Within 10 days of hitting the market with an asking price of $350,000, the 765-square-foot home at 16 De Long Ave. was in contract. The deal closed this week for $408,000. According to Brian Tran, the listing agent, the property was purchased by developers who plan to renovate it. "My understanding of their plans is that they are going to remodel it and sell it or offer it as a rental," he says. "Last I heard, they are not going to add any square footage to it." That's a key point, as the home is likely a pair of earthquake shacks that have been combined into one dwelling and it appears on a list of surviving earthquake shacks compiled by the Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP). So, renovating the home with buckling floors and a caving-in roof could come with some extra layers of trickiness. Maybe that's why all six offers were from developers.
"This isn't a remodel that many average citizens would want to take on," Tran says. When he first marketed the house, he described it as "not habitable in its current condition" and suffering from "years of deferred maintenance." His client purchased the property in the 1980s for $51,000, but she had not lived there since 2007.
"I know that $51,000 doesn't sound like a lot today, but back then it was," Tran says. "This was the first and only property she had ever owned. We had to slow down escrow to give her a chance to say goodbye to it." His client is currently in contract with another property in South San Francisco.
· Is This Home the Latest Earthquake Shack to Hit the Market? [Curbed SF]
· Remembering Earthquake Shacks, San Francisco's Original Tiny Houses [Curbed SF]
· 1906 Earthquake Refugee Shacks Remaining [Western Neighborhoods Project]
Loading comments...