Purchased for $725,000 in May 2004 and then flipped five months later for $834,000, the single-family western Bernal Heights home at 39 Virginia Avenue is back on the market and listed at $699,000 ($487 per square foot).
In addition to the legal two bedrooms and full bath on the main floor, there’s also an unwarranted bedroom and full bath below (and no sign of any tenants).
∙ Listing: 39 Virginia Avenue (2/1) – $699,000 [39virginia.com] [MLS]
Looks like the kind of place my wife and I could buy
Hope there are more of these in 2012 when we look
The original loan amount was 650K. The 2004 downpayment could go into money heaven there if it sells for asking.
1450sf total. Less than $500/sf. This could sell close to asking even though it’s only a 2/1.
I might be wrong but the unwarranted space looks pretty usable to me for a bedroom, office setup
This house looks very nice inside, but the exterior is awful and the windows throughout look pretty cheap. I love the green and pink bathroom. Amazing.
“but the exterior is awful”
Is the brick ornamental? I wonder what could be done with the exterior? I don’t put it in the awful catergory; its more like tolerable for me. Tolerable is a good thing, kitchens that still have tile and not the ubiquitous granite job and bathrooms that are green and pink are all good because it means I can afford it and remodel myself over time
Prediction … it will go for $760K
The house’s value is hurt by being just off Mission St., but this looks like a nice house. I agree with il_guru that this should go for well over asking.
$785
Are the stove and refrigerator in love?! They are so close together, especially for what appears to be a smaller than average fridge.
wow is right. it appears the owner should’ve taken advantage of a much higher LTV that was probably possible in 2004 (if she qualified). now she’d be walking away, leaving the keys, and incurring a smaller loss.
I doubt it. This is priced to go over asking. Some of you who comment all the time should occasionally internalize the in the field comments about the 650K to 900K market that’s going on in the city right now. You might comment smarter if you did.
I would like to commend the listing realtor. This is being marketed as if it were a much more expensive property. It’s priced to generate maximum interest. I predict quick escrow after multiple over list offers.
Yes Virgina, there was a housing bubble.
I love housing in the price point Low 600s – Mid 700s. It seems that there is a near consensus that this a good price.
With that being said, what are your top two value picks in the 600s (condo/lofts/SFR)?
I am looking to buy in the near term (1-2 mos), preferably a 2/2, but will consider anything that makes sense.
Howie,
You cannot get SFRs in the 6’s in the city in any decent neighborhood. Not unless they require a lot of capital to rehabilitate. For 2/2s in the 6’s it has to be condos and lofts. The property in this thread will probably go for closer to 800.
@anonn – exactly what I was thinking. Any idea on the best deals out there for 6’s for condo/loft?
Yeah. It seems as if Central Waterfront from time to time is showing some decent deals in the 6’s for lofts or condos. IMO that area is only going to get better over time. Perhaps slower than some would want. But the city wants gentrification to happen southward along 3rd.
I was considering the central waterfornt/dogpatch, but have heard many varied comments – from horrible to up & coming. I also saw this recent article the other day…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/07/BUUO1BRJ66.DTL
I would prefer South Beach or SOMA north of 4th St.
Oh, come on. Just do a search on the mls. There are hundreds of decent SFRs around town for under 700k. Not in Pac Heights, but in some perfectly nice neighborhoods.
But this is funny. I remember a few years ago when fluj was saying there were no SFRs in decent neighborhoods for under 900,000. My how times have changed. Wait another year or two, and the threshold will be down to half a million.
This place just makes me sad because:
A) It’s exactly the kind of house I’d want to buy in SF. Holy sh*t a garage! With a workspace!
B) See above for location (I live in this neighborhood now and it’s awesome)
C) At 750k it’s wildly out of reach for me, and I make a six-figure “techie” salary that is better than most.
Guess I’ll just stay a bitter renter in my rent-controlled apt. and spend the ~5000.00/mo I’d pay to live in this place on stupid stuff like bicycles and tv’s!
There were always houses under 900, so that’s your first lie. You’re obviously not in the market and you’ve misspoken about what’s out there for under 7, lie #2. Then you drew a conclusion based upon those misstatements for your third untruth. Whatever. Go lurk and hold your peace. Nobody needs that sort of misinformation. I could spend a few hours pointing out precisely how wrong you are with all the evidence from the current market I’d I wanted. But you’re not worth it “anon.” I can sum it up by pointing to FHA and its effect. Anyone remotely actually following the market, as opposed to taking potshots from a cowardly anonymous position on the internet, will know that.
Great house… good price…
BUT
Proximity to Mission is awful. I live up the hill and this street gets tons of car traffic from Mission as well as after bar foot traffic.
This is the main parking street for people going to Emme’s and other nearby places.
Yeah, the other thing abou this street is how jacked up its 4-way intersections are. For whatever reason the east-west uphill-downhill drivers ofter do not stop at either Prospect or Lundys. It’s a weird little phenomenon. I have literally had to slam on the brakes 20 times in order to avoid an out if turn motorist. My theory is that the leafiness + the sun + the hill rising either way tricks their eyes. Anybody else notice this?
Looks like they are including the unwarranted rooms in the total square footage. Isn’t that a no-no?
I’m with you, sucky lamer. This place going for the upper 700s is depressing.
“For whatever reason the east-west uphill-downhill drivers ofter do not stop at either Prospect or Lundys.”
I’m surprised there aren’t more intersections like this in SF with its many hills. I have seen selective stop-signing in Berkeley, but I thought I remember it only being the uphill side usually. In Berkeley, there are often signs warning people about this saying “Opposing Traffic Does Not Stop” or something like that.
The rationale I’ve heard is that if you have a manual transmission, it’s a pain to get going again, which as a stick-shift driver, I certainly appreciate. Driving in certain parts of SF would be much easier if this were common.
“For whatever reason the east-west uphill-downhill drivers ofter do not stop at either Prospect or Lundys.”
Well, I don’t think there’s a stop sign at Lundys, so that may be one reason they don’t stop.
There’s no stop at Lundy’s, but there is at Prospect, which they drive through. In fact, folks rarely stop at any of the stop signs travelling East/West on Virginia or Eugenia. All the drivers seem to think they’re bicyclists for whom the traffic laws don’t apply.
Just took a walk past the house – the roofer’s there right now putting on the new roof.
1920’s or so atrium style SF row house with Granny bathroom and kitchen. cheap looking 60’s aluminum windows. not a terrible house by any means, but $700K?
OK then, not Lundys but Prospect definitely and it’s dangerous. Maybe Coleridge is the other one. One of those.
Howie, what about 555 Bartlett? I think the sales offices just opened up.
700K is the new 500K.
In this case 700k would be the new 800k…
A little too close to the norteno/sureno gang wars for me. The outside makes me want to Gag. I don’t get why people are buying these crappy homes. You can rent this home for less.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/1585096982.html
Can someone please explain? Is it really the pride of ownership. Are people still buying these lies?? Do people still think homes are a good investment when it is proven they simply keep up with inflation (maybe)???
What is your knowledge of Norteno/Sureno gang wars? Because based upon the geography knowledge you displayed here I’m guessing it’s nearly nil.
^ I’m with you on this one anonn. I keep seeing these “too close to the norteno/sureno gang wars” comments…not sure if it’s all from the same person or not, but it’s generally useless. It last popped up in a discussion of Hoffman in Noe Valley!
“it’s all micro, man!” lol
“All the drivers seem to think they’re bicyclists for whom the traffic laws don’t apply.”
Heeeyyyy ! not all cyclists blow through stop signs. Yeah, there’s a higher proportion of cyclists who breeze through stops compared to motorists but most cyclists will at least do a rolling stop like most motorists do anyways.
Speaking of which, I got a $100 ticket for doing a cyclist version of a rolling stop last year. True, I technically broke the law but I’m sure I wasn’t exceeding 3mph through that stop sign and there was no-one else at the intersection (aside from the copper a block behind me !).
Blowing through a stop sign at full speed is foolish. Blowing through a stop on a bike is suicidal.
LOL gang wars. You bunch of nancys.
The problem with 700k being the new 500k is that year 2010 salary is the same old 1998 salary.
Very few nortenos or surenos themselves were killed last year, and the chances of being killed in the Mission as an innocent bystander in a gang war are extremely small– much less likely than being killed on the roads as a suburban commuter.
Not a great location with Pizza Hut only 3 houses away…I’m gonna say this sells for closer to the May 2004 price than 834K. (753K if I had to venture a guess. Although I think in the medium term pricing for this type of housing stock in Bernal will revert back to the high 600’s.)
the exterior is absolutely hideous.
I think this is better value for BH: http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/100-Bosworth-St-94112/home/807297
Oy Willow, that’s at the edge of Excelsior next to the freeway…
cute cute cute, and Soooo close to FrickenChicken!!!… who staged it, AMA?
Snark17: Actually the freeway is two blocks away and you wouldn’t know it when walking along Bosworth so it’s really a non-issue. After a closer look the bigger issue I see is that it’s directly across from a Catholic church. If you’re a church goer that may be a good thing! Anyway, I still like the location…7-8 minute walk to Glen Park village.
There are hundreds of decent SFRs around town for under 700k. Not in Pac Heights, but in some perfectly nice neighborhoods
I didn’t have time yesterday to show you how exactly how wrong you were, “anon.” (AT? or mean anon? or some other anon?)
But you said “decent” and “perfectly nice neighborhoods.” So let’s search for 1000 square feet or more (decent) absent areas 3 and 10 (perfectly nice), under 700K. There are not hundreds of SFRs. There are 23. Every single one is either a major fixer, tiny and without its square footage listed, or priced right at 695 or 699 and a bit lesser of a fixer, but still a fixer.
I wonder what the purpose of saying stuff like that is, really. Obstensibly you are a future buyer on the sidelines. The reason you come here is to share information. Writing complete falsehoods that other people in your same boat read really makes me scratch my head. Why?
“Just look on the MLS” you said. “Oh, come on” you said. You come on, pal. Or better yet, go away. Intentionally misleading people is not cool in anybody’s book.
Nice try. You’re rebutting claims I didn’t make. Yep, that’s called a straw man argument. A house doesn’t need to be over 1000 sf to be “decent.” And what about all the places where no sf is listed? And do you really think there are no perfectly nice neighborhoods in district 3 or 10? But you think Bernal is nice?
Fine “analysis.” Not even close.
OK, so include D3 and D10, remove square footage, but require 2 bedrooms (decent). You get 187 homes (not hundreds) and some of them are complete teardowns in horrible areas. Most are major fixers in at best borderline areas.
Hardly ‘hundreds’ of ‘decent’ homes in ‘perfectly nice’ neighborhoods.
You excluded those that are contingent, huh R/fluj? Otherwise you get well over 400. And that’s just what happens to be listed at this point in time. A couple dozen more are being listed every week. No shortage.
And with the buyer’s market continuing as far as the eye can see, prices only continue to fall.
Nope, didn’t exclude anything contingent.
But probably should. Which would bring it down well under the 187 I noted.
Oh, I did require a bathroom though. Figured that was a prerequisite for a decent house.
Not to beat a dead horse.. but if the only requirements are in SF and under $700k, you still get less than 200 on sfarmls.
Not sure where you got ‘well over 400’.
Oh, OK. Enter “straw man” talk. Typical.
You know what, “anon,” can I call you Strawman Lad? You so love saying “straw man” any time someone calls you out on your uninformed nonsense. It’s only fitting. Please?
See, I thought you were pretty clear in your intent earlier. Now it’s “is Bernal as nice as parts of 3 and 10” (yes, nicer) and why didn’t I include contingent properties and decent houses don’t need to be 1000 feet and blah blah blah.
There’s more. Strawman Lad continues! He’s on to make a bigger statement!
“And with the buyer’s market continuing as far as the eye can see, prices only continue to fall”
Go get ’em, Strawman Lad! And the naxt time you say “straw man” to someone in real life will also be the first!
Read this, anonn, then try again:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Have said it in real life before too because I actually understand logical fallacies. Maybe you should learn…
Does anyone know what happened to Fluj? Wasn’t he flipping some houses in this part of town?
He was very pro- real estate at the time. I wonder if he didn’t end up on the short end of the stick, like so many others did. I feel a bit sorry for those estate agents.
Or was it Miraloma Park?
anonn = fluj
What is my knowledge of the gang problem in that area??? Well there is an injunction against the Nortenos just 3 blocks north of this house.
http://www.sfcityattorney.org/index.aspx?page=20
Call me a Nancy but I am not buying an overpriced home in a gang area. Plus… you will locked into paying our state’s climbing property tax forever. Suckers.
@yurt dweller:
You’re a Nancy. And you might want to look into something called “Prop 13”.
Oh, a wiki link now? What are you like 22 years old? You understand logical fallacies, do you? I understand you’ll say something big that you cannot back up all the time. Then once it’s picked apart in specific terms, you’ll try to ascribe “straw man” to arguments of the people who just served you with doses of reality. So I don’t think you understand logical fallacy at all. You understand that “straw man” gets an easy net pass because of the nature of written words on the internet. That’s pretty much all you understand as far as I can see.
I gotta say, it’s unbelievable that the Miraloma Park property is referenced by haters still. I mean, could they have been more wrong? But they still want to talk about it. Just goes to show you that a lot of these people have absolutely nothing invested. Not even a passing memory. Nope, just a quick little bit of snideness is all they’re after. Pathetic.
I think when he writes “our state’s climbing property tax,” he is referring to Colorado, where the yurt company he is pimping is located.
(Adam, you may want to deactivate his spam link.)
In contract (contingent). Pretty quick. Doesn’t surprise me.
Sold for $825K. Tough news to swallow for deal-seekers.
This house is a gem. The construction is superior and the attention to detail is absolute charm. The layout is amazing with curved halls and exterior space with arched windows. I would replace the windows and paint the exterior and wait a few years for this neighborhood to turn into Noe Heights. I would also comment on the convenience of this location. Its proximity to everything cool is ridiculous.