Entries Tagged as 'San Francisco Local Resources'

What’s the MLS Got to Hide?

Many of you know I have a San Francisco real estate newsletter.  In fact, it’s the best San Francisco real estate newsletter ever!  One of the features people love most about this newsletter is the New Listings and Recently Sold reports. 
 
But, while I was relaxing on vacation in Lake County, I got an email from my sales manager telling me the MLS board had contacted him about The City Update™.  I was told that I needed to take down the New Listings and Recently Sold reports or face fines or even worse, suspension! 
 
Someone filed a complaint with the MLS.  grrr.
 
Apparently, sharing this information with the public is against the MLS rules.  Even though you can get information about sold properties all over the internet AND sales prices are public record (anyone can get them by visiting City Hall) - the MLS rules state that REALTORS aren’t allowed to post this information on a public web site. 
This leave me with the question - why the hell is the MLS so afraid of sharing information with the public?
 
I think that the various REALTOR boards across the country have this erroneous belief that if consumers are armed with information, they won’t need REALTORS.  But I think that’s absolute BS.  One thing I really believe we need more of in this industry is transparency.  In fact, I believe that arming people with knowledge will only help our industry.  The public has a bad enough image of slimy REALTORS (and ok - maybe I’ve even met a few stereotypes in my day) and I believe that hiding information only exacerbates the problem. 
 
And frankly, just because Joe Public knows what things are selling for doesn’t give Joe the education, experience, negotiating power and expertise that can make the difference between a successful transaction and a nightmare experience.
 
So, unfortunately, in last week’s newsletter- the links to the reports will get you nowhere.  They’ve been temporarily disabled.  I’ve been working with my tech crew to create a secure way for  readers to view the data on The City Update™ while making sure that strangers can’t get it.  We’ve also been working on a way to make sure the information is less “scrapable.”  By this week’s edition, the reports will be back, and will be 100% in compliance with the MLS rules.
And if you’re not getting The City Update™, you should be.  Your can get your own free subscribtion here. 
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Tags: Misc Musings from Your San Francisco Realtor, SF Real Estate Info for Buyers, SF Real Estate Info for Sellers, SF Real Estate Market Conditions, San Francisco Local Resources by Luba
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Open Shutter to the Past: San Francisco in Pictures - SF’s First Parking Meter (1947)

Welcome back to Photo Friday - my little way 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.

I frickin hate parking meters.  Seriously.  I get a few tickets a month at minimum.  I have a budget for the tickets - which is kind of a ridiculous notion.  And I get so many of them that I fantasize about writing them off as an expense on my taxes.  In fact, parking meters are sort of my nemesis

So why the hell am I posting a photo of the very first parking meter in San Francisco? 

(By the way, that’s Mayor Roger Lapham testing the ”First Gadget Installed at Bush and Polk Streets” in 1947!)

Recently, a few things have come along that made me hate parking meters just a smidge less. 

First, came the SFMTA pre-paid parking card.  These things are pretty convenient for the most part.  They come in $20 and $50 amounts, and they’re much lighter than carrying $20 or $50 worth of change with you everywhere you go. 

There are some drawbacks to the cards though - they don’t always work, in which case, you’d better STILL have some change with you, and you have to remember to buy them when you the cards run out of money.  They’re also not rechargeable, which means the card ends up being waste (I thought we are working on being the greenest City ever???  Step it up SFMTA!) 

I still get more than my fair share of parking tickets, even with this card in my wallet - but that’s because my meter usually runs out while I’m in the middle of a meeting, or showing a property, and I don’t make it back in time to the meter to feed it. 

Thursday though - Thursday was different.  Thursday, while I was at West Portal grabbing some lunch at Fuji Restaurant, I set on my eyes on this! 

I was so struck by this special parking meter that I quickly snapped up a pic to post on www.sfcameraphone.com. 

But I didn’t have time to call the magic number to find out about the mysterious “Pay by Cell” message till much later in the day (well after I got a parking ticket while parked in Pacific Heights… grrrr.) 

When I finally got to call the magical number, its magical voice told me to visit www.cell-parking.com for more information.  (It also told me that it recognized me as a new user and asked if I wanted a free use of the system - to which I yelled “hell yeah” but it didn’t hear me - so I think I’ll have to call back again to get information on the free use thing.) 

Once I visited www.cell-parking.com, I tried to sign up for the service, until I realized that I don’t have my license plate number memorized, and that it was too damn windy for me to go outside and look at the plates on my car tonight. 

But I do plan on registering for the service tomorrow.  And I do plan on using it and seeing how it works.  And if this magical “Pay by Cell” thing isn’t new to you, and you happen to know all about it and have used it before, feel free to leave a comment here to let other readers know how you like it. 

And let me know whether you think it will help me to stop having to shell out big bucks for parking tickets every month at expired meters across the City. 

Oh, and until parking meters are able to wash my car for me while it’s parked, this probably is the first and last time a parking meter will ever excite me. 

Happy Friday!  May the meter fairy take good care of you!

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Tags: SF Historical Photos, San Francisco History, San Francisco Local Resources, San Francisco Neighborhoods, San Francisco News and Events by Luba
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There’s Still Room to Register for the NEN Clean and Green Summit

Come join the Neighborhood Empowerment Network  this Saturday morning for the first Clean and Green Summit!

According the the NEN Web Site ”the NEN is a collaborative platform that serves as a central engagement point for communities to find and share information that will empower them to make their neighborhoods a better place to live. The NEN helps both established and up and coming community leaders learn of new ways to help their neighborhoods become safer, greener, cleaner, stronger, and ultimately be better prepared for natural disasters.”

The Clean and Green Summit will be held this Saturday on May 31st. 

Space is limited. The Summit will feature a resource fair with dozens of agencies and non-profits ready to help you to clean and green your community, breakout groups and a NEN first – walking tours of the Mission to see first hand how this neighborhood is greening itself.

You can register for the summit and find out more by clicking here or by calling 551-7111.

Hope to see you there! :-)

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Tags: Green Living in SF, San Francisco Local Resources, San Francisco News and Events by Luba
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Postings Will Be Light This Week

Hello to all the loyal readers! And to those of you that are just stopping by, a hearty hello to you as well!

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that postings this week will be light. In addition to prepping a few really cool listings for the market, and helping my buyer clients find the right place for them, I’m working on the launch of The City Update™ - The Best San Francisco Real Estate Newsletter Ever!

Getting all of your favorite features into the newsletter is taking a little work - building the infrastructure takes time.  The features I’m building into the newsletter are:

  • New on Market Reports
  • Recently Sold Reports
  • The most current Market Updates brought to you by Altos Research
  • Links to District Maps
  • Foreclosure Reports
  • … and Much More!

If there are features you’d like to see in  The City Update™ - The Best San Francisco Real Estate Newsletter Ever!, please contact me and let me know, I’d love to hear your hints, tips and suggestions!

And if you haven’t done so already, sign up for the newsletter today!

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Tags: San Francisco Local Resources, San Francisco News and Events by Luba
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Something New In the Avenues

And I’m not talking about Real Estate!

The Avenues Blog

In addition to working with a handful of active buyers and helping several sellers get their homes ready to go on the market in the next couple of months, I’ve been working on a few new projects over the last several weeks.  One of these projects is The Avenues Blog. 

Why The Avenues Blog?

Well - I live of out here in the Outer Sunset in one of the most beautiful places in San Francisco (overlooking the Pacific Ocean!) and while a HUGE part of the City is taken up by the Sunset, Parkside and Richmond districts, it often seems like the Western side of the City is overlooked by the majority of the City’s residents.  So … I decided to do something about it, and to blog about the side of the City that I’ve called home since I was 2 years old.

Don’t forget, I help home buyers and sellers ALL over San Francisco, but I have a soft spot for the foggy hoods a lot of people forget exist. 

So swing by The Avenues Blog.   I plan on posting there a couple of times a week - but if readers like you start providing me with input, ideas, suggestions and photos, you might see even more frequent postings.  I hope to get feedback from y’all along the way to make The Avenues Blog as awesome as possible. 

So please, add The Avenues Blog to your blog readeres or save it as a favorite - and don’t forget to tell a friend!  :-) 

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Tags: Misc Musings from Your San Francisco Realtor, San Francisco Local Resources, San Francisco Neighborhoods, San Francisco News and Events by Luba
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