Let’s return again to our roots and feature one of the homes that Burbed was best known for. Have a look at this spacious place while we take a good look at some prices.

418 ALDEN St
Redwood City, CA 94063
$390,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
640 Sq. Ft.
$609 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1925
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 18 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Neighborhood
County: San Mateo
Stories: 2
Community: Lenolt
MLS#: 81312880

NEW KITCHEN WITH GRANITE COUNTER TOP, NEW WINDOWS, NEW BATHROOM. CONVENIENTLY LOCATED CLOSE TO SHOPPING, FREEWAY AND TRANSPORTATION.

For $390K, you’re only going to get one GRANITE COUNTER TOP and one NEW BATHROOM and zero photos of either. But that’s not the only reason we’re featuring this delightful dwelling.  Have a look at the listing from the last time it went on the market, as a short sale.

418 ALDEN St
Redwood City, CA 94063
Sold for $239,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
640 Sq. Ft.
$373 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1925
Lot Size: 5,000 Sq. Ft.
Sold On: Jun 10, 2011
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Community: Lenolt
MLS#: 81053292
Stories: 2
County: San Mateo

SHORT SALE. SALES PRICE AND COMMISSION SUBJECT TO LENDER’S APPROVAL.

Just because the price went up 63 percent due to a GRANITE COUNTER TOP doesn’t mean we’re in a bubble. 

Why, just take a look at the price history for this palace.  We have a lovely little line graph for you as well as the screenshot from Redfin.

Obviously there’s no Bubble 4.0 in this part of Redwood City, because it was completely derailed after 2006. All the dots on the graph are sales except for the last one on the right, that’s the current asking price.

Do you have any doubt where this investment is heading? In case you don’t, the house itself has the answer for you.

Welcome to the most difficult entry in the entire Blogging from A to Z Challenge. X is the letter that leads to cheats (like finding a house in FairfaX), tweet-style entries (X-treme anything), and words that are unrelated to the blog’s subject (wouldn’t you all like an entry on Xylophones? Hint: they’re supposed to be made of wood).

But no, we’re going to rise to this challenge properly, even if we have to go all the way back to 2010 to comply!  It was either that or another one of our tl;dr essays on the subject of how odd Xenophobia looks to residents of the Real Bay Area.  You can let us know whether we made the right choice with the property listings by speaking up in comments.

72 LORELEI Ln
Menlo Park, CA 94025
$780,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,120 Sq. Ft.
$696 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1956
Lot Size: 5,130 Sq. Ft.
Sold On: Aug 24, 2010
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Flood Park Area
MLS#: 81033951

Charming remodeled 3 bedroom/ 2 full bathroom home, inspired by the California and Silicon Valley lifestyle, on a quiet cul-de-sac in a wonderful Menlo Park neighborhood. Notice the professionally designed xeriscape in the front yard that utilizes California native and drought resistant vegetation. Check out the no-mow front lawn (it is very cool). Hardwood floors, open beamed ceilings.

Yes, dear readers, our entry for today is Xeriscaping.  Xeriscaping is landscaping with drought-resistant or desert-native plants. The point of xeriscaping is to conserve water and reduce yard waste, and it’s also one of those trendy terms we find on this parody site (of late neglected). And we’ve covered many a house with those kind of front yards! So now that we went back to 2010 to find the only use of the word in any Bay Area home listing anywhere (and they had to turn it into a fracking noun while they were at it), let’s come up with a more recent offering more suitable to the needs of the current home buyer.

201 RIO CHICO Dr
San Jose, CA 95111
$440,000

6 Beds
3 Baths
1,769 Sq. Ft.
$249 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1959
Lot Size: 5,100 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 63 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: South San Jose
MLS#: 81305376

This is an excellent opportunity for an investor or a large family. This house needs a little TLC and is located near schools, shopping and freeways. Thank-you for showing.

Xeriscaping without all the fuss, and no pretentious neighbors anywhere near this location, location, location to say you’re doing it wrong!  Or to imply that it is not very cool. We apologize for the City-owned parking strip with greenery.  Thank you for showing.

We’re almost done With the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and Wow is our Website Woozy.  What Will our readers Whine about When it’s gone? No Worries, some of you Wonder Why it Wore out its Welcome While others Winked at how Wonderful the Words Were.

Well… let’s move on to today’s featured home. It’s in one of Realest of the Real Bay Area areas, home to many famous Silicon Valley startup billionaires. Now it can be home to you as Well, and even at an Welcome asking price!

439 GLENWOOD Ave
Woodside, CA 94062
$888,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
480 Sq. Ft.
$1,850 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1933
Lot Size: 0.34 Acres
On Redfin: 6 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: San Mateo
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Community: Woodside Glens
MLS#: 81312849

A Rare and Most Unique Opportunity2Bld Your Dream HM or Acquire a Cottage HM Retreat in Coveted Woodside Glens!Revive 2 Fxr Upr Cottages, or Pave the Way for Your NU LUX RES!This Desirable Prop offers 15,000 SQ FT of Wooded Serenity w/ an End of the Road Culdesac Lctn!Approx. 4 miles from Canada Road, EZ Ingress/Egress. Minutes 2 Town Village & Top Rated Woodside Elementary Schl!Super EZ Cmt2H-280!

Upcoming Open Houses

Sunday, Apr 28: 2:00-4:00 pm
Sunday, May 5: 2:00-4:00 pm

This may be the first property in Woodside to have its listing copy composed entirely in tweets.

Wow, What’s this? Woodside is known for huge spreads on acres of land. Today’s house is only oversized When compared With this cabin in the Woods.

Wait, there’s more (bunus!): Court confirmation may be required. Whee!

We Resume our Regularly scheduled Blogging from A to Z Challenge today, which is Retailed to you by the letter R.  Really. Read on and Reason why Redwood City (climate best by government test) should be Respected. While this Redoubt may not be Real Bay Area, Recent Realty values have Reformed. 

And that’s a fancy of way of saying, “Buy now or be priced out forever.”  Yeah, we Repeat that one.

874 CLEVELAND St
Redwood City, CA 94061
$499,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,469 Sq. Ft.
$340 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1920
Lot Size: 3,570 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 32 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: San Mateo
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Community: Central Park
MLS#: 81308678

Two homes on one lot. First house is 2 bedrooms and back house is 1 bedroom. Fixer opportunity. Tenant 1 is paying 900 a month and tenant 2 is 750. Both month to month. Purchase subject to inspection.

Look at that. A two for one special! And even better, this Real estate is Redolent with Renters! Buy now and you’ll be Realty Royalty! 

Also, you maybe be getting “bunus” buildings with this one, because the lot looks like there’s more than two buildings Residing.

Our Response? Refi. Rinse. Repeat.

We move on with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and today’s a Premier Prospect! Pronto, Propose a Principality where the Population is Pushy, Pretentious, and Proud? Did someone say Palo Alto? Perhaps Piedmont? Possible, but we’ll Put them aside. 

Today’s Property is in Portola Valley!  Profound thanks to Burbed reader laurenatuw.

187 DEGAS Rd
Portola Valley, CA 94028
$3,150,000

5 Beds
3.5 Baths
3,600 Sq. Ft.
$875 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1962
Lot Size: 2.56 Acres
On Redfin: 6 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Community: Central Portola Valley
MLS#: 81311884
Style: Colonial

AWESOME OPPORTUNITY IN WESTRIDGE, THIS HOME IS A WELL LOVED ORIGINAL JEWEL. FIRST TIME ON THE MARKET HOME BOAST HAND CRAFTED, BEAUTIFUL FINISHED INTERIOR LIVING AREAS. HAND CRAFTED WOODWORK AND HARDWOOD FLOORS THROUGHOUT METICULOUSLY CARED FOR AND STAND OUT IN THIS COMFORTABLE 5 BDRM, 3.5 BATH FAMILY HOME. SITUATED ON 2.5+ ACRES OF SCULPTED AND NATURAL LANDSCAPE, THE PROPERTY IS PRIVATE YET CONVENIENT

Let’s Pester laurenatuw for a Precis:

hand crafted interior not worth picturing

interesting new listing in Portola valley……. the town is so distracted by the housing bubble that pics of inside the house are now considered optional, even with a 3.15mill asking price.

guess you’ll just have to take the realtard’s word for it when they say (in all caps) "HAND CRAFTED, BEAUTIFUL FINISHED INTERIOR"…….

This Property is so Private that the agent Provided 14, Poll ‘em, 14 Pictures and every single Photo Portrays another Piece of the Peripheral Premises.

Today is day #5 of the A to Z blogging challenge:  Everything’s Easy. Eventually Excellent Estates would be Examined, as Everyone Expected we’d Essay on Entities Eastwards. Ever Espy how adding East to an Entity makes it Easier to Enjoy?  East Palo Alto is an Easier Expense than Palo Alto.  East San Jose is less Expensive as San Jose. And East Oakland? Empty. Ecch, Examine the Entire East Bay if you Endeavor to Evade being priced out forever!  Er, End Emit Equity Emerging Evermore.

2318 PALO VERDE Ave
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
$369,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
860 Sq. Ft.
$429 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1951
Lot Size: 4,800 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 3 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: East of U.S. 101
MLS#: 81310172
Style: Contemporary
View: Neighborhood
County: San Mateo

BEAUTIFUL REMODELED HM W/ MANY WINDOWS, GARDEN VIEWS & ABUNDANCE OF NATURAL LIGHT. INCL NEW KIT, GRANITE COUNTERTOP, BACKSPLASH, TILE FLRS, NEW STOVE, LARGE LR & BEDROOMS. NEW LAMINATED FLR THROUGHOUT. REMODELED BATH. FRESHLY PAINTED INSIDE & OUT. PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPING W/ AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION. PEACEFUL SETTING AFFORDS PRIVACY YET REMAINS MINS TO SHOPPING & FREEWAY ACCESS. MUST SEE TO APPRECIATE!

There is one term for this kind of a building and that is “snout house.” It’s all garage and the front Entrance is not Eyeable. But there’s so much more to today’s Entry!

Not only is there a Gated Entryway, in Excellent snout house tradition, we still can’t find the front door. Note the addition of a stunt portal.

The remodeled Eatery is Eclectic, while the yard is Easy maintenance. Want to get an Estimate of Effort involved in the update? Examine this Earlier Eyesore!

Must see to appreciate. Eyeball, Extol, Expand!  The End.

It’s the second day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge and our readers are already Bored!  So let’s Blow off any more Bitching and proceed to today’s Bodacious Beauty!  Also Bear in mind that B is not only for Burbed, it appears twice therein!

Okay, we swear we won’t Bother Belaboring the Best Blog in the Bay Area!

804 MILLER Ave
Belmont, CA 94002
$1,900,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
1,030 Sq. Ft.
$1,845 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1926
Lot Size: 4,500 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 4 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Valley
County: San Mateo
Stories: 1
Community: Belmont Country Club
MLS#: 81309791

Approximately 20,000 square feet per county records, made up of 4 beautiful lots with level areas. On one lot, there is a small 2/1 with a detached 2 car garage. See the city to determine the development possibilities of this property. .. possibly 4 new homes! Needs to be sold all as one package.

Note that weasel word: possibly! Possibly 4 new homes! Possibly the most expensive 1000 sf house on 4500 square feet in the history of Belmont real estate sales. Possibly a Big Boost toward Buyer’s Bona fide Bankruptcy.  Inotherwords: Buy and Believe!

Buh-Bye!

Today’s house shows the importance of architectural design rules, such as balancing all the elements on each wall.  In this case, perhaps they were followed a bit too literally.  Our thanks to Burbed reader holyzoo for this superlative structure in South San Francisco!  Pending?  But of course!

Please enjoy this Guest Post, and give holyzoo a big, warm, Real Bay Area welcome as today’s Guest Blogger!

114 B St
South San Francisco, CA 94080
$575,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,270 Sq. Ft.
$453 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1953
Lot Size: 6,144 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 29 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: Bi/Split Level
County: San Mateo
Style: Contemporary
Community: South San Francisco (Industrial)
MLS#: 81304306

A great home in lovely South San Francisco. This lovely home is located on a large corner lot. 3 large bedrooms, 2 full baths. including a mastersuite, Large spacious kitchen, dining area off the kitchen, nice size living room, 4 car attached garage, lots of light thru out the home. very private location, perfect place to park a lot of cars.

Well I have lenders jumping through hoops to see how much of a shovel I can have them hand me.  So far it looks pretty sweet.

So the search continues to see if something can persuade us. 

Which leads to this bizarre anomaly. 

It’s a bargain at $595k for a 3/2 1270sq/ft. SFH that looks like an apartment, no?

There’s an open house this weekend and we are there.  The listing agent gets crafty – "very private location, perfect place to park a lot of cars", or dead bodies?

Let’s see if we can even figure out how you get to the house?

Here’s the bird’s dropping, er, I mean, bird’s eye view.   Say you need a new roof?  Mr. Roofing is a turd throw away. 

Now from the street named end, looks like a dead end to me.

Then from the 1st street past someone else’s teardown, I think we have solved the mystery?  Just *sneak* past the neighbors with my entourage of cars daily and nightly and see if they dare screw with ME!

These guys had no clue how to get there either. 

We’re covering the housing bubble 24/7 now that everyone’s paying attention to real estate again.  Today we have a lovely home in Redwood City that you may have seen before.  Take another look, while you still can!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for an excellent surveillance operation.

715 ESTHER Ln
Redwood City, CA 94062
$450,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
750 Sq. Ft.
$600 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1929
Lot Size: 4,790 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 33 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Cordilleras Heights
MLS#: 81303054

Beautiful view of bay and city lights. Additional 6900sqft lot to be sold with the property. The additional 6900 sq ft parcel of land CANNOT be developed upon per city and county building department. Building square footage 1130sf on public profile is incorrect, actual living area is about 750sf, Fixer-upper Sold "As Is" may not qualify for FHA.

This house’s list of tag may be bigger than it is.  Not only that, it has a history!

Here’s something it didn’t have last year (besides an extra hundred thou of instant equity you get now!): Redfin Agent Insights!

“Dead End,” “Completely gutted” and “Killer Views,” three phrases that don’t go well together after watching certain movies.  How about Zero Dark Thirty?

We’ve been calling Bubble on the Real Bay Area for several months.  For the next few days we’ll continue to make the case that the housing bubble in the Bay Area is absolutely unmistakable.  Yesterday, we had a 35% overbid in Prime Palo Alto for a tear-down bungalow on a lot too small for subdivision.  Today, we have an even smaller lot with a return of what we called a “wishing price” when the Bubble was about to pop.  But before it did, we had another name for a WTF asking price.  Let’s see what one would look like in Millbrae.

140 MAGNOLIA Ave
Millbrae, CA 94030
$1,100,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
990 Sq. Ft.
$1,111 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1927
Lot Size: 6,000 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 3 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: San Mateo
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Community: Highlands
MLS#: 81306376

Charming Two Bedroom and One Bathroom Single Family Home situated on a Lot that is Zoned R-2 (Residential Duplex). This home is located conveniently around the corner from Downtown Millbrae’s Finest Restaurants and Shopping. Great Development Potential, come see this home!

A thousand a foot is a fair price for convenient access to SFO plus two freeways! Plus this is primo real estate photography. At least the agent isn’t snapping pictures in corners like yesterday.

Plus this home is located conveniently around the corner from Downtown Millbrae’s Finest Restaurants and Shopping.  According to Yelp, the Best Restaurant in Millbrae is the Millbrae Pancake House, so we’re talking haute cuisine.  Or at least hot cuisine. 

Now, this lovely home last changed hands in September 2010, for $675,000.  Aren’t you sorry you didn’t snag it then?  Look at all the instant equity you missed out on!  As you can see from the old listing photo (right), the only improvement done to the home since then was to Photoshop in a better sky.  Also back then the place was “Close to BART, Airport, Freeways and schools.”

Not any longer!  Now it’s just one big Great Development Potential opportunity for you! With a price like this, this is now a Real Bay Area house, therefore the train tracks, airport and freeways must have been relocated.

We hope you realize this is THE SECRET of how to make money in Bay Area real estate:

1. Buy house not in the Real Bay Area due to its location fail
2. Eliminate location fail so house moves to RBA
3. ???
4. PROFIT!

Remember, a WTF asking price isn’t a Wishing Price unless there’s no chance of getting it. This is a Bubble Price.  This seller is saying, “You want this house? You’re going to have to pay me enough to Make Me Move.”