This house burned down last year. Multiple tenants situation. Photos show how bad the damage was. Someone was ragging on the Excelsior a few days ago. Sure Sunset is better than Excelsior, but make no mistake Excelsior is fast catching up. Demographics are changing, this is now an Asian majority neighborhood. Lot of new construction in the works and people have realized that this is a commuter friendly neighborhood. Those who are familiar with Ocean Ave and Ingleside revitalization, the same process is happening with Excelsior/Outer Mission neighborhoods. Portola and Bayview are on a tear too. Looks like the 7x7 city still has a lot of steam. People have realized that there are other neighborhoods outside the established/touristy ones that are not too bad.
I actually prefer Portola and Excelsior over Sunset. It’s in the sunny belt, with more upside than Sunset. But this house is a bit too close to the freeway for my taste.
After you factor in the cost to rebuild/rehab 789K is pretty expensive. This good looking house a couple houses down sold for 1.18M:
Price difference is 400K. So can amateurs like us rebuild it for under 400? The whole 789K purchase plus construction cost have to be cash or hard money loans.
This tear-down house close by is asking for 800. People looking for a challenge can take it on…
That may be your preference, but the rest of the Asians have spoken… Sunset is here to stay baby!!! Chinese people are pretty savvy in real estate (as we all know). They ain’t buying Sunset for the short-term…think way long term!!! Like my finicky wife says, she loves the cooler climate of the westside. If she wanted hot, she would have stayed a So Cal or Malaysian gal…
Come on, any place that is the cheapest in the Fab 7x7 is surely going to be up and coming but wholesale changes take some time. There are stretches of Mission Street that are worn and not so nice. For the folks who work downtown, doesn’t it take forever to get to downtown via the slow regular Muni lines?
Sure Mission st is rough in parts but it is rapidly improving. The new supervisor is keen on commercial corridor redevelopment.
As to downtown commute, it is definitely more convenient than the westside. Several options depending on where you are. There is Bart, 14x, 14r, 14(slowwww) 8x, J streetcar. 54, 52, 29 Bart connections make it Bart very accessible.
No doubt, the Excelsior/outer Mission is an excellent place to try to find that diamond in the rough but the problem is that everyone and their mother is doing the same. Shoot, I was one of them looking out there as recently as a year or two ago. The problem is simply that I can not honestly justify spending so much to win some fixer out there when all it is is another rental property for me. I would be cash negative most likely. Ok, let’s use that burnt out home that just sold for 789k. Come on, how much money do you think one needs to spend to get that up to speed? 100-150k? More? So, now that house is over 900k right? So, if you are hitting nearly 1M, why should someone waste their time and spend so much on an up and coming neighborhood when you can almost find a decent shaped house in the outer Sunset for that price? It is one thing if the homes there were selling cheaply, but they aren’t. Hence, that is why I sit on the sideline waiting for an opportunity to come. Usually does…
Thats is good question. Despite the “up and coming” ness of the neighborhood I do not see a reason to go these price levels around Excelsior area. But remember sunset is beyond white hot. Sunset is where we wanted to buy, we loved it there. But we were beaten on too many offers. Frustrated buyers may pay more than what the property and neighborhood are worth elsewhere when they compare it to more desirable neighborhoods.
Don’t buy rentals in excelsior, outer mission, or any bad neighborhood where you can’t achieve positive cash flow. What’s the point??? If you want good cash flow, buy in a bad neighborhood with good cash flow. If you want good houses, buy in a good neighborhood with bad cash flow. Simple rule to follow.
The SF market is def tough in that 1.5M and less range. If I were looking for the first time now, I would cast a wide net, meaning I would consider pretty much any neighborhood as long as it is a SFH with potential. I would def look for fixers or tenant occupied (non protected) since those would not draw as much attention as fancy, staged vacant ones. Forget condos, since they are for losers. I would hook up with an experienced realtor who is with a large firm. Why? They may have leads inhouse that they could then swing a deal and keep the entire commission inhouse. That is exactly how I bought my Sunset home. No sign went up yet and all I just had to do was decide if I wanted to spend X or not. No competition. This was in 2003 when the market was fairly hot then too. On the open market, house would have sold for easily $100k more than I paid. And no, I didn’t buy it with all cash either. In life, surround yourself with people who are smart and are good at what they do and let them do it for you.