Selling Your Downtown San Diego Condo or Loft

10. Price Your Condo Right
Find out what your home is worth and cut the value. Most home owners don’t like this approach but when you have multiple offers because you’re looks under valued, you’ll receive over the asking price and move your property quick!

9. Closets – Lighten Them Up
Downtown Condos and Lofts really don’t have much closet space so make sure your closets are half empty. We want to have it appear there is ample amount of storage in your condo. Make sure the closets are clean and neat.

8. Lighten Your Condo
Many people like south facing condos and lofts because of the light. Even if it’s north facing, people don’t want a dark property. Make sure you don’t have drapes that are blocking the sunlight out. Move items away from the window to allow the most sun exposure into the unit.

7. Who’s Your Broker?
This is Very important. Your agent must know the downtown market. They must understand the difference between why this property cost more than the other property. What does this complex have over the neighboring complex. Realtors must be tech savvy these days to help bring more exposure to your property for more showings and more offers.

6. Hide Your Pets
Although many people like pets, not everyone does. Make sure your pets aren’t in the property while the property is being shown. Take them for a walk, most showings only last 5-10 minutes. Put away the dog food and hide the kitty litter.

5. Upgrades – Don’t Over Do It
I get this question a lot. Just because you spend thousands of dollars on an upgrade doesn’t mean you will get your money back from it. I’d focus on small things that are easy to fix; such as: door knobs, door handles, fresh coat of paint on the walls, re-grout the tiles in the bathroom and kitchen, repair any holes in the walls. Things like these do wonders in selling a property.

4. Disconnect From Your Home
Remember, you are selling your home and you want top dollar. Make sure your property is clean and neat at all times. You never know when a buyer is going to be walking through the door. Remove any clutter and take photos down and put them in storage. Maybe you need a home stager to help display how your floor plans would maximize the space.

3. Selling Your Kitchen
Your Kitchen is the most important part in a home. Most downtown condos come with granite counters and stainless steel appliances but some don’t. You may want to spend the money to upgrade the countertops to stay competitive to your neighbors and to get the most $ out of your home. If you have old hardware on the cabinets, replace them with new ones. Maybe replace a non stainless steel refrigerator with one that is?

2. When is the Doorbell Ringing?
You never know when a buyer is going to walk through your door so be ready at all times. This may be tough but it’s only temporary and you’ll thank yourself after the sale.

1. First Impression
You don’t get a second chance for a first impression so make it a good one. If you do the things above, you’ll be successful in your sale. As I mentioned earlier, buyers are usually in a property for 5-10 minutes and they are gone. After 1 or 2 more properties they see, they start to forget what they’ve seen so make yours memorable!

Bayside Condos in Downtown San Diego

For such a large complex, Bayside only has 1 property currently available for sale.  Bayside is a 36 story complex located on the corner of Pacific Highway in the Columbia District.  There are a total of 212 properties that are a mix of town homes, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 2 + den as well as Penthouses.  There is a 24 hour security guard located in the lobby that protects the front door coming off of the circular driveway.  On the 2nd floor, there is area for books to read for enjoyment.  The 3rd level is the main level of amenities.  There is a TV room beside the kitchen and pool table area.  They also have a wine room where you can enjoy and hang out while enjoying a glass of wine.  Next to the wine room is the conference room where you can have productive meetings with red lips and wifi is also available.  Continuing on outside, they have a lovely pool with a hot tub.  BBQ’s are around the corner with a juice bar inside.  State of the art fitness center is also located on the 3rd floor for you to work out on your fitness.

 

There are so many reasons why Bayside only has 1 property at this time.  Here are a few but not all:

Quality Construction

Location by the Bay for Wonderful Bay Views & City Views

HOA – Lower than other Quality High Rises

Floor plans and Nice size balconies

Close to Little Italy and close to trolley for Downtown & Other locations

Great Value for what you get!

 

Call me to View Bayside

 

 

Halloween has always been at the top of my list of holidays I celebrate each year.  I love how people really get into their costumes and parties are thrown across the city for this one day for people to act silly and goofy.  Do you have your costume ready for this year’s halloween festivities?  I’m getting mine today and will be headed Downtown San Diego to the Hard Rock Hotel for their special event.

But first, before the 31st, you have to head downtown and go to The Haunted Hotel.  The Haunted Hotel has been involved in scarring people and little kids since any other haunted house in the city.  They’ve won many awards and have even been featured on The Travel Channel.  From every step and turn, you’ll see freaky little characters, ghosts, goblins, clowns and strobe lights to make your mind just spin in fear!!  The Haunted Hotel is located in the Gaslamp district on the corner of 4th and G street.

Bring your friends, family or hubby to make sure you get out alive or at least they can tell others what happened to you.  Don’t let this experience pass you by!

Cost is $18 and the fast pass is $28.

There’s a new bus in town and it’s going to be a lot quicker than the others. No, it won’t be driving faster than the speed limit; it will have a more direct route from San Diego State University to Downtown San Diego. Bus 215 will provide another option for those that don’t want to drive or don’t have a car. I wouldn’t want to make all the stops along the way if I didn’t have too. $44 million dollars is used practically for this bus route as well as other projects that will help the transit system in San Diego. There is also another fast bus that Reaches North Park, City Heights that drops passengers off close to Horton Plaza, San Diego Zoo and Naval Medical Center. It will run every 10 minutes during rush hours and 15 minutes during the other hours.

 

This will also provide Downtown San Diego Renters to also have an opportunity to live in one of the downtown San Diego Condos and go to school at SDSU. You shouldn’t have any excuse about the bus not going fast enough to get to your class.

There’s going to be a new hotel breaking ground in the heart of the Gaslamp District!!  Pendry Hotel will be a 12 story hotel with 317 rooms located on the block bounded by 5th, 6th, Island, J.  The hotel will also include a rooftop pool, 2 restaurants, beer hall, convention rooms, ballroom, spa and workout facility.  There will be 3 levels of underground parking.

I am excited to see this property being built.  I heard in the past it could possible be a Marriott but I like the change.  Apparently a cigar shop had legal battles over the city condemning his property; which delayed this development.  From the rendering, it appears it’s going to be visually stylish.  I like how there are multiple height levels of the building instead of a block.  Being located in the Gaslamp District, it should do very well because many people that visit downtown San Diego want to be in the action of it all.  This hotel should fit right in.

Pendry is going to be within the Montage family that already has properties in Hawaii, Laguna and Beverly Hills.  The overall cost is going to be $100 million +.  They are expected to take in their first hotel guests summer of 2016.

Active: 290

Contingent 9

Pending 77

 

Let’s take a look at what’s going on around Downtown San Diego Real Estate on October 8, 2014.

For downtown’s zip code 92101, there are currently 190 active properties available for sale. This # is gradually going up since the lowest # I’ve seen which is around 140 active properties. This was back in 2012 when property values once again soared in purchase price and a lot of investors and home owners made a lot of equity in their condos in downtown San Diego.

There are currently 9 Contingent properties. Contingent properties are Short Sale properties that the owner and buyer have an executed contract but still waiting for the banks’ approval. I currently am the listing agent on one at 350 West Ash and will be closing next week.

For pending transactions in Downtown San Diego, there are currently 77 units. These are properties that have an executed contract between the buyer and seller and are going through the buying/selling process to close the transaction.

 

 

On Monday afternoon, around 3:45, a scaffold from the top of The Mark condos crashed into the side of the building. Apparently the window washers said there was a gust of wind that made the scaffolding start to swing and then came down and went into the side of the building. The street below was closed until the scaffolding was brought back to the roof and the glass debris was cleaned up. Firefighters were quick to make sure to remove the equipment and thank God nobody was injured.   I’m not sure what insurance policy The Mark or the window washing company has but I’m sure they’re going to be receiving a phone call. The Mark is located in the East Village of Downtown San Diego and is a very popular place for people to live. It’s one of my favorite complexes around the Ballpark District.

Do you have a bucket list and is skydiving one of them but you’re scared to jump out of perfectly good airplane? Well, there’s going to be an indoor sky diving facility that’s coming to the East Village. The owner of Skydive San Diego, Buzz Fink, purchased a piece of downtown San Diego Real Estate on the corner of 14^th & Island for around $2mil.  He plans to build a 30 foot glass tube 14′ wide and 2 wind tunnels for “skydivers” to have the experience and have fun!  The wind will be around 60 miles and hour for non experienced flier and around 180 for experienced.  Fink also wants this facility to be for military training.  The cost to build this will be around $10 million and their waiting on the permits. This grand facility could break ground as early as January 2016. Fink believes in the redevelopment in the East Village to the east of Petco Park. Both the blue and orange trolley line run through Imperial so transportation is already there and we should continue to see development in this area of downtown.

 

Please remember guys, this area is one of the last remaining locations in Downtown San Diego where you can buy an empty lot and not have to worry about the cost of demolishing an existing building or having to convert it. This would also be in great proximity of the San Diego Chargers if they were to move downtown. I’d say property values would greatly increase if/when that happens. Until then, there are other projects being developed around this area and you can start to see the transformation of this untapped location in downtown San Diego.

The Army-Navy YMCA is closing after being opened in 1924. Currently the 6-story building is used as a hotel with the basement being used for YMCA members. The building opened back in 1924 for Army, Navy & Marine men and women to come and socialize and have recreational activities. Apparently at its peak, there were around 8 million people going in and out of the building annually.

The property was sold in 1999 to become a low-end hotel while still using the basement for the YMCW civilians. There is a swimming pool and a basketball court down below for members to use and enjoy. The new owner remodeled the lobby and other areas of the property before the property went into bankruptcy. The historic property was just purchased for $14 million in April of this year. Plans have not yet been announced what will happen with the property but the YMCA is going to be shutting down next month.  We’ll wait to see what this downtown San Diego real estate building will turn into.

YMCA representative says they are currently looking for a new downtown location they could own or even have a long lease contract.  I’ve never been the YMCA building downtown but I’ve joined their other programs they run such as soccer.