One of the most saught after street in Palo Alto
After wasting everyone’s time far far away from the RBA yesterday, the least we can do is finish strong for the week. And what could be stronger than a house full of curb appeal for an amazing low price? How about a house full of Burbed appeal for an amazing price you can’t have, because the listing got canceled? We’ll leave it to you to figure out if this is a new way to say Pending/Do Not Show. Thanks very much to Burbed reader Dr. Jim for sending this one in.
3284 Ramona St
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,449,000Loan Payment: $4,966/mo
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Size: 1,601 sqft
$/Sqft: $905/sqft
Type: Single Family House
Year Built: 1950
Lot Size: 6,250
Days on Movoto: 38 days
Neighborhood: Midtown
MLS#: 81237014
Status: CancelledGreat Location Midtown home on one of the most saught after street in Palo Alto, home has good bones and sq ft. Bring your imagination to make this your dream home with few upgrades, North East facing lot with lots of sun light. Walking distance to El Carmelo Elem and JL Stanford middle.
The house has good bones, which you can dig up in the back yard.
And it also has sq. ft., namely 1601 of them. But that’s not why Dr. Jim brought this princely palace to our attention:
Midtown Palo Alto crapshack for $1.45 million. And horrible ad copy to boot!
Oh dear, has Dr. Jim no poetry in his soul? Doesn’t he understand you have to to bring your imagination to 
make this your dream home with few upgrades? And if you want a dream home with many upgrades, you should bring your stock portfolio.
Seriously, does nothing please you people? It’s on a North East facing lot with lots of sun light. That’s like two lots in one in only 6,250 sq. ft. to go with the good bones.
Bunus: The toilet is so awesome they show it twice. Check it for additional good bones.
Mor Bunus: Check out the Movoto logo in the listing above. The graphic designer let us know exactly what s/he thinks of the house!
November 16th, 2012 at 7:53 am
yea! pic of toilet with the seat up; realtor professionalism is back. there’s a turkey lurking, either the realtor or the house – you decide.
that kitchen’s a bit scary. at first i thought the top cabs were the new ikea green, but then realized the tile counters are too old (who’d do that today?!?) and the lower cabs are, uhm, nevermind. i feel bad for soiling ikea’s name.
November 16th, 2012 at 8:53 am
Socialite Jill Kelley also lives in a saught after street, in Florida, and she gets to skydive with the generals:
“If you’re famous enough, rich enough or charming enough, everybody wants you,” he said. “The Kelleys are charming. They are nice. They live in a $1.5 million house on the most prestigious street. They go to the events. They donate. Why wouldn’t people want to have them at a party?”
Here what the house looks like.
November 16th, 2012 at 9:11 am
She’s like a typical REALTOR: She gets the job done before the client realizes his belt buckle was undone.
November 16th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Ramona, one of the most sought after streets in Palo Alto?
Good grief! This house is on the wrong side or Oregon Expressway. The Ramona name surely isn’t enough to make this location desirable in any way. It’s a bit like buying a Ford Mustang II instead of the original Mustang–sure, it has the name, but no one thinks it is a classic.
In any event, sad as it is $1.5 mil in Palo Alto means it is a crap shack–none of the hoi polloi actually want to live in 94306–in spite of it being the only place where the RBA continues to exist.
November 16th, 2012 at 9:33 am
gallileo,
Wrong side of Oregon Expressway is very saught after these days, because the price is less than $1.5 million.
November 16th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
LOL, gallileo, nice analogy.
Check out the listing on Redfin from the prior sale (2005, $1.125M):
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Palo-Alto/3284-Ramona-St-94306/home/1253696
Don’t miss the agent insights from the most recent listing, and the ones from the “previous listing” which are only a few weeks old too. Maybe it was pulled off the market to deal with the sloping floors. Also, Zillow shows the price change after the first 30 days on the market was a $50k reduction.
November 16th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
The days of a sub-million dollar listing in Palo Alto are over, even in Midtown. People who think there’s a wrong side of Oregon Expressway need to re-calibrate that line down to San Antonio.
November 16th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
The Redfin listing would earn this place the abbrvs tag.
We don’t have one for “floors waaaaay more than half a bubble off plumb.”
November 16th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
I had a dream like that once, after I ate a bad chicken salad sandwich.
November 17th, 2012 at 8:57 am
And you don’t even get central heating for $1.449 million. There were houses like this near the cookie-cutter subdivision I grew up in in Southern California. I thought they were crappy even when I was a kid in the Sixties.
November 19th, 2012 at 8:50 am
#5:
I know it is hard, but try to follow:
The statement, “One of the most sought after streets in Palo Alto.” is a statement about the relative value of a particular street, the idea being that people prefer to live on that street as opposed to others.
That is complete bs for this part of Ramona–no one looking at this price point or neighborhood gives a flying “F” that the house is on Ramona. You get no prestige points there. Sure, the nabe is cheap for Palo Alto, but it surely isn’t one of the most sought after.
The agent is trying to make it sound like this neighborhood is one of the more desirable in Palo Alto, but it is only desirable compared to others in the same way that a Big Mac is desirable relative to the Steak Tartare at left bank–cheaper, not better.
#7: Sure, the house will be bought up immediately and everyone wants to live in anywhere Palo Alto, but this house is still the wrong side of Oregon Expressway for it to be considered a more desirable neighborhood.
November 19th, 2012 at 10:16 am
gallileo,
Save your condescending attitude for somebody else. “Sought after” can be interpreted as “seek out to own”. By no means is Ramona the best street; however, everything is tied to a price. It is desirable at its price.
As far as the intangibles go, like prestige, desirability etc., you get that anywhere in Palo Alto these days, as #7 tried to explain to you.
November 19th, 2012 at 10:47 am
#12:
The phrase wasn’t “sought after”, it was “MOST sought after”. Ramona isn’t the most sought after street anywhere in Palo Alto. It is one of the least prestigious neighborhoods in Palo Alto. Only Ventura is worse.
The agent claimed that this particular part of Palo Alto was more desirable than other parts of Palo Alto. The claim compares one part of Palo Alto to another, concluding that this one is better.
It isn’t. The claim is factually inaccurate, and can’t be made accurate by comparing all of Palo Alto to the surrounding area.
I know logic and rhetoric is tough–especially for agents who struggle with grammar. But try to understand the argument.
November 19th, 2012 at 11:51 am
>>The phrase wasn’t “sought after”, it was “MOST sought after”. Ramona isn’t the most sought after street anywhere in Palo Alto. It is one of the least prestigious neighborhoods in Palo Alto.
The term is subjective. What makes you so confident you know what the market wants? Do you live in the neighborhood, or are you a realtor? Prestigiousness is a different matter. Plenty of lower priced homes in Palo Alto are highly sought after by buyers. That’s what counts. People are not picky about Palo Alto. They primarily want to be part of the environment and the school district.
November 19th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
You are defending the wrong claim.
The agent made claim A:
“Ramona street is one of the most highly saught after streets in Palo Alto.”
But you are defending claim B:
“Palo Alto is one of the most highly saught after cities in the RBA.”
Claim B is true. Claim A is false.
As far as knowing what the market wants vis-a-vis this stretch of Ramona, you might check your own posting history. You are quite comfortable with the concept in all of these:
http://www.burbed.com/2010/12/15/cheapest-house-in-los-gatos/
http://www.burbed.com/2010/09/26/let-the-housing-market-crash/
http://www.burbed.com/2010/08/05/old-palo-alto-exits-the-rba/ (particularly #13)
There are many more.
Sorry, went to moderation for excessive linkage. –ed.
November 19th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Let me interject as a buyer. RE is correct. All Palo Alto is good Palo Alto. Lower priced homes are most sought after, have the most upside, and get the most over- bidding.
November 19th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
galileo, haven’t you noticed? Your logic is no good here. RE hasn’t had this much attention since Pralay left.
November 19th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
nomadic,
Why do you bring an irrelevant party into this discussion? After all, it’s understandable why Pralay is no longer here. We are all aware that the troops landed at the renters’ doorsteps. No need to rub it in.
November 19th, 2012 at 9:07 pm
RE is right. A sh*t-filled portable toilet at Oktoberfest is also the most sought-after.
November 19th, 2012 at 11:25 pm
“Lower priced homes are most sought after”
Please go back to EPA.