Real estate powerhouse Trulia commissioned a good and proper Harris poll to find out just how frightened home buyers are at the prospect of purchasing a foreclosed property. The survey was conducted over a three day period in April; findings are as follows:
· 69 percent of U.S. adults are a bit skittish about purchasing a foreclosed home (and really, who can blame them given the— ahem— massive media hype surrounding the mortgage crisis.) Fears: 69 percent cite hidden costs, 35 percent risk, and 33 percent fear a drop in home values.
· However, more than half would at least consider it— or thing about thinking about it.
Otherwise, good luck to you— and your little dearies. The kids! Trulia just completed a study on over 140,000 public schools nationwide, adding the stats to their ever-expanding database of all things real estate related (obsessive compulsive soccer moms, go!). San Francisco's public schools? Uh, yeah. Let's be polite for once and simply say that they don't quite measure up performance-wise when weighed against median home prices for the area. Best bet: the oft-snubbed East Bay. Or the French American School in Hayes Valley. Quel horreur!
· Get the Best Education for Your Real Estate Buck [Trulia Blog]
We asked the folks at listings search service Trulia if they had any interesting unpublished data on neighborhood trends, so they whipped up this graphic showing the hottest San Francisco neighborhoods for summer 2007, based on searches on their site. Good onya, Noe Valley. We'll revisit this chart quarterly to see if another neighborhood can claim the throne.
· San Francisco Real Estate Search [Trulia]
The third Trulia Trends Report came out today- you can download the PDF from their blog. It's a continuing collaboration between Trulia and Jonathan Miller. Although this month's report focuses on Phoenix, their "Hot List" features cities with the most search activity on Trulia. San Francisco comes in second after Manhattan. Note to brokers: upgrade those clunky websites.
Are realtors beginning to understanding the promise of the internet rather than its threat? Here come the big boys- the real-estate giant Realogy has joined with Trulia to put their listings online. Two quotes from Brad Inman:
Listings everywhere is now the norm
Freedom feels good for the consumer
Not exactly a great news day for print advertising and classifieds. Does using Trulia reduce tech costs overall for Realogy? Sleek multistory Trulia infomercial on Youtube above includes a cameo of Derek Rey (The guy shown above is neither Brad or Derek. It's Jerry Knapp of Alain Pinel.)
· Press Release [Realogy]
· Realtruliology [Brad Inman, Inman Blog]
· Rey Estate [Derek Rey]
[Our email was busy last week with tips and commentary... until comments are up, keep it coming. Italics yours.]
185 St. Germain Avenue, $2,150,000: They got about asking price, but it sure took a long time to move. Like forever.
· This Weekend on St Germain [Curbed SF]
The Beacon: I heard from a realtor looking to sell a unit in the building that the lawsuit is pretty much over. The lawyer (Catalano) needed a certain percentage of the unit owners to join his onerous contingency fee arrangement to make it a class action lawsuit and he didn't get anywhere near the number of people he needed to sign up. Not sure if he completely withdrew the lawsuit from this and the other two projects(Metropolitan and Watermark) as everyone has been suspiciously quiet about the whole thing, but that's the latest rumor I heard (about a month ago). Realtors will say anything. Although for once this sounds plausible.
· The Beacon: It's All Over [Curbed SF]
1A Buena Vista East: This is a ground floor/almost basement apartment. I've lived down the block for 2.5 years and I remember when this was for sale about 2 years ago. Asking price then was, I believe, in the 400s. I remember thinking it's good they bought those louvered blinds cause you can never open your windows without having all of Haight Street peeking in.
· Trulia Searches [Curbed SF]
315 Santa Barbara:
[Shown at top] Crazy Feng Shue... the open house was packed, doors kept opening and people popped in and out of rooms and passageways. Amazingly unattractive inside with successive additions tacked on like the Winchester House. All bathrooms still vintage, including one maroon and yellow. Go Redskins. Yes we could live in the pool house. It's got a kitchen, bath, sauna, sitting room and a potential bedroom. Pool is heated. Could be grand again. Now we know why it's still on the market.
· Where Are They Now?
We took a peek at the Trulia Blog blog today. Just below its timely bit on ski areas, a chart on most-searched neighborhoods in San Francisco, highlighting the Sunnyside and Bernal Heights neighborhoods. Both of which have (Trulia's) average listing prices under 800K. Glen Park, right between the two, was middle-class once. Most-searched neighborhood was Ashbury Heights, where there's often nothing on the market except Edwardian-period mansions in the under-$3M range. Trulia did lead us to this more-Haight-than-Ashbury (same zip code) TIC in one of San Francisco's flatiron buidlings- the much-photographed classic pale grey Victorian at Buena Vista and Haight. Yours for $639K.
· Trulia Trends [Trulia Blog]
· 1A Buena Vista East [Trulia]
· 1A Buena Vista East [Brendan DeSimone/Paragon]
About Curbed SF
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
Real estate powerhouse Trulia commissioned a good and proper Harris poll to find out just how frightened home buyers are at the prospect of purchasing a foreclosed property. The survey was conducted over a three day period in April; findings are as follows:
