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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 News is exploring the Bay Area’s housing crisis as part of our commitment to Building a Better Bay Area. One area of note is housing prices. A Bay Area native shared her story of being priced out. She moved clear across the country– from San Francisco to New Hampshire– and still runs her business that’s in the city.

Dancing is all about movement and flexibility. Annie Henry is the founder of the company Dance Theater San Francisco. She’s had to master “movement and flexibility” not only for dancing but also for living.

SHARE YOUR HOUSING STORY: How are you making it work here in the Bay Area?

“I was living paycheck to paycheck,” said Henry and added, “I’m above median household income but in the Bay Area that’s super low income. I was tired of struggling– that I was never able to own my own home.”

This Bay Area native says she was flexible and left her Tenderloin studio apartment for a bigger place in Santa Rosa. But when it came to buying a house that was still not an option.

“Home values here in San Francisco so we’re talking about Oakland, Marin and San Mateo is about $950,000 for the median home. In San Jose it’s up to $1.1 million to $1.2 million and the next most expensive place is LA– it’s about $300 less than San Francisco,” said Cheryl Young, Senior Economist at Zillow.

Henry decided to look east, and we’re not talking about the East Bay.

RELATED: Bay Area Housing Crisis: Smaller homes could provide relief for region

“To start to see what I could afford in New Hampshire, New England.”

Five months ago this single mom made her dreams come true. She bought a two-unit victorian home and the price tag you may ask? $215,000 plus $40,000 in repairs.

Henry is also planning to rent the downstairs unit of her house for $1,800. Her mortgage is $1,400. For the first time, she will be making money.

According to Cheryl Young, other Bay Area residents are also moving out of the region in search of bigger and more affordable properties.

“What are those trends that you are noticing? More people in the Bay Area moving to more affordable places like Reno and Las Vegas,” said Young.

RELATED: Luxurious prefab homes could help solve Bay Area contractor shortage

Annie Henry continues to run her business from the East Coast and commutes to the Bay Area for performances.

Take a look at ABC7′s latest stories and videos about efforts to Build a Better Bay Area.

Article source: https://abc7news.com/society/bay-area-woman-buys-house-in-new-hampshire-commutes-to-sf-to-run-business/5445439/

When San Francisco Community Recyclers was evicted from the Safeway parking lot at Market and Duboce streets in 2013, reactions were mixed. Some neighbors cheered, overjoyed not to be awoken in the middle of the night by the jingling of shopping carts filled with glass bottles rolling down the sidewalk. Others were concerned; another big recycling drop-off in Golden Gate Park had closed the year prior, leaving those who scavenge for bottles and cans few places to redeem them for cash. 

Since those two closures, recycling collectors have trekked farther afield, often lugging huge bags onto Muni to drop off at rePlanet locations in Portola, Balboa Park, or Bernal Heights. But on Tuesday, rePlanet said that it was shuttering all 284 of its locations in the Bay Area, effective immediately. More than 700 employees were laid off. rePlanet president David Lawrence told San Jose Mercury News that rising costs of operating the business combined with lower prices for redeemable aluminum and plastic were to blame for the decision.

At the same time, legislation mandating recycling is on the rise — but San Francisco appears unprepared to meet these goals. Last month, news broke that the city was denied $3 million from the federal government for a mobile recycling program, designed to fill the gap left by shuttered recycling sites. 

It was a big blow, particularly for small businesses who — under the state’s 1986 Bottle Bill — are required to accept and redeem bottles and cans if there are no recycling centers nearby. For small corner stores with limited real estate, this option is unfeasible, but so is the $100 a day fine for not redeeming recyclables. 

Despite being rejected for the $3 million grant, the San Francisco Department of the Environment is still looking for ways to launch the mobile program. “We are still moving forward with plans,” Peter Gallotta, the public relations a policy coordinator for the San Francisco Department of the Environment, tells SF Weekly. “Before launching such a program, the city must apply for pilot status through CalRecycle and we are currently taking the necessary steps for approval. Right now our expectation is that we will be able to launch a mobile recycling pilot in 2020.”

With rePlanet’s announcement, the pressure is on. For now, there are still a couple centers left along the edges of the city — Our Planet Recycling on Bayshore Boulevard, which is accessible through the 9-Bayshore, and a small can recycling spot in the parking lot of Pacific Supermarket on Alemany Boulevard, which is walkable by BART. 

While the closures of the recycling centers will undoubtedly impact those who rely on collecting cans and bottles to help pay their bills, it also raises a red flag for the future of recycling in the Bay Area, because even if there are recycling centers to receive items, there’s not necessarily anywhere to send them. Recology, San Francisco’s main recycling plant, handles 700 tons of curbside recycling each day — but in the wake of China banning recycling imports, is having a difficult time finding people to process it. 

The infrastructure around recycling in San Francisco is crumbling. So while people joke about the plastic straw ban, or the recent decision not to allow vendors at San Francisco International Airport to carry plastic bottles of water, with the latest wave of recycling center closures it appears that taking steps to reduce the amount of recyclable waste we use overall may be the best option. 

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  A sign advertising an apartment for rent is displayed in a window. Those in the apartment industry say that demand is dropping across the city.

  A sign advertising an apartment for rent is displayed in a window. Those in the apartment industry say that demand is dropping across the city.

  
  Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
  

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A sign advertising an apartment for rent is displayed in a window. Those in the apartment industry say that demand is dropping across the city.

A sign advertising an apartment for rent is displayed in a window. Those in the apartment industry say that demand is dropping across the city.

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Rents in San Francisco may not be dropping, but they also aren’t zooming upwards the way they were even one year ago. Those in the apartment industry say they have begun to see a definite dip in demand, with fewer applications coming in for each new listing.

“A year or more ago it wouldn’t be unusual to get a dozen for a decent unit, but now we see three or four,” said Eric Andresen, president of West Coast Property Management Company.

Even six months ago, Andresen used to get personal letters from tenants explaining why owners should choose them over all the other candidates, along with bank account information, check stubs and other more typical financial information. But those personal appeals have dropped off along with demand, he said.

Joanne Fazzino, a leasing agent with J. Wavro Associates, said she is also seeing a slowdown, but that she still sometimes gets letters from applicants. Usually these only occur in roommate situations where the prospective tenants want to let the owner know how long they have known each other, she said.

She thinks the biggest trend in the market right now is the number of single people applying for apartments. Roommates are even submitting applications for the kinds of large, single-family homes that in the past would more typically have provided family housing.

“I have two single-family homes on the rental market in the Sunset right now and only students or singles are calling — no families,” she said. “That’s unusual.”

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She attributes the change to the fact that many of the opportunities bringing people to the Bay Area are primarily filled with younger people. Jobs in tech and the financial sector are the two most common forms of employment she sees on applications these days.

Andresen believes that a potential job market slowdown in these areas will cool demand even further.

“A slowing economy, coupled with proposed taxes on start-ups, will likely mean reduced job opportunities and thus a further slowing of the rental market,” he explained. “Add to this the fact that new units are still coming on the market, although not quite as rapidly as in the past few years, and I would expect that the market will stagnate for a while.”

But most in the apartment industry have already begun to accommodate for the lack of demand, spending more time and resources on the digital marketing campaigns that target this younger generation of renters.

“Most owners and managers have adjusted to the change, realizing that the double-digit increases we were getting for a few years were unrealistic and unsupportable,” Andresen said. “Many of us are learning to live in a more digital age, too, so units that go on the market with impressive online information — photographs, details, video —  are moving more quickly, although at similar rents to units that are marketed the ‘old-fashioned’ way.”

Emily Landes is a writer and editor who is obsessed with all things real estate.

Article source: https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Demand-is-dropping-according-to-SF-apartment-14265259.php

PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) — The Bay Area housing market is red hot, but one neighborhood in Silicon Valley is even hotter for one particular group of buyers: Old Palo Alto.

DeLeon Realty CEO Michael Repka calls it Palo Alto’s most prestigious community. It also has the highest percentage of foreign home buyers.

“I think for the same reason everyone’s attracted – the weather’s wonderful, the schools are fantastic, the business climate is the best in the world,” said Repka.

The century-old estate at 369 Churchill Avenue (CBS)

KPIX 5 toured a century-old estate at 369 Churchill Avenue, which is on the market for just under $40 million. It has been completely renovated and features 5 bedrooms, 7.5 baths, a wine cellar, gym and modern technology across 11,000 square feet.

Repka says his foreign clients aren’t the same kind he was used to seeing.

“About five years ago, there were a lot of Chinese buyers and foreign buyers looking to buy up inexpensive properties in the million to $2 million dollar range in this area. That’s dried up dramatically, but what we have seen are companies that are bringing executives over to the United States, helping facilitate the purchase of what we call luxury properties,” said Repka.

DeLeon Realty says the demand from foreign buyers for high-end properties is so strong, it has hired a Mandarin speaking interior designer to help clients get situated and walk them through the often complicated permit process for remodeling.

“When they first move here they will feel very uncomfortable with the environment, so first I will just show them around and show them where to shop for the furnitures,” said DeLeon Realty Interior Designer Shihan Xu. “And if they need construction work, like remodel their house, I will help them find vendors.”

Across the US, international real estate activity is down 36% this past year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The group says tighter capital controls in China and low housing inventory are partly to blame.

Repka says two-thirds of potential buyers who’ve come to see Churchill Avenue home are Chinese. We looked at how it stacks up to a $38 million property in Hong Kong. A 6 bedroom, 3 bath luxury unit is about one-third of the size.

“By many people’s standards, homes in Palo Alto are astronomically expensive, but when you look at the world class cities, whether it’s Hong Kong or London or other places around the world, in some ways, it’s kind of a bargain.”

Article source: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/07/30/silicon-valleys-hottest-neighborhood-for-foreign-buyers-old-palo-alto/

VALLEJO (KPIX) — It is one of the few places in the Bay Area where people can shell out less than a half million dollars to own a home: Vallejo.

A 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home, just under 2,000 square feet at 1201 Valle Vista Avenue, is on the market for $475,000.

That’s about $10,000 more than the median sales price in Vallejo, according to Coldwell Banker Solano Pacific realtor Linda Daraskavich.

“Bidding wars have pretty much gone away. Houses are staying on the market a little bit longer so it’s great for buyers right now. The interest rates are still very good,” said Daraskavich.

Daraskavich says her clients, priced out of most Bay Area cities, say the affordable prices are the main reason they are now looking to buy in Vallejo.

“We’re getting younger people starting families, middle-aged, kind of getting ready to retire,” she added.

The Bay Area housing market has softened, compared to this time last year. Coldwell Banker Solano Pacific says, currently, the average home in Vallejo stays on the market for 45 days. A year ago, it was 14 days.

“I paid in the low 200s and I got a 2-bedroom condo up in the Glen Cove area,” said Vallejo native Colton Souza.

Souza just became a first-time homeowner. He works as an HVAC technician and uses the ferry occasionally.

Realtors say the ferry terminal has become a big draw, particularly for those who work in San Francisco, about 30 miles away.

Vallejo has had a reputation for crime but residents say things have got better since the city filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

“I’ve definitely seen it improve. It’s got its faults like any town does, some more than others. When you say you live in Vallejo, there’s a bit of a stigma with that,” said Souza.

Vallejo native Mika Todd hopes to one day buy property in her hometown.

“I feel like it’s improved a lot, especially with having — when they started filming ’13 Reasons Why.’ I feel like downtown Vallejo was more known and I think the shops are still here,” Todd said.

Article source: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/08/02/vallejo-real-estate-affordable/