San Francisco Real Estate Properties

The?essence of San Francisco real estate can sometimes be measured by?its?windows, as well as,?the?view through them.???

The?1930’s grand dames along the?San Francisco northerly skyline have the most elegant glorious spacious?rooms?with lovely views, yet?the more dramatic?floor to ceiling windows in?buildings built thereafter?capture?more of any view.?

What is your preference in finding the best views?in San Francisco real estate??

I know?how to?get them,?email?me at ColdwellBanker@AnnScherbert.com .

 

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Since the?California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park newly re-opened in September 2008, everyone has been anxiously waiting for their neighborhood’s zip code’s?free day.

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Mark your calendar as your zipcode’s 3 free days only come twice this year.

On the Northside of the city in zip codes 94115 (Pacific Heights,? Lower Pacific Heights, and Western Addition), 94118 (Presidio Heights, Laurel Heights, Jordan Park, Lake Street, Lone Mountain and the Inner Sunset) and 94121 (Sea Cliff,?Central and Outer Richmond) and 94129 (The Presidio), the free days are May 15-17 and October 2-4, 2009.

On the Northside of the city in zip codes 94123 (the Marina and Cow Hollow), 94115 (Russian Hill) and 94133 (North Beach and Telegraph Hill) ,the free days are May 29-31 and October 16-18, 2009.

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Go green and take the bus.? And start early the Academy opens on Friday and Saturday at 9:30 AM and on Sunday they open at 11:00AM.

From the West end to the central Northside of San Francisco, the bus ride easy and?scenic.

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Don’t forget to?provide?your proof of residency by either having with you, a postmarked envelope, postcard, or magazine with?your name and date. a driver’s license that was issued in the last 6 months, or?utility bill (i.e. PG&E?or cable), bank statement, or letter from?a government agency that has your name and?address.?

Go with a?friend?from the neighborhood and enjoy your free days together this spring….otherwise you will have to wait until October for your next free days.

 

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Our annual “In the Marina” Spring Clean Garage Sale will be all day Saturday, April 25th.

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This year, as every year, those Marina residents that participate “In the Marina” Spring Clean Garage Sale receive a free garage sale kit (upon request) with 3 garage sale signs from its sponsor, ColdwellBanker@AnnScherbert.com

1. Each Marina participant will determine when their garage sale begins and ends by placing one sign in front of their residence and the other two signs at both ends of their street. The participants will take down their signs when their own garage sale is over.

2. The San Francisco Sign Ordinance allows for garage sale signs posted on city streets provided that: (a) The garage sale signs will be posted only on city light street posts and/or muni poles (nothing will be posted on telephone poles, stop signs, etc.), and (b) The garage sale signs clearly state the date of the event?and its sponsor.

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3. Early Saturday AM, April 25th, directional signs & mini-map-flyers will be posted on Chestnut St., Marina Blvd, Bay St., and/or Fillmore St. pointing into the Marina: (a) The mini-map-flyers on the directional signs will mark the block (not the address) where a garage sale signs kits were delivered & where one might expect a garage sale during the day, (b) Mini-map-flyers will also be available at the individual garage sale locations, and (c) The directional signs will be taken down and the mini-map-flyers removed by late Saturday afternoon on the street corners.

4. All participants are encouraged to post their own ads on www.craigslist.com and/or www.sfgate.com (San Francisco Chronicle) with the details of their garage sale (i.e. what they are selling & when they will be open) to increase everyone????s success in participating in ??œIn The Marina??? Neighborhood Annual Spring Clean Garage Sale.

5. As in years past, avid garage sale aficionados that scour the ads expect all garage sales to be promptly open between 8AM or 9AM???so Marina participants are encouraged to put their signs out early & be ready for bargain-hunters.

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6. This is a neighborhood event to have fun making some extra money, meeting one’s neighbors, keeping our neighborhood clean, and afterwards…treating ourselves well by shopping & eating out locally in the Marina.

 

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It’s April and it is time to do some Spring Cleaning!

Watch for your?door hanger…and?get?inspired to have your own Garage Sale on April 25th “in the Marina”.

So check out what you need to do to participate.

It is an annual event and timely…perhaps for you(?).

 

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That?is a good question…even for locals. This is an area that has been described in tourist books as?Nob Hill, yet anyone in the know…knows this area is not “Nob Hill”.

For those that know the answer to “Where? is “Pacific Heights (East)”, ?it is also the answer to “Where is the essence of San Francisco’s ‘city living’, ‘a walkable neighborhood’ and ‘places to hang out in’?”…

The newly named “Pacific Heights (East)” neighborhood runs?West to East from?Van Ness to Larkin and?North to South from Broadway to California between Polk Street’s Neighborhood Commerical Area.

Come by and see for yourself…you will want to live here!

 

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Need I remind you to take your camera with you after sunset this week?

If you recall, last month in my article entitled “Did You Know San Francisco Celebrates the Moon?”, I said that Thursday, October 25, 2007 will once more be the perfect photo opportunity for us to take pictures of the Hunter Moon over San Francisco.

This is the last time this year that we will be able to take pictures at a decent hour from our every own San Francisco neighborhood street corners of the moon.

On Thursday evening, the moon will be rising at 5:51 P.M. while the sun will be setting 6:20 P.M. and dark at 7:17 P.M and a full Hunter Moon at 9:52 P.M.

Have fun. I????ll share if you share.

 

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If the steady stream of visitors at my Open House on Sunday on Telegraph Hill in North Beach?

was any indication of how the real estate market is in San Francisco, maybe Buyers are finally realizing that it may be a really good time to get back in .

The old adage ??œLocation, Location, Location??? has now been replaced by ??œPrice, Condition, Location???.? And the Buyers out on that warm sunny afternoon checking out the inventory knew the new mantra.?

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Maybe these potential Buyers all came up the Hill to see me on Sunday at my Open House because of reading the Ben Stein article Gloom Sayers Should Look Up in the Sunday New York Times while slipping a caf?? latte out in front of Caff?? Greco? before strolling up to? Caff?? Trieste? to chat with the die hard locals over an espresso.?? ? Maybe it was then that these potential Buyers on?that Sunday morning thought to themselves, ??œLet????s give it one more try.???? If they were really going to be a part of this neighborhood, they wanted to own apart of it too.???

So I imagined, out in front of Caffe Trieste, they got down to business circling the open houses in the Sunday Chronicle????s Open Home Guide.??Having done this drill before, these Buyers knew to look under both North

Beach and Telegraph Hill in the Guide before heading out by foot to find their dream home in paradise on another wonderful sunny afternoon.?

In the North Beach section of the Guide, there were 8 properties that were open for viewing that ranged in prices from $539,000 for a one bedroom condo to $1,799,000 for 2 units on? Washington Square. ?

And in Telegraph Hill section of the Guide, there were 7 properties open that ranged from $419,000 for one bedroom Tenants-In-Common (also known as a TIC, I????ll explain this type of ownership in another article) to one of those ??œ essence of San Francisco??? view homes that I was holding open for $3,695,000 (4+ bedrooms and 4.5 baths with a rare 2 car garage on Telegraph Hill) with fabulous views of Nob Hill, Russian Hill, and the Golden Gate Bridge (similar to the view I have in one of my sanfranciscorealestateproperties.com website????s rotating header pictures).?

Continue on to ??œPart Two- Wait & See or Get In Now???? to determine what is right for you.?

 

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While Westerners may talk about the ??œman in the moon???, the Chinese speak of the???œwoman in the moon???.

As our days are getting noticeably shorter with the Autumn Equinox now behind us, there is good reason why every San Franciscan takes notice of the moon.? Both September????s Harvest and October????s Hunter????s full moons rise in the East roughly at approximately the same time the sun sets in the West and vice a versa in the early morning. What a perfect time for every San Franciscan to celebrate the Chinese ??œwoman in the moon???.??

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On the 15^{t h} day of the 8^th month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the bounty of the summer harvest, the fullness of the moon and the immortal moon Goddess, Chang O (who lives in the moon) is celebrated in different parts of Asia with festivals of many names: the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Moon Festival,?and/or Moon Cake Festival.

One of two auspicious San Francisco festivals in Chinatown each year (Chinese Lunar New Year being the other) is the highly celebrated Annual Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair and one not to be missed next year.??

Walking down Grant Street, one can easily imagine being at any one of these Asian festivals with the excitement of dragon dancers performing to the beat of the drums and gongs.

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And listening to the unique sound of a Chinese Opera in concert on the street.??

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And the sound of Chinese vendors calling out ?œˆ???, ?œˆ??? ?(moon cakes, moon cakes) on the street, as they sell the traditional festival food, the moon cake. The moon cake is to be eaten outside under the Harvest Moon with good friends and family, looking up at the rising ??œwoman in the moon???, as the moon cake symbolizes a ??œChinese Thanksgiving??? of sorts as the bounty of the summer harvest ends.?

 

 

Mark your calendar now for another San Francisco photo-op as the October Hunter Moon rises on Thursday, October 25 just as the sun is setting at 5:51 PM and look for the ??œwoman in the moon???.

 

 

 

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At?sun rise on Saturday morning…

We were taking our dog on a walk down to the San Francisco Bay, along the Marina, to watch the sun come up when I noticed across the way, there was an event being set up on the Marina Green.?

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I thought we must come back later in the day to check it out.?

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We also noticed that J/105 sailboats from as far away as Maine were tied up in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club with their flags and the 2007 Rolex Big Boat Race Series pennants fluttering a waiting the weekend racing events to commence.?

By mid afternoon we were walking around the Palace of Fine Arts to get to the Bay????

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And from the path leading to Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge, we watched the events of the 2007 Rolex Big Boat Series on the water.?

And passing the yacht club docks, we could see another event floating in the air at the Marina Green.

This is a yearly tradition,???œFamily Fun Kite Festival???.

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And across the way, the boats were returning. ?

And back full circle by the end of the day.

Just a typical Saturday in San Francisco!?

 

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A little known fact about?our Peyton Place on?Marina’s lagoon:

I can remember back when the San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon in the Marina had at least 6 clipped-winged swans.? Several?male swans from time to time would act more like?”speed boats” racing across the lagoon in hot pursuit for one of the female swans during the mating season.

Over the years, the flock has both multipled and shrink.? From time to time?for the safety of the?female swans,?our swan steward has had to find?other habitats?for several male swans?.

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You can find the Judy Whilt, our resident swan steward, more commonly?known as the?”Swan Lady” early most mornings as she walks around the lagoon attending to the swans.? Judy Whilt can tell?the swans?apart. She knows their ancestry and calls them by?name.? Today there?remains on the lagoon – a mother swan with?her son, and?her two daughters from?several of her previous years of mating.????

A walk around the lagoon may seem?pleasant enough?for?the casual observer, until one observes a “speed boat” race?become a “drag race” with the mother swan and a daughter shoeing away her other daughter away from her advancing brother.? According to the “Swan Lady”, the 2 female swans have become jealous of the male swan’s (the mother’s son) attention of other female swan.?

Oh, the Peyton Place saga continues for those in the know?on?Marina’s lagoon.

 

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