San Francisco's housing market is so competitive that this home, the inside of which was ravaged by a fire, sold for $2 million

San Francisco fire castro home

The inside of a San Francisco home was ravaged by a fire earlier this year.
On June 27, it sold for $2 million, more than double its original asking price.
Originally reported by SF Gate, the home has a rocky history as a "drug den," with the City Attorney filing and winning a lawsuit against the former owner for operating illicit drug activity on the property.
The home will have a fresh start with its new owners, to whom the listing suggested to "bring your contractor and imagination" due to the interior's fire damage.

In February, a fire ravaged a picturesque Victorian home in San Francisco's famous Castro District, leaving the outside unscathed but rendering the inside heavily damaged. On June 27, the house sold for $2 million.

As originally reported by SF Gate, the two-story home at 517-519 Sanchez St and its former owner have a rocky history.

Joel Elliott bought the home in 1995 for $440,000, according to Redfin. Since then, the home has earned the colloquial nickname "drug den" for the illicit drug activity that took place there. In 2015, the San Francisco City Attorney filed a lawsuit against Elliott, dubbing the property a "neighborhood nuisance," and citing Elliott's failure to address code violations. He eventually went bankrupt, according to SF Gate.

Afer the fire, Elliot told SFGate that the house had been vacant when the blaze started and that he did not know how it started.

As of June 27, the home will have a fresh start with its new owners.

The blue Victorian was built in 1905 and spans 2,938 square feet. The main floor includes, or did include prior to the fire, a kitchen, half bath and a sun porch. The property also includes a backyard as well as three bedrooms, a bathroom and a deck on the upper level, which likely affords incredible views of downtown San Francisco.

The house was originally listed on the MLS real estate service for $995,000 on May 12, but on May 31 the asking price was changed to $2.1 million.

The listing invites the new owners to "bring your contractor and your imagination," a suggestion often found in San Francisco real estate listings. The city's housing market is so competitive that it's common for potential homeowners to shell out millions merely for the skeleton of a home or for its prime real estate location.

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