Waves to Wine – Give up Some Money

CLICK HERE TO GIVE MONEY

I have a friend in her early thirties.  Several years ago she discovered she had MS.     

At this point, her symptoms are minimal – but it’s obvious that even at this young age, the effects are setting in. 

Because she’s not just a friend, but an incredibly awesome person, she has other friends to help fight the battle in ways she can’t. 

Personally, I can barely ride a bike – at least not without crashing into a car (that’s a totally different story)…. But luckily, one of our friends can.  And she’s riding to raise money for MS. 

Whatever you give will help.  Even if each of you gave just 1 dollar, we’d raise a couple hundred bucks.  If each of you gave $5, we’d easily hit the $1000 mark and then and then and then some. 

Here’s the request:

Dear Friends & Family,

This is my eighth year participating in Waves to Wine, the bike ride from San Francisco through Sonoma County, to raise awareness and funds for MS research. This weekend I’ll be riding a total of 90 miles (40 on Saturday; 50 on Sunday). This year, our team of six riders will be cycling farther than ever before in Team TNT history, for a total of 840 miles!

I’m super excited about the event this year because I have never ridden this far in one weekend before. Despite my history with this event, I’m not a cyclist. In fact, I’ve only had my own bike since last year (I bought it the night before the ride). Before that, I rented a bike for the ride every year. So let me tell you: it’s a big deal doing the ride as a non-cyclist. It hurts. A lot. But it’s worth it. Waves to Wine is an awesome event and it’s for a great cause. I ride for my amazing father-in-law, Bernie, and my friends with MS. 

Thanks to the efforts of the MS Society and the dollars you donate, researchers are making great progress, but the cause and cure are still over the horizon. Last year, cyclists and volunteers raised almost $1.6 million. This year, with the registration being the largest ever, we hope to hit the $1.75 million mark.  Please help me meet my fundraising goal by making a tax-deductible contribution. Small or large, all contributions are appreciated! 

Whatever you can give will help! I really appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for your support! I will even oblige those who are interested with unflattering shots of myself in biking spandex, which–even if you don’t know me–are good for a laugh. 

Nikki

P.S. If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from the MS Bike Tour are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit http://www.facebook.com/l/;nationalmssociety.org.

Click here to get to my personal page and make a secure, online donation.

To send a donation: Make all checks payable to: National MS Society and mail to: Nikki Jong 1265 Washington St Apt 5 San Francisco, CA 94108. Don’t forget to keep your copy of the check for tax records!

Another Monday Morning in San Francisco

Good morning. While most of you will be hustling around the City today because it’s Monday, the start of a work week, I’ll be heading out to Healdsburg to go canoeing down the Russian River.

Why?

Well, as I mentioned on my post on Friday, things have been busy, and I need a teensy weensy little break.

So tomorrow, I’m all rustling me up some San Francisco Real Estate.

But today, today, it’s just me and a paddle.

Hope your week is off to a great start! I know mine is!

My San Francisco Love Affair

This photo could have been taken on just about any summer San Francisco day. Twin Peaks is almost always the border between a peaceful blanket of fog and splendid sunshine.

It is sleepy, rather mundane yet magically spectacular images like this that fuel my love affair with SF on a daily basis.

And even though I’ve lived here almost my entire life, every day, I seem to find another beautiful moment that makes me fall in love with our beautiful City all over again.

I’m sure tomorrow, I’ll find another.

One Sick Realtor

 

I’m sick.

I mean “I wish I could go to sleep and wake up when this is over” kind of sick.

I’m like a walking Nyquil commercial – Sniffling, Sneezing, Coughing, Aching, Stuffyhead, Fever. You name it, I have it. The collection of used tissue at my side is rather disturbing, as are the random grunts and moans that are filling the room I’m in.

The worst part – I can’t think straight. And writing a blog post requires at least a minimum amount of thinking.

So – I decided to to not leave you hanging on the edge of your seats and to give you a little shot of San Francisco. No, it isn’t about real estate, though if you made this bird an offer of a hot dog, I’m sure he’d gladly sell his seat to you.

Anyhow – you might see more of these San Francisco snapshots on the blog from time to time.

Todays’s snapshot? Seagull, originally uploaded by amoraleda.

Have a good week, and stay germ free.

San Francisco Property Spotlight – 282 St Charles Avenue (and a little catching up to boot)

Welcome back to the “San Francisco Property Spotlight” brought to you by yours truly.

Today, I’ve got a shameless plug for a great property, as well as some catching up.

Here we go…

My Shameless Plug…

282 St Charles Avenue – This is an ADORABLE single family home built in 1939.  It has one “real bedroom” and one “real bath” plus a bonus room and bath downstairs (think home office or guest room).  There’s a formal dining room and eat-in kitchen to boot.  This charming home has great character and wonderful details such as period molding, hardwood floors and built-in nooks and crannies. There’s a quaint garden perfect for morning coffee or a Sunday afternoon BBQ.  And commuters will think this place is a dream since it’s is just steps to BART and just a few blocks from 280 (yes doesn’t have freeway noise.)  And priced at just $499K it beats the competition hands down.  I can’t see this being on the market for long, so if this sounds like something you’re interested in – HUSTLE!

And a Little Catching Up…

151 Alice B. Toklas Place #708 – Holy Moly!  Someone got a DEAL!  This 1BR 1BA unit with 1229 sq ft was listed at $620,000 got it’s buyer after 30 days on the market. This place was a bank owned fixer without a kitchen and in need of some TLC. Final selling price?  $580K!  Congrats to the lucky buyer.  A similar unit with kitchen sold at $780K earlier this year.  

334 28th Street proved yet again, that at times, I’m just too conservative about price. This top floor 2BR 2BR 1150 sq ft condominium was listed at $1,145,000. At $995.65 a square foot, it seemed like it might have been priced a smidge on the high side, but that’s where it sold – at  $1,145,000.  And I can’t argue with the fact that I’m not the one that determines the price, the market does! 

And as usual, if you have questions about any of these properties, or about the real estate market in general, don’t hesitate to contact me. I love to talk real estate!

Gone Fishin’

It’s that time of year for me again.  It’s time for summer vacation.  And as I do most years, I am heading up to Lake County for some fishing, boating, kayaking and general relaxation. This year, I’ll add smoke inhalation to the list thanks to all the fires that are burning, but I digress.

I’ll be back in town on the 12th Of July, and will resume the usual blog posting schedule when I return, along with a hectic listing schedule (I’ll have a handful of new listings on the market when I come back – check back towards the middle of July to get the full scoop on them.)

If you really miss me,  you can follow me on Twitter where I might pop in occasionally to say “hi.” 

When I come back, I’ll be ready to jump back into the San Francisco real estate market, so if you need help buying or selling property in the new year, know that I’ll be relaxed, refreshed and ready to work my butt off!

Get Real The Latest San Francisco Real Estate Updates

Just a little blurb to let you know that I’ve just addes a new market report feature to the blog. 

If you just can’t get enough San Francsco real estate market updates between this blog and The City Update(TM), you now have one more option when it comes to getting the latest deets on what the market is doing. 

You can narrow down your reports by zip code or property type, and you can sign up for as few or as many zip codes as you like (you just have to reenter your info for each new zip code/property type). 

You can sign up in the sidebar on the right, or you can sign up right here.

Go ahead, get your SF real estate data fix on!

Oh – and as always, your info will not be sold, rented, shared, abused, danced on, or in any other way misused.  In fact, you’ll never hear from me unless you contact me directly.  Just thought you’d like to know.

 

SF Home Buyers – It’s Time to Get Real

A hint… if you’ve seen 30 properties, and you can’t picture yourself living in any one of them, it’s not that there’s something wrong with all of the properties on the market, it’s that your search criteria is unrealistic.

If you get to this point, it’s time to reevaluate your search, and ask yourself “Do I really want to own a home?” Some people are commitment phobic, and aren’t really ready to commit to buying a home. There’s nothing wrong with that. Keep renting. Renting is OK. Owning a home is not for everyone.

But if you find that you do have the desire to own a home, but you’re just not finding the right home in your budget, you will be faced with two choices:

1. Reevaluate your standards – you may have champagne taste and a beer budget.
2. Keep renting temporarily, and SAVE until you CAN buy the home that’s right for you.

Your REALTOR® will be able to tell you from the beginning whether your goals match your budget. In fact, that’s one of the first things I do when I meet a buyer for the first time. 

I’ve had to be the ”bad guy” on many occasions and have told potential buyers that their goals are unrealistic, or at times, that their financial situation is too risky to stretch to buy as much as they’ve been approved for.

If I’m your REALTOR®, I want to help you buy a home that you like AND that you can afford. 

The reality is that in San Francisco the first home you own will never be as nice as your last rental. 

In SF, it’ll cost you less to rent a home than it will to pay the mortgage on the same home. 

That’s why many people rent and continue to do so – because they can’t afford to purchase.  (Of course, there are other reasons not to purchase a home, but that’s a different topic altogether.) 

If you have homeownership goals but don’t know if they are realistic, contact me.  I can let you know if you need to adjust your goals, your budget or both – and I can do this BEFORE you set out house hunting so that you don’t waste your time chasing a pipe dream. 

San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts: Condo Sales May 2007 vs. May 2008

Here’s the latest Fast Facts update from the SFAR. Updates are provided almost weekly and each week is a different sector of the market (ie. Condos, Single Family Homes, 2-4 unit dwellings, etc.).

Check back next week for more statistics.

Weekend Blog Linkage

Here’s the weekly collection of the internet’s greatest hits (so to speak) from the past week. Some have something to do with San Francisco Real Estate, and some don’t even come close to being SF Real Estate related. Expect these to pop up sometime during the weekend – as my time permits. Enjoy!

“Tread” Carefully [Apartment Therapy]
Another Example of a “Savage” Pit Bull (note sarcasm) [Bad Rap]
That IS Rather Hideous! [Curbed SF]
Can this Really be Safe? [Laughing Squid] 
Is that a Mini-City Driving Down The Street? [What I'm Seeing dot com]