Want This Charred Shell of a Home? Get in Line

And have at least $850K in hand to compete in 'crazy' Bay Area buyer's market
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2021 8:36 AM CDT
Torched Home in 'Crazy' Bay Area Market Is Going for $850K
It's going to need some TLC.   (Key Realty, via San Francisco Chronicle)

Nightmare homes for sale are apparently now a thing, and people are willing to pay big bucks for them if the location is right. Earlier this year, a "slice of hell" was offered for $590,000 in Colorado. Now, an incinerated abode in Walnut Creek, Calif., is up for grabs, nearly a year after the home was torched, and the offers are pouring in. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the four-bedroom, two-bath house was destroyed in a two-alarm fire in September, giving potential buyers a "bare bones opportunity to renovate/rebuild/restore," per the home's Zillow listing, which notes "extensive damage." Still, the ad cajoles, "opportunities like this are rare to make dramatic changes to a home and floor plan. ... Potential is limited only by imagination."

The home's sale price: $850,000, which seems jaw-dropping considering the condition of the property, but Key Realty's Melinda Byrne, who listed the home a week ago, tells the Chronicle that eight offers have come in so far, with more expected, and that a sale is "pending." Both Redfin and Zillow list its status as such, per KGO. Byrne tells NBC Bay Area that the accepted offer was for much more than the asking price, and the outlet notes the price tag and the interested parties who were all willing to pay it are indicative of "how crazy the Bay Area real estate market has become." All those offers came in despite a requirement that the buyer pay cash. Byrne isn't surprised by any of it. "I've been in business a long time and sold a lot of fixers," she tells the Chronicle. "The location is great." (More real estate stories.)

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