BlackStone, a California corporation, represents sellers and purchasers of San Francisco homes - including single family homes, condominiums, and 2-4 unit buildings; and of residential income property, 5 or more units. We practice Single Agency, exclusively, and not Dual Agency. This means that we represent seller clients and buyer clients, but we never represent both on the same parcel of real estate.
This site discusses the multiple listing service; historical sales prices; seller disclosures; buyer inspections; property taxes; mortgage financing; real estate brokerage ..... Issues affecting home ownership such as schools, mass transit, demographics .... are included; as are The BlackStone Commentaries.
This site is NOT intended as a clone of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, lauding the beauty of San Francisco, its tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, cultural events, professional sports teams ..... and the like. THAT, is done well, by the Chamber and others.
THE CITY
In 1859, the United States was a royal kingdom, with its fabled leader living in and governing from San Francisco: he was, Emperor Norton. Apparently the monarchy died with him.
The term "San Francisco Bay Area" is used to define a nine County area. The ABAG [Assoc Bay Area Govts] site includes a rough map of the Bay Area showing the City and County of San Francisco relative to its neighboring Counties. You can search the entire San Francisco Bay Area by City, in alphabetical order. Many have their own web page.
San Francisco itself is a City and County, governed by elected Mayors and Supervisors. The
San Francisco home page includes the governmental departments for the City and County. Four which impact residential real estate are:
The 2000 Census reported the population of San Francisco itself at 776,733, around which it has lingered for years. Year 2000 demographics are available at the ABAG site: population, race, sex, age, housing, education .....
SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE
The text of the San Francisco Municipal Code, including the Subdivision Code, the Planning Code, and the Public Works Code, is online. Zoning and Use Districts
are defined in the Planning Code.
You can also view the San Francisco Building, Electrical, Housing, Mechanical and Plumbing Codes online.
The San Francisco Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance and the Water Conservation Ordinance are located at Chapters 12 and 12A respectively of the Housing Code, above. A pdf version of
the Consumer Pamphlet is also online.
CONDOMINIUM CONVERSION
Recall that when the Rent Control Ordinance was passed, it did not apply to owner occupied one-four unit buildings. This changed, in 1994.
But in the interim, since 1989, San Francisco has permitted the annual conversion to condominiums of 200 units (units, not buildings) in two-six unit buildings, by lottery. For a discussion of the inter-relationship between the condo conversion process and the Rent Control Ordinance, see the Technical Note to condominium conversion.
RENTING IN SAN FRANCISCO
At one time many property owners placed rental listings on the local Multiple Listing System, through their own real estate brokers. Over the years, as rental agencies persuaded such owners to save their money and let them, the rental agencies, take over, the number of rental listings on MLS has drastically declined. Currently there is no way to list a rental on the San Francisco MLS site.
I believe that the largest databases of current rentals are Craig's List and the classified section of the San Francisco Chronicle. But certain to overtake both is Zilpy.com, which includes historical (ie back six months) rent.
There is an excellent overview called Tenant Evictions in San Francisco, August 2005 by R Boyd McSparran and A Jeanne Jorge of the Gellman office. Linked with Mr. Gellman's permission. The law firm is located at 1388 Sutter Street, Suite 1000, San Francisco, (415) 673.5600.
For tenant issues discussed from the landlord's perspective, I recommend the San Francisco Apartment Association. The site includes rental forms and tenant screening - for members.
RENT CONTROL
Whether you intend to rent a home or to invest in San Francisco real estate you should consult the City's Rent Control Board
and Rent Control Ordinance.
Basically, the Ordinance provides for regulation of rental units for which a Certificate of Occupancy was first issued before June 13, 1979. Originally owner-occupied 1-4 unit buildings were exempt from rent control under Section 37.2(r). But Proposition I, 1994, removed this exemption. Regulation is in two areas:
* Annual rent increases may not exceed the limit set by the Board; provided that the landlord may readjust the rent for a unit when the tenant vacates; and, provided that rent increases on single family homes and condominiums are no longer controlled for tenancies commencing after January 1, 1996; and,
* Tenants may only be evicted for one of the fourteen reasons set forth at Section 37.9 of the Ordinance.
This arena is fraught with legislation and litigation. Adding to the confusion and exasperation is that propositions are proposed which fly in the face of recent judicial decisions. For example, in 2000 the voters were presented with Prop H limiting the return on a landlord's capital improvements to zero, completely oblivious to Valparaiso -v- Cotati, 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 551 (1997).
In Valparaiso the Rent Control Board of the City of Cotati refused to permit plaintiffs to increase rents in order for them to receive a fair rate of return on their capital improvements. The First District Court of Appeal repeated that in California "rent control laws must allow a fair return on investment (here, the capital investment in the property) to avoid an unconstitutionally confiscatory taking."
The Court left no doubt that government may not impose responsibility for public policy on a defined minority: "If housing the poor and other vulnerable groups is a legitimate public burden - and we do not doubt that it is - then 'in all fairness and justice' and under the federal and California Constitutions, appellants contend this burden must be borne by the public as a whole, not just owners of rental property." (p. 556)
It was not lost on the Court that appellants were prepared to introduce Census Bureau figures indicating that the goals set forth in the Rent Control Ordinance had not been met. In fact, "(1) The city has suffered a loss of its housing stock of rental apartments, even though every comparable city in Northern California without rent control has experienced an increase in its rental housing supply; (2) the number of low income renters has 'dropped dramatically' in the city, even though in cities without rent control, the number of such low income renters has increased; (3) the 'reduced availability of affordable housing caused by the Rent Ordinance' has caused the number of college students living in the city to decline." (p. 553)
I commend a very balanced discussion of rent control issues by Peter Byrne, published in 2000, entitled
The Case for Ending Rent Control, in SF Weekly magazine. It includes historical perspectives - beginning with the 5000 notices of rent increase sent out by San Francisco landlord Angelo Sangiacomo in 1979.
SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOLS
The San Francisco Unified School District website includes all of the County Schools, with links to the School Accountability Report Card [SARC] for each school.
The California Standardized Testing and Reporting [STAR] test results for schools, counties, districts and the state are available online. Test results are reported for components of the STAR Program, including:
* California Standards Tests (CSTs)
* California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)
* California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition Survey (CAT/6 Survey)—grades 3 and 7 only
To find CST, CAPA, and CAT/6 Survey test results for a given year,
* first, select the year
* click “Test Results” on the upper left navigation bar
* ten select the test component (eg CST)
* select the district (eg, select San Francisco Unified, for high schools)
* click "View Report"
Also, any school can be compared to other schools in the District, the County and the State using the Education Data Partnership site. From the "Reports" menu select "Schools". After entering "San Francisco" in the County field, then select any elementary, middle or high school district. Then, from "Related Links" choose "Compare Schools". In the grid for "Compare schools" pay attention to each field to insure that the result matches your search: eg, comparing one school to all in the County.
There is an online Guide To Private Schools with links to most of the private elementary and high schools in The City.
SAN FRANCISCO - MASS TRANSIT
MUNI: Commuting by bus and trolley, and by The City's fabled Cable Cars. Sites include schedules.
BART: Commuting by rail throughout much of the Bay Area, and under the Bay itself.
Commute north to Marin and Sonoma Counties by Golden Gate Transit's bus system, or take its ferries to Sausalito or Larkspur. Follow prompts under 511 until you reach a live operator who can define the schedule number you are looking for.
Commute south to San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties by the SamTrans
bus system, or by the CalTrain rail system.
There are many door-to-door airport shuttles to SFO. I would google "san francisco airport shuttle".
SAN FRANCISCO - CRIME DATA
San Francisco Police Department: The Department compiles/publishes monthly and year-to-date crimes statistics. The site divides The City into sixteen grids. Within each grid are plots [2x2 blocks, 3x3 blocks, 4x4 blocks, 5x5 blocks - depending upon density]. You can search by grip or by plot.
Megan's Law: since 1999, every lease or rental agreement for real property, or real property sales contracts for residential real property, must contain written notice that a prospective purchaser can access the data base containing information about registered sex offenders.
Not a pleasant topic, but it is important to understand how to access the online sex offender database called
Megan's Law, and what it contains. It is maintained by the California Attorney General. On entering the site one must first read and consent to a general Disclaimer.
There are seven search modes: by name, city, ZIP Code, or county; or within a predetermined radius of a selected address, park, or school.
There are pictures of every registrant, and most include addresses. The 'more info' link provides tabs for descriptions, offenses, scars/marks, and aliases.
MORE LINKS RE SAN FRANCISCO REAL ESTATE AND HOMES FOR SALE
The real estate links along the left "frame" are those that we believe would prove most helpful for those interested in the structure of a transaction to purchase a San Francisco home. Below are links for those not as ready to commit to purchasing, who want first to explore in broader detail the purchase of a San Francisco home, and real estate.
* san Francisco sunday open homes
* craig's list of san francisco homes for sale
* san francisco landmarks
* 1976 architectural survey
* professional publishing
* Real estate authors:jack guttentag, bob bruss, john reed
* san francisco chronicle's real estate page
* international real estate digest
* san francisco association of realtors
* lawyer referral, bar association of san francisco
* realty times
* nolo press, real estate
* department of real estate
* department of real estate reference book
* san fancisco neighborhoods
* sanfrancisco street names
* san francisco districts & subdistricts
* irs pub 530: purchase of home
* irs pub 523: sale of home
* history of individual san francisco homes
* dataquick real estate news
* san francisco architectural heritage
* thomas bros guide for san francisco and marin
* before purchasing a san francisco condominium
All information on this site is deemed accurate but should be independently verified. In addition, some information is date/time sensitive. And some of the ordinances and customs are exclusive to the City and County of San Francisco.
Although I am a broker-attorney I am not YOUR broker-attorney - YET. For specific questions and inquiries I recommend that you contact the Bar Association of San Francisco Lawyer Referral Service. For a nominal Referral Service fee you can have an otherwise free consultation with an attorney specializing in real estate, taxation ......
400 Montgomery 505 San Francisco 94104 ~ 415.781.3000
3030 Bridgeway 112 Sausalito 94965 ~ 415.381.1000
Info@BlackStone-SanFrancisco.com
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