00:00:00Introductions: Kelvin Kam and Ted Manahan from Sequoia
00:03:40Pathways to becoming Realtors
00:09:04How is SF Real Estate Different?
00:17:00The Value of a Professional Realtor
00:31:02Trivia & Conclusion
אודות פרק זה
Yes, Redfin and Zillow are great for browsing listings, but will they tell you about the home that hasn’t hit the market yet, the seller quietly desperate to move, or the problems hiding behind perfect staging?
In this episode of The Sunset Connection, we go back to the basics: real estate is complicated, full of legal and financial pitfalls, and finding someone you trust to guide you through it isn’t easy. Host Jessica Ho sits down with Sequoia Real Estate’s Kelvin Kam and Ted Manahan to tackle the myths, the truths, and the messy reality of being a Realtor in 2025.
A true professional doesn’t just shuffle paperwork. They help you reach your financial and personal goals, field hundreds of calls, juggle clashing personalities, and manage the liability that comes with high-stakes negotiations. Even in the age of AI, the best Realtors know how to find more information, create more leverage, and deliver better outcomes.
And because no episode is complete without some fun, they close with a round of San Francisco real estate trivia.
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at Realtors, wondered if you really need one, or just want a smarter take on how deals actually get done in 2025, this episode is for you.
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WEBVTT
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Ho, Hey everyone.
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Welcome back to the sunset connection. I'm your host, Jessica Ho, today we're diving into a topic that's been near and dear to my heart, real estate. How does it really work?
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Is it different in San Francisco? Who are the players and most importantly, how does this impact you as a buyer or a seller? Today I'm joined by two guests from Sequoia real estate Kelvin cam, a San Francisco native who built his brokerage after starting as an investor, and Ted Manahan, who began in fix and flips before becoming an agent focused on the outer sunset. We talk about their journeys. What makes San Francisco's market so unique, and the real value Realtors bring to buyers and sellers, and at the end, we'll test their knowledge with some fun real estate trivia. And let's run this All right, welcome Ted and welcome Kelvin.
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Hey. Jess, hi. Jess, thanks for having us. Nice to be here. Both
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of you came into real estate from very different paths. Let's start with how those journeys began. Calvin, you're a San Francisco native.
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Tell us about growing up here, what kept you rooted in the city?
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Oh, man, Okay, what else 50 years ago? Yes, I born and raised in the city. Kaiser was the hospital I was at so Richmond District, and just bumped back and forth from sunset in Richmond. I did leave a few years in San Leandro with my family, but came back here for school. So I, yeah, I went to Lowell High School. You may have
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heard of it, and I hear that a lot of my guests went to Lowell. And so the last person who was on our podcast was like, we went to wash, so we got to wash represent. You know, it's funny because, like, there were teachers, like, all of your guests go, like, went to wool.
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Well, actually, I should give a shout out to my elementary school, which was Sutro. Sutro Elementary, okay, few years after that middle school, I went to start to see Catholic, Catholic school on a Richmond District.
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Great. Yeah, wow, yes. What a Richmond boy.
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I'm still there right now, and which is why I decided to start a brokerage out in the outer Richmond, Sequoia real estate on Balboa.
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So Ted, you and I both live in the outer sunset.
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We do, but we are also considered transplants, because we were not born and raised here. What made you fall in love with the Sunset District.
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Yeah, I grew up in Kentucky, actually. So I grew up in Northern Kentucky, close to the Cincinnati area, which is a suburb of Cincinnati. And I grew up there, went to college at University of Kentucky, got my engineering degree, and moved out to San Francisco in 2009 when we had the lockdown, we couldn't leave the apartment like nobody could, and so we're just at at home all the time.
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And so we needed more space, like everybody did at the time.
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So we started looking for apartments and everything. And, you know, we ended up finding this really great house for rent in San Francisco in the outer sunset on Noriega, you know, close to the ocean. The thing that I love about the most is it's very sort of, it's very family oriented, with which I really appreciate. But it's also got that walkability. So it has that city, that city, those city resources were close to Mooney, we're close to, you know, Gus market on Noriega and 44th were super close to the beach and the park and so, you know, we get to have our family space and our dog and our yard while still having easy access to everything else that the city offers.
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I mean, that's why I love the sunset too, man, yeah, it's a good place to be. So tell me a little bit about how you decided to become a realtor.
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So I started in real estate full time in 2017 I had been working as a project manager for a solar company, after I did some engineering at an automotive company, Toyota.
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And when I got into real estate, I decided to do it as an investor, because I wanted to be able to do like fix and flip projects. And my perspective at the time was that not having a license would allow me more flexibility in terms of what I was able to do with my projects, because I was also doing wholesaling, which is basically, instead of flipping a property, you flip a contract. And I did that successfully, and did some rehab projects as well. And when, when covid happened, you know, things took off, but when my wife and I decided to start our family, she advocated for me to get my license for more regularity and more options.
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When I started looking into my license, I ultimately realized that it increased my flexibility. When I was doing all of my investing projects, the piece that I liked the most was the sales and marketing and doing the deal itself, not necessarily doing the work and hiring contractors and overseeing the work there's. Lot of satisfaction with seeing the finished product. That's fantastic. But actually working with the people that were involved with the transaction itself was what my passion was, and so it just made perfect sense to take my marketing skills and my, you know, people in negotiating skills, and get my license. And I was very picky about the brokerage that I was going to work with when I started looking I, you know, by then, I had been in real estate full time for about seven years, and I knew lots of agents, I knew lots of investors, I knew lots of brokerages, and so I tapped my network and started interviewing people, and lots of people referred me and everything. But ultimately, when I saw Sequoia and had gone to some of their networking events and investing events, and then I, you know, got one on one time with Kelvin, you know, I decided that they were just the best brokerage for me. And so, so I love being an agent, and it allows me to stay close to home.
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I farm in my area. It's great having my listings be literally a five minute drive. I can talk to the people that are buying or selling houses, all of the things that are great about where I live and great about the
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city. Yeah, you're selling the product, then you're actually living the product.
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Exactly. Yep. Great, true believer. Yeah, products Exactly. Kelvin, so tell me about how you decided to become a realtor?
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So yeah, I was in tech, and I was sitting at home one day, telecommuting, and I turned on the TV, and there was an ad up there. And there I was talking about real estate investments, things like that, multiple streams of income. And who wouldn't want multiple streams of income? So it was a seminar out in Marriott, Burlingame. So I went out there that week, checked it out they were pushing out a $5,000 course that I didn't want to pay for.
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So I got some free knowledge.
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And when I left that day, I started making phone calls.
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Found an ad in the paper, the newspaper, a physical newspaper, and or the ad for a realtor posted looking for investors. It said investors needed these options. Called his number, and What year was this? 2003 okay, yeah, 2222 years ago, last so, yeah, I picked up the phone. I think a surprise, I called, but he said, What was thinking? Like the ad worked. So I picked up the phone. He shared what his program was about. So these options is when a tenant has an option to buy the house from the landlord at some period of time.
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So I flew out there. I checked out some properties, but the beauty of this investment strategy was he already had tenants picked out properties they want to buy in the future.
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They just couldn't buy it yet because they had to work on certain things, maybe down payment or credit. So the tenant picked out a house and this, and he asked me to buy it. I bought it. I have a tenant from day one that's paying above market rent that gave me a lease option deposit. It goes toward my deposit. I ended up buying these homes anywhere ranging from 150 to 300 for less than $10,000 down, wow, so And wow. And I was cash flowing immediately, like true cash flow, 200 to $700 a month on each property. So that's how I was able to keep on buying every month I had my job.
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So every month, every paycheck went into a house. And I scaled it within one year, and after a year, I I, um, it we made, you know, nice, passive income, but not a lot, okay, not, not close to what I made in the tech job.
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But I just thought, is ready to commit and take that leap? And a lot of us have that challenge when they don't know when to go into the next profession, especially a real estate venture, when it's not consistent income. So I decided to take that leap, ask my wife for permission, like, Hey, is that okay? Because this is from stability to something a little more wild. She said, good. So I got the blessing, and I just went all in and quit my job.
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Felt good, quitting my five, six year job, and yeah, that's how my venture started.
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That's incredible, but San Francisco is a completely different beast than those markets. What makes real estate here so unique?
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Well, as I was investing, this is 2003 there was a crash around 2000 7008, and a lot of properties lost value. And during that transition, I noticed that in the Bay Area, even though market the prices dropped, there's still a lot of demand. It's, it's crazy. It's, as you know, here we live here, there's a there's always gonna be a shortage of homes, and in any market, there'll always be some demand. So I'm like, Man, why don't I look into this market little more, and then I decided that, hey, I should get my broker's license. And I did interview one company, but always had the back of my mind that I would just create something because I thought what I wanted didn't exist because I interviewed, I looked I just didn't have the the. Environment that I wanted. And I just thought to this day, I feel real estate's a little old school is an older the industry. It's really slow to adopt technology and a lot of different things, and not sure exactly why. And I just felt like if I joined another company, it would limit my creativity. So I decided, instead of joining company, leaving after a few years, I just went all in again, all in again, and starting Sequoia real estate. And this was founded in 2010 15 years ago, and I started with just no expectations to grow to over 100 agents. It's really just an environment for myself that I thought was allow me to excel. But I was, I was doing that, I people saw what we had and it really they felt it was environment they wanted. And what is this environment, you may ask, is, well, it's, it sounds like it should be in every single company, right? But it's really focused on a community of our agents and listening to what they have to share and know, really listening and taking action and providing what what they need to excel. It sounds like it should be everywhere, but in bigger companies, it all companies, not just real estate. The corporate world, it's hard to entertain everyone's wishes because of bureaucracy and just hierarchy and how things are done in the past and what worked. I totally get it. And which is why, in our company, we keep it at a certain size, 100 or so is still a good amount of people. We don't need to be 1000s and 1000s of agents, right? And with a manageable amount of people, then the agents are hurt, and we can actually build something that makes sense for everybody.
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That's great. I mean, that's a big reason why I joined Sequoia. So, yeah, who referred you to Sequoia? By the way, I believe it was a person that I knew in the sunset. His name was, was it Ted,
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oh, is that? Was it Ted Manahan, yeah.
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Small world. Small world, yeah. So, of all the places to do, real estate San Francisco, I found, has been a really unique case, and the reason being is for some reason there is, like, a different culture here and like a different way of doing things, maybe because it's a smaller city, maybe it's because there are fewer homes. But can you tell me or shed some light on on why the real estate industry in San Francisco is unique compared to other parts of California or even the rest of the United States.
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Well, I can definitely speak to how it's different from other parts of the US, since I grew up in other parts of the US. You know, number one, the price point is very, very different. You know, California broadly is, is much more expensive than someplace in the Midwest like Kentucky or Ohio or Missouri. But not only that, there are also a lot of different laws regarding real estate transactions and also ownership. So in California, and especially cities like San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, it's extremely tenant friendly, right where there, look, the laws are there to protect people that are that have have their homes. And in places like Kentucky and again, Ohio, they're much more landlord friendly. And so with somebody doesn't pay their rent in San Francisco, they get a lot of chances, and they get a lot of there are a lot of programs that can help them keep their homes back where I grew up, it was the opposite, right? So if someone doesn't pay the rent, they could have 30 days notice, 60 days notice to move on, and there's no real recourse. There are programs like that can help people. They do exist, but it's nothing like in California or San Francisco specifically. So I can tell you, that's a that's, that's, those are two major differences. Now it's worth noting that be the price of the houses themselves are very different, but the rents are also very different, right? So moving to a different home and finding similar rent back in Kentucky is not as much of a challenge because of difference in demand as, say, California, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland. So from, from my experience, those are, those are some of the main differences.
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Thank you. Kelvin, is there, like, a different way of doing things in San Francisco that you've noticed?
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Of course, I'm biased. I think in the Bay Area we have really educated and sophisticated and very knowledgeable folks, very true, right? So in a transaction, you got to disclose everything you know in other states and other areas is a little bit more laxed about it. But what does that mean? It means like when we represent sellers, we complete disclosures first before there's a transaction in other states.
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When I bought the properties out of state, you submit an offer, and you get the disclosures later, and there's a chance to back out. But in our area, San Francisco, specifically, most of our offers that we submit for buyers, they're they're non contingent, which means you're committing from day one, which is a little scary for most people in other areas, you. You can write an offer and it's time to back out within seven days or so for your inspections loans or appraisal in San Francisco. I mean, we we advise our client that those, those contingencies are there to protect you, but they end up removing them to be competitive, because every house that I represented a client on that that was priced right had multiple offers. So it's very hard to get a house. These not in other areas. When you find a house and you can pick it and you can own it right away, this competition here is very easily, people spend about six months or so to get a house. So it's really, really tiring process.
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Oh, absolutely, it's taken me. It took me over a year to find this home. And, you know, I've helped clients put in offers and been over bid, so it's definitely a very competitive environment here.
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Another thing that I've realized since I started in real estate is that there are over 4000 agents that are registered as realtors in San Francisco and are part of the local San Francisco Realtors Association.
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But when I look at actually, who's doing business, it's really down to, like, actually just a few 100 names. It's interesting to me. Oh, the realtors that there are so many realtors that I thought I'd be competing against 1000s of people. But really it turns out to be a pretty small pool, and we kind of all know each other by the end of it, right?
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Yes, there. There's a lot of agents here. I think 4500 in San Francisco, over 50% of the realtors there are part time. That's crazy, yeah, and some of them won't do deals more than one deal every few years.
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But when the market was hotter, they actually did a lot of deals casually with another job because their friends want representation. So it sounded great to just get your license and close one deal and, you know, make a little bit of money on the side.
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And that's exactly why people ask, are Realtors really worth it? Let's get into that.
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But times have changed. Right? Times have changed. So, as you saw, do your research, that yes, 80% of the folks that are licensed party on doing that many dealing more because the markets shifted the clients out there, buyers and sellers are actually looking for more focused and full time, serious realtors to represent them, and which is a different time than what it was before
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I was told that most realtors, like 90% of Realtors quit within the first five years. Yeah, it's a
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it's a wake up call once you, once you start trying to get deals. And it's not as easy as, oh, I think I tell I post on social media and say, I got my license, and the floodgates and open all my friends will use me, especially now. No, they want someone your friends want someone that's serious, that's correct, right?
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Yeah, otherwise, they're gonna ask you for a huge discount. And that's another topic.
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Yes, yes, speaking of which. So how do Realtors provide value both for the seller side and the buyer side?
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Do you guys want to take one or the other?
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I'll take the seller
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side. So that's, I think, the easier one to sell people on, right? So I'll start with my background in investing.
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When I did projects, you know, they would, you would take them from very bad situation, very, you know, needing a lot of repairs, or there was also something, something happening with the owners, or there was inheritance or something like that. And so it was about taking something that was like So sort of at the bottom, so to speak, and taking it to the top and making it really beautiful and amazing, and making it really pop. And so when I put projects on the market, product properties that are that look beautiful and are done very well, and they're staged properly, and they have great pictures, and they have a strong social they have a strong marketing campaign. Those properties do well in every market, right? So the properties are always selling, right? So even in Oh 809, when we had the, you know, the market crash, by the way, Calvin, super brave and admirable that you started your brokerage in 2010 because we are still coming out of that, right?
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Like that, things didn't really start turning around until, like 2011 2012 that wasn't until the stuff swing started. So that's really cool. Thank you. Yeah.
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But anyway, the as a listing agent, you know, I demonstrate my value by number one, showing them other listings that I've done, right? So we will help you bring your property up to a level that makes it great to show we don't have to do a full remodel, but we can do things like change the floors or finish the floors and paint interior and exterior and do lighting fixtures. And that will get you a very long way in taking something that is sort of dark to something really bright. And then when you put pictures on top of that, and professional walk throughs, and you're wearing a suit at the open house, and you're doing all these things, all of that adds a level of professionalism that most agents just aren't dialed in on, right, so to speak. So being able to present their process. Property in the best light prop, in the best light possible, and also being able to bring the strong negotiation skills and the marketing skills and the pricing skills. I mean, if you want to sell your house on Redfin or Zillow by yourself, and you want to live in it while you're doing that, so you can save on the commission, the reality is, is that you're going to get a much lower price than if you had worked with an agent, and that two and a half percent that your agent is going to charge is going to be very much outweighed by the much higher price that they can get you. So that's sort of the value add that we bring as as agents on the sell side.
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Yeah, so I think that that's certainly something that comes up these days, is that, you know our are the commissions worth it for realtors? And so I have heard of stories of people who want to move forward on their own without a realtor. The data does show that when a realtor, a professional Realtor, helps sell a home, it does sell for a higher price, for the various reasons that you mentioned, because the reality is that people get attached to their home. People think of their home differently than a stranger, and it affects how they talk about their home. It affects how and that affects the price. You know whether people like it or not.
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The reality is that this is a market. Your house is on a market, and so you want a person who's professional, who understands the market to be able to put it in its best light, so that you can get that top dollar, because that could be the difference. I've seen differences from like 1.9 million to 1.6 million difference. That's $300,000 which is much more than 2.5% commission, or, I guess, for the seller and for the buyer. So speaking of which, I think the seller piece is easier, because throughout the world, seller agents get commission, but buyers agents is kind of a unique thing in America and so how, especially with the recent Nara lawsuits and everything that's happened, how do we have conversations with clients To justify our 2.5%
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commission? Yeah, so I guess it is not set at 2.5 and it could be anything, right? So maybe a younger Realtor in business will charge a little less, more experienced one might even charge three. I actually like what happened, because now we have something in writing back then. Two years ago, there was buyer agreeing paperwork back then, but two years ago, no one really used it. Now, we have to use it. We want to use it, and this just is a commitment between myself and the buyer.
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Now, I know I have someone that wants to work with me, and likewise. So I actually like that. You know, I consult with my buyers. It's it, and I share that. It this. This is a two way relationship, but you, you're interviewing other realtors. I only have capacity for less than 10 buyers at one time, so if it doesn't fit either way, it's okay, you know, like it's we may not work together. So I, I start with that, that I just for, for me, there's no pressure, really, there isn't I'm when you're selling a home to a friend or family member, even yourself, it's different than you sign into your client supposedly, right? You're you, you. So not walking through the house. I'm really looking at it. If I were to buy it, what would I see it as our problem? So I'm actually the first person to identify with the problems. I don't go into a house and say, Hey, look at the nice renovation. Look at the views. Look at this, that and that. No, they can see that.
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Yeah, I'm looking at, there's a crack over there, or, Oh, this thing, this pro, this pro, this unit, was done without permits, you know. So I talk about all those things and provide knowledge in that space, right?
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And really help them look beyond the stage. Beautiful, home that, yeah, the what, you know, a good listing agent like Ted had did already present it. Well, I said, looks beyond that. Let's, let's see what can cause potential issues down the road.
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And that's what I do. And once they see that, it's really hard for them not to want to pay for that great service, because that two and a half percent is really small, compared to 50, hundreds of 1000s of dollars of damages down the road. And you know, it's most of the time, it's worked out an agreement. And in our industry, though, even though there's a commitment from the buyer to pay a commission to me, when we submit an offer, most buyers will ask the seller to pay for the obligation.
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That's right, yeah. So that's happening too, so my buyers know they'll end up paying which is what I love, because I say, Hey, if you want to work with me, I mean, I'm sure you know, like my time is valuable, so is yours, so you're obligated to pay me.
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But when we submit an offer, we can ask the seller pay for it, and nine out of 10 times the seller has been
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yep, I think that is definitely a good argument for the buyers agents commission.
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However, I am curious about this trend, because it's not the end, right? It's just the beginning.
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I think that to your point, this is a recent change, and as real estate. It evolves. You know, it will be interesting to see what it means to be a buyer's agent versus a seller's agent, or what a real estate agent does. But one thing that I have found, you know, I've been in real estate all my life, because my parents and my grandparents have been real estate investors, and I've, you know, just been around it.
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But I've also purchased, used a realtor to buy a home. I've used a realtor to sell a home. So I I've definitely, even though I wasn't a realtor, until very recently, recognized the need, or, like, the importance of a realtor. Because even as someone who's around real estate, I didn't know the contract work. I didn't know what was in the paperwork. I didn't know, you know, the process of getting a loan. I didn't know all of that, right? So I needed some help, and luckily, my parents could help me with some of that. But my parents are realtors, so, you know, like, without that support, right? I wouldn't have been able to figure out that process, because I, at the time, had a full time job, I had a life to live. I didn't have time to just read contracts and understand disclosures and everything, right? So I personally see the the importance that I personally, you know, have paid Realtors you know, or have asked for the seller's agent to our seller to pay for the agent. But one thing I have noticed since I started here in this new industry, there is certainly a difference between different types of realtors. And, you know, I think you mentioned a little bit about that, Kelvin, when there are some realtors that are just out there to help the families purchase deals, which is kind of the situation that my parents have, right? Which is good.
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Like, I think definitely, if that works for your family, like, that's something that worked well for my family, great. But if you're a realtor that really wants to be an expert in the profession, that requires a whole different set of skills, that requires understanding how to communicate with buyers and sellers and with the contractors and with their other party vendors. It requires a level of project management.
00:26:56.200 --> 00:28:21.380
It requires a lot of detail orientedness, like it requires so much in order to see a deal through to the end, and all the different factors that are happening and things are changing constantly in our industry, so keeping on top of that as well. So I definitely feel like even I've only been in this industry for eight months, like I can sincerely tell when someone is being a professional real estate agent. It's like, I can kind of see it now, and I really do see the value personally of finding a really strong agent who knows the stock, who understand current prices, if it's low or high, compared to what they're seeing on the market, seeing past the beautiful staging and getting to know, like any other potential issues like maybe with the foundation, or with mold, or with other things that people don't think about on a regular basis. Outdated electrical, outdated electrical, right? And what does that mean? Right? For insurance, what does that mean for lending, right? So all of these things I think, come together, like being a real real estate agent is hard work, and that is something I had, I think I didn't really see behind the scenes, because, you know, I think Realtors sometimes get a bad rap. So I want to take this moment to kind of ask you, like, what are some myths you'd like to debunk about the real estate industry or realtors, and how do you think our industry will continue to evolve moving forward. All the
00:28:21.378 --> 00:29:27.798
reasons that you just described are a lot of the same reasons why so few people that have licenses are active in the right so all those things that you mentioned, being able to identify problems, being able to help with the contracts, being able to go through inspection reports, talk to contractors, get quotes, all these things lenders, dealing with lenders, understanding the lenders process, how many different programs there are, whether it's FHA or VA or whatever it is, those are the reasons why there's a low percentage of people who have license, who are active. So I would say that the big myth that a lot of people have about Realtors is that they're number one. There are no ethical realtors? Definitely, there are lots of ethical realtors out there. Another myth that I think a lot of people have about Realtors is that they're only interested in the money, or they only care about the transaction or transaction funds. There are definitely agents that are like that, but there are agents out there that really care about making sure their clients are happy with their end transaction, with the end result. You know, I have buyer clients who closed literally, today on our property here in the sunset at 25th and Noriega.
00:29:27.798 --> 00:30:16.439
And just like Kelvin said earlier when we were touring the house, I started pointing out the problems. It's like, yes, it has all the features that you want. We knew what you wanted coming into this house. We you know, like we saw the pictures, we knew the location we knew all the good things. Let's look at what's not great. And you know, the two things that they didn't love? I was like, we can have contractors come and give you quotes for that. And so we did that. And so making sure that they knew that those things were there might have killed the deal, right? But I. Rather them continue working with me to find something they love than to accept something that they don't, because I view those relationships in the long term, I want them to I want to know that they're happy there. I want to know that they're happy raising their family. You know?
00:30:16.439 --> 00:30:32.419
I want that, and I also want them to be able to speak well of me, when they talk about other people, when somebody has a referral, I want them to say, hey, Ted was great, you know, reach out to him, you know. And if you don't give that level of service, they won't think to mention
00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:34.519
it. You need to earn it. Right? Absolutely,
00:30:35.119 --> 00:31:01.859
you know, people think it's easy to be a realtor, but I think it may be somewhat easy to get a license, but it's definitely not easy to run a real estate business, a successful one, that is. But I do want to stress that one of the benefits is the flexibility of being a realtor. So maybe the world out there is a little jealous that we have this nice, very flexible, flexible job, yeah, but with the flexibility, we're actually working around the clock, even on vacation, even after hours. Yeah.
00:31:03.900 --> 00:31:27.380
All right, to wrap things up, Let's lighten it up with some San Francisco real estate trivia. So I have some trivia questions about the San Francisco real estate market. So as of July 2025, what was the medium home sale price in San Francisco? A, 1.1 5 million. B, 1.4 1 million. C, 1.7 5 million or d2, point 0, million, 2 million.
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.839
Oh gosh, median I'm gonna say, I'll say the highest.
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.880
I'm gonna say 2.0 1.4 1.4
00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:41.859
is correct. Yes.
00:31:41.859 --> 00:31:54.279
Very good question two, as of July, 2025 How long did homes typically stay on the market in San Francisco? A, 14 days. B, 28 days. C, 45 days, or D, 60 days,
00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:57.579
I'll say 28 days 14.
00:31:57.579 --> 00:31:57.579
The answer
00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:15.960
is, 28 alive. Okay, one for one. All right. Last, we'll ask question. All right, so in the Bay Area, what's the average cost for a full bathroom remodel? A, 10 to 20k B, 20 to 45k C, 50 to 80k or D, 100k
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:20.039
plus. Oh, you go first. Oh, man, what's the second one? Second
00:32:20.700 --> 00:32:21.900
one was 20 to 45
00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:28.759
oh, 520. To 45 it could be the same answer. I think that's right. I think it's 2045 Correct. Oh,
00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:31.759
yeah. Okay, they died, all
00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:36.440
right. But hey, we can get it done for 10 to 20 so make sure you contact us.
00:32:39.318 --> 00:32:45.578
Thank you so much Kelvin and Ted for joining and for your sharing your expertise and your wisdom with
00:32:45.579 --> 00:32:48.940
us. Thank you. It was fun. Was fun. Thank you, Jessica. All right,
00:32:49.598 --> 00:32:51.638
if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend.
00:32:51.638 --> 00:33:00.118
Don't forget to subscribe. If so you don't miss future conversations here on the sense of connection. I'm Jessica Ho, and this has been the sense of connection.
00:00:00.660 --> 00:00:02.520
Ho, Hey everyone.
00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:12.300
Welcome back to the sunset connection. I'm your host, Jessica Ho, today we're diving into a topic that's been near and dear to my heart, real estate. How does it really work?
00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:47.439
Is it different in San Francisco? Who are the players and most importantly, how does this impact you as a buyer or a seller? Today I'm joined by two guests from Sequoia real estate Kelvin cam, a San Francisco native who built his brokerage after starting as an investor, and Ted Manahan, who began in fix and flips before becoming an agent focused on the outer sunset. We talk about their journeys. What makes San Francisco's market so unique, and the real value Realtors bring to buyers and sellers, and at the end, we'll test their knowledge with some fun real estate trivia. And let's run this All right, welcome Ted and welcome Kelvin.
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Hey. Jess, hi. Jess, thanks for having us. Nice to be here. Both
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of you came into real estate from very different paths. Let's start with how those journeys began. Calvin, you're a San Francisco native.
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Tell us about growing up here, what kept you rooted in the city?
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Oh, man, Okay, what else 50 years ago? Yes, I born and raised in the city. Kaiser was the hospital I was at so Richmond District, and just bumped back and forth from sunset in Richmond. I did leave a few years in San Leandro with my family, but came back here for school. So I, yeah, I went to Lowell High School. You may have
00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:43.900
heard of it, and I hear that a lot of my guests went to Lowell. And so the last person who was on our podcast was like, we went to wash, so we got to wash represent. You know, it's funny because, like, there were teachers, like, all of your guests go, like, went to wool.
00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:58.180
Well, actually, I should give a shout out to my elementary school, which was Sutro. Sutro Elementary, okay, few years after that middle school, I went to start to see Catholic, Catholic school on a Richmond District.
00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:01.200
Great. Yeah, wow, yes. What a Richmond boy.
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I'm still there right now, and which is why I decided to start a brokerage out in the outer Richmond, Sequoia real estate on Balboa.
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So Ted, you and I both live in the outer sunset.
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We do, but we are also considered transplants, because we were not born and raised here. What made you fall in love with the Sunset District.
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Yeah, I grew up in Kentucky, actually. So I grew up in Northern Kentucky, close to the Cincinnati area, which is a suburb of Cincinnati. And I grew up there, went to college at University of Kentucky, got my engineering degree, and moved out to San Francisco in 2009 when we had the lockdown, we couldn't leave the apartment like nobody could, and so we're just at at home all the time.
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And so we needed more space, like everybody did at the time.
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So we started looking for apartments and everything. And, you know, we ended up finding this really great house for rent in San Francisco in the outer sunset on Noriega, you know, close to the ocean. The thing that I love about the most is it's very sort of, it's very family oriented, with which I really appreciate. But it's also got that walkability. So it has that city, that city, those city resources were close to Mooney, we're close to, you know, Gus market on Noriega and 44th were super close to the beach and the park and so, you know, we get to have our family space and our dog and our yard while still having easy access to everything else that the city offers.
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I mean, that's why I love the sunset too, man, yeah, it's a good place to be. So tell me a little bit about how you decided to become a realtor.
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So I started in real estate full time in 2017 I had been working as a project manager for a solar company, after I did some engineering at an automotive company, Toyota.
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And when I got into real estate, I decided to do it as an investor, because I wanted to be able to do like fix and flip projects. And my perspective at the time was that not having a license would allow me more flexibility in terms of what I was able to do with my projects, because I was also doing wholesaling, which is basically, instead of flipping a property, you flip a contract. And I did that successfully, and did some rehab projects as well. And when, when covid happened, you know, things took off, but when my wife and I decided to start our family, she advocated for me to get my license for more regularity and more options.
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When I started looking into my license, I ultimately realized that it increased my flexibility. When I was doing all of my investing projects, the piece that I liked the most was the sales and marketing and doing the deal itself, not necessarily doing the work and hiring contractors and overseeing the work there's. Lot of satisfaction with seeing the finished product. That's fantastic. But actually working with the people that were involved with the transaction itself was what my passion was, and so it just made perfect sense to take my marketing skills and my, you know, people in negotiating skills, and get my license. And I was very picky about the brokerage that I was going to work with when I started looking I, you know, by then, I had been in real estate full time for about seven years, and I knew lots of agents, I knew lots of investors, I knew lots of brokerages, and so I tapped my network and started interviewing people, and lots of people referred me and everything. But ultimately, when I saw Sequoia and had gone to some of their networking events and investing events, and then I, you know, got one on one time with Kelvin, you know, I decided that they were just the best brokerage for me. And so, so I love being an agent, and it allows me to stay close to home.
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I farm in my area. It's great having my listings be literally a five minute drive. I can talk to the people that are buying or selling houses, all of the things that are great about where I live and great about the
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city. Yeah, you're selling the product, then you're actually living the product.
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Exactly. Yep. Great, true believer. Yeah, products Exactly. Kelvin, so tell me about how you decided to become a realtor?
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So yeah, I was in tech, and I was sitting at home one day, telecommuting, and I turned on the TV, and there was an ad up there. And there I was talking about real estate investments, things like that, multiple streams of income. And who wouldn't want multiple streams of income? So it was a seminar out in Marriott, Burlingame. So I went out there that week, checked it out they were pushing out a $5,000 course that I didn't want to pay for.
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So I got some free knowledge.
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And when I left that day, I started making phone calls.
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Found an ad in the paper, the newspaper, a physical newspaper, and or the ad for a realtor posted looking for investors. It said investors needed these options. Called his number, and What year was this? 2003 okay, yeah, 2222 years ago, last so, yeah, I picked up the phone. I think a surprise, I called, but he said, What was thinking? Like the ad worked. So I picked up the phone. He shared what his program was about. So these options is when a tenant has an option to buy the house from the landlord at some period of time.
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So I flew out there. I checked out some properties, but the beauty of this investment strategy was he already had tenants picked out properties they want to buy in the future.
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They just couldn't buy it yet because they had to work on certain things, maybe down payment or credit. So the tenant picked out a house and this, and he asked me to buy it. I bought it. I have a tenant from day one that's paying above market rent that gave me a lease option deposit. It goes toward my deposit. I ended up buying these homes anywhere ranging from 150 to 300 for less than $10,000 down, wow, so And wow. And I was cash flowing immediately, like true cash flow, 200 to $700 a month on each property. So that's how I was able to keep on buying every month I had my job.
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So every month, every paycheck went into a house. And I scaled it within one year, and after a year, I I, um, it we made, you know, nice, passive income, but not a lot, okay, not, not close to what I made in the tech job.
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But I just thought, is ready to commit and take that leap? And a lot of us have that challenge when they don't know when to go into the next profession, especially a real estate venture, when it's not consistent income. So I decided to take that leap, ask my wife for permission, like, Hey, is that okay? Because this is from stability to something a little more wild. She said, good. So I got the blessing, and I just went all in and quit my job.
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Felt good, quitting my five, six year job, and yeah, that's how my venture started.
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That's incredible, but San Francisco is a completely different beast than those markets. What makes real estate here so unique?
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Well, as I was investing, this is 2003 there was a crash around 2000 7008, and a lot of properties lost value. And during that transition, I noticed that in the Bay Area, even though market the prices dropped, there's still a lot of demand. It's, it's crazy. It's, as you know, here we live here, there's a there's always gonna be a shortage of homes, and in any market, there'll always be some demand. So I'm like, Man, why don't I look into this market little more, and then I decided that, hey, I should get my broker's license. And I did interview one company, but always had the back of my mind that I would just create something because I thought what I wanted didn't exist because I interviewed, I looked I just didn't have the the. Environment that I wanted. And I just thought to this day, I feel real estate's a little old school is an older the industry. It's really slow to adopt technology and a lot of different things, and not sure exactly why. And I just felt like if I joined another company, it would limit my creativity. So I decided, instead of joining company, leaving after a few years, I just went all in again, all in again, and starting Sequoia real estate. And this was founded in 2010 15 years ago, and I started with just no expectations to grow to over 100 agents. It's really just an environment for myself that I thought was allow me to excel. But I was, I was doing that, I people saw what we had and it really they felt it was environment they wanted. And what is this environment, you may ask, is, well, it's, it sounds like it should be in every single company, right? But it's really focused on a community of our agents and listening to what they have to share and know, really listening and taking action and providing what what they need to excel. It sounds like it should be everywhere, but in bigger companies, it all companies, not just real estate. The corporate world, it's hard to entertain everyone's wishes because of bureaucracy and just hierarchy and how things are done in the past and what worked. I totally get it. And which is why, in our company, we keep it at a certain size, 100 or so is still a good amount of people. We don't need to be 1000s and 1000s of agents, right? And with a manageable amount of people, then the agents are hurt, and we can actually build something that makes sense for everybody.
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That's great. I mean, that's a big reason why I joined Sequoia. So, yeah, who referred you to Sequoia? By the way, I believe it was a person that I knew in the sunset. His name was, was it Ted,
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oh, is that? Was it Ted Manahan, yeah.
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Small world. Small world, yeah. So, of all the places to do, real estate San Francisco, I found, has been a really unique case, and the reason being is for some reason there is, like, a different culture here and like a different way of doing things, maybe because it's a smaller city, maybe it's because there are fewer homes. But can you tell me or shed some light on on why the real estate industry in San Francisco is unique compared to other parts of California or even the rest of the United States.
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Well, I can definitely speak to how it's different from other parts of the US, since I grew up in other parts of the US. You know, number one, the price point is very, very different. You know, California broadly is, is much more expensive than someplace in the Midwest like Kentucky or Ohio or Missouri. But not only that, there are also a lot of different laws regarding real estate transactions and also ownership. So in California, and especially cities like San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, it's extremely tenant friendly, right where there, look, the laws are there to protect people that are that have have their homes. And in places like Kentucky and again, Ohio, they're much more landlord friendly. And so with somebody doesn't pay their rent in San Francisco, they get a lot of chances, and they get a lot of there are a lot of programs that can help them keep their homes back where I grew up, it was the opposite, right? So if someone doesn't pay the rent, they could have 30 days notice, 60 days notice to move on, and there's no real recourse. There are programs like that can help people. They do exist, but it's nothing like in California or San Francisco specifically. So I can tell you, that's a that's, that's, those are two major differences. Now it's worth noting that be the price of the houses themselves are very different, but the rents are also very different, right? So moving to a different home and finding similar rent back in Kentucky is not as much of a challenge because of difference in demand as, say, California, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland. So from, from my experience, those are, those are some of the main differences.
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.379
Thank you. Kelvin, is there, like, a different way of doing things in San Francisco that you've noticed?
00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:39.860
Of course, I'm biased. I think in the Bay Area we have really educated and sophisticated and very knowledgeable folks, very true, right? So in a transaction, you got to disclose everything you know in other states and other areas is a little bit more laxed about it. But what does that mean? It means like when we represent sellers, we complete disclosures first before there's a transaction in other states.
00:14:39.860 --> 00:15:36.019
When I bought the properties out of state, you submit an offer, and you get the disclosures later, and there's a chance to back out. But in our area, San Francisco, specifically, most of our offers that we submit for buyers, they're they're non contingent, which means you're committing from day one, which is a little scary for most people in other areas, you. You can write an offer and it's time to back out within seven days or so for your inspections loans or appraisal in San Francisco. I mean, we we advise our client that those, those contingencies are there to protect you, but they end up removing them to be competitive, because every house that I represented a client on that that was priced right had multiple offers. So it's very hard to get a house. These not in other areas. When you find a house and you can pick it and you can own it right away, this competition here is very easily, people spend about six months or so to get a house. So it's really, really tiring process.
00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:50.919
Oh, absolutely, it's taken me. It took me over a year to find this home. And, you know, I've helped clients put in offers and been over bid, so it's definitely a very competitive environment here.
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Another thing that I've realized since I started in real estate is that there are over 4000 agents that are registered as realtors in San Francisco and are part of the local San Francisco Realtors Association.
00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:21.799
But when I look at actually, who's doing business, it's really down to, like, actually just a few 100 names. It's interesting to me. Oh, the realtors that there are so many realtors that I thought I'd be competing against 1000s of people. But really it turns out to be a pretty small pool, and we kind of all know each other by the end of it, right?
00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:35.960
Yes, there. There's a lot of agents here. I think 4500 in San Francisco, over 50% of the realtors there are part time. That's crazy, yeah, and some of them won't do deals more than one deal every few years.
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But when the market was hotter, they actually did a lot of deals casually with another job because their friends want representation. So it sounded great to just get your license and close one deal and, you know, make a little bit of money on the side.
00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:54.100
And that's exactly why people ask, are Realtors really worth it? Let's get into that.
00:16:54.820 --> 00:17:17.039
But times have changed. Right? Times have changed. So, as you saw, do your research, that yes, 80% of the folks that are licensed party on doing that many dealing more because the markets shifted the clients out there, buyers and sellers are actually looking for more focused and full time, serious realtors to represent them, and which is a different time than what it was before
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:24.019
I was told that most realtors, like 90% of Realtors quit within the first five years. Yeah, it's a
00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:44.559
it's a wake up call once you, once you start trying to get deals. And it's not as easy as, oh, I think I tell I post on social media and say, I got my license, and the floodgates and open all my friends will use me, especially now. No, they want someone your friends want someone that's serious, that's correct, right?
00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.400
Yeah, otherwise, they're gonna ask you for a huge discount. And that's another topic.
00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:55.720
Yes, yes, speaking of which. So how do Realtors provide value both for the seller side and the buyer side?
00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.519
Do you guys want to take one or the other?
00:17:57.880 --> 00:17:58.599
I'll take the seller
00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:04.740
side. So that's, I think, the easier one to sell people on, right? So I'll start with my background in investing.
00:18:04.740 --> 00:19:00.900
When I did projects, you know, they would, you would take them from very bad situation, very, you know, needing a lot of repairs, or there was also something, something happening with the owners, or there was inheritance or something like that. And so it was about taking something that was like So sort of at the bottom, so to speak, and taking it to the top and making it really beautiful and amazing, and making it really pop. And so when I put projects on the market, product properties that are that look beautiful and are done very well, and they're staged properly, and they have great pictures, and they have a strong social they have a strong marketing campaign. Those properties do well in every market, right? So the properties are always selling, right? So even in Oh 809, when we had the, you know, the market crash, by the way, Calvin, super brave and admirable that you started your brokerage in 2010 because we are still coming out of that, right?
00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:12.480
Like that, things didn't really start turning around until, like 2011 2012 that wasn't until the stuff swing started. So that's really cool. Thank you. Yeah.
00:19:12.480 --> 00:20:34.279
But anyway, the as a listing agent, you know, I demonstrate my value by number one, showing them other listings that I've done, right? So we will help you bring your property up to a level that makes it great to show we don't have to do a full remodel, but we can do things like change the floors or finish the floors and paint interior and exterior and do lighting fixtures. And that will get you a very long way in taking something that is sort of dark to something really bright. And then when you put pictures on top of that, and professional walk throughs, and you're wearing a suit at the open house, and you're doing all these things, all of that adds a level of professionalism that most agents just aren't dialed in on, right, so to speak. So being able to present their process. Property in the best light prop, in the best light possible, and also being able to bring the strong negotiation skills and the marketing skills and the pricing skills. I mean, if you want to sell your house on Redfin or Zillow by yourself, and you want to live in it while you're doing that, so you can save on the commission, the reality is, is that you're going to get a much lower price than if you had worked with an agent, and that two and a half percent that your agent is going to charge is going to be very much outweighed by the much higher price that they can get you. So that's sort of the value add that we bring as as agents on the sell side.
00:20:35.598 --> 00:21:14.939
Yeah, so I think that that's certainly something that comes up these days, is that, you know our are the commissions worth it for realtors? And so I have heard of stories of people who want to move forward on their own without a realtor. The data does show that when a realtor, a professional Realtor, helps sell a home, it does sell for a higher price, for the various reasons that you mentioned, because the reality is that people get attached to their home. People think of their home differently than a stranger, and it affects how they talk about their home. It affects how and that affects the price. You know whether people like it or not.
00:21:14.939 --> 00:21:59.019
The reality is that this is a market. Your house is on a market, and so you want a person who's professional, who understands the market to be able to put it in its best light, so that you can get that top dollar, because that could be the difference. I've seen differences from like 1.9 million to 1.6 million difference. That's $300,000 which is much more than 2.5% commission, or, I guess, for the seller and for the buyer. So speaking of which, I think the seller piece is easier, because throughout the world, seller agents get commission, but buyers agents is kind of a unique thing in America and so how, especially with the recent Nara lawsuits and everything that's happened, how do we have conversations with clients To justify our 2.5%
00:22:00.038 --> 00:22:30.499
commission? Yeah, so I guess it is not set at 2.5 and it could be anything, right? So maybe a younger Realtor in business will charge a little less, more experienced one might even charge three. I actually like what happened, because now we have something in writing back then. Two years ago, there was buyer agreeing paperwork back then, but two years ago, no one really used it. Now, we have to use it. We want to use it, and this just is a commitment between myself and the buyer.
00:22:30.499 --> 00:23:21.439
Now, I know I have someone that wants to work with me, and likewise. So I actually like that. You know, I consult with my buyers. It's it, and I share that. It this. This is a two way relationship, but you, you're interviewing other realtors. I only have capacity for less than 10 buyers at one time, so if it doesn't fit either way, it's okay, you know, like it's we may not work together. So I, I start with that, that I just for, for me, there's no pressure, really, there isn't I'm when you're selling a home to a friend or family member, even yourself, it's different than you sign into your client supposedly, right? You're you, you. So not walking through the house. I'm really looking at it. If I were to buy it, what would I see it as our problem? So I'm actually the first person to identify with the problems. I don't go into a house and say, Hey, look at the nice renovation. Look at the views. Look at this, that and that. No, they can see that.
00:23:21.439 --> 00:23:30.798
Yeah, I'm looking at, there's a crack over there, or, Oh, this thing, this pro, this pro, this unit, was done without permits, you know. So I talk about all those things and provide knowledge in that space, right?
00:23:30.798 --> 00:23:43.659
And really help them look beyond the stage. Beautiful, home that, yeah, the what, you know, a good listing agent like Ted had did already present it. Well, I said, looks beyond that. Let's, let's see what can cause potential issues down the road.
00:23:43.659 --> 00:24:16.558
And that's what I do. And once they see that, it's really hard for them not to want to pay for that great service, because that two and a half percent is really small, compared to 50, hundreds of 1000s of dollars of damages down the road. And you know, it's most of the time, it's worked out an agreement. And in our industry, though, even though there's a commitment from the buyer to pay a commission to me, when we submit an offer, most buyers will ask the seller to pay for the obligation.
00:24:16.558 --> 00:24:30.439
That's right, yeah. So that's happening too, so my buyers know they'll end up paying which is what I love, because I say, Hey, if you want to work with me, I mean, I'm sure you know, like my time is valuable, so is yours, so you're obligated to pay me.
00:24:30.439 --> 00:24:35.959
But when we submit an offer, we can ask the seller pay for it, and nine out of 10 times the seller has been
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:48.819
yep, I think that is definitely a good argument for the buyers agents commission.
00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:53.559
However, I am curious about this trend, because it's not the end, right? It's just the beginning.
00:24:53.559 --> 00:25:20.599
I think that to your point, this is a recent change, and as real estate. It evolves. You know, it will be interesting to see what it means to be a buyer's agent versus a seller's agent, or what a real estate agent does. But one thing that I have found, you know, I've been in real estate all my life, because my parents and my grandparents have been real estate investors, and I've, you know, just been around it.
00:25:20.599 --> 00:26:35.420
But I've also purchased, used a realtor to buy a home. I've used a realtor to sell a home. So I I've definitely, even though I wasn't a realtor, until very recently, recognized the need, or, like, the importance of a realtor. Because even as someone who's around real estate, I didn't know the contract work. I didn't know what was in the paperwork. I didn't know, you know, the process of getting a loan. I didn't know all of that, right? So I needed some help, and luckily, my parents could help me with some of that. But my parents are realtors, so, you know, like, without that support, right? I wouldn't have been able to figure out that process, because I, at the time, had a full time job, I had a life to live. I didn't have time to just read contracts and understand disclosures and everything, right? So I personally see the the importance that I personally, you know, have paid Realtors you know, or have asked for the seller's agent to our seller to pay for the agent. But one thing I have noticed since I started here in this new industry, there is certainly a difference between different types of realtors. And, you know, I think you mentioned a little bit about that, Kelvin, when there are some realtors that are just out there to help the families purchase deals, which is kind of the situation that my parents have, right? Which is good.
00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:56.200
Like, I think definitely, if that works for your family, like, that's something that worked well for my family, great. But if you're a realtor that really wants to be an expert in the profession, that requires a whole different set of skills, that requires understanding how to communicate with buyers and sellers and with the contractors and with their other party vendors. It requires a level of project management.
00:26:56.200 --> 00:28:21.380
It requires a lot of detail orientedness, like it requires so much in order to see a deal through to the end, and all the different factors that are happening and things are changing constantly in our industry, so keeping on top of that as well. So I definitely feel like even I've only been in this industry for eight months, like I can sincerely tell when someone is being a professional real estate agent. It's like, I can kind of see it now, and I really do see the value personally of finding a really strong agent who knows the stock, who understand current prices, if it's low or high, compared to what they're seeing on the market, seeing past the beautiful staging and getting to know, like any other potential issues like maybe with the foundation, or with mold, or with other things that people don't think about on a regular basis. Outdated electrical, outdated electrical, right? And what does that mean? Right? For insurance, what does that mean for lending, right? So all of these things I think, come together, like being a real real estate agent is hard work, and that is something I had, I think I didn't really see behind the scenes, because, you know, I think Realtors sometimes get a bad rap. So I want to take this moment to kind of ask you, like, what are some myths you'd like to debunk about the real estate industry or realtors, and how do you think our industry will continue to evolve moving forward. All the
00:28:21.378 --> 00:29:27.798
reasons that you just described are a lot of the same reasons why so few people that have licenses are active in the right so all those things that you mentioned, being able to identify problems, being able to help with the contracts, being able to go through inspection reports, talk to contractors, get quotes, all these things lenders, dealing with lenders, understanding the lenders process, how many different programs there are, whether it's FHA or VA or whatever it is, those are the reasons why there's a low percentage of people who have license, who are active. So I would say that the big myth that a lot of people have about Realtors is that they're number one. There are no ethical realtors? Definitely, there are lots of ethical realtors out there. Another myth that I think a lot of people have about Realtors is that they're only interested in the money, or they only care about the transaction or transaction funds. There are definitely agents that are like that, but there are agents out there that really care about making sure their clients are happy with their end transaction, with the end result. You know, I have buyer clients who closed literally, today on our property here in the sunset at 25th and Noriega.
00:29:27.798 --> 00:30:16.439
And just like Kelvin said earlier when we were touring the house, I started pointing out the problems. It's like, yes, it has all the features that you want. We knew what you wanted coming into this house. We you know, like we saw the pictures, we knew the location we knew all the good things. Let's look at what's not great. And you know, the two things that they didn't love? I was like, we can have contractors come and give you quotes for that. And so we did that. And so making sure that they knew that those things were there might have killed the deal, right? But I. Rather them continue working with me to find something they love than to accept something that they don't, because I view those relationships in the long term, I want them to I want to know that they're happy there. I want to know that they're happy raising their family. You know?
00:30:16.439 --> 00:30:32.419
I want that, and I also want them to be able to speak well of me, when they talk about other people, when somebody has a referral, I want them to say, hey, Ted was great, you know, reach out to him, you know. And if you don't give that level of service, they won't think to mention
00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:34.519
it. You need to earn it. Right? Absolutely,
00:30:35.119 --> 00:31:01.859
you know, people think it's easy to be a realtor, but I think it may be somewhat easy to get a license, but it's definitely not easy to run a real estate business, a successful one, that is. But I do want to stress that one of the benefits is the flexibility of being a realtor. So maybe the world out there is a little jealous that we have this nice, very flexible, flexible job, yeah, but with the flexibility, we're actually working around the clock, even on vacation, even after hours. Yeah.
00:31:03.900 --> 00:31:27.380
All right, to wrap things up, Let's lighten it up with some San Francisco real estate trivia. So I have some trivia questions about the San Francisco real estate market. So as of July 2025, what was the medium home sale price in San Francisco? A, 1.1 5 million. B, 1.4 1 million. C, 1.7 5 million or d2, point 0, million, 2 million.
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.839
Oh gosh, median I'm gonna say, I'll say the highest.
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.880
I'm gonna say 2.0 1.4 1.4
00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:41.859
is correct. Yes.
00:31:41.859 --> 00:31:54.279
Very good question two, as of July, 2025 How long did homes typically stay on the market in San Francisco? A, 14 days. B, 28 days. C, 45 days, or D, 60 days,
00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:57.579
I'll say 28 days 14.
00:31:57.579 --> 00:31:57.579
The answer
00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:15.960
is, 28 alive. Okay, one for one. All right. Last, we'll ask question. All right, so in the Bay Area, what's the average cost for a full bathroom remodel? A, 10 to 20k B, 20 to 45k C, 50 to 80k or D, 100k
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:20.039
plus. Oh, you go first. Oh, man, what's the second one? Second
00:32:20.700 --> 00:32:21.900
one was 20 to 45
00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:28.759
oh, 520. To 45 it could be the same answer. I think that's right. I think it's 2045 Correct. Oh,
00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:31.759
yeah. Okay, they died, all
00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:36.440
right. But hey, we can get it done for 10 to 20 so make sure you contact us.
00:32:39.318 --> 00:32:45.578
Thank you so much Kelvin and Ted for joining and for your sharing your expertise and your wisdom with
00:32:45.579 --> 00:32:48.940
us. Thank you. It was fun. Was fun. Thank you, Jessica. All right,
00:32:49.598 --> 00:32:51.638
if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend.
00:32:51.638 --> 00:33:00.118
Don't forget to subscribe. If so you don't miss future conversations here on the sense of connection. I'm Jessica Ho, and this has been the sense of connection.
חיפוש פרקים ישנים
חפש פרקים קודמים של The Sunset Connection: People, Property & Policy in the Bay Area.
הצהרה: הפודקאסט והגרפיקה המוטבעים בדף זה הם מ-Jessica J. Ho, שהוא רכושו של בעליו ואינו קשור או מאושר על ידי Listen Notes, Inc.
