Let's talk about driving

One of the biggest laughs I’ve gotten during this period of adjustment to life in San Francisco has come through driving around town in a car. Despite a public transportation system that just rocks, there are times when driving a car is just the best choice. 

Parking - well now that’s just another issue altogether unless you have one of those smartcars that can practically be parked curbside in either a perpendicular or parallel style. While I’ve never seen one park nose to the curb, it isn’t a bad idea. Really. Probably get a ticket though. You get one if you’re too far out from the curb, on that curb, don’t have your car wheels turned (You wouldn’t want to roll downhill now would you?) or caught in a spot you’re not entitled to be in. 

You figure it out. And the signs are different on the other side of the street too. Smartcars. That’s the answer. Surely they were designed by a San Franciscan.

Following the signs for traffic patterns isn’t entirely easily interpreted either. Not too many roads here intersect at 90 degree angles with another street. And there are often many street converging at the intersection. And far too often one street simply changes to another. 

One trip to find a particular address was a real doozy when we discovered 9th Street rounds a bend and turns into 12th. What happened to 10th and 11th? We’ll never know. Wonder how mail service is on those streets?

Then there are the marked lanes on the street that don’t necessarily jive with the marked lanes on the other side of the intersection. Most residents know this and drive accordingly in a somewhat jigsaw fashion. Buses and tourists on the other hand don’t. You see the deliema. Add the motorcycles and Vestpas to the mix who drive wherever and however they want and often up the middle and you have a situation that requires your full attention -- at all times. No car texting allowed here. No siree.

Imagine my surprise earlier this week when I rounded a corner and found myself nose to nose with a Cadillac in the middle of an intersection. The driver was beside himself yelling at me. I could see his face turning Pantone’s Color of the Year - Tangerine. Odd thing was he was on the wrong side of the road! Maybe he was a colorblind Englishman or just unable to see the yellow stripe to the right of his car. Either way I was glad to have had that double shot of espresso in my latte that morning. Really. 

But perhaps one of the best and most entertaining things about driving in San Francisco are the hills. That’s what we call them here. You would probably call them something else more descriptive in nature. Uphill or downhill, both have their challenges -- and views. If you are scared off, just drive a block or so to the right or left and the topography is completely different. I especially like the ones that have you driving over the edge, unable to see where you are headed other than down. Yeah those are fun.

Who knew buying a house could be so difficult ..

The economy is bouncing back from the brink thanks to rising home sales. Okay. Exactly where would that be happening? Certainly in the Mid-Atlantic area of Baltimore-Washington that might be occurring about now. After all we did sell our home nearly five months ago. And someone bought the home of that buyer. Okay we all took a major hit, having to settle for significantly less that our original asking prices as the bubble burst and the market tanked during that year and a half period. But I suppose those sales counted for something.

Now let’s talk about the San Francisco Bay Area, in the city west of Twin Peaks. That’s where our efforts have been concentrated for the past year or so. The bubble reached its max around 2007 but didn’t truly burst. It delated somewhat though and seemed to hold. 

It occurs to us that the main reasons the market didn’t decline further was that folks have been sitting tight. Those who have been able to continue making payments, have done so and haven’t been interested in selling. Those who haven’t been able to keep up financially have gone under, accounting for at least a good third if not more of the available homes for sale -- in the form of foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties. Many of the remaining for sale homes are due to deaths in the family who are now involved in estate sales.

The current market explains the scenario we’ve faced in the past five months as we have attempted to secure a new home. We are currently under contract on the sixth house we’ve tried to buy.

The first one was a short sale in which we did underbid significantly and were one of more than a half dozen doing exactly the same thing. The owners upped the price and were able to snag a contract, eventually settling for $10K over that. Hmpff.

The second contract was for a home with minimal financial struggles. The owner was moving out of the area for family reasons. The sad part of this deal was that she overpaid - by a lot - at the high of the market when mortgages companies were offering 105% loans. Yes you read that correctly. Our offer was for current market value, which would leave the owner having to bring big bucks to the settlement table. No deal. The home eventually sold at a price that required her to bring all her cash to the table to break even. That was still above our maximum bid. At least she didn’t have a short sale or bankruptcy.

The third home was one we saw a year before when we were not in a place to be able to offer a contract. Their realtor had given us information to make an offer that was in our range and would be accepted. They eventually pulled the house off the market. Our realtor knocked on the door a year almost to the day. The homeowners seriously considered the offer but decided to rent the home instead, waiting for prices to rise. At last look, they are still sitting tight.

On to the next contract which was for an estate sale. The home belonged to the original homeowner, which was amazing since the house was built in 1927. The two children were in their 80s. The outcome of this offer still stings.

In San Francisco this season the realtors have come up with a new gimmick - the old ‘call for offers’ when all interested parties present a contract at the same time. The trick is to get your offer in at the last minute so other offers can’t be ‘shopped.’ In this instance we learned that our top dollar contract was not the last one in on a Friday afternoon. The listing agents, a mother-daughter team, had a third party offer of their own. Yeppers you guessed it. That contract was the accepted one. As it turns out the final sold price was $20K less than our offer. Ouch.

House number five was a bank-owned property that had a call for offers the following Monday. We bid slightly less than asking price and were the only bidders oddly enough. Pretty sure it had more to do with the particulars of the deal, buyers had to be pre-qualified by the holding bank. Luckily we already had everything necessary at hand for online submission. Buyers would also be required to use the bank’s title company as well. Luckily the rates and numbers were in our favor. Unfortunately the appraisal and home inspection were not. Combined with a stressful mortgage lender/title company not being able to secure final numbers in time for our contingency, we elected this was not a good deal for us in the long run. Exit stage right.

Bet you can’t believe this could all happen to one couple in a four-month period. Hang on, it gets better.

We decide to take a step back and re-evaluate our stepping off point. In the very beginning of talks to move west, we had zero’d in on Sausalito, across the Golden Gate Bridge. We hopped in the car and paid the sleepy little town of 4,000 homes a visit. A stop into a realtor’s office brought us a new realtor too. Luckily for us three homes were for sale in our price range and looked promising. Two of them already had contracts and  probably weren’t the best choices anyway. Bingo on the third!

In short time we presented a contract closer to market value. And after a strange bit of back and forth where the owner upped the price, we arrived at a good price. As it turns out, things are strange in Sausalito too. This owner-realtor was at a critical financial place and selling this home at this particular price is the only option available to clear the debts away. 

At current time we are near to lifting all contingencies and waiting for a May 24 settlement. Keep your fingers crossed.