Charlotte’s San Francisco Real Estate Blog

Most people should work with an architect or designer if you’re going to do anything substantial to your home. I am one of the few people who probably should not. The reason I should not is because, modesty aside, I have strong design skills, I communicate well, I am stubborn, opinionated and Fantastically Frugal.  It is true. I hate to part with my cash and am generally a pain in the butt as a client. My idiosyncracies aside, there are positives to working with a good Designer. One of the main things a good Designer can do is to make the permit process work as smoothly as it can, which in San Francisco has caused more than one owner to give up and sell a building rather than wrangle with The City Planning and Building Department.

A good designer can, well, make sure that what you’re doing is going to be worth doing. There’s two ways to go: find a designer or work with a Contractor who can get architectural plans printed and signed off on by a licensed architect. This is non-negotiable when applying for building permits. If you decide to work with a Designer, I highly recommend that you negotiate price as a percentage of the total project. The percentages should be in the 12%-17% range; higher for smaller projects and lower for bigger projects. I would NOT recommend a billing-by-the-hour arrangement. In addition to the percentage of project cost, you may/will incur additional fees for printing of plans, copies, neighborhood notification, permit fees, and structural engineering plans, which are done by a Structural Engineer, not your Architect, and can easily run into a few or more thousand bucks. You don’t need structural engineering on small jobs, but additions and anything significant is going to require it. If you are a stubborn, do-it-yourself type, then you’re probably better off hiring a permit facilitator and working directly with your Contractor.

How to find someone you like:

Start by talking to anyone you know who has done an addition and ask them if they worked with an Architect- if you like what they did. If you don’t know anyone, then go online, look at websites for a variety of designers, and interview at least three of them. You will find out quickly who you connect with.

Another suggestion is to start ripping out pages in house magazines of things you like. Collect them. Ask the people you interview to review them with you to get a sense of what you are trying to accomplish. You will probably discover that you are drawn over and over to the same colors, shapes, and textures and you should try to incorporate those concepts into your design, along with the functional requirements of your space.

Another cheerful note from this week in Real Estate:

Bank of America is making jumbo loans up to $5,000,000 again- must have good credit, 20% down, etc; at 6.25%

Do not believe that the Sky is Falling. It is still firmly affixed.

Well, Plenty. For one thing, you live in San Francisco and you are not freezing to death this week. You’re not really worried whether Russia shuts down gas supplies to Europe, nor what to do with your kids who are not in school in much of the country.

Aside from that: on the housing front, I want to talk about remodeling. Remodeling within reason is still a great way to protect your investment in you home and to make it more enjoyable for you to live in. Plus, with the Stock Market going haywire, you’ll probably lose that money anyway, so why not have some fun with it instead?

This week I visited my friends at Caldwells. Caldwells is a purveyor of doors; and not just any old doors. They have huge, “You may not recognize me but actually yes I am as rich as Bill Gates” doors. They have lovely, moderately priced doors. They have Victorian reproduction doors that, if you are restoring a Victorian home, or just like the look, you will not find anywhere else. (Specifically: know this: They have Eastlake Victorial reproduction doors,four panel and five panel authentic reproduction doors)

I bought eight doors from them last fall, before they moved into their truly amazing showroom at 200 Industrial Blvd. Their prices are amazing, but even better, they sell nothing but high quality products. I am not a shill for them; I just really liked their friendly attitude- even when they were in the old “contractor’s only” location, they treated me in a professional, consultative manner, and made me feel like a valued customer. The new location is cavernous, modern, and sexy. They have a pair of Teak doors in an Asian style that may be the most beautiful doors I have ever seen for about $6000. Now $6000 dollars is a lot of cash, but if you need 8 foot double swinging teak doors, I’m guessing that $6000 is not too much of a stretch.

Check them out at www.caldwells.com/products.

I moved a wall around in the approximately 1100 Square foot, two bedroom home I am currently remodeling to make room for three additional closets and to consolidate and enlarge the existing two tee-nincey bedroom closets. I put in doors that have a luminescent glass in them, which people absolutely love and make the rooms look much bigger as they reflect light. The home is now useful and the space “works” because I fixed the closet problem. The total cost was about $5000, but now I have a coat closet, a kitchen pantry, and two large bedroom closets. Nice.

I read numbers I’m not sure I believe from the National Association of Builders that says that we (we Americans) will spend $8 billion dollars on remodeling in 2009, only slightly down from what was spent in 2008; but statistics don’t ever seem to have much application in my life. What I do know that is that you can get a great contractor now to do a project and quote you a competitive price and that if you know how to shop for materials, you can always get the bang for your buck when it comes time to resale.

Here are some other fun sites to give you remodeling ideas and products:

http://www.fauxwoodbeams.com/beams_regal.php

Faux Ceiling Beams and Find out how to do crazy vaulted ceilings things to your home! Amazing.

http://www.designersguild.com/#

The Designers Guild is how I’d spend money if I was, well, “stupid rich.” But don’t get me wrong, it’s a great source of inspiration. And, by the way, right here in San Francisco, Farhan at ABC Carpets (1 Henry Adams St. ) can reproduce anything you want - literally anything, i.e., if you like your t-shirt’s design, the man can turn it into a carpet; wool, silk, cotton; whatever you want, at about 1/3rd the price of what you’ll drool over at www.designersguild.com. So get creative!

Disclaimer: Don’t sue me; I’m not an attorney, I know there are always potential issues with TIC’s and nothing written herein is intended as legal advice.

I have built financial security by investing in Real Estate. I like what having financial security has done for me, namely, given me the freedom to choose how to spend my time and more specifically to never have to get up at 5 am or earlier to fly somewhere for a client meeting or to take a conference call with the opposite coast. I need my shut-eye. I yearn to impart that security to others as I believe that a nation of well-rested souls could go a long way to solving many ills. I have struggled with how to address the unsurmountable problem of how anyone can get started investing in real estate in cities like San Francisco, New York, or LA. (All Cities I have lived in and invested in, by the way.)

My first real estate purchase was a coop unit in a lovely old Chicago building that had formerly been an SRO on Lake Shore Drive. I put up $3,000. My significant other put up $9,000. The place cost us $67,500 in 1995. What I did right was not to fret over the fact that this place also had an uncharming view of the area where the garbage dumpsters for the building were housed. I focused on the fact that I could live there comfortably, or reasonably comfortably, and still afford to sock away money. I was also lucky that I had someone to help me. Five years later I was able to sell my share for $12,000, which went a long way, added to the money I’d saved during those five years, to buying a Single Family Residence in Los Angeles for $270,000. When I sold that home, after substantially renovating it, I happened to be present when some well-heeled buyers were looking at it. They lamented that it was “all they could afford, when what really mattered to them was to live in Brentwood.” Hmmmn. It was a three bed, two bath, separate two car garage home with amazing landscaping, a fireplace, designer kitchen, and brand-new hot-tub, but the neighbors were not toney enough. My point is that you have to start somewhere. I still don’t live in the poshest of neighborhoods, but I’ve made another great investment. Don’t let your preconceived ideas of where you should  live prevent you from finding a lovely home you can afford.

So what is the connection to TIC’s in San Francisco? Fairly straightforward. I can show you any of about thirty TIC’s all over the City that can be bought for $297,000 to $400,000. As I am a fan of math, because having enough money in my checking account is way easier than keeping it perfectly balanced, let’s do the math to show you that you can likely afford one of these places and still afford a daily newspaper, or latte or whatever it is you can’t live without.

$297,000 (actual price of 1776 Page St. B Unit on market today)Less downpayment (I will address not having this money shortly)  of 10%

$266,300 (Financed at 7%  30 year fixed)

$1,780 per month mortgage

Assume another $300 per month for taxes and insurance, which is a rough guesttimate, but right in there.

$2100 per month out of pocket.

Go check my website, www.charlotteerwin.com, and look up 1776 Page St., B Unit, or better yet, email me and I’ll send you 15 listings in the sub $400K range.
 

OK- cool; totally cool; you DO NOT have two nickels presently to rub together, nor do you have a magic gourd to rub to produce said cash.

Talk to me about the Down Payment Assistance Loan Program, or “DALP.” Federally Funded money to help you get you into a home or condo.  You can make up to $149,000 of combined household income. More than you thought, isn’t it? If you’re single it’s $79,000.

Good luck, happy house hunting, and email me for more information at charlotteerwin@zephyrsf.com