San Francisco Real Estate with Matt Fuller and Friends

Last week we had some clues to help us figure out a neighborhood. In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we reveal the answer and play round two. With a whole new set of clues how quickly can you guess the neighborhood this time?

[00:47] The mystery neighborhood from last week’s episode, Are You Smarter Than a Realtor, Neighborhood #1, is…Pacific Heights.

[01:20] Clue 1: One of the oldest bars in San Francisco, The Little Shamrock, is in this week's neighborhood.

[02:01] Clue 2: Some say you can find the best Chinese chicken wings in the city in this neighborhood at the San Tung Chinese Restaurant.

[02:28] Clue 3: This is a neighborhood without a single park within its boundaries.

[02:46] Clue 4: However, it is a very park-adjacent neighborhood, including: Golden Gate Park, Grandview Park and J.P. Murphy Playground.

[03:18] Clue 5: When exploring this neighborhood you can easily have a seat in public, as the Public Bench Project started here.

[04:15] Clue 6: A well known worker-owned bakery cooperative, Arizmendi, opened their first location in San Francisco in this neighborhood.

[04:43] Clue 7: This neighborhood used to have a very famous video rental store – today it is a book store!

[05:26] Clue 8: World class scientific discoveries and trend-setting public health policy research comes from the institution, which also happens to be this neighborhood’s biggest employer – UCSF.

[06:00] Clue 9: If you are going to the Japanese Tea Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers, the de Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences or the Bison Paddock, from this neighborhood, leave your car at home as walking will get you there quicker!

[06:45] Clue 10: The most heavily used light rail line in the city serves this neighborhood.

[07:11] And finally: Within the bounds of this neighborhood you will find, Alice Fong Yu School, the very first Chinese immersion public school in the country.

Tune in next week for the reveal!

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As our listeners are probably aware by now, we love different San Francisco neighborhoods. In this episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we play a little game. Matt will give us 10(+1) hints to see if we can guess which San Francisco neighborhood he is thinking of today.

[00:45] Clue 1: Donald Trump Jr’s current girlfriend and former Fox News personality once lived in this neighborhood with our current state governor.

[01:18] Clue 2: It contains a park which was once a rock quarry but was turned into a park by John McLaren (also designed the Golden Gate Park).

[01:44] Clue 3: Another park in this neighborhood was once home to the first astronomical observatory on the west coast?

[02:15] Clue 4: In this neighborhood we have the most expensive stock cooperative home to ever sell in San Francisco, but not the most expensive condo.

[02:30] Clue 5: In this neighborhood Alma Spreckels once built a massive mansion across from the park. How massive? The current owner once had street parking permits for 26 cars.

[03:25] Clue 6: This is a very expensive neighborhood. In fact so far, six single family homes have sold for a total of $80 million and 12 condos have sold for a total of $24 million. The math equals expensive.

[03:59] Clue 7: More than five properties in the neighborhood have sold for more than 20 million dollars and it is home to four of the most expensive sales in San Francisco in the last two months.

[04:19] Clue 8: I wouldn't be lyin' if I said the view from the top of these stairs was spectacular.

[04:34] Clue 9: Mrs Doubtfire has her home in this neighborhood!

[05:01] Clue 10: Other notable residents’ job descriptions include oil heirs/heiresses, Fortune 100 software CEO’s, and titans of finance. Extra hint: Billionaires’ row is not marketing hyperbole here, it's a factual statement.

Do you know what neighborhood we are talking about? Tune in to next week’s episode for an answer.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we interview Tom Cotter and Doug Beebe – real estate agents based in Portland, Oregon – about the differences in the markets in San Francisco (SF) and Portland.

[00:21] We learn more about Tom and Doug, their brief background and how long they have been agents.

[01:49] When our clients decide to move to Portland we love to refer them to Tom and Doug. While there are a lot of similarities between our two cities, we would love to hear how Californians take to settling in Oregon.

We discuss some differences in seller requirements between California and Oregon as well as SF quirks that have been rearing their head in Portland.

[08:38] Price is another major point of difference between the two cities. What does a typical three bedroom, two bath condo or single-family house cost in Portland? Why have 30-50% of all listings in Portland had a price reduction?

Portland does still see over-bidding in desirable neighborhoods and the most competitive markets commonly generate multiple offers (either at asking price or over).

[12:21] In Portland about 30% of buyers are cash buyers; mostly they are coming in from other markets, though. Similarly to SF, this means a housing crisis and affordability issues. There are suggestions of doing away with single family zoning and limiting the square footage of new construction.

[16:56] Tom and Doug have lived in Portland since 1992; what are some of the changes they’ve seen and how similar are they to SF?

[19:41] What is some advice for folks considering exploring Portland area? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Tom and Doug; visit their website everyportlandhome.com for more.

[21:10] We talk about Portland neighborhoods. How is it laid out and how many neighborhoods does it have?

[24:31] To wrap-up Tom and Doug share some great things about Portland.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we are on location at City Hall meeting with the Mayor’s Director of Housing Delivery – Judson True.

[00:23] Due to the current housing crisis in San Francisco, Mayor Breed has set a goal of creating at least 5,000 new homes a year; with roughly a third of this being affordable housing. It is a lofty and crucial goal she has tasked Judson True with achieving. Judson True has an impressive background and is the first person to be appointed to this newly created position. What, exactly, is his job?

[03:16] Currently, in SF there are 56,000 homes that have been approved by planning but are yet to be built. The vast majority are part of large new neighborhood projects which will transform the city. Projects like The Shipyard, Park Merced and Treasure Island. Dogpatch projects include Pier 70 and the Potrero Power Plant while Mission Rock is in Mission Bay.

[05:01] Judson is working on a lot of large projects and loves them all equally. But a little more equal than the others are the waterfront projects which he is particularly excited about. It is great to see some projects moving along really quickly. Because really, the hard part (and the part that takes the longest) when building new neighborhoods, is getting all the infrastructure permitted (our favorite new phrase: "horizontal infrastructure").

[06:59] Most of us realize that there is a real need for affordable housing in the city. How does funding for affordable housing work though? As you might imagine, it is complicated. Judson sheds light on how the funding for affordable housing and the building of market rate housing correlate, and where funds for affordable housing come from.

[10:00] Judson is from the mid-west originally, but an opportunity at Berkeley led him to SF, where he lived in the same apartment in Hayes Valley since 1998! Hayes Valley is one of the neighborhoods that has been radically transformed over the years.

[13:12] This year there are a lot of housing bills in the state legislature. Which in particular does Judson believe will have the most positive impact on housing in SF?

[15:15] Finally, what are Judson’s thoughts on the CASA Compact and its impact on the housing debate so far?

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we interview a very accomplished and well-know guest. Former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and civil rights attorney, Angela Alioto, joins us today as we find out why she decided to take on the case of the Hillsborough ‘Flintstone House’.

[00:45] An introduction to our guest, Angela Alioto, an extremely accomplished individual with a history of significant legislative wins. She fought the big-tobacco companies, she fought for increases in AIDS and HIV services and support, and also won the nation's largest civil rights case against IBC/Wonderbread for discrimination against African American men... to name just a few.

With her background, the case of the Flintstone House may seem trivial but Angela argues it speaks to a very serious issue. She asks: “What happened to the first amendment”?

[05:21] The city is demanding Florence Fang, the owner of the home, have the dinosaurs from her backyard removed. Who has the right to decorate our backyard? Is this a first amendment case of free speech or a case about discrimination? Either way, it’s a troubling idea that we should all be subject to someone else deciding on what we can put in our backyard. Angela also stresses a key point: none of the neighbors have complained!

[07:43] Matt talks about the Town of Hillsborough Architectural Design Guidelines and how well the Flintstones House meets all four of the principles in the guidelines.

[09:26] What the City’s reasoning for reinforcing this is seems to be somewhat inconsistent. There is also no precedent for something like this in Hillsborough. Angela questions the real motives for doing this to Mrs. Fang. Could Mrs Fang’s ethnicity be what’s driving this whole issue?

[16:18] Angela believes the other homeowners in Hillsborough do not agree with the actions of the town and support property rights.

[21:21] Angela has always focused on things that matter; health care, homelessness etc. Because Mrs Fang and her house bring so much joy to people she decided this is a very worthy cause.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we talk to a very special guest; Joe Gallagher, owner of Joe's Barbershop in San Francisco at 2150 Market St., and a long-time San Francisco resident.

[00:25] Joe and his partner at the time moved to San Francisco from New York in 1998. How did they end up in Midtown Terrace and how did their prior home in a co-op in New York influence their choice?

[03:15] Having lived in a few different neighborhoods over the city, Joe votes for location over property type. Currently he lives in Duboce Triangle ( giving up a car for this location) and it is his favorite neighborhood.

[04:10] How much has changed about San Francisco since 1998? Homelessness has always been a problem here but lately it seems like it has worsened. On the flip side, Joe believes, people here take time for each other and are nicer than in a lot of other parts of the country he has lived in. There are also some thing he misses that are starting to disappear.

[07:19] Joe owns a barbershop – Joe’s Barbershop on Market Street, which will be operating for 15 years this year. While there are challenges, the experience of being a small business owner in San Francisco seems to be improving. What are his thoughts on the rent increases resulting in the ‘retail apocalypse’ that we often hear about?

[10:49] Most people would agree San Francisco is going through a housing crisis. Joe believes this is largely due to our insistence on low density housing in lieu of vertical growth. The problem with increasing density around train transit lines, however, is NIMBY.

[12:56] So, while the prices are soaring, the experience of buying real estate and selling in San Francisco has not changed all that much. Joe talks about his very first over-bid...

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast, we talk about how, in San Francisco, our past does not live up to our ideals.

[00:28] Compassion, brotherhood, love. These are just some of our values in San Francisco. But do we always live up to these ideals?

The history of Sutro Baths is one example where we have some bad history. More recently a statue, Early Days, has been making the news due to to its portrayal of California history. Another example is the renaming of streets like Phelan.

[07:24] In addition to all the street name changes throughout San Francisco, the Embarcadero Plaza has also had a name change. It was once known as Justin Herman Plaza. So, why has Justin Herman’s name been stripped and the Plaza renamed?

[11:14] It’s not all bad though. To wrap up we give some shout-outs to the incredible women that have been a large part of San Francisco’s history. Namely: Julia Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Maya Angelou and finally Ruth Asawa. Thank You!

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast we demystify some new acronyms that have surfaced as a result of the new housing bills that have been introduced.

[00:29] A housing crisis means new housing bills in the legislature and that means new acronyms and jargon. We jump right in with an acronym that doesn't exactly ‘acronymize’, the CASA Compact.

What does it stand for and why is it important?

[06:38] The CASA Compact acronym was formed by two other acronyms: the MTC and the ABAG. We explain what these are and what the nine San Francisco Bay Area Counties are that MTC is legally responsible for.

[09:32] You might be wondering who is on the CASA Compact committee? Luckily, Matt has the answer.

[10:24] In San Francisco we have a problem with NIMBYism at different levels and it lead us where we are today! There is always a lot of resistance to change and it is too soon to say what is going to happen with David Chiu’s bill at this point.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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In today’s episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast we welcome back a guest who has been featured in publications such as Gentry Home and recognized for his talents with an award from the American Society of Interior Designers – Kevin Sawyers of Sawyers Design. (For past conversations with Kevin and his husband Pete see episodes 41, 42, and 43)

[00:57] To warm him up, we start off with a lightning round of questions. Our chat starts with the first home he bought, how he found his realtor and whether or not he continued using that same realtor over the years. Then we move on to San Francisco and his favorite buildings and places in the city.

[06:12] What about outdoor spaces? Kevin shares his favorite places in San Francisco and why he loves them.

[08:41] If Kevin could change one thing – one real estate law in San Francisco – what would that be? He believes the bigger picture should be considered when considering the aesthetics and making city planning decisions. People with relevant backgrounds should be more heavily involved in this sort of decision making, as opposed to it being dictated by public officials.

Kevin also explains how even remodeling a single family home requires a lot of patience and money.

[12:11] We switch focus to interior design and Kevin explains how his own firm, Sawyers Design, came to life. With years of experience behind him since his first project, ten years ago, how has the world of interior design and Kevin’s own process changed over the years?

[14:50] Because we love to share stories of the unexpected and the strange from our own world of real estate, we had to ask Kevin to share his own! We also had to know, what is “the psychology of interior design”?

[18:56] Texture or color?

[20:38] If you are thinking of hiring an interior designer, an important question Kevin recommends asking them is, how they manage time and money. It is also good to know how much you want to spend beforehand and give the designer a budget to work to. But how do we go about discussing budget?

[24:48] Finally Kevin leaves us with some closing thoughts on design. To see more of Sawyers Design, check out their recently updated website: sawyersdesign.com.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next time!

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In this episode of Escrow Out Loud, our San Francisco Real Estate podcast we are joined by the CEO of the San Francisco Association of Realtors (SFAR), Walt Baczkowski.

[00:21] Walt Baczkowski has an impressive background, including being the recipient of the SFAR’s prestigious William Magel Award, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding leadership and contributions to the real estate industry. We are very excited to have him here today!

[01:06] Having lived so many different places before coming to San Francisco Walt shares the most unexpected thing he encountered about SF and talks about some of his favorite neighborhoods.

[04:15] There are a lot of interesting individuals in SF but Walt shares why Mayor Ed Lee was one of the most interesting people he met and spent time with.

[05:48] Arguably, there are many areas of real estate in SF that could benefit from law changes. Walt believes that the area in most desperate need of a total revamp, however is the planning process.

[07:45] What, exactly, does an association do?

[09:30] Peskin's proposed legislation to penalize and prevent homeowners who want to remodel or repair their home comes up....

[14:23] Walt's dad was an Association Executive for a Realtor association, and real estate has been a part of Walt’s life as far as he can remember. In fact, in the 104 years that the National Association of Realtors has been around, a Baczkowski has run a local board for 54 of those years! So... how has real estate changed over the years?

[18:37] We already mentioned the William Magel Award Walt received in the 2018; and this is just one of the numerous honors he has received over the years. Walt has a well deserved reputation for being a visionary and leader in the industry. We discuss some things he has worked on over the years and where he believes things are going in the future.

Listen for the details, but Walt makes a convincing case for industry changes driven by consumer demand for speed, convenience and choice; companies will need to look at how they can provide that to clients to be successful.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode leave us a review on your favorite platform, tell your friends and don’t forget to join us again next week!

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