Now that El Niño is skipping town like an on-again, off-again ex, you might need a place to cool off during the long, hot spring months ahead. Have you considered a gleaming blue, in-ground pool, like the one at 257 Justin Drive in Bernal Heights?
Maybe you have and just can’t seem to find one. Of 1,174 San Francisco properties for sale today on Realtor.com, only 85 list a pool among the amenities. Almost all of those are condos with pools in the building, however. In terms of private backyard pools, there are a grand total of two on the market right now.
257 Justin Drive is a two-bedroom, one-bath, 1,125-square-foot home on a rather spacious 6,634-square-foot lot. Much of that space is taken up by what the listing calls the "urban oasis" in the backyard, palm trees and all.
The house itself is OK, but what you’ll really love is the price: $779,000, in a neighborhood where the average list price is around $1.2 million.
The house is located in St. Mary's Park, on the south side of Bernal Heights. But listing agent Kevin Lynch says the bargain-basement price is on account of the old place needing a lot of work.
"The seller hasn’t done any maintenance in 25 years," according to Lynch. "They’ve been living in it all this time, so it’s okay, but the windows should all be replaced, the front stairs are completely shot, and the roof is probably toward the end of its life."
In all likelihood, Lynch says, a contractor will scoop the place up, do some work on it, and turn it around for $1.5 million next year. A smart plan, but almost anyone would be tempted to stick with that Malibu-like backyard for at least a little longer.
The house last sold in 2006 for (wait for it) $126,000, the equivalent of a little less than $150,000 today. If numbers like that make you feel steamed, you know where to cool off.
- 257 Justin Drive [Redfin]
- Pool listings [Realtor]
- Bernal Heights market report [Trulia]
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