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If you’re shelling out $2 million to modernize your Pacific Heights Georgian Tudor Revival mansion, you don’t wanna spend the next year staring out your front window at a fluorescent green box where the construction workers go to the bathroom.

And your neighbors really, really don’t want their view impeded by a Porta-Potty.

“They look like crap,” one neighbor succinctly put it. (It’s difficult to write about this topic without scatological commentary.)

Linda Gebroe, who blogs about the renovation of her Noe Valley house, put it more delicately.

“It’s such an eyesore on the sidewalk,” she said.

Some high-end contractors in San Francisco have responded by crafting decorative enclosures for the chemical toilets their workers use.

“When we first started doing it, some woman pulled up in her Beemer, jumped out and said, ‘Oh, it’s so Pac Heights,’ ” said Peter Downey of Peter Downey Construction, a pioneer of the trend.

“If you take a drive around Pacific Heights, you can see some that contractors really put some thought into,” said Aaron Gordon of Aaron Gordon Construction, who has three diverse ones outside projects he’s working on.

For more on the trend and photos of some local outdoor bathroom booths click here.

But now it’s time for readers to weigh in.

Is there a pretty potty in your neighborhood or on your walk to work?

Please send a photo of the outstanding outdoor toilet, including your name, a brief description and its location to csaid@sfchronicle.com

We’ll run a gallery in a future blog post. Who knows, there may be prizes!

Costco-sized supply of toilet paper, anyone?

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. For news and insights on Bay Area real estate, follow her on Twitter: @csaid

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/09/02/seeking-the-bay-areas-prettiest-outdoor-potties/

Real estate in some parts of the nation experiences the malaise of fall, buyers cooled off by chilly weather and shorter days, distracted by the impending holiday season. But not the Bay Area. This September, Bay Area property sales made improvements in three key areas: days on the market (DOM); listing prices; and, most importantly of all, sales prices.

ZipRealty recently released September 2012 data in comparison with 2011 for each county in the Bay Area. And that data shows a very hot market, with no sign of seasonal slowdown whatsoever.

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Want some local proof? Here are three San Francisco listings in which the sellers ask a million dollars or more above what they paid for them. In only one case, this first example, has the current seller been in the home more than 2 years.

Number one, Lower Pac Heights

On Buchannan Street in Lower Pac Heights, a splendid Victorian 5 bedroom offers evidence. Public records show it sold for $1,550,000 in 2005. Now it’s listed at $2,595,000—a substantial increase indeed, intimating the home rose over $100K a year in value every year since 2005.

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Number two, SoMa

Or how about the first ever re-sell of an Infinity Tower duplex? This unit at 338 Spear offers 3 bed, 3 baths, jaw-dropping views, and a price to match. After having sold for $1,760,000 2 years ago, this property is now listed at $3,200,000- an increase of over 80% in just 2 years.

Number three, Cow Hollow

Or, this Cow Hollow listing, 3 bedrooms, easy walk to Presidio. Yes, the official write up hints at extensive remodeling (most of it in white, per photos). But that remodeling alone wouldn’t justify new price—we also need that crazy Bay Area real estate magic: according to sales history, the property sold $2,200,000 in 2010. Now, it’s $4,750,000.

So we ask you, readers, what’s next? Low inventory forcing prices up in every corner of the Bay, no matter what the season… how much higher can they go?

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/10/25/seasonal-slowdown-not-in-the-bay-area/