Here’s a find from Burbed reader, now promoted to Burbed Guest Editor, sonarrat.  However, sonarrat asked me to handle this one because of a particular feature set, and no, it is not the little gold star this house somehow has earned from Redfin.

107 S 19TH St, San Jose, CA 95116
$1,149,800

BEDS: 8
BATHS: 6
SQ. FT.: 4,400
$/SQ. FT.: $261
LOT SIZE: 10,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Mountains, Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1999
COMMUNITY: Central San Jose
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81111392
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 30 days

Grand home, perfect for large family nearby Naglee Park Area of San Jose * 8bed/6bath with a office * 2 gourmet kitchens * 2master suites * guest quarter with 2bed/1bath/livingroom/walking closet * Marble floors * 3car garage * Huge parking lot for many cars, RV and boat * 12years young * remodeled through out the house 2years ago, just like new * Easy access to majors freeways, parks, and SJSU.

What makes a home grand?  Is it a 4400 square foot house in the middle of a bunch of hundred year old scrapers?  Is it having twice as many bedrooms or baths as a typical family needs, or even wants?  How about twice the kitchen or twice the master suites?

No, while these things may make the house ostentatiously oversized, only one feature allows a house to call itself grand, and I’m sure you remember what it is.

Dat’s right!  Mawbul kawlums!  But this house goes one better than that.  Not only is it a stucco box that found room for six a dem dings, it has marble floors, too!

This has got to be the first time I’ve seen a house with marble columns manage to look like a 1960s cracker box.
But hey, it’s got a huge parking lot for many cars, because the 3 car garage is obviously not enough.  (Wow, did the builder run out of money and not bother matching the garage doors?  Or is this some political commentary saying the Right has its eyes closed?)

I’m glad they included this shot of the parking lot, or I would have suspected they just paved the entire quarter acre lot to save money on pesky greenscaping.

Yeah.

Definitely what happened.  Can’t say there isn’t anything green out here.

Picnic table: definitely green.

So.  Let’s move on.  You can check out the two full kitchens yourself, I assure you they have the obligatory stainless and granite.  Instead, how about this listing history?

Yes!  Marble columns, flip,  AND foreclosure!  Isn’t that grand?  Let’s check with Zillow on those missing listing prices.

“Any time I roll anything out, my plan is the best one in the room and people are starting to realize that.Their plan is s**t and my plan is gold. Walk into my plan and you’re going to win, win, win.”

Thanks to Burbed reader Sam for this “very unique” find in San Carlos.

790 BUCKLAND Ave, San Carlos, CA 94070
$1,049,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 1,965
$/SQ. FT.: $534
LOT SIZE: 7,565 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: Bi/Split Level
VIEW: Bay, Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1955
COMMUNITY: Cordes
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81113908
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending Without Release
ON REDFIN: 14 days

Wow!!This is a Tremendous 4bed 3 bath home. Unmatched features and wide open floor plan make this home “fit for a King” Heated bathroom floors, heated towel racks, remote control digitally controlled shower. Electrolox Icon Stanliess steele appliances with build in espresso machine makes this kitchen one of a kind. All new windows, floors, doors, Outstanding remoldel.

Here’s what Sam had to say about this listing:

I guess the listing agent forgot that in 2011 the “recently flipped” moniker isn’t a feature. Flip This House is sooooo 2006. But hey, it’s “fit for a King”: it has heated towel racks! It also has “Stanliess steele”. I don’t know what that is, but I’m pretty sure it would make a good porn star name.

Well, we got good news and bad news for you, Sam.  The bad news is this listing recently changed, maybe when the buyers accepted that pending without release offer.  Maybe they took away that “recently flipped” comment you mention that I didn’t find, what with my keeping your email sitting around for 2 weeks.  But the good news is that we don’t have to scratch our heads wondering what’s wrong with this place.  Redfin’s doing the heavy lifting for us!

Very unique!  I love very unique!  Nonconforming and weird is good too!  We’re going to love working with our Redfin overlords.  Meanwhile, check out the Google Streetview of this place!  I guess Spring Bounce means equity is rising. Something is rising, because the place doesn’t look exactly level.

But wait, there’s more!  Look at the listing history, OMFG!  This must be what Sam mean about recently flipped.  Plus a bonus foreclosure, this place has it all.

Don’t worry, Zillow’s got us covered on those missing listing prices.  Hoo-boy, can you say “Price Reduction”?

Cheer up!  The house was pending back in September, 2010, and that deal fell through.  It could happen again and YOU could be the next owner!

Whoever does buy it, please replace that rug with something that doesn’t look like the hardwood floor cut open and rotated 90 degrees.  Even Stanliess steele would look better.  But nothing beats a remote control digitally controlled shower.

580 GEORGIA Ave Palo Alto, CA 94306

$1,025,000

Beds:	3
Baths:	1
Sq. Ft.:	905
$/Sq. Ft.:	$1,133
Lot Size:	6,875 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Traditional
Stories:	1
Year Built:	1950
Community:	Barron Park
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81049730
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	ActiveThis listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	89 days

 

Looking for a great starter home, move in ready, remodel or maybe build your dream home in the Barron Park neighborhood, this is the property for you. Quiet area close to schools, Parks and shopping. Perfect investment opportunity for the savvy investor/builder.

Every everyone! Check out this fantastic deal! Just $1,133 per square for for you to tear down, or move into. It’s amazing how things can be both perfect opportunities for investors/builders and be move in ready. But this is the kind of innovative and agile spirit that we have in the Real Bay Area.

So let’s see… buy it… tear it down… build a 2000 sqft home on it… hey, that’s not too bad at all! Just $1.625M all in! Sweet what a deal!

Better buy soon. This is the year Real Bay Area prices roar back. I’m calling it now – $2000 per square foot in Palo Alto by this time next year!

There’s a neighborhood in Palo Alto where all the streets are named after famous authors. But where would those authors want to live if they were teaching at Stanford?  Here’s a great house for a poet who likes to break conventions.

3858 Magnolia Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,150,000

Beds: 3
Baths: 2
Sq. Ft.: 1,621
$/Sq. Ft.: $709
Lot Size: 7,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Ranch
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1952
Community: Barron Park
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81100414
Source: MLSListings
Status:Active
On Redfin: 1 day
New Listing (24 hours)

charming california ranch located in sought after barron park! huge 7,500 square foot parcel, three spacious bedrooms, including master suite w/ office or den area. two full bathrooms, spacious living/dining room, new comp roof, hardwood floors, fireplace in living room. with a little TLC this could be a great home!

Talk about a living in a pretty how town.  Too bad the agent had to ruin the literary fun by capitalizing TLC.  Instead, the features of the property should have been turned into blank verse.

patio cracked leafs oh my
step falls back oh no head hurts
smells like autumn wait that’s mold under my window

the paint fresh smooth dust falls covers my quilt with powdery fluff cough

i sit greet the new day the sink dripping dripping washer replacement need trip OSH again fourth trip this week

knees cannot fit grab the bar grab the bar

my bank calls me mortgage late again more fees fees fees

a little tlc i have none why this could be great home someone with more money than me maybe for

you know this piece is over over over when photos don’t intrigue just lead
to more bad prose

Today’s listing is brought to you by Burbed reader sonarrat.  Here’s what sonarrat has to say about today’s featured house!  “Yep, I had a view of this house from my classes at SJSU.”

237 E San Fernando St, San Jose, CA 95112
$1,199,000

Beds: –
Baths: –
Sq. Ft.: 2,250
$/Sq. Ft.: $533
Lot Size: 6,165 Sq. Ft.
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1920
Community: Central San Jose
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81023941
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 186 days

Amazing opportunity in prime location – right next to SJSU and behind San Jose City Hall. This fantastic property has 11 rooms (possible to add 3 more), 3 bathrooms, common area, coin operated laundry machine in the spacious basement. Plenty of parking spaces available in the large backyard. Options for Fraternity house, business, restaurant or duplex. Buyers to confirm use permits.

Wow, sonarrat, I’m speechless.  Has there ever been a property on Burbed before where the agent suggests it would make a great Frat house?  Fraternity brothers take such good care of the premises, too!  It would be such a shame to turn this into a business or restaurant instead. Then it could burn down when a waiter trips holding a tray full of flaming shots for the frat brothers who bought down the street.

Look, we know in life there are winners and there are losers.  Not everyone who can send their kids to college gets to send them to Stanford.  So if your son or daughter is as upset about their options as you’ll be, why not pick up this conveniently located little dwelling as a consolation prize, and skip the whole dorm thing?  Let the college kid learn about the real world by writing leases, collecting rents and evicting deadbeats!  Plus, you can sell it at a profit in seven or eight years when your child finally graduates. Yes, seven or eight years, because with those budget cuts, there’s no way the school’s letting anyone graduate in just four.

Real Bay Area property doubles every ten years, so this is an investment that more than pays for itself.  Remember, it’s got a coin-operated laundry machine.

There have been a number of requests that burbed stop with the high-priced houses, and return to its roots.  That means “scrapers in the ‘hood,” and today’s featured property qualifies on both counts.  But the price will definitely surprise you.

14335 Story Road, San Jose 95127
$1,199,950

Beds: 3
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 1,474
$/Sq. Ft.: $814
Lot Size: 0.78 Acres
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Traditional
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1930
Community: Alum Rock
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80778197
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 964 days

May have the ability to develope multiple units!

Wonder why the agent may, but didn’t, have the ability to develope multiple photos?  Especially because they went through all the trouble of setting up a virtual tour. There’s more descriptive copy in this link.  Are you ready, because I’m going to post all of it. It’s a bit of a teal deer, sorry.

3 beds, 1 bath, 1474 sf on a 34,000 sf lot. Large lot perfect for possible PUD and or multiple units adjacent to National Hispanic University. Buyers duty to confirm.

Did somebody buyers have to confirm it’s “adjacent to National Hispanic University”?  Isn’t this photo good enough?

Plus, there’s nine more pictures to drool over, every single one of them outdoors.  Here’s my favorite:

I love that weird glow around the trees.  Someone’s been playing with Photoshop!  Maybe you can buy this property and play Develope!  Put in that multiple property PUD thing, throw up a dozen scrapers, and start evicting deadbeat tenants now!

Here’s a great find from burbed reader Herve, who says, “Check out that location and tell me if anyone would want to spend $1,250,000 there.”

$1.25M in Menlo Park?  That’s not out of line at all for a larger house.  Menlo Park has some very nice neighborhoods.  Unfortunately, this is not in one of them.

1151 Windermere Ave  Menlo Park, CA 94025
$1,250,000

Beds: 5
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 2,330
$/Sq. Ft.: $536
Lot Size: 5,403 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Year Built: 1947
Community: East of U.S. 101
County: San Mateo
MLS#: 81044545
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 14 days

NOT AN REO OR SHORT SALE!!! 5-6 BED, 3 BATH, 2 STORY HOME LOCATED ON A GREAT CORNER LOT WITH RV ACCESS, 2 MASTER SUITE AND CENTRAL HEAT AND AIR. TOTALLY REMODELED IN 2006. MUST SEE TO APPRECIATE!

What is the price point when a listing isn’t in all-caps?  Silly me, I had thought it was in six-digit land.  Guess the rules are different when the listing is NOT AN REO OR SHORT SALE!!!

The first photo above seemed odd, because it looked like it was taken from a street behind another street.  It was:

At least Howard street doesn’t go through; there’s a sidewalk cutting it short.  Nothing like living at a five-way intersection for great feng shui.  And nothing like the neighborhood for great property values:

Oops.  This place isn’t just on the Wrong Side of of El Camino Real.  It’s in the exciting community of Belle Haven, Wrong Side of 101!  Let’s see how Belle Haven compares with its zip code.

Um… wow.  Guess they came up with that $536 a square foot price by averaging the neighborhood cost per foot with the whole zip code.  But look, the house sold for $145,000 in 1989, right as the last bubble was running up, It’s more than doubled in 20 years, so it has to be in the Real Bay Area!  Plus it was TOTALLY REMODELED IN 2006.  This is definitely the neighborhood to do an expensive remodel (did you see that Jacuzzi?), because the price has nowhere to go but up, up, up!

It’s been a while since we featured a property in Sunnyvale.  Sunnyvale isn’t considered a “prestige” address such as Portola Valley or Woodside.  But there are plenty of advantages to living in Sunnyvale.  How about a two-for-one special?

297 CHARLES St Sunnyvale, CA 94086
$1,100,000

Beds: 7
Baths: 3
Sq. Ft.: 2,516
$/Sq. Ft.: $437
Lot Size: 6,500 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Colonial
Stories: 2
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1908
Community: Sunnyvale
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81025224
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 104 days

Open house July 24th today 1-4. AMAZING!!!2 homes on one parcel!First time on market ever!2 car detached garage. 297 Charles St. 1908 Colonial Revival Historical 5bd/2ba, 2,516+-sqft, newer kitchen, carpet, beautiful floors-545W. McKinley 2bd/1ba-700+-sqft. Both have large basements. Gabel dormer, original hardware, Full kitchen upstairs can be used as a rental-separate address 295 Charles.

See, not only do you get two houses for the price of one (if that one were in the Cupertino school district), you also get an agent who doesn’t believe in using both spaces and punctuation at the same time.  Plus you can use the full kitchen upstairs as a rental!  Seriously, talk about prestige!  Two basements! 

And talk about convenience!  These houses are walking distance to both Sunnyvale Town Center and Town & Country Village.  That means they’re  smack-dab in Downtown, but for some reason the agent doesn’t want you to know that.  Maybe it’s because “Downtown” reminds people of the endless reconstruction of both shopping malls.

Alert burbed reader Pralay sent in this news update on the problems.  Poor Town & Country Village!  Not only did it get a mall in Palo Alto named after it, but it’s now serving as a wildlife refuge.  What a boon to property values!

New developer buys Town & Country parcel in Sunnyvale for $19 million

By John Dugan

Posted: 08/31/2010 06:02:44 PM PDT
Updated: 08/31/2010 07:19:26 PM PDT

A San Francisco development company has bought part of the former Town and Country shopping center in downtown Sunnyvale for $19 million, with plans to put 280 housing units and possible street-level retail on the site.

BRE Properties Inc. announced the purchase of 2.4 acres of land in downtown Sunnyvale in a press release Tuesday. The release said the "transit-oriented" site was one block from the Caltrain station and adjacent to the Sunnyvale Town Center.

Santa Clara County property records show that BRE purchased parcels at 101, 201, 301 and 401 Town and Country Village Way, or roughly half of the 4.6-acre Town and Country site, from Capella Holdings, LLC, on Aug. 20.

A BRE spokesman said there is no timetable to begin construction on the site, which has been vacant since the old shopping center was demolished in April. Previous to the demolition, the buildings sat empty for more than a year, and the site drew complaints from citizens and Sunnyvale City Council members alike for its decrepit appearance and rat infestation.

Yes, The Excitement Is Building in Sunnyvale!  The property is definitely easy walking distance to shops… if any of them were open.  Or standing.

Sunnyvale isn’t a prestige address?  Get real.  Not only is this a hundred-year-old million dollar property, the houses are on the corner of Charles Street and McKinley Avenue.  That’s a Prince and a President!  How much more prestige do you need?  And if Elizabeth II ever keels over, then it’s a King and a President!  The only thing that could make it any more prestigious would be a nearby Starbucks.  If only someone would open a shopping mall.

36 LYELL St Los Altos, CA 94022

$1,099,500

Beds:	4
Baths:	3
Sq. Ft.:	1,466
$/Sq. Ft.:	$750
Lot Size:	6,969 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Traditional
Stories:	1
View:	Mountains, Neighborhood
Year Built:	1946
Community:	North Los Altos
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81020948
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active This listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	53 days

Location Opportunity! Downtown Village charm, private fenced back yard, majestic oak tree. Room for garden. Bonus room. Nice house, 4 bedrooms, 3 updated baths. 4th bedroom suite off garage. So dont miss bonus room off the garage!

Thanks to Burbed Gallileo for this find. Here’s what G had to say:

Sold in February 2010 for $975,000, now on the market for $1,099,500. With no improvements over the past four months listed in the description, that is a work and investment free annualized appreciation of 43%! Now that is what I call the real bay area!

You heard it here folks… Real Bay Area real estate is about to resume its place as the world’s best and safest investment.

Bernie Madoff eat your heart out!

Want a private and spectacular estate for less money than yesterday’s building pad farm?  You can’t have it.  It’s been delisted.

10264 MERKLEY Row  San Jose, CA 95127
$1,199,900

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 4.5
SQ. FT.: 4,416
$/SQ. FT.: $272
LOT SIZE: 2.22 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Mountains, Neighborhood, Valley, City Lights
YEAR BUILT: 1990
COMMUNITY: Alum Rock
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81024704
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 5 days

* BANK OWNED/REO * Private, grand and elegant gated estate nestled on an approximately 2.2 acre parcel w/ breathtaking panoramic views of the Santa Clara Valley floor and neighboring mountain ranges. Large open rooms, guest quarters, library/office and a large master retreat. All non all cash offers must be accompanied by a Bank of America pre-qual. AS IS sale!

Today’s non-listing has plenty of questions it doesn’t want to answer.  Maybe the readers of burbed can figure them out!

Why was this lovely property taken off the market?  The homedebtors paid $1,715,000 for it at the peak of the market for non-RBA properties.  Then some trust fund snapped it up from the bank last December for $775,625, which is probably what was owed on the mortgage.  Here’s the really weird thing.  The property was listed on May 18th and delisted on May 25th.

What flavor of Kool-Aid made this property worth $1.7M in 2006?

What did the FBs do to the place that the property was being sold AS IS?  The house was built in 1990-91 with a quality level of 9.0, so this is not new but incomplete construction.  Perhaps we are talking about new and incomplete destruction.

Is the location so non-RBA that the high quality of the construction and the private, grand and elegant gated estate nestled on 2.2 acres with breathtaking panoramic views comes down to lipstick on a pig?

How come only Bank of America pre-qualifications were acceptable on this foreclosure?  Is this some kind of inside job?  Is there a whiff of funny business to this property?

Why is the Trulia listing only for 4416 sf but the Redfin one presents 5227?  Is that why the property was AS IS?  Are we to believe that someone bought a 4400+ sf property on 2+ acres and decided it wasn’t big enough?  And that they then managed to wreck their financial health by adding to a gated estate in Alum Rock?  But they didn’t bother getting any permits?

Is this place sold but secretly?  How did they manage to sell it with this out of focus picture?  Is it still on the market?  Where did the extra 800 square feet go?

Good luck answering these questions, especially why you cannot buy this property today.  Or whether you should have bought it in May to grab the state tax credit. Or if you’ve been – TOO LATE – priced out forever.