Generally, real property is reappraised only when a change in ownership occurs or completion of new construction takes place. As from that date, the value of the property may not be increased by more than 2% annually.

For San Francisco homeowners, you can look up your property tax bill online at: https://gate.link2gov.com/sfpropertytax/PropertySearch.aspx

However, since properties are decreasing in value, does this mean that we will be receiving lower property tax bills? Well, not if you don’t act !

Since dates for 2011 have not been announced, we can suppose that their will be very similar to the 2010 time frames. As such, the San Francisco assessor’s office website  (http://www.sfgov.org/site/assessor_index.asp?id=92#TAAP) mentions that if you disagree with the value on which an assessment is based, you should first contact their Valuation Division from January 4 to March 31, 2010, by filing the Request for Informal Review on Assessed Value form. Along with your general contact information, you must send evidence supporting your value. The best way to ascertain whether you are being overtaxed is to compare your assessment to property assessments of similar home sales and/or appraisals of comparable homes in your neighborhood.

Because of time constraints, and also the increasing number of requests, you should also not hesitate to file an assessment appeal between July 2 to September 15, even though the assessor hasn’t had the time to look at your informal request. The reason why I suggest that is that if the assessor refuses your request on September 20, it will be too late to file an appeal due to the September 15 deadline. On the opposite hand,  if a reduction is granted based upon an informal review, you can later withdraw your formal assessment appeal. Better be safe than sorry.

But first, these procedure differ depending on the size of the building. * 1-2 unit buildings are the lucky ones as they are eligible to bypass the condo conversion lottery (so long as both units are occupied for at least one year by separate, unmarried persons and each person owns at least 25% of the property during occupancy).
* 2-4 unit buildings: Must have at least one unit owner-occupied continuously for at least three years, at the close of condominium lottery sales, and the qualifying owner must continue to occupy a unit in the building.
* 5-6 unit buildings: Must have at least three units owner-occupied continuously by separate owners of record for at least three years, at the close of condominium lottery ticket sales, and the qualifying owners must continue to occupy units in the building.

Once you are eligible to apply for the condo lottery, you will have to buy a ticket between a specific time frame. This year, ticket sales will commence on November 29, 2010 at 8:15 AM at 875 Stevenson Street, Room 410 and will end at 4:45 PM on Friday, January 21, 2011. Drawing will be held on February 2, 2011, at 9AM in Room #400 in City Hall.

For first time applicants, the rules, procedure and application can be found here: (http://sfdpw.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=591)

With only 200 units winning the condo lottery every year, the City estimates that most properties entering the 2011 conversion lottery for the first time
will not win conversion eligibility before 2030. Let’s hope that rules will change between now and then.

If by any chance, you win the lottery, here is a flowchart of what is still left to do (http://sfdpw.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/sfdpw/bsm/FlowchartConversion2to6Units.pdf). A long process but the benefits are consequent.

According to Altos Research Chart, since September 1, 2010, prices in 94117 have been stabilizing for condos and slowly increasing for single family homes. Over one year, prices have decreased by 6%.

Inventory has also been increasing slowly reaching the quantity seen in August.

However, properties are moving fast in this market as reflected by the above chart. Single family homes are on the market for less than 110 days (as opposed to its peak of 205 days in February) and condos are on the market for 85 days (as opposed to its peak of 165 days in April).

In conclusion, what these charts show, is that prices in Haight Ashbury/Cole Valley have reached a point where they have become attractive to buyers, who are not hesitating in purchasing rapidly properties that hit the market.

Now, will the increase in inventory slow down the process ? Will the winter season take its natural stance of decreasing the number of transactions ? If prices continue to hold and the number of transactions do not decrease significantly, we might have just reached the point of market sustainability for 94117. In this case, get pre-approved and take advantage of those low prices and low interest rates …

You First step will be to identify a property. In a previous post, I offered advice as to how to locate a foreclosure. Evidently, you can also try to identify a property that is still in the premises of the foreclosure process (ie, only received a Default Notice or a Notice of Trustee’s Sale).

The Second step is to perform due diligence as to the property. You will want to look at the property itself (when possible) in order to ascertain the condition and the amount of work necessary to live in it. You will also need to look into the existing loans on the property and any outstanding liens. How many horror stories have we heard where someone would buy a foreclosure thinking that they now owned it free and clear only to discover later on that there was still an outstanding first mortgage on the property.

The Third step is to get financing. Whether for a foreclosure, short sale or conventional sale, few sellers will consider you serious if you are not pre-approved. So shop around for a lender that is willing to finance your purchase. Early planning is essential as you will need to move fast on the property that you have decided upon. If you decide to buy at an auction, buyers are required to pay in cash.

Finally comes the time to approach and make an offer to the owner of the property. This can be the owner in default, the trustee or the foreclosing lender. Evidently the negotiation process is different depending on the situation. Strong negotiation skills are always necessary in this situation as you will have to find a way to obtain a mutually beneficial deal.

Buying a foreclosure can be a stressful and enduring process where the help of an agent can be beneficial. As such, feel free to contact me.

Insurance is always a bet and its just up to everyone to guess which odds they want to play.  I always have the feeling that when I have insurance for a long period of time , I have no claims to make but as soon as my insurance expires, something will happen within a week. Evidently I exaggerate but doesn’t this feel true sometimes ?

Anyways, we bought a place two years ago and decided not to get that insurance since all appliances were brand new and of good reputation. So far, we did well and have saved approximately $800. Now that we are entering the third year, I will probably have to rethink my strategy.

On the opposite side, we had to make a claim a couple of months ago on an investment property. Our tenant reported a problem with the toilet. Honestly I am not the most handy landlord and don’t see myself spending half a day or more, changing a toilet. So we called the insurance who then sent a contractor. We paid a deductible of $50 and had it changed quickly.  No hassle, no need to find a contractor, or have to shop for the item.

Now, one point that needs to be stressed out is that you can’t be picky as to the replacement items. Insurance are in the business to make money, and will not replace your product for a top of the notch item. Also, as usual, homeowners should be aware of what their home warranty covers and what is excluded from coverage.

As a conclusion, Murphy’s law generally implies that anything that can go wrong generally does go wrong sooner or later. What odds did you bet on ?

Evidently, this is bad news for all those that lost their house but also for all the homeowners in general. Apart from the bailouts that have consequences for all taxpayers, the increasing number of foreclosures has created an excess amount of inventory of properties on the market which in turn has contributed to the ever so rapid decline of the value of homes .

Luckily for those who were waiting to purchase, the number of opportunities are now limitless. With some cash flow and traits that correspond to the new lending policies of banks, you can now find your dream house for a chunk less than what you would have paid a couple of years ago.

Between the trustee’s sales, short sales, and REO’s, you have the choice. But how to find those :

For a certain fee, some sites have specialized in providing you with listings of those properties (RealtyTrac.com, ForeclosurePoint.com, ForeclosureS.com, Zillow.com among others).

If you are looking for a free version, know that it is possible but you will have to work for it. Sources include:

* Public Records: Default notices and notice of trustee’s sale are filled at the county recorder’s office. The first one generally gives you notice that the borrower is late on his mortgage payments and that he has three months to pay the late payments and penalties, before the property will be sold at auction. The notice of trustee’s sale generally provides the time and place where the property will be auctioned off.

* Banks: For REO’s, you can look on bank websites.  For example Bank of America REO’s can be found here:  http://bankofamerica.reo.com/search/

* Government agencies:

-   HuD (http://www.hud.gov/homes/

-   Fannie Mae (http://reosearch.fanniemae.com/reosearch/)

-   Freddie Mac (http://www.homesteps.com/hm01_1findahome.htm)

-   VA (http://www.homesales.gov/homesales/mainAction.do)

-   USDA (http://www.resales.usda.gov/).

-   Other agencies can be found here (http://www.hud.gov/homes/homesforsale.cfm)

* MLS:  Locate an area where you want to purchase and look for properties priced at about 20 – 30% less than the home values in your area. This should bring up foreclosures.

Located at 25 Van Ness Ave., Suite 320, the Rent Board’s primary function is to conduct hearings and mediation of tenant and landlord petitions regarding the adjustment of rents under the City’s rent control laws. It also provides counseling information on subjects that are covered by the Rent Ordinance as well as investigates reports of alleged wrongful eviction. However, only the Court can decide whether an eviction is legal or not.

There is no charge for filing the petition and can be done without the need of a lawyer. The petition can be found here: http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/rentboard/docs/documents/516%20Tenant%20Petition.pdf

The tenant may combine more than one type of claim in a Tenant Petition. The types of claims that may be included in the petition are:

• Substantial Decrease in Housing Services;
• Failure to Repair and Maintain;
• Unlawful Rent Increase or Request for Determination of Lawful Rent;
• Improper Utility Pass-through;
• Improper Water Revenue Bond Pass-through;
• Improper General Obligation Bond Measure Pass-through;
• Failure to Discontinue a Capital Improvement Pass-through;
• Section 6.15C(3) Proportional Rent Claim by a Subtenant Against a Master Tenant; and
• Unlawful Initial Rent Claim by a Subtenant.
• Tenant Summary Petition Based on Receipt of Invalid Notice of Rent Increase
• Report of Alleged Wrongful Eviction

There is a lot of interesting information on their website and counselors are available by phone at 415.252.4602 or at the counter.

After lending out money without control as if printed out in the basement, banks are nowadays in tight mode… Scrutiny is now the key word… No more approval for a 90 – 100% loan to value, no more low credit scores… In the past months, the number of brokers telling me that adequate financing were not being obtained, increased exponentially. Is it bad? Honestly… no ! After all, it might be a good idea to learn from the mistakes of the very recent past, mistakes that will burden us for the next couple of years.

Now to get to the point, the types of loans that might be available to you will depend on several criteria:

- Monthly income;

- History of Employment;

- Debts;

- Credit score;

- Down payment that you can afford;

- Savings, and

- Value of the property that you are planning to buy

You now need to know the different loans available. The following website (http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/mortgage-types-23.php) does a good job explaining them. Study them and understand what makes most financial sense to you in the long run.

If you can afford a down payment without depleting your whole savings, and if everything points to you being approved with sensible loan terms, then its the perfect time to strike a great real estate deal.

First Time Home Buyer Programs are also worth having a look at to help with your down payment.

You can deduct:

- Mortgage Interest

Your biggest tax break is reflected in the mortgage payment you make each month. IRS allows you to deduct all interest paid on your first home loan unless your loan is more than $1 million.

- Points on Loans

Also, you can deduct the points you paid (to get a better rate) 0n any of the loans you obtained to purchase or build your main home, as long as the payment of points is an established business practice in your area and the points were within the usual range. You can check all requirements at: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/tips/20010111a.asp

If you pay points on a refinanced loan, you are also eligible for a tax deduction. Whether you deduct the points over the life of the loan or fully in the year you paid the points, depends on what you use the money for. If its for home improvements, you can fully deduct all points on that money in the year you paid the points. The same rule applies to home equity loans or lines of credit.

- Property Taxes

Since the annual property tax rate in San Francisco is generally around 1.1% to 1.2%, and the value of a property is high in comparison to national standards, you will be happy to learn that you can deduct the amount you paid for property tax.

For more ample information or details on the tax advantages of home ownership, please consult a CPA.

This is mainly due to the fact that there is a good mix of spacious single-family homes and charming flats, and that these neighborhoods have a very high walk score (95 out of 100) . The walk score measures the walkability of any address, i.e. the simplicity of performing errands. Between the numerous local restaurants and shops, the easy public transportation access and the Golden Gate Park located only a couple of blocks away, we easily understand why this neighborhood is a San Francisco favorite.

Here are the Market Stats for Single Family Homes in 94117:

Here are the Market States for Condo Homes in 94117

This week I have seen 5 new listings in Cole Valley/Ashbury Heights and can bet that several of them will be in contract within the next two weeks.

If you need any additional data or information on Cole Valley or Haight Ashbury, or would like to see a couple of those properties, please do not hesitate to contact me as I live in this neighborhood and am very familiar with it.