Greetings, All: It’s December again, and before we ring in 2022, a bit of reflection. Somehow, we made it through 2020, one of the most bizarre, scary, tragic and confusing years of our lives. Volumes of books will be written about the Year 2020, and future generations will read about it the way we read about historic catastrophic events that took place before our time, with a mixture of awe, disbelief, revulsion and admiration. Coming on the heels of a worldwide pandemic, a hotly contested and tension-filled presidential election added to the uneasiness. Social media gets a lot of flak, often deservedly so, but I felt during the extended period of isolation, it proved a godsend. I’ve craved connection my whole life. You just have to use a negativity strainer; if the information and messages aren’t positive, educational and edifying, they don’t go in the mental bowl. We were prepared for anything in 2021. We’re nothing if not adaptable. And while we’re not out of the pandemic woods, we’re feeling pretty good that we can see the clearing a few hundred yards away. Because the lessons of the year before provided the roadmap, the armor. The resolve. The heart.
I cry at movies. I don’t deny it. I don’t blubber, but my eyes have been known to mist over when I see emotional pain or unbridled happiness in others. If I get invested in a character, I begin to feel what he/she feels. It’s another form of connection. In a movie I watched again not long ago, Tom Hanks’s “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” in which he plays Fred (Mister) Rogers, he sits in a cafe with an obviously emotionally buttoned up and embittered man. He asks the man to do him a favor. It’ll take some focus…”Take a minute and think about all the people who loved you into being…They’ll come to you…Just one minute of silence.” Waterworks, lol.
You and I…we are the result of all the people who loved us into being. What a gift. Merry Christmas and Happiest of Holidays! — Derek, Natalie, Mo & Arwin _____________________________________________ Deeply felt thanks to the friends and clients we served in 2021:
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Market Reports |
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by Patrick Carlisle, Market Analyst for Compass Bay Area Since 2020 was a very unusual market, upended by the pandemic, this analysis compares 2021 YTD sales with the same period of the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Home sales in the highest price segments saw percentage increases much larger than the market as a whole. One factor was appreciation, but another was the disproportionate surge in the sale of luxury homes since the pandemic hit. |
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Team News |
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New Listings | Just Sold | Announcement |
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Client Spotlight |
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Our wonderful clients Emily and Ted were looking for that “sort of maybe forever home” and we were consistently competing with 4-10 other buyers looking for the same thing. Not really wanting to win an auction, they held out. Until we scored on this one in a neighborhood they had not dreamed of owning in. There was an opportunity and we jumped on it. Walking distance to West Portal too! Congrats to Ted and Emily, and the kids! Patience and persistence prevails. We are so happy for you and honored to have been with you on this journey. |
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Did You Know? |
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* Sales of homes priced at $5 million and above in the San Francisco Bay Area have soared 142% in the year to date compared to the same time period in 2019, according to a report Wednesday from Compass. (Mansion) * Fractional ART ownership? Yup! In a typical arrangement, an art piece goes back and forth between the donor and a museum, like divorced parents sharing custody of their kids. The owner gets an income-tax deduction based on the fair market value, potentially giving away more slices over time, for as long as 10 years. The art then goes to the charity for good. While fractional donations aren’t new, lawyers and tax advisers say they’re growing in popularity as values climb and the Covid-19 pandemic leads to shifts in where people live. (Bloomberg) * Companies are paying higher wages, spending more on materials, and absorbing record freight costs, pushing up economic inflation gauges. They are also reporting some of their best profitability in years. Executives are seizing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to raise prices to match and in some cases outpace their own higher expenses, after decades of grinding down costs and prices. The ‘blame it on covid’ rhetoric has evolved into ‘blame it on inflation’…..and abuses are inevitable. As always, we have to pay the price! If profits are up 50% compared to 2019, and inflation is running around 6%….you do the math!(WSJ) * Tel Aviv, Israel, is now the most expensive city in the world to live in, according to a biannual report by the Economist Intelligence Unit….mostly because the Israeli currency has soared in value. Tel Aviv was followed by Paris, Singapore, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, and Osaka. (CNBC) |
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News |
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While plans for a contemporary four-story development to rise up to 45 feet in height upon the Excelsior District parcel on the northwest corner of Mission and Tingley were approved back in 2019, as were demolition and building permits, the ground for the project has yet to be broken and the shuttered Joe’s Cable Car shack still occupies the site. And the project site and approved plans are now on the market with a $2.1 million list price. |
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For the uninitiated, Nijiya Market on Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown is one of the best grocery stores in town. If you’re in the market for Japanese goods — from essentials like soy sauce to extremely specific white rice varieties — it’s a food heaven. |
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The former name came from a landmark named after Patrick Beegan, an Irish immigrant who briefly claimed a peninsula on ancestral Yurok lands, and was accused of murdering numerous Native Americans, including a young Yurok boy. |
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Our Virtual Services |
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Aiming to prove that middle-aged dogs can learn new tricks, here’s a quick look at how we’ve adjusted to our current landscape for our selling clients. (Woof!)
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Visualizing your Upgrade: Curious to know how Compass can transform a listing and improve its sale price? Compass Lens uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to visualize the potential of your space! See exactly the difference working with us can make. |
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Dynamic Digital Brochures: Home features will come to life inside this dynamic, digital brochure while creating an immersive experience for even the most discerning of buyers. Pages will turn and videos will play while allowing us to capture real-time data and actionable insights from potential buyers. |
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Video Creator: We’re able to make quick (10 seconds or less) videos of our listings with essential details to our social feeds. |
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Mobile Listing Ads: We’ll run geo-targeted mobile ad campaigns to reach buyers in the right place, at the right time. Now more than ever, buyers and sellers are spending most (if not all) of their time at home. We’ll create a geofence around the neighborhoods where you’d like your ads to be seen. These ads will appear in mobile apps and will re-target viewers on their desktops and laptops. |
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All of this is designed to bring proper exposure to our wonderful listings, and encourage eager buyers to make safe, virtual visits before making safe, in-person visits. |
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WE are here for YOU |
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A Nationwide Network |
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Since Compass launched in 2012, we’ve been simplifying the real estate process one community at a time. Today, we have more than 250+ offices extending from coast to coast. |
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Connect With Us |
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Please let us know if you or a friend/colleague needs a fantastic agent in an area other than San Francisco. Through our network we can make the connections and introductions and help to find a perfect fit. If you like what you have received, we encourage you to share it with your friends and follow us on Facebook & Instagram. |
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