Let’s visit Millbrae again, because it needs some Burbed love.  Simply mentioning it in passing because its zip code was the 366th most expensive in the county will not do for keeping Millbrae in our sights.

Fortunately, Burbed Reader Paul has found us a wonderful wishing price washout, showing what happens when sellers expect a particular price and the market fails to comply.  Thanks very much, Paul!

1388 BROADWAY #186, Millbrae, CA 94030
$599,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,147
$/SQ. FT.: $522
LOT SIZE: –
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2009
COMMUNITY: Millwood
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81141887
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 61 days

Sophisticated living in the heart of Millbrae. Built in 2009, this Garden Level 2br/2ba condo offers approx 1147 sqft of living space. The gourmet kitchen is decked out with beautiful granite counter tops and backsplashes and a myriad of energy-efficient features. The interior is spacious and full of light. Common areas include multiple landscaped courtyards, a spa, barbeque area, & gym.

When Paul first sent this listing in, the asking price was $628,000, so after a month, with great trepidation, the sellers decided to cut the price all the way to… $615,000.  This did not lead to a packed Open House, flyers going through windows, and overbidding bringing offering prices right where they need to be.  So our dauntless sellers, guided by their brilliant and knowledgeable agent, took another deep (2.5%) price cut to the bone!  $599K!

Here’s how Paul described it:

Hey, the folks just down the street at 151 El Camino are selling new units in the $600s—we should get AT LEAST as much! Just because we bought near the market peak doesn’t mean we can’t walk with $100k of profit today! And besides, we have 2 parking spaces to their 1 (which you’ll need because it’s too far to walk to BART).

I chatted with the agent and he confirmed that the sellers were pretty clear on the price they wanted to list at… best of luck to them. Maybe they find a willing victim in the low $500s?

Paul should have mentioned that the $525,000 sale was in 2009.  Everyone knows that was a market low, and it’s completely reasonable to expect a $100K $74K profit from the year the credit dried up.

Also I really like this picture of the kitchen, with the mid-oughties trifecta of granite, stainless, and hardwood (or at least Pergo).

Today we have a short but sweet guest post from z2amiller!  It’s another luscious listing in the location, location, location land of Mountain View, but this time z left the confines of the immediate neighborhood and found us something even better.

Unfortunately it was sent over the transom as a PowerPoint slide deck.  Given how close this house is to a thriving commercial district, you should be jumping on it as a Web 3.0 opportunity.

Please give z2amiller a big, warm and profitable Real Bay Area welcome as today’s Guest Blogger!

911 BORANDA Ave Unit A, Mountain View, CA 94040
$594,500

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 523
$/SQ. FT.: $1,137
LOT SIZE: 3,160 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Cottage/Bungalow
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1900
COMMUNITY: Miramonte
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81144771
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 39 days

Cute cottage style bungalow with nice size backyard. .. tiki hut with tropical look and feel. .. perfect for entertaining. Property is walking distance to downtown Mountain View. Gorgeous kitchen, with cherry wood cabinets, newer stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, and beautiful hardwood floors.

This one made me WTFOL (WTF out loud): @ ~600K

• 523 sqft (Not counting the tiki hut! Tiki hut?)
• 523 sqft house with a $100K kitchen (stainless steel, granite, cherry cabinets)
• Bedroom Desk (picture 7, with laptop) is a Costco steel wire rack – with 523sqft you have to think vertically!

• Okay actually the tiki hut is kind of awesome (photos 11-14)

• Only a short block away, and more importantly, downwind from Clark’s Hamburgers – your tiki hut will always smell like fresh hamburgers!
• Appears to be in the backyard of a strip mall with a tattoo parlor (Revolution Ink)
• Look at the shape of that lot!   Maybe 3100 sqft but at it looks like about 1/3 – 1/4 of that is useless.

Sorry no time for a full write up, only bullet-point snark

Today’s house is a Guest Post by Burbed Reader AstroWallaby!  You know how good things come in small packages?  Well today’s featured listing is only 714 square feet, so it has to be fan-fracking-tastic!  Plus a location, location, location to love, love, love!

Please give AstroWallaby a big, warm, sunny, Real Bay Area welcome as today’s Guest Blogger!

537 JACKSON St, San Jose, CA 95112
$518,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 725
$/SQ. FT.: $714
LOT SIZE: 5,617 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1955
COMMUNITY: Central San Jose
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81129934
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 144 days

R2 Zone. Main house with private 1500sqft warehouse/workshop. Warehouse/workshop built without permit. Tenant occupied. BIG REDUCTION. SELLER MOTIVATED

Tipping the scales at $714 per (permitted) foot this 725 square bantamweight contender for your investment dollar punches way above its weight class, as it includes a non-permitted twice-the-size-of-the-house attached warehouse!

And you’ll need it, if for no other reason than to store the grossly distended pride of ownership that comes along with buying what has to be the *shortest* house of in the neighborhood.

And with that R2 zoning you’ll be able to share that pride with the tenant that conveniently comes with the property, assuming you can convince the city to let you call whatever space is left over in your permit-impaired palace a second unit.

Listed in July for $590k, now’s your chance to steal it following a "BIG REDUCTION" to $518k. I have no idea why suddenly its "SELLER" is so "MOTIVATED" but don’t miss out on your chance to grab an extra $72k of instant equity. After all, Zillow thinks it might be worth up to $749,840!

(Ignore all the recent comps and those small-minded fools at eppraisal.com, this house is totally worth the extra $200k+. Owning your own illegal warehouse is a privilege reserved for those willing to pay for it.)

Today’s luscious listing is a superb short sale in San Mateo, courtesy of Burbed reader Divasm!  Thanks for this fantastic find, featuring fun photos, plenty of deferred maintenance, and the ever-popular “The dog ate my permits” excuse.

324 MIDVALE Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403
$550,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 4
SQ. FT.: 1,610
$/SQ. FT.: $342
LOT SIZE: 5,056 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1950
COMMUNITY: Westwood Knolls
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81119319
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending With Release
ON REDFIN: 168 days

Contractor Special! House has 4 bdrms 4 ba on record but total square footage of 2200 sq ft not formally recorded. Owner states that 2 bdrms, 2 ba & family rm addition were built w/ permit. Close to shopping & schools. Needs maintenance. Has a lot of potential. Swimming pool and spa in bkyard. Legality of 4th bath not warranted.

Here’s Divasm’s thoughts on today’s house:

This short sale has been around for over 150 days and been in and out of pending. It’s nothing new, same old story…but it’s a great example of when to just NOT include pictures of the house because they’re really not doing you any favors. The outside pic has so much glare and lens flare you think you’re in a JJ Abrams movie, and the inside pics look like somebody intentionally trashed their house…at Christmas time.

But hey, maybe in a couple months the season will come back around and it will appear festive! And I guess we should be happy there are no Dudes or Cats hanging around, there is that…

I think this shot of the kitchen is a 10.  A 10 on the “I’m selling my house for more than half a million bucks and can’t be bothered to clean the kitchen before taking a few snaps.”

They couldn’t even bother to move the trash can out of the frame.  This is so beautiful, it’s bringing tears to eyes.  Or maybe that’s the onions in the trash can.

The permit issues are just the icing on this delectable cake of contractor concern!  Good thing the owner states that most of the additions were built w/ permit!  The extra square footage not appearing on the county records is just a quibble you can work out with the friendly folks at the Planning Department and the Assessor’s Office.  You’re going to be spending a LOT of time with those folks getting approvals for all the maintenance this place needs, so you might as well ask them why there’s 600 square feet “not formally recorded.”

Maybe they’re hiding behind all the crap in this bedroom.

Today’s featured house and accompanying guest commentary is brought to you by Burbed reader AstroWallaby, profiling the always adventurous area of Alum Rock, San Jose!  This is a genuine go-to geographical golden goose for great Burbed goodness.

Want to see your name in lights (okay, in bold) like this?  Send in your listing wins, with (or without) your added valuable observations.  Operators are standing by!

And now, please give AstroWallaby a big, warm Real Bay Area welcome!

134 N WHITE Rd, San Jose, CA 95127
$548,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 999
$/SQ. FT.: $549
LOT SIZE: 6,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1945
COMMUNITY: Alum Rock
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81129919
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 126 days

Large Lot with workshop in the back. Tile counters in Kitchen, Pergo Flooring. Fireplace in living room. Side yard access rear. Spacious Detached garage building. ~2,000 sq ft Side lawn, Fenced and Separate from the front house. Best offer will be considered.

Speaking of dreck, here’s another "optimistic" entry from East San Jose that might be worth a laugh, if you haven’t seen it yet.

The listing at least avoids ALL CAPS, although isn’t saying " Best offer will be considered" sort of redundant when selling a house? Clearly the realtor was impressed by the interior, judging by the two magnificent Quickcam-resolution interior shots they’ve included. It’s sort of disappointing that you can’t actually tell what it trying to escape from that cabinet drawer in the kitchen, but whatever it is I hope it succeeds. As for the fireplace… I’m not sure a provocative fandance really works to increase the sex appeal of inanimate objects but I’ll give it bonus points for trying.

The shot of the empty (down to the bare dirt) backyard is interesting. It *could* be an avant-garde artistic use of negative space, but I suspect it’s more likely a counterpoint to the satellite photo which shows no fewer than nine vehicles haphazardly arranged around the property. Nothing like the Pride of Ownership which comes along with owning your own former dirt parking lot. You might even qualify for Superfund money to pay for your landscaping!

And the suggested retail price for this V-J Day-vintage 999 square foot slice of heaven/White Road? A mere $548,000. Sure, it’s a good $200k higher than any reasonable comparable but that’s a small price to pay for a fireplace with a spot-on Sally Rand impersonation.

Here’s another amazing find by Burbed reader SEA for you today.  Thanks very much for letting us know that not all is style and charm in our favorite city.  There’s also value!

 

455 GRANT Ave #12, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$525,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 906
$/SQ. FT.: $579
LOT SIZE: 943 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
YEAR BUILT: 1962
COMMUNITY: College
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81136262
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 33 days

Open 8/20 8/21 2nd floor overlooking sparkling pool Huge36ftx6ft Patio Balcony Granite kitchen, granite floor, Brand new bathrooms, Loads of light, Excellent Palo Alto School District, Vacant, Close to CalTrain, El Camino California Ave. Walk to Stanford. Very bright unit with Atrium on one side and pool on the other side.

Here’s what SEA has to say about this, um, well-situated find.

At first I thought it was some sort of prison, but then I realized that it was ‘not a lot of money’ more than not a lot of money.

Prison? Don’t be ridiculous.  This is a highly secure storehouse for your hard-earned savings!  Just look at all these different places you could keep them in while they multiply, and all you have to do is live here.

Now check out how much the previous owners were all able to accomplish in putting their money to work:

See? These transactions are Special, just like you’ll be when you take advantage of this amazing offer to “Walk to Stanford.” It’s a beautiful 1.6 mile walk to Memorial Hall, on the Road of Kings, even! If I were you, I’d get walking to that agent’s office right now.

Here’s another terrific find in comments by Burbed reader Sam Adu!  Thanks very much, Sam!

Want to be on the front page like today’s Guest Blogger? Find a winner of a listing (like this one!) and write it up. Send it in with pictures you’ve taken, or we’ll use what’s on the listing.

Don’t think you can write as well as Sam? Just send in the listing, we can’t write as well as Sam either.

Please give Sam Adu a big, warm Real Bay Area welcome, as today’s featured Guest Blogger with another eye-popping property from the highly-desired Campbell neighborhood that’s not in Campbell.

Yesterday (last week) there was the awesome house that had its price reduced again and again and again.

How about this house that has gone pending again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again (Yes, that’s 9 times pending!!!!!!!) since it was first listed for sale in 2009.

 

2286 RIORDAN Dr, San Jose, CA 95130
$575,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 1,557
$/SQ. FT.: $369
LOT SIZE: 5,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Mountains
YEAR BUILT: 1963
COMMUNITY: Campbell
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80952568
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 662 days

Great value! The garage was converted to a family room (with permits) offering an additional 460 sqft of living space. Two bathrooms were remodeled before the home went on the market. Don’t let the days on market keep you from seeing this home! Great neighborhood!!

All-in-all a pretty unremarkable home although the garage conversion looks pretty hideous from the outside of the house and is darn annoying from a utility/usability standpoint.

I love this part of the listing: “Don’t let the days on market keep you from seeing this home!”. The person responsible for setting the price of this home should be interned in an insane asylum since it has been their crazy pricing strategy that is responsible for this home being on the market since 2009.

What sort of spooky skeletons are hiding in this property to cause it to fall through pending 9 times? Or maybe the pendings are some sort of anomaly in the way the property history is being displayed?

Anyone care to guess how many more times this property goes pending before it gets sold? My completely wild-ass guess is 11.

Anyone check out Fusion Sunnyvale?  Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer found some of the marketing copy a little over the top:

Your life is a frenzy of color, flashing lights and movement. Facebook. Twitter. Email. Blogging. Texting. Meetings. Deadlines. Commuting.

Every day you take on the world. So, you deserve to come home to a beautiful place where you can recharge and relax, entertain and regroup. You want a neighborhood that is alive and vibrant with a fitness room to workout, places to mingle and space to hang out with your friends. You deserve soothing gardens to wander, a putting green to play and walking paths for your dog. It’s your time to do what you want, when you want, in your own community.

Introducing Fusion at Sunnyvale, a townhome community filled with everyday things that fuse your life. The homes have style and all the features you desire at a price you can afford. At the hub of the neighborhood, there is a fitness center, theater, Wi-Fi bar and fire pit. Everything that you need at the end of a long day.
So take on the world, then come home. To Fusion.

As Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer correctly notes, you can’t spell FUSION without F-U.

So let’s take a good look at this complex that’s such a wonderful place to call home, they show a chair instead of the “Spanish-Eclectic and contemporary architecture by KTGY architects.”

You have to click all the way down to BLOG to find out what the place looks like!  And the name of the blog?  “Short Fuse.”  How clever!  They already worked out that the properties would be selling shortly through their preferred lenders!  (More coming shortly after the break!)

(more…)

$595,000

185 FLORENCE St Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Beds:	2
Baths:	1
Sq. Ft.:	610
$/Sq. Ft.:	$975
Lot Size:	6,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Ranch
Stories:	1
View:	Neighborhood
Year Built:	1910
Community:	Sunnyvale
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81055660
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active
On Redfin:	192 days

GREAT LOCATION walking distance from the new Sunnyvale downtown shops. A great opportunity to BUILD YOUR OWN PLACE. Seller has city approved plans and permits for remodeling to 3 bed and 2 bath (1,582 sf). Contractor can start immediately. Detached garage and workshop in the back was build 10 years ago with permits. Please don’t disturb tenants. Make offer subject to inspection.

Although this has been on the market for 192 days, it sure seems familiar. Where have I seen this $975 per square foot house before?

Oh…. right….

November 18, 2009

Build your own place in Sunnyvale!

185 FLORENCE St, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 | MLS# 80944856
185 FLORENCE St Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Price: $635,000

Wait… that reminds of something else…oh… right…

September 6, 2006

400 sqft house in Sunnyvale with 2 car garage

This sure is a quaint little house…

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 648556
185 FLORENCE ST
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
$605,000

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 648556 Approx Age: 96 Years Approx Sq Ft: 400

But here’s the surprise:

Yes, this 400 sqft house has a separate 2 car garage. Was this house originally intended for the chauffeur?

At least the garage has changed. Check it out now!

Classy!

Look at the amazing appreciation! From $605k to $635k to $595k! Can you say “equity waiting to be tapped”??

Here’s a find from Burbed reader z2amiller, no doubt one of the many also-rans during the long road to homeloanership.  You all remember z2amiller, don’t you?  First burbed reader who admitted, and thus earned this badge:

801 WAKE FOREST Dr, Mountain View, CA 94043
$558,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,075
$/SQ. FT.: $519
LOT SIZE: 7,700 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1954
COMMUNITY: Whisman
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81125530
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 12 days

Great starter home in Mountain View w/ 4 bdrm. & 2 baths. Freshly painted interior & exterior. New carpets and linoleum. New stove w/ self cleaning oven, fan-hood and dishwasher. The Washer Dryer & Refrig stay. If you love gardening/fruit trees/flowers/herb garden/and vegtable garden you will love this 7700sf lot. Room for boat. Front yard mostly roses on drip system. No Gar. door closed/up-1-car

Here’s what z2amiller had to say about this property:

9 pictures and not a single one of the indoors? 4 bedrooms in 1075 sqft? I guess you better _really_ love gardening and spending time outside in your huge 7700 sqft lot!

They must have changed the pictures, only four of them are outdoors now!  And note how this one managed to include the TP on the roll, even!

Wow, I’m getting trippy watching all those water features line up, all those metal bars line up, it even repeats in the mirror… and the metal soap dish reinforces the metal TP holder.  Now that’s art.  Whatever money they spent on HDR photography was money well spent.  I want to buy this place and set up an easel and canvas and see if I can get some water lily action going.  Or at least water closet.