It’s been far too long since we’ve heard from Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer.  PG has been sending in some great finds that are often pulled off MLS by the time we’re ready to give them some good ol’ Burbed lovin’.  But this one was willing to stay put long enough for a big ol’ sloppy Burbed kiss.

651 E MEADOW Dr
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,267,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,438
$/SQ. FT.: $520
LOT SIZE: 6,572 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1956
COMMUNITY: Midtown
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81200978
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 9 days

Welcome to this spacious home featuring 5 bedrooms & 2 separate offices with 3 full bathrooms. This special home has a large living room and a fireplace, a convenient separate family & inside laundry room. Attached one car garage w/ ample extra storage. Nice sized patio and fenced yard with mature landscaping and fruit trees. Close to parks & excellent Palo Alto Schools – buyer to verify schools.

This house is Special, the listing copy says so.  The above pictures showcase the luxurious living you get for one and a quarter million dollars.

Or as PG says, “Simply beautiful.”  Let’s see if the Redfin agent agrees.

But the closest schools are a fifth of a mile away, if we go by Redfin’s own school information.  Could the agent have been referring to this place directly across the street?  It looks a church-run day care center.

Oh good, they take older kids as well as babies.  So you’ll be guaranteed to be running into extra traffic at both ends of your commute, and most of the time in between.  It’s the little touches like these that make this house so Special.

Plus, the current owners are taxed on a $100K assessment.  Buy this house, remove one more Prop 13 entitlement boomer, and help balance the City budget!

1820 ASH St
Palo Alto, CA 94306

$1,149,500

At $2017 per square foot, this listing is the pride and joy of Bay Area real estate. Now, granted, this isn’t exactly accurate as there’s also a guest house that can bring in revenue – and as we all know, revenue is what counts.

But wait. This house sure seems familiar. Where have we seen this before? Quick! To the wayback machine to a period when I was still regularly contributing to this site!

September 7, 2010

A healthy priced property in Palo Alto

1820 ASH St Palo Alto, CA 94306

$1,499,000

OMG. What. Is. Going. On? No, seriously… what is going on with these prices?

What’s your prediction for what this house will sell for next year? Keep in mind the coming torrent of IPOs that will rock the Valley!

If we’re going to do college towns, it’s only fair we find you a DEAL in Palo Alto!  Why not pick up this place and save big on your Stanford bill?  Then sell it at a profit when your new graduate is ready to move on!

746 SAN CARLOS Ct, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$820,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,012
$/SQ. FT.: $810
LOT SIZE: 4,200 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1945
COMMUNITY: Midtown
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81150030
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 9 days

Great value single family detached home with 2 bedrooms & 2 baths! Bright & open kitchen next to dining area & living room with access to the backyard through the double door sliding doors. Recently upgraded with new Berber carpeting, new kitchen and baths flooring. New light fixtures, designer mirrors in the bathrooms. Fresh paint! New Stove & hood! Good size yard for kids & entertaining!

Actually, other than these somewhat hideous chairs, I’m having trouble coming up with much else to complain about this listing.  It isn’t too small, or too old, or next to the freeway.  It doesn’t look like it’s only being held together with three layers of Extra-Lead gloss paint last applied in 1949. It isn’t even a thousand dollars a foot, like some small homes in this perennially overpriced city.

That means this is as close to a DEAL in Palo Alto as you’re ever going to find.  On MLS for more than a week, so I suggest you start overbidding immediately.

We’ve been having such a whirlwind tour of the Bay Area that we forgot about one of our favorite places!  And just because the seller took this sky-high priced listing off the market doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it.  Anyone could contact the agent with the right price to make this sale happen.  Remember, it only takes ONE buyer.  One really misinformed buyer.

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Wendie for this eye-popping palace in Palo Alto!

405 MARLOWE St, Palo Alto, CA 94301
OFF-MARKET ($2,495,000, Reduced to $2,370,000)

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 3,108
$/SQ. FT.: $660
LOT SIZE: 10,000 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1960
COMMUNITY: Crescent Park
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80656322
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Sold

Price Reduced Again! Execellent location in Crescent Park. Square 10,419 lot Designed for easy living. Sep guest qrts or recreation room. Very light inside House Sq Ft are approximate. .. Remodel or Build . .Not in Special Flood Zone

Here’s what Wendie had to say about this big lot with location, location, location!

2.4 for an Eichler.

For 2.4 million, you can have your own carport AND hear the travel up and down University! And boy, does this glorified Eichler have some curb appeal!!  Look at that driveway, circa 1957.

So much curb appeal the agent didn’t dare put the front of the house as the first listing photo.  Potential buyers might expire on the spot from the awesomeness of this place with an opening like that.  Execellent!

But Burbed has you covered!  All FOUR of the pictures of this 3100 square foot house are here for your viewing pleasure (two inside, two out!), just in case the MLS copy and pix get yanked.

“Bunus”: it’s NOT in a Special Flood Zone, which is a real shame.  For this kind of money, everything about the house ought to be Special.

Today we have a guest post from Burbed reader dollarbin. This post came out of an email discussion we had about the last submission and how wonderful it is to live in Google’s backyard.  So what could possibly be better than property in Mountain View?  I think dollarbin has the answer to that: South Palo Alto.  Really, really, really South.

Please give dollarbin a big, warm, Real Bay Area welcome to Burbed’s front page as today’s Guest Blogger!

 

670 SAN ANTONIO Rd #23, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$615,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2.5
SQ. FT.: 1,382
$/SQ. FT.: $445
LOT SIZE: 1,176 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Townhouse
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1979
COMMUNITY: South Palo Alto
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81134112
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending Without Release
ON REDFIN: 73 days

The BEST DEAL IN PALO ALTO! Compares well with Mtn View properties * Beautiful yard with deck. New paint. New flooring in kitchen and powder room. Granite slab counters, updated baths, stainless steel appliances. 2-car attached garage. Close to commute arteries and shopping. HOA fee includes earthquake insurance. Mtn. View Schools. Monta Loma Elementary (834).

As a matter of fact, I did move into z2amiller’s ‘hood, although our place doesn’t quite have quite as much character as theirs. I will have to give him or her the Burbed handshake at the next Monta Loma secret cabal meeting. We’ve been getting a lot of Burbed love lately, there’s plenty of idiosyncratically maintained and modified houses here.

Here’s another listing that has been amusing me for some time:

"The BEST DEAL IN PALO ALTO! Compares well with Mtn View properties"

This seems like reverse marketing, wouldn’t you want a place in Mountain View to compare with Palo Alto properties? Despite the 94306 address, this place is for all intents and purposes in 94043, including Mountain View schools. We toured this unit back in July, I think it was the third open house we actually went to.

At that time, they didn’t have the fact that it is Mountain View Schools on the listing, and the showing agent only told us when we asked directly. Perhaps they were hoping a buyer would assume Palo Alto Schools and not actually check. Sadly, with the recent price cut, they lose the lucky 8′s though. Hopefully they’ve cleaned the carpets since we toured.

Another curiosity is that it sold for $1,567,500 in 2003, so you’re looking 900K in instant equity.

Actually, I’m not deep in the game, but I’m assuming this price was part of a multi-unit sale, particularly if you look at property tax records.

I read a lot of real estate sites in order to bring you Burbed-worthy features.  Recently, I found an agent’s special “Astonishing Homes” page that looked absolutely scrumptious.  Plenty of seven and even eight-figure high-end properties on acres of land with great schools. 

Now I know absolutely nothing about this particular agent, but all these homes were on MLS. Member agents can detail any MLS listings in their region, and Sophia Delacotte put together a webpage with nicer luxury properties for people to get some real estate pr0n action.  But something was amiss when I took a closer look at the actual listings.

With ten different houses, that’s ten front facades and ten sets of details.  I have all that waiting for you inside, but before you join me, make your prediction how many of these ten estate properties:

• Sold (pending within 7 days)
• Sold (pending within 30 days)
• Sold in a longer timeframe
• Are still active on MLS
• Had their listing withdrawn
• Had a price reduction at some point

For “bunus” yucks, guess how many of these ten estate homes have marble columns.

Got your guesses ready?  Good.  Now, let’s see these Astonishing Homes and find out if you’re as Astonished as I was.

(more…)

Today’s house has been brought to you by Burbed reader Gallileo, who is guest blogging a perennial find!  Yes, you’ve seen this house before, and you may be seeing it yet again!  After all, it’s still for sale after 45 days, despite the Palo Alto address.  This is definitely an opportunity for somebody!

Best of all, the Agent has a Financial Interest in this plum.  Mmmmm!

 

602 CHIMALUS Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,750,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,090
$/SQ. FT.: $837
LOT SIZE: 5,311 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2008
COMMUNITY: Barron Park
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81135381
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 12 days

A fusion of great contemporary design, fine craftsmanship and a calming color palette results in a modern home that is a joy to live in. This home is only 3 years old and shines like new. Spaces are flexible to accommodate your lifestyle and allow single level living, if that is what you seek. Fine custom features and workmanship and Palo Alto schools!

Like a realtor’s penchant for bad pictures and poor copy, 602 Chimalus just won’t go away for long. This house has made several appearances on Burbed over the years, and is right back where it started–for sale with only two weeks on the market–really!

Didn’t sell for $1.6 million in 2009. Didn’t sell for $1.69 million in 2010. Surely it will sell for $1.75 million in 2011. We all know there has been much more than 60K of appreciation on every house in the RBA over the past year, so we know that the overbidding on this place will take it right up where it needs to be.

Even the commenters on redfin think the seller is crazy–of course this was back in 2010. Can’t wait to see how long it lasts on the market this time around.

Here’s another amazing find by Burbed reader SEA for you today.  Thanks very much for letting us know that not all is style and charm in our favorite city.  There’s also value!

 

455 GRANT Ave #12, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$525,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 906
$/SQ. FT.: $579
LOT SIZE: 943 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
YEAR BUILT: 1962
COMMUNITY: College
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81136262
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 33 days

Open 8/20 8/21 2nd floor overlooking sparkling pool Huge36ftx6ft Patio Balcony Granite kitchen, granite floor, Brand new bathrooms, Loads of light, Excellent Palo Alto School District, Vacant, Close to CalTrain, El Camino California Ave. Walk to Stanford. Very bright unit with Atrium on one side and pool on the other side.

Here’s what SEA has to say about this, um, well-situated find.

At first I thought it was some sort of prison, but then I realized that it was ‘not a lot of money’ more than not a lot of money.

Prison? Don’t be ridiculous.  This is a highly secure storehouse for your hard-earned savings!  Just look at all these different places you could keep them in while they multiply, and all you have to do is live here.

Now check out how much the previous owners were all able to accomplish in putting their money to work:

See? These transactions are Special, just like you’ll be when you take advantage of this amazing offer to “Walk to Stanford.” It’s a beautiful 1.6 mile walk to Memorial Hall, on the Road of Kings, even! If I were you, I’d get walking to that agent’s office right now.

Say it isn’t so!  A little bird tells me this place is going to be auctioned off soon.  Lots of homes are foreclosed on these days, but not many have the pride of place this one did.

 

633 COLERIDGE Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Last selling price $1,585,000 in Dec 2005
Auction Price: $1,262,250

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,400
$/SQ. FT.: $660
LOT SIZE: 6,696 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Country English
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1945
COMMUNITY: Old Palo Alto
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80531585
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Sold

Lovely 2 story English style in Old PA on a cul-de-sac near Walter Hays Elemen School. Spacious w/ gleaming hdwd, new paint, family rm/kit combination. Lge LR w/ beam ceilings 2 outside patios-reared gd fenced. Driveway at rear. Garage

Say it isn’t so!  The FBs are so down on their luck they have to use abbreviations in their listing, too!  And this house has such a convenient location, gently tucked into the corner near Middlefield and Embarcadero.  You can go ANYWHERE from there!

Here’s the auction information:

Whoa, that’s this Friday!  And it’s got a Zestimate of $1.94 million, so this is a no-brainer!  Now, the plot thickens, because both Redfin and Zillow say it’s off the market, with last sale in 2005.  But lookie here:

Instant equity ka-ching! Bring your cashier’s checks and come on down to San Jose, because this one is going, going, gone soon!

Thanks to the sharp eye of Burbed reader SEA, we have found affordable housing in Palo Alto!  Thanks very much for calling out this place in comments.  Yes, sonarrat wrote this place up already.  I’m just adding some more context to the idea that you no longer have an excuse not to trade up to Gunn High School.

 

3980 El Camino Real #27, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$27,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 602
$/SQ. FT.: $45
LOT SIZE: -
PROPERTY TYPE: Mobile Home (Single Wide), Room Addition
YEAR BUILT: 1964
COMMUNITY: Barron Park
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81116830
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 140 days

Now you can afford Gunn High School for your teenagers and Palo Alto Unified for your smaller children! This home is much less to own than it costs to rent in Palo Alto School District! Move in and make it your own.

If you make it your own, you’ll fit right in here!  The owners of the park make their own spelling rules!

Yes, you can afford Gunn for your teenagers (plural) and Palo Alto Unified for your smaller children (plural).  You, your spouse, and your at least four children will delight in all 602 square feet of this expansive 3 bedroom, um, mobile home.  In a trailer park.  IN PALO ALTO.

I’m going to say this again.  Trailer park. In Palo Alto.  This is the real estate equivalent of a squeegee guy at the Ferrari dealership, or Jeff Foxworthy spilling beer on you at Bohemian Grove.

Did you ever think there were some properties that won’t gain value even with those amazing Palo Alto schools?  This is one of them.  140 days on the market, price reduced 4 times, and it’s still there for the taking. Part of the reason is the neighborhood, part of the reason is the neighbors, and most of the reason is you aren’t buying any land, you’re buying a tin box and the right to pay monthly rent to keep it in PALO ALTO.

Here’s what you need to know about this place.

Mobile Home Information

• Section 1 DOH/HUD Number: GBG1040CK
• Leased Land
• Unit Will Remain
• Space Rent: $650
• Manufacturer’s ID Number: Mayflowe
• License Fee: $66
• License Renewal Date: 2012-04-30
• License Expiration Date: 2012-04-30
• License Decal Number: EJ4778

That rent seems kind of low for Palo Alto, actually.  I’m sure the park owner’s agent will be delighted to negotiate a new (read: more expensive) rental agreement with you, after you close on the cargo container and have the option of either loving it or lugging it to any other trailer park in Palo Alto willing to take you at the rent you’re willing to pay.

Remember those arguments you would have as kids, like whether Superman could defeat Captain America, or if  the 1978 New York Yankees could beat the 1976 New York Islanders, or if an irresistible force could shift an immovable object or which would you rather do, be staked on a fire ant hill or have all your toes cut off with a rusty soda can?

This is the grown-up version of those questions.  Does the awesomeness of Palo Alto jack the price up, or does the loserdom of trailer park smash the price down?  How much is this sardine can going to finally sell for?

Burbed hasn’t done many mobile homes. In fact, last time we did one, the owner of the property requested the article be yanked. So we haven’t had lots of discussion on the many issues in buying a house on leased land, but check out the comments on that thread for some of them.  And here’s a brief history of this particular mobile home park.

The door of opportunity is OPEN! So move in and make it your own.