Purchased a year ago for $700,000, the 1300 sf house has grown to 4BR, 3 BA and 2462 square feet.  Voila, the new 587 Jersey, just listed at a slender $1,749,000.  That’s $710 a foot.

I toured the property last Tuesday and to be honest I was underwhelmed.    The developers squeezed the extra square footage into the original building envelope by building out the attic and the basement.  Certainly a good way to avoid all the hassle of neighborhood 311 hearings, notifications, and controversy.  But at the end of the day, you’re still buying a built out basement and a built out attic.  And it shows.

Light and shadow from the rafters seemed to make the windows glow like cardboard cut-outs.

Here’s the scoop:  Listed in mid-May for $799,000, sold on June 25 for $700,000.  1360 square feet of original detail.  $515 bucks a foot.

I quote from the listing:  “All inside doors, most hardware, some light fixtures appear original and possibly pre-1900.”

Not any more, it seems….

731 Douglass

Meanwhile 110 Hoffman, offered at just $2,000 less than Douglass, had a little less space and a vertical, less user-friendly lay-out.  But, location it had in spades, on one of Noe’s best and quietest streets.  Plus it had a spacious back yard with a lovely mature tree.

110 Hoffman

My good friend and blogging critic, Mike Dashe  — the American part of the Franco-American wine-making duo who own Dashe Cellars — recently took me to task for not doing what any good story-teller does: tell ‘em how it ends.  So here’s the final chapter folks.

731 Douglass came in first, selling for a respectable $1.85 million, or 85% of the listing price after just 48 days.  Good show!  Though it’s worth noting that this was a cool $100,000 LESS than it sold for back in March 2005, when it was on the market for just 18 days.  (There’s more proof of the correlation between price and DOM — days on market — see my previous post.)

110 Hoffman had a more torturous ride to the finish-line.  Originally listed at $2.395 million, it suffered two price drops and was ultimately withdrawn from the market 102 days later when it failed to sell at $2.148. Fast-forward five months to July and it’s back on the market at $1.995.  And, after falling in and out of contract, and back in –  it sells for….

$1,995,000.  Full list price and all within 10 days if the MLS Database can be believed.

That’s a cool $100k more than 731 Douglass.

What went on here?  I honestly don’t think this was a case of location trumping space.  Instead, it’s about timing.  731 Douglass went on the market in January and sold in March.  Prices generally fall somewhat during winter months.  But much more importantly, does anyone remember how the financial world was coming to an end right at that time? The stock market was dropping like a stone and no one knew where it would end.  (In fact, the S&P 500 hit bottom on March 9.)

I remember when I had the misfortune of putting the first property I ever owned on the market not long after 9/11/01.  I’m convinced that it sold for around $300k less than it would have at any other time.

Seen in this light, it sure seems like the owners (and the agent) of 110 Hoffman made the right decision to bide their time.  A few months later, the sun breaks out literally and metaphorically and things are moving again. Here’s a case where the tortoise beat the hare.

And speaking of odd-looking creatures, let’s get back to Dashe Cellars and their beautiful wines (you gotta try their single vineyard Zins.)  Mike, would you care to explain what’s with the monkey and the, ahem, “whale?”

4317-24th-street

Interesting to note that 4209 24th Street, just a block away and very much a fixer along the same lines,  sold in December 08 for $896,000.  That was $11,000 above the asking price.

4209-24th-street

and now:

In 1999, the owners completely redid the building, right around the same time that my wife and I were remodeling our house just around the corner and converting it from a two-unit building into a single family home.  At the time, there weren’t too many larger homes in Noe Valley.  Now, everybody seems to be adding floors or building out the basement.

For $2,150,000 you’ll get 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, plus an office with panoramic views of the city on the top level, plus a good- sized family room downstairs.  Around 3,000 square feet, based on the 2005 listing information.  It’s a nice livable layout, has lots of light and the high quality finishes you’d expect.

What’s missing?  No backyard, just a postage-stamp sized courtyard.  Another possible negative:  it’s across the street from Noe Courts and the bus stop for the 48 Quintara which might make it a little noisier than average.

Just up the hill and around the corner, on one of the nicest streets in Noe Valley,  is 110 Hoffman Street @ 23rd, selling for $2,148,000 after two price drops.  Originally listed for $2.395 back in November.

This one sold a year ago for $1.2 million as a 1600 sf “fixer”.  Well, they sure fixed it.  It’s now just under 2900 sf, 4BR/3.5 BA family room/media room, and a built-out attic with panoramic views of the city, accessible by a spiral staircase.  The flow of the space is not quite as good as  731 Douglass and there’s less of it.  But it’s an impressive home nonetheless.

What 110 Hoffman has that Douglass doesn’t is a beautiful back yard and a location on one of Noe Valley’s best streets.  Now that Hoffman’s price is returning to earth, it’ll be interesting seeing how these two thoroughbreds compete.