Habitat for Hermanity: Your Real Estate Infotainment...Where Housing Hilarity Ensues! San Francisco Bay Area Realtor Herman Chan

SF Bay Area Luxury Homes Skyrocketing!

1/31/2014

Mercury News has the latest stats for lux properties in SF/Silicon Valley, and it's getting mind boggling. $1M dollars don't get you much round these parts.

The big-ticket sales were concentrated in the South Bay, Peninsula and San Francisco, where companies such as Google and Facebook were sending waves of newly minted millionaires out searching for their dream homes, which were in short supply. Bidding wars pushed high prices even higher.

Courtesy Bernard Andre -- This home on Park Lane in Atherton sold for $30,300,000

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In Today's Episode of Crazy Things Rich White People Do: $2M Mansion in Marin Burns to The Ground The Day of Tenant Eviction! Arson or Coincidence?!

10/24/2013

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Remember that 1990 thriller Pacific Heights, where tenant and landlord fought til the bitter end? That's basically what happened in real life, but not in Pac Heights, but in another uppity area called Marin.

You see, a software entrepreneur was renting this $2 million dollar Tuscan McMansion for $10,000/mo. But within 6 months, he couldn't make payments, so he offered some profit sharing with landlord in lieu of 1/2 the rent. (that sounds like a ding dong idea, but whatever).

A nasty disagreement between the 2 launched a protracted ugly public fight (Check out all the files at Marin County. These people were out to destroy each other!). Judge sided eventually with landlord, and that's when things got suspect! The day of the tenant eviction, the house gets incinerated! Things that make you go Hmmmm!

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Let's Celebrate Judge Judy's New $10M Beverly Hills Mansion: Watch Her Cut This Landlord Who Claims Tenant Makes Whoopie Too Loud! LOL!

5/29/2013

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My idol Judge Judy drops 10.7 million clams for a Beverly Hills compound! Real Estalker reports it has 4,680 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms. She earns an astounding $865k for each day she is on set. Watch this tenant/landlord dispute clip & you'll see why she is worth penny!

Also, watch this landlord complain about her tenant making whoppie and breaking her headboard! Cracked me up! (starts at 5:00).

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All The Glitz & Glam Can't Save Versace Mansion Embroiled in Legal Problems! Price Cut from $125M to $75M!

5/26/2013

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Tid-bits about Gianni's Mansion (via Curbed):

1) Versace's 'naughty room' included a six person shower.
2) Versace demolished a neighboring art deco hotel so he would have space for his mosaic encrusted pool. His medusa-head logo covers the bottom.
3) Each of the mansion's ten bedrooms has a different fantastical theme, including 'aviary' and of course 'naked menz'.

Curbed Miami Rounds Up Why This Place Can't Sell:

The house is embroiled in legal problems, including restaurateur Barton G's lease that lasts through 2020, accusations of price inflation, a mortgage in default, a lender looking to foreclose, and three years of unpaid property taxes

Gianni Versace. Happier Times. Era of The Supermodel

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R.I.P. Marty of Madagascar!...This Is Real Photo of $3.4M Atlanta Mansion...Boy, This Stager Has Got ISSUES!!

4/10/2013

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$8.9M Palace in San Francisco's Ex-Racist Neighborhood Hits Market!

4/5/2013

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Check out this fantabulous Beaux-Art mansion in San Francisco's exclusive neighborhood Presidio Terrace. And by exclusive, we mean class-ist, folks. LOL. It's super gated to block us proletariat riff-raff out! They used to be racist there too! Ain't no place for a working class gaysian like me. More pix and info at Huff Post!

Home to California Senator Dianne Feinstein before she decamped for Pacific Heights in 2006, Presidio Terrace is infamous for its long-invalidated race restrictions. "There is only one spot in San Francisco where only Caucasians are permitted to buy or lease real estate or where they may reside," read an early 20th Century advertisement about the neighborhood. "That place is Presidio Terrace."

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My, What an Interesting House...And By Interesting, We Mean Ugly!

12/12/2012

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this house don't know what it is!

This $1.425M house in Texas suffers from a personality disorder. It's a mash up of contemporary stucco, colonial brick up, gaudy 80's window blocks, to suburban discotech!

Dining room Disco fever!!

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Mansion from 'Nashville' TV Show for Sale For $19.M

11/6/2012

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I'm sure the owners timed this on purpose. If my house were being featured each week on a national TV, I'd capitalize on that exposure STAT! basically, it's like having your listing beamed into millions of people's living rooms. Hooked On Houses has all the deets!

Deacon can strum my guitar anyday!

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Buy a $2.1M House, Tear It Down, Build New House: That's How They Roll in Silicon Valley Now!

10/21/2012

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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Google Desktop's Steve Lawrence & Danis Dayanov of Talkatone/LinkedIn ALL paid a small fortune to buy a house in Silicon Valley, only to demolish it and build a new home! Gadgets or property, them tech nerds will always love shiny new things!

Some Stanford University neurosurgeon w/ too much dough moved into this $5M home 3 months ago in Los Altos Hills, CA. after knocking down a ranch-style home on the lot.

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$15M Is Not the Price...It's the Price CUT for This Bel Air Home

10/17/2012

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After lingering on the market since 2010, this overly gaudy, er decorated, Bel Air Mansion in California finally slashed its price from $40m to $25M. Some ppl are just slow learners!

photo via radaronline.com

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SuperModel Maggie Rizer Shows Off Her Fabu East Bay Home!

10/13/2012

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Check out American Supermodel and activist Maggie Rizer's simply fabulous home as showcased by Refinery29. A far cry from the hustle & bustle from her NYC modeling days, she now lives in San Francisco East Bay, hoity toity town of Diablo. Average income is well over $200,000/yr. Girlfriend married up!

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Priciest Home In San Francisco in Contract--Finally!

10/13/2012

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Uh oh! The listing for 2845 Broadway at $38,500,000 was suddenly ripped from the MLS! Rumor has it the most expensive home in SF ( currently owned by the Sperlings) is actually (and finally!) under contract. 2845 Broadway was purchased for $32Min 2002, remodeling the 17,500 sq ft main home & 6,000 sq ft guest house soared over $20M...and it's not even finished! It will set back a buyer another $8-16 million to complete the build.

Per SocketSite, "Originally listed for $65,000,000 in 2006, if the sale of 2845 Broadway closes within 14 percent of its most recent list price it will be the most expensive home ever sold in San Francisco, relegating 2840 Broadway to the penultimate position at $33,000,000."

Please send me tips if you know any details about the deal or buyers!!

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Adrienne Maloof of 'Real Housewives' List $26M Beverly Hills Mansion...She Got it for $12M in 2004!

9/21/2012

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I get that it's Beverly Hills and all, but this is just sooo over the top it's almost a parody. Not really my style. What do you think? Good luck to Maurico Umansky who has the listing and is also on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. This house is the first casualty of Adrienne's divorce.

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Match The Tech Titan to Their House!

8/11/2012

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Guess which mansion belongs to these Tech Titans! Do you think their egos match the size of their house? Answers below!

This Pacific Heights Gem in SF belongs to Mark Pincus (Zynga) for $16M
Jack Dorsey (Twitter) recently snapped up this house perched above cliffs of SF for $10M
Marc Zuckerberg (Facebook) bought this home for $7M.
Mark Cuban, investor guru, owns this 24,000 sq ft Dallas estate

Mark Cuban made billions from sale of Broadcast.com back in the day...the original dot-commer

Mark Zuckerberg: Father of Facebook

Zynga Founder Mark Pincus

Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter and CEO of Square

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Couple Aim to Build USA's Biggest (read: Gaudy) McMansion!

7/18/2012

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This Florida couple have set out to build the tackiest, er I mean, largest house in the good ol' US of A! A knock - off of the Palace of Versailles, the 90,000 sq ft property will also feature movie theater, bowling alley, a skating rink, a gym and a wine cellar with room for 20,000 bottles. Unfortch, they still have $30M worth of work left to do and are only 2/3 done! This classic /cliched story of over-leveraging yourself to chase the American Dream is captured in a new documentary that debuted at Sundance!

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Oh Shoooot! McMansions Making a Comeback?!

6/7/2012

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The average size of a newly built home rose 4% last year, according to just-released data from the Census bureau, cited on MSNBC. When people are struggling, job market stinks, and home prices languishing, how can this be?!

Apparently, rich folk are behind this. According to the National Association of Home Builders, last year rich people bought bigger and more luxurious homes. That skewed the numbers...because most of us peons are renting or downsizing!

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Why McMansions Are Going Bye-Bye!

4/8/2012

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While we're on the topic of gaudy McMansions (see post below), here is why I think McMansions are going the way of the dinosaurs!

I aint' just blowing hot air. The National Association of Home Builders says the average American home is shrinking from a peak of 2500 sq ft in 2007 to just above 2000 sq ft now.

Who needs all that space?! Just ask Dru Schmitt who built a 23,000 sq ft compound. A few days after moving in, he moved out. It was just too big!

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Is it any wonder McMansions are sooooo 2000 & late?!

2/11/2012

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I've blogged repeated about my anti-McMansion sentiments. (I'm pro small space living) And here's empirical proof that McMansions are indeed going the way of the dinosaurs, from Trulia and The Atlantic. It's not just the economy, it's also cultural values shifting. People increasingly are downsizing by choice. Paring down to live simpler lives. The cost of utilities to support a McMansion are sky high! Plus, landscaping & maintenance will kill you! Not to mention you'll spend a fortune on gas driving out to the vapid house in the boonies. Your social life is another casualty of McMansion living. You think you have this fabulous palatial space to entertain, but none of your city friends make the trek out to visit.

What do you think? Can we retire the McMansion? Or will it make a comeback?

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The McRib is back, but the McMansion is Dead

11/3/2011

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Photo from http://mcmansionmakeover.blogspot.com/

Yes, the McRib has made its triumphant return to America, but let's not forget another Mc whose glory days are gone. The Mighty McMansion.

One of my favorite websites Gawker ("Today's Gossip is Tomorrow's News") posted an obituary for the McMansion. Once a symbol of American decadence and excess, the McMansion is now nothing more than brothels, pot farms or remnant of faux suburban paradise.

According to the Wall St Journal, buyers are finally realizing they don't freakin' need a room for every single purpose. It's like the kitchen. How many darn kitchen appliances do you really need!? Some people's kitchens cabinets are stuff to the max with tools. And it's just for the sake of having them...not using them. Buyers see now that rooms can be multi-purpose (gee, that's a novel idea!). This explains why I'm seeing a new design trend: open flexible floor plans where the common area & kitchen blend together.

Like I always say, "It is not Down Sizing, It is Right Sizing!"

PS: Check out this spot-on blog McMansion Makeover. Hilarious stuff!

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SF Bay Area Luxury Homes Skyrocketing!

In Today's Episode of Crazy Things Rich White People Do: $2M Mansion in Marin Burns to The Ground The Day of Tenant Eviction! Arson or Coincidence?!

Let's Celebrate Judge Judy's New $10M Beverly Hills Mansion: Watch Her Cut This Landlord Who Claims Tenant Makes Whoopie Too Loud! LOL!

All The Glitz & Glam Can't Save Versace Mansion Embroiled in Legal Problems! Price Cut from $125M to $75M!

R.I.P. Marty of Madagascar!...This Is Real Photo of $3.4M Atlanta Mansion...Boy, This Stager Has Got ISSUES!!

$8.9M Palace in San Francisco's Ex-Racist Neighborhood Hits Market!

My, What an Interesting House...And By Interesting, We Mean Ugly!

Mansion from 'Nashville' TV Show for Sale For $19.M

Buy a $2.1M House, Tear It Down, Build New House: That's How They Roll in Silicon Valley Now!

$15M Is Not the Price...It's the Price CUT for This Bel Air Home

SuperModel Maggie Rizer Shows Off Her Fabu East Bay Home!

Priciest Home In San Francisco in Contract--Finally!

Adrienne Maloof of 'Real Housewives' List $26M Beverly Hills Mansion...She Got it for $12M in 2004!

Match The Tech Titan to Their House!

Couple Aim to Build USA's Biggest (read: Gaudy) McMansion!

Oh Shoooot! McMansions Making a Comeback?!

Why McMansions Are Going Bye-Bye!

Is it any wonder McMansions are sooooo 2000 & late?!

The McRib is back, but the McMansion is Dead

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