599 E TAYLOR Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 | MLS# 80948154
$600,000
599 E TAYLOR Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 780
$/Sq. Ft.: $769

Lot Size: 9,800 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Year Built: 1940
Community: Sunnyvale
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80948154
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 38 days
* * * PERFECT FOR DEVELOPERS * * * THE VALUE IS IN THE LAND * * * * PRIME CORNER LOT WITH TWO SINGLE FAMILY DETTACHED RENTAL HOMES. ALSO AVAILABLE IS THE ADJACENT PROPERTY AT 425 N. FAIROAKS AVE WITH 7,851 SQ. FT. LOT WITH A 2 BD/1 BA HOUSE. 13 UNITS TOWNHOUSES CAN BE BUILT PER SELLERS. BUYERS TO CHECK WITH THE CITY TO CONFIRM. EASY ACCESS TO 101/CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY.

Thanks to Burbed reader sonarrat for this find.

At first I was pretty perplexed. $769 per square foot seemed a bit high.. I’d expect a mere $580. But… oh! it’s a huge lot that’s perfect for development!

And wow, talk about convenient location that townhouse buyers will love!

Any budding real estate developers here want to speculate how much these 13 townhouses will fetch?

Personally, I’m wondering if instead you should build a nice tall building instead, with a fancy retailer in the first floor. How about a Gucci? Or even a Godiva might do. Starbucks?

I bet you could easily quintuple your investment. Or… you could just live here! Houston living with California prices! Sweet!

First year-over-year Bay Area home price jump in two years – San Francisco Business Times:
For the first time since November 2007, Bay Area house and condominium prices rose in October compared with a year earlier.

According to San Diego’s MDA DataQuick, which tracks such things, the median price of a home sold in the San Francisco Bay Area was 4 percent higher than a year earlier in October, at $390,000. Fewer foreclosed homes were sold during the month, so they didn’t drag the average down. They made up 32 percent of total sales, their lowest percentage since June 2008.

The number of homes sold also rose, by 4.2 percent, to 7,933 in the nine counties of the Bay Area.

Wow. The good news keeps pouring in. We are on set for an enormous 2010. This is an early Christmas present for just about everyone!

Congrats everyone! Great work! Let’s get that median price back to $500,000 so we can reign supreme!

This Thanksgiving weekend, please take sometime out to be thankful for how fortunate you are… to live in a wonderful place like California.

To help you out, here’s a great piece published earlier this year:

Top 10 Reasons California Is Better Than Texas | NBC Bay Area
Top 10 Reasons California Is Better Than Texas
Lone Star State wishes it were California

No. 10 — People Want to Come Here

No. 9 — Big States Don’t Cry

No. 8 — Our Waistlines Are Under Control

No. 7 — Hit the Beach

No. 6 — World’s Toughest Governor

No. 5 — We Have Options

No. 4 — Plenty of Eye Candy

No. 3 — We Actually Invent Stuff

No. 2 — It’s All About the Weather

No. 1 — California Isn’t Home to George W. Bush

Be sure to read the article for the full justifications!

What are you thankful for?

Realtors: home prices to rise 4 percent in 2010 – Yahoo! Finance
Realtors: home prices to rise 4 percent in 2010
Realtors’ economist sees resale home values, sales rising in 2010

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Home prices are expected to grow modestly next year and sales will keep rising as the housing market continues to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Home resales are projected to total 5.7 million next year, up from an estimated 5 million this year. Prices will climb about 4 percent after a projected decline of 13 percent this year, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the trade association.

“Going into 2010, I anticipate that prices will also begin stabilizing or begin to modestly improve,” Yun told the audience at the association’s annual conference and expo in San Diego.

That should help ease buyers’ anxiety. “I don’t think the fear factor will be at play in 2010,” Yun said.

Thanks to Burbed reader Derek for this find!

2010 is going to rock. You heard it first. Finally, the Real Bay Area will be back to its rightful 8-15% Year Over Year appreciation.

If you’re not buying right now, you’ll be priced out forever! Really!

This isn’t that Lereah guy, this is Yun.!

Amazon.com: Where San Francisco Shop!: Great Shopping Wherever You Are (Where to Shop Guides) (9780762746293): WHERE MAGAZINE: Books
Where San Francisco Shop!: Great Shopping Wherever You Are (Where to Shop Guides) [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

Whether you have just a day to blaze through town or want to do some serious browsing, this guide is for you.

Inside, you’ll find:

> Shopping tours with a mission—books, great things for cooks, shoes, cool
clothes, and only-in-San Francisco souvenirs

> 200 best-in-neighborhood picks, grouped by local area

> 14 maps pinpointing what’s where in each neighborhood

> Store names in text and on maps color-coded by category

> Two PopOut maps showing the core of the city

> Backed by the experts at Where® magazine, which has been helping travelers
find the fun since 1936

> More than 125 color photos—and  more!

Yeah this isn’t real estate related, but as a site that aims to bolster the image of the Bay Area and compete against Manhattan, this is important.

People don’t think of shopping when they think of the Bay Area, and it is high time that changed. This guide will help for those focused in San Francisco.

But don’t forget to visit the amazing shopping in Silicon Valley. Check out all the stores in downtown San Jose. Then, 15 minutes later, be sure to check out the amazing stores at Cupertino Square. Then, 15 minutes later, be sure to check out Downtown Mountain View. Then, 15 minutes later, be sure to go to Stanford Mall. And then Valley Fair, and then Santana Row.

Finally, be sure to stop at Fry’s before wrapping up your shopping spree in the South Bay.

Woohoo! Take that Manhattan. Do you have such cool and edgy stores like we do? Can you see an Apple I in any of your stores. Nope. Didn’t think so.

And guess what, if you’re shopping for hosting service, try out Dreamhost. Enter “burbed” for $10 off! Please support burbed.

Thanks!

350 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS, Redwood City, CA 94062 | MLS# 80952895
$2,100,000
350 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS Redwood City, CA 94062

Beds: 5
Baths: 7
Sq. Ft.: 8,000
$/Sq. Ft.: $262
Lot Size: 0.29 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Mediterranean
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 2003
Community: High School Acres
County: San Mateo
MLS#: 80952895
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 6 days
Approx. 8000 Sq. Ft. of Opulent Luxury! Old World Craftsmanship, Attention to every detail has been considered. This home was built by Owner/Contractor now on the market for the 1st time! Atherton Size, Quality and Luxury at a Redwood City price! Gourmet Kitchen with Marble Counters, �� inch pre-distressed Walnut Floors, 5 Bedroom Suites, 8.5 Baths, Elevator, 5 Car Garage, Workshop, 5 wet bars.

Thanks to Burbed reader Rink Rat for this find.

Wowsers. Atherton Size, Quality and Luxury at a Redwood City price. This house is an amazing find! Sure you’d be living on a slightly busy street, but that’s a benefit as all the people driving by will wonder what company you founded, and how smart you were for buying an Atherton-like house in Redwood City thus saving you a bundle.

This is totally a Black Friday Sale!

I love how there are 7 or 8.5 bathrooms, and 5 wet bars. And this:

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe this house is best suited for someone with a more single lifestyle. Think about what an awesome bachelor’s pad this could be.

If you’re entrepreneurial, maybe you could even get this house to be a location for a new season of The Girls Next Door. But first. you probably need to find some girls….

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Today’s post is a serious one.

Let’s face it, not everyone is an AAPL or GOOG shareholder. Not everyone is working at a company that is getting acquired or IPOing. Not everyone is doing well in Mafia Wars or Farmville. Not everyone has seen 10% appreciation in their home equity this year.

These have been tough times for a lot of people.

So, while normally this space would be used to ask for donations to Burbed, please consider donating to a real charity like the United Way, Second Harvest, or your local food bank.

I know this site can be very filling, but some people may need more than a few bits and bytes.

Thanks.

Study: Bay Area Housing, Transportation Costs High – cbs5.com
San Francisco Bay Area households spend up to two-thirds of their income on transportation and housing costs, a severe burden that leaves workers with insufficient resources for other basic needs, according to a study released on Wednesday.

The costs in the nine-county Bay area vary from 54 percent in Santa Clara to 66 percent in Sonoma County, the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing said.

The average household spends nearly 60 percent of their income on transportation and housing, the center said.

For one-fourth of all households in the Bay area, housing and transportation costs account for two-thirds or more of their income, leaving workers with insufficient resources for health care, education and food, according to the study.

The report blames “ever-sprawling” development resulting in a growing gap between where people work and where they live. The consequences are both economic and environmental — transportation accounts for 40.6 of greenhouse emissions in the Bay Area, compared to 33 percent nationally, the study said.

Congrats to the Bay Area for being so unaffordable to live in! Woot!

We should revel in this and definitely play it up. Other cities may have expensive housing (Hong Kong, Tokyo), but do they have the winning combination of expensive housing and expensive transportation that is required to go to work? Nope.

We win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What we need to do now is require all parking lots to have a Luxury vs Non-Luxury sections, so that BMW’s, MB’s, and Lexuses get better spots, and that people driving Hyundais and Kias need to take a shuttle bus to get to their final destination. This would help make life even more unaffordable, thus weeding out all the undesirables. Woot!

Thanks to Burbed reader Herve for this find.

144 TENNYSON Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301 | MLS# 80952608

144 TENNYSON Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301

$1,450,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 2,400
$/Sq. Ft.: $604
Lot Size: 7,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Colonial
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1961
Community: Old Palo Alto
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80952608
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 9 days
Great opportunity to build in Old Palo Alto! Approved building plans to build 2 single family homes with shared driveway. Each home is approx. 1875 sq ft with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths 1 car garage and 1 uncovered car space each. Each home will have a nice size backyard and side yard. Designed by award winning architect Stephen Pogue.

Thanks to Burbed reader Paul for this find.

Everyone’s looking for a great investment these days, and there’s no better one than Palo Alto of course.

So let’s see… if you scoop up this ginormous 7,500 sqft lot, you could build two 1875 sqft homes! At $300 per square foot (only the best granite please!), that would be an additional $1,125,000. So that’s a $2,575,000 investment.

But in the end, each of these houses with their shared driveway and nice sized backyard will undoubtedly sell for at least $1000 per square foot – netting you a total of $3,750,000. Hey hey hey! That’s a return of 45% on your investment. CHA CHING!

Let’s take a look at the present street view to see how this will pan out:

Oh yeah. That’s totally going to look like the listing pic when you build two houses there. And I”m sure your neighbors are going to love it!

What are you waiting for? Even Bernie Madoff couldn’t promise an investment return like this. Go for it today!

(BTW, this house was last sold in 2008 for $1,510,000, so there’s an instant equity angle to this as well!)

410 45TH Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121 | MLS# 80952093
$839,000
410 45TH Ave San Francisco, CA 94121
Beds: 4
Baths: 2

Sq. Ft.: 1,570
$/Sq. Ft.: $534
Lot Size: 3,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Attached Single Family
Style: Contemporary
Stories: 2
View: Ocean
Year Built: 1951
County: San Francisco
MLS#: 80952093
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 11 days
Absolutely stunning remodeled single family house in the most desirable neighborhood of San Francisco Outer Richmond. Built in 1951 with approximately 1,738 square feet per public record, this home features a custom made front gate, double entrance doors, four bedrooms, two full baths, formal living room with recessed lights, dining room, and a gourmet kitchen which comes with maple wood cabinets.

Thanks to Burbed reader nomadic for this find!

I know, I know. Holiday Creep. But let’s face it, this house is perfect for the season and so if you want to get ready, now’s the time. The real question to me is what to do with this house when Christmas is over! Do you repaint it for Valentine’s day? For easter? Do you just leave it like that?

Personally, I’d put up some stanchions and velvet ropes along the red walkways so that you could pretend you’re walking down a red carpet. Just think about the awesome Oscar and Emmy parties you could have. Who are you wearing, baby!

That said, I don’t think we can leave without taking a look at the backyard…

I’m kind of surprised. That awesome of a paint job on the front, and no paint in the back? Where’s the foul line? The half court? Come on!

Paint this in the colors of your favorite team, and watch as the value soars!