Purchased as a Bernal Heights fixer for $580,000 in October of 2014, the 912-square-foot, one-bedroom house at 519 Nevada Street was flipped for $815,000 four months later with no improvements save plans for a major expansion.

Subsequently taken down to the studs, 519 Nevada Street returned to the market early last year, listed as a contemporary three-bedroom home with 1,636 square feet of remodeled space for $1,550,000.

Reduced to $1,495,000 in June, the property was re-listed for “$1,195,000” in August. But said listing had a hidden asterisk.

The August listing was actually for an “auction” to be held on September 22, with an opening bid of $1,195,000 and an undisclosed reserve price below which the seller wasn’t bound to sell. And included in the auction’s marketing materials was an appraisal for $1,818,000.

Withdrawn from the MLS without a reported sale on September 23, 519 Nevada has just been listed anew, with an official “1” day on the market and an “original” list price of $1,295,000, a sale above which will be considered to be “over asking” according to all MLS based stats and industry reports.

24 thoughts on “Appraised for $1.8M but No Sale When Listed for $600K Less”
  1. some appraiser is/was nuts. $1.82MM for a smaller below ground home on the wrong sides of bernal with freeway views and little useful outdoor space? would love to see what the comps were.

    if they really went down to the studs why not go UP (a room or two and decking) and a stairwell/lightwell open to flood the place in daylight. and who pays 1.3 to walk through your laundry room to get outside? that kitchen/dining room is oddly laid out. the grey wood will be 2014’s avocado appliance.

    there’s a similar small home undergoing a very different remodel on holly park right now; don’t know if its for an end owner or a developer but this one seems to have cut too many corners compared to that one.

    i guess we’ll see but this still seems a stretch at 1.3 (though this is “only” $800+/sqft).

    1. I think the issue here is the standing building height limits. There appears to be a few rules to follow, and I am reading no more than an average height limit of 30 ft against the curb. This along with keeping the ‘barebones’ of the building, ‘ripped down to the studs’, probably didn’t allow for a higher standing building.

  2. I like what they did with the facade, but it definitely feels underground.

    Why do most of the Bernal backyards I’ve been in seem so small and surrounded by other houses? Are they not the standard 25×100 lots?

    1. Bernal has a smaller than typical lot. Often they’re more like 20X60.

      [Editor’s Note: The 519 Nevada parcel is 25×70.]

  3. There are almost too many things wrong with this house to list. No access from the garage to the house. Master and second bedroom share a bath. That kitchen layout. Nowhere to put the TV in the living room. … …

      1. The only one with an en suite, too! And the third bedroom in the basement with the questionably legal window is just terrible.

    1. The kitchen has an oven. The dining has a wet bar, complete with microwave. Kinda convenient and interesting idea. Maybe.

  4. It looks like the upstairs (that never was) lost its head in a tragic accident. Like a hole in the sky.

    What a godawful boring facade. Can we be done with modernism now. Incoming president (wretch) is angling for Victorian-era trade policies, let’s see more neovictorian new architecture. You’d think to look at it that CURVES had either gone extinct or were outlawed.

    (Yah spare me the zillion counterexamples, I’m bloviating a bit.)

  5. Yikes – Still trying to work out the street side bedroom rescue window. Bit of a code stretch but either way wouldn’t want to be sleeping down there when a fire breaks out.

    I would guess this was built in order to not trigger any planning concerns and looks like all permits were over the counter. It was successful at being approved quickly, but not much else. Who just plonks down a free standing fridge in a kitchen these days?

    1. I’m sure you are right. But I have to think the permits to go up would not have been too hard to get, given the adjacent properties. But I’m no expert on that.

  6. It’s amazing that people still pay Bernal Heights prices for what is essentially Alemany Boulevard. It’s a steep walk to Cortland from down there. Also, if you are willing to cross the 280 to the South, you get a large, sunny home for 3/4 of that price or less.

    1. Considering back in 2000 people were laughed at for looking at Bernal Heights. See what happens when you get priced out of NV and still want a SF address.

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