patrick.net

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

1,2,3 but not 4, eights in the sale price

I guess this a question for Realtors on this forum, correct?

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

And stainless steel appliances!

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

And in the bathroom. Not to mention travertine everything.

PasadenaNative says

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

And stainless steel appliances!

And door handles/knobs.

Lots of mulch.

granite, stainless steel everything. thick glass shower doors, double shower, hardwood floors. stamped driveway, finished garage (man cave) hurry because this will change soon in 5-10 years.
go go go!

an act of god.

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

I hate that because I need new kitchen countertops and hate granite.

"What improvements today would raise housing prices?"

Some have a lot to learn.

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/NorCal.html

thomas.wong1986 says

"What improvements today would raise housing prices?"
Some have a lot to learn.
http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/NorCal.html

Yep, Fix the damn prices in first place. Make it affordable first and then count on inflation adjusted house price gains.

zzyzzx says

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

I hate that because I need new kitchen countertops and hate granite.

you'd most likely would like the polished cement with glass. i like the ruff edge look. would increase home price by 100k I'm sure ;-)

Deep down inside I think all of us know- especially those of us that live in places like the Bay Area- that yes indeed- there will probably be another housing bubble. Why? Because places like the Bay Area thrive off of them and have done so for 150+ years. The last 30+ years have been no exception. All it will take is yet another "miracle" bubble in who-knows-what and wallah- it'll be 1999 or 2005 all over again.

Hate to say it as I myself hate housing bubbles worse than anything. But people are dumb and gullible enough to fall for bubbles and eagerly invest in them. Its human nature. When it will happen? Who knows? Will it happen. Probably...

give everyone in America 100k cash that would raise housing prices.

If the mortgage rate becomes 0% than no improvement to the property is needed, with actual cost of financing passed to treasury so that bank does not loose anything and prices gets jacked up. :)

zzyzzx says

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

I hate that because I need new kitchen countertops and hate granite.

You better go with Granite now, or be priced out forever.

Make HGTV your channel,plenty of ideas on raising housing prices.

find stupid buyers. prices will go up

thomas.wong1986 says

"What improvements today would raise housing prices?"
Some have a lot to learn.
http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/NorCal.html

I know the market is bad. I don't own a home.. I wasn't exactly making a joke..just didn't know if anything stood out these days. I think the market will keep going down for years.

zzyzzx says

StoutFiles says

Granite counter tops in every kitchen.

I hate that because I need new kitchen countertops and hate granite.

Use the imitation, the seller’s agent will take it for “granite”, especially if the house price is high.

I recently looked at a high-end foreclosure and asked the listing agent if the floor was real hardwood (as advertised) since it had too uniform a grain appearance and more spring than normal. I was told a house in this price range had to have genuine wood floors. I was able to find a floor vent and discovered the floor was laminate. I didn’t buy the house and the MLS was never updated to reflect the fact the floors were laminate.

Moral of above story: Realtor lies (redundant) make a house price go up!

installing a ATM machine in the living room.

Flames licking from the eaves of dozens of nearby houses.

A "Buy one get one free" deal :)

mdovell says

I know the market is bad.

It was bad when prices started to rise back in 1998-99 to peak year adding double digit increases each year. What we are seeing is great news. Prices falling back to long term trends.

0% interest rate + liars loan

thomas.wong1986 says

mdovell says

I know the market is bad.

It was bad when prices started to rise back in 1998-99 to peak year adding double digit increases each year. What we are seeing is great news. Prices falling back to long term trends.

Well bad for the seller :-D It's a buyers market..

Painting a house that needs it is one of the best returns on the money a seller can make.

mdovell says

thomas.wong1986 says

mdovell says

I know the market is bad.

It was bad when prices started to rise back in 1998-99 to peak year adding double digit increases each year. What we are seeing is great news. Prices falling back to long term trends.

Well bad for the seller It's a buyers market..

actually right now is the best time to sell, if one can. houses in our area are still double what they were right before the bubble.

I think even the availability of NINJA loans wouldn't help. People are now more cognizant of the true costs of house/condo* loanownership, from maintenance to the danger of long term unemployment of just one of two spouses.

* Home is an emotion-laden word. Let's call it what it is.

Edzakory says

I recently looked at a high-end foreclosure and asked the listing agent if the floor was real hardwood (as advertised) since it had too uniform a grain appearance and more spring than normal. I was told a house in this price range had to have genuine wood floors. I was able to find a floor vent and discovered the floor was laminate. I didn’t buy the house and the MLS was never updated to reflect the fact the floors were laminate.

Yessireebob, pergraniteel is the way to get riches -- pergo floors, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances.

Avocado green appliances were cool once too.

The going joke on SocketSite appears to be that a "pot-filler" nozzle will raise your property values. I had never even heard of this before it was mentioned there.

SF ace says

On the other hand, if you own an old, outdated small Victorian style home in Pacific Manor or Marina district in San Francisco, any upgrade would give you tremendous bang for the bucks. For example, a 2/1 SFH with original kitchen in Marina is about 1.1M, add a second bathroom and remodel the kitchen, and the house sells for about 1.5M, a 100K investment returns 400K.

This was true during the boom, but is this still true? Can you give us examples of where this was done?

First of all, how many single family homes can you find in the Marina that sold for 1.1M? I looked back through more than six months and I couldn't find any.

Also, isn't "Pacific Manor" an apartment building? What San Franciscan would make that mistake?

^ sfa likes to make up stuff.

E-man says

Hysteresis says

^ sfa likes to make up stuff.

Could it be that you don't comprehend what SF ace has to say? Instead of admitting to it, you say he's making up stuff?

right, like i'm the one making ridiculous statements.

any sleazy free RE seminar will tell you the same simple thing which everyone has already heard: remodeling a bathroom and kitchen will add value. except in this case sfa has gone even further with an outrageous claim that a $100k "investment" will return $400k.

even a person with half a brain will question anyone that says $100k returns $400k for a 300% return on a single flip (presumably in under a year). there is no investment in this world that will --consistently-- return 300% or more per year.

controllio has already asked some of the proper questions. i doubt he will get answers. some of us can think for ourselves and have the ability to question outrageous statements. can you?

E-man says

I don't know much about SF area to make any comments on what SF ace said above.

If you did, you would know that SF ace's statements are fabricated. No San Franciscan would ever refer to Pacific Heights as Pacific Manor, and there are no such houses in the Marina that have sold in that range any time recently that would support such a claim.

You may agree with his principles, but his facts are dead wrong. It's hard to find serious distortions like he's describing in San Francisco, and these distortions don't stick around for long. Usually, the cases where this pencils out are properties where you significantly add to square footage (e.g. take a small house and make it a 2800-4000 sqft house), not where you add a bathroom. This requires considerably more investment, higher loan rates or cash on hand because either the property is not collaterizable or you have to get a construction loan, and has considerably higher risk than he describes.

Thanks, Hysteresis for the confirmation that SF ace makes stuff up. This was clearly made up. As Hysteresis said, anyone trying to tell you about a sure 300% return is either a criminal or trying to sell you something or just plain lying.

Katy Perry says

give everyone in America 100k cash that would raise housing prices.

It would also raise the price of milk, gas, orange juice, automobiles, plane tickets, electronics, amusement parks, movies, etc.

To the point, why would a prospective buyer want to pay a flipper $30,000 to hire workers to make $15,000 worth of improvements? The prospective buyer would be better off with a $30k lower price (and lower taxes) and hiring the workers himself.

First, he would save $15k. Second, he would be able to choose the improvements that suite his particular tastes. The buy-improve-flip model is actually economically inefficient.

corntrollio says

If you did, you would know that SF ace's statements are fabricated.

People in SF live in a different world.

Since the question is "housing prices", which means non-specific, there are none. The reason is that in the aggretate, average "housing prices" are going DOWN because of forces beyond your control.
Specific addresses are of course another matter.
Location, location, location.
Others have said it, you have a slightly run down place in an awesome neighborhood, fixing it up makes sense and will perhaps be worthwhile.
Across the street from my friend's place there are condos for sale, they have been totally tricked out. Granite counters, tile floors, stainless equipment in the kitchen. Oh, but wait! The house across the street is owned by Mexicans and there are about 20 people living in it. Dead car in driveway, grass trampled to dirt, beer cans and trash, parties with grills and loud music in the front yard (weather permitting).
Across the street and up 200 feet is an aparment complex inhabited by illegal aliens, and TWO guys were shot over there last year. Dead.
The condo is only $350K plus who knows what the HOA fees are.
Someone has sunk a fortune into that condo. He's not gonna get it back.
Location, location, location.

SF ace says

Marina turns over about 2 homes a month so you'll never find a true comparision.

Not true. The data I have easily available combines Marina + Cow Hollow. The total is 124 sales in 2010, 104 sales in 2009, 191 homes in 2008, 194 sales in 2007, 246 sales in 2006, 302 sales in 2005, and 302 sales in 2004. Furthermore, I couldn't find your fabricated Marina 2/1 SFR for $1.1M.

SF ace says

2475 15th Ave 1.1M 1540 Sq ft
2578 15th Ave 800K 1714 sq ft.

Please. The former is a 4/2 with a 3 car garage and ocean views and a 10% bigger lot, and the latter is a 3/1 with a 1 car garage. If you think spending $100K on 2578 15th will get you a $1.1M sale, good luck. The former's permitted costs were $12K for the kitchen remodel, $14K for the deck, and $10K for the roof, not to mention the extra space that surely makes it much bigger than the 1540 sqft tax record and the unaccounted for costs of the extra square footage, the extra bedroom, and the extra bathroom. As everyone who has pulled a permit in SF knows, the permitted costs do not reflect the actual cost because it's simply a rote calculation made by the department. It grossly underestimates any real cost, especially if you use premium materials as these guys did. If you actually saw 2578 15th, as you claim, you'd know the difference.

SF ace says

2674 16th Ave. 1.1M 1760 sq ft.
2459 17th Ave. 730K 1750 sq ft.

I can't speak to the other pair. I will note that the expensive property is much closer to West Portal than the other (those extra blocks matter in SF), and that better location would increase the property value. In addition, the lesser priced property is not very renovated, and they probably cheaped out on the addition even though it was permitted, based on the pictures. In addition, for the $1.1M property, it's not clear that this house was ever on the market or that there was an actual sale that occurred. In fact, it last changed hands in 2006 to an LLC from the prior owners who bought it in 2000 for $385K. I'm guessing to get to $1.1M, if it's a true sale (as opposed to a family transfer or other non-market sale), it must have been a lot more work than was done on the cheaper property (bought for $299K in 1996). I seriously doubt you were ever in 2674 16th to check it out, as there's no evidence it was ever on the market.

If this was a sure thing, developers would be stepping over each other to buy the cheaper of the two pairs you gave us, which would eliminate a lot of the profit.

You certainly haven't proven your original claim at all, and instead for the one example that can be examined, you've provided a non-pertinent comparison where the difference is more than a single bathroom + remodeling the kitchen:

For example, a 2/1 SFH with original kitchen in Marina is about 1.1M, add a second bathroom and remodel the kitchen, and the house sells for about 1.5M, a 100K investment returns 400K.

owned. lol.

Only in SF does shit fly vertically... what else is new...

1880 Jackson St #603
San Francisco, CA 94109
Beds: 3
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 1,948
$/Sq. Ft.: $1,129

Property History for 1880 Jackson St #603
Date Event Price Appreciation Source
Oct 01, 2010 Price Changed $2,200,000 -- San Francisco MLS #369497
Apr 22, 2010 Listed (Active) $2,400,000 -- San Francisco MLS #369497
Jun 17, 1994 Sold (Public Records) $310,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
May 20, 1994 Sold (Public Records) $250,000 -- Public Records