GREEN REALTOR NEWS | Vol. 14
Market Update | News | Photo Contest
This month’s photo contest winner was Noah Balmer! He recognized the sculpture as Giuseppe Penone’s Idée di Petra, located in the Great Meadow at Fort Mason in San Francisco. After growing up in a cabin deep in the Maine woods, Noah is a man of many talents, including woodworking, rock climbing and mycology. A happy, long-time San Franciscan, Noah is active on the local arts scene.
As always, our photo contest winner receives a $25 gift card to Marin Green Business Good Earth Natural Foods. Scroll down to see our March photo by artist-in-residence Esther Vermeer.
Market Update
Demand Softening Slightly as Interest Rates Climb
The market seems to be softening a little bit, as interest rates have climbed to their highest level in the last 13 years. Economists are predicting that rates could be above 6% by mid-2022, which is fast approaching. Will that lead to a drop in prices? Fortunately for sellers, unfortunately for buyers, the answer is no, or at least not yet, since low inventory continues to drive demand as buyers try to lock in a lower mortgage rate.
In San Francisco, new listings in April, typically one of the strongest selling months, declined from our seasonal average, while in Marin the average home price topped $2M for the first time ever. Happily, inventory in Marin increased over the first four months of the year, which is a positive trend for buyers. Buyers have to be ready to come to the table ready for competition, as homes typically receive multiple offers and sell for 4 - 6% over their list prices. While that seems low for San Francisco, it’s a big change for Marin, where for a long time sale prices stuck closer to the asking prices.
Want more information about the local markets in San Francisco and Marin? Email me to sign up for the Attain Real Estate monthly report which goes into the stats in more detail.
Just Sold!
1231 Castro Street, San Francisco - $2,625,000
4 bedrooms | 3.5 bathrooms | 2,306 square feet | Perfect Noe Valley!
My clients were over the moon to close on their dream house, which they bought just seven days after closing on their first home at 541 Orizaba Avenue in San Francisco. 1231 Castro Street is a beautifully re-imagined two unit building, which was rolled into its current location just after the 1906 earthquake and brought into the twenty-first century in 2012. They are thrilled to find a beautifully updated home in a perfect location for them, just steps from Easy Breezy, which I hear was a big factor in the home selection process. In a small-world twist of events, years ago the house was briefly owned by Molly Gibeau - my college best friend from NYU. She inherited it from her beloved uncle Al. Albert Gibeau was a San Francisco original, from a family rooted in the city since before the 1850’s. He was born in the house, back when a creek flowed by and barns dotted the landscape of Noe Valley. This photo shows him standing outside the home with his mother, Teresa, in 1930. One of Al’s early jobs was as a lamplighter, lighting the gas lamps throughout the neighborhood. He later worked as a longshoreman during the time of the 1934 strike. Everything has a story and it’s fun to think about all the people who lived and loved in that house, and the new family who is going to enjoy it for years to come.
This month I had the pleasure of virtually attending the second annual East Bay Green Home Tour. The first ever Marin Green Home Tour is coming soon in October, 2022 and I’m going to be a sponsor! More on that in the coming months.
The Hundredth Birthday Project
Meanwhile, our project at home continues. Check out our new “direct solar dryer!” We’ve been experimenting with induction cooking, using this portable induction cooktop. And our jasmine arch is in full bloom! We’ve decided to move ahead with the wall and attic insulation, which will also include air sealing. After watching the East Bay Green Home Tour I was inspired to consider upgrading to an electric heat pump system for heating and cooling, but because of the cost we’re going to hold off on that for now while we see how the improved insulation impacts our comfort. Instead of air conditioning we decided to install a whole house fan, which efficiently pulls warm air out of the house in the evenings when the temperature drops. Who knows? We might not even need A/C after that.
Because the focus is now on insulation and tightening our building envelope, we collected several bids to replace our old wood windows. While the wall insulation is the most important thing, the old windows leak and are difficult to operate. Since this will be one of the biggest expenses of our project, we looked at different window options. Vinyl is the most affordable but the least durable. Ideally, whatever we do to our house is going to last another 100 years. Fiberglass is another option. Fiberglass windows are increasingly improving in quality, and offer durability and high performance at a (relatively) reasonable price. However, we love our little old house and it’s important to preserve its original character. Wood replacement windows are the best, though the most expensive, option. Companies like Marvin and Weathershield make replacement inserts, but would require quite a bit of demolition, in one case removing all of the lovely old-growth redwood trim on the inside and outside of all of our windows and replacing it with pine. Not very sustainable, and certainly not in keeping with the 100th Birthday Project. Luckily, we discovered Wood Windows and Doors of San Pablo. This local, small business custom-makes each window, and replaces just the sashes with double paned (sometimes quadruple paned!) glass. Because each window is custom made they fit in the original framing for an air-tight seal and their new hanging system replaces the old rope and anchor system that is prone to breaking. Ivan Guevara came to our house to check it out, then invited us over to the shop to see his crew in action. We had a great time seeing the process and meeting the team. This option preserves the old redwood trim, keeps the character of our house, achieves our energy efficiency goals and supports a small local business. A win! Not only that, because we are just replacing the sashes, not the whole frame, it’s less expensive than the other wood window options. A double win! We’re so excited to move ahead with Ivan.
Another question - how to pay for all of this? There are a lot of energy efficiency loan programs out there, but they are not as easy to access as they might seem. Next month, we’ll talk about financing.
May Photo Contest
Esther Vermeer is a Mill Valley resident with a background in branding and graphic design. Originally from the Netherlands, she moved with her family to Montreal, Canada for a while, and came to the Bay Area 14 years ago, where she has since established herself in the world of interior design. She loves to journey around California and discover the lush natural beauty the state has to offer. You can reach her at esther@prevalentprojects.com.
Look familiar? If you know where this is, email me at lucinda@lucindaotto.com. The first person with a correct guess wins a $25 gift card to Good Earth Natural Foods!
I hope you enjoyed the Green Realtor News! If you know anyone buying or selling, or if you are curious to hear more about the market, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to help you or your friends make moves.
As one of my happy clients loves to say - Everyone needs a Lucinda!
