We’ve just been alerted that we’ve been neglecting Mountain View property, which we are contractually required to discuss every ten minutes.  And it’s been ten whole days! Fortunately, Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater sent us this beaut, which we promptly misplaced during the Black Friday Sales.  Consider this a “we found it in the back of the storeroom” slightly mussed listing. It’s both pending… and selling shortly!    

492 N WHISMAN Rd
Mountain View, CA 94043
$750,000

4 Beds 
2 Baths 
1,748 Sq. Ft.
$429 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1965 
Lot Size: 0.25 Acres 
On Redfin: 33 days
Status: Pending With Release
Stories: 1
Community: Whisman
MLS#: 81241148
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

Short Sale! Charming two unit property located in Whisman Area of Mountain View. Huff Elementary, Crittenden Middle and Mt View High. Live in one, rent the other or great investment opportunity! HUGE 10,890 sf corner Lot. R-2 zoning provides multiple use scenarios. Both units are 2 bed /1 bath w/ laundry, garage AND carport. Please DO NOT Disturb Occupants!

It’s a great investment opportunity!  That’s because the current owners are passing the savings along to you rather than the bank.  Yes, savings.  If you had bought this property in 2006, like these investors did, the RBA would have done its magic and increased it by more than half its value in just six years.  And if you were smart and leveraged yourself with a 20% down, 10% down, 5% down, or even ZERO DOWN, then your investment returns would be much, much higher! 

Let’s calculate them, shall we?

So a little over a million dollars, put down 20%, looks like that investment… is now going to be someone else’s instant equity. So, bets on the over/under compared to 2003′s sale price?  Now that provides multiple use scenarios.

Let’s finish up the week on the Peninsula.  Burbed reader Wendie has a very special find for us, a bodacious bunker in Burlingame!  Thanks Wendie!  Meanwhile, we’re going to continue linking to different sites and we’d love to know which ones you prefer, and why.  Wendie sent in a link to mlslistings.com and the home isn’t there anymore.  Fortunately, we found it on Movoto!

Please give Wendie a big, warm, RBA welcome as today’s Guest Blogger with this excellent guest post!

50 Howland Hill Ln
Burlingame, CA 94010
$3,200,000

Loan Payment:  $12,222/mo
Bedrooms:  6
Bathrooms:  5&1/2
Size:  6,461 sqft
$/Sqft:  $495/sqft
Type:  Single Family House
Year Built:  2001
Lot Size:  21,375
Days on Movoto:  63 days
MLS#:  81226232
Status:  Active
Open House:  Sun 01:00pm – 04:00pm

Quality, details, exquisite finishes make this 6BR., 5.5BA, 2FR, 3 car garage,custom built home by Edward Neale truly remarkable. 5611 sf of living space on floors 1 & 2 plus approx 1000 sf of living space on lower level with wine rm, entertainment area featuring a wet bar, separate dining rm,a theatre inspired lounge area plus patios & decks off public rooms. Private lane close to 280/101/SF.

Here’s why Wendie sent this in:

Something about this house seems to scream “Winchester’ to me! Maybe its the “boat” bed. Clearly, that is an adult version of….what? The toddler race car bed that every 3 year old boy in America has?  But clearly, this is not for a little boy. Who would even THINK to want to sleep in that weird bed?

And then the wine cellar…seems very unorganized..no rhyme or reason to it…..and why would the realtor take a photo of the front hall with THE FRONT DOOR OPEN?

Shut the damn door so we can see the entire room!!

Moving onto the kitchen…its huge with an equally large island in the middle…yet NO overhang of the granite so you can put some chairs there and eat at the island. Why not?

And last but not least, what’s up with the backyard? How many separate areas can there be?

Seems like the perfect house for 3 or 4 separate families who never want to bump into one another….

Today’s fistful of awesome in Alum Rock is brought to you by Burbed reader Tracy Tea House. Thanks very much for this foothill find!

15865 East Alta Vista Way
San Jose – East Valley, CA 95127
$499,000

3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 partial bath, 1,570 square feet, Single Family
Lot Size: 15,794 Sq. Ft.
Year Built: 1950
Days on ZipRealty: 34
Listed: 08/09/12
Price/sq ft: $318
Estimated Monthly Payment: $1,737
Neighborhood: East Foothills
School District: Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, East Side Union High School District
Source: MLSListings Inc.
MLS #: 81229860
Views: 61
Popularity: 8
Walk Score®: 9

Large yard w/deck & view of downtown SJ & Silicon Valley — marvelous! Newly improved driveway. Home is in move-in condition. Bonus room could be 3rd bedroom. Shows well. Level site on lot. Quiet residential hillside neighborhood is minutes away from shopping & parks. Not a through street — EAST Alta Vista Way has only a few (somewhat enormous) houses on it. Enjoy the view!

And here’s why Tracy chose this house out of thousands just for you!

Near a few enormous houses.  Truly poor photography. Value fail, great list copy.

What are you talking about?  This is great photography!  Do you have any idea how hard a photographer has to work to compose images like these?  Anyone can take pictures of a house, but this?  This transcends the artform by questioning its purpose.

For example, is the front of that fireplace actually carpeted?  Or is it a ginormous piece of hard candy?  Only a truly gifted photographer could make you wonder like that.

And instant equity galore!  Just check out the price history!  In no time flat the market’s going to heat up to eleven and every property price in this county will double in eleven minutes.  Yes, you read it here first.  The Real Bay Area is back, it’s booming, and it’s bettuh than evuh!

Success breeds success at Burbed, and our coverage of Google Central just keeps leading to more submissions as close-in as possible. Today’s property is a real treat because it’s so close to everything.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater for this mixed-use manse in Mountain View.

1941 COLONY St
Mountain View, CA 94043
$828,000

BEDS:  3
BATHS:  1.5
SQ. FT.:  1,105
$/SQ. FT.:  $749
LOT SIZE:  0.27 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT:  1950
COMMUNITY:  Rengstorff
COUNTY:  Santa Clara
MLS#:  81227723
SOURCE:  MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN:  1 day
 NEW LISTING (24 HOURS)

Zoned industrial, currently used as a single family house, not allowed to increase the living sqft. Can be used also as mixed residential/industrial. Currently considered non-conforming use and can be kept this way. City will not allow to change the industrial zoning to residential zoning.

This agent is such a defeatist! Of course the city will allow to change the industrial zoning to residential zoning.  The only question is, how much will it cost to encourage them to do it?  When you see what this house is near, the answer to whether it’s worth it isn’t just yes, but FOUKING HELL YES.

We’ve seen mixed residential/commercial zoning before, but this house enters a new paradigm for the Silicon Valley engineer/inventor who doesn’t want to be limited to just the garage.  Take a look at all you get just on your block!  Places to build things or store things or blow them up to the left, other is-this-a-house-or-a-wrecking-yard mysteries to the right.  It’s a win either direction you go.  

Plus, look at the  neighborhood we’re talking about!  It’s not often that the vehicles go so perfectly with the front yard decor.

And across the street, it gets even better!  No less than Burbed’s favorite townhouse community EVER!

If Burbed were a business that actually made any money, this house would be the place we’d be headquartered. So run out and buy the place, and start your Web 3.1 empire today!

Here’s a find in the East Hills of San Jose, in Almost-But-Not-Quite-Evergreen.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Tracy Tea House for this disappearing domicile.  Yes, disappearing, the listing went Pending-Do Not Show the day we wrote this and we had to search for it on literally SEVEN different real estate sites until we found one that hadn’t pulled the pix fast enough.  Today’s Thank-goodness-somebody-out-there-is-lazy real estate website is SAWBUCK.

3157 Markwood Court
San Jose, CA 95148
$586,000

Bedrooms : 5
Bathrooms : 3
Lot Size : 0.29 ac
Finished Sq Ft : 2,253 sq. ft.
Type : Detached Single Family
Style : Traditional
Year Built : 1976
Subdivision : Evergreen
Stories : 2
MLS# : 81220317
WalkScore™ : 38 (Car-Dependent)

Diamond in a rough. Good location, near schools, EastRidge Mall. No warranty on Swimming pool/spa. Big lot. Two separate storages with no permit at rear. A lot of potential for this property. As-is sale.

Here’s why Tracy sent this Evergreen edifice in:

Not only does it have the favorite phrase Diamond in the rough.” The pictures are “works of art.” From the sideways one, the stairway cage or the coiled hose… Classic… especially the non-warrantied swimming pool. 

Humm I wonder what is wrong right with it??

That’s “Diamond in A rough” not “diamond in THE rough.”  Perhaps they left a word or two out after rough.

Tracy also notes that the listing copy used to end with “Price reflect deferred maintenance on property.” instead of the current “As-is sale.”  We’ve added both the as-is and needs work tags. 

The pictures, all of them. are indeed works of art, if by “art” we actually mean “seriously, WTF?”  We’ve got every one of them for you (in case Sawbuck feels the need to abide by MLS rules) after the break.

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Friday’s featured find on Waverley escalated the eager entries in its comment thread, so let’s continue our pursuit of Palo Alto property with another home on the same superb street.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Wendie for these proactively priced premises.

Also, we’re feeling a bit miffed at Redfin for not linking back to us for several weeks, so we’ll use the site Wendie provided instead.  Here’s the Redfin link if you prefer their entry, which confirms the price per square foot.

2051 WAVERLEY ST, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Offered at: $11,495,000 — Active

An Exceptional, One-time Opportunity To Own An Extremely Rare, Immense 26,344 sq ft lot (buyer to verify) in the Old Palo Alto Legendary Locale. On the corner of Santa Rita Ave & Waverley St, this dream building site is located in the prime, heart of Old PA. This premiere flat 0.6 acre lot also includes the existing 2,651 sq ft, 5BR/4BA home built in 1929.

MLS: 81216663
Type: Detached Single Family
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 4 Full
Interior: 2,651
Lot Size: 26344
Garage: Detached,2 Car Garage
Year Built/Age: 1929
Walk Score®: 58

Here’s why Wendie sent this one in:

Look! For $4,300 per square foot, YOU can live across the street from Steve Jobs’ home!

Big lot, big location!  Why do you care what the house looks like?  What’s more important is who you’re going to run into if you need to borrow a cup of sugar silicon.

Too bad this property is diagonally across from Waverley Oaks, or Larry Page would snap it up.

Here’s a glimpse from the side, courtesy of Larry’s fleet of mobile spycams. This is a better look at any of the structures than you’ll see on the actual listing.  Then again, can one actually price a home too highly in Palo Alto?  It’s been on the market for 37 days and counting, so place your bets!

Sometimes we try to go an entire week without mentioning the most Special Place in the Whole Real Bay Area.  This week, sorry, no such luck. 

Many thanks to Burbed reader Gallileo for this perfect Palo Alto abode!

2150 Waverley St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
$4,450,000, reduced from $4,975,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 3,018
$/SQ. FT.: $1,474
LOT SIZE: 0.26 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Colonial
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1928
COMMUNITY: Old Palo Alto
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81218701
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 20 days

ELEGANT COLONIAL IN ONE OF OLD PALO ALTO’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS LOCATIONS – ON AN AMAZING 11,200 SF LOT. SPACIOUS, OVER 3000 SF HOME W/ 4BR AND 3 BATHS. INCLUDES FORMAL ENTRY, FORMAL DINING ROOM, SEPARATE FAMILY ROOM, MASTER BEDROOM SUITE, DEN/STUDY & GROUND FLOOR BEDROOM.

Here’s why Gallileo sent this listing in:

2150 Waverley in Palo Alto is back on the market!  Originally featured in 2009 for nearly four million dollars, this beautiful home with ocean views didn’t sell.

This house has appreciated a cool million–twenty-five percent–in just twenty-eight months. All the way to almost five-million dollars! Surely if it didn’t sell for four-million while it was listed for nearly all of 2009, someone will pay five-million in the summer of 2012. You know, the luxury good effect and all that. It just wasn’t priced high enough to be prestigious before.

Just imagine how much appreciation if it still had ocean views, or if you could still walk to Steve Jobs’ house from here. Hey, his old place is just down the street. It just needs to be more expensive so it can be truly prestigious.

So why was the home marked up a million dollars since 2009 when it didn’t sell?  They didn’t spring for new listing copy, or expensive lower-case letters. But this time around, there are actual photos inside the house.  So now we know a secret: There’s a set of MAWBUL KAWLUMS in the john!

But speaking of million dollar markups, whoops!  Would you believe the seller reduced the price the very day we wrote this house up? Sure you would, but what you won’t believe is that a house in Palo Alto could be overpriced in the first place. It must be because the ocean views got misplaced.

You do realize if you don’t put your bid on this property in the next 15 minutes you’re going to be priced out forever.

It’s becoming more challenging to provide a good variety of listings on Burbed.  Readers from all over send in their nominations for housing fail.  We work our way through the inbox looking to produce a good mix of home types, locations, submitters, and price range.  Lately, by the time we’re ready to write up a reader-suggested domestic disaster, all traces of the listing have been removed from the MLS. 

Back in the post-bubble doldrums when sellers had to promise a years’ worth of weekly car waxes and grocery delivery, an accepted offer wouldn’t lead to the agent yanking photos and description.  So what’s happening now?  Listings are evaporating faster than a YouTube video with a DMCA takedown notice.  Is this just another sign that there’s so little inventory, the selling agents feel besieged?

Today’s featured property is a San Mateo teardown that didn’t collect any dust, courtesy of Burbed reader SMParkster.  And since Redfin’s removed the info, time to play eenie-meenie-miney-mo with the other real estate websites.  Today’s “winner” is Trulia, which we thank very much for taking their time.

249 West Poplar Avenue
San Mateo CA 94402
$2,250,000

Status: Pending
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 3
Property type: Single-Family Home
Size: 3,121 sqft
Lot: —
Price/sqft: $721/sqft
Year built: 1906
Added on Trulia: 18 days ago
Neighborhood: San Mateo Park
Zip: 94402

Absolutely spectacular estate in San Mateo Park. Sprawling lot size of 24,000 square feet. High-reaching palm trees and mature redwoods welcome guests as they approach the main house down a gently winding driveway. This truly unique offering has been carefully maintained by the same family for the last fifty years.

Here’s why SMParkster passed this carefully maintained winner along:

I walk past that property all the time and the lot is truly really nice, but the house is set back much much further than any other house in the neighborhood and I’ve always kind of wondered about the owners.

The MLS listing says the current owners have been there 50 years which doesn’t really surprise me.  I was just surprised that the asking price is about in line with what a decent house on that size lot would currently go for (I think) around here, but the house clearly needs either tearing down (what the real estate agent seems to be implying) or major updating at the very least.

More photos inside, so click on in!

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Areas close to the high-tech jobs are so desirable right now, homes for sale there are snapped up before the seller finishes signing the contract with an agent.  Meanwhile, far-flung exurbs are not doing as well.  Commuting an hour, or even more, is not desirable to most buyers with Silicon Valley jobs.

So what about the places that are still within what we think of as Silicon Valley, but aren’t a relatively easy commute to the job centers?  What if those areas were Foreclosure Central during the credit crunch?  What if some of the residents in those neighborhoods aren’t exactly Junior League material? Let’s take a look at such a big lot Berryessa listing from Burbed reader Tracy Tea House.

1199 PIEDMONT Rd
San Jose, CA 95132
$748,800

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,448
$/SQ. FT.: $517
LOT SIZE: 0.46 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1956
COMMUNITY: Berryessa
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81214183
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 20 days

LARGE LOT, Value in land, city allowed to build 3 houses couple years ago, contact city to verify status of approval. Near Piedmont high, Piedmont Middle, elementary school and library. It is very rare to find large lot like this in North Valley. Check with City to explore other possibility. VERY LARGE DOG, DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANT, DO NOT ENTER PROPERTY. WRITE OFFER SUBJECT TO INSPECTION

Since you won’t be entering the property (VERY LARGE DOG, DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANT), good thing this home listing has 24 pictures.  Here a few of our favorites.

24 pictures of the same six parts of the outside of the house.  But the good thing about these photos is you can play Where’s Waldo with them, assuming Waldo’s the name of the VERY LARGE DOG.

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.