Sue Bowie, circa 1985We were disappointed to learn that the old Phoenix Books location was/is becoming yet another waste of space - again in the form of a realtor's office. But then today we received a postcard announcing that Sue Bowie has joined forces with Alain Pinel:
Alain Pinel welcomes Sue Bowie to its gallery of Real Estate Professionals. Sue continues her 24 year tradition of providing the same excellent service to her clients in Noe Valley, now teamed with the most sophisticated and technologically advanced real estate firm, specializing in the marketing of distinctive properties and estates.It all makes sense, though, when you factor in that Sue Bowie owns the building at 3850 24th St where Alain Pinel will soon open.
Sue Bowie is a great resource and not only specializes in Noe Valley but All of San Francisco, including Eureka Valley, Bernal Heights and Glen Park.
[NVSF: Tidbits: What's Up on 24th Street?]
It really is too bad that we have to endure another real estate office on 24th St. I've always seen them largely as vultures sweeping down on the landscape to grab anything to sell, and push their selling hype on the public. They are part of the "marketing" efforts to push prices onward and upward, making it harder for families to buy into Noe V.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sue Bowie is no exception to the greed and fake cache she will bring to our neighborhood.
I would rather have seen that storefront remain vacant.
The headline to this post says it all: "Sue Bowie sells out 24th St." This is a woman who has made a handsome living off the backs of the folks in Noe Valley -- both as a landlord (commercial and residential) and also as a realtor. I believe but am not positive that she also lives here. As a long-time resident and one who has handsomely benefited from the people who live here, she might have had the interests of her neighborhood and neighbors in mind when making her decision to add to the massive flight to rent to non-useful and redundant services on 24th St. Instead, she chose to be greedy. That makes 10 realtors (if you count RMC, which is two doors off 24 St.) now on our little stretch of 24th St. What a sad downward spiral we are in, thanks to Sue Bowie and others like her.
ReplyDeleteuse spell check - 2nd time this week you spelled Valley wrong.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly my feeling about Sue Bowie, and many other realtors like her. They do nothing for the community, except attempt to inflate house prices and try to call a shack a "cute fixer" and then collect outrageous fees.
ReplyDeleteFor that Sue is one of the best...:(
Actually I believe she lives in Marin.
ReplyDeleteThere are no suprises here. Bowie has long wanted to have her office on 24th Street...and the comments to this post, so far, are mean spirited and dictatorial. It is all about supply and demand...for every real estate office and nail salon in the hood, there are enough of YOU out there to patronize them..and utopian business plans usually can't pay the rent. Oh ya, where is spell check on this dang blog?
ReplyDeleteNope, I don't think these comments are mean spirited at all. But yes, they are strongly opinionated against the insane amount of realtors on 24th St.
ReplyDeleteA lot of don't take kindly to realtors, who are basically glorified rug salesmen and women, who often do very unscrupulous things to sell property like:
Grossly distorting the description of a property.
Photoshopping the hell out of every angle..Faking skies, colors, sizes of rooms.
Often misleading buyers about what "potential" a property has, without being honest to the buyer about the real costs or building code issues of remodeling. A little advice is often dangerous, especially without knowledge.
Constant bragging about being the "top realtor" whatever the hell that means.
Obviously, others don't think so highly of Sue Bowie or others realtors either. They could work much harder at cleaning up their image to the community.
If this upsets you, make sure to do your shopping on 24th St and support your local shops, not just Whole Foods. This goes for me too!
ReplyDeleteMake sure???
ReplyDeleteYou're sounding like some of the bike zealots who want us to live just like them.
What a turn off.
Godwin's law - any blog post with opposing sides will eventually see one side invoke the Nazis
ReplyDeleteKim Kubik's law - any blog post regarding Noe Valley will eventually see the problem boil down to the cyclists.
Oh yea. it's the cyclists that did it.
ReplyDeletedefinitely them.
If people want something other than a real estate office why don't they go create a useful business or idea to rent the space. I am tired of the complainers and am embarrassed by the lack of appreciation or understanding that a Noe valley resident is choosing to bring her business to 24 th street. Isn't that a good thing? The are many places on the street that duplicate goods and services. As long as people use them, they will sustain themselves and continue to exist. If anyone had a better idea for the space they should've called sue Bowie to rent the space!
ReplyDeleteWell, its not necessarily a good thing if you read some of the previous comments.
ReplyDeleteSome realtors are simply profit takers never giving back to the neighborhood. What the hell has Sue Bowie or Alain Pinel ever done for Noe valley?
"Some realtors are simply profit takers never giving back to the neighborhood. What the hell has Sue Bowie or Alain Pinel ever done for Noe valley?"
ReplyDeleteCan you point us to the realtors who DO give back to the Neighborhood?
Actually, can't think of any. can you?
ReplyDeleteI think most realtors only take, rather than give.
Just sayin'
Could be said for any profession other than "philanthropist"???
ReplyDeleteWhen I was shopping for the house I ended up buying in Noe Valley, Brendon DeSimone, my realtor, had dropped me off somewhere after a showing. Long story short, I dislocated my shoulder, called Brendon, he came back and got me, took me to first SF General, found the ER there to be a disaster, and then took me to Davies, and stayed until a friend could come by. Saved me a great amount of pain.
And he was a darn fine realtor to boot.
I would love to know what these blog whiners do to contribute to the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteme too
ReplyDeletewell, good for you murph. did your realtor give you a good deal on his outrageous fee?
ReplyDelete"well, good for you murph. did your realtor give you a good deal on his outrageous fee?"
ReplyDeleteThe buyer doesn't pay the commission - the seller does.
I was at a party once where Sue Bowie was making disparaging remarks about Noe Valley residents. She is a real class act. And you can remove the first two letters of 'class'.
ReplyDeleteWell, I make disparaging remarks about Noe Valley residents, too. Have you seen the comment threads around here lately?
ReplyDeleteFSBO has been going for years. Nobody is required to use Sue Bowie or any other realtor, but apparently they see value. She's been successful. There are plenty of personalities out there but it's probably uncalled for to tear into her on this blog, it's not like she eats live kittens for dinner.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we have rules prohibiting new restaurants, but we have no problem allowing real estate offices, banks, and nail salons? We have it backwards!!!
ReplyDeleteI've met Sue Bowie a number of times and I have overheard her telling prospective buyers false information about the remodeling potentials and costs for a particular property. She knows too little about construction and permits to be giving out this type of advice.
ReplyDeleteZephyr agreed to match any donations any of its agents made to Greening Guerrero. Currently, another Zephyr broker is exploring what the "adopt a street" program might facilitate to maintain the existing greened medians.
ReplyDeleteThere is a staggering amount of mean spirited comments from anonymous commenters, which is slightly better than teenagers attacking each other on Facebook - man up, for gods sake and stop being such a whus with this anonymous childish crap.
ReplyDeleteDo I think we need another real estate office anymore than a nail salon? Of course not, but the last thing we need is the genius supervisors deciding how many of something we need on 24th street, as they did with restaurants the past 10+ years, so land lords should continue to rent to whomever makes sense.
Doogels - I think the rules prohibiting new restaurants were recently removed.
ReplyDeleteSean Ryan - agree 100% on your 'land lords should continue to rent to whomever makes sense'...
hellooo out there!
ReplyDeleteWith all that caffiene one would think that someone might be awake.
Get a clue!
Rule 1: Nature abhors a vaccum.
Rule 2: ALL real estate agents are SALESPEOPLE. They are not clergy, counselors or your mommy/daddy.
Noe Valley has been a desireable neighborhood historically (The CBD is trying their damndest to change that).
So, what happens when alot of money gets into the hands of those that want to live here...they buy. People fed up with the Peoples Republic of S.F., who are in a position to sell...sell and go elsewhere.
So simple even an ivy leager can grasp the concept.
So until whiners make a legal commitment not to sell their property for a dime more than they bought it for...SHUT UP ALREADY.
yea...and sean ryan is just as anonymous as any other anonymous here.
ReplyDeletejust cause you post a fake name doesn't make your comments any more legitimate.
Anonymous @ 10:57
ReplyDeleteI know who you are. You're the crankpot that posts with no spaces between paragraphs and uses capital letters to deliver conservative screeds. (See, for example, the recent plaza thread.) If you had a name -- fake or otherwise -- it would be easier to ignore you.
No, I'm not that anonymous. You have me confused.
ReplyDeleteI'm the other one.
LOL
Gosh, I guess people aren't paying attention to the fact that B.J. Droubi, Hill and Zephyr and other realtors are constantly supporting the community, donating to the library, parks, the Harvest Festival, supporting schools and even churches. If some of you who are complaining started to think about a business that you could make work on 24th street and rent spaces,then we might not have so many nail salons and realtors, where are the risk taking merchants or business entrepreneurs in the crowd? And for the newcomers, 30 years ago Noe valley was filled with realtors, Selma, Boulognos, Rickenbacher, Herth, Twin Peaks among others who are now gone and replaced with the new ones...this is not something that has come about because of a conspiracy which is how many of the comments sound. Yikes, if you can't be part of the solution, start a business and rent a space, or let those willing to do it have the chance to fail or succeed without the mean spirited comments...and for those who don't understand the CBD,it is property owner paid for, flowers, trees and cleaning the sidewalks and paying for extra security from which we all benefit. At a time when the city is reducing or eliminating all services we have business and property owners including realtors, who are trying to do their part to make Noe Valley better....Bloggers, how about being part of the solution please, not just a blog whinner.
ReplyDeleteI nominate the 9:39 Anonymous "Comment of the Year".
ReplyDeleteWell said.
I nominate the 9:39 Anonymous "Comment of the Year".
ReplyDeleteWell said.
Hardly comment of the year...just another comment, and he's whining about starting a business, just for the hell of it, to get rid of nail salons?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant.
I think more of the comments were in general about the disdain many of us have for realtors, by and large. Many are disingenous. Many will puff up any property to make a sale. Many don't know anything about remodeling, or permits, or potentials of a property. Many just brag on and on about being a "top agent"..seems like they are ALL top agents anymore.
Maybe a little bit of humility and honesty would be in order for them.
Including Ms. Bowie.
Well said suzee.
ReplyDeleteI foolishly expected my realtor to be able to help me and guide me through the potential pitfalls when I bought my house (my first and only so far) in Noe Valley many years ago; turns out he was just another bozo in it for a buck. He completely failed me, sheepishly showed up at my door a month later with a $100 gift certificate at a seafood restaurant (I'm a vegetarian...no fish...duh), and he's still around - I see his smiling face just about monthly in the NVV. I hope he's learned a thing or two about identifying a competent inspector and negotiating with a seller on a buyer's behalf.
I truly do not appreciate all the mail I get from realtors either. Do I really care if they're selling a house around the corner from me? No. Do I need to see Sue Bowie's face on a monthly basis on a letter that is immediately recycled? No.
We need fewer, and better, and more focused realtors. But maybe that's just true of everything and everyone.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
ReplyDeleteThis post is not about realtors in general or about the gentrification of Noe Valley in particular.
ReplyDeleteIt's about a particular landlord who apparently leveraged her capital wealth (ownership of a building) to buy herself a job, instead of renting at true market rate to a different tenant who may have been of greater use to residents and business owners on 24th street.
Do landlords have an obligation to rent their property with the best interests of 24th St. retail in mind? Probably not. But if they don't have those interests in mind, we don't have an obligation to hail them as great, upstanding citizens just because they've lived in the neighborhood a long while and have capital assets.
The headline "Sue Bowie sells out 24th St. retail" is fair. Some of the nasty comments are not. But that's par for the course around here.
Yes, perhaps this is somewhat (?) unfortunate that many of the comments are targeted toward one Sue Bowie, but let's be real: the headline is about HER...and "selling out"..their words, not mine.
ReplyDeleteI am also REALLY tired of all that junk mail I also get telling me of the latest property a realtor is selling on my block or near me. Enough Already!!!
Notice how many HUGE full page ads are in the Noe Valley Voice by realtors..they almost seem to dominate the display ads..Can you guess why? Just maybe it's some of their exhorbitant fees they charge for shuffling paperwork for a legal transaction...Just maybe?
Yes, there are some very professional, nice, decent, honest, hard working realtors out there. Many others are not. They could do a lot to upgrade their image to the public, including the aforementioned realtor.
Instead of selling out, how bout "helping out"?
Thank you all you realtors in Noe Valley; who buy those ads in the Noe Valley Voice. Without your ads the Voice would probably not be around anymore. Thanks for "helping out."
ReplyDeleteYea, right...you missed the entire point of the comments.
ReplyDeleteMemo to Sue Bowie:
ReplyDeleteGirl.....get a new picture that looks more like you of TODAY.
Hey "yea right" what exactly is the "entire point of the comments?"
ReplyDeleteI think it is the point on your head. lol
People buy in Noe Valley because it's a safe, convenient, pretty area with a nice shopping strip.
ReplyDeleteRealtors and other non-retail businesses moving onto our retail shopping strip are not going to help their sales long-term when 24th is no more than an office park.
But of course who cares about long term when you can bathe in wads of cash in your Marin dream home.
All you complainers should get a clue.
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't have your fancy new intersections and pretty flowers and fancy news racks on 24th Street without the property tax base that Real Estate creates.
So for all of you that would rather sit on 24th St and whine into your laptops about the state of Noe Valley, go get a job.
I have paid 1000s of times over for that bench on 24th with my property tax that your fat ass is planted on all day drinking coffee.
Would you rather have a place serving $15 burritos in the old Phoenix??
At least Sue Bowie works hard. Oh, this is America. If you want to work hard and make lots of money, I believe that is legal.
I'm months late to this game, but I just want to add (for anyone finding this while googling Sue Bowie) that I crossed paths with her multiple times while looking for the right house years ago and she was just awful (she was with Prudential at the time). I really don't know why anyone would choose her as their realtor. I looked for info on her back then because she was just so awful and was sure I'd find other similar comments but all I found was all her Prudential "top seller" kind of comments. She was unpleasant at every turn, lacked even basic knowledge of the property (or willingly lied), and seemed uninterested in this or any other neighborhood I saw her in. The last comment from August 25 on here that 'Sue Bowie works hard' was laughable to me. I'm embarrassed as a woman to have this woman be upheld as a hard working woman. There are so many knowledgeable realtors in the area. Go to anyone else!
ReplyDelete