This, seen on a telephone pole in the Outer Sunset today.

$10 Java Beach coffee card to the first person that can REALLY tell me to what or to whom I should be surrendering.  Another $10 Java Beach coffee card to the first person that can tell me if there’s more of these around, and where.  (And yes, I’ll be confirming their location.)

For now, I’ll take it to mean “surrender to the sunshine.”

And you people think that the Mission is the only place where “interesting” things happen.  Hmph.

(Click to Expand)

Yes folks, this cool Outer Sunset spot has been a secret that only locals have known about the last few days.  But today, you get the scoop!

There’s plenty of outdoor seating, generous use of natural materials and a down to earth vibe you can’t help but notice.

But hurry, it looks like their liquor selection is limited! 

Happy Friday!

I *love* watching planes land at SFO!  Considering the on again, off again torrential downpours we’re having, this plane was lucky to land in between raindrops.

As for those ON that plane, well, I just hope they looked at this week’s weather report and not last week’s.  Bet the little shops at the airport will make a killing selling umbrellas… if the bottled water costs like $5, bet the umbrellas are like $50!

And yeah, after I took this shot, I saw at least 10 planes all lined up and ready for a slow taxiing till take-off.  Looks like that rain had caused some flight delays.

Hope the rain hasn’t slowed you down too much!  Stay dry, San Francisco! 

I know, I know, you’re tired of me talking about our awesome weather, but I just couldn’t help but smile as I went past these Cherry Blossoms trees in Hayes Valley (Pierce Street to be exact.)

We’re seeing Cherry Blossoms in bloom ALL OVER SF!  The glorious sunshine has fooled the trees into thinking it’s really spring and they’re blooming left and right.  Driving through Golden Gate Park is, frankly, magical!

And remember, Cherry Blossoms are a symbol of the fragility of life – here today, gone sooner than you realize – so don’t just enjoy the Blossoms while you can, but get out there and enjoy San Francisco!

UPDATE!!!!  CORRECTION!!! STOP THE PRESSES!!! 

Thanks to James leaving a message in the comments below, I now know those are PLUM blossoms!  NOT cherry!  But they still sure are PURDY!

I’ll never get tired of these San Francisco Sunsets.  Good thing I’m lucky enough to call the Sunset District home and this is just steps from where I’m fortunate enough to live.  If this isn’t a million dollar view, I don’t know what is!

No time for a “real” blog post today!  I’m running around taking care of my clients’ real estate needs!

(And, I’m sorta walking on clouds since I learned that if calculations are correct, it turns out that I am in the top 5.7% of San Francisco Realtors!  WOOHOO! Not a bad accomplishment, if I do dare to toot my own horn!)

But I did have a free moment to snap this photo of the fog clinging to the Western Edge of San Francisco.  I’m not sure what plant is in the right edge of the photo (if you know, I’d LOVE to know about it!) but it filled the air with such an amazingly sweet scent!  The photo was taken at Lake Merced (which happens to be an amazingly beautiful NATURAL lake here in our very own urban City!)

And since I’m already throwing shameless self-plugs into this non-post blog post, if you know anyone that’s looking to buy or sell real estate in San Francisco and would love to work with an SF Realtor that knows her stuff (except for that whole “not being to identify a single plant thing!”), but still maintains a sense of humor, send them my way! 

The sun here in the Outer Avenues is breaking through the clouds making the Sunset district gem at 1466 42nd Avenue sparkle! 

Stop by from 1-4pm today to see the brilliant juxtaposition of a traditional center patio style home and how it blends with an urban loft!

It’s another beautiful day at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach!

The sun is still shining and the clean-up on the Upper Great Highway still has the road closed to automobile traffic.

It might just be the perfect day for a picnic atop of a sand dune with the views stretching clear to the Marin Headlands.

Hope you get a chance to enjoy the sunshine even if you don’t make it down to the beach!

So the blog has been dead.  Some folks didn’t notice, some folks did, and others missed it so much that they sent me nasty emails expressing their displeasure that this San Francisco real estate agent needed a break. 

The break has been great, but I’m pondering bringing this thing back to life.  I *would* like to bring it back bigger and better, so for the next couple of months, I’ll be working on a few things…. and if all for a ad planned, this SF real estate blog will be back and bringing you the stuff you crave brought to you with a funky edge. 
And…. this post is being brought to you from my phone, so it’s also serving as a test to see if this thing is on! 

As always, even if not not blogging, I’m working, so if you need real estate advice, find me at 415-307-1394 or at luba@zephyrsf.com. 

In case you’re a regular reader here at the blog, you probably have noticed the ridiculous lack of steady posts over the last several weeks.  Things in the SF real estate market have been anything but slow, and Zephyr has the scoop:

It’s true that after several months of decent home sales, we saw a dip in January. It’s also true that a slow down at this time of year is typical for San Francisco. People have other things on their minds (holidays, lousy weather, etc.) and will normally wait until early Spring to re-focus on selling or buying real estate.

At last, it appears that we have returned to the market normalcy that existed prior to the boom of 2003 through 2006. Every indication is that we have turned a corner with the market statistics and that home sales have at least stabilized, if not begun to rebound.  We have everything going for us; mortgage interest rates, great home prices and the ever resilient San Francisco real estate market.

They say that the numbers don’t lie. Comparing the last year’s three month period of November 1st through January 31st to this year’s we have some pretty good results. Last year, 761 sales city-wide, this year 1182 sales. Also, last year’s median sale price for the same time frame was $685,000, while this year’s median was $719,000 (these numbers included SFDs, Condos and 2-4 unit buildings).

Not too shabby!

The numbers for each neighborhood can differ tremendously from the City-wide data. As they say, our neighborhood sales vary like our micro-climates!

The real test of market recovery will be the numbers that we see for the coming three months, so stay tuned!

 

I’ll say that’s a pretty good indicator that the San Francisco housing market is picking up speed.  If you have questions about the market, give me a shout at 415-307-1392 or email me at luba@zephyrsf.com!  I’m always happy to talk real estate!