After offers poured in for a burnt-out house in the San Francisco Bay Area, the home closed for $1 million in cash this week. Listing agent Melinda Byrne with Key Reality told MarketWatch that the listing actually received two cash offers for $1 million each.
Byrne said that eight offers came in, in less than three days. “By the time I marked it ‘pending,’ I had five other people wanting to write offers — and I’m still getting people who would like to write on it to be in a backup position,” she said. “As you know in California, there is a built in profit on this just because even if this person put a half million dollars into the house, he’s going to reap great, great rewards on it,” Byrne said.
Homebuyers are getting priced out left and right, while properties receive multiple bids and buyers waive appraisals and inspections. Median home values are up 11.6%, while inventory in the U.S. is down 30.3%, according to Zillow.Also: How do you compete with home buyers who can pay in all cash? Skip inspections and appraisalsHomes nearby the scorched house go for anywhere from $1.2 million to $2.1 million, Byrne said. The average home value for houses in Walnut Creek is over $1.
Why is this news? It's not. It's clickbait. In expensive, inflating markets, many properties with functionally or physically obsolete improvements are sold for land value every day. Teardowns are a regular feature of hot markets. The lot has a value of $1 million. So what?
Many house lots are worth more than $1 million depending on the location
So, someone is paying $1mm for land? Not really a big deal after living in SF.