This is Maximum Luxury, a regular column where we indulge our primal desires by ogling San Francisco’s most expensive home listings. Very often, we’ll run headlines about San Francisco “fixers” or “teardowns” or just plain disasters listing or selling for $1 million, $2 million, and the whole room starts to spin. But do you wonder … Continue reading Castro “Fixer With Potential” Cashes In For $7.3M
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Tahoe Property Price Up 9,987 Percent
[Correction: Originally, we incorrectly estimated the increase in value here as around 99.99 percent; in reality, it’s accurate to say the value increased 99.99 TIMES, and 9,987 (or so) percent. We regret the error, as well as the shamefaced email we’re karmically obligated to send to our fourth grade math teacher.] It’s been a while … Continue reading Tahoe Property Price Up 9,987 Percent
Maximum Overbid: Doubling Your Money In Just Nine Short Years
San Francisco is always changing: For example, there’s the case of this week’s top overbid, a two bed, one bath Outer Sunset beach house at 2142 44th Avenue. The final sale price of more than $1.45 million is well over 162 percent of the asking price from the end of February–a mere $895K. Again, this … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Doubling Your Money In Just Nine Short Years
Noe Valley Was SF’s Most Expensive Neighborhood In February
Housing watchers love stats and they love comparing neighborhoods, so we’re giving the people what they want: A monthly breakdown of housing demand, divvied up neighborhood by neighborhood to determine which corner of SF was the top earner, starting with February. But how do we measure demand? The obvious metric is price, but that’s not … Continue reading Noe Valley Was SF’s Most Expensive Neighborhood In February
Maximum Overbid: Bernal’s Heights (and lows)
One of the oldest tricks in the book for turning heads is to market a property as one that’s been off the market for decades, as in the case of this week’s top overbid, a three bed, two bath house on the north slope of Bernal Heights at 238 Rutledge. This place listed for just … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Bernal’s Heights (and lows)
Salesforce Equality Officer’s “Speakeasy” Industrial Loft Wants $10.9M
Welcome back to Maximum Luxury, a regular column where we pick apart San Francisco’s most expensive listings, purely out of a sense of obsessive curiosity. No bones about it, 9 Bernice Street is wild. We’re not saying that’s a bad thing; we’re not saying it’s a good thing; we’re just saying it’s an evident thing. … Continue reading Salesforce Equality Officer’s “Speakeasy” Industrial Loft Wants $10.9M
Historic Eight-Sided Russian Hill Home Pares 1/4 Off Price
Over on Instagram, we’re exploring the histories of some of San Francisco’s most famous, most beautiful, and most historically important homes. Which includes a few surprises. For example, did you know that the famed Feusier Octagon House at 1067 Green Street is for sale? Well, probably you did–it made headlines when the opulent octagon hit … Continue reading Historic Eight-Sided Russian Hill Home Pares 1/4 Off Price
Maximum Overbid: A Parkside Puzzle
Overbids can be a surprisingly sensitive topic. For example, a while back, the buyer of one of our previously featured weekly overbids pointed out that the realtor of that property intentionally priced it low, and argued that we should talk about this practice when highlighting overbids. The truth is, we’ve brought that subject up many … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: A Parkside Puzzle
Serious Question: Should You Paint Your House Bright Orange?
In 2019, onetime publisher Florence Fang staged a press conference outside of her famous “Flintstones House” in Hillsborough, part of a campaign to gin up public interest in her then-ongoing fight with the city over her, ah, singular decorating style. During that event, Fang constantly referenced the 1977 children’s book The Big Orange Splot, about … Continue reading Serious Question: Should You Paint Your House Bright Orange?
Maximum Overbid: Southside Teardown Sells for $1 Million, Because Of Course
It’s time for Maximum Overbid and oh my, isn’t this one a treat. The listing for 1598 Geneva Avenue says it all–or rather, says very little, from which you can extrapolate the rest: boarded-up windows and doors, no interior photos, “contractor’s paradise,” and the low-for-SF price of just under $600K for an ostensibly two bed, … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Southside Teardown Sells for $1 Million, Because Of Course
Forgotten San Francisco Neighborhoods: Where the Heck Is Fairmount Heights?
Over at 221 Chenery Street we’ve got a circa 1907 Victorian that was completely rebuilt in 2017, now seeking nearly $3 million for three beds and three baths–but that’s not the interesting part. The new listing calls this a “contemporary Fairmount Heights residence.” Excuse me? “Fairmount Heights?” Surely this is Glen Park Well, yes, it … Continue reading Forgotten San Francisco Neighborhoods: Where the Heck Is Fairmount Heights?
Maximum Luxury: Interiors To Get Lost In
This is Maximum Luxury, a weekly column obsessing over San Francisco’s most expensive homes, because sometimes you’ve just got to scratch that itch. Maximum Luxury was not necessarily designed to be a showcase of the city’s most absurdly decadent interiors, and yet that does keep coming up. For example, this week we’re dipping back into … Continue reading Maximum Luxury: Interiors To Get Lost In
San Francisco May Vote On Whether To Tax Vacant Homes
In a non-surprise move for anyone paying attention to housing rhetoric around City Hall these days, Board of Supervisors rep Dean Preston is introducing a new ballot measure that would penalize the owners of chronically vacant homes. Pushing for his “empty homes tax” on Tuesday, Preston called it “unconscionable that we have tens of thousands … Continue reading San Francisco May Vote On Whether To Tax Vacant Homes
Maximum Overbid: Someone Else’s Payday
Flipping a fixer can be a formula for a quick payday, but it turns out there’s an even easier way to score a big deal, if you’re lucky enough. This week’s biggest overbid is 1787 48th Avenue, an Outside Sunset house right on the edge of the recently acclaimed Great Highway that listed for nearly … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Someone Else’s Payday
San Francisco’s Most Over-the-Top Condo Wants $30M
And now, the latest in, “Does this building ever stop?” The co-op at 2006 Washington Street in Pac Heights knows how to make headlines: Basically, just keep pumping its prices higher. This is not a fool-proof system, but it works at least this well, because we’re returning to these heights once again with a new … Continue reading San Francisco’s Most Over-the-Top Condo Wants $30M
Maximum Luxury: Classic ’20s Double-Decker Penthouse Asks $15M
This is Maximum Luxury, a weekly column peering at listings for some of San Francisco’s most expensive homes, purely for the sake of indulgence. Quite honestly, there are not very many things in the world that are actually worth $15 million; if you had to spend that much money for some reason, it can be … Continue reading Maximum Luxury: Classic ’20s Double-Decker Penthouse Asks $15M