The Good:
The General’s House in the Presidio (Pope and Upton)
The Bad:
255 King Street: The Avalon at Mission Bay
This ad’s listed as “$3155 / 1br - Group Exercise Classes San Francisco (SOMA).” We call this one bad because A) the price and b) the title. Our dog, reading over our shoulder, ventured the following response: “Geez, those are expensive exercise classes.” Sure, they come with a 1 bedroom apartment in the Avalon building, but still. We find it hard to believe anyone with a pet that’s not actively contributing to the family income can swing that much dough. And P.S.: Pets like yards and parks, not granite counter-tops and in-house health clubs.
The Ugly:
Not only is this part of the city fairly unattractive, the unit itself, a studio for $1295, seems sized for a 2-dimensional figure, a cartoon someone whose pets, ala Garfield and Snoopy, take up no actual space. Also one of this pad’s listed features is “NO VIEW,” an advertising decision that seems to confirm our point about the aesthetics of the Ellis between Larkin and Hyde. Worst bit of all: breed restrictions on dogs. Come one, now, ‘Loin ‘lords! If there’s one neighborhood having a pit bull would be helpful, it’s this one.
·The General's House [Craigslist]
· Avalon Mission Bay [Craigslist]
·650 Ellis Street/Ellis Street Apartments [Craigslist]
·Pet Owners of SF, Ye too Shall Rent [CurbedSF]
They may be in talks, but the talks clearly aren't going well. When I asked the folks over at Fannie Mae to comment, they obliged quickly with, "We regularly review our policies regarding the modification of mortgages based on changing economic circumstances and our analysis of whether the effectiveness of the policies can be improved. We have been and will continue to work closely with FHFA on these matters." I know. The FHFA, the GSE's federal regulator charged with keeping the two mortgage giants afloat while still protecting taxpayers, responded with "No comment." It's all about the FHA's "short refi" program, which offers lenders cash incentives to reduce balances on underwater loans (by at least 10 percent), if the borrowers are still current on their payments. In turn, the lender can then refinance to an FHA-insured loan. So I called over to the FHA, where commissioner David Stevens had plenty to say, including that the GSE's were being "shortsighted." He used that word with several media outlets, I noticed. But he went on... "What we believe they need to value seriously is that unlike other modification programs where there's potential high redefault risk, and they retain the asset, the value of being able to monetize the remaining asset and not retain future risk has significant value." But the fact is, and I know it is barely a few months old, exactly three loans have made their way through the program to date. Fannie and Freddie hold the lions share of loans that would benefit from this, and the big servicers aren't going to jump in on their own without them. Bank of America [BAC Loading... () 
] spokesman Dan Frahm says BofA is still considering the FHA program, but admits, "Our calculations of the program show the number of our customers that would benefit from the program would be very limited without the participation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." Bank of America already reduces principal in many of its proprietary modifications. Implementing the FHA program could result in "capacity strains of required technology and training programs" which Frahm says might not be justified by the benefits to so few eligible customers. With so much resistance to the program, rumors began circulating that FHA might dump the program, but apparently without merit. "No way," Commissioner Stevens told me this afternoon. "We are looking at what else could be done within reason to help make our programs work more effectively, but these are movements on the margin if anything."Questions? Comments? document.write("