Information for Investors

Welcome to my page just for Investors! For more than fifteen years, I've helped San Francisco real estate investors evaluate, finance, sell, and purchase their multi-family, commercial, and residential investments.

Please call or e-mail me if you would like further information about any of the resources featured below.

Property Owner Resources

The Roth REport. Subscribe to Andrew's monthly newsletter about the state of the San Francisco real estate market.

Automated MLS Search. Request access to one of Andrew's automated MLS search tools.

San Francisco Rent Board. This website includes information about the San Francisco Rent Ordinance, including annual allowable rent increase figures.

Rent Slicer. See what your neighbors are charging for rent! This website culls craigslist postings for the most current rents in any Bay Area neighborhood.

Commercial and Income Property Owner Meetings. This website includes information about commercial and income property owner meetings in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Apartment Association. This association represents all 40,000 rental property owners in San Francisco.

San Francisco Tenants Rights Union. This organization represents all renters in San Francisco.

Small Property Owners of San Francisco. This association represents small-property owners in San Francisco, providing legal counsel and other services.

SocketSite.com. This blog is a great find for those of us who like to stay up on SF real estate gossip, including notable listings and new developments.

Zillow.com. Use this handy website to find out how much a property is worth based on other homes the area. You can also see how the value of the property has changed over time.

1031 Exchanges

Trade Apartments for Dream Home. This article explains how to exchange an investment property for your dream home. (04.18.2007)

How Investors Avoid Profit Tax. This article describes how real estate investors can make use of 1031 exchanges to "pyramid" their real estate holdings without paying capital gains. (02.17.2006)

'Up Trading' to Larger Fixer-Upper Invites Profit Potential. This article provides a discussion of the tax benefits of a 1031 exchange when you sell a current investment property and 'trade up' to another property of equal or greater value.

Commonly Asked Questions About 1031 Exchanges. This article provides a list of frequently asked questions about 1031 exchanges. Use these questions and answers as a starting point for understanding this tax law.

Federation of Exchange Accomodators. This website allows you to search for a qualified intermediary to conduct a 1031 exchange. It also includes additional FAQs and other resources dealing with this topic.

Recent Articles

Investor's Corner:  S.F. Housing Projects Emerge from Deep Freeze.  City lifts 2-year condo "moratorium." (08.16.08)

Investor's Corner:  Billion Dollar Push on Public Housing.  TMG, Related join nonprofit builders to overhaul S.F. (07.15.08)

Investor's Corner:  Edgewater's $115M Price Shatters Records.  $730 per square foot in Mission Bay (05.01.08)

Investor's Corner Viewpoint: Tenant Rights Bill Called "One-Sided". Supervisors say they aim to curb abuse. (03.04.08)

Investor's Corner: Supervisors pass rental property disclosure ordinance requiring sellers and buyers to advise tenants of rights (03.19.08)

Investor's Corner: SF Housing Boom Moves to Van Ness. 2000 Units already in pipeline. (02.11.08)

Will San Francisco's Rent Control be Eliminated? A potential ballot initiative contains wording that may end rent control as we know it.

Debt Forgiveness may be Tax-free. (12.12.07)

State court orders publishing of Birkner v. Lam Opinion. Court holds that service of an eviction notice constitutes constitutionally protected right to petition the courts.
(10.22.07)

Ordinance requires landlords to re-key or replace door locks when all tenants vacate a rental unit. (10.20.07)

The New Land Grab. Private Equity firms and hedge funds are snapping up cheap land in markets where real estate has gone from boom to bust. (09.17.07)

Markets Where a Flipper Can Make a Buck. San Francisco and Seattle top the list. (8.30.07)

Sub-Prime Sorrow:  Credit Crunch Crisis or Opportunity? The history behind the current sub-prime market worries (8.23.07)

Nevada Remains Tops in Forclosure Rates. Detroit ranks highest among metro areas. (8.21.07)

New Rent Regulations Just Keep on Coming. New regulations for rental units are increasing dramatically in San Francisco. (5.12.07)

Hot Market for Offices Kept Up in 1st Quarter. San Francisco offices spaces are selling at premiums, but office rents are not yet keeping pace. (4.27.07).

Picking Up Steam. This article observes that the S.F. market's demise may have been greatly exaggerated. (4.22.07)

San Francisco 2007 Office Sales Could Smash Record Again. Read how the 1st quarter office sales in 2007 surpassed the entire sales activity for both 2005 and 2006. (4.13.07)

Market Street Towers Plan Still Faces Fight. Legislation could result in 4,000 more housing units in the Hayes Valley, Mid-Market, Mission Dolores and Duboce Triangle over the next 20 years. (04.13.07)

Bubble-Proof Markets. Find out why experts say that San Francisco is one of five US cities that's inherently "bubble-proof". (10.24.2006)

Buy Real Estate with your IRA. A little-known IRS provision lets you extend your real estate purchasing with tax-deferred dollars. (10.04.2006)

Home Forcast: Where the Growth is...and Isn't. Check out this table of 368 cities and their historical and forecasted property appreciation values. Fortunately for us, the San Francisco Bay Area is doing quite well compared to most everywhere else. (05.17.2006)

Rent Board Adjusts Annual Allowable Rent Increase and Interest Payable on Security Deposits. The annual allowable rent increase for the period March 1, 2006, through February 28, 2007, has been announced by the city’s Rent Board. (02.15.2006)

Mission Bay Home Run. An overview of the massive building projects that are coming to the revitalized Mission Bay neighborhood. (04.04.2005).

Private Annuity Trusts: Questions and Answers. A summary of one strategy for defering capital-gains tax bills from the sale of a property.

Proposed Change in Leasehold Depreciation Law. This summary outlines a proposed change in the leasehold depreciation law. The proposed law seeks to reduce the amoritization period from 39 to 15 years when a landlord makes improvements for a particular nonresidential tenant.