Charity raffles sketchy home as worth $3 million

[Liberal_in_LA]

Noe Valley "Dreamhouse": One raffle you might not want to win?

On the Block writer Tracey Taylor has already shown you the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' "Noe Valley Dream House," being raffled now for $150 a ticket-- and since the house is worth a purported $3 million, if you're feeling lucky, the raffle could appear pretty exciting.

Or not.

Several real estate blogs (such as Socket Site) have been debating the house's design merits as well as its actual value. One issue that keeps coming up: given that tax records show the home is less than 700 square feet, how can it possibly be worth 3 million? Plus, the home itself is a bit of a mystery: it sold for $335K in 1997, when it looked like this:



But now, it looks like this, and is valued at $3 million.



The mystery is in the permits to complete the obviously heavy remodel. Anyone can look up any property to see a record of permits applied for and awarded here, at SFgov.org. And for 815 Alvarado, the permits are sketchy:

For electrical: Sorry, no existing electrical permits were found for this address.
For building, the list shows several expired or unspecified permits.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=59653#ixzz0j2w641kR

[Mz Pip]

1. I've seen the ads for

this raffle. $150 per ticket. I'm a big fan of the yerba Buena Center for the Arts but I think that I would take the optional prize in this one.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I know that house. It's a great looking beast on an otherwise ordinary block.

Without proper permits having been filed, it's a pig in a poke.

But all the work was done well, that 3 million is not too surprising for S.F.

What's surprising is the sales price for it in it's earlier condition.