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?

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!

Burbed Reader Scott sent me this note today:

Thought you might like this latest piece of illogic from Santa Cruz, that it’s in the interest of the buyer for prices to remain high (see midway through the article):

Let’s take a look at the article…

Median home price up to $747,000 – By JONDI GUMZ – Sentinel staff writer – April 13, 2007
Why don’t sellers simply lower the price? Because that doesn’t help the buyer as much financially.

Here’s why.

Say a buyer wants a condo priced at $500,000 and plans to put 10 percent down. That’s $50,000 out of pocket. The closing costs, which include loan fees, interest, taxes, title insurance, appraisal and recording fees, may run another $7,000.

If the seller dropped the price by $7,000 to $493,000, the buyer would save only $700, having to come up with a down payment of $49,300. Plus $7,000 in closing costs.

“It’s a way to help buyers get in when they’re short of cash,” Gangnes said.

Well that does seem a little fishy… Scott explains why:

No mention about property tax or the mortgage amount for that matter.  We’re also taught that months of supply is the only factor determining price. I’ve told this Jondi Gumz reporter to stop using Realtor Gary Gangnes as her “authoritative” source of info, but it’s ovbioujsly to no avail.

So I guess it’s a great time to buy in Santa Cruz, with prices at a record high then it’s really, really good for the buyer!

Oh come on Scott- don’t you know? It’s always a good time to buy or sell real estate!

As We See It: No housing collapse here – - – February 19, 2007
Some who aren’t in the housing market are waiting patiently for prices to come down to an affordable price. Of course, people’s idea of “affordable” can have a big range.

But so far, we don’t see a collapse in prices coming. And without that, we also feel confident that businesses connected to real estate will continue without major problems.

Nationwide, and even statewide, the story might be different. But when you’re talking about the coast of California, don’t expect real estate prices to bottom out.

Thanks to Burbed Reader Scott for sending this one in.

Indeed, Santa Cruz is pretty special – perhaps if you spend enough time at the Mystery Spot, this opinion piece and its lack of economic backing will make sense.

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 666967
481 6TH AV
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
$585,000

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 666967 Approx Age: 66 Years Approx Sq Ft: 686
Detached Single Family 1 Story Cottage/Bungalow
2 Bedrooms 1 Bathroom 1 Shower over Tub

What? It doesn’t say that this is perfect for a First Time Buyer? I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you!

Here are some more photos:

Ok… I give up. What happened to this house? I thought it was fire damage, but that doesn’t really look like it either. What’s your theory?
(Thanks to Burbed Reader Lynda for this one!)

Woot! Over $1000 per square foot!

REALTOR.com: Find a Home – Listing Detail
70 7TH AV
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
MLS ID#: 607340
$889,000
2 Bed, 1 Bath
779 Sq. Ft.
Estimated payment:
$4,495 Per Month*

Single Family Property, County: Santa Cruz, Age: 68 year(s) old, Ocean view, View, Waterview, Single story
This listing is brokered by: American Dream Realty
Office: (831)429-5700
Property Features

* Single Family Property
* County: Santa Cruz
* Age: 68 year(s) old
* 2 total bedroom(s)
* 1 total bath(s)
* Approximately 779 sq. ft.

* Single story
* Style: Cottage, Detached
* Interior features: Clothes dryer, Clothes washer, Disposal, Microwave, Range/oven
* View
* Ocean view
* Waterview

That ocean view had better be darn good!

Thanks for the find, Tiffany D!