Auction Ends Last Week… or BUY IT NOW
You’ve heard of eBay, right? If you have something to sell, you can put a picture or five of your item on eBay and wait for the overbids to start racking up. But sometimes, you just want to have the silly thing sold without the annoyance of setting a minimum bid or being sued for someone sniping someone else’s bid, or finding out your high bidder is expecting you to ship 100 jigsaw puzzles to Estonia for the $8 shipping fee you cleverly padded onto the final asking price.
We’ve covered houses going up for auction before, but this is the first one we’ve seen with another eBay feature. Thanks very much to Michael Boltonestater for this wonderful wealthsink in Woodside.
320 HARCROSS Rd
Woodside, CA 94062
$12,950,000
BEDS: 7
BATHS: 8
SQ. FT.: 10,010
$/SQ. FT.: $1,294
LOT SIZE: 5 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: French
STORIES: 3
VIEW: Bay, Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1929
COMMUNITY: Woodside Hills
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81124548
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 383 days
AUCTION June 14 Starting Bid $7.9M Buy It Now for $12,950M “Le Soleil” a spectacular, c1920′s French Chateau, majestically set on 5+/- acres of exquisitely-landscaped grounds within sought-after-Woodside in the heart of Silicon Valley. Restored and renovated w/ modern amenities the estate features 7BDS, 7BATHS expansive terraces, tennis court, pool/spa and vineyards. Near 2 international airports
Yes, you did read that correctly. “Buy it now for $12,950M” Funny, “Mary & Brent” doesn’t sound particularly French.
But the price in the listing copy isn’t the only thing French about “Le Soleil.” Because it’s just as French to not particularly care if the auction went ahead last week, or got delayed until October. Remember, the French word for mañana is lendemain, but it doesn’t have quite the same sense of urgency.
This has got to be the first “Was $21M” house we’ve ever seen with postage-stamp-sized MLS photos. Every single exterior shot is under 200 pixels. Maybe they are postage stamps and we’ll be seeing them on wedding invitations all summer.
As to real property that you can Buy it Now on eBay? Here’s something we swear we are not making up.
Okay, you can put this one on your American Express card, but is it near 2 International airports?
June 21st, 2012 at 8:59 am
“and wait for the overbids to start racking up.”
Best to start the auction at 99 cents.
June 21st, 2012 at 9:33 am
I don’t use eBay, so I imagine that this is just an artifact of eBay’s package-oriented model, but I did chuckle at the fact that the mile of frontage road offered free local pickup.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
June 21st, 2012 at 10:42 am
It’s endlessly amusing to me that eBay leaves the “Shipping” and “Delivery” sections of their standard interface visible on real estate listings. “Free local pickup”!
June 21st, 2012 at 11:54 am
Free local pickup? Makes sense. I mean, can you imagine the shipping weight on 60 acres of desert?
June 21st, 2012 at 12:49 pm
For anyone crushed that the Nevada property in the link above has sold, here’s an even better one with mildly amusing listing copy. It’s a better bargain too!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-27-ACRE-NEVADA-RANCH-LAND-CONTRACT-50-PER-MONTH-SUNLAND-ACRES-/150826076752?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D320927517947%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D74604113857144683#ht_24277wt_1270
The drawback? It’s in BF Nowhere, midway between Elko, NV and Salt Lake City.
June 21st, 2012 at 1:41 pm
$95.00 DEPOSIT DUE WITH 7 DAYS OF THE END OF THE
AUCTION VIA CHECK OR MONEY ORDER. PAYPAL IS NO LONGER ACCEPTED FOR REAL ESTATE!!!
June 21st, 2012 at 1:43 pm
THE VALUE OF THE LAND WILL ONLY GO UP!!!
June 21st, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Larry Ellison is a disgrace for bay area. He should be buying this Woodside property in auction. We should be talking about “Larry Ellison effect”, apart from “Facebook effect”. Instead he is investing in Hawaii real estate. Disgrace!
June 21st, 2012 at 2:19 pm
*mary & brent* and moi have tres different understandings of “…in the heart of Silicon Valley”. my heart is somewhat centrally located. but if i follow their oxymoronic realtor-logic, my heart would be dangling off my pinky finger. maybe they think everywhere near SV is a big, soft hug of heartiness.
nomadic – my eyes hurt after reading the desert ad. all that yelling. and redundantly repetitive details over & over, again. i’m almost interested, but not sure if the deal is for a land contract? i should read the copy again. tho, reading it once feels like multiple times.
June 21st, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Yessiree, land contract for $50 per month, $95 down and a total price of $2995. I think a crack house in Detroit is a better deal. Well, except the property tax in Detroit would be more than $20/year.
June 21st, 2012 at 7:13 pm
#6- The value is in the land!
#9- Includes free legal advice:
“Owner ship is transferred via a grant, bargain sales deed which is nevadas warranty deed.”
Too funny.
June 21st, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Overbidding is everywhere:
Sunnyvale – 56 homes sold over list price, 11 homes sold for under
Palo Alto – 38 homes sold over list price , 6 homes sold for under
June 21st, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Larry Ellison is smart to buy a place where they are not making any more land.
June 21st, 2012 at 10:15 pm
lol, #12… The Hawaiian Islands are one of the few places they ARE making more land. You’re just trolling.
June 22nd, 2012 at 12:00 am
What are you talking about? Hawaii is one of the most expensive places to live because land is very scarce, for obvious reasons. The place is also highly desirable. In other words, Hawaii’s market has similar conditions as Bay Area.
June 22nd, 2012 at 12:06 am
Of course, Bay Area is arguably better than Hawaii. Bay Area has Google, Facebook, Apple, Palo Alto, and the ocean. Hawaii only has the ocean.
June 22nd, 2012 at 12:09 am
Awesome Palo Alto house.
$5.9M and 1 car garage.
June 22nd, 2012 at 7:06 am
Wrong thread. Palo Alto’s today’s article. This is Woodside. You know, acreage, mountains, trees, bad roads, and Larry Ellison’s tax appeals.
June 22nd, 2012 at 8:33 am
Not making more land?
June 22nd, 2012 at 9:05 am
#14: Over the last 30 years the “Big Island” has grown at an average rate of about 20 acres a year That’s “making more land”. LITERALLY. As #13 points out.
For the long-term investor it’s worth noting that the Lōʻihi Seamount should be breaking the surface within the next 10-100,000 years, creating a whole new island. It’s the perfect opportunity for someone who’s willing to live at home with his parents a few extra years to save up a down payment.
Fixed the link, those Hawaiians need to buy some consonents –madhaus
June 22nd, 2012 at 10:13 am
Many geologists think that Loihi semount will eventually join to Big Island.
The positive side of that area is you have to pay only $25 annual property tax if your property is overrun by lava.
June 22nd, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Thanks for the backup, guys; I was tied up all day. I thought the whole volcano thing was self-evident, but I forgot RE lives in an alternate universe.