Thanks to the eagle eye of the author of The N-Judah Chronicles, I discovered another blog that features The Avenues. 

Sunset Style

It’s an awesome little blog (we’re all little blogs aren’t we?) written by a native San Franciscan that has grown up in the Sunset and Parkside districts.  The author takes photos of the buildings and scenery and always has some nice commentary to go with it. 

If you know of something like this for the Richmond District - give me a holler, I’d love to share it with other readers!

Happy Friday Folks!

 While this event isn’t being held in The Avenues, what you learn here might just make our side of the City a little cleaner and a little greener!

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!

So yesterday, the kind folks at Curbed SF gave us a little plug here at The Avenues Blog! For those that read my other blog, you already know that I love me some Curbed SF. And now, I love these wonderful folks even more - yet again, they give the little guys a shot to be seen and heard by the world. Thank you Curbed. Thank you!

And of course, thanks to the many of you have stopped by and checked out the site. It looks like you may have even liked what you saw since you stuck around a little while to check out the few posts that are up already. But this little blog can be so much better with your input!

I’d love to hear your comments on things you’d like to see here in The Avenues Blog! You can leave a comment here on the site, email the author, or drop a note through the instant chat window. Whether you have questions about The Avenues that need answers, have events you’d like to publicize or have a busines you’d like to promote - we’d love to hear from you. This site is about the community and for the community - so please, take don’t be afraid to contribute, or at least to drop a note to say “hello!”

Posts about the Sunset District don’t make it to the blogosphere very often - so when I found this one a few days ago, I knew I had to share it with you folks here.

Submedian is a blog written by a real life San Francisco home buyer.  From Submedian’s blog:

I’m a potential buyer with a family in tow. I’m currently preapproved for a loan that would allow me to purchase a median priced home in San Francisco (~$800k), which I guess puts me in the top 12% of income for the city. The problem for me is I can’t really afford either the downpayment (I’m aiming for 10%) or the monthly nut on a median priced home, so I’m focused on homes that are priced less then the median price, hence the name of the blog: submedian.

Now, Submedian’s post on the Sunset homes showed that home prices in the Sunset ain’t doin’ so hot.  A few things to point out before the discussion really takes off is that only 29 single family homes were found in the Sunset - so I’m not sure if the search only took into account Sunset proper, or if it included Parkside, Inner Sunset, Inner Parkside, etc.  In contrast, all of District 2 has 81 single family homes on the market right now.  Inner Sunset, Central Sunset and Outer Sunset combined have 33 single family homes on the market right now, so I’m going to assume it really is JUST the Sunset district proper and run some numbers to see if Submedian’s research rings true.

According to Submedian’s research, “anybody selling a Sunset home purchased within the past five years is showing negative appreciation” and “if you want to sell your house for more then you paid for it, you better have bought your home a decade ago.” 

So - I thought I’d run some numbers and see if his statements are true.  The following are median prices for the last 10 years for the Sunset District.  The number for 2008 is for all closed sales from January 1st of this year through today.

2008 – $835,000 ( 1% ↓)

2007 – $845,500 ( 3% ↑)

2006 – $815,000 ( 2% ↓)

2005 – $830,000 (11% ↑)

2004 – $745,000 (18% ↑)

2003 – $628,000 ( 9% ↑)

2002 – $575,000 ( 6% ↑)

2001 – $538,000 ( 5% ↑)

2000 – $510,000 (27% ↑)

1999 – $400,000 (13% ↑)

1998 – $354,000

 Let’s look at some of the highlights of this list. 

• If you bought your home 10 years ago, your home has appreciated 235%!
• If you bought your home 5 years ago, your home has appreciated 32%!
• Prices over the last 3 years have remained flat!

When I work with clients, I insist that they find a home that they can live in for at least 5 years.  Real estate, save for a few crazy years, has never been a “get rich quick” investment.  I urge people to look at their purchase as a home first and foremost, and then, as an investment that will eventually earn them a nice return. 

If you are looking for a short term investment with guaranteed return, real estate has really never presented that.

But…

If your objective is long term there is very little support for a theory that you will lose in real estate, especially in the San Francisco real estate market.

What about Submedian’s analysis? 

Well - while the premise that “anybody selling a Sunset home purchased within the past five years is showing negative appreciation” is definitely incorrect - because as the real data shows, prices have appreciated 32% over the last five years.  And the slight up/down change in median prices over the last 3 years isn’t really indicative of negative appreciation.  (Of course, if you take into account transfer taxes and all of the other selling costs, you WILL lose money on a home if you bought within the last 3 years and are selling today.  However, you probably saved a hefty amount in taxes, AND you enjoyed the home you lived in without throwing your dough away on rent - and taking those two factors into account, even someone who bought in the last 3 years would likely break even on their investment.)

In a nutshell - the numbers show that while no one in the Sunset has gotten rich in the last few years, they haven’t exactly experienced negative appreciation either.  They have, however, had the opportunity to live in their very own home in one of the City’s best kept secrets (for those that aren’t too wimpy to handle a little fog here and there, that is! ;-))  So if you’re thinking of buying or selling in the Sunset, don’t be afraid to take the next step and talk to a REALTOR.  We can give you an accurate idea of whether your goals are realistic.  And if you don’t already have a REALTOR, give me a holler - I’m happy to talk real estate!

The Avenues Blog is finally off the ground!  WOO HOO!

It’s taken a while to get this blog running because my day job (and night job and weekend job ) is as a REALTOR in San Francisco.  Most of my days are taken up with helping buyers and sellers across the City navigate the jungle that is the San Francisco real estate market.  And when I’m not working with buyers and sellers, I’m writing about working with buyers and sellers and about the real estate market on my San Francisco Real Esate Blog and on The City Update™, my weekly San Francisco real estate newsletter that launches at the end of this month. 

But when do get a chance to hang my hat, I hang it in the Outer Sunset.  In fact, the Avenues have been my home since I was 2 years old.  I grew up in the Richmond District on 25th Avenue, and then moved to the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood that borders and overlooks the Sunset/Parkside districts.  Today, I live on the edge of the world on Great Highway across the street from Ocean Beach. 

I love The Avenues!  My neighbors are great, the fresh air is invigorating, and the fog… well, it’s actually soothing - in my humble opinion, a blanket of fog brings a sense of calm and stillness to the world, and it seems that everything has slowed down by a bit just for you. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I plan on posting on local events, local businesses, neighborhood history and real estate information throughout the Sunset and Richmond districts in San Francisco.  I plan on posting here 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 here.  I hope to get feedback from y’all along the way to make this blog as awesome as possible.

So please, add The Avenues Blog to your blog readeres or save us as a favorite - and don’t forget to tell a friend about us. 

And while you’re waiting for the fun to really get going here, check out some of my favorite local blogs and web sites in the site bar on the right.  And if you know about MORE local sites I should be aware of - send them over!  I love hints, tips and suggestions!

So I am getting ever closer to getting this blog off the ground.  But - have hit a little road block with a lack of widget capability.  For those that are currently reading this blog (both of you)- you know what I’m talking about.  For those that stumble on this post at some date far into the future and aren’t bloggers - I’m talking about the bar on the side with all of the links that doesn’t work the way that I want it to, or, for that matter the way it should.

So - I’m working on charging through the roadblock - and of course, if it ends up that I can’t charge through it, the theme will likely end up changing. 

For now though, I thought I’d link to a few recent posts from across the blog-o-sphere that are in some way, shape or form, related to The Avenues.

Enjoy - and check back in another week or so to see if the kinks here have gotten worked out yet.

Part of the Great Highway Disappears - and then Reappears with a New Name! [Curbed SF] 
Who is Really Lucky - You or the Fish? [SF Citizen]
What the Happs in the Sunset Today, Tomorrow, Next Week & More [Sunset District Events Calendar]
Sunset Dweller Checks Out Pacific Catch Restaurant [N-Judah Chronicles]
Richmond Dweller Checks Out Seal Rock Inn Restaurant [94121.net]

It’s hard to get organized sometimes.  And that’s why it’s taking so long to get The Avenues Blog up and running.  As of a few days ago - the logo has been made official!  (woo hoo!!!)   

Now it’s time to pick a theme, get my blogroll in order and get the infrastructure put up.

And soon (and I promise, it’s really coming, I swear!) - The Avenues Blog will have it’s official launch! 

I promise to have some information about local events, local business, neighborhood history and real estate information (hey, it’s what I do for a living - I can’t help but want to share my knowledge.) 

In the meantime, if you have stumbled on this blog - I’d love to hear from you! 

Leave me some comments telling me what you’d like to see in this little corner of the internet. 

Or you can also email me directly to give me your 2 cents, or just to say “hello!”

Now hold your breath just a little longer, and I’ll be sure to get the first posts out and churning sooner than you realize.

Stay tuned!