Pocket Listings?

Interesting post from one of Marin's brokerages describing how many "not on the MLS" listings are currently available. Apparently sellers and their agents don't want the listing on the MLS because if it doesn't sell, you don't want that history available for all and sundry to see in the MLS.

There's only a couple of things wrong with this strategy.

1) If you're sincerely interested in selling your property, why would you not list it in the MLS which is by far and away the single best advertising medium for residential real estate -- could it just be that you're pretty sure your property is overpriced and will never sell at the asking price?

2) Your agent is probably going to broadcast the availability of the property through other media (electronic flyers, an open house ad, etc.) which, although worthwhile, are no substitute for the MLS. This is not a great strategy for getting the best price for the property.

A long "unsold" history of a property in the MLS simply means the property was overpriced and/or under prepared. It's also an indication that the seller is not really motivated. At the end of the day, the actual value of the property will be based on what a buyer is willing to pay (and what the lender is willing to lend), not on what the seller wants.

One-time Condo Conversion Opportunity?

A sensible idea was floated today via the mayor's office and published in the Chronicle. "The goal is to generate more revenue for the cash-strapped city and to create building-industry jobs, because condo conversions generally require some construction work to bring buildings up to code. "

There are upwards of 2,000 units occupied by owners who would like to convert their units to condo status. Given the city's limit of 200 conversions (units) per year, the wait is getting longer and longer.
Allowing these folks to complete their conversion without waiting for their number to come up in the lottery could have some additional benefits.

• It gets owners out of the limbo world of TIC percentage ownership with shared mortgages.
• It removes an unfair, arbitrary and convoluted lottery process that is currently used to determine who gets to condo convert (at least on a one-time basis).
• It doesn't displace any renters (these folks are, by definition, owner occupants).
• There will be downstream benefits to the city in terms of transfer and property taxes since it will make buying and selling these units easier.

Predictably, there will be knee-jerk opposition (read the comments following the Chronicle article, if you can bear it) but the only real argument being advanced is that this will create a precedent that will encourage future unfair Ellis Act evictions of tenants in other rental properties in order to convert to TICs and, eventually, condos. This seems highly unlikely given the very stringent rules that restrict or prohibit condo conversion altogether in buildings with certain eviction histories.

The truth (via the City's own Rent Board statistics) is that Ellis Act and owner move-in evictions have remained relatively flat for the last four years. Total evicitions are up in the last year but that's because there are more people not paying their rent or committing a "nuisance", both of which the City classifies as "just cause" evictions.