Let’s give a warm welcome to longtime Burbed reader sonarrat, Burbed’s newest regular blogger!

Please, save your rotten tomatoes and rioting until the end. To celebrate the interment, er, I mean introduction of our new contributor, let’s make a day trip to beautiful scenic Santa Cruz.

1165 Thompson Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
$309,500

Beds: 3
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,317
$/Sq. Ft.: $235
Lot Size: 0.34 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Traditional
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1948
Community: Live Oak
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 81056459
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 114 days

Non-Conforming Residential located on a parcel zoned M-1 Light Industrial. This property is located directly across from the ProBuild Door & Window Design Company. This property is eligible under the Freddie Mac First Look Initiative through 12.15.2010. Seller is offering a 2 year home warranty limitations, do apply ask for details.

Lionel Hutz: All right, gentlemen, I’ll take your case, but I’m going to have to ask for a thousand-dollar retainer.
Bart: A thousand dollars? But your ad says “No money down”.
Lionel Hutz: Oh, they got this all screwed up… (scribbles) “Works on contingency basis? No, money down!”
Bart: So, you don’t work on a contingency basis?
Lionel Hutz: No, money down! Oops, it shouldn’t have this Bar Association logo here either.

A comma can be a powerful thing. Let’s ignore the home warranty limitations for now, though, and focus on the property. We have some of the Burbed standbys: the low-maintenance lawn, garage pre-boarded for the next tsunami, and your very own dumpster, which has the added effect of harboring wildlife! This is truly the perfect house for Santa Cruz’ tender-hearted liberal sensibilities. You also have the possibility of using the house as a workshop, seeing how it has M-1 zoning.  And look at the instant equity!

The last sale was for $425,000, before The Bubble even began. Clearly, then, that must be the baseline, because there could never have been any real estate bubble in California before The Bubble. No, The Bubble was a one-off that has never happened before and will never happen again!

The banks say these houses must go, so we’ve got deals, deals, deals!  Don’t you want to live in a Special House like some in the Real Bay Area, but don’t want to pay Special RBA prices?  With this house, you can!

219 Sacramento Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
$719,900

Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Sq. Ft.: 1,601
$/Sq. Ft.: $450
Lot Size: 4,835 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Contemporary
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1956
Community: West Santa Cruz
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 81057554
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 12 days

Beachside Beauty, just steps to magnificent West Cliff Drive! Living room features a stunning and distinctive river rock fireplace, kitchen sports stainless steel appliances including a Viking range, tile backsplash, and custom cabinets. Plenty of custom tile work in the hall bathroom and a couple of useful outbuildings in the back yard with convenient alley access. Amazing Location and Value!

Steps to magnificent West Cliff Drive?  How many steps?

That’s about a thousand feet from the house to magnificent West Cliff Drive, so, allowing for a generous one yard stride, that’s 333 steps.  Hardly “beachside.”  And it’s another thousand feet to the beach once you get to magnificent West Cliff Drive. You’ll be in great shape for those kitchen sports.

But getting back to how Special this house is… Not only is it 666 steps from the beach, it has the Mark of Specialness.  This house has a gold star on the front door.  How could anything get more Special than that?

Happy Monday everyone!  And here to start your work week off is Burbed reader sonarrat with this guest post.  Please give a warm burbed welcome to sonarrat!

Let’s go a little south of usual, shall we? After all, we still need people to pick the strawberries and attend the McDonald’s drive thru window. If you’re willing to make the drive over the Hecker Pass into Santa Cruz County every day, you can find some mighty affordable digs. So let’s take a look at an example of how our true working class lives.

42 9th St,  Watsonville, CA 95076
$106,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 612
$/Sq. Ft.: $173
Lot Size: 8,624 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:
Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Year Built: 1930
Community: Watsonville
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 81050457
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 8 days

Bring it on! Classic 1930′s cottage-style home needs some love. Opportunities abound for those willing to put in the work. Very central location, towards the end of a not-through street. Days 1-7: Offers will not be reviewed. Days 8-12: Offers ONLY from NSP buyers, Municipalities, Non-profit organizations and Owner-occupants will be reviewed. Days 13+: We will consider offers from all buyers.

At $106,000, this little charmer is certainly within the reach of the working class. It’s on a dead end street for privacy, but just one turn from the highway.

Let’s look at the sales history:

Oct 15, 2010 Listed $106,000 — MLSListings #81050457
Feb 12, 2010 Sold (Public Records) $135,000  — Public Records
This home was foreclosed and bank-owned.
Apr 22, 2009 Delisted — – Inactive MLSListings #2
Apr 11, 2009 Price Changed * — Inactive MLSListings #2
Apr 11, 2009 Relisted — – Inactive MLSListings #2
Apr 05, 2009 Delisted — – Inactive MLSListings #2
Apr 02, 2009 Price Changed * — Inactive MLSListings #2
Mar 27, 2009 Price Changed * — Inactive MLSListings #2
Mar 04, 2009 Listed * — Inactive MLSListings #2
Feb 27, 2009 Delisted — – Inactive MLSListings #1
Jan 30, 2009 Price Changed * — Inactive MLSListings #1
Jan 15, 2009 Relisted — – Inactive MLSListings #1
Jan 09, 2009 Delisted — – Inactive MLSListings #1
Sep 12, 2008 Price Changed * — Inactive MLSListings #1
Jul 08, 2008 Listed * — Inactive MLSListings #1
Nov 03, 1994 Sold (Public Records) $133,000 — Public Records

What a terrific investment! Look at that historical return of, uh, well, you can still rent it out, right? Once upon a time, people said that anywhere in California was a good investment that could only go up. Clearly, though, there must be a reason why this Bay Area property is listed lower than its price in 1994 – not a boom time for real estate by anyone’s measure. So let’s take a look at the copy:

Days 1-7: Offers will not be reviewed. Days 8-12: Offers ONLY from NSP buyers, Municipalities, Non-profit organizations and Owner-occupants will be reviewed. Days 13+: We will consider offers from all buyers.

Oh, of course! There are so many people clamoring to own this small, crappy corner of the Bay Area, they can’t even list the property without a 7-day grace period to hire a crack staff of 50 people to review the mountain of offers. Sweet! The boom is back, everyone!

Today’s house, courtesy of burbed reader VC, reminds us that only the Best of the Best can make it in Silicon Valley.  Why should only software developers and chip designers have all the fun of healthy cut-throat competition and failure of market acceptance?  Builders need a challenge too. Anyone can throw up McMansions on flat land with city services already installed.  But this property is for only the most able, willing, daring, and liquid of contractors.  How would you like to live the dream?

23633 Schulties Road, Los Gatos Mtns 95033
$499,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 895
$/SQ. FT.: $553
LOT SIZE: 7.8 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE:  Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Canyon, Valley
YEAR BUILT: 1960
COMMUNITY: Los Gatos Mountains
COUNTY: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 80947132
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 251 days

Very nice piece of property with over 7 acres and Los Gatos Schools. This is a real contractor special, but wil a great upside potental. Current house is a small 2 bedroom home which could be fixed up nicely. Second home on property needs to be moved, then it would be a nice 3/2 with approximately 1900 sq. ft. The lot next door is also available. Total 13 acres for around 600K, great deal!!

You can’t go wrong on a place “wil a great upside potental,” can you?  Find out just how much work it is to fix up the current house!  It’s a small 2 bedroom home which could be fixed up nicely!  In fact it’s so small, part of the challenge is finding it in the picture above.  Once you do, see how nicely you can fix it up!  The sky’s the limit, along with your bank account.

But you might object, “What’s the excitement in remodeling a little cottage in the woods?”  Prefer a large 3/2 with approximately 1900 sq. ft.?  That second home is here somewhere on property, and all you have to do is move it.  And maybe fix it up at little.  Or a lot.  Perhaps once you do it expands, and it “would be a nice 3/2?”  That should be a quick and easy project, since there are no walls or exteriors to get in the way of the 16 forklifts you’re going to need.

And once you remove all that scaffolding, it will move even quicker!  Maybe you can borrow the wheels off the pickup, which looks more stable than the structure behind it.

Wondering why the second home had to be moved?  Check out that geologic/flood report!  Meanwhile, a little birdie told me there’s a stipulation with Santa Cruz County to do some grading and retaining wall work.  I hear “some” could mean two hundred thousand worth, but that’s only a rumor.  Some could also mean zero!  Just how much upslope can a little driveway have?

Now, this project is going to keep you driving to Home Depot a few thousand times, so you’d best buy in bulk.  In fact, the seller is way ahead of you, and is willing to supersize the deal by adding in the lot next door!  And just like those 167 Tool Specials, most of them are drill bits in sizes you already own or socket sets in shapes you don’t need.  In this case, the bonus 6 acre parcel has no improvements, no permits, can’t be subdivided, and doesn’t have a well, sewer line, or septic tank.  But it’s only “around $600K” for both!  If you enjoy bargaining, this is even more fun than buying 60 square feet of granite countertop and making sure it all matches.

Remember, this property thinks it can take you.  Are you going to let it get away with that?

Thanks to Burbed reader madhaus for this guest post!

309 Beach Drive,  Rio Del Mar/Seascape CA, 95003
$439,000

309 BEACH Dr Rio Del Mar / Seascape, CA 95003

Beds:	5
Baths:	3
Sq. Ft.:	1,776
$/Sq. Ft.:	$247
Lot Size:	4,791 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Stories:	2
View:	Ocean
Community:	Rio Del Mar/Seascape
County:	Santa Cruz
MLS#:	80709410
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	1172 days

20% INTEREST FOR SALE,  GORGEOUS BEACH DR. LOCATION, HOME IS UPDATED AND MAINTAINED IMPECCABLY. REFINANCE ONE OF YOUR OTHER PROPERTIES AND PAY CASH!!!MAKE MEMORIES WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS  GORGEOUS BEACH DR. LOCATION, HOME IS UPDATED AND MAINTAINED IMPECCABLY. REFINANCE ONE OF YOUR OTHER PROPERTIES AND PAY CASH!!!

Nothing says “this property’s going up on Burbed” like a description in ALL-CAPS. Refusing to turn off the CapLocks key leaves a potential buyer feeling like they’ve had a megaphone shoved up an ear.  Maybe the agent used to work at Western Union composing telegrams, because I don’t see the period key except for an abbreviation.  So while we’re deafened by the approach, let’s look at what we’re being offered.
Well, whatever the offer is, it’s overpriced, even for a beach house that’s across the street from the beach.  How do I know this?  Simple:

On Redfin: 1172 days

1172 days?  As in three and a half years? Is this a record?   I don’t know, but Should I wait for a price reduction?

I’m not sure.  According to this graph I should wait 28 more days, and then wait for 40 price reductions.
And remember, if the agent can’t think of anything better to say than “MAKE MEMORIES WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,” then you know the property has a problem.  And in this case the problem is you are not being sold a beach house.  You are being sold a 20% share in a beach house.  And that means that you get the house on Tuesdays and every third Wednesday.

Still want the house?  It’s in a flood and a fault zone!  Too bad the nuclear plant’s in another zip code.

10272 LOMITA Ave, San Lorenzo Valley, CA 95018 | MLS# 80946083
10272 LOMITA Ave San Lorenzo Valley, CA 95018
Price: $360,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,200
$/Sq. Ft.: $300
Lot Size: 8,276 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1973
Community: Lompico-Zayante
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 80946083
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 10 days
What a doll!!!Don’t miss this adorable home recently remodeled from top to bottom. Private, sunny and peaceful neighborhood and not a short sale or bank owned. Only 10 minutes to Felton, 40 minutes to Silicon Valley. A very clean house with stylish accents including stainless steel appliances, engineered maple flooring, great paint colors, all new light fixtures, updated bathroom. This is a good one!

Thanks to Burbed reader Scott for this find.

What a doll indeed! You can totally imagine someone in Atherton buying this for their little princess (or prince, no need to reinforce gender stereotypes!) How jealous will their friends be. “OMG! UR DAD BOUGHT U WOT????”

It’s never too early to start your children on the path of having pride of ownership, and it may make sense to start with this house. At 1,200 square feet, keeping it clean shouldn’t be hard for their housekeepers… it’s definitely a good starter.

And… it’s just 10 minutes to Felton (where?)

Just in case you were wondering, this is a good one – unlike all the other ones that are bad ones!

130 ERRETT Cir, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 | MLS# 80925412
130 ERRETT Cir Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Price: $435,000

Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: -
Lot Size: 2,178 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Stories: 1
Year Built: 1964
Community: West Santa Cruz
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 80925412
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 68 days
Vacant and Very clean!! Sweet Westside cottage in Great condition!! A perfect starter home. Sq. Footage is small but it has a very good lay out . .feels much larger. Nice size front and back yards with fruit trees. Walk to West Cliff and enjoy the West Side lifestyle!!

Burbed reader Herve sent this on.

Wow. 1 bedroom, 1 bath. Unknown square feet. Indeed this is a perfect starter home and it is a very good lay…. out. But is it really a starter home, or a starter vacation home? I’m going to say that it is the latter.

After all, Santa Cruz is the Waikiki of the Bay Area!

But what’s really fascinating to me is this:

The Borg Queen would approve – even though these are circles and not cubes.

“So, where did you buy your vacation home?”

“Oh, Unimatrix 0,0,1″

“Cool! I’m so jealous of your pride of ownership!”

Sweet!

1722 VIEW Rd, San Lorenzo Valley, CA 95018 | MLS# 80936268
1722 VIEW Rd San Lorenzo Valley, CA 95018
Price: $449,000

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: -
Lot Size: 0.97 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Cabin
Stories: 2
View: Green Belt, Mountains, Canyon
Year Built: 1978
Community: Felton
County: Santa Cruz
MLS#: 80936268
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 5 days
Talk of the town! Absolutely adorable Log Cabin Home in the Forest Lakes community. Custom built as a vacation home for a San Francisco family. Attention to detail and quality construction make it feel almost new yet a blast from the past. Looks and feels authentic with a warm feeling like no other. Enjoy the two large decks and live with nature. End of the road access to the best hiking and biking

It’s Friday! Let’s kick it off with an entry from Burbed reader Ruth.

I actually had to look up where San Lorenzo Valley was. Wow, talk about a vacation home. Just look at that picture.

And this one:

Ruth was a bit amazed at the colors of this house. Me too!

Frankly, I’m wondering if this is an illustration or HDR photography.

But let’s talk about the fact that this house is the talk of town. What town exactly is it that people are talking about this? San Lorenzo Valley? San Francisco? And under what context would people be talking about it? So many questions! So few answers!

Are they talking about this vacation house in your town?

Despite falling prices, homeownership out of reach for many – Santa Cruz Sentinel
SANTA CRUZ — Even though the median home price dropped 37 percent last year, Santa Cruz County remains unaffordable for many first-time buyers.

Santa Cruz County is the fourth most expensive place in the nation to buy a home after San Francisco, New York and San Jose, according to Paycheck to Paycheck, a study released Thursday by the Center for Housing Policy, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. The county also was found to be the third most expensive place in the U.S. to rent after San Francisco and Honolulu.

Locally, the median price of a single-family home plummeted from $630,000 in 2007 to $400,000 in 2008, but homeownership is still out of reach for households with income under $130,000, according to the center’s calculations. Meanwhile, a two-bedroom rental cost $1,590 a month on average.

[snip]

Pricey LIVING

Rank, 2008 Two-bedroom rental, 2008 Rank, 2007
1 San Francisco, $1,658 1
2 Honolulu, $1,631 11
3 Santa Cruz County, $1,590 6
Median home
Median
Rank, 2008 price, 2008 Rank, 2007 price, 2007
1 San Francisco, $575,000 1 $770,000
2 New York, N.Y., $455,000 7 $525,000
3 San Jose, $410,000 2 $649,000
4 Santa Cruz County, $400,000 3 $630,000
Tie Honolulu, $400,000 18 $409,000
SOURCE: Center for Housing Policy

Congrats to Santa Cruz!

Is it any wonder? With its beautiful, warm, beaches, its thriving high tech high income economy, is it any wonder why Santa Cruz is right up there?

I can list 10 reasons why everyone would want to live in Santa Cruz (assuming they couldn’t live in the Real Bay Area). Can’t you?

355 Woodland Dr, Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Scotts Valley North MLS# 80850169 – Property Details
$299,900

* Status: Active
* Bedroom: 3
* Bathroom: 2
* Year Built: 1979
* Lot Size: 39500
* Square Footage: 1360
* List Date: 12/18/2008
* Garage Spaces: 1

* MLS#: 80850169
Great opportunity to own a piece of Scotts Valley! Home details are from last MLS listing. Home was left in the middle of major recontruction. Fixer upper or tear down. No kitchen, only one bath. Please view with caution. Unsafe deck. The information is provided by others and has not been verified by CENTURY 21 Alpha, seller or listing agent. Not a short sale!

Burbed doesn’t usually venture to Scotts Valley, but fortunately Burbed reader Scott (no relation) did and this is what he found!

Wowsers. Talk about affordable. And its just a short commute on beautiful 17.

The fact that this is half finished is what makes this an amazing deal. Look at some of the work that has been done already:

If that’s not an awesome design I don’t know what is. After a long day of work you can come home, soak in the bathtub, and admire nature all at the same time. Wowsers. And if you have to go potty, it’s right next to it!

This house is just waiting for you to complete the masterpiece. Quick! How will you complete this:

Wow. I think the boundaries between space and time are collapsing here. Hey, that means you can build an unpermitted addition into the 4th or 5th dimension!