Happy July 4th everyone!

I’m posting this one day in advance because I’m taking tomorrow off.

As is tradition on Burbed, here is the latest installment of “Groceries cost more in the Bay Area.” As usual, I have compared 3 cities where Safeway is available: Cupertino, Seattle (possibly our new enemy), and Washington D.C.

As we all know, it is our explicit goal to have the highest cost of living here. It helps keep the riff raff out, and promotes innovation by encouraging people to constantly work.

So… for those of you who are slacking off, not adding value by taking the day off to have a BBQ, here’s a sample grocery list and how much more it costs to have it in the Bay Area. I compared the exact same items on Safeway.com for these three cities, choosing only products that were not on sale. That explains there are no hot dog buns on this list – they were all on sale!

The Bay Area wins again!

So congrats to the Bay Area for once again being more expensive in groceries than Seattle and Washington DC.

Now if only Safeway.com would open in NY so that I could do a comparison there. That would be the ultimate match up!

Have a good BBQ tomorrow!

225 PACIFIC Ave, Redwood City, CA 94063 | MLS# 80924666
225 PACIFIC Ave Redwood City, CA 94063
Price: $219,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 880
$/Sq. Ft.: $249
Lot Size: 2,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1963
Community: Dumbarton
County: San Mateo
MLS#: 80924666
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 25 days
* * Priced to Sell * * Bank Owned Property. Sold AS IS Bank makes no represntations or warranties Current configuration is 3 Bedroom 1 bath no garage plus a studio that enters from the rear of the building.

I don’t understand how people can continue to claim that the Bay Area is unaffordable. Just look at this house.

Look! It’s even got 2 kitchens! All for just $219,000 per year! That’s just 2x the salary of a firefighter. Now… granted there may be some drawbacks…

But I assure you, you won’t have any problems at all sleeping in this house. Why? Because the only sound you’ll hear is the sound of equity building, and the pride of ownership blasting.

So to all you whiners who complained you can’t afford anything in the Bay Area that’s close to work – shut up and buy this house.

Your bluff has just been called.

1308 ISABELLE Ave, Mountain View, CA 94040 | MLS# 80926709
1308 ISABELLE Ave Mountain View, CA 94040
Price: $998,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Sq. Ft.: 2,066
$/Sq. Ft.: $483
Lot Size: 0.35 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Ranch
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1953
Community: Miramonte
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80926709
Source: MLSListings
Status: Pending Without Release
On Redfin: 12 days
Walk lot directly; appointment only for seeing inside of house. Huge 15,000 square foot lot in great neighborhood with a house that needs some TLC, but has hardwood floors, real plaster walls, good space. A rare sized deep lot for this area of Mt. View, close to the Los Altos border. Los Altos/Mt. View schools. Make sure to see behind the house – lot goes way back!

Do you need any further proof that the real estate market is booming, on fire, hot hot hot in the Real Bay Area after seeing this?

$998,000 for a tear down… on the market for 12 days and then pending without release.

Now, granted this is .35 acres, which is definitely a selling point – but it’s astounding isn’t it.

Liquidity is definitely flowing, people are definitely buying.

If we all cross our fingers, 2009 might just turn out to be a normal year of 9% year over year growth. Let’s hope!

278 N RENGSTORFF Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043 | MLS# 80926202
278 N RENGSTORFF Ave Mountain View, CA 94043
Price: $745,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Sq. Ft.: 1,344
$/Sq. Ft.: $554
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1955
Community: Thompson
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80926202
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 16 days
Complete interior remodel in the Monta Loma community, light & bright-this home features a new kitchen with stainless steel appls, granite counters & recessed lighting. Both baths tiled in stone, gorgeous new flooring. New furnace, water heater, insul, 2-pane windows, electric & wiring. Large by-landscaped. Close by shopping, amenities, commutes, Los Altos High. SELLER FINANCING AVAILABLE AT GOOD RATES

Let’s face it, with the economy not so well in other states, invaders might be tempted to come to the Bay Area to steal our treasure and bring it back to their savage states.

With that mind, it is obvious why the owners of this house built this guard tower. You and your family can take turns at night, peering out the windows, ensuring that any trespassers onto your property will be detected.

Or you can do this in reverse and make sure no one sneaks out of the house. Perhaps you’re a parent whose kids might not be on track to getting into Stanford – now you can be sure they’re not leaving until they’ve done their homework.

Either way, this is great for those who want to be aware of the surroundings. Spotlights not included.

240 JUNIPER Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080 | MLS# 80834807
240 JUNIPER Ave South San Francisco, CA 94080
Price: $350,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 740
$/Sq. Ft.: $473
Lot Size: 3,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Contemporary
Stories: 1
Year Built: 1906
Community: Old South SF/Rocca
County: San Mateo
MLS#: 80834807
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 269 days
LOOKING FOR A BARGAING? Fantastic Opportunity For anyone including contractors. Lots of Potential in this 2Bed/1Bath and 1detach car garage Home, plus 2Bed/1Bath in-law in basement with separate entrance(not warranted). New pluming and electricity. Good commuter location. Needs some work. Don’t Miss This One. Here’s Your Chance!

This house may need some work. Like making it visible! Actually this house was built originally as part of the government’s continuity plan. You see, by making it hard to find, terrorists can’t get to it. They just never got around to adding concertina wire to the fences on either side – but you can do that. Cool huh? If you like privacy, this house is for you!

And now it can be yours. It’s a BARGAING! And at $473 per square foot, definitely super affordable.

There. Now the Bay Area (unreal) is affordable. Problem solved.

Best Places to Live 2009 – Yahoo! Finance
Here’s our list of the 10 best places to live:

1. Albuquerque, N.M.

2. Auburn, Ala.

3. Austin, Texas

4. Boise, Idaho

5. Durham, N.C.

6. La Crosse, Wis.

7. Loveland, Colo.

8. San Luis Obispo, Calif.

9. St. Augustine, Fla.

10. Upper St. Clair, Pa.

Thanks to Burbed reader E.S. for sending this to me. Here’s what E had to say:

They have forgotten the RBA!  Where’s the culture, the access to VCs, and all the other… uhh.. benefits to living here… like how your school might shut down because a right wing state assemblyman from Fresno thinks life should be tax free…

hmm…

moving to Portland soon.

Ouch. Well have fun in Portland. Do they have Fry’s there? Do they have good schools like Monta Vista, Gunn, Sequoia, or Fremont there? Do they have VC’s up the wazoo? Can their light rail system compare with ours?

But back to the original topic, it’s a shame that this happens. We need to get our message to the MSM (Main Street Media) that they’re completely wrong if they should ever forget to include Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, etc in the list of best places to live.

Any one up for a letter writing campaign?

The Housing Boom and Bust

This is a plain-English explanation of how we got into the current economic disaster that developed out of the economics and politics of the housing boom and bust. The “creative” financing of home mortgages and the even more “creative” marketing of financial securities based on American mortgages to countries around the world, are part of the story of how a financial house of cards was built up—and then suddenly collapsed.

The politics behind all this is another story full of strange twists. No punches are pulled when discussing politicians of either party, the financial dangers they created, or the distractions they created later to escape their own responsibility for what happened when the financial house of cards in the financial markets collapsed.

What to do, now that we are in the midst of an economic disaster, is yet another story—one whose ending we do not yet know, but one whose outlines and implications are explored to reveal some surprising and sobering lessons.

It’s Saturday and that means it is time for Burbed’s book of the week.

Thanks to Burbed reader Butzi’s for this recommendation. It’s clear why this book was suggested – we in the Real Bay Area really need to do more to learn about the areas in the rest of America. The less fortunate areas, full of blissfully ignorant people, who don’t know what sushi is, or have never been able to experience the majesty of Fry’s.

Ideally we could invite Thomas Sowell over to the Bay Area so he could write about this amazing phenomenon. Perhaps it could be a sequel to his first book (”Basic Economics”) – he could call it “Paradign shifted economics.” Let’s face it, we have an economy here that defies all expectations. Whether it be $3 cupcakes, $500k condos in Mountain View, or Teslas, the economy here is rocketing forwards. It is the classic example of a perpetually New model of economics.

Finally, speaking of economics, if you’re looking to help this site out, click this link to learn more!

2050 WAVERLEY St, Palo Alto, CA 94301 | MLS# 80925636
2050 WAVERLEY St Palo Alto, CA 94301
Price: $4,995,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 4
Sq. Ft.: 4,157
$/Sq. Ft.: $1,202
Lot Size: 8,322 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Colonial
Stories: Tri-Level
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 2009
Community: Old Palo Alto
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80925636
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 26 days
Fabulous Dutch Colonial in the heart of Old Palo Alto. Now complete, beautifully appointed and fully staged. Four bedrooms, four and 1/2 baths on three levels, wine room, outdoor fireplace and barbeque. The gourmet kitchen is exquisitely designed and has a fabulous Aga range, granite countertops and beautifully crafted cabinetry. Seller will consider offers between $4,995,000-$5,300,000

I know this was recently discussed in the comments, but frankly, the fact the range of offers expected is pretty stunning to me.

Here’s what the Burbed reader who shared this with me had to say:

Hello! I am a new reader to your site and love it. I thought this  Palo Alto home in the “old palo alto” neighborhood might provide a fun post for the site. They just reduced the price of the house from 5.495million to 4.995million, and now the mls listing reads “Seller will consider offers between $4,995,000-$5,300,000 – this does not mean seller will accept any offer but will consider all offers in this range”

How arrogant, especially in this market? Did this developer/flipper not get the memo that the sellers market is over?

–Palo Alto Resident

So what happens if you submit an offer that’s $5,300,001?

How peculiar!

What are you planning to offer?