Burbed continues with Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer week, and now we return to Palo Alto.  Ah Palo Alto, home of high prices for working-class residences.  This fine investment property/teardown/whatever cannot be yours because it went pending in just six days.  Let’s drool on it and hope the sale falls through.  We’ll use Zillow this time because Redfin already took the listing copy and pictures down.

2316 Amherst St
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,498,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 3
Sqft: 2,025
Lot: 6,098 sq ft / 0.14 acres
Type: Single Family
Year built: 1959
Parking: —
Cooling: —
Heating: —
Fireplace: —
On Zillow: 9 days
MLS #: 81211442
County: Santa Clara
Legal description: —
Parcel #: —
Per floor sqft: 2,025
Zillow Home ID: 2120434658

Sold in conjunction with 2320 Amherst. Two buildings: 2316 is spacious 1/1 with hardwood & updated kitchen. 2320 has 2/1 downstairs with refinished hardwood & updated kitchen; small 1/1 upstairs with huge deck and lovely views of the hills. Both buildings have laundry facilities. Legally 2 lots, zoned R1. Fabulous College Terrace location – Move in, buy for investment or build a new home! [Listing information © MLSListings Inc. All rights reserved.]Brokered And Advertised By: Dreyfus Properties, Inc.Listing Agent: Lucy Berman

This one is a Wow!  As in Wow, that photography really hurts to look at.  We’ll include a number of pictures in case the listing is scrubbed from teh internets forever.

You can also try your luck with the Virtual Tour, which has the same pictures, only in much sharper focus.  The color intensity is still dialed up to 11, though, so you keep that feeling you accidentally wandered into The Bee Movie.

This photo at right is from the Virtual tour.  It’s the only one not on Zillow as well, and lucky for us, it’s got that riot of color so distinctive of this photographer.  The kind of buyer who wants an investment property in Palo Alto will definitely appreciate this effort that makes it look like a Henri Rousseau painting.

The rest of the photos, available after the break, are straight from Zillow.  That way you can enjoy the blurry effect on top of the bright colors.

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Palo Alto’s most famous renter has pulled up stakes, so he can live even closer to work.

According to Zillow Blog, Mark Zuckerberg’s old rental came back on the market, for a whopping $7,850 a month.  Here’s the description from Craigslist, although supposedly the place has found a new tenant:

Prestigious location! Charm and functionality! Gorgeous 2 year old 4+BR/3BA Single Family House. Chef’s kitchen with gas stove. Only 2 years new. Approximately 2350sf. Huge family room with the view of Kitchen. Washer/dryer on the second floor, wood burning fireplace and beautiful wood trim are some of the amenities of this house. Walk to Stanford University, restaurants on El Camino Real and extremely close to Stanford shopping center. 2 car parking garage. Please call for an appointment. Lease term 12 months or longer. Only $7850/month.

His former rental house is 2073 Princeton Street, which Zillow estimates is worth $1,362,000.  We don’t know what Mark was paying in rent, but let’s use the new asking price and calculate the price rent ratio: 14.46.  Whoa!  If that Zestimate is correct, it says Mark should have bought the old place!

But that’s okay, thanks to Burbed reader SEA we can do the same for the new place!  Mark is now living at 2300 Amherst, even closer to Facebook headquarters!  The new rental is 5 bedroom, 4 bath, and 3801 square feet, and Zillow’s estimating this one at $2,142,000.  Alas, the monthly rent amount was not reported.

Mark Zuckerberg I’m paying $10,900.  Friend me! about an hour ago · Like

1052 COLLEGE Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306 | MLS# 80922679
1052 COLLEGE Ave Palo Alto, CA 94306
Price: $699,000

Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 648
$/Sq. Ft.: $1,079
Lot Size: 2,875 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Stories: 1
View: Neighborhood
Year Built: 1950
Community: College
County: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80922679
Source: MLSListings
Status: Active
On Redfin: 2 days
DO NOT DISTURB TENANTS!! TERRIFIC LOCATION IN COLLEGE TERRACE. 1 OF 3 PARCELS EA 2875, OR BUILD ON 8625 LOT (per county). OWNER WL CARRY FINANCING. MUST HAVE APPOINTMENT: 24-48 HR NOTICE.

There’s also 1062 and 1072. Thanks to Herve for this find.

Wow… so many possible strategies. Do you buy all three for $2,174,000 so you can scoop up this 8625 sqft lot? Or do you just buy the middle one and then for the buyers of the other two pay you an exorbinant amount of money to consolidate.

Any real estate experts, or champion monopoly players want to chime in on what they would do?

But even if you didn’t, it’s a pretty good deal. Just think of what you could do with that 648 sqft! Haven’t you seen that funky display in Ikea? It’s totally possible!

2083 Princeton St, Palo Alto, CA 94306
2083 Princeton St Palo Alto, CA 94306
Source: Public Records
Sold For: $2,310,000 (10/24/2008)
Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Sqft: 900
Style: Single Family Residential
Year Built: 1938

Thanks to Burbed reader Joe for sharing this find. Here’s what Joe had to say:

Hi Burbed,

Unfortunately, this gem is not available anymore, it supposedly sold on October 24, 2008 for $2,310,000.

That’s an amazing $2,567/sq.ft., is that a Burbed record?  Probably Not.  What gets me is the sales history, this place sold a little over a year earlier for $955,000, that’s 124% appreciation in one year!  This slice of heaven must be the mecca of the RBA.  If this isn’t a teardown and rebuild situation, I must be missing something about Palo Alto.  Have they lined the streets with gold there or something?

Thanks!
Joe

Wow. I do believe this is a record. And to think that it sold in 2008, supposedly the worst year for Real Estate ever. Are the streets in Palo Alto paved with gold? Certainly not (especially Embarcadero near Alma). Does it matter? Certainly not.

Can you put a price on living near Steve Jobs? Can you put a price on living near Stanford? Can you put a price on living near Sprinkles? Or the best schools in the universe?

Of course not. But you can try. And $2,567 per square foot comes pretty close in my opinion.