San Francisco

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Sold!

 

condo

Our (former) San Francisco home. Top floor.

We are no longer San Francisco homeowners. We closed on Monday!

The real estate market in San Francisco is beyond crazy right now. In order to sell our place, we shelled out 5K for a new paint job (inside) and another 5K for staging, and multiple other dollars for cleaning, gardening and a hardwood floor repair and polish. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It sold for well over the asking price.

livingroom

The living room, all pimped out.

After all the primping, the selling process was quick and easy. We had two weekends of open houses, a few agent showings and accepted bids on one day only (that’s the way it works, there. You do not accept any bids before the official date). I have to say that even with things being the way they are, we were still a little nervous about how everything would turn out. Selling your home is a stressful process, no matter what market you’re in.

kitchen

The kitchen, looking into the dining room.

dining

Dining room looking into living room and foyer.

2ndbed

Second bedroom and office nook.

backyard

The backyard.

Speaking of the crazy housing market, did you hear about the 3-unit building in Pacific Heights that went for $1.7 million OVER ASKING? According to Curbed SF, the list price was $2.095 million and went for $3.801 million, which means that it sold for 81% over the list price. Or the 4-bedroom home in Noe Valley that went for $1.31 million over? Or the 2-bedroom home in Glen Park (not one of the top most desirable neighborhoods in the city) that sold for $600K over asking? The list of these ridiculous offers is getting longer and longer.

pacheights

The Pacific Heights home that went for $1.7 million over asking last month.                                              Photo credit: sf.curbed.com

So who or what is driving up prices? A lot of it is due to the ever-booming tech market (Google, Facebook, Twitter and various IPOs) and foreign investors are also a factor. Another reason is because there just isn’t a whole lot of inventory out there right now. According to a local news article (KPIX 5), real estate agents said that if “new properties stopped coming on the market, San Francisco would run out of homes in five weeks.”

We’ve already started the house hunt here in Grosse Pointe. The market isn’t as bad here, of course, but it’s still a pretty hot market, considering, and there isn’t a whole lot of inventory here, either. For example, a home we looked at least weekend went on the market on a Friday afternoon and sold by Monday morning. But we’re hopeful. That at least we’ll find something by winter (please God!).  Stay tuned.

*photo credit for all our house photos: zephyr real estate

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument / Sutro Heights

SutroHeights2

The north side of the observation deck.

Yesterday I found a bunch of Sutro Heights pics that I meant to use for a post on (what else) Sutro Heights. Now that I’m no longer in San Francisco, I can’t really write the post I originally intended. Instead, I give you a handful of photos taken on that blustery foggy day for my second installment of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument.

Sutro Heights
San Francisco, California

Sutro.Diana

Sutro.Diana2

The mighty Diana (back view. obviously.)

Here’s a very quick overview of Sutro Heights: A very wealthy man named Adolph Sutro (who also became mayor of San Francisco) built an estate overlooking Ocean Beach, which included beautifully manicured grounds, a huge glass conservatory and an observation deck, which was open to the public.

Most of the estate was destroyed by a fire in 1966, but a few statues and some of the structure still stand. It’s an under-visited park, in my opinion. Across the street is the more-popular (and also super beautiful) Sutro Bath ruins (yep, built by Mr. Sutro) and Land’s End trail.

SutroHeights2

The back of the observation deck.

SutroHeights

Another view of the observation deck.

SutroHeights.parapet

The observation deck circa 1890s. Image courtesy of postcardroundup.com

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

the Golden Gate in Fog

The Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, California

Of course this week’s Photo Challenge has to be the Golden Gate Bridge.
To think I went running here almost every weekend. No matter what the weather, she was breathtaking and inspiring. I always left feeling uplifted and renewed. How I miss her.

the Golden Gate

 

the Golden Gate from Presidio Overlook

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

Plane

On the tarmac at SFO, just before takeoff.
San Francisco, California

This week’s photo challenge, Threshold, is about “that point just before the action happens, that oh-so-sweet moment of anticipation before that new beginning.” And off we go…

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Leaving

“In a way I felt I owned the City as much as it owned me.
San Francisco put on a show for me.” – John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley

ourhouse

Goodbye, House!

I leave today exhausted (three hours of sleep. which will be awesome for a five-hour solo flight with the girls), highly emotional (see the part about three hours of sleep), but with a full heart (bursting!). San Francisco has given me so much, and I feel blessed beyond measure to have spent so much time here.

See you on the other side…