From a tipster (email: tips@socketsite.com):
I may be a bit naive, because I don’t hang out much around South Beach/Rincon Hill/Mission Bay…..but I was driving down that way today and saw something I haven’t seen in SF before. There was a guy out on the corner of Folsom and 1st (I think) waving one of those “now selling” signs for the Lansing. You know the type…plugged into a walkman, and waving the sign to the music… I have seen this phenomenon visiting San Diego and LA…but somehow I though that we were above it in this “sophisticated” city.
We couldn’t help but dispatch a crack photojournalist to immortalize the scene. In related news, we’ve been told that there are 14 two-bedroom condos still available in The Lansing (82 units and 83% sold), that their rate buy-down program is still being offered, and that the developer is “motivated.” A couple of current list prices to get you started:
∙ 50 Lansing #105 (2/2) – $850,000
∙ 50 Lansing #305 (2/2) – $699,000
∙ 50 Lansing #503 (2/2) – $760,000
∙ 50 Lansing #504 (2/2) – $750,000
∙ 50 Lansing #608 (2/2) – $795,000
∙ 50 Lansing #609 (2/2) – $795,000
∙ 50 Lansing #706 (2/2) – $795,000
∙ 50 Lansing #801 (2/2) – $1,210,000
And it’s strange, but we can’t help but notice that #503 was listed for $725,000 just last month. (And once again, that #303 closed for $755,000 while #403 closed for $725,000.)
UPDATE (9/23): We’ve added pricing for units #608, #706, and #801.
∙ The Lansing (50 Lansing): Reductions And Recent Sales [SocketSite]
Isn’t there going to be a 300+ unit condominium built directly across the street from the Lansing on Lansing, somewhere behind the 76 gas station? I remember when we looked at the Lansing, the agent did inform us that the building across the street could be torn down and developed, but she didn’t say anything was already in the works. Feels like another bullet dodged.
[Editor’s Note: Yes, at 45 Lansing (details
this afternoonWednesday).]When one sees a picture of a person, human being just like everyone, having to stand on the street all day in the hot sun waving a sign to earn a living, you would think it would put into perspective that there is much more important things in life then real estate. All the things people worries about your home is a privilege to worry about. The person on the street wishes they had a home to worry about.
Dude, you are dating yourself. No one is “plugged into a walkman” any more: they haven’t been for at least 5 years. They are “pluuged into an iPod”.
It’s a REAL ESTATE blog, for God’s sakes!
I suspect if you’re taking a job swinging signs you probably can’t afford an iPod.
I see a lot of these “sign waving” guys in the East Bay, especially in San Ramon, Concord, Antioch, and Brentwood. Some are pretty good dancers! 😉
This is the first I’ve heard of them in SF though…
I’m with Concerned (above). This strikes me as one of a blatant symbol of our two-tiered society of winners and losers…some poor guy waving a sign all day (probably for pennies) trying to hawk million dollar (OK..in this case 700K) condos. I find it pretty depressing….
He probably lives in the east bay and owns a house. It is a definate sign of the times though. It used to be a listing would go into the MLS without a pic and not much of a description. Now agents and developers are actually having to do something to sell properties…
I actually heard a story on the show Marketplace on NPR about a month ago about a sign guy in San Diego. He said he actually enjoys his job (being outdoors, albeit on a street corner) and mentioned he gets paid $15/hr. That ain’t much, but that ain’t bad either.
The story also had a real estate tie-in: he’s thinking about purchasing a condo with help from his parents, so he’d like to see prices dip a bit. But, on the other hand, if the market dips too much, there may not be many more condo developments to waive signs for, meaning he’ll be out of the job.
The SF Chronicle also had a piece a little while back on the construction workers working on One Rincon Hill. Basically the same story: working on a building they can’t afford to purchase. But I can almost guarantee that they make a grip more than I do.
what’s wrong with building or selling things one couldn’t afford for oneself, i dont see any moral requirement for that. waving a sign is not hard work, and it beats being unemployed.
I live on guy place (renting:
I agree with Anonymous: So can the Bentley salesmen all afford to own one too? Puh-lease, people. It’s a paycheck. It’s better than being on Welfare.
Now, can we get back to “real estate,” please?
the bottom line about this pic socketsite wanted to point is: not about the guy w/ the sign, not about unemployment, his affordability etc. It is the “troublesome trend” we’ve all been talking about, in SAN FRANCISCO !
Wow! I thought I’d seen it all in this city, but this?? Now I’ve seen it all.
Why is this troublesome? This is simply another channel The Lansing has chossen to sell their real estate. Why something like this has to be labeled good or bad is beyond me. If you see it as an act of desperation so be it.
Thanks, “another anonymous.” That’s EXACTLY what I meant to say when I posted earlier about this not being the Bleeding Heart Society, but Socket didn’t appreciate my comment and deleted it.
The reason the sign waving is troublesome is because it’s a leading indicator of a falling market. For example, the San Diego condo market was on fire for years, with thousands of units going up downtown and selling out quickly (mostly to flippers). Eventually the musical chairs stopped, and sign twirlers appeared everywhere to help generate interest. Then they started offering commissions to Realtors(tm). Nothing helped. Now San Diego prices are down YOY and still falling. Implication: values here in SF, especially in SOMA/South Beach, are falling.
“Dude,” I think we all realize what are the implications of the sign waving. It’s just some people started crying over the guy holding the sign when it’s not at all about HIM; it’s about the RE market!
Sexy and Sassy…it’s about “him” AND the real estate market. In the big picture, our society is diverging between the “haves” and the “have nots” more than any time since the age of the Robber Barrons (1880’s/90’s). In a society in which this divergence were not the case (like, say America in the 1960’s, or much of Europe now)it might be a little more difficult to find someone to wave a sign around all day, because perhaps people would have more productive ways to spend their time (and/or because the social safety net is a little more robust).
Similarly, I remember growing up that only “rich people” had maids. Now middle class people do. Same phenomena…human capital has less value and people on the bottom are much more desperate to make a buck.
OK….end of economics preachiness. It’s also a sign that real estate is tanking, for sure. Like a canary in a coal mine.
“Similarly, I remember growing up that only “rich people” had maids. Now middle class people do. Same phenomena…human capital has less value and people on the bottom are much more desperate to make a buck.”
you are so right! kudos for seeing reality. this is due to the federal reserve and inflation/ fiat currencies btw
the person isn’t worth less relative to the dollar as you suggested. the dollar is worth less relative to the person and he/she hasn’t realized it yet
inflation is a grand theft and it steals slowely.
hi guys and gals I am one of these living signs as we are called in the Riverside County area.
Just two things to let you know 1. this is just a part time job for me to pick up a little extra money and to stay busy.(12 bucks an hour for a few hours is not bad.) 2. I actually enjoy doing and have a lot of fun at it.(My greatest pleasure with it,is when as I am jumping around and wave at a little one and they get a big smile on their face and wave back.
oh by the way I do work a full time job and am a retired Marine
Standing there holding a sign is one thing, but did you all know that this has become and art form and a very profitable business at that. Aarow Ads is projecting 4M in business this year! Not bad for a few kids who go together and started a sign spinning business in 2002, which now employs about 500 spinners. Not to mention, it can cost as much as $60/hr. for these guys, and they even have competitions now. Check out the video on the home page at http://www.AarrowAds.com, or click on my post name to read an article on this new trend.
I see lots of naive comments left here. To begin with, some of those sign twirlers get paid more than you (if the shoe fits), I should know because I am a sign twirler, I work 3 hours a day and that’s all I need to pay rent, bills, keep my WoW account, and take my GF out. The best sign twirler I know wont work for less than $60 per hour and most of the events I work are part of a package that brings in a total of around $8000 – $10,000 for a single holiday weekend contract.
I will admit however that I do not own an Ipod, but only because I don’t like Ipod as a brand, they are awkward and way to restrictive regarding what I can put on it, plus micro-HD’s break easily. No, I’ve opted for a lesser known brand (Insignia) Mp4 player and it works great for me and yes, I use it when spinning.
True ignorance exists in the people who pity sign twirlers. This is a part time job for most people–and where I live, many of these spinners are high school students. If they can afford an Ipod to dance to–then they’re not homeless!