With the sales office for Linea still trying to move their last few condos, having recently lowered the price or closed escrow for less than asking on a unit or two, and the first attempted flip in the building still available after two months on the market, another quick flip in the building has just entered the listing fray.
Purchased for $1,345,000 this past April, the two-bedroom condo #302 at 8 Buchanan has just been listed for $1,495,000 or roughly $1,222 per square foot, 11 percent more than the $1,100 per foot which was paid for the 1,223 square foot condo four months ago.
And while the listing for the first attempted flip boasts “perhaps the best floor plan” in the building, the listing for #302 is turning it up to eleven with: “by far the best layout in the building!”
Boy, this is the 2005 flipping strategy – overpay for a mediocre place, then sit back and watch as someone else borrows 100% and overpays even more, until the music stops. Don’t think this will work out too well in 2014. $1,345,000 for that place (Market & Buchanan? Seriously?) was already a couple hundred thousand more than even the most generous 2014-madness value. If they bought and then plans changed, I guess I can’t blame them for giving it a shot to find a bigger sucker. But if they bought this as a flip, that was a seriously ill-conceived plan.
I agree. Looking forward for the post about first short sale in Linea 😀
There’s aluminum foil on three window panels on the Market Street frontage – looks like sh!t. I’ve called the sales office about it (thinking they would be interested in the appearance of the building) and was told they would contact the Homeowners Association. The HOA is either oblivious or clueless or perhaps the CC&R’s are a bit lax.
Since when did Hayes Valley become “the city’s best neighborhood”?
It became the “best neighborhood” some time after the gloriously edgy heart of Mission Street between 16th and 24th streets.
Of course, a good number of the tech guys (and they are almost all guys) may get married some day in their thirties or forties, and their wives may decide that “clean and open” white boxes are not homey enough.
These two flips will be interesting. I think the market froth has slowed down since last year, given linea isn’t sold out and they had to lower prices a bit recently. Hard to see how these flips will make it… Still a good market?- yes. Froth?- no.
The units at the lines that haven’t sold are inside the courtyard and on lower floors. Probably the least desirable.
UPDATE: After 56 days on the market without a sale, and a few hours after our report above, the list price for 8 Buchanan #610 was reduced by $10,000 (1 percent), now asking $1,365,000.
How do these prices compare on a sq/ft basis with the Saitowitz building at Octavia? I don’t know how the finishes compare, but otherwise they seem like pretty comparable buildings. Does anyone know?
Anyone who tries to flip their unit that quickly is either crazy or was forced into it. Probably someone got a job transfer to another City, because by the time you pay commissions, taxes and other fees you really are not making any money.
I do think Linea is a great project, I know someone who lives there. I did hear someone already flipped a unit on the 8th floor for more that they paid.
When I hear that most new places are bought by speculators and flippers, I get nervous. For the real estate market. For builders and developers. For the wannabe flippers. It means that there are not enough home buyers and the market is only sustaining itself by froth. And when the gov’t steps in by lowering lending standards and requirements, then it is only going to make matters worse. Market forces will happen much like economic Darwinism, intervention or not.
If you ask what people think who actually live in the building …. we love it. Considering the “sub-par” penthouse just went for $1550 a foot, this seems like a deal.
I tried to get to the sales center two weeks ago on Broker Tour and they were not open, (even though they were advertising a penthouse as still unsold) which tells me the building is close to being sold out otherwise the developer would have staffed the sales center.
I also noticed the tin foil in the windows. Again, if the building was having trouble moving units, the foil would have come down by now.
UPDATE: The list price for 8 Buchanan #813, one of the remaining unsold units atop Linea, has just been reduced $25,000 (2%). Now asking $1,120,000 for the 963-square-foot two bedroom.
UPDATE: The sale of 8 Buchanan #302 closed escrow with a reported contract price of $1,490,000 ($1,218 per square foot), 11 percent more ($145,000) than the $1,100 per foot which was paid for the 1,223 square foot condo four months ago.