MetaFilter posts tagged with realestate

Pacific Heights is just a movie, right?

BobbyVan — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 05:27:55 -0800

I’ve recently joined the ranks of San Francisco landlords who have decided that it’s better to keep an apartment empty than to lease it to tenants. [SLNYT]

Don't you know that there's a law against what you're doing?

mahershalal — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:13:51 -0800

No Asians [SLembedded video because YT comments give away the ending]

Google Invades

liketitanic — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:39:15 -0800

Rebecca Solnit on how Silicon Valley corporations are transforming San Francisco: I weathered the dot-com boom of the late 1990s as an observer, but I sold my apartment to a Google engineer last year and ventured out into both the rental market (for the short term) and home buying market (for the long term) with confidence that my long standing in this city and respectable finances would open a path. That confidence got crushed fast. It turned out that the competition for any apartment in San Francisco was so intense that you had to respond to the listings – all on San Francisco-based Craigslist of course, the classifieds website that whittled away newspaper ad revenue nationally – within a few hours of their posting to receive a reply from the landlord or agency. The listings for both rentals and homes for sale often mentioned their proximity to the Google or Apple bus stops. See also: The City from the Valley, Stamen Design's effort to map the Google Shuttle.

Night City, here we go

Apocryphon — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:37:58 -0800

Is San Francisco The Brooklyn To Silicon Valley's Unbuilt Manhattan? Much has been said about how San Francisco should build up and become a new Manhattan. (Previously.) Similarly, much has been said about the utterly boring suburban sprawl that is Silicon Valley. (At least in San Jose.) The Awl's Ken Layne points out that there's a lot of underdeveloped land in between that isn't exactly virgin wilderness- and suggests making more out of it: an entire metropolis, in fact. Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic Cities mentions that Redwood City is the neighborhood of the future. "...Silicon Valley is a dull and ugly landscape of low-rise stucco office parks and immense traffic-clogged boulevards. The fancy restaurants are in strip malls, like you'd find in Arizona or something. There is nothing to do, nowhere to go. Massive arcologies like the new Apple campus are where the tech giants are headed, but until there are living urban neighborhoods connecting these monstrosities, anyone with hopes for a life outside of work will pay a ridiculous premium to live in San Francisco and spend two hours of every day sitting on a bus. Meanwhile, the areas around and in between the tech giants of Silicon Valley are mostly ready to be razed and rebuilt. There are miles and miles of half-empty retail space, hideous 1970s' two-story apartment complexes, most of it lacking the basic human infrastructure of public transportation, playgrounds, bicycle and running and walking paths, outdoor cafes and blocks loaded with bars and late-night restaurants. This is where the new metropolis must be built, in this unloved but sunny valley."

2013 real estate and economy predictions

anothermug — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:27:29 -0800

Garth Turner, the former politician and now cranky (but funny and more or less accurate) blogger opines on real estate and the economy for 2013.

From the Oakland Hills to the Bubble’s Epicenter

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 05:52:57 -0800

First the Bubble. Then the Short. Now the Long.

Some neighborhoods in Oakland are as devastated as any of the worst hit regions across America — Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix. Now the morphing of the housing bust and foreclosure epidemic into a lucrative multi-billion dollar opportunity for major investors is also uncannily centered upon Oakland and the greater Bay Area, where companies flush with hedge fund cash are buying up homes by the thousands. The entire sweep of the US housing bubble, financial crisis, and foreclosure wave can therefore be told by looking at persons and companies with intimate links to Oakland and the Bay Area. What follows is one account.

Welcome to San Francisco. Now what the hell are you doing here?

MattMangels — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 02:54:49 -0800

San Francisco can become a world capital. First it needs to get over itself.

Hudson Yards

Egg Shen — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:56:03 -0800

In a few weeks, ground-breaking will begin on the far West Side. The project: Hudson Yards, the largest real-estate development ever undertaken in the city's history, an enormous mini-metropolis whose planning might have left even Robert Moses dumbstruck. - Wendy Goodman

Instead of selling general obligation bonds, the Bloomberg administration created a special debt-selling entity – the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation. The bonds will be repaid with so-called payments in lieu of taxes that developers will make once their buildings have gone up. But the city is paying higher interest rates than it would have if it had sold general obligation bonds, said Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute. There is a risk that the payments in lieu of taxes will not be enough to repay bondholders – and the city has agreed to appropriate the money if there is a shortfall, he said.

Versailles, Florida

Egg Shen — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:53:56 -0800

Orlando, FL - 10 ac, 90K sq ft, 13 bed, 30 bath, 20 car garage, 3 pools, 2 tennis cts, bowling alley, skating rink - $100M Lauren Greenfield's documentary The Queen of Versailles has provoked a lawsuit from its subjects.

Armistead Maupin is leaving San Francisco for Santa Fe

joeclark — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:51:42 -0800

A headline rivalling “Batman to leave Gotham”: “Maupin to leave San Francisco.” But before the Tales of the City author (previously) moves to Santa Fe with his husband, you can pick up Armistead Maupin’s house for a mere $1,198,000. (28 Barbary Lane is not for sale.)

Obama's Friendly FIRE

ennui.bz — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:36:57 -0800

In 2008 the late Robert Fitch, author of "The Assassination of New York", was asked to foretell an Obama presidency before the Harlem Tenants Association:

If we examine more carefully the interests that Obama represents; if we look at his core financial supporters; as well as his inmost circle of advisors, we’ll see that they represent the primary activists in the demolition movement and the primary real estate beneficiaries of this transformation of public housing projects into condos and townhouses: the profitable creep of the Central Business District and elite residential neighborhoods southward; and the shifting of the pile of human misery about three miles further into the South Side and the south suburbs... Obama’s political base comes primarily from Chicago FIRE—the finance, insurance and real estate industry. And the wealthiest families—the Pritzkers, the Crowns and the Levins.

'Bodies in the barrels' site is up for sale

harriet vane — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 01:21:22 -0800

An oddly perky video of a real estate agent showing a real estate columnist around an old bank building and semi-attached house for sale (3:51). The building was offered on eBay, had its listing removed, and then reinstated. The reason for the video and the eBay concern? The bank (but not the house) had previously been rented to a group of serial killers. Used as a set in the award-winning movie about the crime, the Snowtown bank was only the site of one murder, but investigators discovered 8 bodies stored in barrels in the bank vault (two more bodies were found buried in a backyard, another in a farm field, and another had been falsely believed to be a suicide). The barrels had previously been stored in cars and sheds but a police investigation into the missing wife of one of the group meant they needed a new hiding place. The ostensible reason the killers gave for the crimes was that the victims were pedophiles, while the police had originally begun their investigation over evidence of welfare fraud (the victims’ social security payments were being taken by the group). But only two victims were known pedophiles, while the rest were chosen for being gay, overweight, mentally disabled, and/or drug users - a ‘waste’ in the words of the ringleader, John Bunting. All victims came from within the circle of friends, family and neighbours of the killers, and none were from Snowtown. Further details can be read in the judge’s justification for trialling one of the group separately from the rest - R v Bunting and Others (the most complete in detail, since not all trial documents are available online - some are suppressed, others only available to read in person). A more luridly atmospheric, but less accurate, account can be found at TruTV’s writeup of the case. Residents of the town were unhappy with the publicity at the time of the discovery and during the trials. It isn’t known at present whether they approve of the real estate agent’s marketing tactics, although he has insisted that people wanting to view the property must show proof that they have at least spent money in the town before coming to look.

Thanks, Housing Collapse!

modernnomad — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:15:00 -0800

14 Year Old Buys House in Florida Meet Willow Tufano, age 14: Lady Gaga fan, animal lover, landlord. It's hard for Willow to see herself as symbolic of anything. To a 14 year-old kid in Florida, the housing collapse is basically the only world she's known. It's the landscape. It's a Craigslist hobby.

FML Listings

mcwetboy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:29:29 -0800

FML Listings posts incredulous commentary about outrageously overpriced real estate listings in Toronto. Look at the run-down bungalows -- in North York! -- listed for a million dollars and despair. Canada's housing bubble, on full display. Via Maclean's.

10 things that will happen in Canadian real estate in 2012

anothermug — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:55:46 -0800

Garth Turner, former Member of Parliament and current entertaining, curmudgeonly, and well-informed Greater Fool blogger about Canadian real estate -- and the world economy generally -- gives his predictions for 2012. The main one, IMO, is the one that he talks about relentlessly in his postings: "Most people won't get it."

It is a gorgeous day in Austin, Texas

swift — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:37:40 -0800

Gotta get amped High Voltage Sales Tour Goals High Energy | No Excuses | Motivation Exciting news at Goldwasser Real Estate Chad Goldwasser does not care... Chad Goldwasser-What are you thinking? Amped and inspired at 6am Chad Goldwasseer's speech to the Elgin Girls Basketball Players (Part 1) Mission, a reminder from Tony Robbins... Belief!

Let's Make a Deal

gottabefunky — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:35:58 -0800

Slate's Negotiation Academy: a series of podcasts that teach you how to haggle with (among others) jerks & liars, the opposite sex, real estate agents and kids.

Richard Garriott de Cayeux aka Lord British is moving house

running order squabble fest — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:03:27 -0800

Lord British has put his mansion, Britannia Manor II, on the market. Richard Garriott de Cayeux, creator of the Ultima franchise, astronaut, geocacher and regular guest star in his own games as Lord British (or, in the future war MMOG Tabula Rasa, General British) has listed his Austin home, Britannia Manor II. Built by Garriott de Cayeux, the manor boasts three bedrooms, an observatory and a range of traps and hidden rooms. Like Britannia Manor I before it, it provided the venue for a charity haunted house scavenger hunt run by the Texas nonprofit Scare for a Cure (previously), and fundraising for Austin Planetarium. Prospective buyers can enjoy a virtual tour. Garriott de Cayeux is not moving out of Texas - and, having recently been awarded $32 million in damages and costs from a former employer, is probably not being forced to sell. Instead, he is building a new home, Britannia Manor III. This process will presumably continue until Britannia Manor IX.

Pay Poor Tax: $12

Miko — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:46:24 -0800

If you're occupying a financial center, you might want to pass the time with a game of Monopoly. Though Hasbro gives ahighly contested "official history" asserting that the game was invented by an unemployed Philadelphia man, it actually originated 30 years earlier as The Landlord's Game, an anti-capitalist protest against the movement of wealth from poor to rich via real estate profiteering. Designed and patented by a Georgist Quaker woman, Elizabeth Maggie, in 1904, it was published by her Economic Game Company, but also spread far and wide - including in circles of socialist-leaning academic economists like Scott Nearing - as a hand-drawn and independently printed folk game. Many thanks to the Whelk for inspiring this post by donating a Monopoly Game to Occupy Wall Street.

My job is to watch dreams die

simonw — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:01:07 -0800

My job is to watch dreams die.

Realtorsincars.Tumblr.com

mek — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:28:29 -0800

Realtors in Cars is one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these agencies got their realtors wedged into their cars, or why.

When we charge again, for dear old Gary Owen.

AzraelBrown — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:28:18 -0800

If Scenic, South Dakota isn't scenic enough for you, now you can have the opportunity to buy a chunk of Custer's Last Stand. The "town" of Garryowen is for sale on eBay, perched at the point where the Battle of the Little Bighorn came to a head. Garryowen gets its name from Custer's favorite marching tune, the Irish quick-step "Garry Owen". Starting out as a railroad waystation, the land was sold by the Crow Reservation to a private owner in the early 20th century, and was little more than an old house and a post office when current owner Christopher Kortlander purchased it in 1993. The "town", on a lonely exit of I-90, consists primarily of one large building that houses a convenience store, post office (zip code 59031), Subway restaurant, the Elizabeth Custer library, and the Custer Battlefield Museum. This isn't, of course, the museum at the National Parks Service visitor center, just to the north of town, who has been having problems of its own. The current owner of Garryowen tried to sell the town in 2008, but dealings with Heritage Auctions Inc broke down, resulting in lawsuits all around. It's not the only legal trouble that's happened in Garryowen: in 2005, the Bureau of Land Management searched the Custer Battlefield Museum for stolen artifacts.

A Billionaire Worth Rooting For?

beisny — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:15:33 -0800

As a teenager, Zhang Xin was a factory worker in the sweatshops of Hong Kong. She saved enough to fly to England and at 27, graduated with a Master’s Degree in Development Economics from Cambridge University. At 30, she and her husband started what is now Beijing's largest real estate developer. She is quite candid about China's challenges. Here Charlie Rose interviews the billionaire CEO of Soho China.

Location, location, location.

flyingsquirrel — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:53:21 -0800

If you have a spare $799,999, you can buy the town of Scenic, South Dakota. Scenic is a tiny town in the middle of South Dakota. Population? 10. Saloon covered in cattle skulls? Check. Jail? Check. Train depot? Check. Desolation? Check.

Historic preservation as gentrification and discrimination

desjardins — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:22:05 -0800

[Urban planning] allows discrimination but dresses it up as discriminating taste. So says an opinion piece in Reason magazine titled Urban Design Hipsters are Evil. The essay was written in response to a NYT op-ed suggesting that historic preservation boards be professionalized and made more powerful. And that piece was written in response to a Rem Koolhaas exhibit at the New Museum, which a review calls "[an examination of] the wrenching simultaneity of the growing “empire” of preservation and the ravages of destruction."