2874 Bush Street: 2010 (www.SocketSite.com)

As we wrote this past November:

Listed as a short sale for $595,000, the Lower Pacific Heights single-family (but zoned RH2) home at 2874 Bush Street sold for $675,000 in June of 2003.

According to a plugged-in source a short sale has already been approved (although at exactly what price was unknown), and while most definitely a fixer (if not a gut and build), it could possibly be perfectly habitable with a bit of elbow grease.

Also noted, the walls seemed to be decorated with listings and other information about numerous other properties. And the grant deed from the buyer in 2003 to another party in September 2008 and then back to the 2003 buyer in January 2009 remains unexplained.

As we reported in December:

[W]hile the short sale of 2874 Bush Street closed escrow on 12/22/09 with what appears to be a “confidential” sale price on the MLS (and will be considered to be $595,000 with respect to industry reports), a bit of digging and calculating reveals the actual sale price to be $550,000 (18.5% under its 2003 contract price).

And of course as a tipster added:

Looks like moving day at 2874 Bush. Seeing the washer and dryer on the truck didn’t surprise me…but seeing the furnace sure did!

Having been rebuilt as a 1,941 square foot two-bedroom with three baths over the past six months, 2874 Bush Street has just returned to the market asking $1,049,000.

2874 Bush: Kitchen.jpg

∙ Listing: 2874 Bush Street (2/3) 1,941 sqft – $1,049,000 [MLS]
The Beginning Or End Of This (Or The) San Francisco Short Sale Story? [SocketSite]
A Quick Short(er) Sale And Key Word: Pre-Approved [SocketSite]
Personal Effects, Check. Washer And Dryer, Check. Furnace… [SocketSite]

37 thoughts on “The Next (But Not Final) Chapter In Our 2874 Bush Street Story”
  1. Nice Flip indeed, I remember I wanted to go after this one, damn quick turnaround, what’s your guys guests on reno costs? 250k?

  2. They’ve done a nice job for a flip that quick.
    Question: would one have to go through a terrible city process to change the fenestration on this house? The front facade is terrible, and all the bedroom windows are oriented the wrong way. Is not fixing it a question of money or difficulty?

  3. Sorry but the large expanse of fixed glass in lieu of windows just does NOT work for this front elevation. Really takes away from the quality of the remainder of a reasonably well done flip.

  4. Sorry but the large expanse of fixed glass in lieu of windows just does NOT work for this front elevation.
    It does make the house look rather surprised…

  5. All the windows are odd in this house, if it had 11′ ceilings throughout it should have had around 7′ windows,

  6. Hmmmm… given what was done elsewhere, I’d say they really missed a grand opportunity to lower the ceilings and put in another floor. Just sayin’…

  7. It still sits on an accleration point on Bush Street? (I did try to flog this fixer
    to contractors myself)

  8. The scale of the windows is way off. Major chop job. Anything passes, it seems. It was the first thing I noticed. Looks like a built in aquarium. Don’t know what would cost to undo the damage — $75k?

  9. Grey, greyer, greyish, whitish, brown. This is what will be remembered from the 2010 palette. At least we have stainless steel shine to remind us of the good old flippy years.
    I say 750K for the location. It sits for a year losing 50K in expectation every 60 days.

  10. That’s a pretty big premium to own.
    A buyer would have a monthly cost of ownership of at least $5,000, and would have to put $210,000 down.
    This nearby rental is available for $3,800 for instance (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/1785642143.html), and looks pretty comparable.
    That means bleeding at least $1,200 a month and hoping to hang on to the down payment.

  11. hawk guy, that link is to a flat. this is a house. craigslist doesn’t have lower pac heights house reantals for under 5000 dollars. ??????????

  12. Okay anon. Fair enough. Maybe the asking $3,800 is too high as well and it’s really $3,250 or something.
    But what’s the fair market value rental of the house in question? $4,000? $4,250?
    Having a detached single family home isn’t worth $1,200 a month under these circumstances, is it? Sharing a yard versus having a crappy little yard you have to take care of yourself? I can’t really see at this time which yard is nicer. And one would not have to pay for the upkeep of the yard as a rental.
    Sure, I suppose it’s not optimal to have someone above or below you. But the flat may be better than the house in some ways too.

  13. SFHawkguy,
    You have got to be kidding. Your own private backyard or a shared yard? That is a gorgeous backyard.
    I just don’t like living right on a free-way, which this is. For a reduced price, I would consider it, but not for a million.

  14. “That is a gorgeous backyard. ”
    Private backyards are definitely preferred but you may be exaggerating just a bit when you say this one is gorgeous.

  15. This is a great rehab of a blighted home that otherwise did nothing but make an eyesore of neighborhood. The kitchen looks fabulous, the ceiling heights expansive and the bakyard quite large. I’m sure this property will sell quickly for asking price.

  16. The window sizes do not appear to have been changed since last sale. “God job” to the owner regarding the remodel.
    This will not be a difficult sale considering the availability of remodeled homes with parking and a rear yard under $1,000,000.

  17. I wish I could convince myself to live on Bush St. but the last president permanently wrecked that for me.

  18. Better inside than I was expecting and high ceilings but quality of the kitchen is just okay. Downstairs rooms aren’t legal b/c ceiling height is too low but downstairs bathroom was dug out and done with permit. Big garage but tandem.

  19. If I lived there, I’d have a permanent bruise on my thigh from bumping into the island on the way to fridge.

  20. We need to play with the name game here (instead of Lower Pacific Heights). How about Upper Western Addition? Western Addition Heights? Pacific Non-Heights?
    They were clearly going for the cheap flip, but they really should have put in a proper floor, as EBGuy said. And fixed the windows.
    Are Plugmein and Anymousetrap shill comments? 8 mins apart too-specific praise at off-hours?

  21. This is a classic example of amateur remodeling that so f**king irritates me.
    The remodel the inside, put in a decent kitchen, baths, lighting and finishes. Clean up the yard.
    And then leave that big, ugly modern single sheet of glass window at the front elevation. We all know the building originally had some very tall, wood, double-hung windows.
    Why can’t they have a little respect for the front and put in the right windows?? What a hack job.

  22. It’s not only the cost of the new windows, but they’d have to go thru planning, do the 311 notification, etc.
    Congrats to the flippers! Hey, Chuck, maybe time for another ‘vette. 🙂

  23. This went contingent already in 3 days!! Don’t know how the sellers pulled this one off but congrats

  24. NO, you would not have to go thru 311 notification to install new, wood, double hung windows at the front elevation. You would most likely have to review that info with a preservation planner, I agree. I have done this before. They would sign off on it once approval is met and grant you the permit.
    It’s not as complicated as you lead people to believe.

  25. noearch is correct. I am going through the process at the moment with a 16 unit building and planning is over the counter as long as you want to do “wood double hung sash windows”. Planning has issued a bunch of pretty pamphlets on things like window replacements that give you step by step instructions.
    In fact on this remodel, they could have just included it on the permit as “restore front window with 3 sets of double hung wood sashes” and it might have even skipped planning.

  26. Totally agree that this is appropriate remodel for the house. It’s not a pristine house in a pristine neighborhood (lived around the corner on Lyon for 3 years). Great job of cleaning it up and watching your budget and making a little dough.

  27. Thanks Ryan, and good luck with your project.
    While I have many criticisms of the Planning Dept. there are still many remodels you can do mostly over the counter. Not all of the processes are complicated.
    Just takes a little stamina and knowledge on line or in person to figure it out.

  28. You guys are talking about simply replacing the picture window with double hung windows, keeping the window opening the same, I agree does not require 311. I meant going back to taller windows before the ceiling was lowered.

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