Feeling trapped by a home? Bella Vista in Los Gatos will set you free!
Thanks to Burbed reader nomadic for this find.
Personally, I’m perplexed why this company would buy ads nationally. I mean, this clearly isn’t meant for the local market since no one would feel trapped in their Real Bay Area home. So, this must be targetted towards people in Los Angeles, Detroit, New York, Miami and other go-no-where cities.
But, let’s say that this was meant for the local market – like East Palo Alto. How exaclty does a proposal like this work? How do they untrap you from your house? Anyone?
July 8th, 2009 at 7:32 am
For the keyboard-challenged people: http://www.bellavista-neighborhood.com
It was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle in November last year. Of course at the time there was no trade-up offer, and the price was $1,897,000 for the Mallorca model.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Wow, they don’t even include air conditioning. Or a refrigerator. But you do get eunuch olive street trees!
They don’t say what the lot sizes are, but I’d wager they’re 6k-7k sf. That would make me a bit nervous with those big glass French doors leading from the master bath to the “sun deck.” Nothing like sunbathing with the neighbors watching! (Ah, the adjacent property’s windows are opaque next to it, per the article. LOL)
One funny bit from the article Herve Estater kindly posted:
It wasn’t too long ago that new homes in the $1 million to $2 million range meant 3,000 or more square feet. Bella Vista has brought the size down…
Unfortunately they didn’t downsize the price to match.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Those outdoor chairs will rot after the raining season.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Nomadic, I bet the lots are closer to 4000 than 6000 sqft. The development style I hate the most is cramming SFHs together so much that you’d actually get more usable space with townhomes. It would have been better to just build them as townhomes.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
A developer in the North Sacramento area had a similar promotion ~2 years ago. They were marketing the offer heavily in Elk Grove and other crap-shack valley communities where nobody had a chance of being a move-up buyer without something magical happening.
Sad to see the magic has reached Los Gatos, of all places.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I think you’re right sfbubblebuyer. After I posted I saw the article says there are 31 “homes” on just 6.1 acres. Add in the streets and “park” and you have tiny lots.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Sad to see the magic has reached Los Gatos, of all places.
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You can’t compare Sacramento to RBA.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:14 am
I know this place. It is near where I currently rent. I happened to step in there once when they were having an open house and spoke to the realtor they had on site. When I looked at the brochure and saw the asking prices, I actually snickered. I don’t think the realtor was ammused but frankly Scarlet, I didn’t give a damn.
But this is a good indicator of just how much further we have to fall before we reach normality.
Believe it or not, the location is not really that stellar. You are pretty far from downtown; it’s definitely not reasonable walking distance. And the prices are ridiculously inflated.
As a frame of reference, there is a home down the street from me which is two blocks from downtown in the Monte Sereno district and it is asking $1.5 million. Nicer spot and a larger lot. So I think these builders need to get their heads out of the clouds and realize its not 1999 anymore.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I agree with BAI on the relative value (or lack) on these places. I saw them last summer. Small lots. Also I recall that they didn’t use the space that efficiently. That’s one nice thing about most new houses, space is used more efficiently with things like more built in cabinets and such. Not so here.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Note they won’t tell you what price they’ll offer you on your house. Probably the downpayment required to buy one of their houses.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Anyone need a good laugh? I dug this article up from an old SF Chronicle posting back in 2003, when the Governator took office:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/16/MN263845.DTL
Fast forward 5 years and our state is now bankrupt with bond status just above junk.
So exactly WHOM was out of touch?
Moral of the story: when the smartest and most well respected investor in this country’s history makes a statement, one should choose to listen. Especially after this state already put its foot in its mouth when they called him “out of touch” with the “new economy” of the dot com era.
July 8th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I wonder if Arnold’s private opinion of Prop 13 has changed since then.
July 8th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I don’t have time to research this, but I would be very surprised if 2008 tax receipts were not in excess of 2003, inflation adjusted, spending levels.
assuming that is true, and granted, that is a big “if”, how can the property tax portion of prop 13 be to blame for the budget mess, compared to say an out of control ballot iniative process and unchecked spending.
I looked it up this morning and prop tax receipts for 07-08 were 3x inflation adjusted and 2x per capita, inflation adjusted the 77-78 levels. on a nominal basis they were up 10x.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I found these three Bella Vista houses:
172 Bersano Ln: 3,841 sq ft for $2.5M ($651 per sq ft), lot is 5,206 sq ft. Home completed.
202 Bersano Ln: 2,412 sq ft for $1,478,000 ($613 per sq ft), lot is 4,468 sq ft. Will be completed in Sept 09.
208 Bersano Ln: 2,324 sq ft for $1,498,000 ($645 per sq ft), lot is 5,110 sq ft. Will be completed in Sept 09.
They are all pending without release. No downturn here!
July 8th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
–You can’t compare Sacramento to RBA.
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A bubble is a bubble. Doesn’t matter if it’s Sacramento or BA.
Btw, I know a lot of Sacramentans who can’t stand living in the BA. I also know a lot of techies who’d rather live in SF and commute to SV. “Real” BA? That’s funny. I worked in PA for years and only now did I hear of RBA. Is it anything like Real Stockton? And I thought people in SF who refers to “Real SF” are clueless.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Welcome to the satire of the site, Living in SF!
July 8th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Why, oh why, do they make realtors so stupid? I just don’t understand.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I live in SF and it chaps my hide when people refer to it as “THE city.” LOL More like “the POS.”
Anyone has any ponzi scheme they want to run with me so I can get into one of these RBA homes?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:05 am
No downturn here!
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No downturn for this Sunnyvale property either. Seller just made it “attractive price” by reducing it $50K.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Interesting. These FBs http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Mateo/421-S-Eldorado-St-94402/home/704448 just made their price more attractive by raising it 32k on July 3rd!
Which is the right move in this environment? Both!
That is the beauty of real estate.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:38 am
anon – that’s what you’d call factoring in the intrinsic gain in value!
They’re essentially saying “If you don’t snatch it now, it’ll cost you more later! So hurry!”
July 9th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Which is the right move in this environment? Both!
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Well, on Aug 1 it going to have one year anniversary for this listing. It didn’t sell in spite of ten months of continuous price reduction. So it got to be selling when price increased. That’s called Realtardized logic.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:56 am
DT, i think that they were just hoping someone would get drunk enough on the fourth of july to buy the home…
“Well, on Aug 1 it going to have one year anniversary for this listing. It didn’t sell in spite of ten months of continuous price reduction. So it got to be selling when price increased. That’s called Realtardized logic.”
Because, Pralay, homes never depreciate in value. That’s how they know not to sell for less than what they paid.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Even with the recent increase, it’s already listed for less than they paid.
I wonder if they’ll just stop paying the mortgage on the one-year anniversary? Let the bank sell it for them!
July 10th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Sounds good to me, Pralay…If you’re not making money on a house, there’s no reason to pay a mortgage!
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Two more Bella Vista houses:
196 Bersano Ln: $1,778,000.
214 Bersano Ln: $1,748,000.