So here’s the DEAL, the DEALS, yes we still have DEALS for you. Black Friday Deals are back!

We’re scouring the Bay Area for the cheapest houses out there! Today we’re taking a good look at Sonoma County, to find the absolutely, positively cheapest, least expensive, smallest asking price house for sale.

71 1st St
Camp Meeker, CA 95419
$100,000

2 Beds
2 Baths
1,040 Sq. Ft.
$96 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1920
Lot Size: 1,307 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 13 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Residential, Detached, Single Family
Community: Sebastopol
MLS#: 21226308
Stories: 1
County: Sonoma

2 bed 2 bath house

The good news: This house is barely sporting a six-digit pricetag!  Plus the agent took more than one photo!

The bad news: Is that moss growing on the roof?

The interior photography is intriguing.  It appears this agent is doing whatever is possible to not include a single square inch of the floor in any shot, which means most of them tend to show ceiling.

Lots and lots of ceiling.  This view of the kitchen only shows a little, but for this vintage stove, plus the solo wall-mount cabinet unit, along with the distressed treatment of the door, we could not resist.

And you could not resist this price. Sure, the house has a FAR of 0.796, but what do you want for just one homeowner spending unit?

Recently, we took a look at a house in Midtown Palo Alto that a number of commenters thought was overbuilt for the neighborhood.  That reminded me of a similarly situated structure in Sunnyvale, so I pulled it up for nostalgia’s sake.  What a delightful surprise to discover that it’s once again for sale!  It was relisted just in time for April Fool’s Day, and at the same attractive price as it was three years ago.

1474 VALCARTIER St
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
$1,999,000

BEDS: 6
BATHS: 4.5
SQ. FT.: 4,790
$/SQ. FT.: $417
LOT SIZE: 8,000 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: French
STORIES: Tri-Level
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1991
COMMUNITY: Sunnyvale
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81211851
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 7 days

Extraordinary six-bedroom, four and one half-bath custom estate perfect for executive lifestyle of luxury and unmatched class. Within this showcase home you will find a remodeled ONE-OF-KIND gourmet kitchen featuring best-in-class appliances with close access to the formal dining room, casual family room and truly alluring outdoor venue that is perfect for entertainment.

This time around, they’re not letting us see the inside.  And it would need a lot of pictures, because this property has a FAR of 0.60.  That can’t even be LEGAL in Sunnyvale. 

But, this is a Custom Bahl Home!  And if you haven’t heard of Bahl Homes, they built a few tracts around Silicon Valley, including some zero lot line curiosities and the snout-house “patio homes” just around the corner from this place. Now that they’re done with building tracts, they remain as a real estate company. Fortunately for us, today’s house has its own webpage on Bahl’s site, with pictures even!  We don’t know when these were taken, though, as it’s been listed and sold many times since its construction.  Have a look at those pictures and more, after the break.

(more…)

It’s been far too long since we’ve heard from Burbed reader dollarbin.  Let’s check in with this palace in Palo Alto!

2783 RANDERS Ct
Palo Alto, CA 94303
$3,248,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 5
SQ. FT.: 5,255
$/SQ. FT.: $618
LOT SIZE: 8,712 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 3
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2010
COMMUNITY: Midtown
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81146955
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 147 days

Elegant newly constructed (2010)3 level executive estate in midtown Palo Alto in a cul-de-sac * One of a kind quality & workmanship with mahogany paneling & hand carved custom doors * Gourmet kitchen with S/S appliances, granite counters, custom cherry cabinets & a breakfast bar * Brazilian teak flooring & imported marble floors throughout * Includes library, exercise & media rooms.

Here’s what dollarbin had to say, when passing this parcel along:

Anybody send you this one yet?

Who says Palo Alto is free of McMansions? I had given up the dream of spending less than $700/sq ft in Palo Alto, but this Spec House misadventure proves it saves to buy in bulk. Plus it has a totally classy fountain burbling in the front yard.

This listing caught my eye because I noticed they have a flyer sign out on Colorado Ave that actually lights up at night, so I looked up the Redfin knowing it would be full of win.

Wait… spec house misadventure?  How can anyone have a misadventure when they’ve lit your way there?  Although the price history may tell us a thing or two.

And here we thought the misadventure was the .60 FAR or the 11 HDR.  So let’s help this poor spec house.  What is keeping it from generating dozens of overbids?

Bunus: Mawbul kawlums are rectangular!  Break out the red arrows!

Update 10:41 am: Two more kawlums lurking on the right of this picture, noted by Burbed reader SEA.  Mawr red arrows, please!

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!

(more…)

Thanks to Burbed reader Real Estater who shared this house in comments, and calls this “Unbeatable value in 94301.”  I think he misspelled “Uninhabitable.”

434 FULTON St, Palo Alto, CA 94301
$599,950

BEDS: 1
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 1,224
$/SQ. FT.: $490
LOT SIZE: 3,936 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1912
COMMUNITY: Crescent Park
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81113725
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 1 day
NEW LISTING (24 HOURS)

Strictly Land Value! Substandard but buildable lot! Existing structure no value/no foundation. No reports. AS IS-WHERE IS for house, systems, any pers. prop. Buyers to do all due diligence in advance. Per City PA (not guaranteed. Buyer to independently investigate/confirm) No 2nd story or basement allowed. New Requires 1 covered + 1 uncovered parking. .45% FAR with restrictions.

Another refreshing entry!  How many homes for sale in Palo Alto have the word “substandard” in the listing or say the house has no value or foundation?  Too few!  And no reports.  And no 2nd story or basement.  Remember, you may deserve a Yes in San Jose, but all you’re getting in Palo Alto is a bunch of No no no no no (buyer to independently investigate/confirm).

As to the .45% FAR;  It does say POINT four five percent above, right?  Decimal point and a percentage. Math class is tough! 

That means 0.0045 of the land can be built on.  So, .0045 times 3936, carry the three, um… you can build a 17.712 square foot structure on this lot.  Yes, under eighteen square feet.  Here is something that is 18 square feet, the kitchen on the right.

Oh, wait, the rotating kitchen uses up 18 square feet.  We need something that shows how much room you have if your living space is 18 square feet. How about this half-bath plan!

So, the realtard can’t do math and clearly slept through fifth grade when decimals and percentages were covered. Just the trained professional you want representing you in a $600,000 transaction involving lots and lots of minutiae like building codes and escrow balance sheets.  He really meant 45% or .45 FAR.  Palo Alto would never restrict you to an eighteen square foot house when tearing down a 99 year old scraper.  (Piedmont would.)

That means you can build up to a 1771.2 sf house on the substandard lot, whoops, you need a covered parking space plus an uncovered one, guess you better take 200 feet off for the mandatory one-car garage.  Still, a 1571 sf house is bigger than what’s there now.  Plus it will have the added advantage of having luxurious extras such as a foundation. And value.