How I Am Surviving My Vacation

So.  I’m supposed to be in the midst of relaxing right now. 

You’ve probably noticed that postings on the blog are light and they’ll probably continue to be light for the next week or two. 

But even though I’m on “vacation” work just hasn’t stopped.

It’s a big joke in the real estate industry that if you aren’t busy enough, then go on vacation.  And damn, ain’t that the truth!

But still, when I packed up my stuff to go on my short getaway, all I brought was me laptop, and my cell phone, that is, frankly useless where I am since cell reception is non existant here.

I didn’t bring a printer.  I didn’t bring a fax.  I mean, who brings these things on vacation, right?

Well, the day that I left, things started happening. 

One client had to renegotiate a purchase contract.  I had to send 8 different documents back and forth to make it happen.

Another client had to remove contingencies in an offer.  This took about 3 different documents since there were all sorts of things that were complicated about this deal.

And a third client (I’ve only been on vacation for 4 days) needed to submit a purchase offer, which included 180 pages of disclosures for the property itself, the purchase contract, several other standard mandated property disclosures, more random property disclosures that popped up and three counteroffers.

Every single document mentioned above needed a signature.  Some needed to be marked up as well.

I won’t tell you where I’m hiding out for vacation (Ok, maybe when I get back) but I will tell you I’m miles from a Kinko’s or anything similar.

Yet, with no, printer, no fax and no Kinko’s within miles (and no, I didn’t use smoke signals or carrier pigeons either), I still managed to get all of these documents signed by my clients and sent off to the various parties that needed them. 

Best of all, I did it all without printing (and therefore WASTING) a single piece of paper!

I feel like some cheesy commercial – but I have to say, that I did it all thanks to the amazing tool that is DocuSign.

Yes, I pay for DocuSign.  I don’t even remember what the cost is, but it’s something like a couple of cups of coffee a month.

But what DocuSign allows me to accomplish without printers, fax machines, scanners, Kinko’s or killing a single tree is absolutely priceless!

The short version of how it works is that it allows you to receive a document via email and to sign it electronically with the click of a mouse!

Using DocuSign to sign documents is free!  (as in my clients don’t pay for it.)  But using DocuSign to send real estate documents does cost a little something (as in other agents do have to pay to use it.)

The electronic signature is legally binding, and while it isn’t recognized as legally binding in some instances such as when signing loan documents or a deed because these things require a notarized signature, it is legally binding in all sorts of contracts.

Oh, and the best part – you don’t need to sit near a fax machine or printer while your real estate transaction is happening.

I’ve had clients sign documents in airports, in hotels in foreign countries, on their Iphones while driving down the freeway (I hope they meant they where a PASSENGER, since driving while signing just can’t be safe!)

And of course, that means that I too can help my clients complete a transaction wherever I am – whether in my “real” office in Noe Valley, my home office on Great Highway (which translates most often to my couch), at a conference or seminar, or on vacation in a secret location.  All I need is my laptop, the documents to be signed in PDF format (I have a PDF creator for that) and my clients’ email address. 

The rest is a just smooth transaction history – without a single tree killed in the process!!!

So – what does it mean to you?  It means that if you want to be green and sign documents in the most efficient way possible, you need to find yourself a Realtor that uses DocuSign. 

And if you’re in the San Francisco area, you need to look no further.  Call me at 415–307–1392 to find about about this and other innovative tools I have that benefit my clients in their search for a home, the sale and preparation of a home and through the entire purchase or sale transaction.  Oh, you can also email me.  That doesn’t kill trees either.

$10,000 Tax Credit for New Home Purchases in San Francisco

From a local mortgage broker I work with:

 

You probably heard about it already but in case you didn’t, here are the details.

 

1)      $10.000 tax credit for any NEW DEVELOPMENT purchase between March 1^st 2009 and March 1^st, 2010

2)      Has to be PRIMARY RESIDENCE

3)      Has to be NEVER BEEN OCCUPIED BEFORE

4)      Application has to be received within ONE WEEK after close of escrow

5)      Taxpayer has to occupy home for a minimum of TWO YEARS

6)      Be a single-family residence (attached or detached) – yes, condos count and so do house boats 

 

Here is the official link to the program

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/New_Home_Credit.shtml#def2

 

You can also see how many people have applied already (711) and how much is left in the tax credit (maximum of 100M allowed – $7M has already been allocated).

 

As always, if you are interested in finding out more or have any other mortgage related questions, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail. 

 

Sergei Andruha
Mortgage ConsultantGuarantee Mortgage Corp.

Direct:    415.309.0157

Fax:       415.520.6600

www.gmwest.com

 

 

 

  

And We’re in the Semi-finals!!!

First, I want to thank ALL of you that sent in your nominations to put my little real estate blog into the running with the national big dogs!

 

But NOW, is when the real voting begins!!!

 

Over the next few days, the top 32 blogs will be pitted against each other March Madness style – and so now, I need your vote even more!!!

 

Please, if you have a moment, pop on over to the “voting booth!”

 

Thanks for all of the support so far!  You all ROCK!!!!

SF Snapshots: San Francisco Living

San Francisco, CA, originally uploaded on by heprice  

It’s Photo Friday again here on Luba’s San Francisco Real Estate Blog! 

Last week, I put you all up to a challenge, and I haven’t gotten a correct response yet!  Common folks!  Put on your thinking caps!  Remember the first right answer get tix for 4 to the San Francisco Zoo!!!

In the meantime, thought I’d pick back up on my San Francisco photos.  I love the angle of the shot above…. reminds me of the way I first see a house as I’m fumbling with the keys to open up the gate show it to a client. 

This weekend, it’ll be more of the same – looking at houses with clients, two property inspections and maybe, just maybe, after all of my hard work this weekend, there may be a little getaway planned.  In fact, I am taking a little unofficial time off, so expect postings to be light the next two weeks.  

But I won’t forget you next week so don’t forget to check back for another glimpse of San Francisco as seen through the eyes of Flickr’s photogs.

And if you’d like to throw your photos into the pool of candidates for my SF Photo Friday collection, tag your SF Photos from Flickr with LubaSF.

Happy Friday!

30 Days of Sold San Francisco Property Listings

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Luba’s San Francisco real esate blog. 

It’s a rolling average of the last 30 days of sold listings. 

We’ll also be bringing you the last 30 days of new listings in a different blog post. 

Check back next week to see the sold properties stack up. 

Sold Listings 02/13/09 – 03/12/09

30 Days of New San Francisco Property Listings

Welcome back to the newest weekly feature of Luba’s San Francisco real esate blog. 

It’s a rolling average of the last 30 days of new listings. 

We’ll also be bringing you the last 30 days of sold listings in a different blog post. 

Check back next week to see the listings stack up. 

New Listings 02/13/09 – 03/12/09

Did San Francisco Real Estate Just Hit the Bottom?

Real Estate Rebound Video from CBS5.com

Don’t Vote for Pedro, Vote for Luba! (OR Luba’s SF Real Estate Blog, Actually)

Don’t Be Afraid to Say “Hello!”

I know there are a lot of you that stop by this San Francisco real estate blog.  I know a lot of you find me on accident, sometimes by googling something related to SF real estate, sometimes by googling something related to San Francisco, sometimes by googling me, and sometimes (quite often) by googling for “gnomes.”

But no matter how you find me, now that you’re here, I’d like to get to know you!

So, if you happen to be reading this – feel free to say “hi”.

You can email me through the contact me page.

You can follow me on Twitter.

You can add me as your friend on Faceboook.   

You can connect to me on LinkedIn.

You can check me out on Inman.

And if that’s not enough – you can just google me.

But, one the off chance that you’re afraid that I’ll be a stalker (a lot of agents get this reputation that we stalk people – it’s only true for some of us, and I hate stalking because fighting those restraining orders gets expensive! ), then just say “hi” through the chat icon (look to the top right of the screen.)

It’s totally anonymous and I won’t know who you are or how to get back to you unless you leave me your name, number, email address or something.

I’d love to hear from some of you out there. I don’t bite, and if you contact me through the chat window – I can’t bite!   (Oh, and if I’m not online, then it’ll send me a message that I will open later.)

Oh, and of course, if you WANT me to get back to you – please leave me a way to get in touch with you. Otherwise, an anonymous “hello” will do.

Don’t be a stranger!

Chris Daly Still Hates Property Owners

I understand that times are tough.  Renters, property owners, landlords and everyone in between is faving tough economic times. 

We get it. 

But at what point is a private landlowner responsible for subsidizing the rent of their tenant???

I’m going to give you a little background on my stance on the topic of rent control in San Francisco. 

I’m against it. 

I have MANY reasons why I’m against it, but mainly, it’s because I’ve seen three different people take advantage of the protection rent control offers them to the point that WHILE STILL RENTING, they actually purchased property.

One person bought the property to live in while he subletted his unit at more than what he was paying on a monthly basis.

Another couple bought property as income property in another state, while living in their rent controlled apartment.

And a third person bought a vacation home all while living in a large rent controlled flat.

Meanwhile, I know property owners that have had to refinance their properties to make capital improvements like a new roof or major stucco repairs, and now, the income they receive from their rentals isn’t even enough to carry their mortgage, tax and insurance payments.

I’m not sure how to fix the problem of low housing affordability.  But I know that putting property owners, many of which are struggling themselves to make ends meet (not all, but I personally know several), in the position of somehow subsidizing a tenant’s rent is just not fair.

Why the long tangent? 

Because Chris Daly is, yet again, striking out against property owners in San Francisco. 

Don’t take this the wrong way – most of my friends are renters.  Many work in the non-profit sector and frankly, unless they find themselves a rich husband, wife or partner, they’ll stay renters forever.  But I don’t see that most of them think their landlord owes them any subsidies.

I can see all sorts of things wrong with Daly’s plan and all of the ways that property owners can get taken advantage of in the various scenarios he is proposing. 

What I charge you in rent shouldn’t depend on how much money your earn.  The specific apartment you CHOOSE to live in should be determined by the amount of money that you earn. 

Allowing an insane amount of tenants to live in a property puts increased wear and tear on the property that the landlord in turn is going to be responsible for.

And not allowing a landlord to do an increase based on “banked” rent is taking yet another right away from property owners and will result in rental properties falling into disrepair.

And let us not forget the incredible amount of property owners that ARE facing foreclosure.  If they are unable to increase rent as their own living expenses and property maintenance expenses increase, then they too will be facing hardships.

The San Francisco Association of REALTORS has provided the summary below.  I ask that if you believe that property ownership should come with some basic right to earn a living from your property, so long as it is not come at the unreasonable expense of your tenants, that you contact your supervisor (or every supervisor) and voice yoru concern.

Daly Proposes “Renters Economic Relief Package”

Last week, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, projecting increases in residential rents of seven percent in 2009, introduced his “Renters Economic Relief Package.” The legislation, according to Daly, is intended to provide some economic relief to tenants at a time when governments at all levels are throwing billions of dollars at homeowners. The package consists of three significant amendments to San Francisco’s Rent Ordinance. The amendments are described below.

• The first amendment would allow the Rent Board to “suspend any rent increases which will cause a tenant’s rent to exceed 33 percent of their income.” This would be accomplished by expanding an existing provision in the Rent Ordinance that allows the Rent Board to suspend rent increases based on “tenant hardship.” Under the expanded provision, “hardship” would be redefined to allow a tenant to claim hardship any time a tenant’s rent exceeds 33 percent of the tenant’s gross income.
   
• The second amendment would expand the rights of tenants to add roommates to help pay the rent. This would be accomplished by including in the Rent Ordinance occupancy allowances from the San Francisco Housing Code based on the size and number of bedrooms in an apartment. Currently, rental property owners are able to limit the number of renters to levels below those the law allows.
   
• The third amendment would limit the amount of “banked” rent increases which can be imposed in any one year. Currently, rental property owners are able to “bank” annual rent increases and to pass them on to renters at will. The amendment would limit banked rent increases to no more than 8 percent in any one year.

The San Francisco Association of REALTORS® is strongly opposed to Supervisor Daly’s Renters Economic Relief Package. San Francisco has stringent rent control in effect and rents are not “overly inflated” as the supervisor contends. To prevent owners from raising rents above a tenant’s ability to pay is outrageous. And, allowing as many tenants to occupy a dwelling unit as the Housing Code allows is simply reckless and irresponsible.

The Association is working to prevent Supervisor Daly’s legislation from becoming law. But REALTORS® [AND SAN FRANCISCO PROPERTY OWNERS] can assist that effort by contacting the supervisors and the mayor and voicing their opposition. The names of the supervisors and their contact information are shown below. Please take a few minutes to contact the supervisors and the mayor today. Tell them, or their aides, the impact this irresponsible legislation would have on rental property owners who are already saddled with Rent Ordinance that is among the most stringent in the nation.

District 1
Eric Mar
(415) 554-7410
Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org

District 2
Michela Alioto-Pier
(415) 554-7752
Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org

District 3
David Chui- Board President
(415) 554-7450
David.Chiu@sfgov.org

District 4
Carmen Chu
(415) 554-7460
Carmen.Chu@sfgov.org

District 5
Ross Mirkarimi
(415) 554-7630
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org

District 6
Chris Daly
(415) 554-7970
Chris.Daly@sfgov.org

District 7
Sean Elsbernd
(415) 554-6516
Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org

District 8
Bevan Dufty
(415) 554-6968
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org

District 9
David Campos
(415) 554-5144
David.Campos@sfgov.org

District 10
Sophie Maxwell
(415) 554-7670
Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org

District 11
John Avalos
(415) 554-6975
John.Avalos@sfgov.org

Mayor Gavin Newsom
(415) 554-6141
gavin.newsom@sfgov.org