32 N Kingston St, San Mateo 94401 (Blossom Valley)
$500,000

* Status: Active
* Bedroom: 3
* Bathroom: 1
* Year Built: 1947
* Lot Size: 4480
* Square Footage: 920
* List Date: 5/4/2008
* Garage Spaces: 2
* MLS#: 807005
2 Bedrooms 1 bath plus a loft (3rd Bedroom) with spacious kitchen, larger living room with fireplace, separate dining area with sliding glass door to large backyard with fruit trees. Extra room next to the kitchen could be improve to a family room or office

Last sold for $609,052 in 2007, is it just me or does it look like the power lines are falling into this house?

Doesn’t it also look like this house backs up against 101?

Fret not, neither is the case! This house is one street over from 101, buffered by some ugly looking rental(?) complexes, and instead backups against what appears to be a school.

But does any of that really matter? Just think about the instant $109k in equity you will earn by buying this house. I know that’s what I would be thinking of when I go to bed at night, looking out at this wall and window:

I’d scoop this up while you still can!

Best City for Tech Jobs
#1: San Jose/Silicon Valley

Jobs per 1,000: 285.92
Total: 225,343
Rank: 3
Growth: 3%
Average wage: $144,828
Salary Rank: 1
Biggest sector: computer systems design
Area employers: Google (GOOG), Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Apple (AAPL)

#13: San Francisco
Jobs per 1,000: 93.84
Total: 79,442
Rank: 19
Growth: 3%
Average wage: $118,518
Salary Rank: 2
Biggest sector: computer systems design
Area employers: Salesforce.com (CRM), Genentech (DNA)

Burbed reader DreamT suggested this topic: Jobs!

No, not Steve Jobs, who, incidentally, deserves a Burbed Award for keeping house prices in the Real Bay Area nice and comfortably high. But jobs. You know, the thing you do during the day to make money, while your house appreciates at night and makes money for you.

So… what do you do? Is your company hiring? What are the prospects? Will college hires make $90k working there? Will it be generating the next round of millionaires to boost Palo Alto?

http://agentgenius.com/

It’s a site for Real Estate Agents, by Real Estate Agents.

I love this sarcastic snippet:

Are most major universities moronic because they offer graduate degrees in real estate (which do not focus strictly on rental markets)?

Do most major universities really offer graduate degrees in real estate?

Be sure to read the other fascinating entries, and the fascinating comments that go with them.

(Thanks to anonymous Burbed reader for this find.)

http://www.freddiemac.com/finance/cmhpi/#new

Thanks to Madhaus for this chart, I guess. Frankly I’m not sure what the obsession with data is around here. After all, isn’t what your gut tells you more important than what your brain? Sheesh.

Here’s what Madhaus had to say:

I made this graph of just SF & SJ metro regions.
I added NYC for comparison (NYC metro, the yellow line)

Since they all cross 100 in 1987, that looks like the reference point for the index.

I guess this is supposed to make me feel good since we finally beat our dreaded enemy: New York.

Woot for us!

253 Michigan Rd, Milpitas 95035
$519,000

* Status: Active
* Bedroom: 2
* Bathroom: 2&1/2
* Year Built: 1984
* Lot Size: 2730
* Square Footage: 1350
* List Date: 3/7/2008
* Garage Spaces: 2
* MLS#: 40328737

This warm and elegant home is a rare find. Nestled in the heart of the Hidden Lake Villages in Milpitas, this remarkable home features include: newly painted interior, ceiling fans, 2-car garage w/add’l storage units, Air Conditioning, Upgraded tile floors, bay windows, and MUCH MORE!

These days you really don’t know when or where the terrorists will strike. Now, granted this is already in Hidden Lake Villages, which makes it harder to find, sometimes you need to do more. And that’s why this house comes with camouflage! Hah!

Try finding the kitchen to blow up now, you dastardly terrorists!

Try finding the bedroom where the innocent daughter sleeps - foiled again terrorists!

Note that this listing slyly hints that there is much more, but it never actually says what that is. There’s also the fact that there are no interior photos. I’m sure you can appreciate the sensitive nature of this listing.

Good luck dropping by to see this house - you might never actually find it!

207 N Central Ave, Campbell 95008
$899,888

* Status: Active
* Bedroom: 3
* Bathroom: 2
* Year Built: 1900
* Lot Size: 7880
* Square Footage: 1185
* List Date: 3/26/2008
* Garage Spaces: 2
* MLS#: 786918

Unique! Majestic Beauty! Only one of its kind! Restored & upgraded charm historic Greek Revival home w/huge lot in downtown historic social circle walking distances 2 farmer’s market. REAR UNIT NOT INCLUDED in sqft, NEW cement foundation w/6?H basement/electrical/plumbing/gas line/heating/interior/granite counter/tankless waterheater.All New construction permits w/current building code, MUST SEE!!

This caught my attention in a few ways:

1) It has the lucky price. This means that the house is lucky, and when you buy it, you will be lucky too.

2) It has a basement. That’s pretty unusual, and actually kind of cool IMHO.

3) Something about a rear unit. Let’s take a look at some more photos:

Hm. No. I think that’s the back of the house. (Nice entrance to the basement though!)

Let’s look at another photo:

Wow… really that’s not what I expected. For some reason, I have this urge to say “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Perhaps why this house is majestic - it’s like a fairy tale. Wouldn’t you tell your kids about this?

I can see the Craigslist ad already: “Room for rent in Campbell above garage. Very safe - you can be sure you won’t be burglarized. BYOCMD (Bring your own carbon monoxide detector).”

Burbed reader Renter tersely said:

It is back to the level of 04/2004.  Please post it.

What’s he referring to?

To that, I say bah. Does it really feel like prices have dropped back to their 2004 levels to any of you?

It certainly doesn’t for me!

616 Cypress Ave, Sunnyvale 94085
$450,000

* Status: Active
* Bedroom: 3
* Bathroom: 1
* Year Built: 1955
* Lot Size: 5000
* Square Footage: 1008
* List Date: 2/24/2008
* Garage Spaces: 2
* MLS#: 780135

Nice home in a great location, hardwood floors throughout. Great for first time buyer, home needs a little love, easy access to 101. WASHING MACHINE, DRYER,REFRIGERATOR, AND KITCHEN CABINETS INCLUDED IN LISTING PRICE.

Does this house look familiar? It should! It was just featured here on Burbed not too long ago!

Last sold on 02/22/2006 for $620,000, this owner has an amazing value proposition for you: not only will you get $170,000 in instant equity, but you will also get the washer, the dryer, the refrigerator, and the kitchen cabinets.

Most first time buyers don’t know this, but often times, the kitchen cabinets aren’t included. You get the keys, you move in, and you’re like “Oh shit! Where do I put the dishes? The kitchen cabinets are gone!”

This seller is bending over backwards my friends. Squeezing blood from a turnip. Doing what it takes to make you the buyer happy. He’s even throwing in the kitchen cabinets along with the $170k in instant equity. What more do you want?

And, it still has lots of room for your fleet of cars!