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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — With the cost of housing in the Bay Area, every square foot counts. So a San Francisco company is using clever engineering to optimize every inch of dead space and turn it into useful space, like making a full-sized bed and clothes drawers come out and store away in the ceiling.

If looks can be deceiving, the micro studio apartment model inside the Bumblebee Spaces headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission district takes the cake.

By just saying a few words like “get my clothes,” co-founder and CEO Sankarshan Murthy demonstrates the magic of what his company’s technology can do.

Within seconds a drawer-sized compartment lowers from the ceiling to hip height. Inside, neatly arranged with Marie Kondo style precision is a set of clothes and several clothing accessories.

RELATED: Bay Area Housing Crisis: This woman lives in a closet in San Francisco’s Alamo Square neighborhood

The experience is nothing short of fascinating.

“Whatever you need comes down when you need it!” smiles Murthy who jokes his last name sounds like “Murphy” as in Murphy bed. Bumblebee’s technology is something light-years more advanced.

The company started three years ago when Murthy moved from the East Coast and was appalled by the cost of living in the Bay Area.

Inspired by theater sets which move and change with each scene, Murthy built up a team of now 25 employees from companies such as Tesla, Apple and Google and set out to solve a problem facing many in the Bay Area.

RELATED: Bay Area housing prices: A look at the outrageous numbers

“As an engineer you just go down this rabbit home of principals of understanding where is this money going. Quickly you realize you’re not paying for sticks and drywall and cement. You pay for this dollar per square-foot and you’re paying for location. Even if I give you free material and free labor and put up this shack in Palo Alto, it’s a $2 million shack!” says Murthy.

Bumblebee Spaces has since partnered with commercial real estate companies like The Landing by Align Residential in the Dogpatch and soon the Blumenfeld Development Group in New York City to have it’s technology installed in properties.

The smart technology and imaging embedded into the modules even helps those who are prone to losing or misplacing items.

Murthy shows how with a voice command of “find my ____” users can search for their items like searching for Google.

RELATED: $1,200 a month bunk beds aim to help ease San Francisco’s housing crisis

While Bumblebee Spaces is not currently working direct to consumers they hope to have a showroom up and running by the end of 2020 and to be available to customers shortly after. Murthy has exciting goals for the company in the near future.

“We want to get in and out of the home in an hour. Just like installing an appliance or a light fixture in the ceiling, so we’re able to deploy and scale by the end of the year.”

You can learn more about the company here and check out the technology installed in this Nob Hill apartment which is renting for about $3200.

RELATED: Bay Area woman buys house in New Hampshire, commutes to SF to run business

See more stories and videos about Building a Better Bay Area here.

Article source: https://abc7news.com/technology/this-sf-apartments-bed-drops-down-from-the-ceiling/5940807/

• Fixer-uppers selling for at least $1 million in San Francisco regularly make headlines.
• In a city where housing demand outweighs supply, the value of homes and land is sky-high, meaning even dilapidated single-family homes throughout the city are worth a pretty penny.
• But the purchase of the property is only the first step in taking on a fixer-upper project — renovations typically mean shelling out millions more.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The glamour of flipping a “fixer-upper” has in part been fetishized by home-renovation TV shows on channels like HGTV. One of the most recent and high-profile ones that come to mind is of course Chip and Joanna Gaines’ “Fixer Upper,” where homeowners paid on average $173,221 for their fixer upfront in the Texas town of Waco before the famous couple gave it their signature touch.

It’s common to not only watch on TV but read about how old, decaying structures are reborn into the homes of families’ American dreams.

In San Francisco, though, the concept of a piece in the city’s tight housing market being a “fixer-upper” has a wholly different connotation.

The city’s limited housing stock and subsequent housing shortage and crisis translate to even these dilapidated houses selling for north of $1 million. As demand outweighs supply, the value of land and the homes sitting atop it — whether they’re intact or otherwise deteriorating — rises, which Coldwell Banker listing agent Jeremy Rushton told Business Insider is what’s so stupefying about seeing a property in disrepair with such a high price tag. 

“If prices doubled next week, all these homes would still look the same,” Rushton said. “In the 90s, when they were a third of what they’re worth now, they looked the same as they do now.”

That’s why San Francisco fixer-uppers get so much attention, Sotheby’s real-estate broker Herman Chan told Business Insider in an email. And on top of that, people love a good before-and-after project.

“[It's a] rags to riches story,” Chan said. “It’s so American.”

Peruse any real-estate listing site, and you’ll see a bunch of these fixer-uppers listed for sale in San Francisco. Some are bluntly categorized as a “fixer.” Other spoiler alerts are a lack of interior photos in the listing or a disclaimer screaming  “BUILD YOUR CUSTOM DREAM HOME” or “Bring your contractors and architects!” Listings don’t usually attempt to sugarcoat it.

“Properties really speak for themselves no matter what they are,” Rushton said. But historically, that doesn’t sway buyers — these homes are almost always snatched up after not sitting idly on the market for long.

But buying the home is only the first step — then comes the millions more for renovations and the lengthy city approval process.

Business Insider has reported on a portion of the city’s “fixer-upper” homes in recent years, including a recent sale of one of the city’s famed Painted Ladies purchased by a tech founder for $3.55 million (in cash, mind you.) 

Here’s how San Francisco’s fixer-uppers have fared on the market, why new owners can’t simply demolish their new fixer-upper even if they want to, what their listing agents had to say about them, and what some of them are like inside.

Article source: https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-san-francisco-million-dollar-fixer-upper-houses-2020-2

Within just two short years, Compass has grown to be the largest residential real estate brokerage in the San Francisco Bay Area. After purchasing Paragon Real Estate Group and Pacific Union International in San Francisco in 2018, Compass needed a major Silicon Valley presence. With Alain Pinel Realtors joining the national real estate brokerage in March 2019, the two firms have united as a powerhouse in Silicon Valley. With APR’s reputation for quality and expertise in the luxury market combined with Compass’ cutting-edge technology and national reach, clients have access to the best of both worlds in a single brokerage. For the 12 months ending November 30, 2019, Compass was No. 1 in MLS market share for the 10 Bay Area counties in all three categories: (1) Total Market Share of 17.6%, (2) Luxury ($5m+) Market Share 37.8% and (3) Ultra Luxury ($10m+) Market Share of 35.3%.

Compass is building the first modern real estate platform, pairing the industry’s top talent with technology to make the search-and-sell experience intelligent and seamless. The goal is to empower agents so they have more time for advising their clients, all in the service of the Compass mission: to help everyone find their place in the world. Founded in 2012 by Ori Allon and Robert Reffkin, Compass operates in more than 100 cities.

Buyers and sellers also have an advantage through Compass’ innovative programs such as Compass Concierge and Compass Bridge Loan Services — turnkey programs that make buying and selling easier, faster, and more profitable.

Compass Concierge is a standout program that Silicon Valley customers have been raving about. With Compass Concierge, you are fronted for the cost of home improvement services with no interest, allowing you to sell your home faster and for a higher price. Concierge covers services such as roof replacements, foundation repairs, flooring, painting, and more — all at no upfront cost to the seller. When your home sells, the homeowner simply pays back the funds at the close of escrow. No interest and no additional fees.

Compass Bridge Loan Services is another program launched by the brokerage to bridge the gap between the home you have and the home you want. A bridge loan is a short-term loan that uses the equity from your current home to help you make an offer on a new one, without rushing to sell. With Compass Bridge Loan Services, clients have access to competitive rates and dedicated support from industry-leading lenders, with the exclusive option to get up to six months of loan payments fronted.

When top producer Therese Swan was asked why she was so excited to be a part of Compass, she replied, “Compass has amazing programs that are so beneficial to buyers and sellers. These new services will further enhance my ability to service my clients. But I have to admit, the thing I am most excited about is the future. Compass will be getting heavily into machine learning and AI. Because of my very strong technical background prior to real estate combined with my success in selling homes, I had the opportunity last year to meet with CTO Joseph Sirosh and provided him with several ideas of applications for machine learning in the real estate industry. What I found out in the process, was that Joseph, who was previously the head of AI/machine learning at Microsoft, was also hiring top AI executives from both Zillow and Amazon, and expected to grow to about 450 engineers in all product areas by the end of 2020. To be part of the future of real estate is just extremely exciting.” Swan’s education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from William and Mary with majors in mathematics and computer science as well as computer science graduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Prior to real estate she worked as an application developer in the tech industry and later migrated into a top sales position selling software and consulting services. She has been a top-producing real estate agent the past 12 years in a row and is consistently among the Top 100 agents in the S.F. Bay Area. In addition, she has been nationally ranked in the Wall Street Journal Top 1,000 agents in the United States.

Content provided by Therese Swan

Contact: Therese Swan 408-656-8240, tswan@tswan.comWebsite: www.tswan.com

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Article source: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/01/22/sponsored-compass-takes-s-f-bay-area-by-storm-in-residential-real-estate-including-luxury/

Article source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ballot-measures-for-transportation-and-housing-15057871.php

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  A cozy floating home at 46 South 40 Dock in Sausalito offers views of Mount Tamalpais and the water.

  A cozy floating home at 46 South 40 Dock in Sausalito offers views of Mount Tamalpais and the water.

  
  Photo: Alan Blaustein
  

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A cozy floating home at 46 South 40 Dock in Sausalito offers views of Mount Tamalpais and the water.

A cozy floating home at 46 South 40 Dock in Sausalito offers views of Mount Tamalpais and the water.

Photo: Alan Blaustein

In the insanely high-priced San Francisco Bay Area, where it’s nearly impossible to buy a house with curb appeal for less than seven figures, a $799,000 listing for a cheerful and sunny two-bedroom on the water catches your eye.

This pristine bungalow is literally on the water at 46 South 40 Dock in Sausalito.

The floating home was built in 1990 and has a nautical feel on the outside with portholes, ship lap siding and a teal color. Inside, you’ll find shiny Douglas fir floors and soaring beamed ceilings painted white. There’s a fireplace in the living room and an eat-in counter in the kitchen.

The home has two bedrooms and two bathrooms spread across 894 square feet. The floor plan is maximized for efficiency.

Listing agent Michele Affronte of Angel and Volkers Real Estate said the large deck with views of Mount Tamalpais and the water is a highlight.

ALSO: “The Smile of the House”: the prettiest front doors in San Francisco

Sausalito has a vibrant house boat community that goes back many decades. When the World War II shipbuilding operation Marinship closed in 1945, Sausalito’s northern waterfront suddenly became available.

Artists, Beatniks and free spirits took over the docks and built ramshackle houseboats from old shipping parts. By the 1950s, Sausalito’s community of floating homes and its celebrated counter-culture movement was thriving. Acid-trip parties, impromptu poetry readings and music jams were all part of the scene in this water-bound neighborhood that became known as Marinship.

Today, the community is far more eclectic with artists and writers sharing the docks with physicians, lawyers and executives. Multi-million-dollar custom dream homes rock next to former Navy ships converted into functional dwellings with loads of character.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her real estate tips at agraff@sfgate.com.

Article source: https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Sausalito-floating-home-for-sale-46-south-40-dock-14984680.php