Though many tales you may be hearing about San Francisco real estate lately involve outrageous selling prices and aggressive multiple-offer situations, there are also plenty of stories involving under-asking sales. I thought I’d profile two sales at opposite ends of the spectrum that occurred within about six blocks of each other in the popular Eureka Valley neighborhood:
3601 21st Street/Church
List price: $1,398,000
Sale price: $1,860,000
This Spanish-Mediterranean 4BR/3BA, 2391-sqaure foot home at 3601 21st Street (above) had great views, as well as a separate legal unit and a lovely garden. The property came on the market in mid May, went into contract about a week later, and closed in mid June. The seller received 16 offers, which goes to show you how many buyers are looking for house in the area in the $1.4M-ish range.
4080 20th Street/Noe
List price: $1,995,000
Sale price: $1,530,000
4080 20th Street was a 3BR/2.5BA Victorian with no garage that was listed initially at $1,995,000 in March. It was actually a pretty cool property, with a renovated kitchen with panoramic views. The upper level had two bedrooms and a half bath, and the lower level featured space for an office, family room or bedroom, and full bath. There was also a nice garden. (No garage, though, which most $2M properties have.) So the list price turned out to be a bit ambitious. By the end of March, the price was knocked down to $1,750,000, and then there was another price chop in May to $1,575,000.
The key thing to note here, buyers, is that it sometimes takes sellers time to come to terms with what their house is worth in a given market. Don’t rush in during the first week of marketing with an offer for almost half a million less than asking. Give it at least a couple months.