San Francisco’s Ocean Beach – 107 Years Ago! (Plus Info on a Beach Clean-up!)

Cliff House & Ocean Beach Panorama, 1903 from Richmond SF Blog on Vimeo.

I’ve got my FOURTH cold of the year.  Yeah.  I’m thinking of buying stock in Nyquil. 

But in between blowing my nose and wiping the water pouring from my eyes, the one thing that is keeping me sane is being able to work from home while I watch the ocean from my window (which you can coincidentally do too if you buy my listings at 2458-2460 Great Highway - and as a bonus, you’ll be my neighbor! )

I also happened to find some cool videofootage from the Richmond SF Blog of Ocean Beach back in the days when appropriate beach apparel was a 3 piece suite instead of a wetsuit. 

Since I love San Francisco history, and I LOVE Ocean Beach, I thought I’d share the video here.

And a fat “high-five” the Richmond SF Blog folks for finding this awesome footage!  Keep it coming!!!

Oh, and coincidentally, there’s a clean-up scheduled at Ocean Beach on January 31st at 9am.  From the invite:

Starting at Lincoln Blvd. and moving south, we will pick up the trash that has been deposited by the recent large storm swells on the beach. There is ALOT of very small plastic and styrofoam that is VERY hazardous to the environment and animal life on la playa. Please join us; bags and gloves will be provided.

San Francsico DPW Map from 1997

SF Department of Public Works Map from 1997

I was digging through emails that I meant to get to “one day” on my quest to someday address all the things on my “to do” list when I stumbled upon an awesome map that Mark Pfeiffer, reader of The City Update(TM) – San Francisco’s Friendliest Real Estate Newsletter, sent to me MONTHS ago!!!  Geez – I knew I was behind, but not THAT behind!!!!

Mark wrote:

Hi Luba,

I like your newsletter.  I thought you might be interested in the attached map of San Francisco Neighborhoods that was put out by the Department of Public Works in 1997.  My wife has worked for “the city” for 35 years, in DPW and now PUC, and she gave me a copy of  this map when it first came out.  I’ve searched the DPW web site and have been unable to locate it, so I scanned it.  I’m sorry about the cropping, but my copy is in 8^1/4”x17” format.

v/r Mark

Thanks, Mark!!!  The map is AWESOME!  And I haven’t had time yet, but I’d like to see how it lines up with the SFAR map.

San Francisco Association of Realtors Map

I’d also LOVE to know if anyone has a more current map???  Anyone in DPW now???  Email me if you do!

And for that matter, email me if you come across ANYTHING cool and San Francisco related! Readers don’t just want to read about San Francisco Real Estate, they want to read about San Francisco!  Right?

San Francisco Real Estate Sales Data – August 2009

As I do every most months, I ran the latest San Francisco real estate sales figures from the month of August for you.  Last month I published three month’s of data, but this time, here’s the data for August, raw and unfiltered, just how you like it.

This month, as is common for August, volume is down from July across the board.  The other numbers, including days on market, median sales price and percentage where all across the board.  Another reason sales volume might be lower might have something to do with lenders taking their sweet ass time closing deals.  They seem to like to throw up a lot of road blocks these days, but if you’re a good agent and happen to have internal GPS (the kind that lets you think outside of the box so you can still get deals closed), you just look for a safe detour and keep driving the speed limit.  Yes, it’s a weird analogy, but believe me, it fits. 

So here’s this month’s summary of home sales pulled directly from the MLS. Remember, these are all closed sales and not pending sales.

Check back monthly to get the latest facts and figures – and if you have any questions about these statistics, or the market in general, feel free to give me a holler! I’m always happy to talk “real estate!”

Here’s a quick snapshot of the market from August 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009:

Single Family Homes

• 196 Homes Sold
• Median Sale Price was $705,000
• Minimum Sale Price was $170,000
• Maximum Sale Price was $5,500,000
• Median Selling Price was 101% of asking price
• Median Days on Market was 40
• Median Selling Price for homes that sold within 30 days was 104% of asking price

Condominiums, Lofts & Co-ops

• 151 Homes Sold
• Median Sale Price was $712,000
• Minimum Sale Price was $135,000
• Maximum Sale Price was $6,000,000
• Median Selling Price was 98% of asking price
• Median Days on Market was 71
• Median Selling Price for homes that sold within 30 days was 98.5% of asking price

TIC’s

• 31 Homes Sold
• Median Sale Price was $508,000
• Minimum Sale Price was $299,000
• Maximum Sale Price was $1,340,000
• Median Selling Price was 99% of asking price
• Median Days on Market was 68
• Median Selling Price for homes that sold within 30 days was 98.5% of asking price

San Francisco Photo Collection – Buy Your Own Glimpse of History

If you’re like me, you LOVE San Francisco history.  Photos tend to make me especially nostalgic. 

So I’ve always enjoyed the San Francisco Images Web Gallery.  And that means that I was extra excited to tell you about San Francisco Images.

They’ve been around for a little while, but recently redesigned their web galleries.  San Francisco Images features an expanding range of photographic images from San Francisco, the Bay Area, California and around the world. Their historical images are exceptional, San Francisco especially, and include a unique hand-tinted collection.  The new interface makes it easy to select and design a custom frame on-line and (who doesn’t love to hear this part), everything is value priced for 2009!  Orders are shipped from out-of state so they are also tax free.  Or, if you prefer to work with a local vendor and help California earn a little extra cash with your sales tax dollars, they will also custom frame the work locally at their San Francisco shop, Eco-framing, www.eco-framing.com

A little note from Bennett Hall, one of the companies owners:

All images are scanned at high resolution and digitally refined to museum standards suitable for large reproductions for your home or office.

We also design and produce custom projects for your business – if you would like to explore this, let me know you ideas.  We offer on-site consultations, scanning, images restoration, hand-tinting, graphic design, exhibit production, and publishing services.

San Francisco Real Estate Sales Data – May, June & July 2009

I know, I know, I’m a few months behind.  But things have been hectic to say the least.  So this month, I’m catching up, and putting all the numbers into one concise little post for you.  And while I don’t plan on doing it this way every month, it might be a nice little break to stack the months up against each other and see if we can find a trend. 

So, across the board, sales volume is up month over month.  As a Realtor, that makes me excited.  Single family home prices have increased month over month, condo prices have fallen and TIC prices (which do have a much smaller sample, so statistics are less accurate.)  In a nutshell, the San Francisco real estate market is all over the place.  Stay tuned in to the blog the next few days for some details of what I’ve been seeing take place in the crazy world of the SF market.

So here’s this month’s summary of home sales pulled directly from the MLS. Remember, these are all closed sales and not pending sales.

Check back monthly to get the latest facts and figures – and if you have any questions about these statistics, or the market in general, feel free to give me a holler! I’m always happy to talk “real estate!”

Here’s a quick snapshot of the market from May 1, 2009 through July 31, 2009:

San Francisco History Exhibit

Want to know a little secret?  I know where you can find the largest permanent exhibit on San Francisco History anywhere.

Distributed over 4 floors at the top of 450 Golden Gate, the program details the tales of the City from 1850’s through the construction of the TransAmerica Pyramid. Vignettes feature the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915, the creation of the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island,the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition, the Palace Hotel, the Earthquake and Fire of 1906, the Cliff House and Sutro Bathes, Civic Center, Recreation, Districts around town, the Waterfront, transportation and cablecars, the City’s great hotels, notable characters, as well as selected content from others areas around the 9th District the Court serves. Each images has a detailed narrative telling the story behind the picture.

The program was conceived as a gift to the public from the Court, led by Judge Breyer in San Francisco and Judge Seeborg in San Jose. The intent was to express the integration of Courts with the community, providing education heritage content, foregoing conventional decorative art for the interior walls. Displays are located throughout the public space of the San Francisco and San Jose building, as well as chambers and Jury Rooms. The project started by considering the Jurist experience in the deliberation rooms, which often were windowless.

Business Image group, led by Bennett Hall, design and developed the content, accompanying narrative, refined the often faded original images and framed and install the pieces through his production company in San Francisco, Eco-Framing.  Each photograph was digitally mastered at the highest possible resolution.

Remember to bring your ID when you visit – it is a Federal building and security check-points are at the entrance

SF Snapshots: San Francisco Living

Carriage Entrance of the Palace Hotel, originally uploaded on by Bennet Hall

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

This photo is sort of a early-days shot of valet service.  According to SF Images “the Carriage Entrance of the Palace Hotel was used for grand entrances upon its opening in 1876. The area was renovated to become a restaurant due to guests’ complaints over the smell of manure.”

I’ve had bad valet service before, but never did the valets smell like manure.

This week’s photo was brought to you by Bennet Hall but if you love the image, or a variety of other historical SF Images, you can get them yourself, in a variety of sizes, to hang on your very own wall.   

Don’t forget to check back next week for another glimpse of San Francisco.

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!

Open Shutter to the Past: San Francisco in Pictures – Warm Day at Ocean Beach (1943)

Welcome back to Photo Friday – my little way of taking a break from San Francisco Real Estate and instead blogging about our great City’s past instead. All photos are published with permission from the San Francisco History Center and San Francisco Public Library.

The word around the weather channels is that this weekend is going to be NICE in the City!  And if the last few days are any indication, I believe it!  Today, the weather is supposed to hit the mid to HIGH 80’s in parts of SF.

And when the weather heats up around SF,  people in flock to Ocean Beach to cool down.  They’ve been doing that for ages.  And this weekend will be no different. 

But with all of the parks in the City, to get your outdoor fix this weekend, you don’t have to go to the beach.  But I’m sure you’ll enjoy it if you do. 

No matter what you decide to do this weekend, wear sunscreen, drink lots of water and don’t drink and drive – I hope you have a great time and a safe time. 

See you back here Tuesday when the 3 day holiday is but a memory!   

Open Shutter to the Past: San Francisco in Pictures – Barbary Coast (1913)

Welcome back to Photo Friday – my little way of taking a break from San Francisco Real Estate and instead blogging about our great City’s past instead. All photos are published with permission from the San Francisco History Center and San Francisco Public Library.

It’s been a busy busy week!  And it’s going to be a busy busy weekend!  I’ve been hustling to get several listings ready for market and helping several buyers on deadlines to buy homes in San Francisco.  So being that I need a little break, this week’s Photo Friday post is all about trying to break out of the daily grind have a good time.

Back in 1913, the Barbary Coast had calmed down a bit from it’s earlier days of gambling, prostitution and crime.  But it hadn’t calmed down THAT much:

NEWSCOPY:  “Such goings on! Deah, Deah! Good folks talked about the old Barbary Coast in the same way they do today, and with better reason. This is a busy street scene east of Kearny st., on Pacific, with the sin and gin mills going full blast to make the ‘hot spot of the world’ a bit hotter and more worldly.”

Even if you can’t get your hands on a Schlitz for a nickel, you can get out there and have a good time this weekend.  You can always find something to do in the City!  Be safe and have fun and have a happy Friday!

Open Shutter to the Past: San Francisco in Pictures – Ocean Beach Cleanup (1948)

 

Welcome back to Photo Friday – my little way of taking a break from San Francisco Real Estate and instead blogging about our great City’s past instead. All photos are published with permission from the San Francisco History Center and San Francisco Public Library.

The word around the weather channels is that this weekend is going to be NICE in the City!  Today, the weather is supposed to hit the mid 80’s in parts of SF.

And when the weather heats up around SF,  people in flock to Ocean Beach to cool down.  Unfortunately, these same beachgoers bring with them trash, bottles, cigarette butts and general filth.  A photo I took with my cameraphone on a hot April day gives you an idea of the aftermath. 

And apparently, people have been trashing the beach since long before I was born. 

Today’s Photo Friday shows the “Sand Cleanup Machine!”  The newscopy that went with the photo in 1948:

“BEACH CLEANUP STARTS-There shouldn’t be any broken glass, cigaret [sic] butts or other annoying refuse in the sands of Ocean Beach any more, now that the city’s new sifting and cleaning machine is in action. The device, which cost $9433, went to work yesterday afternoon. It will take a month to go through all the sand from the zoo to the Cliff House.”

Hmmm… I’m not sure how well the machine really worked, but if people trashed the beach then like they do now, I’m guessing that machine wore out after just a few days of cleaning. 

Anyhow – it’s too nice outside to be writing long blog posts, so this about wraps things up for the day.  Get out there and enjoy the nice weather!

Oh, and please, if you do come to the beach to escape from the heat in the rest of the City, please – be coureous and take your trash with you when you leave. 

Thanks and Happy Friday!