We are done with the April blogging challenge, so let’s get back to what made Burbed what it is: ridiculously overpriced crapboxes! And what better place to find it than in our very favorite city, Palo Alto?  Thanks much to Burbed reader Pizzawillcome for this, um, thing you could seek shelter in if you absolutely had to.

3375 STOCKTON Pl
Palo Alto, CA 94303
$1,299,900

4 Beds
2 Baths
1,716 Sq. Ft.
$758 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1958
Lot Size: 6,400 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 52 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Community: South Palo Alto
MLS#: 81307408

Classic Eichler home with central atrium. Nice backyard. Large utility room can also function as a den, office, or playroom.

Here’s why Pizza sent in this house:

I didn’t pull the trigger on this one, and now it is back! Same pictures as a month ago. Gotta burb-alert it now.
Unfolded laundry on the couch and floor, littered stuffed animals and toys. When I get bored with overly staged houses, I think of this one.

Fortunately, the Redfin agent has some useful comments to share as well!

Original condition! That’s excellent news! None of those second-rate replacements of vintage pressboard walls.  But these photos just sell the house, don’t they?

And note how the use of light draws your attention in to all the details.

That is, if you can see them. This technique seems to work just as well in the outdoor shot of the yard, demonstrating just what kind of a professional we’re dealing with.

So, if a house is for sale in the Real Bay Area, but it’s on a street named for somewhere that is Most Certainly Not In The Real Bay Area, how high will the overbids be?

We get some interesting comments from people who don’t agree with our definition of what the Real Bay Area (RBA) is. Many seem to think that if an area is wealthier than its surrounding community, that, in and of itself, is sufficient for RBAhood.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The whole point of the RBA is that it is not only expensive, it is that you will pay a crapton of money to live there and the sellers can ask over three million yet treat you with complete and utter disdain. You will also end up with a house that isn’t even worth photographing. Today’s property illustrates this perfectly.

1801 WAVERLEY St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
$3,295,000

5 Beds
3.5 Baths
2,982 Sq. Ft.
$1,105 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1932
Lot Size: 9,000 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 7 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Community: Old Palo Alto
MLS#: 81307920
Style: Colonial
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

Upcoming Open Houses

Saturday, Mar 23: 1:30-4:30 pm
Sunday, Mar 24: 1:30-4:30 pm

Prime Old Palo Alto!Old world charm meets modern amenities! Lovely 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home. 2 master suites; one on each floor. Large family room adjacent to spacious kitchen. This home features a huge 9000 +/- sf lot. It is perfect for large gatherings & extended family visits. Updated kitchen and baths with tile counters and newer appliances.

Yes, this is a vintage home (just slipping in under our definition to earn the “old house” tag) in a desirable part of Palo Alto, but it isn’t being marketed as a teardown. It’s just that the agent obviously has better things to do than pull out the iPhone and snap a dozen listing photos.

Good thing there’s Google Streetview!  Isn’t this place just fabulous?

Guess you’ll never know unless you show up at the Open Houses this weekend.  Also, many sections of Streetview around this house have been blurred out. Perhaps this home is owned by a highly-placed Googler.  This view around the corner from Tennyson was the best we could do.

But you’ve seen plenty of properties on Burbed showcasing Palo Alto. (Heck, we’ve visited Waverley Street so often they ought to rename it Burbed Boulevard.)  We were trying to make a point about the difference between RBA and not-so-RBA.  Let’s see what you could get for pretty much the same amount of money over the Bay and through the Caldecott.

6 GREAT OAKS Cir
Orinda, CA 94563
$3,350,000

3 Beds
3.5 Baths
4,350 Sq. Ft.
$770 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1949
Lot Size: 2.32 Acres
On Redfin: 541 days
Type: Detached
Stories: 1
Community: Glorietta
MLS#: 40544806
Style: Contemporary
View: Other
County: Contra Costa

Original Frank Lloyd Wright designed home built in 1949. The stunning grounds were landscaped by Henry Matsutani who did the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park. Incredible opportunity to own a bit of history/ a work of art. All showings subject to screening process. Call agents for details.

That’s right.  If you’re willing to spend the same amount in Orinda, you can own a house actually designed by Frank Lloyd fucking Wright. Not only that, the landscaping is by the same master gardener behind the Japanese I-shit-you-not Tea Garden.  In Golden goddamned Gate Park. Which we think even Silicon Valley software dweebs have heard of. Plus the Orinda house is on more than two acres.

It’s also been for sale for a year and a half and has had two major price reductions.

But in Old Palo Alto, you get a house on nine thousand feet, and you will like it.  And if you don’t plenty of others will, because this house has only been on the market for a week, and after the Open House you know the sellers will be receiving all seventy-nine offers the following Tuesday, and decide which of the no-contingencies-extra-cash-please-with-homemade-brownies-and-a-Tesla-Model-S begging letters they will accept.

And THAT, my friends, is the Real difference between the Real Bay Area and the Rest.

Thanks to the fun folks at Redfin Forums for inspiring today’s article.

It may be just the tip of the Krazy Kool-Aid effect, but this is not how a reasonable housing market should work.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Wendie (as well as additional fans) for bringing this textbook definition of Irrational Exuberance to our attention.

559 TENNYSON Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Listed for $2,088,000 on 1/25/2013
Price changed to $2,088,888 on 1/27/2013
Sold for $2,820,000 on 2/25/2013

2 Beds
1 Baths
1,353 Sq. Ft.
$2,084 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1921
Lot Size: 7,500 Sq. Ft.
Sold On: Feb 25, 2013
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: Santa Clara
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Community: Old Palo Alto
MLS#: 81302338

Located in the heart of wonderful old Palo Alto with top rated schools on a large 7500/SF lot. Charming 2 bedroom 1 bath plus den. One oversized bedroom. Hardwood floors , utility basement, and detached Garage. Sold as is in its present condition. Offers to be reviewed after 2/8/2013.

We’ll have plenty more evidence as we move into Spring Selling Season that the Real Bay Area is in a Real Bubbly Attitude.  Maybe this can be the First 35% Overbid of Spring.  Now let’s hear from Wendie.

This realtor did an amazing job with the photos of this house! How else could this 3/1 1300 square foot house have sold for 2.8 million dollars?? 800K over asking prices. 

I mean, did you ever think that taking photos of a 1920′s bathroom and a CORNER of a room could do such magic?

x

You’re simply not giving the agent enough credit, Wendie.  I see at least TWO corners.  What, do you think these houses just sell themselves?

Yesterday we had a brief summary of snapshots showing that we are indeed entering the early stages of a new real estate bubble.  Far-flung areas are still far below their ridiculous 2005-6 peak pricing, and nearby but unloved neighborhoods are being scraped up by investors rather than the outbid mortgage mooches.

But core Real Bay Area listings near high-paying tech jobs are at or even above their insane 2008 peak pricing.  Yes, 2008.  Crap areas hit their high-water marks much earlier than premium places, and it’s the high end that has come back first and letting us know it.  We promised we had a doozy for you today, and we weren’t kidding.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Wendie for bringing by the bubbly by the carboy.

Location, Location, Location! Teardown: $6.5 Million

Need proof that the Palo Alto housing market has heated up?

By Beatrice Karnes; February 8, 2013

It’s not enough to live in Palo Alto—homebuyers want to live in specific neighborhoods. A home in Old Palo Alto has gone on the market and it’s being advertised as a tear-down or a remodel. Asking price: $6.5 million.

It’s a simple, middle class home built in the mid-1930s and boasts four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, hardwood floors, some linoleum or vinyl floors, and a one car garage.

Let’s have a look.

1935 WEBSTER ST
Palo Alto, CA 94301
$6,500,000

Active
Type: Single Family Home
MLS #: ML81303410
SqFt: 3,009
Beds: 4
Lot Size: 16,610 SqFt
Baths: 3 Full / 1 Partial
Year / Age: 1937 / 76

Virtual Tour

Prestigious Old Palo Alto location. Rare opportunity to remodel or build new on a large lot. Possible subdivision, Buyer to verify with City of Palo Alto. Built in 1935 by William Wurster. Detached recreation room with workshop, dark room and half bath.

Let us count the ways that this is Dutch Tulip Fever all over again:

• A teardown, for Six. Point. Five. Million. Dollars.
• A teardown, but you could remodel. After spending Six. Point. Five. Million. Dollars.
• A teardown, 78 years old (2 years too young for the “old house” tag)
• A teardown, with a named architect.
• A teardown, sold for its potential to build two houses. But why stop there, bribe the appropriate agencies and cram in four!  Heck, how about a 20 story condo tower? Buyer to verify with City of Palo Alto.
• A teardown, with 22, yes twenty-two mostly similar photos in full HDR.  Have you ever seen HDR photos of a workshop, a basement, or a garden hose left on the ground?  You’re about to.

Do not miss this Rare opportunity to be able to Walk To Steve Jobs’ House.

Time once again to visit one of our favorite places in the entire Real Bay Area!  And it’s been a while because the properties go pending faster than we can click through the listing photos.  We’ve been telling you that many RBA neighborhoods are hot, hot, HOT.  Now we’ve got even more proof that The Bubbly is Back.  Check out this Palo Alto palazzo from Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater!

411 PEPPER Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$868,000

3 Beds 
1 Baths 
987 Sq. Ft.
$879 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1940 
Lot Size: 6,534 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 5 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories:1
Community: Ventura
MLS#: 81300120
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

Walk to California Avenue and enjoy all it has to offer, from this charming 1940s cottage with endless potential. Light filled rooms, hardwood floors, remodeled bathroom. Expansive backyard. Quiet location. Outstanding Palo Alto Schools. No offers prior to 1/14/13.

Not just a house in Palo Alto with endless potential (after all, every house in Palo Alto has endless potential, just by being in Palo Alto!), this is a 1940s cottage with endless potential.  Just look at that kitchen!  They sure don’t build them like they used to.

But did you catch the last line in the listing?  “No offers prior to 1/14/13.”  If that isn’t proof that it’s 2006 again, we don’t know what will convince you.  Once again, the realtards are so convinced that their listed houses sell themselves, they get to decide what day they sell themselves.

Now here’s what Michael thinks about this Would Sell Way Over Asking Right Now If Only The Agent Hadn’t Made Everyone Wait a Week property:

Nice neighbors too, if you like junkyards.

These will be terrific neighbors… if you ever need to borrow a cup of brake fluid.

Burbed began in February 2006, when the market was running bubbly, the RBA ran clear to Seattle, and an East Palo Alto crapshack would run you $850,000. It's early days but we're seeing definite signs of re-carbonation. Burbed reader dollarbin sends in some further proof.

Of course this is Palo Alto. When ads like this run in East Palo Alto, we will have arrived. Again.

Did you check out last week's Palo Alto Weekly? There were at least two different full page ads from Realtards with groups of buyers looking for houses they can close by the end of the year. High end stuff too, 1.5 to 4 million. I can't find links online, but I can take photos of the ads from the physical paper, it might make an interesting weekend post.

Interesting is the word for them. Voyla!

This is also your Weekend Open Thread, so go wild. Buyers 1 through 6 are counting on you!

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
$1,449,000

Loan 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:  Cancelled

Great 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!

We lost out to both New York City and Washington DC, this time in the contest for the town with the highest earnings.  Here are the Top Ten, courtesy of CNN/Money, of the places with the highest median family incomes.

People, this is not good. Not only did High Tech lose out to High Finance and High Crimes and Misdemeanors, but there’s Highly-wood right behind us. Also this list is disturbingly full of Least Coasters.

Here’s what they thought of The Specialest Place of Them All (Not Including Mountain View, because for Pete’s Sake, Palo Alto may be Special but it does Not Have Google Anymore).

3. Palo Alto, CA          3 of 25

Population: 65,260
Median family income: $163,661
Median home price: $1,225,000

Nestled in California’s Silicon Valley, Palo Alto has attracted a pile of tech companies — and their CEOs. Not only does tech granddaddy HP have its headquarters here, but so do newbies like Pinterest and Ning. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has a house in Palo Alto, as did Steve Jobs. Stanford University, which falls within its boundaries, adds to the city’s prestige.

Palo Alto nurtures startups and the money that results from their successes. Its residents reap the rewards. Area schools are exceptional, while the city has 35 parks and a Mediterranean climate that varies by only 20 degrees year-round.

See complete data and interactive map for Palo Alto

Did you know that Palo Alto’s climate was More Special than that of any of the surrounding Not As Special cities?  Perhaps Redwood City (Motto: Climate Best by Government Test) is going to have to come over and punch them out for getting airs.

Oh yeah, and Mark Zuckerberg is mostly hanging out in San Francisco these days.  Could he have picked up this little pied-a-terre?  Just kidding, that place was sold to a school, which is now awash in neighborhood NIMBY lawsuits.  But have a look at this SocketSite discussion and see if you can figure out where Mark bought.  Two possibilities: 366 Liberty or 376 Hill.

Thanks to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for bringing this to our attention.  Seems all isn’t as perfect as proclaimed in Palo Alto.

Residents fight burglaries with lights, cameras, action

Neighbors devising crime-fighting strategies

by Sue Dremann, Palo Alto Weekly Staff, Friday, October 5, 2012, 8:59 AM

Many Palo Alto neighborhoods are organizing in ways they have not since the rise of Neighborhood Watch programs in the 1980s, following a string of home burglaries that have plagued the city.

From surveillance cameras to neighborhood-warning signs, residents are strategizing to deter and perhaps even catch the thieves, who have made off with tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry, cash and electronics since late last year.

Email lists from Crescent Park to Barron Park are crackling with the latest news about suspicious vehicles cruising residential streets. Last week, concerned north Palo Alto residents discussed a white van seen on their streets and gave information about it, complete with license number, to the Palo Alto police.

Neighbors’ increasing vigilance might help nab thieves like the ones who on Sept. 24 pilfered UPS parcels from a Crescent Park front porch within 30 seconds of the delivery. The resident, who asked that her name and home information not be made public, has shared images from her surveillance video with her neighbors and with police, she said.

What’s this? Crime rate up in Palo Alto, the most perfectest amazingest, wonderfulest Specialiest place in the universe? Nooooooooooo!

But we here at Burbed are confident that this approach of crowd-sourcing suspicious incidents will lead to these lowlife scum getting caught… until, as is often the case with crime in a wealthy neighborhood, the victims discover that the perpetrators were the teenaged children of their own neighbors.  We already know what those spoiled brats have been up to, hurling milkshakes at innocent pedestrians.

And don’t get too smug looking at that incident map on the top right. While that was what spotcrime.com generated for “Palo Alto, CA,” entering specific zip codes yields more crime events away from the Middlefield and Embarcadero area.   This incident map for 94301 shows more burglary and theft further northwest, and in only half the time period covered.

And dang it, that time period reported just missed the hurled milkshake.  But good news. There has been at least one arrest for car burglary.

It’s that time of year, where we watch a couple of politicians make a series of speeches talking past each other, trying to convince you to vote against the other guy. In honor of last night’s Presidential debate, we have two homes for your consideration.  Let us know which one you think is the “winner.”

Wearing the green trim, this house from the powerhouse of Palo Alto is either rolling out the red carpet or sticking its tongue out at you.  It confidently flies the Redfin flag.

253 ADDISON Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
$889,000

2 Beds 
1 Baths 
1,164 Sq. Ft.
$764 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1933 
Lot Size: 6,272 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 147 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Downtown
MLS#: 81217474
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

TFT. Leasehold. $100,000 Reduction. Charming 2 Cottages on Beautiful Roses Garden. Walk to Downtown Palo Alto. Hardwood Floor. Double Paned Windows. French Doors in Living Room Open to Dinning Room. Sun Room with Custom Built-In Bench. Remodeled Kit & Bath with Stone Slab Counters. Fruit Trees. Mo/Mo Rental for Back Cottage. Leased Land w/ 54+yrs left. Downtown Living at a DISCOUNT!Better Alternative than Condo.

And built like a brick… um, chimney, this entry in hot, hot, HOT Mountain View won’t pull out of the debate just because the agent pullled its listing.  We found photos on Zillow, so all is fair.  And it also welcomes you to the debate, giving you two different welcome walkways!

60 Starr Way
Mountain View, CA 94040
Not for Sale

Zestimate $905,916
Rent Zestimate $2,581/mo

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sqft: 1,049
Lot: 6,875 sq ft / 0.16 acres
Type: Single Family
Year built: 1949
Construction quality: 6.0
County: Santa Clara
Garage sqft: 360 
Last remodel year: 1949 
Legal description: TRACT 261 BROOKDALE BOOK 13 PAGE1 10 PAGE2 11 LOT 51
Lot depth: 125 
Lot width: 55 
Parcel #: 18904021 
Per floor sqft: 1,049 
Total rooms: 4 
# Stories: 1 
Structure type: Other 
Unit cnt: 1 
Zillow Home ID: 19529422 

Developers Dream! This 2 bedroom 1 bath, home sits on a6,800sqft lot with plenty of potential. Located in a prime location of MountainView with nearby shopping on Castro Street. Looking for a fixer upper Location,Location, Location! Bring your hammer, nails and imagination!

Starr starts out with a trash bin.  That’s going to be tough for Addison to counter with just a rented cottage in the back “yard.”

But wait, Addison’s on leased land!  Try finding any of that in Mountain View! Even Google hasn’t dared that trick to sneak employee housing by the City Council!

What’s Starr going to do now?  Oh, oh, speaking of Google, it’s reaching for teh interwebz, and… here’s the Redfin page!

That one’s going to leave a mark.  Streetview trashbins, plus it’s not for sale at any price. And when it was for sale, the asking price was $800,000.  That means $762 a square foot, or essentially the same as Addison.

And the winner is… which listing copy interrupted more?