Red-Tagged, Uninhabitable Home in San Diego's Bay Park Neighborhood Selling for $550K

A two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in San Diego's Bay Park is selling for half a million dollars. The only problem is, no one is allowed to go inside.

The home has been red-tagged by the county Code Compliance Division after sustaining fire damage. That means anyone who buys the property would have to knock down the home and fork up some extra cash to build something new.

That, and the fact that the seller is only accepting cash offers, prices a lot of people out.

“This takes out the first-time buyer, this takes out the normal buyer that’s looking in the market, considering the price,” Castillo said.

It's usually investors who have the kind of capital it takes to put up that much cash up front, according to Castillo.

The median home price in San Diego County in April was upwards of $900,000 according to a report from the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors (GSDAR). Within the four days on the market, more than 20 bids have been submitted on the charred home, all of them over the asking price, Castillo said.

Neighbor Quan Huinh has been renting in the Bay Park neighborhood for two years, but said he’s considering becoming a homeowner someday.

“No, I wouldn’t consider buying this home," Huinh said. "If I’m going to pay something $1 million, I want at least a view."

Huinh said investors don’t look at a home’s past, but its potential.

April's median home price of $952,600 was down 5% compared to April 2022. Despite that, home sales compared to the same time last year are down 40%, according to the GSDAR.