Purchased for $2.25 million in April of 2018, having been newly expanded and remodeled, the Bernal Heights view home at 149 Bradford Street returned to the market three weeks ago listed for “$1,995,000,” a sale above which would be considered to be “over asking,” or an “overbid,” according to all industry stats (and perhaps a newsletter or two).

The now three-bedroom, two-bath home is outfitted with a contemporary great room and finishes, multiple skylights and a lower-level bedroom suite and adjacent “multi-use space” that open to a level yard with two decks and a fire pit.

If you think you know the market for Bernal Heights homes, now’s the time to tell. Keep in mind that the Case-Shiller index for single-family home values in “San Francisco” is up 30.7 percent from April of 2018 and 149 Bradford is “already in contract!” (having been listed for 11.1 percent below its 2018 price).

20 thoughts on “If You Think You Know Bernal, Now’s the Time to Tell”
  1. Seems like we should wait for the sale price before making any judgments.

    I would think this to be a desirable spot. Views, walking distance to Cortland shops, parking, backyard, great room, enough bedrooms and spaces for a kid and multiple home offices. It’s a very nicely proportioned space that checks all the boxes. Bernal is a nice hedge for a couple who might work either in the Peninsula/South Bay as well as SF proper.

    Wonder if it gets freeway noise?

    1. Freeway noise: Yes. Yes it does (and the grade of the street is 23%). As a long-time Bernal resident, I was shocked to see how much this sold for in 2018. IMO, it was far and away above the market at the time (other, larger houses that were similarly redone but with nicer yards and less HWY noise were selling for less at the time on the same street – example that sold in 2016 and then again in 2020, across the street).

      I would not be at all surprised if this one takes a loss.

  2. This is *very close* to 101 and Bayshore. I’d appreciate how walkable bare bottle brewing is, but otherwise this is a pretty marginal part of Bernal to my eyes.

  3. I’m going to guess $2.4M.

    Photographs well, nice design eye for details (planting landscaping on the slope to soften the view from the living room), looks great on paper, but…I think there is freeway noise, it seems kind of small and tight (I estimate 1350 sq ft from the floorplan, between 3 bedrooms and office space and big entry), the views are expansive but second tier, and while walkable to Cortland, the west and north parts of Bernal are usually valued more because you can access more of the rest of SF (Mission, Noe, etc).

    I mean, if people are still buying without touring it might go as high as $2.7M but I suspect people who show up might see/feel some of the shortcomings. And that 2018 sales price seems too high. But I am no Bernal expert, I just think these things are fun.

  4. Kind of the wrong side of the hill. Just around the corner is one of the sketchiest underpasses in all of the city. Huge backyard but all the freeway noise, could it be truly enjoyed?

    Shows cleanly from photos but that location: $2.2

  5. This is the worst part of Bernal. You’ll get tons of noise and exhaust from 101, Bayshore a block away remains sketch, and you’re a ways down the hill from the nice part of Cortland. $2.15, but I wouldn’t pay even that for this location.

  6. Bernal. Bernal Bernal Bernal. Home to the Shakespearean San Francisco sirens who lure us to the rocky shoals doom with their fervid endorsement of every single last whack-a-doodle idea that D9 has cooked up over the years. Please, whoever buys this place, be as dull and yet cheery, bland and still effective, as the House itself. We need sand people to move into Bernal.

  7. I’m guessing ~2.4M. The market is hotly competitive for homes such as this one. This is far from the worst section of Bernal. While it will have some freeway noise, it’s essentially two blocks away.

  8. Nice enough looking finishes (if you don’t mind all the white), and looks like a good view to the east out those windows (at least to the Bayview hill seen in the photo; not so much the freeway and Bayshore industrial area out the window foreground…). Yet I’m afraid this house in the end seems significantly flawed – in one of the worst areas of Bernal (steep slope, tight lots, close to freeway noise and dirt, surrounded by many unattractive and not so nicely kept homes, not as walkable as most of Bernal), with modestly sized bedrooms, a funky floor plan (kitchen in which you need to walk all the way around a peninsula to enter, the washer/dryer in the entry foyer, the primary bedroom a long walk downstairs and to the back of the house from the other bedrooms, very little storage, etc.).

    It looks like the developer has done a pretty good job of leveraging the property and developing what they could out of it, but if I was the buyer at $2+M, with a spouse and 2 kids and all our stuff, it seems the house could quickly feel pretty small, and that my money did not go very far. I’d much rather have the similar and similarly priced but larger and more nicely done house at 701 Teresita, another “If you think you know, now’s the time to tell” from 3 weeks ago.

  9. i lived next door and one annoying part of Bradford is that the 67 bus runs and is quite loud when it’s going up that hill. I’m gonna guess $2.25.

  10. Would this be considered “walking distance” to the shops on Cortland? The business district of Cortland doesn’t even begin until Folsom, and that’s 5 uphill blocks away.

    1. It begins at Folsom, sure, but there are also something like 4 restaurants, a bakery, and a corner store right there at Cortland and Folsom. Plus there’s a brewery / beer store right there. I’d never advertise it as “walking distance” in this day and age. But I’d consider it that personally.

    2. Yes. If you’re fit you can get all the way to the far end of the commercial strip at the very top in about 12min and the near end in 6, but it is up a big hill.

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