Yet, it is worth knowing what the coveted 2000 block of Jefferson has been touting for decades…and that is, there is another island in the Marina District of San Francisco.

Over the years, these neighbors have shared and accumulated?documentation showing that they are living on top of an?”ancient island” that was mapped as early as?1789,? just off of?”Wash Woman Cove”.

These neighbors know the “ancient island” as “Strawberry Island” surrounded by an estuary to the West and South West and the Bay to the North and North East?extending over portions of 10 blocks in the?Marina.?

The National Geologic Map Data Base for the Marina also shows “Strawberry Island” as “Qb” made up of coarse gravel and large cobble stones.

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This little bit of Marina trival is worth?knowing, if you live on “Strawberry Island”.

On the Northside of San Francisco the median asking price for Condos?is now $1,095,000 and for Homes, it is now?$3,495,000.

For stellar buyers that have been eyeing?prime located Condos and/or Homes in “done” condition?on the Northside of San Francisco, they are?now able to take full advantage of? a “jumbo conforming” loan (up to) $729,750 at an?attractive rate below 5% that the Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac “conforming” loans (up to $417,000)?have been touting?for some time now this year.

Under Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac guidelines on the Northside of San Francisco:

29 Condos out of 179 Condos on the market have asking prices of $556,000 or less. Buyers for these 29 Condos are able to take full advantage of the lowest interest rates with 25% down payment and the “conforming” loan amount of $417,000.

An additional 52 Condos out of 179 Condos on the market have asking prices between $556,000 and $973,000.? Buyers for these 52 Condos are?able to take?full advantage of the lowest interest rates with 25% down payment and the?”jumbo conforming” loan of $719,750.

There is only one home out of 64 homes on the market is?asking price below $912,000 for Buyers to?take full advantage of the lowest interest rates with 20% down payment using the “jumbo conforming” loan amount of $719,750.

With the new appraisal rules, appraisers will be an “arms-distance” from the lender and a “done” condition will be a Seller’s best defense in getting an accepted offer closed.

Listen to this video?(below) to understand that multiple buyers in San Francisco are?no longer waiting to?get ready?and now are taking action.?

Real Estate Rebound Video from CBS5.com

Only one lucky Buyer bought each of these homes…leaving all these other Buyers still wanting to buy and ready to buy.

With this upsurge of 1st time Buyers’ demand in San Francisco, now is the time to do your homework,?get qualified, and be ready to?get what you want.

The tide is changing in San Francisco, the sun is coming out, spring is in the air…get going!

Historically speaking the affordability standard?has never?changed over the years for 1st time Buyers.?

What did change is those Buyers with no money (that bought in recent years) had a short time view on a long term investment.

Affordability?has always been reflected in?a comfortable monthly mortgage payment with?an initial cash investment into the property (i.e. down payment) and the peace of mind of?an interest rate?that is within one’s means now and for?the long term.

Today’s 1st time Buyers have a lot more going for them by getting off the fence?with lower interest rates, the federal government paying them to buy before 12/01/09 with a $8,000 tax credit,?and affordable prices.??

…even if you do the numbers?to check out price per square feet, days on the market/when properties came on the? market, original price?/current price, built date, …etc. etc. etc.??

This is not an ordinary market on the Northside of San Francisco. And Buyers that are really seriously looking to buy and do not have an agent yet…need an “experienced” agent?early on.

At my Open Houses now, I have set up an easel to show 1st time Buyers the opportunities they are not recognizing for themselves.

Cutting through the numbers on a spreadsheet and visiting open houses is worth the time in recognizing this rare moment in time for 1st time Buyers on the Northside of San Francisco.

Yet,?there are actually 3 markets for one bedroom condos on?the North side of the city…

… and without recognizing these 3 markets, one will not to?see the “real values” of buying in?the one bedroom condo market?on the Northside of San Francisco.

Market One – New construction with & without parking located on the edges of the Northside of San Francisco.?

Market Two – Condos without parking or with only leased parking available are generally considered the lower end of the market.

Market Three- Condos with parking (deeded) that is included in the price of the condo?tend to have the highest resale value of all three markets.

Recognizing the?”real value” of?each of these one bedroom markets is important and more important is, “What do you want that you don’t have now?”

When, in fact, the real question is?related to price and condition questions:

1.?? “How much time do I have to get my offer together?”

2.?? “Why is this property still available?”

3.?? “What is?wrong with this property?”

In today’s market, the how long is “long” is now more a statement of?today’s economy and less about “price”, in “move-in” or “brand-new” condition, and/or it’s “a fixer”.

“Long” has to do?more with most people won’t take the risk in getting?what they want.?

With the risks of today’s?economy, come the opportunities of?cheap interest rates,?affordable prices, more pristine properties,? Federal and California State 1st time Buyer incentives, and less competition from other Buyers.

The real question is “How ‘long’ will it take for?Buyers to?realize that the opportunities?of?owning a home?in San Francisco are here and they are able to get what they want today ?”

And if? “to be smart” is to be “everyone” that won’t do what it takes to get what they want until “everyone else” is?getting it….than again smart they are.

The?”smart” time to buy?would be?when there are historically low interest rates?coupled with a Buyers’ market in San Francisco…and “everyone”? thought?that will never happen in their life time.

The opportunity to?own apart of?San Francisco is right here and now for those that are “just smart”!?

Follow the signs…

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As in any market, if two comparable properties come on the market in a particular neighborhood at the same time and one sells and the other one doesn????t???.it is pretty easy to determine that?either the marketing, the price, the terms, and/or the condition attracted the buyer(s) to one property vs. the other.?

Without looking beyond the?graphs, the averages, and the medians, one is unaware the number of?properties that are selling?quickly?from those that are taking their sweet old time.

To understand?which market a seller is in and/or buyer is looking in, one needs to separate the days on the market, not by price range but by speed.?

?So selling homes in San Francisco during the winter may be considered as the perfect time of year?to test if the roof is currently leaking or not by looking for the?tell tale signs of discoloration on the ceiling, around skylights and windows.??Inherently?a ??œgood??? roof can leak if the gutters, scuppers, and downspouts are clogged and water finds its way in.???I like to?remind Sellers that prudent Buyers will?locate those areas on the exterior before walking into an Open House.?? As the?agent holding the Open House (and especially if it is raining), I?customarily have the?San Francisco Sellers???? Disclosures out in plain view for Buyers to review.? ?

I?highlight the?six questions in the disclosures asking the?Seller to disclose his knowledge of any present or past water inclusion; even leaks have been repaired and/or stopped.? Below are two of the six questions about?water inclusion:???? ??

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During the last half of the 4^th Quarter, San Francisco Sellers are notorious for taking their properties off the market just before Thanksgiving if their property had not sold.? Many of these Sellers would rather wait until the New Year to put their property back on the market than to become stale on the market during the holidays.? Between November 1^st and December 31^st in 2006 152 homes and 284 condos/co-ops/lofts/TICs were withdrawn from the market and during this same time in 2007, 175 homes and 353 condos/co-ops/lofts/TICs were withdrawn from the market in hopes of re-surfacing in 2008 as fresh new listings.

During this same time, every year there is another group of San Francisco Sellers that dare to put their property on the market in November and December to find their properties snatched up by “holiday” Buyers eager to own a property before the end of the year.? In 2006, 69 single family homes and 79 condos/co-ops/lofts/TICs come on the market and closed between Halloween and New Year????s Eve.? This past year in 2007, 39 single family homes and 55 condos/co-ops/lofts/TICs came on the market and closed in less than 60 days.?

Both years, the Buyers that stayed in the market may have had less competition than those Buyers that took some time off during the holidays, yet ?not surprisingly the single family dwellings and the condos/co-ops/lofts/TICs? sold 103% and 102% respectively above their asking prices (with three having undisclosed selling prices).

With all that said, generally speaking, the 4th Quarter 2007?was?a bit different than in 2006 as more Sellers were unwilling to play that game of withdrawing their?property from the market during the holiday season and losing their property’s?exposure.?

The “New Year” Buyer will come back from the?holidays (after?getting in some snow-time on the slopes) to see?some familiar homes still on the market and I suspect, a few more will slowly be coming back on the market as well.