To finish out the workweek, let’s check out a place perfect for the athlete in us all. Thanks very much to Burbed reader J from Alameda for this well-sited wonder in Walnut Creek.  (You can laugh about our including yet another East Bay listing, but we have just one word to say about that. PENDING!)

1261 Bonita Ln
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
$649,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,356 Sq. Ft.
$479 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1948
Lot Size: —
On Redfin: 15 days
Type: Detached
Stories: 1
County: Contra Costa
Style: Contemporary
Community: Walnut Creek
MLS#: 40612878

WOW! Immaculate 3 bedroom/2 bathroom home in cul-de-sac location with separate 1 bedroom/1 bath cottage all done with permits! Gleaming hardwood floors, designer colors, and more. Nicely landscaped yards with Jacuzzi and lighted SPORTS COURT! Walk to Olympic in 2 minutes on nearby trail!

Here’s why J sent this house in:

This is a first: freeway noise wall in a listing photo! Granted its a photo of a cool basketball court but still. Cute house but what’s the air quality going to be like? Forget asking about noise issues. I’ve heard the freeway noise in these neighborhoods described as ‘a waterfall’, ‘white noise’, ‘rushing water’. Will it go over asking? Will it get multiple offers? Could a house with a freeway wall in the backyard ever sell in a market that is not red hot? Discuss.

You see a freeway wall, J. We see a lighted SPORTS COURT!

And note the Redfin Collections this house is part of. Is this a new category we’ve managed to miss until now? How can you even tell a property is subject to a bidding war unless you’re one of the people bidding on it?

Or was this one of those places where you had to wait in line to get into the Open House, where you felt obligated to submit an overbid when it was finally your turn to tour the interior?

We’re spending too much time in Silicon Valley.  Let’s pop over to the East Bay and see if Bay Area Bubble 4.0 has wafted across the San Mateo Bridge yet.  Today’s featured property bubbled up from Burbed reader J from Alameda!  Thanks very much for keeping us Real, which means the whole Bay Area.

623 CENTRAL Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
$285,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
1,139 Sq. Ft.
$250 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1909
Lot Size: 3,960 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 1 day
Type: Detached
Stories: 1
Community: West End
MLS#: 40607329
Style: Colonial
View: Other
County: Alameda

Classic Colonial Revival, 2 bed 1 bath ready to refinish. be the one to gain from the sweat equity.

Upcoming Open Houses

Saturday, Mar 23: 2:00-4:30 pm; Sunday, Mar 24: 2:00-4:30 pm

Comments

Bring your contractors

That last phrase under comments? It’s hidden in the web page and popped up when we did a copy and paste.  Heh heh.  What else is hidden on all those Redfin pages? Maybe it’s an early Easter Egg Hunt.

Now let’s check in with J.

I have been driving by this house for years and wondered how it was still standing. I am still wondering. Let’s see how hot the Alameda market is – how fast will this fly? While not quite RBA it is just a bridge….or ferry…or BART ride away….oh, and make sue you check out the street view.

First let’s check out some more of the house.

And the streetview?

Wow! Lots of neighbors ready to welcome you!

It’s been a while since we had a realtards thread.  But today’s Not So Professional Agent isn’t being given the Burbed Loving Hug of Attention for his brilliant listing copy.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader J from Alameda for alerting us to this story.

Sonoma Co. real estate agent held in fatal hit-run

Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle | Updated 7:52 am, Saturday, March 2, 2013

Photo from KTVU, no credit specified

(03-02) 07:49 PST SANTA ROSA — A Santa Rosa man turned himself in Friday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian, police said.

Steven Harry Heath, 60, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run in the crash Wednesday that killed 64-year-old George Michael Black of Pacifica, Santa Rosa police said.

Black was walking on the 4600 block of Montgomery Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday when he was hit by a car that fled the scene, police said. Black died at the scene.

On Friday, a Santa Rosa law firm contacted police on behalf of Heath, who works as a real estate agent. Heath’s attorney told officers that the vehicle from the crash would be found at Heath’s home, authorities said.

Let’s review.  Real estate “professional” in a Mercedes S550 hits a pedestrian in broad daylight, and flees the scene. Unlucky stroller who had traveled to Santa Rosa to attend a healing program is pronounced dead seven minutes later.  #1 Agent in Sonoma the last 3 years running then requests his lawyer contact police two entire days later to say they’ll find what they’re looking for at the hit-and-run driver’s house. Why two whole days? We’re going to make an educated guess that it was long enough for all possible alcohol in someone’s bloodstream to dissipate.

Perhaps you think we’re being cynical.  Well, the readership of sfgate.com is far more so, as several commenters hypothesized that Heath had his attorney transfer his assets to the law firm. We think that’s nonsensical speculation, and that he asked the law firm to transfer his wealth to some deserving relative outside the United States.  Heath, we note, is British and probably has relatives in non-US locales.

Here is just one of those assets: his house on 5562 Pepperwood Road. None of the real estate portals have any specific information on the house other than the lot size (11,246 sf) because they aren’t in the public recorder’s office search results either (yes, we checked).

We are now opening the floor to discuss whatever you’d like about those wonderful real estate professionals in your life, or about anyone who would leave the scene and lawyer up when the right thing to do was fucking call 911 because you just ran your fucking 6,000 pound vehicle into some innocent party’s 175 pound body.  We usually don’t pick on realtards by name, but we’re going to make a giant-ass exception in this case because.

Oh yeah, and this is an Open Thread. It’s March! Time for some Spring Bounce! Let us know how many Mercedes S-class vehicles you see parked at Open Houses!

Here’s a very Bay Area solution to the often noted challenge that “they’re not making any more land.”  Build your house on  water!  Sound like a plan to you?  Let’s swim on up to WaterWorld, courtesy of Burbed reader J from Alameda! 

Note: this is a Bay Area solution, but definitely not a REAL Bay Area fix.  RBA houses are in the RBA in the first place because they have land they aren’t making any more of.

2394 Mariner Square C3
Alameda, CA 94501
Sold 11/9/10 for $335,000

2 Beds 
1 Baths 
1,296 Sq. Ft.
$258 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1972 
Lot Size: — 
Sold On: Nov 9, 2010
Status: Sold
Type: Detached
Stories: 2
Community: Barnhill Marina
MLS#: 40489839
Style: Contemporary
View: City Lights, Marina, San Francisco, Water
County: Alameda

This beautifully remodeled 2 bed 1 bath floating home features estuary and SF views, hardwood floors, new paint, wains coating, vaulted ceiling with exposed wood beams, new appliances, stain glass windows, three decks, and skylights. Close to BART, ferry, train, and Fwy.

Here’s what J floated over with the house:

And this would be cheapest SFR/Floating. Also should get a prize for longest price history….

Unfortunately, would you believe this property was delisted, we swear we are not making this up, the very day we head off to Redfin to write it up?  Which means we don’t know how many days it was on the market for but about two years.  We’ve already done a property that was sitting on MLS for four years!  And this one for more than three!

But while you may be at sea here, the agent says it’s close to everything: BART, ferry, train, and Fwy. It’s even closer to the Posey (underground) tube.  The map clearly shows it runs right underneath you.

Meanwhile, we looked high (Zillow) and low (Sawbuck) for the newly pulled listing without much success.  Here’s what we found in Google cache, but it appears to be a completely different floating house, despite the listing history lining up perfectly.

2394 Mariner Square Drive E6
Alameda, CA 94501
$229,000

1 Beds 
1 Baths 
— Sq. Ft.
Built: 1968
Lot Size: —
On Redfin: 537 days
Type: Detached
Stories: 2
Community: Barnhill Marina
MLS#: 40533694
Style: Contemporary
View: City Lights, Downtown, Marina, Water
County: Alameda

Floating Home. Open plan for kitchen/living room and den; upper level suite for bedroom and sitting area. 360 degree view from upper deck; elegant tiled first floor. New carpet in upper level bedroom suite.

One bedroom, two bedrooms, so what? No square feet, 1300 square feet, big deal.  Blue trim, green trim, doesn’t mean anything.  C3, E6, you sunk my battleship!

Now, here’s one of the 360 degrees of views you can enjoy from the upper deck.  Also check out this delightful photo of the house and environs from homes.com!

Bunus: Sold in 2007 for $448K.

Another bunus: This old listing (with old paint job) says there’s a $523 a month berth fee.  But that’s nothing.  Trulia says this place is a mobile/manufactured home.  They’re the only site that says so, which means they could be wrong.  But what could possibly be better than a trailer house in a trailer flotilla?

We hope you had a wonderful winter whatever and got all the toys you asked for.  But just in case you didn’t, we have some close-out specials for the end of the year!  Today, Burbed reader J from Alameda has some Island High Style for you.

828 LINCOLN Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
$249,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
561 Sq. Ft.
$444 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1959
Lot Size: 1,275 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 76 days
Status: Active
Type: Detached
Stories: 1
County: Alameda
Style: Cottage
Community: Alameda
MLS#: 40592515

MOST UNIQUE NARROW BLDG. 150 FEET DEEP, FENCED IN LOT, BACKYARD PATIO, RESIDENTIAL (NEW ZONING R-4 RESIDENTIAL) POSSIBLE ART STUDIO PLUS GALLERY, LIVING IN AND WORK ON COMPUTERS, ANOTHER POSSIBILITY, SO MANY POSSIBILITIES OF HOME OFFICES. CLOSE TO BUS AND ALL TRANSPORTATION AND NEAR WEBSTER STREET.

Here’s why J thought we’d be interested in this offering:

My Alameda black Friday nomination. Do not be fooled by first photo – its the narrow yellow building to the right. On a very busy street, not a great part of town. That maybe, just maybe, can be zoned commercial.

Happy Shopping!

Wait, Black Friday was last month…. oh, this was sent in last month.  That says we can’t possibly be in the RBA, because it’s still on the market!  So hurry before it isn’t!

And if you have any doubts that this listing is “MOST UNIQUE” at least the lot itself is.

Bunus: the broker has the same name as a famous television personality.  Double Bunus: also the same name as a VP at Alain Pinel, Saratoga, just to really confuse the customers.  (Plus 3 more real estate agents in California alone.)

It’s a new month, Spring Bounce is just around the corner, and the Real Bay Area continues to be awesome sauce.  But what about those outside the Zone of Ever-Climbing Real Estate Values? Let’s check in with Burbed reader J from Alameda, who found something in the treat bag for us.

1315 Court St
Alameda, CA 94501
$970,000

Loan Payment:  $3,377/mo
Bedrooms:  4
Bathrooms:  4&1/2
Size:  3,193 sqft
$/Sqft:  $303/sqft
Type:  Single Family House
Year Built:  1905
Lot Size:  4,000
Days on Movoto:  14 days
MLS#:  40593343
Status:  Active

Beautiful Remodel. New Kitchen with Granite and SS appliance. Shining New Bathrooms remodeled w/ Marble. Elegant Dark Engineered wood floors. New Plush Carpet. New Paint Inside & Out. New Roof. All make this property shine. Open House Sat 1-4

Good news! We’d hoped a house that’s 107 years old would have at least one appliance eligible for Social Security.  Better buy it quick before Congress decides to implement Dishwasher Death Panels.  We hope the paneling will match the engineered floors.

Here’s what J thought about this property:

Here is a question to ponder: investor buys house. Puts some money into it. Then ups the price – was it $400,000? No, more. Be that as it may, for that huge profit, do you think they could hire a real photographer? One with a clean lens (photo 9)? Who can take a bathroom photo without appearing in it (photo 10)? This is in a lovely neighborhood but I predict it will sit. Something about that 3,000+ sf house on a 4,000 sf lot does not bode well.

It looks like its raining in photo 9.

It’s raining instant equity!  Bunus: Buy this house for almost a million dollars and you get to choose whatever washer and dryer you want!  That’s right, hookups only.  Super Bunus: Zillow sez: “This home is done! Just move in your belongings!”  Laundry appliances are belongings, too.

9:50 AM: See end for update.  It’s worth it.
12:09 PM: Another update on the other murder.

It’s time to play Build a Ginormous House Somewhere Not As Expensive As The Real Bay Area and then try to find a buyer! Ready?  It’s Burbed reader J from Alameda‘s turn with this lovely Lafayette listing.

1901 HUNSAKER CANYON Rd
Lafayette, CA 94549
$1,998,000

4 Beds
3.5 Baths
6,200 Sq. Ft.
$322 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 2003
Lot Size: 13.50 Acres
On Redfin: 39 days
Type: Detached
Stories: 3+
Community: Burton Valley
MLS#: 40587017
Style: Other
View: Canyon, Carquinez, City Lights, Forest, Hills, Mountains, Mt. Diablo, Valley
County: Contra Costa

WOW! $1+M price reduction! What a buy!! 13+- acres. Gated 360% View! Italian Villa/ stone, hardwood fls, custom & antique lighting. Finest materials including stone, hardwood, beautiful moldings and mllwork. Sunrise and Sunset included ! Rm for pool tennis/guest house/vineyard. PRICED TO SELL !!!

Here’s why J from A sent this in:

As promised, a lovely chateau – in the Lafayette hills. Of note: a million dollar price reduction, a reasonable $322 a square foot and lots of columns.

Somehow it seems that 3.5 bathrooms spread across 6,200 sq feet of living space is not quite the usual ratio – a new way to measure houses – bathrooms per square feet? I am sure the buyer will be happy to have an elevator to navigate all those stories. Enjoy!

You’re right, J. We’ve noted the business of beaucoup bathrooms in ginormous houses for people with too much money and not enough taste. No wonder this place had a million dollar price reduction.  According to the LA Times, this house needs at minimum 8 rooms for waste disposal and sluicing.

Good thing it was PRICED TO SELL !!! We’ve seen enough houses that were priced to stay empty or priced to sit on the listing service for years and years.

Like, um, this house:

Even Zillow thinks the house is worth $2,169,784. Instant equity!  Ka-ching!

Update 9:50 AM: Burbed reader magdalena alerts us to this 2005 SF Chronicle article that specifically mentions the house.  In a this-would-never-be-believed-as-fiction tragedy, the wife of criminal defense lawyer Daniel Horowitz was murdered in “the entryway of the home.” Wikipedia says she was murdered in a mobile home on the property while their “dream house” was being completed.  The murder occurred four days after the beginning of a high-profile trial where Horowitz was defending Susan Polk, accused of killing her husband in their Orinda home. Horowitz had taken the case after Polk had fired her previous lawyers for encouraging her to plead insanity.

This led to a mistrial, but as Horowitz prepared for Polk’s second trial, she fired him, convinced that he had something to do with his wife’s murder.  16 year old Scott Dyleski was convicted of the murder; supposedly he intended to kill a neighbor who had run over his dog and went to the wrong house.  Polk’s story manages to get even more bizarre after Horowitz was fired (this Dateline NBC link confirms the mobile home claim from Wikipedia).

WOW!  Sunrise and sunset is just the entryway of what’s included with this house!

Update 12:09 PM: Murder kills home values as well as people.  Check out Susan Polk’s house.  We found a listing e-flyer, and Redfin has the price history:

Today’s house is absolutely, positively, we promise and pinky swear, really, truly NOT IN MOUNTAIN VIEW.  It isn’t even in Palo Alto.  Today, we are headed up to Contra Costa County, where Burbed reader J from Alameda has a little real estate riddle for us.

Meanwhile, are you someone who doesn’t live in or look at houses in Mountain View or Palo Alto?  If you find one that’s #winning, send it on over!  Heck, send us more houses in Mountain View and Palo Alto too.  We’re willing to point and laugh at almost anything.

30 QUAIL Xing
Moraga, CA 94556
$3,100,000

$3,100,000 Price
1 Beds
1 Baths
1,200 Sq. Ft.
$2,583 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 2010
Lot Size: 53.71 Acres
On Redfin: 258 days
Type: Detached
Stories: 1
Community: Rancho Moraga
MLS#: 40554737
Style: Ranch
View: Hills
County: Contra Costa

Newer 1200 SF Guest Cottage sits on 4.35± acres w/ flat building pad for a 5700± SF home, 6 stall Castlebrook barn, sport court & 360 degree view. 2nd parcel of 49± Agric. zoned acres has 2.5± acres planted w/ 3100 vines & expansion to 20+ acres possible. Abuts EBMUD open space and trails.

Here’s why J sent this in:

Over the hills and through the woods….I just had to send this in (not going anywhere fast) its just such an incredible RBA price per square foot – $2583 – but not in the RBA. Now you get a lovely barn, sport court and ‘guest house’ with one bedroom and one bath….some teeny tiny grape vines – and yes, that lovely cement pad just waiting for its 5,700 sf, give or take – house. What, by the way is sport court? And, it’s not even in the RBA! It’s a long way down the hill(s) to get on Orinda Bart (yes, Bart) to get to RBA land. Or the other hill into the backside of Oakland.

And the realator was nice enough to note – those 40 some odd acres are zoned agricultural – meaning, I imagine, no subdividing. What, exactly, was the original buyer thinking? Spec guest house? Forget to leave some money in the budget for the house?

Ps – out looking at houses on Sunday and drove by the half finished house – the one with the lovely garbage can shot on Olympic (Lafayette?) – I recognized the plywood. Looks about the same.

Wait, wait, you left out the best part.  The street name is half English, half Mandarin!  We can’t figure out if it’s named for where the quail are run over by vehicles or merely shot by Dick Cheney.

Get out your FasTrak box, we’re crossing over to the East Bay today!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader J from Alameda, who reminds us that anyplace, no matter how unlike the RBA, can be Burbed-worthy.  Remember, if a property is in the Bay Area, it can be Burbed too!

J sent us a Zillow link, so that’s what we’re using. And that’s because we’re still really annoyed that Redfin stopped linking to us without explanation, but still emblazons “Bloggers, have you written about this property?” on every listing. So what are we, Redfin, chopped liver?

1629 San Antonio
Alameda, CA 94501
$649,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Sqft: 2,371
Lot: 6,000 sq ft / 0.14 acres
Type: Single Family
Year built: 1970
Last sold: Oct 1998 for $375,000 –
Parking: –
Cooling: –
Heating: –
Fireplace: –
On Zillow: 42 days
Other facts
Construction quality: 6.0
County: Alameda
Last remodel year: 1971
Legal description: MAP 58 PG 99 LOT 1
Parcel #: 072 031400502
Per floor sqft: 2,371 2,
Total rooms: 8
# Stories: 2
Structure type: Other
Unit cnt: 1
Zillow Home ID: 24861486

Affordable, Contemporary, Gold Coast Home

 

Here’s why J sent in this Alameda amazement.

Not RBA but perhaps Burbed worthy. So, it’s a partially finished remodel – not new news that someone ran out of money.

However, the photos. It’s sort of ‘staged’ – table in dining room, cabinet in living room, bed in bedroom (did not have time to get the comforter on right). The stair photo – written on the top stair is ‘keep out’. Finally, the lovely wall mounted fire extinguisher near the window in the other bedroom. Fascinating what an agent does, or does not bother to do.

You know what that lonely table in the dining room reminds us of?  Those abandoned real estate as art photos by Edgar Martins.  The bedroom photos are suggestive of his work as well.  Here are the two J mentioned above.

Plus this was an awesome opportunity to break out the RED ARROW toolkit.

Today we return to the Not Real Bay Area, for a very special home despite the location.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader J from Alameda for this listing, which we join already in progress.

2431 Olympic Blvd
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
$389,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS:  4
SQ. FT.:  2,741
$/SQ. FT.:  $142
LOT SIZE:  9,100 Sq. Ft.
TYPE:  Detached
STYLE:  Contemporary
STORIES:  1
YEAR BUILT:  2009
COMMUNITY:  Saranap
COUNTY:  Contra Costa
MLS#:  40555341
SOURCE:  EBRD
STATUS:  Active
ON REDFIN:  48 days

Are having a hard time finding the perfect home? then this is a must see! You could finish this home and customize it to fit your needs. 4 bedroom 4 bath with a pool.

Here’s what J had to say about this fine find:

Burbed fan here – this is the first listing I have found that is Burbed worthy….the photo of the trash bins has to be unique. Zillow has a photo that appears to be a small hole in the ground…..

Oh dear, if J from Alameda thinks a photo of a trash bin or two in a home listing is unique, then clearly we aren’t doing our job that well.  There’s now a trash bins tag so everyone who enjoys comparing bins around the Bay Area can peruse them at their leisure.  We just had a bunch of them featured earlier this week.

But while this home isn’t unique in featuring photos of where to put your garbage and recycling, it sure lets you know what an absolute blast you’ll have sprucing the place up.  That is, if by “blast” we are actually referring to the effect it will have on your finances.

Anyone have any luck locating the promised pool?  Do you think this is it?

Or is it hidden under the unique trash bins?

No luck looking on Zillow.  They don’t have any pictures of this house at all, other than the default birds-eye shot.  That could be because the listing was removed on February 4th.

But this must be the picture J was thinking of, courtesy of Trulia.  Trulia has a different set of pictures than Redfin for this home.  This could very well be the pool.  Or it could be the Portal to Hell.

Customize it to fit your needs.