279 Flournoy
279 Flournoy was purchased for $440,000 in October of 2003, bought back by the bank in January of 2008 for $486,023, and has now hit the market for $349,900. Perhaps a bit close to the 280 (and Daly City) for some, but for others that might be a bonus.
No comment on all the bars (not in terms of drinks). And no word on whether or not the bank had been waiting for a market rebound or other forces were at work.
∙ Listing: 279 Flournoy (3/2) – $349,900 [MLS]

28 thoughts on “Bank Owned For The Past Year But Now On The Market: 279 Flournoy”
  1. You know we’re in trouble when this is a Sotheby’s International Realty listed property.
    I’m surprised that they haven’t acquired the highly prestigious http://www.279Flournoy.com address and dedicated a showcase to it.
    @440k and then bank owned at @480k — this seems like mortgage fraud at its finest. Why anyone would pay 350k to live in that POS is beyond me. Rather just pack my bags and move to someplace else.

  2. Eddy,
    Sotheby’s has you hook line and sinker on the prestige myth that they sell. It’s just another realtor shop, my man. Look at some of the listings they have in LA sometime.

  3. This isn’t the first time Sotheby’s has had a gem like this. A while back SS featured a “CAL” themed house in the Mission (or Bernal, can’t remember) and that was also a REO beauty. I was surprised.
    Look at them apples.

  4. Priced at $338/sqft. Median $/sqft for 94112 from Propertyshark:
    2009 $426
    2008 $488
    2007 $542
    2006 $578
    2005 $546
    2004 $450
    2003 $395
    2002 $369
    2001 $338
    Purchase price in late 2003 was $425/sqft – right in line with the medians.

  5. Photographic peeve #37 : If you going to publish images for a $350K product, at least straighten them out a bit.
    The jumble of images on the MLS page looks like the bad guy’s lair on the old Batman TV series. Straightening that out takes maybe 5 minutes work, tops.
    One bonus about this location : walking distance to Rosita’s bakery. Yum !

  6. Should be gone in a flash.
    2001 pricing is amazing (great analysis, Michael), and MoD, hillarious batman reference and so true.

  7. I’ll bet almost anything that this house wasn’t mortgage fraud. A little pricey at $440K in 2003, but not totally out of line. That’s not a great area, of course, but nicer than much of Ingleside, for instance.
    Still pricey at $350K, but getting closer to where it should have been all along (probably around $250K, if people and banks had been sensible). Places not too different from this one in a slightly worse neighborhood were selling for over $600K in 2006. For instance, look at the history on this one:
    http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/262-Minerva-St-94112/home/1465061
    By contrast, if you want to see an example of what looks to be mortgage fraud, look at the sales price history of this one (in a much nicer neighborhood, but not $2.5M+ nice in 2007!!):
    http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/261-San-Fernando-Way-94127/home/700867
    (Note the almost immediate foreclosure from “sale” in January 2007 to foreclosure in October 2007.)
    Another $100K or so to go and we’ll be at fair value IMO.

  8. This is a cute house on the outside. Not sure about the area but at that price it would be tempting to buy it, put in $50k in renovations, and have a pretty nice place to live.

  9. Oh yeah – about those bars. They are a throwback to the days before cheap and effective electronic alarm systems. Install a good alarm and remove the bars and the home will look less like a jail.
    Unfortunately the neighbors also have bars so whoever moves in here will likely need to endure that trashy look on the street for years.

  10. “Unfortunately the neighbors also have bars so whoever moves in here will likely need to endure that trashy look on the street for years.”
    If most of my neighbors had bars on their place I’d probably keep them on mine. No reason to make your place even appear to be an easier mark then the neighbors.

  11. Speaking of bank owned, on Redfin I’m seeing 12 closed SFR’s in Noe in the last 3-months (rolling); 2 were foreclosures.
    4174 26th St owed a little over $1M and closed on 1/23/09. Records show the ex-owner also owned 869 Alvarado. Looks like 4174 26th even made it’s way into a Bear Stearns tranche. Two houses, lots of cash-out refi’s and on the brink of foreclosure, coincidence?

  12. Eddy’s demeaning, self-righteous, status-conscious post shows a distinct lack of understanding for what makes SF a unique place to live (hint: it has to do with “mix”). I’m an ordinary family guy who recently bought elsewhere in SF (yeah, “caught the falling knife” as has been stated ad naseum) for my own particular reasons.
    We looked at another house on the same block when shopping, and I can tell you several good things about this neighborhood:
    close (but not too) to BART
    easy 280 access, but high enough above to avoid noise
    older homeowners making small remodels
    recent Habitat build (pride of ownership)
    real backyards
    views !!! (admittedly E & S)
    an oddly isolated spot that feels like an island — not Daly City, but not SF
    extremely low crime comparatively
    Westlake (Trader Joes) is nearby
    And yes, there are drawbacks:
    Westlake is the only nearby shopping
    weather
    far from “real SF”
    a little run-down (ie. window bars)
    You know what? When evaluating these things it works for some people — maybe not for Eddy, but we all aren’t such gifted specimens of humanity that Infinity versus Rincon Hill is the greatest bane of our existence.

  13. I live in the Ocean View and actually not too far from Minerva St. Although its not the prettiest part in SF I have to say it qualifies as real SF. There are many working class families of all races that live here. There is also the $15 million Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center that was recently rebuilt. It very close to Stonestown, Westlake, CCSF, SFState, Balboa Park BART, Lake Merced, 280 (downtown in 10 minutes) and the M-OceanView streetcar.
    So even though it may not be the Real SF according to SocketSite it is a pretty real and unique part of SF.
    [Editor’s Note: Hey now, as far as we’re concerned if it’s in one of the ten real estate districts it’s in the Real San Francisco (and it is).]

  14. Anonn, I’m aware that SIR is just another agency; but they do a good job of maintaining their image and they don’t charge more than 6%. I was just making fun of their perception. 🙂
    AvgJoe, didn’t mean to offend! I think I’m among one of the last few that still think $350k is a lot of money and should afford a person a significantly nicer home. And in many places it would. And if faced with this place versus some of the alternatives — I’d literally pack my bag and move. Obviously, someone felt that $450k was a fair price at some point in time.

  15. Rob,
    It’s definetly in real San Francisco =)
    The area has its advantages and I think this will go quick, very cute and snuggly. Maybe I’ll buy it.

  16. Eddy what an ass you sound like. I can’t express how sick I am of people like you who now seem to be all over this city.
    this is a working class hood and working class people live there. CLEARLY you are better than this but the price declining on a place like this is a good thing that we should celebrate.
    I know this is a novelty to many but some people stay in SF because their extended families and lives are here. Or maybe they have a decent job. Or maybe a high concentration or their ethnic group.
    Likely one of those brown families you see around town will be interested. It might be there first home and they will build equity the old fashioned way.

  17. this is a working class hood and working class people live there…the price declining on a place like this is a good thing that we should celebrate.
    What’s wrong with that sentence?
    Oh yeah…I doubt the working class homeowners in the “hood” are celebrating the decline in the value of their houses. Especially the retired or near retirement.
    Your comment is the flip side of Eddy’s. If he typifies the new gentrifying SF, you sound like the paternalistic living hippie museum SF.
    The two of you need to go on “Wife Swap.”

  18. Enjoy the celebration zig. I guess I’m not invited. Your whole tirade is very offensive. Your logic and reasoning are worse.
    There are many places where $350k will get you a very nice home. 1827 Jennings, 94124 — is 5k less than Flournoy, is much nicer and is in the Real SF. I can’t speak to the specific location, but I can tell you that I’d much rather live with those finishes. And if you wanted to venture out of the city you can do even better.

  19. Eddy – agreed that Jennings place is many times cozier and better put-together for the price. Nicely supports your point that Flournoy is not a great value.
    Zig & Avg Joe – please calm down. Eddy dropped a fun quip that brought an illuminating reply from flu- er… “anonn” (about Sotheby’s & what they do and do not stand for); raised the reasonable question of mortgage fraud which brought a thoughtful & well-researched response from LMRiM; and made a pretty well-founded argument that the unit is over-priced. The only thing he said that I could genuinely irritate even the most uptight prig was the three-letter acronym “POS” – which I think we’re all grown-up enough to handle.
    As for whether the house is a PoS, this just happens to be Eddy’s PoV, and the fact that the “S” stands for a word rarely uttered on broadcast TV doesn’t make Eddy demonic, racist, or classist. Nor does it put his comment anywhere near the rude end of the spectrum that we’re all accustomed to here at SS (and which we all – let’s face it – enjoy to some extent, or we would have taken our virgin ears & our irate politically-correct paranoia elsewhere ages ago).
    He said nothing sneering about the neighborhood. He said nothing sneering about “brown people.” How you made that absurd leap is between you and your own cranky, self-righteous imaginations. But if someone making a point as benign and on-topic as Eddy’s can get hounded off this site by the PC police, it will become a really boring place…

  20. Kinda trying to figure out what ole Eddy did wrong over here. Other than figure (as most people do it seems) that Sotheby’s doesn’t handle housing at the lower end of the spectrum, I don’t think he’s deserving of all the vitriol.

  21. Anon wrote:
    > Kinda trying to figure out what ole Eddy did wrong
    > over here. Other than figure (as most people do it seems)
    > that Sotheby’s doesn’t handle housing at the lower end
    > of the spectrum, I don’t think he’s deserving of all the vitriol.
    After living in SF for so long I have learned that SF PC Liberals they think all white people are racist and use “code words” to make racist comments.
    Some examples are:
    “I don’t like the architecture in the Ingleside” = “I hate brown people”
    “Hunters Point has more crime than most areas” = “All blacks are criminals”
    “The Richmond District has a lot of fog” = “I hate schools with Asians”
    “It is hard to park in Chinatown” = “I think the Chinese are bad drivers”
    “I don’t like to go the Mission” = “I hate Hipsters and Mexicans”
    And even”I’m going to drive to have dinner at my parent’s house”= “I’m going to contribute to global warming and drive my greenhouse gas emitting SUV 20 miles south of the city since I don’t want to take public transportation and help to save the environment”…

  22. I live a block away. The house has been on the market before–it took a while to clear all the stuff that was left in it. Then the realtors or bank seemed to drag their heels, so it didn’t go on the market until months after the bank took it back There have been open houses and folks looking at it. The issue is that it has no yard–just that deck. Many of the neighbors are working class immigrants. We moved to the Bay area in 2007 with 3 pets…it was a nightmare to find a three bedroom near BART so we ended renting nearby. The landlord didn’t tell us he was in default. Long story short…we ended up buying the house (during the credit squeeze last fall no less), and while it is not Noe Valley, we have now joined the landed gentry of the Bay area and have a nice view for SF since this house and ours is on a hill. One real drawback is that folks tend to throw garbage on the streets including big items such as beds and tvs. You would think they could hire haulers to take that stuff away! Another is the summer fog–the sun came out twice last July.

  23. “One real drawback is that folks tend to throw garbage on the streets including big items such as beds and tvs.”
    That isn’t the only neighborhood where that happens. ‘Street Recycling’ seems pretty common in most SF neighborhoods (or at least those neighborhoods I’ve lived in).

  24. Redfin shows that 279 Flournoy sold 4/10/2009 for $340K, or $329psf (based on the indicated square footage). 23% under its 10/2003 sales price, and at $328psf is squarely at a 2001 price for the nighborhood.
    There’s nothing really wrong with this neighborhood. It’s modest, but nicer inho than the neighborhoods immediately north of the 280 around there (for the most part). Still, $340K is too much for that area on a fundamental basis, and we should be seeing places like this ultimately going for $250K or so in a few more years. At these interest rates, though, if someone was sure to be there for at least 10 years it might not be a bad tradeoff all in all, especially if there were some credits built into that $340K price and/or it’s an FHA “nothing” down sort of deal. Probably pretty close to rental equivalent (until rents fall some more, of course :)).

  25. Still, $340K is too much for that area on a fundamental basis, and we should be seeing places like this ultimately going for $250K or so in a few more years.
    For those of you keeping track at home, 3 foreclosures for every home for sale (Outer Mission neighborhood on Trulia). Lots of “pent up supply” to help the prices along.

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