It’s the second day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge and our readers are already Bored!  So let’s Blow off any more Bitching and proceed to today’s Bodacious Beauty!  Also Bear in mind that B is not only for Burbed, it appears twice therein!

Okay, we swear we won’t Bother Belaboring the Best Blog in the Bay Area!

804 MILLER Ave
Belmont, CA 94002
$1,900,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
1,030 Sq. Ft.
$1,845 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1926
Lot Size: 4,500 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 4 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Valley
County: San Mateo
Stories: 1
Community: Belmont Country Club
MLS#: 81309791

Approximately 20,000 square feet per county records, made up of 4 beautiful lots with level areas. On one lot, there is a small 2/1 with a detached 2 car garage. See the city to determine the development possibilities of this property. .. possibly 4 new homes! Needs to be sold all as one package.

Note that weasel word: possibly! Possibly 4 new homes! Possibly the most expensive 1000 sf house on 4500 square feet in the history of Belmont real estate sales. Possibly a Big Boost toward Buyer’s Bona fide Bankruptcy.  Inotherwords: Buy and Believe!

Buh-Bye!

And happy new year to all our Burbed readers!  Let’s get right back to housing win, shall we?  We shall.  Today’s fine featured facade was nominated by Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater.

917 North Rd
Belmont, CA 94002
$499,888

3 bed
2 bath
1,490 sqft
Single-Family Home
 
Listing Details
18 Days on Trulia
586 views
Provided by: Liberty Realty Via Mlslistings
Broker: Liberty Realty
Listing Agent: Patrick Sullivan

One original owners–built 1948—-more room than you could imagine–Third bedroom may non-conforming—-nice redwood tree in the back plus lot’s nice vegitation.Chandlier in bedroom is not included.

How hot is the Peninsula housing market?  It is so hot that this fine property, despite the unincluded Chandlier, went pending on New Year’s Day.  And that forced us to use Trulia instead of Redfin.

It is so hot that the agent responsible for this listing didn’t even bother taking an actual photo of the house and just slammed in a Streetview shot (trash bins included!).  Here’s proof at left if you don’t believe me, unless the one original owners have a very interesting outdoor light fixture.

And this market is so hot that a home could be described as “more room than you could imagine” and then force you to imagine it.  That’s right, no inside pix! 

It is so hot that not even the lovely view from the front yard could distract all the overbidders.

Yes, this market is so hot, this place went pending in 18 days.  2013 had better be the year you resolve to not get PRICED OUT FOREVER!!!!!!!!

Can you judge a book by its cover?  You’re going to have to if you’re interested in this beauty in Belmont!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader alyson for sending this foreclosed fortress in.

612 Hiller St
Belmont, CA 94002 
Price:  $624,900

Loan Payment:  $2,094/mo
Bedrooms:  3
Bathrooms:  2
Size:  1,970 sqft
$/Sqft:  $317/sqft
Type:  Single Family House
Year Built:  1953
Lot Size:  7,072
Days on Movoto:  15 days
MLS#:  81239349
Status:  Pending – Do Not Show
Go See This Home Make an Offer

Great opportunity to own a home in Belmont! Walking distance to schools, shopping and easy freeway access. This is great for 1st time buyers or investors. Only cash buyers for this property, the buyer(s) are to take possession with the occupant(s) in possession. There will be NO interior inspections for this property, only drive by.*** DO NOT DISTURBE THE OCCUPANT(S) *** Thank You.

Here’s why alyson sent us this listing:

“great for 1st time buyers” but you can only drive by before buying!

Who says you can only drive by?  You have many other options!  You could also walk by, jog by, bike by, skateboard by, rollerblade by, or wait for the next snowstorm and cross-country ski by.

Also, if you’re really feeling adventurous, you could descend down the chimney wearing a cable harness like in Mission: Impossible, to avoid the laser-activated alarms this house is obviously secured by.  That’s why there’s no photos inside.

We do like how Movoto encourages us to Go See This Home when the listing copy tells us we can’t.

Bunus: Home sold for $640K in… 2004!

We do enjoy a few inside jokes here at Burbed, and sometimes our new readers may not understand all the mysterious terms.  If you ever wondered what we mean by the acronym DHO (which even has its own tag), today you’re going to find out!

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Divasm for this beautilicious battlement in Belmont!

16 ELDER Dr
Belmont, CA 94002
$1,229,500

4 Beds 
2.5 Baths 
2,490 Sq. Ft.
$494 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1974 
Lot Size: 0.26 Acres 
On Redfin: 108 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 2
Community: Belmont Woods
MLS#: 81227108
Style: Ranch
View: Bay, Green Belt, Mountains, Canyon, Marina, City Lights
County: San Mateo

Sweeping views of SF skyline, Bridges, East bay. Public rooms on main level:L shaped living/dining rm w/ vaulted ceilings, kitchen w/ granite counters, family rm w/ vaulted ceilings and Fplc. Kitchen/family rm opens to deck. Bedrooms including master suite on lower level open to deck. New in 2006-roof, gutters, decks, driveway, garage door, copper plumbing, carpets, granite counters, water heater. Lot is 11,480 sqft

Here’s what Divasm had to say when passing this place along:

This house worried me at first – more than half of the photos (13 of 23), including the first 9, are all of the exterior. Three of them feature the family minivan, and pic 6 is of a random stone walkway. So I thought, it must be horrible inside – you know, a contractor’s dream, etc. But it’s not, it seems well taken-care of, actually, It’s just that the current owners seemed to not want to bother with this pesky “staging” thing.

I think the agent probably tried suggesting that maybe they remove some personal things while he took photos – like the dishes in the sink, for example – and they declined. So there they are, sitting in the kitchen at the table, apparently watching the television, which seems to be on some sort of news program from what I can tell.

What’s also weird is the listing history. It appears to have been listed July 19 at 1,295,000, sold on August 17 for 13,000, then Pending Without Release on August 22, now it’s back at $1,229,500. Is the real estate agent as incompetent at MLS history as he is at managing his sellers? He must be, otherwise there would be 8′s in the price.

But what I really want to know is if that CHO comes with the house…maybe they are the live-in staff. That explains why it says “Public Rooms on main level” in the copy – because your maid and butler stay there (where do they sleep, the minivan?). If so I’m going to need their resumes and references before I buy the house.

If you clicked on the DHO tag, you might have figured out it meant somebody got caught in a listing photo. We have to go back to this house with not one but two Dudes Hanging Out to find the birth of this Burbed meme.

Have you ever realized that you aren’t spending enough of your time parking all of your cars?  Why not buy a house that fixes that terrible lack in your life?  After all, pure parking pleasure requires just the right property, and perhaps this is the perfect palace!  Thanks much to Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater for this beauty of a building in Belmont!

820 EL CAMINO REAL
Belmont, CA 94062
$669,000, reduced from $709,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,200
$/SQ. FT.: $304
LOT SIZE: 3,250 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Mediterranean
STORIES: 2
VIEW: City Lights
COMMUNITY: Belmont Country Club
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81211546
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 76 days

Single family home locate on commercial zoon, city may allow home office use for light industry. Interest party need to confirm with city ordiance. 3 bedroom 2 bath upstairs (one master), two additioanal bedroom 1 bath downstairs done with permit. Spacious garage park up to 4 cars tandem.

Today’s featured house convenient to, well, everything (how much more central can you get than the Street of Kings?).  Plus, by only including one photo the agent has made it easy for you to review this listing as quickly as possible.  Not only that, this house is even more Special than you think.  It’s been on Burbed before!

Wow, you can buy it for less than its 2009 asking price, despite it being in the middle of a red-hot market.  And that’s an old asking price, because the home was delisted the day before it appeared here back in 2009. 

Also we just had to sneak in this really old listing picture from when it sold in 2000.  For $535,000.  Think of how much this place is really worth now!  And there’s more good news!  The Redfin agent has done the legwork so you don’t have to.

This location is perfect.  If you don’t already have four cars, step next door and buy them.

Don’t like what they’re selling next door?  No problem at all!  Just head across the street to the CalTrain station and check out what’s chillin’.

Look, you’re a busy person.  This house has a four car garage.  That works out to 25 years per covered parking space.  Now that’s a DEAL.

We haven’t visited Belmont for a while, so this find from Burbed reader Overheard in San Carlos was very much appreciated.  And this property going pending despite the inept presentation goes to show that anyone can succeed as a Realtard.  At least anyone can when the Peninsula is this hot, hot, hot!

3034 SAN JUAN Blvd
Belmont, CA 94002
$1,249,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3.5
SQ. FT.: 3,120
$/SQ. FT.: $400
LOT SIZE: 0.3 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Mediterranean
STORIES: 3
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2004
COMMUNITY: Haskins Estates
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81205312
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending Without Release
ON REDFIN: 73 days

GORGOUS 8 YR NEW MDETEREAN BEAUTY IN A UNBELVABLE PRVT BRTHTKNG CONTRY SETNG. ELEVATOR FOR YOUR MAJESTY’S CONVENIENCE TO A BRGHT AND CHEERFUL 4 BR 3.5 BTH FLR PLN. BALCONIES TO ENJY UR BBQ, WRK FRM HM OR READ A BOOK IN A PEACEFUL AND RICH SETNG. NU PNT, CRPT AND REFRBSHED HDWD FLRS, HI CEILNGS, REC LGHTS, OVRSIZE GRNT KITCHEN/PNTRY, LAVISH MSTR RM & BTH, LOFT IN GRG, EZ FWY ACSS TO SF, SJ, FSTR CTY.

While the agent correctly addressed Us as YOUR MAJESTY, We do not consider issuing decrees or declaring war on the East Bay to be WRK FRM HM.  The elevator is appreciated but the lack of a throne room makes this a poor Seat of State for Our Royal Self, Our Royal Family, Our Trusted Advisors, and Our 500 liveried retainers, guards, and servants.

Despite the LOFT IN GRG, We are not amused by the plastic stair protection.

Today’s find continues our pre-Thanksgiving run of prices on the higher side, in preparation for our upcoming Black Friday Sales.  Many thanks to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for this beauty in Belmont!

1824 HILLMAN Ave, Belmont, CA 94002
$1,678,500

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 3,820
$/SQ. FT.: $439
LOT SIZE: 8,900 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Bay, City Lights
YEAR BUILT: 1979
COMMUNITY: Belmont Country Club
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81140955
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 58 days

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS to own this spectacular spacious one-owner executive home with stunning Bay and City views. The contemporary European design with generous functional living space provides for a relaxed and inviting ambiance. The upstairs features a living room with vaulted beam ceiling and stone fireplace, formal dining room, large kitchen with hardwood floors, ample storage and dining area.

A few years ago, I met some neighbor parents when one of my kids befriended their kids, and we got to talking about real estate.  The dad was going on and on about how ridiculous it was that all he could afford was a dinky little tract house.  “I am a Vice President!  I should be living in an Executive Home!  Not here!”

Now I never asked him what he meant by “Executive Home.”  He probably meant a big, new house, on a big lot close to a golf course.  He sure didn’t mean his late-50s rancher with second story addition, on a lot closer to a fifth than a quarter acre.

I wonder if today’s house would have been acceptable to him, or if it’s still too close to the (gasp) worker bees.  Anyway, the guy and his family soon moved back to San Diego (where he could buy himself an Executive Home on a golf course, but then again, by 2003 so could almost anyone else).  I wonder what he thinks of Occupy San Diego?

Weren’t executives, at least back in the good old days, famous for having three-martini lunches?  Well, the bar’s all ready in this house!  Now, which is worse, the carpet or the wallpaper?

We have plenty more photos after the break!

(more…)

Yes, we’re back with Northern California places on the Forbes most expensive zip code list.  As you get ready for Thanksgiving, one thing you can give thanks for this Thursday is that this all-time favorite series (if by “favorite” I actually mean “causes excited readers to fling household appliances”) only runs on Sundays.  That means it’s at least another seven days until the next installment!  If you missed the last ones, you’ll want to catch up RIGHT AWAY so you are completely up on every aspect:

• Top 50 Most Expensive Zip Codes, RBA Edition
• Next 50 Most Expensive Zip Codes, Almost-RBA Edition
• Third Tier Realty: Zips 101-200 or I have a feeling we’re not in the RBA Anymore

Also, beginning Friday will be Burbed’s Black Friday Sales!  That’s where we scour the Real Bay Area in search of the best bargains out there for you.  While you may not be able to afford the most expensive house in the most expensive zip codes, maybe you can afford one on the other extreme!

And now, the Top 100 of the Bottom 300 Most Expensive Zip Codes in the Country: This is Fourth Tier: Under a Million Median Means Middleclass Metroplex.  Or the shorter version: Forbes screwed up again.

#212: Redwood City 94062

• Median Home Price: $998,975
• Median Price Change: -11.9% ⇓
• Average Days On Market: 200 118
• Inventory: 118 76
• Rank in 2010: #185 (-27 spots ⇓)
• Most Expensive Home: $3.6 Million $3.45 Million (610 Edgewood Road)

One of the few shared zips to survive Forbes and Altos Research’s data parsing, the most expensive zip in Redwood City is shared with tony Woodside, California.  But you won’t find movers and shakers like Larry Ellison in Redwood City.

What you will find is this house, complete with Mawbul Kawlums, at a Woodside Price on a busy arterial that feeds I-280!  The owners have been trying to sell it since 2009, no doubt because its neighborhood of “High School Acres” fails to evoke wealth, exclusivity, or prestige.  Maybe they should rename it “Prep School Prospects” and see if that does the trick.

More exciting Zip Code ZAwesomeness after the break!  More! More! More!

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Thanks very much to sfbubblebuyer for today’s featured listing.  Does it look familiar?  It should.

2524 Dekoven Ave, Belmont CA  94002
$949,000

 

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,480
$/SQ. FT.: $641
LOT SIZE: 7,900 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Bay, Neighborhood, City Lights
YEAR BUILT: 1949
COMMUNITY: Haskins Estates
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81114658
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 28 days

4 years new. Still gorgeous. High ceilings, gourmet kitchen, level lot, secluded, serene, private. Area for dog run, children play yard, RV/boat parking, etc.

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

It’s BAAAAAAAAAACK!

Hey, the house that caused a 210 post-war… is BACK ON THE MARKET!

Surprisingly, it never sold at 1.05 million. Shocking, I know. Zillow lets us know they stared out at 1.14 million. After 3 years of watching housing tank they think that their precious house suffered a terrible loss of almost 17% and they’re now offering it for $949k. How generous of them! While other markets suffered 30-60% losses, Belmont is so special that 17% is a gift to the buyer!

It’ll be interesting to see if they manage to move the house this time. If the bought it for 750 and truly ripped it down to the studs, they’re probably selling it at ‘cost’ now. 200k for redoing everything in a house plus the outside seems about right. Unless you live somewhere non-special, where 200k would buy you a 3,000 sq foot new build.

I don’t think you understand this Spring Bounce idea, sfbb,  You see, prices in the RBA always go up.  Guaranteed.  That’s why this house is shaped the way it is:

I sure hope this place is still staged.  That would mean the show’s been running for three years!

$783,900

2111 FOREST Ave Belmont, CA 94002

Beds:	3
Baths:	3
Sq. Ft.:	1,900
$/Sq. Ft.:	$413
Lot Size:	5,600 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Contemporary
Stories:	Tri-Level
View:	Bay, Mountains, City Lights
Year Built:	1976
Community:	Haskins Estates
County:	San Mateo
MLS#:	81051960
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	ActiveThis listing is for sale and the sellers are accepting offers.
On Redfin:	4 days

HUGE Price Reduction!!Great Bay views & unlimited potential with this charming 3 bedroom 3 bath home -Located in Belmont hills. Large kitchen, romantic master suite with views and fireplace Close to schools, parks shopping and more. Come live the dream!B of A Prequalification required with all offers, Free appraisal & credit report if buyer finances with B of A Bank owned and they want it sold!

Thanks to Burbed reader JW for this find!

Here’s what JW originally sent to me:

Is that a chimney or are you glad to see me?

The first picture has an angled shot to emphasize the fact that it has a tall chimney.

Indeed that is a pretty… uh… impressive package of a photo. But let’s dig into the details. In particular, let’s find out more about this “HUGE Price reduction” (why is everything about size in this listing?)

I’m not sure I’d call that HUGE, but for the Real Bay Area, even $1 of reduction is huge. Hey Belmont… take it easy on these cuts. It doesn’t make you look good.