Let’s continue our DEALS DEALS DEALS as we look at the cheapest houses in every one of the Bay Area Counties, and then in some favorite cities!  Today, “The City by the Bay.”  Wait, if you live in the Bay Area, that means some of your County is already by the Bay. 

Okay, today’s Black Friday DEAL is from The City In San Francisco County By The Bay.  Game on!

320 Harkness
San Francisco, CA 94124
$359,000

2 Beds 
1 Baths 
840 Sq. Ft.
$427 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1900 
Lot Size: — 
On Redfin: 5 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Junior, Single-Family Home
Community: Visitacion Valley
MLS#: 403079
Style: Contemporary
County: San Francisco

Short sale subject to lender approval. Tax records show 2 bds, 1ba; however, there are 2 bds and 1 ba downstairs–currently unknown as to legality. Owner occupied, vacant at COE. Open Sunday, Nov. 25 from 2-4pm. Agents please see agent remarks.

Yes, you can check out this 112 year old “Contemporary” at the Open House today!  Let us know about the legality of what you find downstairs.  Note that during our Black Friday Deals we are not responsible for the loss or misplacement of any street name qualifiers.

You know what else this property offers?

Instant equity, baby!  It’s Baaaaaack!

It’s time for your weekend!  How about spending it somewhere exciting, like the big city?  (Noooo, we do not mean San Jose.) We’re willing to go toe to toe with the San Francisco real estate blogs when we have to, and when we have to is when it comes to listing fail.  Here’s an Unhappy Hipsters-inspired example of Better Living Through Concrete, courtesy of Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer.  Thanks very much for this snug single in SF!

766 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94107
$349,000

HOA Dues: $265/mo.
0 Beds
1 Baths
292 Sq. Ft.
$1,195 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 2008
Lot Size: —
On Redfin: 1 day
Status: Active
HOA Dues: $265/month
Style: Contemporary, Modern/High Tech
County: San Francisco
Property Type: Condominium, Studio
Community: Yerba Buena
MLS#: 402288

Architec-designed living in the heart of SOMA. Cubix is a contemporary community located in th Yerba Buena Arts District. George Hauser designed this modern studio resindence which faces Northwest. Stylishly appointed home with concrete radient heat floors, newly upgraded full kitchen with Bosch appliances and cabinetry, and a balcony. Rare storage is included. Green building features lansdcaped roof deck, BBQ, glass-enclosed outdoor picnic area for private parties, succulent garden. Epicenter Cafe is conveniently located on the first floor. Great location next to Whole Foods, SFMOMA, Metreon.

Not only is it architec-designed, it looks like it was architec-spellchecked as well.  This resindence features radient heat floors and a lansdcaped roof deck.  It also features architec-design suggestive of The Stacks.

One way you know there was an architec involved: lots and lots and lots of pictures of a 292 square foot condo.  Bunus: a price per square foot that gives Palo Alto a shove in the shoulder and says, “Can you beat that? Huh? Huh? Can you?”

We lost out to both New York City and Washington DC, this time in the contest for the town with the highest earnings.  Here are the Top Ten, courtesy of CNN/Money, of the places with the highest median family incomes.

People, this is not good. Not only did High Tech lose out to High Finance and High Crimes and Misdemeanors, but there’s Highly-wood right behind us. Also this list is disturbingly full of Least Coasters.

Here’s what they thought of The Specialest Place of Them All (Not Including Mountain View, because for Pete’s Sake, Palo Alto may be Special but it does Not Have Google Anymore).

3. Palo Alto, CA          3 of 25

Population: 65,260
Median family income: $163,661
Median home price: $1,225,000

Nestled in California’s Silicon Valley, Palo Alto has attracted a pile of tech companies — and their CEOs. Not only does tech granddaddy HP have its headquarters here, but so do newbies like Pinterest and Ning. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has a house in Palo Alto, as did Steve Jobs. Stanford University, which falls within its boundaries, adds to the city’s prestige.

Palo Alto nurtures startups and the money that results from their successes. Its residents reap the rewards. Area schools are exceptional, while the city has 35 parks and a Mediterranean climate that varies by only 20 degrees year-round.

See complete data and interactive map for Palo Alto

Did you know that Palo Alto’s climate was More Special than that of any of the surrounding Not As Special cities?  Perhaps Redwood City (Motto: Climate Best by Government Test) is going to have to come over and punch them out for getting airs.

Oh yeah, and Mark Zuckerberg is mostly hanging out in San Francisco these days.  Could he have picked up this little pied-a-terre?  Just kidding, that place was sold to a school, which is now awash in neighborhood NIMBY lawsuits.  But have a look at this SocketSite discussion and see if you can figure out where Mark bought.  Two possibilities: 366 Liberty or 376 Hill.

Travel & Leisure magazine really enjoys making all kinds of lists of cities, and their newest one is a doody.  Whoops, we mean a doozy, sorry.  They’ve just released a list of America’s Dirtiest Cities, which is merely a reverse ranking of the Cleanliness category on their Quality of Life index. They do love making lists.

T&L offers lists of the best city for singles, or for culture, or fine dining on their website, and they do an annual America’s Favorite Cities ranking that adds up a number of those qualities.  But one thing you won’t find is any mention of America’s tenth largest city, San Jose.

There are only 35 cities on T&L’s lists, and as far as they’re concerned, San Jose is merely a very remote suburb of smaller but way more famous San Francisco.  (San Francisco ranks 14th in population and is a quarter the physical size of San Jose.)  The only other California cities on T&L’s rankings are Los Angeles and San Diego, both of which are larger than either Northern California nexus.  Cities they deem more worth your notice than San Jose include Baltimore, Portland (Maine), Savannah, Providence, and Kansas City.

Here’s the SF entry on the dirtiest cities list, and we’ve got the entire list for you as well.  (Spoiler: NYC wins again.)

No. 11 San Francisco

The foodie capital of the nation ranks near the top of the AFC for its fine dining, ethnic cuisine, and cafés. But all that takeout can pile up. A recent study found that one of the biggest culprits for pollution in the San Francisco Bay is food containers—though ironically, they may be floating in from neighboring cities. Voters also commended the locals for being brainy and diverse.

See all the America’s Favorite Cities survey results!

The ten cities with even less civic hygiene than San Francisco are:

1. New York City –  If you can make a mess here, you can make it anywhere.
2. New Orleans –  The Simpsons defamed them far better than we could.
3. Baltimore –  Quoth the raven, “Close the compactor door!”
4. Los Angeles –  You’ll never get out of your car, so you’ll never know.
5. Atlanta –  The litter gets moved around rather than be Gone With the Wind.
6. Philthydelphia –  Sorry, couldn’t resist.
7. Dallas/Fort Worth –  Everything’s bigger in Texas.
8. Miami –  Why clean up? Another hurricane’s just around the corner.
9. Memphis –  Elvis has left the building, but his trash hasn’t.
10. Houston – See Dallas.  Then note they rank #7 and #10, showing that everything’s merely said to be bigger in Texas.

If you’re interested, this T&L link covers how SF has fared on all their lists.  The City by the Bay earns plenty of Top Ten rankings, and only hit bottom on Affordability, Filth, and (you didn’t see this one coming, did you?) Barbecue and Hamburgers (the latter only according to residents; we prefer the travelers’ rankings).  Worst city for barbeque: Anchorage, Alaska.

And bad news, New York City beat us again on Least Affordable.  We really have to work on that.  How about raising the price of cable car tickets to thirty bucks?  The only #1 ranking San Francisco got on anything was its residents’ vote for Ethnic Food.  Otherwise, there was plenty of Number Two all over SF.  And that brings us back to today’s topic.

See the trash in that photo on the left?  That’s Coyote Creek earlier this month (the WINNER!!! in an SF Chronicle piece on dirtiest Bay Area waterways), so San Francisco’s got nothing on us!

You can discuss the relative filth of any city you wish, including the one you live in.  Or anything at all, because this is Your Weekend Open Thread.  How filthy were the Open Houses you visited today?

San Francisco housing market booms bigger than ever

The average monthly price of an apartment lease has risen to $2,734 — up 12.9 percent since 2011 — according to data compiled by the rental data firm Real Facts. The spike in San Francisco rents seems to be spilling over to cheaper markets like Oakland, where the average rent is now $1,835 — up 14.4 percent since last year. Pacifica, where rents now average $1,908, has experienced a 15.6 percent increase.

…

A recent survey by Realtor.com shows that The City’s median listing price is up 15.4 percent since last year, which matches a similar upward tick in Oakland, where the average home is selling for $379,000. The number of homes for sale in San Francisco is down 40 percent since last year, and nearly 60 percent in Oakland.

Congrats to the Real Bay Area for this tremendous achievement!

You heard it here first! This site has been calling this since… oh… 1849. Finally we are back on track to overtake Manhattan, Moscow, Japan, and other world class cities in terms of being unaffordable (e.g. exclusively awesome)!

Let’s check in with an expert, shall we?

“With the rising rents, we’re definitely seeing some people get off the fence,” Kearney said. “But still, a lot more people can afford to pay rent on a monthly basis — even if it’s higher than a mortgage payment — than those who can come up with a down payment. So we’re seeing more and more of those down payments from parents.”

That’s right! Now’s the time to buy! Unlike when the market was tanking (that was also a time to buy BTW). If you don’t buy (with your parents’ money), you’ll be priced out forever!

Here’s a San Francisco Super Special, courtesy of Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer!  Thanks very much for finding more listings for over a thousand a foot!  Too bad this one is… you guessed it.  Pending!

501 Beale St Unit 10h
San Francisco, CA 94105
$1,174,900

BEDS:  2
BATHS:  2
SQ. FT.:  1,161
$/SQ. FT.:  $1,012
HOA DUES:  $750/month
LOT SIZE:  -
PROPERTY TYPE: End Unit, Luxury, Condominium
STYLE: Contemporary
VIEW: Panoramic, City Lights, Bay, San Francisco
YEAR BUILT:  2006
COMMUNITY:  South Beach
COUNTY:  San Francisco
MLS#:  397084
SOURCE:  San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Pending
ON REDFIN:  55 days
Beautifully staged by Arthur McLaughlin. Corner unit at the Watermark. Panoramic views to East & South. Large private balcony. Maple floors, marble baths, Lutron lighting, s/s appliances, custom window coverings, 24 concierge, fitness center, pool & BBQ.

And here’s why PG brought you this confounded contemporary condo:

Because who staged the place is very important!

Almost as important as how much the HOA dues are on this puppy: $750 a month!  Which is actually a bargain, because that includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and most of all, one, count ‘em, ONE parking space!

But who knew that San Francisco could cost almost as much as Mountain View?

Must be because of million dollar views like this one.

Welcome back to Adventures in HDR!  This occasional series shows the cutting edge of today’s real estate photography, if by cutting edge I actually meant OMG my eyes are bleeding.  Today’s featured property was sent in by Petsmart Groomer, so thanks very much!

The update is at the end of the article and it is an important one.

555 4th St #404
San Francisco, CA 94107
$750,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 993
$/SQ. FT.: $755
HOA DUES: $545/month
LOT SIZE: –
PROPERTY TYPE: Attached, Full, Condominium, Unit Above, Unit Below
STYLE: Contemporary
VIEW: Garden/Greenbelt
YEAR BUILT: 2006
COMMUNITY: South of Market
COUNTY: San Francisco
MLS#: 396886
SOURCE: San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 2 days

Welcome to another simply fantastic unit at The Palms. This northern-facing unit is perfect for the SF professional, it features spacious living and bedroom areas, as well as outdoor access to the garden belt. Gourmet kitchen includes SS Bosch stove-top and insert oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, Cabria Stone counter-tops, and Studio Becker cabinets. The kitchen and bathroom flooring/tub area were redone with new grout, wood floors were resurfaced, and new accent paint throughout. Custom CA Cabinetry in living and bedroom closets gives you tons of storage space. This unit comes with deeded parking at no extra cost to your HOA dues. Close to Wholefoods, Safeway, 25 Lusk, District, CoCo500, SF Tennis Club, AT & T Park, and public transportation.

Welcome to another simply fantastic set of photos of this Condo With Too Many Fours.

You think this is something?  Click on through to see the rest, after donning a welding helmet that can shade to at least #13.

(more…)

Have we discussed the price adjustments (up! up! up!) in both buying and renting in San Francisco due to the Facebook IPO?  Not enough!  Let’s see what happens when CNN lets one of its bloggers write a tl;dr post that makes our zip code pieces look like tweets by comparison.

The Facebook effect on San Francisco real estate

By Julian Hebron, contributor @CNNMoney May 17, 2012: 1:27 PM ET

(StockTwits) — The Basis Point is a popular mortgage and housing blog that tracks consumer critical issues and data. It is edited by Julian Hebron, a retail mortgage lender who runs the San Francisco branches of RPM Mortgage.

Three weeks ago, some clients wrote a $1.25 million offer on a 1,400 square foot 3-bed, 1-bath house with original kitchen and bath near San Francisco’s Dolores Park. They weren’t even close. There were 51 offers. It sold for $1.4 million and closed 8 days after offers were due.

That’s the most offers I’ve seen in 10 years. And a different property at that week got 23 offers.

Two weeks ago, another client offered $245,000 over list price on a 3-bed, 2-bath Pacific Heights condo. One of the other 9 offers was the winning bid in this $1.6 million to $1.9 million market segment. That was my client’s fourth rejected offer. He’s looking at two properties in this price range this week, and the listing agents are reporting similar demand: about 10 serious buyers circling.

That’s the norm. It’s what some are calling The Facebook Effect on San Francisco real estate.

That’s the norm: 10 serious buyers circling.  StockTwits goes on at very great length to explain why this is happening, and mentions “The Facebook Effect” as if the term were newly minted.  Here’s what Hebron said in much fewer words.  (The charts are all linked from his article.)

1. Everyone not already working for Facebook is trying to buy before millions of Facebook employees get their license to print unlimited money

You will love this quote from the article:

The San Francisco buyer mindset is that they want to get in before they’re priced out, but they either haven’t reaped their firm’s windfall yet or don’t expect much if any windfall from their firm.

That’s right.  They’re all worried about being Priced Out Forever.  And this has never, never, ever happened before!

2. Ed Lee’s reelection as SF Mayor means tech employers can demand payroll tax adjustments

Twitter threatened to leave SF over the 1.5% payroll tax, what with all the high salaries and the stock option financials on top of that, Lee negotiated an adjustment with a maximum annual tax, and now all the other tech companies will expect similar easements.  Which means they’ll stay in SF, which means high-paid twentysomething technogeeks will continue to buy real estate there, which means you can’t afford anything.

And this is all very interesting, except Facebook is not in SF.  So why isn’t this article called “The Twitter Effect”?

3. Constricted housing supply.  Really, really, really constricted.  Plus rising rents.  Did we mention constricted housing supply?

The key takeaway is that there were only 500-600 annual SF home sales above $1.5 million.  Now, how many people do you think will be wanting one of those better places once the IPO cash hits?

And is it maybe possible that more homeowners would cash out when they start seeing more of these prices? 

Let’s finish out the week with another find in San Francisco. Once those Facebookers get their hands on all that IPO money, lots and land there are going to be made out of unobtainium.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for this SoMa spot, ready for your serendipity.

1376 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94103
$699,000

BEDS: –
BATHS: –
SQ. FT.: –
LOT SIZE: 2,374 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Lots & Acreage
COMMUNITY: South of Market
COUNTY: San Francisco
MLS#: 392692
SOURCE: San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 126 days

Billboard on Site

This urban homestead, or Garage 4.0, depending on what use you feel is best, ready for you to build upon.  But there’s so much more than a generous half of a tenth of an acre lot.  There’s also a steady stream of hard liquor advertising dollars, too.

Well, the billboard seems attached to the building next door, but we didn’t say the advertising payments would be going to you.  The agent just notes there is a “Billboard on Site”. 

The photo also reveals that you’re close to transit.  Real close.  So let’s get a better picture of the lot, courtesy of Google Streetview.

Billboard still on site.  Facebook’s better watch out for you!

Average Rental Apartment Listing Price

Don’t you wish you had taken my advice every day of every year and purchased already? Look, now you’re priced out of the American Dream of home ownership, and you can’t afford an apartment!

Cardboard boxes for your!

Anyone want to predict what the 2 year over year will be? I’m guess it will be 3500% percent across San Francisco as every single company in SoMA IPOs this year.