Purchased as a 1,037-square-foot Bernal Heights home for $869,000 six months ago, a remodeled 114 Banks has just returned to the market listed for $1,595,000, with 1,890 square feet of space, including an all-new master suite on the ground floor, and touting an “amazing ground up renovation” that was “intelligently conceived to capture the most optimal of contemporary floor plans defined by a high level of exciting modern design & architectural flair.” Whew.
And yes, that’s a fire pit and artificial turf out back.
I like how the first three photos illustrate that fancy, self-extending kitchen island!
It’s actually a peninsula.
That must have made the growing/shrinking feature much harder to implement.
Gotta love those camera lenses… it looks 8 feet across in the first image!
Nice we can all be voyeurs of home interiors for design ideas, discussion fodder, armchair critics, etc., but I doubt potential homebuyers will buy a property unseen in person. Renters do the same thing before renting. Same reason I don’t buy furniture, clothes, shoes, etc. online. Unless I have used the same product by the same manufacturer previously. I have to “kick the tires” before buying.
Did a triple take on the ordinary kitchen peninsula myself. Camera angles are to photographers what statistics are as to economists – both can be manipulated to suit your desired result.
I don’t understand the egg-shaped soaking tubs. Kind of interesting to look at. Can’t imagine using one. If cleanliness is your goal, a bath won’t get the job done.
Also, wasteful of water.
what does the egg shape have to do with cleanliness?
Not the egg shape, baths in general. The grime floats on the surface and re-attaches to your skin as you emerge.
The egg-shape tub just strikes me as something created more for purposes of the broker’s open house than as a something that would be a useful feature for living.
I fear these sculpture type bathtubs will go the way of those bowl shaped sinks popular years ago. Not ergonomic to begin with and more of a fad. Toto sells a tub (with stylish fixtures included) for $35,000 list price. I will never understand that. For pure eye candy value, google sculpture tubs and you’ll see ones shaped like a giant porcelain soup spoon. Put that together with this egg shaped tub, you’ll have your soup bowl and spoon set.
The tub inside the big shower room I can somewhat understand. The entire bathroom is one big wet room. When I renovate my main bathroom though, I rather have a Japanese style deep soaking tub and some handrails for getting in and out of it.
I’m astonished that anyone would pay $869,000 for this place in that location even after the remodel. Buy, hey, to each his own.
I think that location is pretty good personally. Short walk to Bernal Heights park, as well as to the Cortland strip. High enough up on the hill to get some partial views, etc.
Only issue is not very good public transit / cycling routes (see discussion in the other Bernal thread). Pretty much would almost certainly need a car to get to work downtown or in silicon valley.
“Superb space to relax with your friends and family, or present quite halcyon moments of opulent entertaining experience.” What!!?
Thesauri should be licensed and issued only to properly trained users.
That description accedes to cynosure.
I may have found my second career — walking through a home for sale and preparing two documents, one containing a detailed written description of all of the flaws for the seller, agent, designer, architect, etc., and a second one geared to the buyer spinning aforementioned flaws into positives. Or I could just be a settlement judge which requires the same skill set.
if you’re as good at that as you are at reading comprehension, then perhaps stick to your day job
JR, the one on Samoset just sold for $1045/ft, this isnt as nice but its a lot cheaper/per foot
I’m not saying it won’t sell (and obviously it sold at $869,000 in worse shape). I’m just saying it is astounding to me that people would pay that kind of money for this place in this location. But people way overspend on lots of things that I think are crazy. Good for the economy, I guess (unless it is the kind of debt-fueled overpaying that led us into a massive recession recently).
It’s considered a fine location these days so get with the times already
Better than “fine”.. More like “highly sought”
JR – That part is considered the best spot in Bernal Heights. It’s 1.5 blocks to Muni & Cortland Street. You have no clue about the location.
What? By 1.5 blocks to “Muni,” are you referring to the 67 bus that comes half the time and is among the least reliable bus lines in all SF — or the also-bad and fairly useless (for getting downtown) Cortland 24? This is also way too far east to be “considered the best spot” relative to Cortland.
Convenience-wise, closer to Mission or closer to Precita are far superior locations than this. The house on Elsie with no parking, for instance, is a much better location.
Look, I get it. Per the realtors chiming in this is a great location (as is every location) and this is a great price (as is every price). But for those who have options, this is an inconvenient location without a whole lot going on, and this price is ridiculous. But like I said, people pay double or triple or more the reasonable value of all sorts of things. This is no different.
no, per the understanding of the millennial SF house buying demographic, this is a fine location. you strayed with your other points.
Because it’s better to pay 1.3 million for a 1300 square foot condo in the Mission with a $500/HOA? Or pay the same price for a “not as nicely renovated” home in Glen Park? Your “reasonable” value quotient is 550k for this home. Obviously, you won’t be buying in this market for the foreseeable future.
Why are people in this thread being such jerks insulting JR? What is going on with the people who post on this site? How about some politeness?
Got my back! But I’m a big boy – I understand that realtors trying to sell stuff in Bernal have to talk it up. That’s the way the game works.
I’m just pointing out what seems to be pretty obvious to me. If you can afford to spend $1.6 million on a home (or heck, half that) I can’t imagine why you’d buy this place in this neighborhood when there are so many better options in better neighborhoods. “Better than an overpriced condo in the Mission!” Okay . . . not really a strong selling point to me. But, as I’ve stated, there are lots of people throwing good money away out there. Or maybe this is what mediocre places in undesirable locations are going for these days – great! Makes me really glad we bought our place a few years ago which is in (imho) far nicer and in a way better neighborhood than this. But I guess I’m not one of those millennial smart guys.
hi JR. im with you. Its a C+ neighborhood and this is A+ pricing. lots of desperate people out there.
“I understand that realtors trying to sell stuff in Bernal have to talk it up.”
That’s not what this thing is that we’re talking about. I mean, go ahead and say it six more times but it’s not what this is. You were on about value and how this price in this location is astounding. When you do that you’re speaking outside the buyer CW and cap rate calculator values. Fine if you want to say that stuff but it is nothing more than an uninformed opinion with nothing to back it up.
JR: Please let us know where the more desirable $1.6mm house is?
JR – FYI, it’s not hard to sell stuff in Bernal. A realtor doesn’t have to talk it up. They’re doing just fine. I bet even you could sell a house here. It’s not like the inventory is sitting around very long. Heck, a 630sf box with no parking just sold on the east side on Fair a half block from 101 for over $1050/sf. (That actually might be tough to justify without development potential) And you say “to each his own” but clearly you think folks buying in Bernal are just not as smart as you or they’d move in next to you. Is it that hard to imagine folks live in Bernal and are happy there? Or is it just if someone buys something you don’t want then they’re out of their minds? And you’re double or triple comment is ridiculous. If it was true that people in Bernal are paying double then it seems to reason you’d be able to come up with a comparable home in a better location. But you haven’t shown us that yet have you? This is a home, not an investment. If they buyer can afford it and stick around for a decent amount of time their equity will be safe. I’m happy you got yours and I”m glad you enjoy looking down on others with less. And yeah, I live in Bernal and I love it. It ain’t better than anywhere else, it’s just right for me. And I guess the buyer of this property as well.
For all this “this isn’t about realtors in this neighborhood,” this Anon sure sounds a lot like fluj. “You were on about . . . .” “you strayed with your other points.” “get with the times already.”
are you serious? JR is the one casting stones. I simply told him to wake up and smell 2015. He responded with “realtor this, realtor that, “crazy”, “ridiculous,” “astounding,” “double or triple more than reasonable,” and then more “realtor this realtor that”
Casting stones at a neighborhood? Boy, I hope I didn’t hurt its feelings. Or make a bruise or something. And c’mon, you’re a realtor and you have property in Bernal, so let’s call a spade a spade here.
again you are trying to talk about something else
You are escalating. You provoked him. I can be provoked, too, like any human. But the “arguments” that happen on this site are just insane. There’s no reason for people to be so snippy, so know-it-all.
naaah. the provoking was here ” Per the realtors chiming in this is a great location (as is every location) and this is a great price (as is every price). ” — the parens, “great” and “price” parts were words selected to be realtor hater silliness with nothing to do with anything except jr bobs going off
what does that have to do with the price of rudebegas
“double or triple value,” based off you making up values out of nothing. I thought value was based upon rent. This house would get ~$7500 or so, looks like
The backyard reminds me of a diorama I did in grade school. (That’s not an insult. I like the backyard, and the diorama won 1st Prize.)
I want to put artificial turf in my yard to save water and maintenance, but I also want it to look more natural than this. Am I just out of luck? I thought that by now someone would have figured this out.
If you were to “rate” neighborhoods in San Francisco only on a 1-5 star system purely based on price per square foot for all SFR and Condo’s of 1000-2000 square feet, you would probably see Bernal with 3 stars. While Sea Cliff, South Beach, etc. 5 start. Area 10 for the most part 1 start. Though parts of area 10 are moving to same prices as Outer Sunset/Parkside. So I would anticipate that Inner Richmond and Sunset, Parts of area 3 and 4 would be in the same 3 star range as Bernal. Take the equation to within an hour drive of here and I bet Bernal and these areas would still be 3 star. So my arguement of more or less desirable neighborhoods all greatly depend on a huge variety of personal tastes. Safety, schools, sun, fog, starbucks factor, parks, bars, public and private transit, views, on and on…. I personally think Noe Valley is the most over rated 4 star neighborhood…and I am a Realtor located on 24th St. Discuss among youselves…..
Interested as to why you feel Noe V is overrated. Very curious. What do you find overrated?
And I’m not being defensive or snarky. Obviously I own and live here. I think it’s a great neighborhood. Here are my main + points:
1. Very walkable and runnable with a number of good flat streets. The hilly streets are fine also.
2. The crowds, friendliness and mix of people on Saturday mornings, esp at the farmers market are amazing.
3. Safe, clean.
4. Excellent transit from the J to downtown.
5. Parks: Day St. rec center park is busy always: great kids play area, nice dog run, great play fields busy on the weekends with kids bb games, indoor bball court, community rooms. Billy Goat Park and open space one of the best in The City, amazing views, natural preserve.
6. Lots of homes being renovated.
7. Good coffee shops, INCLUDING Starbucks.
8. Whole Foods.
9. Views, mostly sunny most of the year.
10. Good shopping and services on 24th and on Church.
That’s my take. I think it’s a pretty good place to live.
You listed 10 points of why you love living in NV — it is enough. Why do you care so much about one realtor’s opinion and his/her own rating system? NV and the Mission are both hot neighborhoods as evidenced by high demand.
I like living in my neighborhood because it is quiet and convenient. I know my neighbors because they have been around. There are no kids because most of the married couples are childless. I can drive my car (and I often do) or take the MUNI metro to the Financial District in 1/2 hour.
No one is undermining anyone’s decision to purchase a home in their desired location. Whether you want to live in NV, Bernal Heights, Pacific Heights, or Oakland, good for you. More power to you. There are a lot of benefits of living in the East Bay you can’t get here in San Francisco.
parts of Noe Valley to above Dolores park would be my top choice in all of SF
anon (no cap A),
This site selected an A to Z ranking systems for neighborhoods years ago, please use that nomenclature moving forward or I will have to change my “-b” to a 3?. I will just be confusing.
Thanks
Yikes. I am gone for a day and this thread becomes a pissing match. Realtors getting snippy because the merchandise isn’t moving. Folks tired of outlandish hyperbole descriptions of homes in mediocre neighborhoods. Do what I used to do when checking out homes to buy with my family back in the day…
Walk in and notice every single flaw of the house from major ones to minor details. Every house is bound to have them. There is no such thing as the perfect house or a perfect neighborhood. You get used to both over the course of time. Why? Neighbors (including homeowners) will come and go and you have no control over that. Ignore the selling agent. If prompted, answer only in disinterested grunts. Communicate only with your agent. Assume everything you tell your agent will be relayed to the other side. Both sides are more than happy to take as much as they can from your pockets. If the house you want or think you want ends up in someone else’s hands, move on. It wasn’t the right property for you anyway. Keep looking.
Finally, this is just a website with anon comments. Take it with a grain of salt. If everyone here had to speak to each other in person, the conversations would have a much better tone.
I like this place a lot. Clean functional design without being overtly trendy. Transit is not ideal but I’m sure the tech buses do come through. Can anybody confirm?
Bernal can be a mixed bag but this location is a solid B. JR’s comments above are simply out of touch with what’s been happening in the neigborhood.
“realtors getting snippy because the merchandise isn’t moving”
that wasnt’ something in this thread
I agree with you. Funny I’ve never seen Amewsed before here, but he/she certainly is reading the comments in a negative way.
The trolling on this thread is ridiculous. The selling price of this house will be set by the market. A house south of Crescent (historically one the least expensive parts of Bernal) just sold for $1.8 million.
and it will probably sell at or above asking lol.
Sold, for $2.1 million.