Having failed to be awarded in the third annual San Francisco Dream House Raffle, the “$2.8 million” dream house at 65 Mountain Spring Road has returned to the market listed for $2,675,000. As we first reported at the time of the raffle:
Listed for sale at $3,950,000 [in June of 2010], the list price for 65 Mountain Spring was reduced five times over the next four months before being withdrawn from the MLS in December last asking $2,775,000 for the 4,139 square foot (per its old listing) four-bedroom home.
While still listed as a four bedroom, the square footage for 65 Mountain Spring Avenue has been dropped to 3,513. No word on what happened to those 626 square feet.
∙ Listing: 65 Mountain Spring (4/3) 3,513 sqft – $2,675,000 [65mountainspringave.com]
∙ San Francisco Dreaming At 65 Mountain Spring Avenue [SocketSite]
This is currently our new listing, previously listed by the owners, who are also real estate brokers and trustees of their parents estate, but who primarily specialize in management. Many, many buyers with homes on the market over the past 2-3 years have been surprised by the values of their homes. Having previously appraised near the former asking price, the market has now changed.
I live in Clarendon Heights. It is a wonderfully serene community, but not very well known, even by local agents. The square footage quoted in our listing is from the current tax records, not measured by an appraiser or architect…. It is common for different appraisers, architects or builders to measure square footage differently, not to mention be entirely different from the city records… There is finished space in the basement & garage plus an additional half bath there, which may have previously been included.
This residence is lovely, with terrific views, remodeled kitchen & baths, hardwood floor throughout, in very good move in condition, with an elevator to all levels, and unusual for the neighborhood, it has a flat walk out south facing patio & garden in the rear…. It is ready to be sold. Come to our first Sunday open house September 11 from 2-4PM or call for questions or floor plans. 415-229-1399.
It is common for different appraisers, architects or builders to measure square footage differently
Why isn’t there a standard for this?
The photo at the top if this article is a really bad photoshop job – Sutro Tower looks totally fake, and not perpendicular to the earth’s surface.
^^^ That photo seems unmodified to me. And I cannot understand why someone would go through the effort of tilting the tower when it is easier to just remove it. On the realtor’s site the curbside photo is taken from an angle that obscures the tower.
As for standards for measuring footage: it would be pretty easy to define a standard methodology. I’d guess that the reason there is none is that those reporting the measurements have no incentive to do so. Less informed buyers are easier to sell to.
“The square footage quoted in our listing is from the current tax records, not measured by an appraiser or architect…. It is common for different appraisers, architects or builders to measure square footage differently, not to mention be entirely different from the city records… There is finished space in the basement & garage plus an additional half bath there, which may have previously been included.”
Thanks for the information. This is a great way to disclose the square footage — saying “per tax records” or “per builder” because it’s true disclosure.
As Milkshake said, most of the people who don’t report it at all are using a supposed threat of litigation as cover for hiding it. If you disclose the method or the source, where is the misrepresentation?
Haven’t we discussed this Sutro Tower issue in prior threads?
What does, “failed to be awarded” mean? (Disclaimer: I’ve never read the rules for the raffle (because I’ve never bought a ticket).) But does that mean that, if they don’t sell all of the tickets, they don’t go forward with the drawing for a winner?
So they did the raffle and the people chose the cash I assume? How would it work if they did choose the house? Would the trustee kids have received a check for the full $3m the “dream house” was supposedly worth?
well, you see the trustee kids are more concerned about management so it’s not really a matter of 1M or 3M…
If they fail to sell a minimum number of tickets, the house is not part of the raffle and the cash award to the winner is lowered. That’s what appears to have happened this year.
These house raffles are a scheme by developers to get a tax write off for a charitable donation based on an inflated price. This isn’t the first raffle house to not make the required number of ticket sales. 90% of house raffles fail to sell the minimal number of tickets.
The required minimum number is to assure the write off is enough to make money on the property. Usually banks bankroll the publicity and ticket vending. However, sometimes the sponsoring non-profit organization must be willing and have the funds to make up any difference between actual costs of conducting the raffle and ticket sales should not enough tickets be sold.
Winners must pony up the income, property and transfer taxes based on the stated value (because it comes from the supposedly honest sponsoring bank) rather than actual assessed value or probable sales price of the property. If the winner or winners choose to take the money,they have to pay income taxes, prize taxes and in some states a gambling winnings tax.
Even when everything goes well, enough tickets are sold to recoup expenses and make money, the winner has enough to pay the taxes, because these homes are exempt from standard disclosure laws and there’s no chance to inspect the homes beforehand, winners frequently find themselves deep in a financial hole. The homes can be in poor condition, as this one probably is, and the costs to repair reduce the real value even further.
And remember with a 90% failure rate to sell enough tickets, and rules that state only non-profits organizations can conduct these raffles, a number of illegitimate non-profits are set up as cover for individuals who just want to sell a loser property.
Exactly MM2! same thoughts. This is nothing but a scam, and most likely close to being illegal.
None of these ever seem to actually award the over inflated price of this house to an actual winner. Same game was tried in Noe V a year or so ago on a way over priced “fake craftsman”.
I remember the NV one – didn’t it have that insane staircase and another hilarious photochop job on the nearby wires?
The list price for 65 Mountain Spring Avenue has been reduced $180,000, now asking $2,495,000 for the “$2.8 million” dream house.
It should be illegal what these organizations are doing to increase the tax write off by inflating the value of homes being raffled. There is a home in Castle Rock that I had a certified appraiser walk thru and did a market analysis which came back $362,000 and they are claiming it’s worth $500,000!! So they illegally manipulate the value of the home to increase their tax write off and the government does nothing because they get a bigger tax payment from the winners! In fact the Saint Judes will get $150,000 tax write off, the government more than $175,000 in taxes, and the winner will get less than $175,000 after taking a hit for additional costs to sell the property. What a scam and our government is allowing this to happen time and time again. What needs to be done is to force the organizations handling the raffles to be honest in the evaluation by hiring several appraisers to valuate the properties and that is the basis for the taxable amount to the government. This is nothing more than FRAUD by the charitable organizations and they are getting away with murder!
floor plans?