DEALS, DEALS, DEALS!  Aren’t you loving all these DEALS!?!  Remember, drive a little, save a lot!  So how much do you think you could save driving all the way to Sonoma County?  Remember, there was only one house under $200K in Marin County, so maybe we’ll find three here.  Plus, pick up an extra winery for the trip home.

But what would you say if I told you I found a property for under $100K that isn’t a hundred years old, isn’t a sub-750 foot cottage, and isn’t on a postage stamp-sized lot.  Would you believe me?

664 Acacia Ln, Santa Rosa, CA 95409
$39,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,404
$/SQ. FT.: $28
LOT SIZE: 0.43 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Residential, Detached, Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1964
COMMUNITY: Northeast Santa Rosa
COUNTY: Sonoma
MLS#: 21129043
SOURCE: BAREIS
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 21 days

Listed price is Minumum bid. Single level home 3/2 with fireplace and central heat. Fenced rear yard with detached 2 car garage. Information on property gathered from public records.

The listed price is a minimum bid?  Sold for $635K in 2006, you get 94% instant equity!

Oh, dear, a quick trip over to Zillow has a very different story.  This house is on Auction.com and will be subject to a minimum $39K bid starting December 18th (per Zillow) or starting December 1st (if you believe Auction.com), ending on December 4th.  CASH ONLY!

This is the second house we’ve found where another site links to Auction.com and Redfin doesn’t know anything about it.   Just sayin’.

We can thank Forbes Magazine’s The Most Expensive Zip Codes for selecting the prestige postal zones and then managing to mess them up.  So far we’ve caught them describing one town while showing houses from another, forgetting the difference between a zip code and a town boundary, mixing up their data sets, and showing a zip code 10 miles and $2 million away from what they labeled.

Since we don’t concern ourselves with other parts of the country where prices go down, homes need maintenance, streets get busy, and airports allow planes to land while children are sleeping, we’ve been looking at the Bay Area zips only.  In case you want to refer to the previous articles, you can click over to:

• The 25 most expensive zip codes in the entire country, featuring Atherton, Belvedere, Los Altos Hills and Hillsborough!
• The next 25 zip codes, not quite as Special.  Portola Valley, Los Gatos, Woodside, and other places too far away from Google to matter make their appearances.
• The 50 after that, at cut-rate prices compared to the first 50.  These entries in the Corridor of Not Quite include Los Altos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, and Palo Alto.

Again, data crunched by Altos Research, info prepared (not always perfectly) by Forbes, criticisms (I’m starting early today) entirely home-grown at burbed.  The very first entry on Forbes’ Page 2 list is one of our own!  We may not be in the Real Bay Area (RBA) anymore, but remember, these zip codes are still more expensive than at least 44,000 others!

#101 – 94507 Alamo

Median Home Price: $1,513,739

Median Price Change: -11%

Average Days On Market: 139

Inventory: 113 properties

Median Household Income: $139,997

I just said we weren’t in the RBA anymore.  It’s never a good sign when the very first listing is in the East Bay.  That 11% drop isn’t surprising anybody.

Besides, pretty soon the home price medians are going to drop below a million and a half, and then where would we be?

Right.  In the East Bay.

#106 – 94946 Nicasio

Median Home Price: $1,484,615

Median Price Change: 5%

Average Days On Market: 176

Inventory: 13 properties

Median Household Income: $76,194

You should have heard of this town before.  It was featured in burbed because of this listing.  Jerry Garcia’s house has been holding up this zip’s entire market.

Clearly Alamo and Nicasio are for two different demographics.  Alamo is for people earning good money now.  Nicasio is for people who already earned good money and want to get away from the people in Alamo still earning.  Then they can chillax and just enjoy it.  The money, I mean.  I’m still getting my head around trying to fill the closet in Jerry’s master bedroom.

Unfortunately, by not keeping enough cash coming into town, the residents of Nicasio let down the team.  Yes, the median home price is under one and a half million now.  Who knows what kind of vagrants and transients are living in those houses?  It’s not surprising one of them joined a rock band.

#120 – 93921 Carmel

Median Home Price: $1,412,704

Median Price Change: -9%

Average Days On Market: 153

Inventory: 84 properties

Median Household Income: $53,750

The income is down even more here at the other end of the Bay Area.  The Monterey Bay Area.

Carmel is a touristy little town that is expensive to live in, doesn’t sell anything useful to residents, and has a beach nobody can use since parking is between impossible and utterly impossible.  You shouldn’t have taken your time reading this.  They just ticketed your car.

Does that little bit right outside the zip environs, lower right corner, really say Trailer Park?

#120 – 93921 Carmel-By-The-Sea

Median Home Price: $1,412,704

Median Price Change: -9%

Average Days On Market: 153

Inventory: 84 properties

Median Household Income: $53,750

This is only a test to see if you’re paying better attention than Forbes did when they put this article together.

Yes, it is entirely possible that two cities can share a common zip code.  We’ve had many examples of it in the first hundred entries.

But what are the odds of the same zip code, the same ranking, the same data, and the same map just sitting there for two cities with practically the same name, and nobody noticed a damned thing?

#121 – 92603 Irvine

Median Home Price: $1,406,399

Median Price Change: -9%

Average Days On Market: 120

Inventory: 227 properties

Median Household Income: NA

Irvine has entered the building!

No, I have not taken leave of my senses.  I know that Irvine is not in the Bay Area, Real or otherwise.

But Irvine’s real estate issues have been so instructive, and the seminal Irvine Housing Blog so important to anyone trying to make sense of what happens when bubble
s pop.

And as much as there have been problems with the real estate market up here, one of our zip codes doesn’t have 227 properties in inventory, and so far we’ve avoided Mello-Roos taxes, too.  There’s a good reason we’ve avoided Irvine’s problems.  It’s because they’re not making any more land up here.  And that’s because they’re making it all down there, complete with Mello-Roos!

We now return you to our regular Bay Area real estate presentation, already in progress.

#125 – 93923 Carmel

Median Home Price: $1,384,643

Median Price Change: -7%

Average Days On Market: 191

Inventory: 298 properties

Median Household Income: $67,315

Now if i am reading this map correctly, this zip code includes Carmel and Carmel Highlands, but not Carmel-by-the-Sea or Carmel Valley.  Or the other part of Carmel that is covered by a simple street map and includes all the high-priced art galleries and jewelry stores.

This zip also has a bigger inventory than Irvine’s.  Thanks for making us look bad, Carmel, when everyone at IHB clicked over to read this.  You’re making all of us look really pathetic to those Southern Californians.  We might have to ask you to move over there, permanently.  You and your 298 unsold properties.  Maybe when you get they’re you’ll be placed in a Mello-Roos district, too.

(I thought those 298 listings had to be a mistake on Forbes’ part, but it isn’t.  Entering this zip into Redfin yields 270 listings.  And just because the zip covers around 200 square miles isn’t going to get it off the hook.)

#131 – 94104 San Francisco

Median Home Price: $1,365,346

Median Price Change: 3%

Average Days On Market: 162

Inventory: 11 properties

Median Household Income: $14,609

Finally!  A zip that makes you really sit up and take notice.

A zip that not only includes a bunch of ginormous skyscrapers (well, ginormous as long as we don’t go comparing them with anything in Los Angeles, or Chicago, or Manhattan), but has the brass rivets to say LOOK AT ME.  The median home price here is $1.36 million and the median income is $14,609.  That’s right!  It would take the average resident here a hundred years to buy the average residence.

Only a zip code with serious chutzpah could issue a message like that, a message that says, “Want to buy here?  Sorry.  You’ve been Priced Out Forever.”

#132 – 94965 Muir Beach

Median Home Price: $1,364,462

Median Price Change: 7%

Average Days On Market: 34

Inventory: 3 properties

Median Household Income: $76,808

This tiny town is located right where California Route 1 cuts overland to the Pacific and heads north up the coast (that line mislabeled 1 is actually US 101.  I’m watching you Forbes.  Always watching.) This tiny town has about six streets.  Muir Beach shares a zip with Sausalito, which ought to be showing up at some point.

Muir Beach.  Like Bolinas, only closer and more expensive.  Water meters not included.

#134 – 94574 Saint Helena

Median Home Price: $1,354,277

Median Price Change: -5%

Average Days On Market: 186

Inventory: 102 properties

Median Household Income: $60,964

Looks like it takes half a year to sell a typical property in Saint Helena.  That means they named the place well.

Saint Helena was the second and final place that Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to, and he died five and a half years later.  And there isn’t anywhere nearby called Elba, because that would mean you could escape.  Although you can at least drink heavily.

Able I was ere I bought in St. Helena.

#147 – 95452 Kenwood

Median Home Price: $1,294,385

Median Price Change: 46%

Average Days On Market: 152

Inventory: 19 properties

Median Household Income: $58,421

Honey, I shrank the zip code.

I had to.  When it took up about 20% of the page, the only thing I could find was State Highway 12 and Mt Hood Regional Park.  I figured Kenwood was somewhere between Santa Rosa and Fairfield but wasn’t quite sure which was closer.

And St. Helena is in convenient exile distance.  I suppose I should find something nice to say about the place because the prices are up 46%, but seriously, unless you’re cultivating 200 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon or really want the Smothers Brothers as neighbors, you should be looking a little closer to Facebook HQ.

#150 – 94705 Oakland

Median Home Price: $1,283,731

Median Price Change: 28%

Average Days On Market: 217

Inventory: 3 properties

Median Household Income: $68,112

Somebody is playing a joke, but I can’t figure out who the joke is on.

We started today’s batch of runner-ups to the runner-ups in the East Bay.  Not only are we going t
o finish there, we’re going to finish in one of the least RBA-like cities in the East Bay.

Then again, the zip includes a bunch of UC property in Berkeley, so that’s kind of cheating.  Plus the Claremont Hotel.  I bet the Claremont Hotel would sell for more than $1,283,731.

And the zip is up… twenty eight percent.  With the same kind of unobtanium inventory we saw in Muir Beach.  That’s it.  I’m out of here.  I know when I’m licked.

Next installment: The Most Expensive Zip Codes in the Richmond Flats between Cutting Boulevard and Solano Avenue.

On The Block
Who said the Bay Area was expensive? House for sale: $29,500

It’s true that $30K barely buys you anything more than a grimy garage in most parts of the Bay Area, but it is also possible to buy a bona-fide home here for just $29,500.

Granted it’s a tiny home — very tiny, with a mere 7×18 ft footprint — but you have to admit it’s darn cute too.
The tiny house is described as a traditional cottage with a contemporary interior.

The tiny house is described as a traditional cottage with a contemporary interior.

Listed on Craigslist by its owners, this hand-built house is currently in Rohnert Park, Sonoma. But it’s on wheels so can be taken anywhere you please.

Its look is described as “traditional cottage styling with contemporary accents”. There’s a kitchen, a seating area, a (fold-down) table for eating, a (walk-in closet) bathroom and a sleeping loft — there’s even a fireplace for goodness sake. What more could you want?

The couple who are selling up have been living in the tiny house for more than a year, but plan on starting a family and feel to need to expand their surroundings (shades of Mayor Gavin and his wife).

Um. Sort of in the Bay Area. Sonoma?

Well that said, this is a great find. Thanks Brendan. I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that affordable housing is being built for all those whiners out there. More importantly, this is something you won’t find in the Real Bay Area.

Too bad it doesn’t list the square footage – that’d be fascinating to find out. Just what is the price per square foot?

1855 Felta Rd Healdsburg, CA 95448
Price: $849,000

Beds:     1
Baths:     1
Sq. Ft.:     768
$/Sq. Ft.:     $1,105
Lot Size:     2 Acres
Property Type:    Residential, Detached, Single Family
Style:    Cabin, Craftsman
Year Built:    1945
Stories:    1
View:    Water
Area:    Healdsburg
County:     Sonoma
MLS#:     20831778
Source:     BAREIS
Status:     Active
On Redfin:     13 days
Enchanting 1945 craftsman cabin on magical 2 ac property on both sides of Mill Creek with cable foot bridge leading across creek to 3M yr old volcanic rock outcroppings and caves. the cabin is one bedroom with a great room (stone fireplace, kitchen) large deck just above high water is perfect place to experience the muscularity of the creek’s storm flow and the serenity and sensuality of spring/summer flow. Only 8 min to the Healdsburg Plaza.

Thanks to Burbed reader Mark for this find. Here’s what he had to say:

$1105 / sqft with a cesspool!!!

Love the description … ‘perfect place to experience the muscularity of the creek’s storm flow’ i.e. keep oars under your bed – you may need them.

Holy cow! I had to look on a map to remind myself where Healdsburgh was – oh right, it’s near Snoopy. And frankly, when I first saw this house, I thought it was a set piece from Lord of the Rings. But in any case, welcome to the Real Bay Area Healdsburgh. Congrats!

Black Friday is typically the start of an economic boom – will this house set it off?

2227 Malin Pl Santa Rosa, CA 95407
Price: $239,900

Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 943
$/Sq. Ft.: $254
Lot Size: 1,307 Sq. Ft.
$/Acre: $7,996,667
Year Built: 1976
Stories: 1 Story
Style: Other
Area: Southwest Santa Rosa
County: Sonoma
MLS#: 20809034
Source: BAREIS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 77 days
Duette home located in a cul-de-sac, with a large side yard.

Burbed rarely ventures north – and this piece of real estate is a great example why. Just $239,900? Sheesh… might as well price it for free if you’re going to price it like that.

Still Burbed reader mrbogue was reminded by something when he saw this listing:

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Personally, I’m reminded of this:

Seinfeld – The Dinner Party
JERRY: Oh look Elaine, the black and white cookie. I love the black and white. Two races of flavor living side by side [mumble?] It’s a wonderful thing isn’t it?

ELAINE: You know I often wonder what you’ll be like when you’re senile.

The term duette is pretty cute. What does this house remind you of? Doesn’t it sound like a cleaning product?

The Least Affordable Place to Live? Try Salinas – New York Times
IN 2005, the least-affordable place in the country to live, measured by the percentage of income devoted to mortgage payments, was Salinas, Calif.

The second was the Santa Cruz-Watsonville area of California.

The third? Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif.

In fact, California has the distinction of having the 11 least-affordable metropolitan areas in the country. One would need to go all the way down to 12th place — and across the country to the New York region’s northern suburbs — to find a non-California metropolitan area on the least-affordable list of 2005.

Congratulations! And why is California so unaffordable? Is it because it’s the most special place on earth?

Another quintessentially California issue is Proposition 13, the 1978 measure that slashed property taxes by more than 50 percent and ignited a national property tax revolution.

The measure, which was supposed to facilitate home buying, has backfired to some extent; local governments prefer that land be used for retailing rather than housing because they collect more from sales taxes than from property taxes.

“Proposition 13 is a big stop sign saying ‘no housing needed,’ ” said Peter Dreier, professor of public policy at Occidental College in Los Angeles and an author of “Place Matters: Metropolitics for the 21st Century” (University Press of Kansas, 2001). “Every municipality is engaged in a bidding war for retail — they’re battling for Wal-Mart, to keep the libraries open.”

It is unlikely that will change, Professor Dreier and others say, calling Proposition 13 “the third rail of government — it’s untouchable.”

Maybe they can build dual purpose Best Buy’s – stores during the day, houses at night. Then, instead of having a Best Buy every 5 miles (East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale) – we could have one every block. Everyone wins!