1604 Castro
Purchased for $920,000 in December of 2004, a sale of 1604 Castro at the current list price of $1,050,000 would represent average annual appreciation of roughly 3.5% over the past four years for this renovated single-family Noe Valley home assuming the entirely of said renovations occurred prior to the last sale (and we didn’t see any recent permits).
1604 Castro: Kitchen
In related news, Noe Valley listed inventory continues to build with 29 single-family homes and 39 condos/TICs currently active, available (i.e., not contingent) and competing for your attention.
∙ Listing: 1604 Castro (2/1) – $1,050,000 [MLS]

41 thoughts on “A Noe Valley Apple Ripens As The Orchard Expands: 1604 Castro”
  1. I doubt there’s much expansion potential within that existing roof line. Eyeballing it it appears there would be a strip of floor about 6 feet wide in the center running from front to back where the ceiling would be tall enough for someone to stand.
    Of course I’ve seen plenty of attics like this converted anyways. One of which was a MBR where there was exactly one place where I could stand without bumping my head, and the bed would have gone there. Unlivable.

  2. not enough head up in that attic space to make it usable. you need minimum 5’0″ headroom at the side walls. dormers could be added at each side, set back 10′ from the front elevation.
    it’s certainly doable to get more bedrooms and bath upstairs.

  3. @The Milkshake of Despair:
    Yeah, I’m not a big fan of converted attics where there’s only a tiny strip of “hey, I can stand-upright!” area. Between those types of attics, the “Being John Malkovich” basements, and the “rabbit hole” doorways in some homes I’ve been in… I’m not sure what’s a worse use of “expansion” dollars.

  4. A million bucks for a place with one bathroom?? LOL.
    At least there are no chopped pillows…wait, spotted a light brown one on the couch in the family room…

  5. 68 listings in Noe alone? Might explains why Noe open houses seem so empty these days – fewer buyers spread across more and more homes.

  6. I bet this will go for over asking, even with one bathroom in this market. Did you check out how quickly someone snapped up 766 Duncan (2 bed/1 bath)? Also, what about 1143 Diamond (2 bed/1 bath sold for $1.5 million).

  7. Is it just me, or is Noe becoming more bifurcated in terms of real estate desirability? I know there have been past discussions in terms of what constitutes Noe…
    But it seems to me that most of the inventory is south of Clipper, where places have tended to languish a little longer. And it feels like there has been VERY little activity (listings) north of Clipper, where places have traditionally gone more quickly (and where the insanity of ’04-’06 was most widely seen).
    I’m not saying that the northern half is immune, but it feels like there is a very different environment towards the southern part v. the northern part.

  8. Yeah, I’m not a big fan of converted attics where there’s only a tiny strip of “hey, I can stand-upright!” area.
    Has anyone ever seen these roof windows used on an attic conversion in Ess Eff. The bottom folds out to create a mini- balcony (and more headroom, at least on a sunny day). Note that the balcony roof window installs on roofs with slopes between 35.25° (8 1/2:12) and 53° (15:12).

  9. Inventory may be up somewhat but according to the Noe Valley Voice, those things that sell still sell quickly (average DOM is in the 30 something day range). I don’t think many things have languished for too long. But, proximity to 24th St. (which is another way of saying north of Clipper) has always been a strong draw in Noe.

  10. Those Velux windows are interesting, but I think I’d probably hit my head once too often to please.
    I stumbled across information at the planning department I didn’t know – dormers don’t require neighborhood notification as long as they meet size and location requirements. Here’s the PDF.
    As far as the north/south of Clipper question: north of Clipper has had more time to mature. LOTS of development south of Clipper. Time will tell.

  11. Just looking around on Redfin for a few minutes, my sense is that this is well priced for the area for the current market. I wouldn’t bet against this place selling at asking or over! As far as I can see, Noe continues to be real SF. A very interesting apple in the making.
    I did notice this other 1/1 SFR a few houses over for sale for $985,000 and currently renting for $1160 per month. Expansion potential in Noe! Hasn’t moved even after price was dropped by $10,000.
    http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/459-Clipper-St-94114/home/1283388

  12. 459 Clipper hasn’t moved b/c of the ridiculous price. Nobody will pay $1m for a 1-bedroom on the busiest street in Noe…
    As to the editor’s comment, “inventory continues to build in Noe,” um, doesn’t it continue to build all over the Bay Area in August? Why is Noe singled out here exactly? 12 SFRs and 13 condos sold in July, so you’re talking about ~3 months inventory in both cases. Not quite the end of the world.

  13. chuckie,
    That place is a prime example of I’m always saying about Noe. There is no price reduction for fixers, they cost just as much as finished houses of the same size. It would cost no more money to make a big 3000 ft. place here at Castro than it would for that Clipper street place. And in the end Castro is a better street with a nice victorian facade and an attached garage. Plus, you can get way more rent for this place while you wait out the permits.

  14. Well, GOOG stock is well under 500, so it shouldn’t be a shock that less and less homes in Noe are being purchased. There is less funny money available with which to do the purchasing.

  15. I think it’s priced correctly and they are smart to sell it now before the conforming loan limits drop, at which point everything in this range will drop too.
    If they can hurry up and close by October 15, they can even get under the wire for the last of the no doc loans.
    I’ll bet it’s sold by next week, because there are just too many reasons to sell it for whatever the market will bear by October 15. You’ll lose 1/3 the market after 10/15 and more on 12/31.
    Someone with $300K in stock options who isn’t going to qualify after 10/15 will take this off their hands, quickly.

  16. As “Dave” pointed out, this listing (1604 Castro) looks a lot like 4090 25th, which very recently sold for 1.15 million. We’ll see if (GOOG < 500) plus (financial crisis) = lower price.
    There’s a thread on another site (sorry!) about 766 Duncan, so I’m going to be lazy and copy my post from there––edited slightly to avoid blatant plagiarism of myself.
    According to Property Shark, 766 Duncan sold in 7/2004 for $970K, again in 8/2005 for $1.25 million (with some crazy financing) and then again in 3/2007 for $1.15 million. I’d be very curious to know what it just went for.
    It’s an excellent apple, in any case!

  17. Dude,
    That’s the info I got from Property Shark. Seems crazy, doesn’t it?
    Any Noe neighbors with inside knowledge about these places?

  18. Re 4090 25th, can someone really have paid over $1.1M for 923 square feet, or is something off with the tax records?
    1604 Castro should give us a good sense of how (if?) the gut-wrenching credit crunch and market declines of the past two weeks will affect SF RE.

  19. Those who follow my posts know that I’m generally bullish about Noe. However the past 3 weeks were very worrisome on the demand side.
    There were bunch of mid range priced homes arriving post labor day and most of them didn’t close. The prices were OK, the places were just OK, but that’s the first time in the past 6 years I’ve seen so little closing activity. I suspect that a big reason is buyers are freaking out about the news.
    104 Chattanooga St
    850 Elizabeth St
    4278 25th St
    3774 23rd St
    429 Elizabeth St
    682 Clipper St
    1360 Dolores St
    737 Castro St
    4105 21st St
    There are another 5 homes in the 2.2M-3M range, all of some problems and often takes longer to sell.

  20. 4090 25th St felt a bit larger than 923 square feet to me. It was a 2/1 with a real dining room and a decent sized kitchen (with new appliances but old cabinets). Very cute back yard and a nice deck. Also, it had (has) a 2 car garage and full basement with unfinished “plus” space.
    I wasn’t surprised to see 4090 go for that much–- it has a nicer location (but it’s smaller) than 3888 26th Street, which went for 1.2 million. I think the next-door neighbor, 4086 25th St, is still on the market.

  21. “I suspect that a big reason is buyers are freaking out about the news.”
    This certainly is having a quenching effect on all sorts of large purchases. The question is whether this is just a transitory freakout or a longer term change of sentiment.

  22. That’s the $700B question.
    My point is that if we are facing a depression like financial disaster SF isn’t immune.
    *but* that’s also true for every other asset class, including apparently cash.

  23. “*but* that’s also true for every other asset class, including apparently cash.”
    Don’t count on that, someone. In the first Great Depression, cash did just fine. In fact, if you had $1M in cash in 1929, you could buy a nice large estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. If you still had that $1M in cash in 1940, you could pick up 10 of them!

  24. Hey Satchel – I’d love to pick up one of those waterfront places on Greenwich Point for 100k. Nice town. Maybe in a few years when my cash is worth more.

  25. Hope the buyer hurries up and closes. Wells Fargo just upped their 30 year fixed jumbo rates by 0.125% to 9.3%.
    The conforming limit is 729K. At 20% down, anything over $911K is essentially priced out. At 30% down, you have to stay under 1.041.
    I think its going to start being a very tough sell for properties in the $1M-$1.5M range. People will just trade down and save 1/3 of the payments…
    https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/rates/

  26. Tipster, what are you talking about?
    I had a coworker that closed on 6% loan with PenFed last week, and bunch of people that refi-ed for under 6%.
    ING has an online mortgage product as well that offers 5 ARM for 5.5%
    Bankrate is showing 800K loan with 20% down for %7.75 with Sterling.
    Who cares what WFC states on their website, as if you can’t negotiate it down.

  27. I stumbled across information at the planning department I didn’t know – dormers don’t require neighborhood notification as long as they meet size and location requirements.
    Little gems like this make reading SS worthwhile (tremendous breadth of knowledge). I checked our Municipal Code, and unfortunately, we don’t have a similar exemption (at least that I can tell).

  28. Sparky-the-bear:
    You liked this place over Clipper for building a 3000 sq ft home because the facade is nicer(very true) and the Castro St. location is better than the Clipper one. But look at where this is in Noe; right on the corner of Castro and Clipper with a noisy school diagonal from your doorstep. For expansion potential I pick Clipper. But with the way the market is heading for 3,000 sq ft spec homes, I pick neither.

  29. I already picked neither. And have been in both. They are Clipper at Castro or vica versa, that’s why I point it out. Castro at Clipper is better. At the Castro street you can rent out the place for much more money while you wait out 1 1/2 years to get permits. You would more than make back the extra $65,000 purchase at the sale by not being on Clipper, and your carrying cost would be a lot less. Plus people will still pay a premium for the Vic. facade
    My point was only that it costs just as much for the fixer in Noe as the non-fixer and I would love that to change.

  30. I think sooner than later in the fixer market. I am hoping to see fixers priced to sell ahead of the January conforming limit change. That coupled with a holiday listing could bring out some deals.

  31. 1604 Castro is in contract. The showing non-agent said that they are still open to receiving backup offers.
    And as for fixers, check out 3882 25th Street. Probate sale, 3 BR 2 BA with a teensy garage and small backyard. Asking $998K.
    Very quiet open houses today in Noe, but maybe I was just too early.

  32. It appears 1604 Castro is *not* in contract anymore. I will be surprised if it goes for asking. (But I’ve been surprised many times before!)

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