If I Were From Nebraska…

Or North Dakota, or Alabama, or any number of other states, and saw this listing at 461 2nd Street, San Francisco, I would know, without a doubt, that Californians were crazy. Maybe I am a bit sleep-deprived, but when I woke up this morning and looked at the daily stats, I saw this one bedroom (one bedroom, mind you) loft that just came on the market for $1,155,000 (over 1 million dollars!) and wondered if there was a typo. I mean, I look at real estate every day of the week, I am familiar with prices, but for some reason this particular listing caught me off-guard and seemed out of line. Can you imagine the conversation between Frances and Elsie, whose 200-acre working farm with 3,000 square foot, 4-bedroom house can’t be given away for $200,000? I can, and it involves fits of deranged laughter.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a very nice loft; large (1,698 sf), light, and well-appointed, and located in the clock tower building, along with 126 other units. As lofts go, it is on the upper end, but it is also in a building that is a stone’s throw from the Highway 80 overpass and its attendant noise. For this you would have a mortgage payment (PITI) of about $6000/month plus another $576/mo in association dues, meaning your income would need to be roughly $240,000/year. Kind of narrows the buyer pool, since it has to be a single person or childless couple, given the lack of bedrooms for a family. And for this price wouldn’t you rather live in this 3/2 condo in Noe Valley? Or this 3/2.5 condo in Pacific Heights? Or even this 3/2.5 loft in Sausalito?

What do you think?

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