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SANTA ANA (CBS SF/AP/CNN) — The CEO of a San Francisco real estate company and four others died when a private plane he was piloting crashed into a Southern California parking lot, according to the Orange County coroner.

The coroner identified the five plane crash victims as 53-year-old Scott Shephard, the pilot and CEO of San Francisco-based real estate company Category III; his wife, Lara, 42; Floria Hakimi, 62; Navid Hakimi, 32 and Nasim Ghanadan, 29.

Lara Shephard, Floria Hakimi and Nasim Ghanadan all worked for Union Pacific Real Estate in the Bay Area.

Hakimi was a woman who made people smile. But on Monday, those who knew her were battling tears.

“It really is a huge void and a loss, because she was such a contribution,” said longtime friend Mojdeh Saleh. “She touched many peoples’ lives.”

“Floria was a pillar of this neighborhood and of this community. She had boundless energy. She was super positive,” said neighbor Jennifer Bauer.

Brian Moggan, from Union Pacific’s Danville office where the three women worked, said the firm was stunned.

“We are absolutely devastated this morning,” he told KPIX 5. “We began to get news of the tragedy yesterday afternoon…It’s a devastating loss. It’s three of the most beautiful people that we know. All extraordinary people who were going to a conference to further their knowledge and business. It’s just do sad.”

He said Lara Shephard had only been with the firm for about a year.

“She was a wonderful mother (of two children, ages 5 and 7),” Moggan said. “She was a joy to be around.”

Union Pacific CEO Mark McLaughlin said in a press release that the agents gathered to remember their colleagues.

“At our meeting today there were tears and sorrow, joy, disbelief and feelings of loss,” he wrote. “Stories were told about our teammates that inspired amazing laughter, a sense of pride, and lots of tears.”

Officials said Scott Shephard who was piloting the Cessna 414 when he declared an emergency before crashing about a mile from John Wayne Airport. The plane was heading to the airport southeast of Los Angeles when it came down into the parking lot at the South Coast Plaza Shopping Center and struck an unoccupied parked car, said Orange County Fire Authority Captain Steve Concialdi.

The NTSB says Shephard did send out a distress call, but didn’t say what his emergency was aboard the Cessna 414.

“With the pilot, we’ll be looking at his currency,” said NTSB spokesperson Jack Vanover. “With the airplane, we are going to be looking at the records that are associated, and with the environment. We’ll see if any of those factors played a part in this accident.”

There was no fire and nobody on the ground was hurt, he said.

NTSB investigator Albert Nixon said Scott Shephard declared an emergency, but never stated the nature of the problem.

“We are going to look at all the facts that would end of in a situation like that (the plane nosedived straight into the ground),” he said.

Meanwhile, witnesses were stunned by what they saw.

“I was working and I hear a loud thud,” said Christian Tornero, who worked at a store in the area. “I thought it was like a semitruck that just tipped over or something.”

A woman shopping nearby said it sounded like a truck was running something over—until she saw the plane.

“There was just nothing left and you could smell the gas,” Kathy Hayden said.

According to O.C. Fire Authority, a group of firefighters having lunch across the street jumped on their truck and rushed to the scene after one of them heard screaming.

“And somebody — one of the patients — yelled, and they looked up and saw the plane coming down towards the parking lot,” agency spokesman Steve Concialdi said.

Photos from the scene showed the plane upright but on its belly. Several roads surrounding the shopping center and the South Coast Plaza mall across the street were closed.

The plane is registered to Category III, according to an FAA database. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, Salac said.

Article source: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/08/06/bay-area-real-estate-executives-die-in-southern-california-plane-crash/

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A: The recent Redfin article on what city is the most competitive is fairly accurate, given the data used to calculate the figures. It does appear however, that the data quoted did not account for off market sales, which, if taken in to consideration, could potentially change the figures. There is no question that the Bay Area as a whole is a difficult market – with the concentration of high paying technology jobs being key. Regardless of the level of competition in the area, being a well prepared buyer increases your odds of securing that dream home. The most important items to consider are the following; shop for your mortgage before you start looking for a house, save a larger down payment, and improve your credit score.

Kathleen Daly, Coldwell Banker, 415-925-3205, kdaly@cbnocal.com; Lisa Lange, Coldwell Banker, 415-464-3318, lisalange@coldwellbanker.com.

A: As business partners for sox years, we work from San Mateo to San Jose and into the East Bay from Walnut Creek to Pleasanton. We understand this issue and agree with this for one good reason: San Jose and Fremont have generally lower home prices than Oakland and San Francisco.

The competition at the lowest end of the market is fiercest. As buyers are priced out of San Francisco and Oakland they ask “what can I afford?” and the answer can be San Jose and Fremont. Buyers have to balance affordability with their commute. The longer your commute the Silicon Valley, the less expensive the home. We recently helped buyers with a new home in San Ramon because they could get much more house and they were willing to commute (Google bus).

We also are looking for our buyers in Milpitas and Newark where the price of a single family starter home is just over, and in some cases les tha, one million dollars. However, San Jose is fast becoming more competitive and more expensive, thanks to Google, which is moving thousands of new employees into space in downtown.

Michael Hall, Pacific Union Real Estate, 650-465-1651, michael.hall@pacunion.com; Tricia Soliz, Pacific Union Real Estate, 650-833-9442, tricia.soliz@pacunion.com.

A: The Bay Area has proven to be one of the most unique and competitive markets in the world. Multiple factors, coupled with high paying job creation within the tech industry, have created an incredible pull to the city. The market remains very strong in San Francisco, which results in a small percentage who can afford to purchase homes here, thus turning those who can’t to alternatives.

Redfin’s recent list of the most competitive cities, of which San Jose and Fremont ranked highest, is evidence of those moving to alternative locations based on affordability and available inventory. Redfin’s claim makes sense based on data they selected in their equation.

Understandably, more people may be bidding on homes in places like Fremont and San Jose since more people can afford those homes and there is more inventory than in San Francisco. However, l believe San Francisco and surrounding cities are still just as competitive.

Allison Crawford, Sotheby’s International Realty, (415) 297-9596, allison@fortini-crawford.com.

Article source: https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Sound-Off-Are-San-Jose-Fremont-more-competitive-13135544.php

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This Palo Alto 1,200 square foot home asks $1.488M

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This Palo Alto 1,200 square foot home

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Photo: Redfin

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This Mountain View 1,128 square foot townhouse asks $1.075M

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This Mountain View 1,128 square foot

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Photo: Redfin

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. In San Mateo, this 1,110 square foot home asks $1.098M

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. In San Mateo, this 1,110 square foot

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Photo: Redfin

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This San Francisco condo is 923 square feet, asking $1.3M

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. This San Francisco condo is 923 square

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Photo: Redfin

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. In San Jose, this 1,534 square foot home asks $1.279M

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Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey. And indeed, these simple homes with huge price tags demonstrate the issue. In San Jose, this 1,534 square foot

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Photo: Redfin

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey.

Bay Area real estate is too expensive even for high paid tech workers, says a Team Blind survey.

Photo: Team Blind

A recent LinkedIn study looked at data on where people move when they leave San Francisco and the Bay Area. Click through to see the most common spots for Bay Area folks to land.

A recent LinkedIn study looked at data on where people move when they leave San Francisco and the Bay Area. Click through to see the most common spots for Bay Area folks to land.

In a survey presented to 13 Bay Area tech companies, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they feel underpaid, despite three-figure salaries — primarily because they cannot afford buy a home.

The survey

This survey was completed by Team Blind, an app that allows (mostly tech) workers to communicate anonymously.

In late July, Team Blind asked employees from 13 Bay Area tech companies — Cisco, eBay, Intuit, Airbnb, Apple, Uber, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Intel, Oracle, Salesforce, Facebook, and Google — how they felt about salaries.

With at least 100 employees at each of the 13 companies and a total of 2,326 responses, 61 percent reported they felt underpaid.

Bay Area residents are leaving for these US cities.

Media: Ted Andersen, SFGATE, Getty

MORE: ’They do not like Californians’: How the Pacific Northwest is treating transplants

Team Blind followed up this survey with a second survey, asking specifically if users could afford a home in the Bay Area; 59.33 percent said they can’t.

The lowest and the highest

While over 50 percent of all surveyed employees say they can’t afford to buy a house, employees of Cisco and eBay seem to suffer worst: 72.07 percent of Cisco respondents said they can’t afford to buy a home, while 70.63 percent of eBay respondents said the same.

Even the majority of surveyed Facebook and Google employees said they struggle to own a home: 51.74 and 51.39 percent, respectively. Of the companies surveyed, these are the lowest percentages.

Exodus?

In May of this year, the Bay Area made news with an overall 13 percent jump in home prices. In San Francisco, that median is over $1.6 million. In the Silicon Valley, it’s close to $950,000.

Team Blind reported that:

“According to the California Association of Realtors (CAR), only 12 percent of San Francisco households could afford a median-priced single family home at the end of 2017. In nearby San Mateo County, 14 percent of households were able to afford similarly priced homes in the area. The number was 15 percent in Santa Clara County, home of the Silicon Valley.”

So, even when tech workers pull in salaries that top $300,000 annually, they still aren’t making enough money to buy homes.

That kind of imbalance leads to exodus. A startling Bay Area Council survey found 46 percent of residents plan to leave the area soon.

And indeed, recent surges of Bay Area transplants in places like Sacramento,  Seattle and Portland suggest they already are.

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert 

Article source: https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Google-facebook-can-t-afford-Silicon-Valley-13132157.php

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Real Estate

Concerns are rising about the potential for a nationwide housing market crash, especially on the West Coast. At least for the moment, a new report suggests that market remains as hot as ever.

The booming technology sector that attracts scores of well-paid workers have driven up home prices — resulting in stiff competition for people trying to put bids on houses in key areas, according to a recent report by Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate brokerage.

In fact, most homeowners are getting multiple offers, and those units move within a week or less of going on sale, Rachel Musiker, a Redfin spokeswoman, told CNBC.

“For buyers, competition is challenging,” Musiker said. “To win, they will likely have to raise their offer price and waive contingencies and it might take several months and several bidding wars before they find success.”

Buyers are often compelled to yield to bidding wars — offering prices considerably higher than the asking rate — in order to outdo each other, Musiker said. This results in a overall surge in home prices.

Cities like Aurora, CO and Sacramento, CA are not tech hubs, but are within commuting distance from the Bay Area. For that reason, even places outside Silicon Valley’s immediate vicinity seeing a surge in competition from workers in search of affordable homes, Musiker said.

Below are Redfin’s top six cities with a population of at least 200,000, ranked according to their competitiveness. A score of 90-100 indicates cities where houses on the market are “most competitive,” and often receive multiple offers per unit.

Score: 100

Median Home Price: $1.17M

Fremont is the fourth largest city in the Bay Area. It has a sizable population of immigrants from Afghanistan, and a commercial area called “Little Kabul” — a cultural hub for Bay Area Afghans. Fremont is also known for having lots of Indian restaurants, and even a Bollywood film theater.

Score: 100

Median Home Price: $1.1M

The largest city in Silicon Valley, San Jose is home to some of the biggest tech giants in the world, including Adobe, Qualcomm, just to name a few. As a result, the city also has a booming population of engineers and computer scientists. Its close proximity to colleges popular for those subjects, like University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, mean those tech companies have lots of talent to draw from.

Score: 100

Median Home Price: $718,000

The birth place of Starbucks Coffee is said to have one shop within a quarter mile of every house. It is also the largest and one of the most densely populated cities in the state of Washington. Both Microsoft and Amazon have their headquarters in Seattle. It is surrounded by nature, and is only a bus ride away from the Canadian-city of Vancouver.

Score: 97

Median Home Price: $820,000

Alameda County’s largest city, Oakland is also a stone’s throw from Silicon Valley hotbeds like San Francisco, Berkeley, Fremont and Richmond. It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S., with about 125 spoken languages and dialects.

Score: 96

Median Home Price: $350,000

Aurora is Colorado’s third largest city, often called the “Silicon Valley” of the Centennial State. One of the most bike-friendly cities in the state, Aurora has plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities like hiking and biking. It is close to the Rocky Mountain National Park, which is considered among the most beautiful spots in the U.S.

Score: 96

Median Home Price: $1.4M

The city most closely associated with technology, San Francisco is perched atop multiple hills, and surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The City by the Bay has the 2nd largest “Chinatown” outside of Asia, and is home to numerous tech giants and landmarks, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid.

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Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/04/san-francisco-oakland-and-san-jose-top-redfin-list-of-hot-markets.html