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The San Francisco Rent Explosion Ain't No Joke. It's Real Folks! 

8/13/2014

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Our friends at Priceonomics  are tracking just how hot the SF rental market is. They are calling it a rent explosion! Below are the updated averages for a 1bd in the City by the Bay, broken down by neighborhood and year-over-year. 
The Changing Landscape of the City
Long time San Francisco residents will notice something strange in the above charts: historically inexpensive neighborhoods, especially downtown and the surrounding areas, are now some of the most expensive...Over the past year, rents have continued to increase, but not uniformly. Asking rents have increased tremendously downtown, mid-market, and in the southern part of the city that offers the shortest commutes to the South Bay.

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Niche Interiors Interview Herman Chan about SF Luxury Homes 

8/13/2014

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Niche Interiors sits down with Herman Chan to pick his brain the San Francisco Luxury Real Estate and Design Market! Find out the answers these pressing questions on their site! 


  • What are the biggest mistakes you see on the exterior of luxury homes on the market?
  • What are the top three things homeowners can do to make the best first impression?
  • Would you recommend the same improvements in Pacific Heights as you would in Noe Valley, Piedmont or Palo Alto? Are there regional trends sellers should pay attention to? 

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Like It or Not, What They're Saying About SF is True...Prices & Rents Soar in Past Decade! 

3/20/2014

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Property Shark did some investigatin' and found that what they're saying about SF is true. Prices and rents be soaring! 
They looked at every home that was sold in the years 2003 and 2013, then compared the median sale prices, adjusting the 2003 prices for inflation.

What they found from comparing the more than 6,000 transactions completed in San Francisco in 2003, and the 8,000 done in 2013, was that prices are indeed on the rise in most parts of the city.  


"It's a very hot, hot market, and this really underscores everything else everyone is talking about in San Francisco," Jorisch said. "Whether it's the rental market or sales market, there's not much available in San Francisco, and if you're intending to live there, it's costly. It's the best example of supply and demand out there." 
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My Property Beat Radio Interview! Secret Tips For Buyers in SF, Where's Market Headed & Whats 'Price to Entice' About?

3/20/2014

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New Real Estate Podcasts with The Property Beat on BlogTalkRadio
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Real Estate talk show hosts Cliff Perotti & Lisa Perotti  had me on their program The Property Beat...and boy what fun! These 2 grilled me about what's happening in this outrageous SF market, how I started videoblogging and more!  

Tune into the show to find out my answers to:

1.   What are the challenges you see for a first time home buyer in SF today?

2.   What do you think about the market today vs. last year… is it better, flat or not as good?

3.  what advice do you give a buyer who’s writing an offer in a multiple offer situation?

4.   So, is your notoriety helping your clients? Or is it helping you get clients?

5.   We’re seeing some agents out there that like to price a property on the low side, in an effort to generate overbid frenzy. Do you recommend this strategy for a seller today?

6.   What are the top three things you think a seller can do to maximize the selling price of their home?



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Did Rent in Your San Francisco 'Hood Go Up or Down in 1 Year? 

3/2/2014

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Zumper crunched their numbers and found the rental increases weren't city wide since January 2013!  Marina, SOMA, Dogpatch, Bernal Heights saw highest gains. But some places went down, contrary to popular belief. 
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SF Bay Area Housing Reality: Loooong Commute or Smaaallll Home....Unless You is Rich! 

2/11/2014

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Regular folk ain't gotta prayer to stay near San Jose/SF. SF Chronicle reports:
Squeezed by astronomical home prices and rents that are almost as unaffordable, a growing number of Bay Area residents are pulling up stakes and trading long commutes for cheaper housing.

They're heading to places like Tracy, Mountain House, Patterson, Hollister and Los Banos. Some are buying bigger homes and others are renting for much less, hoping to put money aside for a down payment of their own one day, in a replay of the eastward migration during the dot-com boom.

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Walkscore.com Ranks San Francisco As 2nd Best City to Live Car-Free After NYC (But Just By 1 Point! We Catching Up!) 

1/28/2014

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I've increasingly seen my clients pay a premium to be close to things to do, eateries, amenities and just life! (especially my Millenial and baby boomers clients). No one wants to drive 20 minutes just to get a latte!  Now there's proof from Walkscore.com
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From WALKSCORE.COM: 
Living Near Public Transit

There’s growing evidence that buying a house or renting an apartment near public transit is a smart idea.

  • First, it’s likely a better investment.  The National Association of Realtors found that home values performed 42% better when they were located near public transit1.  In Boston, a recent study showed that home prices near public transit outperformed the region by 129%2.
  • Living near public transit saves you money. The average American spends $9,859 per year on their car3. Did you know this is the equivalent of a $135,000 mortgage?!  Transportation is the second largest expense for American households4.
  • And living near good public transit might just make you happier5 — after all, nobody likes being stuck in traffic.
Are WalkScores important to you when buying a place?
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SHOCK STATS: For Each Mile Further You Go From SF, Rents Drop $17!!...The Struggle is REAL in SF! 

1/27/2014

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Modern Luxury breaks down the cheapest and priciest rents around San Francisco: "According to a simple linear regression we ran, for every mile that you move away from San Francisco, you save $17 a month on rent."
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Least Expensive
10. City: Rohnert Park
Average Rent: $1,382
Region: North Bay
Distance to SF: 48.2 miles

9. City: Concord
Average Rent: $1,375
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 30.8 miles

8. City: San Leandro
Average Rent: $1,305
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 21.3 miles

7. City: Richmond
Average Rent: $ 1,305
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 18.1 miles

6. City: Pittsburg
Average Rent: $1,278
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 40.9 miles

5. City: San Pablo
Average Rent: $ 1,266
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 19.9 miles

4. City: Vacaville
Average Rent: $ 1211
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 54.4 miles

3. City: Fairfield
Average Rent: $1,172
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 47.1 miles

2. City: Vallejo
Average Rent: $1,148
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 31.9 miles

1. City: Antioch
Average Rent: $1,120
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 45.3 miles

Most Expensive
10. City: Mountain View
Average Rent: $ 2,362
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 38.1 miles

9. City: San Mateo
Average Rent: $2,397
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 19.5 miles

8. City: Redwood City
Average Rent: $2,437
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 26.5 miles

7. City: San Bruno
Average Rent: $ 2,479
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 12.1 miles

6. City: Berkeley
Average Rent: $2,502
Region: East Bay
Distance to SF: 13.9 miles

5. City: Cupertino
Average Rent: $2,539
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 46.3 miles

4. City: Los Gatos
Average Rent: $2,540
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 53.9 miles

3. City: Foster City
Average Rent: $2,584
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 22.0 miles

2. City: Palo Alto
Average Rent: $3,013
Region: South Bay
Distance to SF: 33.7 miles

1. City: San Francisco
Average Rent: $3,056
Region: West Bay
Distance to SF: 0 miles




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Affordability & Proximity to SF & Silicon Valley Catapult Alameda County to Top of Migration Rankings! 

12/27/2013

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herman chan Alameda County real estate agent
San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Alameda County officials credited the area's proximity to jobs in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, coupled with its affordable housing, for the population boom. Oakland, Fremont, Dublin and Hayward led the surge.

"San Francisco has become out of reach for most people. Alameda County has always been a little more affordable - now people have discovered that," said Darien Louie, executive director of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance. "It's not just affordability; it's parks, open space, family amenities. People are finding it has a lot to offer."

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When Tech Companies Rename Downtown San Francisco as #CloudCorridor, It's Cool. When Realtors Rename Area, They Are Slammed! WTH?

10/23/2013

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When realtors rename a neighborhood, all hell breaks loose! (ie, check out this scathing Bold Italic article about NOBE in Oakland)   But when tech companies do it, they get praised to high heaven! What's up with that?!  BuzzFeed has more.
SF Examiner:
It’s a concentration of more than 50 cloud-computing companies that have set up shop between Market Street and AT&T Park. Today’s Cloud Corridor is roughly located in what used to be called the Multimedia Gulch during the first dot-com era. Names come and go. But with our digital lives moving to the cloud, these techies claim their innovations will determine the future as much as Silicon Valley has transformed our lives already.

Such impact requires a memorable name.

Is Cloud Corridor a marketing ploy? Sure. But so was Silicon Valley. No one called it that until 1971. The media forever branded it the place where cool stuff happens.

Names matter because any city that gets to coin the zeitgeist’s next big tech destination will enjoy economic benefits for decades to come. Based on the venture capital dollars flowing into San Francisco, we’re already being called the “new” Silicon Valley. But we deserve a unique name.

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SF Chronicle Selects My Photo For #HowSFseesSF! 

9/3/2013

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San Francisco Chronicle Herman Chan Realtor
I was so flattered when Jeff Elder (San Francisco Chronicle's social media guy) approached me: They wanted to feature my image! SFgate.com started a new Instagram gallery #HowSFseesSF: "An SFGate project letting San Franciscans capture The City their way."  

Over 3,000 pics posted & they picked just 30, including mine! OK, guys, this has given me the courage to greenlight a project I'm secretly working on. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, follow me on Instagram.com/hermanity PLZ! 

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New SF Oakland Bay Bridge Debuts Against Backdrop of Old Bridge

9/3/2013

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San Francisco Oakland Bridge shot by Herman Chan Realtor
Photo Credit: Herman Chan
The new Bay Bridge just opened and I drove across it to snap this photo! It did take 11 yrs and $6.4B, but I think it was worth it. It's about time we got a trophy bridge, eh?  Atlantic Cities:
The new span of the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland has been under construction for 11 years, during which time it grew to become the largest public works project in California history. At final tally, the construction cost $6.4 billion, five times what the bill looked like a decade ago. And in all that time, the project has been famously dogged by political controversy, construction delays, and engineering flaws.
Below is a cool timelapse video of the construction!
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Tenderloin / Mid-Market to be #1 Neighborhood for Housing Development! Is It Gettin' Bou-Ghetto!?

9/3/2013

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Top 10 SF  neighborhoods for new housing ...Herman Chan says
SocketSite:
 The top ten areas being targeted for the near-term development of new housing in San Francisco are:

10. The Mission (930 new units)
9. South Central (1,210 units)
8. Western Addition (1,240 units)
7. Transbay (1,340 units)
6. East SoMa (1,480 units)
5. Mission Bay* (2,088 units)
4. Rincon Hill (2,370 units)
3. Market/Octavia (2,410 units)
2. Showplace Square/Potrero Hill (2,950 units)

And with nearly 4,000 units either under construction, approved, or proposed to be built, the number one area for new housing development in San Francisco is "Downtown" which includes Mid-Market and the Tenderloin.

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Bay Area Prices Skyrocket to 5 Year High! OMG, What to Do?!

7/31/2013

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Innerestin'  factoid: Buyers paying in cash accounted for 27.6 percent of sales in May, down a bit from April. The monthly average back to 1998 is 13.1 percent.  Read more here! 
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Census Says SF Full of OverEducated, Overseas, Overpaid Gays! (Not Necessarily In That Order Though) 

6/18/2013

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Fellow San Francisco blog  The Front Steps posted this interesting breakdown of SF. Apparently lotsa rich smart folk and plenty of gays live here! Well, that ain't no surprise!  
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Median SF Bay Area Prices Still $174k Under 2007 Peak!

6/15/2013

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Mercury News:
"The current buyer frenzy has several ingredients: interest rates kept low by the Federal Reserve; a low inventory of homes for sale; high rents relative to home prices; rising incomes and job security; and investors and others paying cash for low-end houses and condominiums."

"At $564,250, the median sales price of an existing single-family Bay Area home in May was 23 percent below its 2007 peak of $738,500 just before the crash, according to DataQuick."

"The Peninsula & South Bay have regained most of their post-bubble losses, while Contra Costa & Alameda counties have a long way to go."

Innerestin' times! 
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OHH EMM GEE! Median 2 Bedroom Rent in San Francisco Hits $4000/mo! 

6/10/2013

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Median rents for one-bedroom apartments by neighborhood in San Francisco (Zumper).
The apartment rental startup Zumper has updated its maps of the median rents for one and two bedroom apartments in San Francisco by neighborhood. It found that the median price for a one-bedroom in the city is now $2,764. The median price for a two-bedroom is $4,000.
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The median is the numerical value separating the higher half of a data set from the lower half.

In San Francisco, these rates vary substantially depending on which part of town you're looking in. Much like its notorious micro-climates, the city features micro-pockets of relatively affordable rental units.

For example, here are the three most expensive neighborhoods to rent a one-bedroom:

South Beach - $3500
Russian Hill - $3410
Financial District - $3350

And here are the three least expensive neighborhoods to rent a one-bedroom:

Outer Richmond - $1850
Outer Sunset - $1975
Inner Richmond - $2015

As for the three most expensive neighborhoods to rent a two-bedroom:

Financial District - $5800
Marina - $5450
Cow Hollow - $5400

And the three least expensive neighborhoods to rent a two-bedroom:

Outer Mission/Excelsior - $2460
Outer Sunset - $2525
Lakeshore - $2640

Zumper Co-Founder & CEO Anthemos Georgiades explained the methodology the company uses to construct these maps:

  • "We use medians for the average prices to discount outlier listings and so as to not over/understate the real prices."
  • "These May 2013 asking rents are perhaps different to what some readers may currently be paying if they rented a few years ago or if they are still paying rent- controlled prices. However, these are the current prevailing prices for available apartments on the market today."
  • "Most units on the market tend to be newer (read: non-rent controlled) developments built post-1979, since they experience more turnover. These units are often renovated with many more amenities than their rent-controlled counterparts, making them more expensive."
As for the "least expensive" neighborhoods on the list, this too is a relative matter, especially for low-income families. Earlier this year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that San Francisco is thesecond least affordable rental market among all U.S.cities, after Honolulu.

The rental situation is driving some of those seeking apartments to take extreme measures to enhance their chances.

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You'll Need Dramamine To Live on This Floating San Francisco Home!

6/10/2013

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Do you ever see those floating boxes on Mission Creek by AT&T park? Those are homes! And the Decoist highlights a spectacular  one here. 
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Median Home Price in San Francisco Hits $1,000,000. That is all

5/31/2013

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Real Estate Real Simple: Herman Chan's New San Francisco Chronicle Web Series

2/5/2013

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Beyonce announced her world tour at the SuperBowl. Herman Chan announces his new web series Real Estate Real Simple for the San Francisco Chronicle...Okay, so it ain't exactly comparable, but hey, I can dream right? The series is Q&A sessions with readers from the SF Chronicle about housing and design. The webisode below is about decorating a living room with small mirrors. (I love the video introduction they made for me. Fancy!)
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Herman's Top 5 Asian Restaurants in San Francisco (Guest Blog Post for EatinAsian.com!) 

1/15/2013

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Which restaurant is this from my Top 5 list?!
My good friend & TV Host Kimlai asked me to guest blog about my Top 5 San Francisco Asian Restos for her hit foodie blog Eatin Asian! 

What do you think?! So hard to narrow down since San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any other city in America! We eat like nobody can. 
  • Great Eastern Restaurant
  • Slanted Door
  • Dosa's
  • The House
  • Hong Kong Lounge
Read my full review on these delish eateries here!



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SF Ladies, If You Value Your Marriage, Avoid These Adulterous Neighborhoods!

1/7/2013

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Ashley Madison, the infamous hook up site for married people seeking affairs, posted the top 10 cheating neighborhoods in San Francisco. SF Weekly reports: "San Francisco is a great place to have an extramarital affair, especially in the wealthy enclaves of the city, where you are most likely to find a cheating spouse". Hoity Toity Pac Heights, Fidi, & Marina Districts lead the pack. But you can't just blame the men. I know a whole lotta females who vulture these 'hoods hoping to marry up too! Just sayin'

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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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San Francisco Chronicle: How to Open Up a Small Room!

10/10/2012

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As San Francisco proposes even tinier apartments via Supervisor Scott Wiener's legislation, check out my tips on opening up a small room from San Francisco Chronicle! 
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Secret SF Shuttles for Google, Apple, Facebook Revealed!

10/10/2012

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Silicon Valley is the hot bed of technology! ....But everyone wants to live in San Francisco. So corporations like EA, Yahoo, Apple, Facebook, Google have private shuttle systems to ferret their little worker bees to work and home. These are secret lines, but my peeps at Uptown Almanac have published it! 
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