Turf Wars: With Rent Control for Yachtsmen in Peril, Greedy Sailors Push Back at New Marina Rules

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, February 23, 2012, by Philip Ferrato

Fleet Week, Marina Green [Photo Credit: Sergio Ruiz]

In a new twist on three classic San Francisco turf wars- arguing over parking, rent control, and park use, tenants at San Francisco's Marina are unhappy with a draft set of proposed rental terms for slip spaces. Officially called the San Francisco Small Craft Yacht Harbor, the marina has a total of 691 boat slips (aka "berths") and according to Park & Rec's Phil Ginsberg, there are almost 200 people on the waiting list for slips. Previously, boat owners have been able to transfer leases to their slip in the sale of their boats. Making the boat much more valuable. In a nautical version of the teardown, some boats are believed to have been purchased only to acquire the lease.

New rules will end that practice. Owners are crying foul, complaining that transfer of the berth figured into their calculations for the cost of boat ownership. Of course, no one puts quite that cynical a spin on it, but that's what it comes down to, especially with new occupancy requirements, size limits, and a new no-sublet rule.

You can peruse the new rules (there's a link at the Rec & Parks site) with comprehension made easier by by Rec & Parks having simply crossed through the old terms and inserting the new. As for the America's Cup, which seems to elicit yawns from anyone without a oar in it, the slips- privately traded or just sublet for the race- could prove a windfall for current tenants. Meanwhile, Rec & Parks is faced with having to find revenue for infrastructure and maintenance all over town, in the face of opposition from a diverse range of NIMBYs, ranging from Telegraph Hill to San Mateo County's subsidized golfers at Sharp Park. And now, add boat owners to the list.
· Proposed S.F. Harbor-Berth Rules Rock the Boaters [SF Gate]
· San Francisco Small Craft Yacht Harbor [Rec & Parks]
· Coit Tower, NIMBY Beacon to The World [Curbed SF]
· Supes Can't Override Mayor's Veto of Sharp Park Deal [Curbed SF]

View the original article here

Credit Rules the Housing Market

Existing home sales were basically flat in April, down close to one percent month-to-month and down nearly 13 percent year-over-ear, but you have to remember last year we were heavily under the influence of the home buyer tax credit.

Now we are heavily under the influence of the mortgage market, or lack thereof.

It's all in the numbers.

Let's start with all-cash.

Thirty-one percent of buyers in April used all-cash, and that's down from 35 percent the previous month. It's likely because the number of investors buying in April also fell. Investors have been the only real fuel in this market, buying distressed properties at distressed prices.

Just look at the share of what's selling at what price point:

  The share of what's selling at what price point: % Change in Sales from 1 Year  Ago SOURCE: National Association of Realtors The low end is moving (your investors), and the high end is moving because higher-end folks don't always need a mortgage; neither investors nor high-end buyers were affected by the home buyer tax credit last year. The trouble is, the middle of the market makes up the lions share of home sales, over 60 percent, and it's not moving.

What's also juicing the lower end is the fact that the FHA raised insurance premiums on April 18th, so mortgage applications for FHA loans surged 20 percent in the four weeks before and then fell nearly 27 percent the week after. With that surge, you would have thought we'd see a lot more sales, but that wasn't the case.

Realtors are blaming appraisals.

In a survey of their people, 11 percent said they had to cancel a contract because of a low appraisal.

Appraisals, which during the housing boom were laughable, have now swung the opposite direction, towards levels so conservative that they themselves are actually pushing some asking prices lower. And that all goes back to the lenders, to Fannie Mae and to Freddie Mac. As house prices fall, lenders have to be even more careful because risk rises.

The remaining question, though, is why did investors fall out of the market in April, even just a bit? Is it because the homes on the market tend to be higher-priced? Inventories rose by 350,000 in April, which is usually the case in the heart of the spring season. The realtors claim there are fewer foreclosed properties to buy because banks are trying to do more short sales, which take longer. That may be as well. Short sales generally don't lower prices as much as bank-owned (REO) sales.

Whatever the answer, the fact is that we are not seeing any kind of spring surge. A tweet from a follower named "kentuckyloan": business has slowed to a crawl out here on the front lines.

Questions?  Comments?  document.write("");document.write("RealtyCheck"+"@"+"cnbc.com");document.write('');And follow me on Twitter @Diana_Olick

View the original article here

Magazine Living: House Rules...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, April 20, 2011, by Sarah Firshein

The all-American characters of Gary and Elaine have wormed their way into households and hearts aplenty thanks to the ingenuity of Molly Erdman, whose Catalog Living blog points to certain styling curiosities within catalogs. We enlisted Erdman to author a Curbed National column in which she does the same to photos gracing the glossy pages of shelter magazines. Here now, let the games begin.

Photo: Dominique Vorillon/Trad Home

The moment guests enter their home, Martin and Gareth politely request that they remove their boots and leave any antlers on the table.

· Catalog Living [official site]
· All Magazine Living columns [Curbed National]

View the original article here

Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series)

Stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in

Traditional "outbound" marketing methods like cold-calling, email blasts, advertising, and direct mail are increasingly less effective. People are getting better at blocking these interruptions out using Caller ID, spam protection, TiVo, etc. People are now increasingly turning to Google, social media, and blogs to find products and services. Inbound Marketing helps you take advantage of this change by showing you how to get found by customers online.

Inbound Marketing is a how-to guide to getting found via Google, the blogosphere, and social media sites.

• Improve your rankings in Google to get more traffic
• Build and promote a blog for your business
• Grow and nurture a community in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
• Measure what matters and do more of what works online

The rules of marketing have changed, and your business can benefit from this change. Inbound Marketing shows you how to get found by more prospects already looking for what you have to sell.

Price: $24.95

Click here to buy from Amazon