What happens if you search for “$1 MILLION HOUSE” on Google?

$1 MILLION HOUSE – Google Search

Woot!

So recently, all Sunnyvale (and possibly Cupertino) residents got a flyer from the Fremont Union High School District highlighting this:

Ah yes… in most places, you get busted for cutting school. In the Bay Area, you’re supposed to drop a dime on those who are going to the wrong school.

Considering that the median condo in Santa Clara is $500,000, and that the median home is $723,500 these days… isn’t it kind of strange that parents are pulling all sorts of shenanigans to get their kids into a better school?

Sure… maybe you bought a house in a cheaper neighborhood… like… only $600,000. At that price shouldn’t you get a school that you’re proud of? Instead of sneaking your kids somewhere else?

And why the crackdown anyway? The median home price of Sunnyvale-Cupertino ranges from $655,000-$920,000.

This explains it:

Of course! The local community where median home prices ranges from $655,000-$920,000 is having a financial crisis. Better budget an additional $15,000 a year to send your kids to private K-12!

Only in California.

Thank you Proposition 13.

Update 4/18: Some people have linked to this saying that this is due to illegal immigration. My sources say that it is not necessarily the case – that even citizens do it. Let’s say you own a house in East Palo Alto – wouldn’t you rather your child go to… say Gunn instead?

work, run, sleep. repeat.
Sure, I like the idea of owning a house, but take a look at Burbed. Not only is it a good read, but it totally explains why T & I have decided to opt out of the real estate market and will continue to rent.

Thanks for linking to Burbed.com!

Listing Detail – Single-Family Homes
A rare opportunity for an investor / contractor! A Historic Earthquake Cottage with Planning Dept. approval for expansion and remodel. The addition features a great room with cathedral ceilings over an enclosed garage, turning this historic cottage into a 2 bed 2 bath home with views!

Listing Price Address Listing #
$529,000 74 Lobos St, San Francisco 94112 302416

Agent Lily V Remoundos [Send e-mail] Primary:415-905-0255 x165
Office Zephyr Real Estate Phone: 415-905-0250, FAX: 415-905-0140
District 3 – J
County San Francisco
Beds 1 Baths 1
Structure (approx sq ft) 0 Sq Ft Source Not Available Price / SqFt 0.00
Year Built 1906
Map Book SFAR Map Map Coordinates SFAR, CN51
Cross Street Caine
Directions To Property San Jose to Lakeview to Caine to Lobos

Paint it pink, and it’d be great for Barbie!

SocketSite found this goodie recently:

Listing Detail – Single-Family Homes
Listing is for a 1/6 (TIC) ownership interest in this Potrero Hill single-unit home. Other 5/6 ownership positions are held by related family members of seller who are keeping ownership within the family. Occupancy will be by family members. Probate sale subject to court confirmation. Do not disturb occupants.

Listing Price       Address       Listing #
$100,000      249 Texas St, San Francisco 94107-2428*       303073

So let me get this straight… I put in $100,000 for something that is 83% owned by the same family.

After spending that $100,000, I don’t have the right to go there.

WOW WHAT A DEAL!

Maybe that’s for the best. According to one of the anonymous commenters on socket site, there might be a Megan’s Law person there.

A reader sent me an email, linking to this exact same house I posted earlier:

San Francisco — Burbed.com: Your Silicon Valley Home and Mortgage Insanity Blog

This is what the reader (thank D.L.) had to say:

so i just figured i can (finally) afford a $800,000 mortgage and booked a condo in south beach for $880K + costs to move in April.  then, i became insomnic for about a month thinking about paying $1098/sq ft for a place to lay my head in between days of working hard to meet a $7000/mo bill (including $900 HOA) and i pulled out of the condo….so, then i recently started (again) a search for housing in SF….onward to the www.sfarmls.comwebsite and searched for ANY single family house ANYWHERE in SF that was

i’m not certain whether to laugh or cry.  most of me is crying…..this charming little shotgun cottage was either left on the slab of cement by a neglectful owner or stolen from the train set at Macy’s over Christmas….i’ve simply copied this from the MLS and am not making this up.  for a HALF-A-MILLION dollars, you can take prideful ownership of this “well-maintained victorian” (in the only area of SF that you are likely to get shot while driving home) and continue to rent it to SECTION 8 tenants with tenants rights!  gee, what a charmer.  what a “super chance for investment and for first time home buyers”, just like me!

i’ve been in SF 5 years now and i still can’t figure out how to buy a place here on an income that would make me a king anywhere else but manhattan.  like a lot of confused, educated, productive people, i too will be leaving soon.  sanity is nowhere to be found here.  a shame.

[later]

what’s most bothersome about this is that anyone that also found this place is just more competition!  it wasn’t the only house under a million….there are other pieces of junk out there too…and a line of people looking to pay for them.

[snip] and therefore, i’ll be heading somewhere else where my friends make $500K and have homes.  i always wondered why the people i meet here are either starving artists living in the mission or incredibly wealthy people that made it in the 90s or moved here with their parents money.

even NYC seems more real.

i like your site, and will be back.

Thanks for the mail! Keep’em coming!

WSJ.com – Silicon Valley’s Tech Revival Spurs New Fever for Cashing In Options
Economists say people are putting their options profits into such areas as new investments and home improvements. The Construction Industry Research Board, a nonprofit construction-research firm, calculates that residents in Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara County spent $416 million last year on home remodeling, compared with $331 million in 2001.

Catherine Marcus, a real-estate agent in Menlo Park, Calif., says homes priced from $2.5 million to $7 million are selling briskly, partly driven by buyers using stock-option profits. “It’s the stock-option people…that are buying,” Ms. Marcus says.

So that’s the key to buying a house with more than 3 rooms, and fewer than average termites in Silicon Valley – stock options!

Listing Detail – Single-Family Homes
Perfect starter home. Inspector says property is better than it appears. Paint and Polish and make a great home here

$495,000 1064 Innes Ave, San Francisco 94124-2416 301375

Agent Jose Dos Ramos [Send e-mail] Primary:650-342-9252
Office Prudential California Realty Phone: 650-342-9252, FAX: 650-342-2907
District 10 – A
County San Francisco
Beds 2 Baths 1
Structure (approx sq ft) 920* Sq Ft Source Per Tax Records Price / SqFt 538.04
Year Built 1938*

Well, since it is only 920 square feet, you’ll definitely save on paint!

A BULL, A BEAR AND THE BUBBLE / What’s ahead for the real estate market? Two respected analysts — and now authors — hold markedly different views
Talbott regards the latest data on the Bay Area housing market as mounting evidence for his prediction: rising interest rates, decreasing appreciation, 10 straight months of declining sales and, in January, the lowest number of sales in five years.

The problem, he says, is that home prices are way overvalued — just as Internet stocks were during the 1990s before that sky collapsed. As evidence, he points to the growing discrepancy between Bay Area home prices and rents, an indicator commonly used by economists to determine a property’s true value.

Novato’s RealFacts puts the average Bay Area apartment rent in the fourth quarter at $1,324; DataQuick calculates that the typical home buyer in December committed to a $2,867 mortgage payment.

“It paints a very scary picture,” Talbott says. “Something has economic value because it has cash flow. If you discount for general inflation and go back 120 years in history, you’ll discover that, in real terms, housing prices were relatively flat until 1997 — then (they) shot up about 70 percent.”

To buy these overvalued homes, he says, many consumers overextend themselves financially by borrowing more from banks. They end up paying an inordinately high percentage of their monthly income on mortgages. In Los Angeles, he points out, the average new homeowners, usually a young couple, are spending 55 percent of their monthly income on a mortgage payment.

But like everyone says – the Bay Area is the best place in the world to live! Isn’t it worth giving up living to live here?

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 604247
1382 S WOLFE RD
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
$789,999

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 604247 Approx Age: 52 Years Approx Sq Ft: 875
Detached Single Family 1 Story Cottage/Bungalow
2 Bedrooms 1 Bathroom 1 Shower over Tub
1 Tub Separate Family Room Eat in Kitchen

And its not even cupertino!