SFnewsletter Week Ending Jan 14, 2005

Dear Friends: ****Visit Squaw Valley USA for the best skiing and boarding in Tahoe. Over 12 feet of new snow, and the forecast is calling for clear skies and mild temperatures. What are you waiting for? It's great up here! www.squaw.com.**** _____ Welcome to the newest members of the list. To opt-out, either email sfnewsletter@gmail.com, or click on the "unsubscribe" button below. If you know anyone who would like to be added to this distribution, send them to www.sfnewsletter.com. Don't forget to click on the "New on Market", and "Sold" reports below. They are what make this newsletter tick.* $____ Market Update: A little birdie told me the other day the market is hot and should continue to be so. Another little birdie, who is actually a mortgage broker friend of mine, thinks interest rates are going to decline gradually over the next year. He actually got this information from an economist who has been right on the money for market predictions for the last 25 years (says my friend). It comes down to a he said, she said, so take this with a grain of salt. The fact is...Nobody knows what rates will do, but it is safe to say they aren't going to spike anytime soon. $$___ Maximum overbid(TM) of the week**: 615 Alvarado Street in Noe Valley. 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 2 car parking, roughly 1679 square feet, $780 per square foot, 21 days on the market, asking $995,000 sold for $1,310,000. That's not bad. Here's a link to the property description: http://www.sfarmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Sanfrancisco&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENTS=-ASE,-AA,-A,-N703929 Comparison Shopping: Here's what the difference between asking and selling price on this house ($315,000) buys you in Orlando Florida: http://realtor.com/Prop/1042056871 $$$___ My Thoughts: I'm trying to break the reports down for y'all by neighborhood, but the computer just won't let me do it. Soon, I will beat the computer at its own game and get them to you. Happy Aloha Friday! alex New on Market Report: http://aclark.grassroots.com/resources/soldjan13sfarrpt434.pdf SOLD 12/31/04-1/13/05: http://aclark.grassroots.com/resources/solddec31jan13sfarrpt613.pdf SOLD 12/17/04-12/30/04: http://aclark.grassroots.com/resources/solddec17dec30.pdf

SFnewsletter(TM) Week Ending January 7th, 2005

Dear Friends: ****URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATE TONIGHT (THURS) AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY WITH HEAVY SNOW AT TIMES. BY MONDAY AFTERNOON...TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 FEET ARE EXPECTED AT LAKE LEVEL...WITH 5 TO 8 FEET ABOVE 7000 FEET. The skiing/boarding at Squaw Valley is going to be epic! I suggest you pay them a visit, www.squaw.com .**** _____ Welcome to the newest members of the list. To opt-out, either email sfnewsletter@gmail.com, or click on the "unsubscribe" button below. If you know anyone who would like to be added to this distribution, send them to www.sfnewsletter.com. Don't forget to click on the "New on Market", and "Sold" reports below. They are what make this newsletter tick.* $____ Market Update: The market is still smokin'. I have heard everything under the sun in regards to what the market is going to do. There are the nay-sayers who are certain it is going to tank. There are the optimists who are certain it is going to continue to go up like it did this past year. Everybody is an expert on interest rates and what effect they will have on our market. And there are the people receiving this newsletter who don't live here shaking their heads wondering why the hell we pay such exorbitant prices for real estate. I would have to say I side with the optimists and we live here because we can. $$___ Maximum overbid(TM) of the week**: 1260 Monterey Blvd. in Monterey Heights...4 bed, 3 bath, 2 car parking, approx. 2800 square feet, asking $1,045,000 sold for $1,600,000. Yes that is $555,000 above the asking price. Or 53% above asking price. No matter how you slice it, it is unreal! Here's a link to the property description: link Comparison Shopping: Here's what $1.6MM buys you in Seattle, Washington: link $$$___ My Thoughts: This is the second time I wrote this newsletter tonight, because I accidentally deleted the first. That makes me happy! I have about 30 Gmail invitations to give. Anybody want one? Happy Aloha Friday! alex New on Market Report: report SOLD 12/24/04-1/6/05: report SOLD 12/10/04-12/23/04: report