This occasional series has looked at several listings on the same street.  First there was the English Garden Shed, then the Vampire Frat House, and our latest Lincoln link was Limestone and Marble and Rock, Oh My! (the one with MAGICAL GARDENS near a busy street).  We’ve run through three neighborhoods: Community Center, Professorville, and Crescent Park; and three building styles: English Cottage, Craftsman, and Spanish. 

Today’s featured property finishes us right back where we started: English Country in Community Center.  The house is still for sale, but the price is a mite higher.

750 Lincoln Avenue, Palo Alto, CA  94301
$2,750,000

Beds: 5
Baths: 4.5
Sq. Ft.: 3,321
$/Sq. Ft.: $828
Lot Size: 5,625 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style:
Country English
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1998
Community: Community Center
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81034935
Source:  MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 8 days

PICTURE PERFECT & TRADITIONAL with stone exterior covered in Boston Ivy * High ceilings, detailed moldings, quality finishes * Full basement w/ recreation room * Romantic English garden for sweet indoor/outdoor living * Great neighborhood with lots of family action in walking distance: Community Center (park/libraries/theater/clubs/special events); Schools(Addison/Jordan/Paly); & alluring Downtown

Now that’s a new real estate term for today: Family Action.  I’ve heard “Fun for the whole family isn’t,” so maybe “Family Action” has them each running for a different neighborhood feature.  But at least this house isn’t hiding any extra floors on railroad tracks, the agent was kind enough to spell out most of the ad copy, and even threw in a few asterisks to show us how exciting Family Action can be!  The garden may not be MAGICAL but at least it’s sweet.  And no sign of vampires, with or without a Stanford degree.

Why hasn’t this PICTURE PERFECT & TRADITIONAL house sold yet?  It’s got Boston Ivy!  That means Harvard!!! 

Look, you can hardly see that dreadful lemon line in the lower left corner.  Wow, what’s with that funny orientation of the lots on this block?

Perhaps it’s the neighbors?  Or the neighbors’ vehicles?  This is right across the street, but as bad vehicles go it’s pretty innocuous.

It’s certainly easier on the eye than the house directly across the street:

Wow.  Looks secure.  Maybe it’s an extraordinary rendition center.  Hope they soundproofed the interior walls!  On the plus side, no chance of parking RVs on the lawn.

Update: The house still on the market after 30 days.  No doubt it’s in “Soon Pending” status!  So what if it sold for $2.3 million just 5 years ago?  If it will be double in ten years, it should be up by half now!  Remember, to get Real Bay Area price, all you need is one Real Buyer!  Preferably a Real Buyer who doesn’t know Real Issue about which side of 94301 is the best location.

Today’s listing and comments are thanks to burbed reader Gallileo.  Many thanks!  Remember, if you see an interesting property for sale and would like to see it featured here, please email us a link to the listing and anything you have to say.  Alright, give it up for Gallileo!

Old Palo Alto, feeling ashamed at being only the third leading income city in the nation, has decided to leave the RBA (Real Bay Area).

1227 Fulton Street, Palo Alto, CA  94301
$1,350,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 2,114
$/SQ. FT.: $639
LOT SIZE: 5,625 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1924
COMMUNITY: Community Center
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81036220
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending Without Release
ON REDFIN: 14 days

Cozy 2-story home in highly desirable Palo Alto Community Center; 4b2bth, spacious LV & Dining rm; Private master bdrm upstairs; Quiet bckyrd w/ mature trees along property perimeter; Tree lined street, quiet neighborhood, surrounded by houses of stylish architectural details; Walking distance to libraries, community center, parks, schools; Short Distance to downtown shopping and restaurants

A nice old house on a nice old Palo Alto street, on the right side of Middlefield Road.  You can walk to Steve Jobs’ house, the children’s library, downtown and Rinconada park.

This area has just left the RBA because this house sold for $1.7 million in 2007 and is now on the market as a foreclosure at $1.35 million.  It was on and off the market all of 2009 at a wide variety of prices (always less than the 2007 price) but it didn’t sell.  A sad day for Old Palo Alto, but we’ll always have 94306!

In our previous installments, we saw a very small house priced under a million, and a very large house priced (and in contract within a month) under eight of those millions.  Since the first home was a 2/1, and the second was an 8/4.5, we can surmise that getting four times the rooms should probably cost four times the cash.  But it didn’t.  It cost eight times as much.  Why?

One of these homes was not like the other, one of these homes doesn’t belong, can you guess which house was not like the other, because its location was wrong!  Yes, the house that’s one eighth instead of one fourth the asking price is on the wrong side of the great divide better known as Middlefield Road.

Or is it?  Let’s take a look at today’s house, on the same side (but not the same neighborhood) as the garden shed.  It’s not too big or too small, but is it just right?

1270 LINCOLN Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301
$2,568,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 4
Sq. Ft.: 3,040
$/Sq. Ft.: $845
Lot Size: 9,711 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Spanish
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1985
Community: Crescent Park
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81015526
Source: MLSListings
Status: Pending Without Release This listing is in escrow, past inspections and waiting for loan funding. "Without Release" indicates that the current buyer doesn’t need to sell a home to buy the new home.
On Redfin: 111 days

GORGEOUS SPANISH STYLE HOME ON A LG PRIVATE LOT IN PREMIER CRESCENT PK NR DNTOWN. COURTYARD ENTRY & SPECTACULAR SETTING IS W/ MAGICAL GARDENS, PATIOS & FOUNTAINS. SPACIOUS LIGHT-FILLED FLR PLAN OFFERS APPR 3000SF, HDWD FLRS THRUOUT, HI CEILINGS, CROWN MOLDINGS, SPACIOUS RMS, EXTENSIVE USE OF LIMESTONE, MARBLE, GRANITE. LG ATTACHED 2-CAR ATTACHED GARAGE. EACH BDRM HAS ITS OWN PRIVATE BATH

I wish the realtard would stop SHOUTING at me!  Even the agent for the broom closet had the courtesy to use lower case.  And for two and a half mil, don’t you think they could spring for spelling out all the words?  No, I do not want to say “hi” to the ceilings or find out what’s in that flour plan.  Wondering how spacious the rams are.  Or are they rums?  Maybe it belonged to a chip designer and they’re ROMs. At least the $8M house had “roooms” so I could guess what they rly wr.  But good move spelling out “LIMESTONE, MARBLE, GRANITE.”  PRIORITIES.  How does Limestone and Marble and Rock, Oh My! sound for this listing?

One more thing.  Do you think the GARAGE is ATTACHED?  I want to b sr.

Now, this property is taking a price hit for several reasons.  First, it’s extremely close to a rather busy street:

Next, we already have the ideal formula for bedroooms to bathroooms from our previous two homes: 2 br for each ba.  This house violates the golden realty ratio by having excess ba, so twice as many toilets to scrub.

These two flaws could easily knock twenty or thirty percent off the price of a home.  Another oddity could pull it down some more: the home is advertised as a two story, but the second one is very well hidden.  So well hidden it may be apocryphal, legendary, or really creative marketing (a fancy term for “lying”).  As in: the second story is telling you the house has two floors.

No second floor here…

Where could it be?

Not in the COURTYARD ENTRY & SPECTACULAR SETTING IS W/ MAGICAL GARDENS, PATIOS & FOUNTAINS.

Perhaps it is at the end of these railroad tracks:

No sign of a staircase inside, either.  Is this place really two stories?  Better take another ten percent off our appraisal just to be sure.

So why is this house about a third the asking price of the Vampire Frat House when it’s 60% the size?  The corrections above don’t add up to 67% off.  I’ll tell you.  Location, location, location.  This house is in Crescent Park, which is simply on the Wrong Side.

One last apples-to-apples comparison.  In the other neighborhoods, find the worst vehicles nearby.  Here’s what passes for hillbilly in Crescent Park:

It’s a toss up between this, which is mitigated by being parked in front of the house being sold. So maybe the sellers will take it away.  What the heck is it, a Lada?  A Trabant?

Two-stroke engine mystery vehicle versus… the horror of public transportation on this very street!

So much for a beautiful day in the neighborhood!  Stay tuned for the next installment of Wrong Side Right City.

In a previous post, I asked whether location was all there was to pricing real estate.  Looking at several homes on the same street, their position, and their list prices would help answer this question.  The first home was a small 2/1 in a “fantastic location” for just under a million.  Let’s see what’s on the same street but on the Other Side of that cruel boundary between sort of good and Real Good: Middlefield Road.

365 Lincoln Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301
$7,995,000

Beds: 8
Baths: 4.5
Sq. Ft.: 5,505
$/Sq. Ft.:$1,452
Lot Size: 0.72 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 3
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1907
Community: Professorville
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81024865
Source: MLSListings
Status: Pending Without Release This listing is in escrow, past inspections and waiting for loan funding. "Without Release" indicates that the current buyer doesn’t need to sell a home to buy the new home.
On Redfin: 62 days

Special Opportunity to own one of Professorville’s largest lots & historic homes. Built in 1903 by Stanford Professor Leander Hoskins, this graceful craftsman style home is 5,511 sq ft & has 8 bedroooms & 4 bathroooms on a 31,500 sq ft lot. Fine example original craftsman woodwork. A broad inviting veranda welcomes visitors. Walk to Downtown & Stanford University. Please do not disturb occupants

That photo looks a bit… threatening.  Lights are on but it’s still daytime… but not for long!  The house seems like it’s crouching down low, preparing to spring onto your chest, knock you down, rip out your throat and force you to sign an eight million dollar real estate offer without contingencies.  And no eights in the price, yet!  But it’s a “Special Opportunity.”  It’s so special, the “bedroooms” and “bathroooms” are pre-stocked with extra haunting ooos.

It’s sooo special, that you’d better be able to handle the cognitive dissonance of a “broad inviting veranda” that “welcomes visitors,” except you’re not supposed to “disturb the occupants.”  Guess that broad inviting veranda is off-limits, eh?  But ask yourself, what kind of occupants would there be in an 8/4.5 near a major university?

Two words.  Frat house.  With extra ooos.  Take a look at the photo above, again.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Vampire frat house.

While you put on your carbon-fiber neck protector, savor this lot.  Look how it takes up the space of more than four tall or two grande properties, and just lolls onto both Lincoln and Waverly like a well-played Tetris piece… without actually being on the corner!

Heh.  I said loll.  And lolling is what you get to do when you live on the Better Side of Middlefield.  Too bad you can’t buy the Vampire Frat House, though.  It’s pending, and loooks like it was delisted a month ago, probably when someone walked in and said “Ooo!  8 bedroooms and 4 bathroooms!  Sooold!”  Loooks like you’re priced out forever, but the ooout-of-tooown sellers are making the city very happy.  The old tax valuation was (ooo!) $175,246.

To be fair, I went up and down the street loooking for unsightly vehicles, but this was the worst to be found.  The next worst was the Post Office truck.  But I do like how this photo shows the hired help gazing longingly at a house he wishes he could live in.

You see, this is the Better Side (even if you have to leave garlic on each windowsill)!  The neighbors keep their cars tucked behind hedges and trees, so only the transient workers’ jalopies remain.  Next time, we’ll Return to the Dark Side. Be there or be a Tetris piece!

$3,950,000

455 FOREST Ave Unit B Palo Alto, CA 94301

Beds:	4
Baths:	3.5
Sq. Ft.:	2,676
$/Sq. Ft.:	$1,476
Lot Size:	-
Property Type:	Townhouse
Style:	Modern/High Tech, Contemporary
Stories:	1-3 (Low Rise)
View:	Neighborhood, City Lights
Year Built:	2009
Community:	Downtown
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81031358
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	17 days

City Lofts – modern 3-level townhome in the heart of downtown Palo Alto, accessed by your own private elevator. Soaring top-floor ‘great’ room with walls of windows opening to a large roof deck. Ground floor suite with kitchenette, full bath and separate entry. Powered by solar panels. Designed by David Solnick Price includes most furnishings.

These days, people want everything to be high tech. Thanks to Burbed reader Herve for this high tech find. Wow… $3.95M! Here’s a question: how much of that is due to the private elevator and solar panels? And why does this house have a private elevator anyway if you’re trying to be green?

So many questions, so much price. This house is definitely fit for a newly minted Tesla millionaire!

Ask a professional real estate agent why one house costs more than another, and she’ll say “location, location, location.”  Ask why one house cost more than another despite being smaller and having fewer amenities, and she’ll say, “location, location, location.”

Then again, ask her what she had for dinner last night, and she’ll say, “location, location, location.”

Is location really all there is to pricing Real Estate?  Is it the perceived market pulse, or expectations, or whether a neighbor down the street has an RV in the front yard?  Does the condition of the house matter?  Or is it just what the realtard had for dinner last night?

Several homes for sale on the same street is one way to stress test this real estate cliché.  So let’s begin with this “cozy charmer,” as a professional might call it.  The rest of us would call it a charming ninety year old garden shed.  But when the shed is in a prime zip code, it’s priced right under a million.

725 LINCOLN Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301
$999,000

 

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,032
$/Sq. Ft.: $968
Lot Size: 4,250 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Year Built: 1920
Community: Community Center
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81035012
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin: 5 days

English cottage style with wonderful decor and charm. Two bedrooms with walk-in closets; large kitchen, separate dining room, inside laundry. Lovely patios under new trellis. Separate out building attractive exterior could become darling room of some practical or fun purpose. Fantastic location!

See!  She said location!  I guess we should be grateful she only said it once.  She also said “charm,” “lovely,” and “darling.”  And the “separate out building attractive exterior” isn’t shown in the photos, even though it “could become darling room of some practical or fun purpose.”  Practical or fun?  Why not both?  Then the on-site meth lab/hookah bar is a go!

Now, speaking of the “fantastic location,” notice anything about the map?

.

Well yes, it appears the property has been subdivided into The House and The Street Access.  That’s curious, but remember today’s title?  Hint: The yellow “do not cross – crime scene” tape runs across Middlefield Road.  So, is this house on the “right” or the “wrong” side of the boundary?  And would the price be higher or lower if the chicken crossed the Road? 

By the way, the neighbor really does have an RV parked on the lawn.

Now that is one classy neighborhood.  Can’t wait to see how prices (as well as neighbors’ vehicles) fare on The Other Side.  Stay tuned!

$645,000

269 ADDISON Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301

Beds:	2
Baths:	2.5
Sq. Ft.:	1,239
$/Sq. Ft.:	$521
Lot Size:	6,300 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Cottage/Bungalow
Stories:	2
View:	Neighborhood
Year Built:	1896
Community:	Downtown
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81033538
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	4 days

Nice home on large, landscaped lot minutes from downtown Palo Alto. 2-story house has 2 master suites, hdwd flrs & wood beamed ceilings. French doors in LR open to spacious backyard w/ lush lawn, fruit trees & gardening beds. Buy a single fam house in downtown at a DISCOUNT! This is leased land. Buyer pays $1391/mon rent to landowner & keeps low prop tax base (only $293/mon). Go to 271 Addison.

Here’s what Burbed reader Herve had to say:

$645K for that seemed really cheap… Then I read the last part: "Buyer pays $1391/mon rent to landowner & keeps low prop tax base (only $293/mon)."

Indeed! What’s going on?

Well, it turns out that this house has been on Burbed before. Let’s take a look:

$588,000 for a house with land for 56 years

Just when I thought I had seen everything – I found this:

269 ADDISON AV, Palo Alto Property Details – Palo Alto Real Estate – Palo Alto Homes for Sale – Movoto
269 ADDISON AV, Palo Alto 94301

Wow. Don’t you wish you had bought this house in 2006? You could’ve flipped it and made a $57k profit. And now, there’s only 52 years remaining on this lease.

You snooze you lose. Better buy this house soon because every year the lease gets shorter, the price goes higher apparently!

$888,000

1095 MORENO Ave Palo Alto, CA 94303

Beds:	3
Baths:	2
Sq. Ft.:	1,392
$/Sq. Ft.:	$638
Lot Size:	7,654 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Ranch
Stories:	1
View:	Neighborhood
Year Built:	1955
Community:	South Palo Alto
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81030305
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	17 days

This home has been loved for too long and needs a lot of tlc. Original owner relocated to sr. comm. Do a remodel or build a new dream home of your own. Wonderful pie shaped lot. End of the cul-de-sac location with lots of privacy. quiet neighborhood close to park, freeway access w/ o the noise, PA high school , Close to Mid-town. Rare opportunity to find a nice buildable lot.

Thanks to Burbed reader Herve for this find!

Wow, loved too long huh? I’m not sure what kind of relationships the agent is used to, but this isn’t what I think of when I hear “Loved too long”.

But there’s more… when I read “pie shaped lot” I thought of a circle. Let’s see the lot:

Not to be too critical, but this seems more like an “clothing iron” or “shoe” shaped lot. Not a pie.

But hey, buy this house, add another $500k to build a house, and boom! Your dream is realized!

And look at how lucky that price is!