties we reminisce about was the castle in the Bayview area with an exceptionally exceptional toilet, amongst many other exceptional features. Current city law requires water-saving toilets, which has us wondering about the exceptional toilet.. and Matt's memory is correct – the SF Water Dept. documentation includes the information about exempting toilets of historical significance.

Tune in next week for the final part of our interview!

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And now for something completely different! This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we interview our first guests. Josh and Carlos are clients who purchased their San Francisco home in a very different market – they purchased a REO property during the downturn. They termed the phrase “Shivering Heights” for their neighborhood and they agreed to let us come over to their house, interview them about buying in San Francisco, and just chat about owning a home in SF. It's a 3 episode interview, this is part 1 and covers our drive over and the beginning part of our home tour. It was still a bit messy since the have recently started renovation.

[00:33] When Josh and Carlos bought their house the property market in San Francisco was completely different than it is today – in fact, we were in the midst of a property downturn. Seven years later, we visit them at their place to see how they have settled in!

[01:47] We kick off part one of our three-part interview with Matt questioning the suitability of using the Comic Sans font on the first page of the REO addendum document. REO addendums are horrible things that haven't been a regular part of the SF market since the last down turn. What is it about that font that screams unprofessional? Everything!

[03:06] As we arrive at their San Francisco home we meet our client’s huuuuge, Scooby Doo-like dog and hear his story.

Fixer-upper

[08:34] Starting in the foyer, it is clear Josh and Carlos have done quite a bit of renovating since we last saw their place! What was once sad and neglected but a huge amount of space is now a beautifully updated, very functional, modern space.

[12:03] It is great to see how well they have settled into their new home, meeting their neighbors, and what it was like getting to know their new neighborhood.

[17:27] We talk about how different the market was back in 2011, but even then getting your first offer accepted was rare. Prices have sky-rocketed since then… Tune in next week for part two, where we learn some more fascinating things about their home and the remodel they did.

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Re-cleaning carpets, installing cabinets and adjusting tracks for closet doors. This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we are talking about strange terms in contracts that we’ve either received or written or heard about before!

And now, based on your requests, some time markers to help you find your favorite part of the episode quickly!

No Contingencies, Please!

[00:59] In San Francisco’s competitive property market there is usually no contingencies, so we don’t often see strange terms in contracts – the cleanest terms possible are typically your best bet in a competitive market! Price and terms are the two basic factors that affect how a seller will view an offer, and in a market with rising prices and multiple offers, how “clean” the terms are will often be one of the first items considered.

[01:51] Having said that, we do have some interesting stories to share of terms we have come across during our years in real estate. Would you agree to let the buyer sleep in the house before writing an offer? Clean the carpets two or three times? Make dinner for the seller after they move out?

[06:59] These types of requested terms might sound quirky and entertaining, and often they are easily handled in the context of one deal. However, when the contingencies included within one contract depend on the purchase or sale of another property, an issue with one escrow can have a serious cascading effect. We see this when the buyer’s offer on a property depends on a sale a property that the buyer currently owns. The Real Estate business can be very difficult at times, but from a project management software for creatives, it can be very easy if it is well organized.

Thank you for tuning in! We hope you join us again next week, when we will be welcoming our first podcast guests. Josh and Carlos take us on a tour of their home and talk about buying and owning in San Francisco.

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A deal is a deal and an agreement is an agreement, right? Last week we talked about ‘real houses’ and the trend that sees developers building more condos in the city. So, this week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we thought we would talk about new construction commission agreements in San Francisco.

New Construction

New construction differs from resale transactions as most new construction is not in the MLS – which is not just a database of homes, it is also an offer of compensation. Britton explains more about how this works and how, in new construction sales, the agents often have to sign a commission agreement with the developer which outlines how they will be paid by the developer and typically states that they are not to share their commission with the buyer. In addition, there are a variety of laws that deal with issues such as: who can receive a commission, who can receive a commission that you need a licence for etc.

Outside Escrow

But let's talk about the commonly used, straight-up agreement between a developer and agent where part of the agreement is that no part of the commission received by the agent can go to the buyer. We discuss why this makes a lot of sense from a developer’s point of view. There are ways people try to circumvent the commission agreements, but because federal lending law requires that any money exchanged in a transaction is accounted for on the closing statement, it involves going outside escrow. And guess what? This is a slippery slope to committing loan fraud!

While we always endeavor to do everything we can and go the extra mile for all our clients we also value our reputation in this industry…

Thanks for listening!

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Happy New Year everyone! This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we start off the year with an interesting question: what makes something a ‘real house’? Recently Britton discovered that, according to some, the home she has been living in for the past decade + isn't a "real" home. Apparently, the only "real" home is a completely detached stand-alone, single-family house?


Real Homes
Where does that leave condos? Are these homes not real? Of course, they are! Does owning one mean less somehow? Of course, it doesn’t! While some condos are seen as a more affordable option, here in San Francisco you can easily spend upwards of 4 million or 40 million dollars to purchase a condo home in San Francisco. Luckily with this emergency water leak repair company, they can easily help you with any other repairs too for a reasonable cost.
Drive to Qualify
Matt and Britton take a look back at what the house prices looked like years ago and the huge appreciation we saw in San Francisco over the years. It is increasingly difficult getting into the market and purchasing a starter home in San Francisco.  Is moving further away from San Francisco the answer? Matt explains the ‘drive to qualify’ concept; often, driving a little bit further means people can qualify for a house. In San Francisco, this, of course, means adding to the already significant commute time. For most people, this is not a tradeoff they are willing to make. When you are going to make renovations in your home, make sure you add these Kitchens designs.
Condos are the Future in SF
In response to the high population density within the city, we have been moving away from approving and building single-family houses and building condos. If you buy a new house or rent a new place, then mkae sure it comes with a modern style storage building.

Getting back to our original question, we would argue that the legal description of the property does not make it a home, a real house is where you make your life. Whatever the shape and size of a home may be, it is undeniably very real!

That’s all for this week! Join us again next week as we share more of our stories about San Francisco Real Estate.

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While during this festive time of the year many of us are taking the time to be with our loved ones and think about all the things we are grateful for, for some, the holidays can be an especially challenging time of year. Most people know about the big national projects such as the SPCA and Best Friends etc., but there are a lot of great causes to consider right here in San Francisco. So, with that in mind, this week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we go through just a few of the local charities that we love and have worked with in the past.





We start things off with mentioning some great San Francisco based dog rescues. As dog lovers, both Matt and Britton have adopted their current pets from Rocket Dog Rescue, but Muttville Senior Dog Rescue is another great group which rescues older dogs and dogs usually deemed unadoptable and finds them good homes.

Some non-animal-related charities and groups we love include, Meritus College Fund, which does great work with students providing mentorships for high school students and four-year college scholarships, Project Open Hand deliver meals to elderly and low income or ill people who are homebound. Matt shares a story about doing a Project Open Hand delivery route and what an eye-opening experience it was that really brought home the realities of the poverty gap that exists in San Francisco.

Another great group is The Welcome Home Project – a San Francisco Association of Realtors project –  which helps people who were formerly homeless to set up their new homes with all the necessities they need. Currently, they are doing a big project for formerly homeless veterans.

Finally, we would like to mention the Rebuilding Together group which helps people with lower incomes fix and clean up their homes to make them more liveable.

People often have a hard time asking for help but the human connection is an invaluable gift. So if you have been looking for a great cause to give your time or your money to, these are just some of the many very worthy organizations in San Francisco to consider.

 

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That’s a wrap!
2017 has been an eye-opening, crazy, intense year. And, while opening a brokerage was not on our to-do list at the start of the year, it ended up being a real highlight of the year for us! Thanks to www.virtua-marketing.com, we were able to improve our marketing strategies so much this year.



This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast we look back on the past year and share more amazing professional experiences.
So, what are some more highlights of the last year? Well, we left Zephyr (which was really hard!) and started our own brokerage, we went to the top of 181 Fremont, as well as the 61st floor of the Salesforce tower – the view from these high places was breath-taking! What’s more, Matt’s presidency at the Association of REALTORS® is coming to an end, while Britton's position as chair of the San Francisco Standard Forms Committee is commencing in 2018.
We wrap up this episode by sharing some unexpected things about starting a brokerage.

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‘Tis the season, but is it the season to buy a home? On this week’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we talk about timing and if there is such a thing as the perfect time to buy or sell a house.



So, when is a good time to buy or sell? A somewhat flippant answer would be something like, 8 years ago, and while the property downturn was a great time to buy in hindsight, a more practical answer is, it is ALWAYS the right time to buy or sell.

The reason this question gets asked often is that people tend to think that there is a certain time of the year when they will get the best price. The reality for the San Francisco property market is that on the whole there is a general upward trend in house prices. It is true that during the November and December holiday season there is usually a lot less inventory to choose from and the sellers may be particularly motivated to sell by a certain date – this does not mean reduced prices. So, while inventory changes by season the price doesn’t. There are no Black Friday house sales!
While in theory, the best time to buy is when nobody else wants to, in practice, the right time is when you find the house you like or when life events dictate that it’s time!

Matt and Britton also chat about the wonders of real estate reality shows. The biggest issue with these is the unrealistic expectations they create. While Britton will occasionally indulge in some real estate related reality TV, Matt has an aversion to their staged nature. Britton manages to convince Matt to give the Property Brothers a try, though!

Happy holidays everyone!

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How do San Francisco home buyers go about choosing a neighborhood to live in? One of the things we love about San Francisco is that each neighborhood is unique with its own particular character and feel. Choosing a place that feels right can be a very subjective process. This week on Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we talk about a few of our favorite streets, and how those thoughts might help you consider your priorities when choosing a place to call home.



We are particularly partial to the brick streets in San Francisco and while there are very few of those left, it is interesting to note that most steep streets in San Francisco used to be brick for one very practical reason. Hint: it involves horses. This reason could also just be horse*&^%...

Matt loves Edgewood St. in Parnassus Heights, and some other favorites include classics like: parts of Broadway, parts of Jones, parts of Vallejo, Lombard. Lombard St. is often lauded as being the curviest street in San Francisco but it’s not (we share what is), would you want to live on a street frequented by tourists or noted in guidebooks?

So, what do buyers want to be close-to or far-away from in the city? Has this changed over the years? We call it the latte-factor. Finding the ideal location always seems to involve that perpetual battle between wanting to be in a quiet area while still enjoying the convenience of walkability to all your favorite San Francisco essentials. Being latte-factor adjacent seems to be that sweet spot.

When we show houses, we are honest about whether we would choose to live there and our reasons why. More often individual lifestyles will dictate what our ideal neighborhoods look like! Our reasons are just ours, and hopefully help you think about your home priorities.

Finally, we wrap up this week by talking about why it is often a good idea to start broad when choosing a neighborhood to live in!

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