CFAH

As we outlined way back in June:

Outfitted with three-bedrooms, two baths and “plenty of upgrades,” the roughly 1,500-square-foot home at 738 Banks Street, on the southern edge of Bernal Heights, was listed for $1.650 million back in the fourth quarter of 2015, an above-average list price of $1,093 per square foot at the time.

Subsequently reduced to $1.356 million and then withdrawn from the market without a sale, 738 Banks returned to the market listed for $1.365 million this past July, a price which was reduced to $1.250 million, or a below-average $828 per square foot, in September.

And having been withdrawn anew from the MLS this past November, the “move-in ready” Bernal Heights home – with a newly remodeled kitchen and bath, plus a new “kitchenette” on the “private lower level” of the home – has just been listed anew with an official “1” day on the market and a “$999,000” price tag, which is roughly $662 per square foot in a neighborhood which is currently averaging closer to $900 per foot and positioned for an “over asking!” sale, perhaps even within “days” of being listed, at least according to the official industry stats and reports.

And yes, the upgraded home at 738 Banks was officially in contract “within 16 days” of being listed for sale, at least according to all industry stats, and has now closed escrow with a contract price of $1.35 million, which is officially “$351,000 over asking!” and a little under…$900 per square foot.

Comments from Plugged-In Readers

  1. Posted by maurice

    I feel like every socketsite article about this house should note that this is a weirdly freeway-adjacent lot which adds to its lack of desirability.

    • Posted by SocketSite

      Or offering “prime freeway and farmers market access,” not to mention being downhill from Cortland for post shopping ease, depending upon the appropriate spin.

  2. Posted by Randy

    I’m confused how you get that shadow from the window on the ceiling?

    • Posted by Notcom

      It’s a ground reflection: given the angle, I’m guessing the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

      • Posted by Dan Clark

        To cast a shadow that sharp/distinct, it would have to be a much brighter “point source” light. My guess is the sun reflecting off a car parked outside. It’s still surprising the effect is visible in three photos, but I don’t know how long the photoshoot lasted.

  3. Posted by Notcom

    Snark aside, a minimally observant person would note $1.35 > $1.25 and so ask:
    (1) why didn’t the house sell earlier at the lower price, and
    (2) does this – vast sample of one – mean prices are increasing ??
    Gentle…persons to your corners and await the bell….

    • Posted by SocketSite

      The “newly remodeled kitchen and bath, plus a new “kitchenette” on the “private lower level” of the home” might have had something to do with it. And of course, considering the original ask, it’s entirely possible the “$1.25 million” price was intended as a teaser but failed to generate an acceptable overbid at the time.

  4. Posted by bachman_erlich_overdrive

    In other words, when marketing the house for sale with an asking price of $1.356mm, a sale was not achieved.

    So was the house overpriced then? Apparently not. By engaging in the tactic of purposefully under-pricing the house to effect an ‘auction’ the seller/real estate agent was able to achieve a transaction price of $1.35mm, virtually the same price that was asked under the previous “fair price” marketing.

    Instead of using this as a great example of PRECISELY why people (sellers and agents) engage in this practice of under-pricing a home and to induce demand and attention, the article is (as ever) hung up on the concept of “over-asking” so save the public from the tricky language of real estate agents.

    Want to sell you house fast and at a fair price? Maybe you could consider doing what realtors tell people to do and price it low. People keep doing it because it works.

    • Posted by SocketSite

      The aforementioned improvements between listings might have helped as well.

    • Posted by bt

      for the love of god, if you’re going to use the finance world’s bizarre “MM” for “a thousand times a thousand in roman numerals = one million,” at least capitalize it and don’t make it look like the SI unit for millimeters

  5. Posted by curmudgeon

    That is one butt ugly facade. It’s a shame that anything this ugly in such an undesirable location (freeway adjacent) still goes for 900 per square foot.

    • Posted by Johntrev

      Cheap and inappropriate replacement windows and garage or front doors with the ridiculous sunset pattern are a couple of my pet peeves, and this house has both. Boxy mid century homes like this can look okay with a good paint scheme, but this is not it.

  6. Posted by Metroliner

    Bad house, on a bad block in the worst part of Bernal. Someone got taken for a ride.

  7. Posted by Cynthia

    That kitchen redo is hideous. It’s the 2019 equivalent of those awful gleaming chrome kitchens of the ’80s.

    • Posted by jenofla

      If that kitchen/bath redo helped sell the house, I cannot imagine how horrible it must’ve been beforehand.

Comments are closed.

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