Another great find from Burbed reader sonarrat!  I tell you, if it weren’t for sonarrat you’d be reading about Sunnyvale every single day!  This house was sent in because, “I had no idea this neighborhood was so hot. Is it because of the easy access to bail bonds?”

130 Rankin Ave, San Jose, CA 95110
$669,000

Beds: 3
Baths: 4.5
Sq. Ft.: 1,852
$/Sq. Ft.: $377
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Colonial
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1937
Community: Central San Jose
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81029707
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 157 days

MOTIVATED SELLER. NESTED IN A TRULY MAGNIFICENT & ELEGANT VENDOME NEIGHBORHOOD. DTWN JEWEL. A RARE FIND. FORMAL ENTRY, SEPRATE D/ROOM, GRACIOUS L/ROOM W/ FIREPLACE, BEAUTIFUL STAIRCASE, FRENCH DOORS & WINDS, HARDWOOD FLOORS, CROWN MOLDING, BASE BOARDING PARTIAL BASEMENT, CONVENIENTLY LOCATED NEAR LIGHT RAIL, JAPAN TOWN, SHOPPING & EASY ACCESS TO FREEWAYS & MAJOR STREETS.

I went through every one of these pictures and there are no FRENCH WINDS anywhere.  I’d even accept ENGLISH WINDS or WOOD WINDS.  Just no BREAK WINDS, though.

Also I can’t find the BASE BOARDING the PARTIAL BASEMENT (or should that be a PARTIAL BASE MENT?).  Definitely another case of DECEPTIVE LISTING COPY.

But maybe this place is worth it for the classic console television,  If they throw that in, then it really would be A RARE FIND.

And if it is indeed a DTWN JEWEL then you’d have to worry about being arrested for STEALING it at this low, low price.  Fortunately, sonarrat helpfully informed us about the easy access to bail bonds services.

Right.  Looks like there are a number of fine agencies competing for our business!

Competition is a wonderful thing, but I am wondering if this TRULY MAGNIFICENT & ELEGANT VENDOME NEIGHBORHOOD has some basic niceties beyond having ten different bail bonds offices within two minutes’ drive.

On the plus side, with this LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, you could rent out some extra bedrooms and bathrooms), plus that PARTIAL BASE MENT, to the city or county as an Overflow Jail Annex.  Your “guests” will appreciate how quickly the bail reps can show up!  The police will give you concierge service knowing some perp they bust is more likely to stay busted, thanks to your innovative inmate solution.  The neighborhood louts will steer clear of the serious muscle inside.  And you’ll appreciate knowing this house is making money for you every single day.

Today’s listing is brought to you by Burbed reader sonarrat.  Here’s what sonarrat has to say about today’s featured house!  “Yep, I had a view of this house from my classes at SJSU.”

237 E San Fernando St, San Jose, CA 95112
$1,199,000

Beds: –
Baths: –
Sq. Ft.: 2,250
$/Sq. Ft.: $533
Lot Size: 6,165 Sq. Ft.
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1920
Community: Central San Jose
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81023941
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 186 days

Amazing opportunity in prime location – right next to SJSU and behind San Jose City Hall. This fantastic property has 11 rooms (possible to add 3 more), 3 bathrooms, common area, coin operated laundry machine in the spacious basement. Plenty of parking spaces available in the large backyard. Options for Fraternity house, business, restaurant or duplex. Buyers to confirm use permits.

Wow, sonarrat, I’m speechless.  Has there ever been a property on Burbed before where the agent suggests it would make a great Frat house?  Fraternity brothers take such good care of the premises, too!  It would be such a shame to turn this into a business or restaurant instead. Then it could burn down when a waiter trips holding a tray full of flaming shots for the frat brothers who bought down the street.

Look, we know in life there are winners and there are losers.  Not everyone who can send their kids to college gets to send them to Stanford.  So if your son or daughter is as upset about their options as you’ll be, why not pick up this conveniently located little dwelling as a consolation prize, and skip the whole dorm thing?  Let the college kid learn about the real world by writing leases, collecting rents and evicting deadbeats!  Plus, you can sell it at a profit in seven or eight years when your child finally graduates. Yes, seven or eight years, because with those budget cuts, there’s no way the school’s letting anyone graduate in just four.

Real Bay Area property doubles every ten years, so this is an investment that more than pays for itself.  Remember, it’s got a coin-operated laundry machine.

Thanks to Burbed reader sonarrat, who sent us today’s listing, and has this to say: “How about building your own dream house in Evergreen with a breathtaking view of 101?”

How about it?

3812 Dove Hill Rd, San Jose, CA 95121
$229,000

Beds: -
Baths: -
Sq. Ft.: -
Lot Size:  0.88 Acres
Property Type: Residential Land (Single Family)
View: Mountains, Neighborhood, Valley, City Lights
Community: Evergreen
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81041017
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 90 days

Beautiful place to build your dream home!!! Views of Valley, City Lights & maybe even the Bay! No plans or surveys, but don’t let that stop you from seeing the possibilities of this site. Close to shopping & dining, and just a short drive to both downtown San Jose & Morgan Hill.

No plans or surveys, but don’t let that stop you.  We’re talking Beautiful place to build your dream home!!!  You don’t need limitations like plans and surveys and site approvals and water and sewer lines.  You’re just a short drive to downtown Morgan Hill, after all.

All you need to know is this is a steep hillside lot which slopes down from the street.  Enjoy the breathtaking view.

Views of Valley, City Lights & maybe even the Bay…shore Freeway.

Last summer, burbed reader sonarrat sent in this listing for a house in “Central San Jose.”  Some of you were a little disparaging of the wishing price.

If they’re not making any more land, then here’s a half-acre of it, right near the freeway.  I can’t understand why it wasn’t sold at twice the price, especially with that guaranteed monthly rental stream of $800.  So let’s see how Julian Street fares today.

1279 E Julian St San Jose, CA 95116
$410,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 828
$/Sq. Ft.: $495
Lot Size: 0.49 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1920
Community: Central San Jose
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81024656
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 151 days

HUGE PRICE REDUCTION TO SELL NOW! Long, deep 1/2 acre lot w/ two homes has potential residential or commercial application, great for storage, trucks/RVs possible, more. Great INVESTMENT in downtown San Jose close to Freeway, commercial areas. Big 1/2 acre lot, value is in the land. Seller loss is your gain so dont wait! Home currently rented at $800.00/month. Also another building and storage shed.

So while the house is now offered at less than half what it was last year, the rent hasn’t changed!  Now do you see why buying is always better than renting?  You still get your rent check every month and it stays the same no matter how much property values plummet realign. Plus, when you own property, you get action and excitement.  Just look at the nail-biting thrills trying to find a bigger sucker naive knifecatcher smart investor!

Nothing timid about these price adjustments!  Clearly we’re dealing with a seriously effed borrower go-for-it decision maker!  Do you want to be the one who avoided certain bankruptcy didn’t take action by snatching up all the instant equity in this financial quagmire prime land?  Plus $800 a month, every month!  It’s like getting the other building and storage shed for free!

Here’s a burbed featured listing from last November.  This condo is as low-priced as a 13-year-old trailer mobile home, and it’s moving about as quickly.  The Alum Rock townhouse-style unit was $99,000 then, and it’s still at that same bargain price now!

Here’s where the rubber meets the road.  Eleven months later: same photos, same price, same description.  The only thing that’s changed is the number of days on Redfin.

2137 Luz Ave  San Jose, CA 95116
$99,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1.5
Sq. Ft.: 956
$/Sq. Ft.: $104
Lot Size: 871 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Condominium
Stories: 1-3 (Low Rise)
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1973
Community: Alum Rock
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80942348
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 404 days

Affordable townhouse!!! Perfect for first time buyers or investor. Kitchen-tile counter, wood cabinets, and new tile bathroom floor. Close to freeways, stores and hospital.

Good thing it’s close to the hospital.  This isn’t exactly the safest part of San Jose, but at this price, why would you care?  You could afford to live in the intensive-care unit full-time with how much you’d save compared to the Real Bay Area (RBA).  Plus, with all the Section 8 apartments around, nobody at the hospital would bother running your credit if you told them you can’t afford health insurance.

Something else changed too.  Looks like the FB and the agent were having some differences of opinion.

Last November, the condo was “30 year fixed mortgage of $425 and the HOA of $280.”  But now, with interest rates down, your mortgage will be even less!  Think the homeowner fees have gone much since last year?

And you can save even more, because:

If this place isn’t worth Redfin’s time, it’s got to be worth somebody’s!  It sold for $389,500 in 2006. That means there’s more than a quarter million in instant equity waiting for you to unlock it!  What are you waiting for?  Somebody might buy that foosball table any minute!

burbed reader sonarrat is back with another unpretentious property in a zip code that’s never been called Real Bay Area (RBA).  sonarrat’s comment on this listing:

What kind of business would you put in this colorful neighborhood?

Let’s see what colorful delights await.

1657 Alum Rock San Jose, CA 95116
$649,999

Beds: 4
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,176
$/Sq. Ft.: $553
Lot Size: 0.83 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: 1 House on Lot, Detached
STORIES: 1
Year Built: 1928
Community: San Jose
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 10036818
Source: MetroList
Status: Active 
On Redfin: 156 days

MIXED USE property, retail space upfront and SFR in the back. Motivated seller. see also listing # 10036818

Did you look up the other listing?  I’ll just wait here while you do that.  Also I’m calling shenanigans on the lot size.  Have a look at the neighborhood:

Wouldn’t you say the property appears to be the smallest visible in this aerial view?  So either commercial space on State Route 130 is quite generous, or the agent’s description of the lot size as 0.83 acres is wildly off from the 90 x 40 foot description in the listing detail.  An acre is 43,560 square feet, 0.83 acre is 36,155 sf.  90 x 40 feet is 3600 square feet.  Wow, that’s a 900% error.  I think the technical term for this is “wrong.”

In addition, the cross street for this Alum Rock Ave address is given as “Alum Rock,” the school information, for both Elementary, Junior High, and High School, is “Other,” for that matter so are the Bathrooms, Heating and Cooling, and it says the lot has a gravel road.  But speaking of what kind of business could be here, there’s already a link to another blog post on the Redfin site.  It’s for raw dog food.  I am not even going to ask.

In the Real Bay Area (RBA), there are many homes listed with seven-digit prices.  Some places that are almost, but not quite, RBA also have million dollar properties.  Then there are the locations where a seven-digit listing is as sensible as a particle accelerator at a rummage sale.

1346 Grand Blvd  San Jose, CA 95002
$999,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 4
Sq. Ft.: 2,574
$/Sq. Ft.: $388
Lot Size: 6,098 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Mediterranean
Stories: 2
View: Mountains
Year Built: 2009
Community: Alviso (Santa Clara County)
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81017512
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 178 days

Fabulous one year new Mediteranean home. 2,474 sq. ft, 4 bed, 3 ba. Plus 500 sq. ft. studio apartment (rented $825). Marble entry & floors. Recessed lighting, Luxury fixtures. Granite, maple, and stainless kitchen. Huge master suite with jacuzzi tub. Skylights. 1,000 sq. ft. bonus room. Over 4,000 sq. ft of living space! 4 car finished garage. Slate entry with custom doors. Views of mountains.

Wow.  Who knew you could find a “Mediteranean” home with marble entry and floors with jacuzzi tub… in ALVISO?  In case nothing comes to mind when you read “Alviso,” here’s a couple of things to remember.

1. Aviso is Spanish for “notice.”  So you had better be on notice if you’re considering Alviso.
2. Sometimes a picture says a thousand words.  Sometimes a picture just says “Stay the heck away.”

Okay, so Alviso isn’t exactly RBA, but there are still pockets of nice areas to be found almost anywhere.  For example, today’s featured house is on a GRAND boulevard.

Um, yeah.  Nothing like a traffic signal in your front yard.  It will keep the kids amused for hours!  Speaking of kids, let’s see if the nearby schools are any good.

No schools less than 700 miles away?  Cool!  Must be due to the wormhole on North 1st Street!

There have been a number of requests that burbed stop with the high-priced houses, and return to its roots.  That means “scrapers in the ‘hood,” and today’s featured property qualifies on both counts.  But the price will definitely surprise you.

14335 Story Road, San Jose 95127
$1,199,950

Beds: 3
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,474
$/Sq. Ft.: $814
Lot Size: 0.78 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Traditional
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1930
Community: Alum Rock
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80778197
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 964 days

May have the ability to develope multiple units!

Wonder why the agent may, but didn’t, have the ability to develope multiple photos?  Especially because they went through all the trouble of setting up a virtual tour. There’s more descriptive copy in this link.  Are you ready, because I’m going to post all of it. It’s a bit of a teal deer, sorry.

3 beds, 1 bath, 1474 sf on a 34,000 sf lot. Large lot perfect for possible PUD and or multiple units adjacent to National Hispanic University. Buyers duty to confirm.

Did somebody buyers have to confirm it’s “adjacent to National Hispanic University”?  Isn’t this photo good enough?

Plus, there’s nine more pictures to drool over, every single one of them outdoors.  Here’s my favorite:

I love that weird glow around the trees.  Someone’s been playing with Photoshop!  Maybe you can buy this property and play Develope!  Put in that multiple property PUD thing, throw up a dozen scrapers, and start evicting deadbeat tenants now!

NY-area rents are not as high as one might think

Grumble, if you will, about high rents and warren-like apartments. Just be glad you don’t live in San Jose.

It may be little comfort, but the New York metropolitan area is not home—as a renter might think—to the highest rents in the country. That distinction goes to the San Jose metro area in northern California, where gross median rents cost $1,414, making it the most expensive in the country. San Francisco came in second, followed by the Washington, D.C., area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey released Tuesday.

The New York metro area, which includes northern New Jersey and Long Island, was sixth. Median gross rent was $1,125 a month. The median rent in the city alone was $1,086.

26 CECIL Ave San Jose, CA 95128

$325,500

Beds:	2
Baths:	1
Sq. Ft.:	927
$/Sq. Ft.:	$351
Lot Size:	5,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Traditional
Stories:	1
Year Built:	1953
Community:	Central San Jose
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81037679
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	ActiveThis listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	39 days

SHORT SALE. NICE 2 BEDROOMS 1 BATH, 2UNITS 2ND UNIT UNKONOWN PERMITS BUYER TO VERIFY BUILDING PERMITS ON 2ND UNIT. IT HAS HARDWOOD FLOORS NEEDS TCL. WITH A LOTS OF POTENTIAL. GOOD INVESTMENT PROPERTY.

Thanks to Burbed reader sonarrat for this find!

Seriously… if you can’t afford this, you can’t complain that there’s no affordable housing in the Bay Area. Now, it might not be Real Bay Area, but this is still the Bay Area nonetheless (and it’s not Gilroy).

I mean, just look at the magnitude of this opportunity! It’s BOGO: Buy one get one free!

Now granted, it’s not really clear to me where this second unit is, or why this house requires knowledge of Tool Command Language, but hey’ it’s a good investment opportunity. You can’t trust your stock broker to provide advice like that, but surely you can trust a real estate agent!

This is a short sale – which means its going to be sold shortly. Better snatch it up now!