Comments on: $425k house in San Mateo – RV parking in back of home

By: anon

anon — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:13:30 +0000

It’s going to be great watching the knife catchers squirm once the ARMS start blowing up.

By: Mister Handy

Mister Handy — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:53:36 +0000

Very late to the party, but this sold about a month ago. Been waiting for the price to hit public records, looks like it sold for $380k. Dead cat bounce is clearly not all it’s cracked up to be.

By: Pralay

Pralay — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:27:00 +0000

Until the owners’ family cleaned it out, good lord the place was a mess.
—–

LOL! I guess what’s what called Joy Of Home-ownership.

By: nomadic

nomadic — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:17:22 +0000

#15 – I was wondering if the track was gone yet. I heard they wanted to tear it down but didn’t check before I posted. Thanks for the update.

By: karen

karen — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:42:55 +0000

I like the house. but what would really be cool is to be close to a LAGOON. you could rig up a raft and explore its waters, searching for creatures. too bad re the grocery trucks and the freeway air.

By: Zanon

Zanon — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:28:43 +0000

I think dwell is out of business

By: AmusedLurker

AmusedLurker — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:07:21 +0000

#3 – Sadly, Bay Meadows Racetrack was torn down starting in Sept of last year and is now a pile of rubble and dirt due to the economic crisis, the developers just couldn’t wait to tear it down…the same developers are getting ready to do the same to Hollywood Park in Inglewood.

I guess Google Maps still hasn’t updated their photos.

By: sonarrat

sonarrat — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:22:50 +0000

Mister Handy, your spelling is too good to be the guy I knew. You might know him. He used to run a shipping business out of his house.

By: Mister Handy

Mister Handy — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:50:10 +0000

In other high tax states that lack something like prop 13 (some others have a more limited equivalent that applies to fixed income seniors or similar), the property taxes going up encourages them to move to a cheaper rental or to a nursing home.

Not especially cool, and very un-cool for those seniors who actually can keep up a home by themselves. But for a lot of seniors the tax savings are generally enough to let them stay in the home, at all, rather than providing enough for them to pay for maintenance that they paid for themselves.

By: nomadic

nomadic — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:02:28 +0000

Thank you for the thoughtful comments, Mister Handy. This part confuses me:

As for “why do people get old and stop maintaining stuff???” I have two words for you: “Proposition 13.”

With all of the money saved on taxes, why not maintain the property?

My original question was more general than that, however. I know old people in other states that don’t maintain their homes like they used to. Maybe they just don’t care about stuff like that once their aches & pains (and whatever else) take on a bigger part of their lives. My mom seems to be falling into that pattern somewhat.

By: Mister Handy

Mister Handy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:22:07 +0000

I’m a neighbor, and live on Hamlet St. I don’t think I know sonnarrat, though.

To confim some suspicions above:
1) The owners were, indeed, the first owners from the 1950s.
2) Until the owners’ family cleaned it out, good lord the place was a mess.
3) The owners’ family are selling it, and the one I got a chance to talk to expect it to be a teardown.

Note the “probate sale” point: you’ve probably got multiple family members expecting their cut of the inheritance, and from some comments made by their realtor, I suspect some of them have unrealistic ideas of what it could sell for. The guy I talked to was more realistic.

Parkside is a nice working class neighborhood in a somewhat-convenient location, and the faux-Eichler architecture is nice for those of us who like such things (although a lot of the houses have been turned into much more conventional ranchers, which is a pity), and the houses can be very nice if well maintained.

The corner where I live (and this house is located) is noisy from the freeway compared to the blocks east of Norfolk. There is also definitely going to be some noise from the shopping center down behind that house, and the alleyway there also gets grafiti and trash – the new owners on the other side of the alley moved in recently (that one was owned by old peopl who moved in in the 1970s) and hopefully once both houses are occupied it will be better.

As for “why do people get old and stop maintaining stuff???” I have two words for you: “Proposition 13.”

By: nomadic

nomadic — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:50:01 +0000

One man’s dilapidated and outdated double-wide looking house is another man’s swanky mid-century palace.

Nah, I think this is a pile-o-sh*t no matter who looks at it. Just look at the street view.

By: BobbyS

BobbyS — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:27:16 +0000

The contractor’s very special I bet.

By: BobbyS

BobbyS — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:24:57 +0000

I bet it will sell above asking price as this house has a mid-century modern vintage charm and looks very Eichler-esque. It can be fixed up to its former glory for a modest amount and may someday grace the covers of Atomic Ranch or Dwell. They should advertise this house as a “Charming Eichler-like vintage-retro mid-century house for sale in desirable Parkside neighborhood”. One man’s dilapidated and outdates double-wide looking house is another man’s swanky mid-century palace.

By: sfbubblebuyer

sfbubblebuyer — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:48:47 +0000

I think the realtor meant to say “Arsonist Special” not Contractor’s. Obviously you would buy this, insure it for bubble prices, and burn it to the ground.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:19:51 +0000

This house is awesome.

I’m sure the type of person who buys this will need space for their RV.

By: sonarrat

sonarrat — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:24:37 +0000

Oh yeah, and he paid $125K for his house in the early ’90s.

By: sonarrat

sonarrat — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:24:06 +0000

I actually know someone who lives a few doors down on Hamlet Street. He tells me that he used to get so pissed off at the trucks rolling in late at night that he would sabotage them just to discourage them from coming in afterhours.

By: nomadic

nomadic — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:45:49 +0000

aaa – it’s close to shopping! (It backs up to a shopping center anyway.) And close to the racetrack, San Mateo Event Center and Highway 92. Just look at that convenience.

The old people who lived there were probably the original owners. So it’s probably completely vintage inside. Which begs a question – why do people get old and stop maintaining stuff???

By: aaa

aaa — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:41:39 +0000

This is not a bad house for an eighth-grade dropout, crackhead, or some other loser.

This thing is laughable trash. Who in their right mind would live in this house even if it were free?