Organic Realtor

Looking to buy a new car?

Michelle — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:50:04 +0000

Check out www.greenercars.org. It’s a great internet resource with information on all models. Their ratings highlights reveal that the Toyota Prius gets the most miles per gallon in the City, and ties with the Honda Civic Hybrid for Highway miles. Not only do greenercars.org provide us with information on the cars they’ve researched, but they have some excellent additional resources on driving green. But don’t take my word for it, check out the site where you can download their Green Driving Tips as a pdf.

Personally, I drive a Prius and love it. It’s the lightest car I’ve driven probably ever, and that’s one the reasons I love it. With these San Francisco hills, the lighter I am, the easier it is for me to climb.

The Market

Michelle — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 05:33:28 +0000

‘Tis the season! Which means lots of parties. I’m having fun and getting really good at answering the question, “So what’s up with the market?” Well, it’s not too different, in some respects. There are more opportunities out there than there have been in the past, but there are still multiple offers and overbidding. So, it’s mixed.

I will say, more realtors are buying now than I’ve seen in recent history. It’s not as bad as when I got started, in 1994, when properties would sit on the market for 3 months and then expire only to be listed by the next available agent, only to languish and so on. Listings are selling, but buyers are being more selective. Bling commands a premium, since most buyers don’t have the time to deal with anything but the best. All cash is a popular option, especially in the premier market (generally, over $1.2). And it is more difficult to qualify for loans, if you have poor credit, little down payment and limited income documentation, but it’s possible and rates are great.

The truth of “the first three rules of a market are local, local, local” is even more dramatically demonstrated. Foreclosures are up, but considering San Francisco has few to begin with, it’s still not a large percentage of the market, locally. However, it is a traumatic event and is clearly affecting many property owners and for that, I am sad. I’m co-hosting a public seminar to provide homeowners with the tools they need to mitigate the impact (http://www.facingforeclosuresf.com).

For information specific to your neighborhood and property type, contact me directly.

Michelle R. Stephens, Realtor^®

Walking Potrero Hill

Michelle — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:00:43 +0000

I went on a beautiful walk this morning on Potrero Hill. There are a lot of construction projects. It’s amazing how much the hill is changing, has changed. Check out these pictures to see what I’m talking about.

Available Listings: http://www.655mississippi.com

West Coast Green, the largest residential building conference and expo in the country

Michelle — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:15:25 +0000

Well, I’m excited about it! And I think you should be too! The green wave is here and I’d love for everyone to participate and benefit from a healthier environment, both in the home and on the earth.

My colleagues and I will be presenting State of Green Real Estate, Green Real Estate: Where Are We Now, and Where Are We Headed? on Saturday, September 22nd starting at 10:30am in room 407. We’ll also be at a booth the entire conference, beginning on Thursday, September 20th, so be sure to come by and see us to learn more about the state of green real estate.

Don’t have a pass to the expo? Just contact me and I’ll hook you up with a complimentary pass.

I hope to see you there!

Potrero Hill on TV! again

Michelle — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:55:56 +0000

This time, the focus is the Hill, the Potrero Hill Archives Project! Peter Linenthal and Abigail Johnston were interviewed by Channel 7 regarding their hard work on archiving the history of Potrero Hill. Check them out on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM1gCBi4n5k.

The Home Buying Process

Michelle — Mon, 28 May 2007 21:36:45 +0000

This is an email I sent my buyer clients and felt it would be good to share with all buyers. Hope you find it helpful!

“I wanted to write to explain the buying process in greater depth. Generally speaking, all buying a house involves is finding a place; getting your offer accepted; opening escrow by depositing your initial deposit at the title company; signing a bunch of paperwork that says you are ok with the condition of the house, the terms of the contract, the actual legal description of the property and the loan documents, or two, if you have two loans; and transferring money. Not too complicated!

To break that out, let’s say we’re in the process of finding the right place. Once we find a place worth writing an offer on, we meet to write the offer together. Before we meet, I try to obtain a disclosure package on the property, so we know exactly what we’re getting in to. We’ll go over the disclosures and the offer together, deciding on the best strategy and the strategy that is most comfortable to you, the buyer. For example, do you make the offer contingent on obtaining a loan? Sounds like an easy answer, of course you do, but if you really want a property and want to make your offer more competitive, you may consider moving forward with just an appraisal contingency. These are the types of strategies we’ll discuss.

Once we write an offer, I present it. I usually suggest you write a letter about yourselves and why you want the property we’re writing on. Sometimes this makes a difference to a seller, and if it can’t hurt, why not. I also prepare a letter to point out the advantages of your offer. If given the opportunity, I’ll meet in person to present your offer.

Then we wait to find out if the offer was accepted. If it is, we move forward with getting inspections, getting the appraisal, increasing your deposit, finalizing any loan arrangements, removing contingencies (the equivalent of saying you want to continue to move forward after inspecting everything), then you deposit your down payment, make an appointment to sign at the title company all of the remaining transaction documents, the loan documents and the title documents. Then we wait a couple of days while the lender reviews the file and decides to “fund” the loan. Once the title company gets the money, they can record, usually the next business day. Then you become the new home owner.

The big steps for you, as the buyer, are: obtaining inspections, deciding to move forward or back out, depositing more money, signing paperwork, obtaining home owner’s insurance, scheduling your move on your calendar and with movers, utilities, etc. , signing at the title company, moving!

Add to all of this to the great emotions that arise when spending this much money and you’ve got a real estate transaction. The joy or pain involved in the process depends on how stressful you find spending large amounts of money and focusing on one big thing for a month. Some people take it in stride, some people, like me, like to move slowly, and some get so frightened, they can’t do it. And all the reactions are ok at different times. That’s what keeps my job so interesting, and thereby fun. Also, I usually get to know some great people a little better, which is my favorite part.

I hope that helps you understand the process a little. I recommend reading through the buyer’s handbook I gave you when we met for the first time, and if you don’t have it, let me know and I’ll get you another. This is a valuable resource when you have what you think is a question not worth bothering me about, but is nagging you, and does a good job of giving you some definitions and things to consider.”

Contact me if you’d like further information or want to work together.

Best,

Michelle Stephens

Direct: 415.637.1898

Thursday, 5 April 2007

Michelle — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:58:46 +0000

Did you read that Yahoo! has a real estate foreclosure portal? It’s kinda cool. Gives you a general idea of how active the foreclosure market is. If you want specifics for SF County, let me know and I’ll connect you.

I agree with the SF Gate article that it’s not for everyone, especially first time buyers. Only because it further complicates the process, but also because you would be adding stress to an already very stressful situation. If you’re calm and cool about purchasing to begin with, it may work out. Otherwise, I think it’s worth exploring, but would just caution buyers from jumping in to it without representation.

On another note, I saw the most beautiful and delicate spider sitting on the front stoop of the office today, almost in a greeting, like an anxious pup happy for the company. Made me smile.

Girl Scout Cookies

Michelle — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:21:52 +0000

What do Girl Scout cookies have to do with real estate, you ask? Well, nothing, except I had the chance to buy some and I didn’t, because I didn’t know…

My office mate’s mom lives in Kansas and has two grand-daughters. She bought cases of cookies and mailed four of them to my office mate. They sat in the office for days and I wasn’t tempted at all, because I recalled there are trans-fats in them. Well, he picked them up yesterday and I no longer have access to them. Which is a good thing, because this morning I read on SFGate.com that the trans-fats have been removed!!! Oh, glory. I can eat them once again. Enjoy!

On-Line Home search resources

Michelle — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:38:16 +0000

Studies show that 70% of buyers use the internet to find a home. Sellers also use the internet to estimate the price of their home. It’s a wonderful tool that realtors use too.

Come January 15, 2007 one public search site in San Francisco will no longer be available to the public. SFARMLS.com public access will be taken off-line. The thinking is that the very organization San Francisco Realtors belong to is competing with them by having such a search site.

What are the alternatives? Just about every brokerage has a webiste where you can search for listings. Some are better than others. From the buyers that I’ve talked to, two sites in particular come up: ZephyrSF.com and ZipRealty.com.

There’s also Oodle.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and LiveDeal.com. They’re all ok, but I found them annoying by comparison and I haven’t met a buyer that uses them, regularly.

Most of my clients prefer Zephyr MLS Direct. This is an on-line search service that I subscribe to as a Realtor and provide to my clients. It’s easy to use, you can save your searches, you will be notified of open houses and can track your favorite listings as they progress from active to sold.

What’s the catch? You have to agree to work with the Realtor that invites you. Ask your Realtor if they subscribe, or contact me and I’ll invite you for a month with no obligation.

More next Monday…

NO POSTINGS UNTIL JANUARY 15th, 2007

Michelle — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 20:14:37 +0000

Hello all,

I’m preparing articles and will begin posting articles again in February.

Happy New Year!