MLS-2.com: Property Details
112 MONTEREY ST, Brisbane,CA,94005 – $508,000

1 Beds 610 Sq.Ft. Aprx. 1 Car Garage MLS#: 762626
1.0 Baths 2,500 Lot Size 72 Yrs Old Aprx. List Date: 2007-11-12
A condo alternative w/ a new roof! A great place to start in a lovely town only minutes from SF and Peninsula. Sunny location away from the stress of the city. Small town of less than 4000 people. Free Shuttle to Bart/Caltrain. Close to schools, restaurants, coffee house, library, parks, and public pool.

Thanks to Burbed reader Jeff for this find. Now this is what I like! $832 per square feet!

Jeff thinks the ceilings are moldy – but I’m not so sure. It might just be decorational. What do you think?

Personally I find the exterior pics more interesting. I really like the symmetry of the house vs the shed in the back:

Actually, on second thought, are those two pictures of the same house – front and back? I’m pretty confused at this point.

Nonetheless, I think the person who took the primary photo (at the top of this post) deserves an award for Best Angle and Creative Composition. I bet the photog also worked on Godzilla and other similar projects. Great work!

This kind of stuff just adds value and makes the price worthwhile!

It really shocks me. The Main Street Media (MSM) like the Chronicle published yet another bubble head doomsday article. But they made a critical mistake:

Investors own about one-fifth of Bay Area homes in foreclosure
Israel Medina admits he got too gung ho about the idea of getting rich by flipping Bay Area real estate.

Medina, a Concord resident who ran a limousine company before wading neck-deep into the housing market, has seen not one, but 11, of his Northern California properties move into foreclosure in the past year, he said.

“I was a real estate tycoon; I had everything,” said Medina. “Now I have nothing.”

A Chronicle analysis of public records shows that speculators like Medina played a significant role in the region’s subprime loan meltdown.

These real estate gamblers are hardly the struggling home buyers often portrayed as victims of the Bay Area’s and nation’s foreclosure crisis. Some bought houses as often as other people buy shoes, rarely putting down any money. The speculators were betting that home prices would continue to shoot up. Instead, when the market started softening and prices sagged, many of their properties ended up as foreclosures.

More than one-fifth of 6,557 Bay Area properties that fell into foreclosure from January through September this year were owned by investors, according to a Chronicle analysis of public records compiled by DataQuick Information Systems. Of properties repossessed by lenders, 1 in 6 had been owned by people who had two or more foreclosures in their names. Eighteen Bay Area investors had five or more foreclosures.

You see, the problem is that they don’t really know where The Real Bay Area is. They published a graphic that goes with this article, and I’ve taken the liberty of fixing it for them:

Chronicle guys – you owe me for this one. Read up – learn where the Real Bay Area is. Stop talking about all those fake Bay Area places where property prices don’t always rise.

Sheesh.

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Thanks readers!

California Real Estate Prices – SVDaily.com
Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median home price increases in October 2007 compared with the same period a year ago were: Santa Barbara, 24.4 percent; Arcadia, 21.3 percent; Redwood City, 20.6 percent; Newport Beach, 18.4 percent; San Ramon, 14.4 percent; Cupertino, 11.7 percent; San Carlos, 9.5 percent; Redlands, 8.8 percent; Redondo Beach, 8.7 percent; and Sunnyvale, 7.6 percent.

Congrats Cupertino! Congrats San Carlos! Congrats Sunnyvale! Congrats Redwood City! You folks are doing a great job of representing The Real Bay Area.

Thanks!

And guess what, there’s more good news!

“We expect further weakness in sales over the next few months as the liquidity crisis plays out,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Both the state and national economies remain fundamentally sound at this time, despite recent developments in the housing market. While there have been mixed signals in recent months, economic growth is expected to continue into 2008.”

The economy is doing great. I’m telling you, SuperBowl 2008? Spring bounce is going to bounce you to “Priced Out Foreverland”.

(Thanks to Burbed reader Greg for posting this link.)

I saw this the other day:

Linda Bibbler & Sandra Pugh – Menlo Park Real Estate.

Wow! I can own my home in a few years? Tell me more!

You can buy with ZERO Down

How wise is your investment!

Renting – Zero investment
Owning – Good Investment and Proud Owner

Smart financing begins with investing in your future. Stop the money from flowing into the drain by owning your home instead of paying rent each month. When you rent, you are not an owner. To top that you cannot claim a deduction on the interest you pay on your mortgage. In essence you are building equity in the property for someone else.

Whatever your job, credit, income and asset situation, there are creative financing programs available for buying real estate with zero payment down. Did you know that there are invariably five to eight types of home loans with low down payment, low interest and monthly payments that you can qualify for?

Well I’ll be! All this time I thought renting was the same as owning – guess I was wrong! Luckily this Realtor was able to straighten that out.

Quick! Where can I send my interest-only payments so that I’m not flushing money down the drain?

Quick! Where I can spend three times as much money on housing so I can get a tax deduction?

Help me Realtors! Help me! Help me be proud! I’m begging you!

Home Detail – ZipRealty Real Estate
42763 JEFFERSON ST, Fremont, CA 94538**

List Price: $459,900
Bedrooms: 3
Full Baths: 2
Partial Baths: 0
Square Feet: 1,151
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Year Built: 1958
Listing Date: 10/29/07
On Market: 38 days
Type: SFR
Status: ACTIVE
MLS #: 40306737

So far that’s not so bad – I mean come on, if this were in The Real Bay Area, it would easily be $700k or $800k!

Here’s what Burbed reader Balachander had to say:

My wife and I are regular readers at your website and enjoy every post! Here is an interesting home that might perk your interest:

If the awesome fence doesn’t interest you then maybe the two gar garage will. What not even that pleases you? How about 4th bedroom/bonus room? ……if that still doesn’t please you, then look at the last photo. I read an article that Zip lining is becoming a fashion in the Lake Tahoe area (Heavenly Ski Resort)……with this home you can have hours and hours of fun zip lining right outside your home! Sweet!!

Hm, we must look at that last picture:

Nice! I think I saw this piece at the SF MOMA once!

But hey, it’s got a view of the mountains! That’s priceless – because nothing says “awesome” like seeing a giant natural barrier!

Welcome to Silicon Valley.

The other day Burbed reader remodelnerd took these photos…

This is what he had to say:

 I don’t know if you remember this gem- but it was featured on Burbed some time ago-

Somebody bought this property on Hubbard in Santa Clara, and they’ve started on some serious remodel- which is something we can really get behind here at remodelnerd- but I notice they’re keeping the cinderblock wall out front- I guess because there is no better way to say Goofy 50’s drek!  They should put metal awnings on the two front windows for that final Betty Crocker mid-century suburban finishing touch.

Why yes, I remember that indeed! It was from August!

Cupertino Schools – Instant equity wth this Fixer – Great Opportunity [Burbed.com]

And it later sold that month for $735,000.

Now this, my friends, is The Real Bay Area. Don’t you wish you had bought this when you had the chance? Now it’s going to be a $2 million house in 2009, and you’ll be left homeless.

Wow… some of the older threads are still getting a high number of comments. Here’s a recent comment you may have missed:

Why can’t you afford a house in the Bay Area? [Burbed.com]
In other words, $1M is the bench mark, but some people can do better.

How do you afford a $1M house? Not very hard. With 2 income earners each making $100K, you can easily qualify for a $800K loan. You put down 20%. Mortage at 6.3% is just under $5000 a month. One person’s salary will cover it. The other person’s salary can be used for living expenses.

If both persons make a bit more than $100K, then you can move into the $1M – $1.3M range. It’s very doable, and if you’re in that market, you’ll find plenty of company. How do I know? Been there, done that, and I’m just your typical Silicon Valley tech guy.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Now, as we all know, Solano isn’t part of The Real Bay Area(TM), but I thought this was an interesting story:

cbs5.com – Property Tax Deadline Puts A Pinch On Homeowners
Solano County has one of the highest foreclosure rates in California. Home values are on the decline. The troubles in the real estate market have a ripple effect on consumers and the pain can really be felt at the Solano County tax collector’s office.

That’s where Rosie Santos lined up to fork over $4,000 in property taxes.

“We had to cut back on everything. We can’t take second jobs because of our son,” said Santos. “We just cut back on stuff . This Christmas we are picking names and giving adults only one gift. Of course, the kids won’t have limits, but it saves.”

What makes things worse for Santos and hundreds of other homeowners is her new home has declined in value because homes around her are selling for less.

This is a great example of why falling home prices are bad for everyone. You see, when home prices fall, people can’t pay their property tax – because home prices are what enable people to pay property taxes.

Perhaps the solution is to spend tax money to do something – anything – to help shore up home prices.

Makes sense to me. Doesn’t it to you?

Reports
MLS: 759027 

Property Overview
7526 RAINBOW DR
Cupertino (Cupertino) 95014
Detached Single Family (Class 1)
Bed/Bath: 3 / 2
SqFt: 1,410
Lot: 5,662 sq ft
Age: 49 years
List Price: $910,000
Assoc Fee:

Burbed reader Jennifer sent this winner in. Let’s see what she had to say:

I drive by this eyesore almost everyday, it is in the “highly
sought after” Monta Vista neighborhood of Cupertino.
I thought for sure no one would buy it… WRONG!
It is sale pending already…  The interior must be so terrible
that the listing said “no open house available”!  Maybe
the listing agent didn’t want to be stuck in this rat-infested
house for 4 hours?

Well, I hate to break this to you Jennifer, but it won’t be an eyesore for much longer. You see, it’s now pending. That means, soon this house will be torn down, and a new 2000 sqft palace (another $500k) will be built in its place.

The reason why this was so expensive was because the rats infesting it went to Monta Vista, so they’re really darn smart rats. They’re also in all the right clubs like the RFBLA (Rodent Future Business Leader Association). I hear most of them are going to get into the top school of their choice.

Actually, maybe this house won’t be torn down. Frankly, it’s no worse than many other houses in similar price ranges in the Bay Area. It’s classic evidence that Bay Area homes don’t need any maintenance. I bet the next owners will simply move in.

What do you think?