Over 20K put into bridge, foundation and engineered plans
Does seeing all those houses next to each other make you want to get away to your own private retreat? Somewhere with elbow room for just you and the trees?
Today Burbed reader wahnny has a place for you in Gilroy. Hope you think nines are lucky! And let’s have a big, warm, Real Bay Area welcome for wahnny who is today’s Guest Blogger!
0 LAND ONLY (Unable to map)
Gilroy, CA 95020
$99,999
BEDS: -
BATHS: -
SQ. FT.: -
LOT SIZE: 3.23 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Residential Land (Single Family)
VIEW: Mountains, Neighborhood
COMMUNITY: Morgan Hill/Gilroy/San Martin
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81226637
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 24 daysMagic Springs Drive. Also includes APN #810-03-004 for total of 4.36 acres. Beautiful and private creekside retreat among the giant redwoods and ferns. Over 20k put into bridge, foundation and engineered plans. No permits. Underground phone line and community spring fed water. Perfect for recreational getaway.
With all the recent chatter about “value in land only”, I thought this might make for an interesting, if not cautionary, tale.
This 4+acre property is nestled deep within a magical forest west of Gilroy. Since it has no street address, Redfin can’t map it, but the Santa Clara County GIS can (via APN 810-03-022).
The property last sold for $800K during the peak of the bubble years. Apparently, the seller planned to build a dream house there, investing over $20K towards improvements, but then gave up (the ogre/county wouldn’t permit it?).
With hopes dashed, the seller resigned to sell the property, but seemed conflicted on asking price (at one point asking twice what was paid for it). Currently, the seller has settled on a less fanciful price of $100K.
It just goes to show that RBA dreaming can only be truly realized in the RBA.
August 9th, 2012 at 8:22 am
Yes, the value is in the land, and “they” aren’t making any more of it. Now what’s that about “overbidding?”
August 9th, 2012 at 9:30 am
I think the listing history is weird because they’re all coming up as “0 LAND ONLY”, but if you look at the links in the listing history, a lot of them are for different APN’s. (The 800k sale was APN 841-44-033 which looks like a big plot of farmland on the other side of Gilroy)
If I had a spare 99,999.99(9) sitting around I might be interested in that property, it is a beautiful area. Back before child/crushing mortgage payment, my wife and I used to hike at the Uvas Canyon County Park, which looks like it is a short-ish drive from there, right behind the weird Swedish expat community of Sveadal. (Basically a row of 10-12 houses along a mountain road that all have Volvos parked outside).
August 9th, 2012 at 10:52 am
#2, good catch … seems like a listing bug on Redfin … I guess this makes this particular tale all the more cautionary:)
August 9th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Take a good look at the photo at right of the listing details. I think this listing may have earned a DHO tag. But the dude isn’t hanging out. He appears to be driving a Bobcat. DBO? Somebody please confirm it because I’ve misread too many pictures.
August 9th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Is it just me, or is it a whole new Redfin layout?
In any even, the new format has nice large photos, which makes it easy to confirm the DHO.
August 9th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
In regards to the “0 Land Only” issue in #2, I’m not about that APN 841-44-033, but if you click on the MLS# 81222109 link at the top of the Redfin listing, there is a $1.6M “0 Land Only” listing, which is active at $1.6M, even though it shows the $100k price change in its history.
If one thinks that $100k for today’s featured land only property with foundation is outstanding, consider buying that $1.6M property that is currently rented for $15,400 per year. Yes, that’s right, a YIELD OF UNDER 1%! Yes, you read that right, a purchase price to annual rent multiplier over 100!
I know, I know. That value is in the land, not the rent.
August 9th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Putting yourself that close to the creek is asking for trouble. Beautiful, but trouble. From mosquitos to flood damage, all very hard to insure. And where is the septic being pumped?
August 9th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Rent is just gravy for the owner.
August 9th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Crissa, I didn’t know they offered mosquito insurance. Imma run out and buy some now!
August 9th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Gravy? Rent is icing!
Okay, I’ll add the DHO tag for the dude in the Bobcat. Yes, Redfin has completely changed their layout. I like the big pictures but it’s going to be a lot harder to get the important info into one screenshot.
Guess they can’t list this place as 0 Magic Springs Drive if they haven’t built the road yet?
August 9th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
By my simple “move the decimal point” calculation, $100k means $1000 a month. If you can throw an RV on it, it’s probably worth it.
And mosquitos, hell, we’re far from a river so we breed ‘em here!
OK rant time:
I’ve lived on this 5-acre place for almost 4 years now. I swallowed the survivalist kool-ade and really thought that by 2012 things might look like the scenes in those horribly-written “doomer” novels. Instead, nope! No zombies, no guard duty, money’s still working, people are still driving, etc. My biggest danger is the weirdness right around here. The owner of the place is bringing all these new people in, and they don’t do anything, just hang around and drink beer, and I’m a jerk as far as they’re concerned because I insist on doing the chores. The land owner’s gone half the year because I take care of things, and it’s just a hell of a lot of work for free rent in a place most people would have to be paid to live in.
So I’m leaving, for what Surfer-X called San Hosebag. Well, San Hosebag is *heaven* compared to this place. Being able to be out after dusk, being able to trade in electronic surplus instead of just farm-type work, being able to escape the heat, flies, and misery, San Hosebag here I come!
August 9th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Another South Bay property was recently listed (alternatively, a tour), which might be a counter to today’s tale.
August 10th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Gilroy,
The day of zombies will come. It’s just a matter of time.
August 12th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Wow. That’s quite a price difference. What were the 20k of improvements?
Maybe you should read the article. To help you, I removed your URL since it was clearly impeding your vision. –ed.