Open House Report: A Crooked Street and a Library Make Me Swoon

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. As I mentioned on Friday, I decided to spend my sunny Sunday afternoon touring open homes in my San Francisco neighborhood. Turns out it’s way more fun to look at the big, pretty homes, rather than just the ones in my price range.

And, what do you know, I found my dream house. It’s true that I have a lot of dream houses (if it’s a dream, why can’t I have more than one?), but this one soared to the top of my list. The location is killer–it’s on possibly my favorite block in San Francisco’s Mission District. A quiet side street with a European-style curve to it, this street is lined with stunning homes and apartments of all sizes and prices. Not to mention its proximity to parks, restaurants, shops, and cafes.

I’ll cut to the chase. Here’s what I’m doing with my first $2.2 million:

Nice house with a seemingly pedestrian exterior...but just wait till you step inside.

This is what makes me swoon most of all. A cozy library built right into the center of the home:

This is what I like to call the Money Shot

This 3-level home has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3,000 sq ft, parking, a finished basement, 2 sinks in the kitchen, and every amenity you can imagine. Asking price is $2,249,000. You can click through the photo gallery at the end of the post to see the full house tour, though I can tell you the photos truly don’t do this home justice. Every little corner of the place has been thoughtfully renovated–there are built-in window seats, hidden cabinets, and great interaction with the outdoor space. The master bedroom has a stunning bathroom and a huge, private-feeling deck. Oh! And I almost forgot. There are not one but TWO offices in the basement, along with a playroom and a full laundry room.

The realtor said the sellers are moving to be closer to work. Apparently they both have incredibly long commutes, and they want to cut their commute time. This made me sad. I checked the sales record, and it looks like they purchased the house fully renovated only 2 years ago for $2,205,000. I can only imagine how hard the owners must’ve worked (and must keep working) to pay for the house, and it’s a shame that work is what’s taking them away from this stunning home. (Disclaimer: I know nothing about the owners’ personal lives and my reaction, as is my wont, is pure conjecture.)

To put things in perspective, here’s what a $2.2 million home costs on a cash flow basis:

• Assume 20% down, so we can avoid PMI. This means you need to cough up $440,000 up front.
• Since you’d need a Jumbo loan, which carries a higher interest rate, I bet you’d end up with a rate of around 6.5% on a 30 year fixed mortgage
• We’ll assume taxes of 1.5% ($33,000/year) and property insurance of $2,500/year
• Using our handy mortgage calculator, this equals a monthly payment of $14,000
• This house costs $168,000/year just to live in it, not counting repairs, maintenance, and utilities

I know that some people are wealthy and this is not a lot of money to them. But if you’re working and hustling to pay for a house like this, that’s quite an obligation.

Sorry to rain on the real estate porn parade by talking about finances. It’s like talking about birth control while watching porn. But sometimes I can’t help myself–I am a ruiner of fantasy.

[View on Redfin or 48Linda.com]

More images to put you back in the mood:

[Show as slideshow]