Real Estate News Briefs
via SF Realtor Advantage Online
S.F. Real Estate Rebounding—A Channel 5 News Story
The lead story yesterday on the six o’clock news on Channel 5 (the local CBS affiliate station) was a report by Emmy Award-winning political editor Hank Plante on the rebound in real estate sales that has been noticed recently in San Francisco. The story cited the upsurge in sales that has occurred in the Excelsior district, the Sunnyside district, at the Infinity Towers and many other areas in the city. Plante explained that the driving factors are historically low interest rates, more rational asking prices, the availability of credit and the effects of pent-up demand. The Association which worked on the story with others provided statistical support for what had been observed in the field through Terradatum, the company which provides the Association with reports for publication in REALTOR® Advantage Online.
Set forth below is a link to the story which has been posted on the Channel 5 web site. Because the news is positive and in sharp contrast to the negativity that pervades just about every report on the economy and real estate these days, you may wish to post the story on the home page of your web site. At the very least, consider sending a link to the story to clients with a positive note about the enduring value of real estate in the city.
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=47401@kpix.dayport.com
Promotion of Association’s New Open Home Site Starts with Members
Earlier this year, the Association launched a new web site for open home listings. The site’s URL is www.sfopenhome.com. The Association is planning to launch a second generation of the site with improved features in the next several months and a significant expenditure has been approved by the Association’s board of directors for promotion of the site, both in online and print media. But to get www.sfopenhome.com to the top of search results for open home listings, the Association’s service area requires some cooperation on the part of REALTOR® members. The Association has created several different banner ads that can be added to REALTOR® member web sites or placed on social networking sites like Linked-in and Facebook. The ads can be accessed by visiting the web site addre! ss in the instructions below. Follow these easy instructions for posting banner ads on REALTOR® member web sites or social networking sites:
- First, go to http://www.sfopenhome.com/banners.html.
- Next, review the banners available for display on your web site.
- Finally, click on the banner of your choice to see instructions for adding it to your own website.
Omnibus Appropriations Bill Includes Permanent Ban on Banks in Real Estate
Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, into law. In doing so, he ended the National Association of REALTORS’® nearly eight-year battle to preserve the separation between banking and commerce.
Specifically, this new law permanently bans large national banking conglomerates from entering the real estate business by preventing the Treasury and Federal Reserve, by rule, order, or any other way, from opening the door to such activities. Below is a link to more information and a Q&A that may be of interest.
http://www.realtor.org/banks_and_commerce.nsf
Refer Your Clients to www.sfbaywindow.com—131 Articles; One Central Resource Guide for Homeowners
The Association’s web site for homeowners, www.sfbaywindow.com, contains more than 130 articles on subjects important to owners. From “Adding a Room” to “Zoning Districts,” it’s all there, making the site the most robust resource guide for San Francisco homeowners on the web.
Want to know more about sidewalk repair? What to do about barking dogs? Confused about who’s responsible for repairing the fence between your backyard and your neighbor’s? Aren’t sure if you need a permit to remodel your bathroom? The answers to all these questions and many more can be found on the Association’s very informative and unique site.
Topics are separated into three easy-to-navigate sub-headings: Your House, Your Neighborhood and Your City.
In addition, the site contains a fourth, separate category—Your Government—which provides descriptions of legislative proposals and ballot measures affecting the interests of property owners at the local, State and federal levels. Sometimes accompanying these descriptions are letters supporting or opposing legislative proposals (as the case might be) that site visitors can send to selected legislators, with their name attached to the letters with a single mouse click. To view the political content, however, the visitor must click on the separate Your Government link. The site was set up this way so that REALTORS® would not feel uncomfortable about referring their clients to the site because the “political point-of-view” expressed may be different than that of site visitors and client alienation would occur.
REALTORS® are encouraged to bookmark the site at www.sfbaywindow.com and to add a link to it on their web sites. Consider bringing the site to the attention of clients in mailings and suggest that clients visit the site regularly for information on how to make homeownership and living in San Francisco even more rewarding. It is hoped that every time they do, they will be appreciative of the public service the REALTOR® community is providing by maintaining the site.