patrick.net

Katy Perry says

give everyone in America 100k cash that would raise housing prices.

It would also raise the price of milk, gas, orange juice, automobiles, plane tickets, electronics, amusement parks, movies, etc.

To the point, why would a prospective buyer want to pay a flipper $30,000 to hire workers to make $15,000 worth of improvements? The prospective buyer would be better off with a $30k lower price (and lower taxes) and hiring the workers himself.

First, he would save $15k. Second, he would be able to choose the improvements that suite his particular tastes. The buy-improve-flip model is actually economically inefficient.

corntrollio says

If you did, you would know that SF ace's statements are fabricated.

People in SF live in a different world.

Since the question is "housing prices", which means non-specific, there are none. The reason is that in the aggretate, average "housing prices" are going DOWN because of forces beyond your control.
Specific addresses are of course another matter.
Location, location, location.
Others have said it, you have a slightly run down place in an awesome neighborhood, fixing it up makes sense and will perhaps be worthwhile.
Across the street from my friend's place there are condos for sale, they have been totally tricked out. Granite counters, tile floors, stainless equipment in the kitchen. Oh, but wait! The house across the street is owned by Mexicans and there are about 20 people living in it. Dead car in driveway, grass trampled to dirt, beer cans and trash, parties with grills and loud music in the front yard (weather permitting).
Across the street and up 200 feet is an aparment complex inhabited by illegal aliens, and TWO guys were shot over there last year. Dead.
The condo is only $350K plus who knows what the HOA fees are.
Someone has sunk a fortune into that condo. He's not gonna get it back.
Location, location, location.

SF ace says

Marina turns over about 2 homes a month so you'll never find a true comparision.

Not true. The data I have easily available combines Marina + Cow Hollow. The total is 124 sales in 2010, 104 sales in 2009, 191 homes in 2008, 194 sales in 2007, 246 sales in 2006, 302 sales in 2005, and 302 sales in 2004. Furthermore, I couldn't find your fabricated Marina 2/1 SFR for $1.1M.

SF ace says

2475 15th Ave 1.1M 1540 Sq ft
2578 15th Ave 800K 1714 sq ft.

Please. The former is a 4/2 with a 3 car garage and ocean views and a 10% bigger lot, and the latter is a 3/1 with a 1 car garage. If you think spending $100K on 2578 15th will get you a $1.1M sale, good luck. The former's permitted costs were $12K for the kitchen remodel, $14K for the deck, and $10K for the roof, not to mention the extra space that surely makes it much bigger than the 1540 sqft tax record and the unaccounted for costs of the extra square footage, the extra bedroom, and the extra bathroom. As everyone who has pulled a permit in SF knows, the permitted costs do not reflect the actual cost because it's simply a rote calculation made by the department. It grossly underestimates any real cost, especially if you use premium materials as these guys did. If you actually saw 2578 15th, as you claim, you'd know the difference.

SF ace says

2674 16th Ave. 1.1M 1760 sq ft.
2459 17th Ave. 730K 1750 sq ft.

I can't speak to the other pair. I will note that the expensive property is much closer to West Portal than the other (those extra blocks matter in SF), and that better location would increase the property value. In addition, the lesser priced property is not very renovated, and they probably cheaped out on the addition even though it was permitted, based on the pictures. In addition, for the $1.1M property, it's not clear that this house was ever on the market or that there was an actual sale that occurred. In fact, it last changed hands in 2006 to an LLC from the prior owners who bought it in 2000 for $385K. I'm guessing to get to $1.1M, if it's a true sale (as opposed to a family transfer or other non-market sale), it must have been a lot more work than was done on the cheaper property (bought for $299K in 1996). I seriously doubt you were ever in 2674 16th to check it out, as there's no evidence it was ever on the market.

If this was a sure thing, developers would be stepping over each other to buy the cheaper of the two pairs you gave us, which would eliminate a lot of the profit.

You certainly haven't proven your original claim at all, and instead for the one example that can be examined, you've provided a non-pertinent comparison where the difference is more than a single bathroom + remodeling the kitchen:

For example, a 2/1 SFH with original kitchen in Marina is about 1.1M, add a second bathroom and remodel the kitchen, and the house sells for about 1.5M, a 100K investment returns 400K.

owned. lol.

Only in SF does shit fly vertically... what else is new...

1880 Jackson St #603
San Francisco, CA 94109
Beds: 3
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 1,948
$/Sq. Ft.: $1,129

Property History for 1880 Jackson St #603
Date Event Price Appreciation Source
Oct 01, 2010 Price Changed $2,200,000 -- San Francisco MLS #369497
Apr 22, 2010 Listed (Active) $2,400,000 -- San Francisco MLS #369497
Jun 17, 1994 Sold (Public Records) $310,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
May 20, 1994 Sold (Public Records) $250,000 -- Public Records