Happy Thanksgiving from Burbed!  And one thing to be thankful for is we’re not taking today off.  We are also thankful for our many wonderful readers, without whom we would never be able to bring you Real Bay Area Real Estate, House Price and Mortgage Insanity on a regular basis.

Speaking of wonderful readers, here’s a momentous mansion in Mountain View from Burbed reader dollarbin!

2178 LELAND Ave, Mountain View, CA 94040
$725,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 1,920
$/SQ. FT.: $378
LOT SIZE: 4,947 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 2007
COMMUNITY: San Antonio
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81129200
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 144 days

Maybe the Final Price Reduction before it goes to auction! Take a second look! Enjoy this stunning 4 year old well maintained home with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, 1920 sf of living area, wrap around porch, granite kitchen, granite faced fireplace in living room, 4 spacious bedrooms including downstairs master suite. This home sits in a 4791 SF lot in a well sought after Mountain View area.

Here’s what dollarbin was thinking when sending us today’s Thanksgiving Turkey.

I swear this has been on Burbed before, if not it might spark some discussion. I don’t know if this house has ever actually been occupied, the sales history suggests it hasn’t. Mere inches from the Caltrain tracks, you can shop at Mi Pueblo in your slippers too.

If this house has been on Burbed, it was hiding under a different address.  And it has quite a history, too.  Take a look at this!

And if you think that’s interesting, then look what Zillow has to say about this place!  But none of those missing listings from 2007-08 are there.

Here’s the link to Auction.com in case you want to bid on this house.  I really like the exterior shot they’re using instead of the one above on Redfin (sorry about their annoying little banner there).  Arty!  Too bad the other 4 photos are the same as before.

$725,000 really was the final price before the auction after all.  Take a second look, since you’ll be eating today’s meal a few more times too.  This house and its history can make you feel thankful for so many things.  Why not share them in comments?

Remember to get up extra early tomorrow as we begin our Black Friday Sales!  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks very much to Burbed reader AstroWallaby for this absolutely amazing listing from the garlic fields of Gilroy!  Remember, drive a little, save a lot!

 

7256 CHURCH St, Gilroy, CA 95020
$430,000

 

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 2,193
$/SQ. FT.: $196
LOT SIZE: 9,800 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Victorian
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1900
COMMUNITY: Morgan Hill/Gilroy/San Martin
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81139389
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 9 days

Two homes for the price of one(almost). Large two story home with 5 bedrooms and 2 baths. 2nd home was built in 2006 has modern amenities and has ally access. There is some work to be done, but this is the definition of sweat equity.

Here’s what AstroWallaby had to say about this property:

Oooh, as an aside, check out this nearby neighbor of the Gilroy house:

In particular, the aerial view. Take a nice old Victorian on a reasonably roomy lot, maybe spruce it up a bit… and then fill the entire backyard with another house. Brilliant! That’s down-south country-style livin’ for you.

Let’s have a look, then.

Wow.  Just, wow.  If only San Jose were as forward-looking as Gilroy and did away with that silly zoning code.  Not only would we have in-law units in our back-yards, we’d have apartment houses in our back yards.  Ka-ching!

But this is not the definition of sweat equity.  This is the definition of “previous owner ran out of borrowed money.”  Maybe the agent meant “the banker is breaking into a sweat over what happened to all its equity.”

Here’s another amazing find by Burbed reader SEA for you today.  Thanks very much for letting us know that not all is style and charm in our favorite city.  There’s also value!

 

455 GRANT Ave #12, Palo Alto, CA 94306
$525,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 906
$/SQ. FT.: $579
LOT SIZE: 943 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
YEAR BUILT: 1962
COMMUNITY: College
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81136262
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 33 days

Open 8/20 8/21 2nd floor overlooking sparkling pool Huge36ftx6ft Patio Balcony Granite kitchen, granite floor, Brand new bathrooms, Loads of light, Excellent Palo Alto School District, Vacant, Close to CalTrain, El Camino California Ave. Walk to Stanford. Very bright unit with Atrium on one side and pool on the other side.

Here’s what SEA has to say about this, um, well-situated find.

At first I thought it was some sort of prison, but then I realized that it was ‘not a lot of money’ more than not a lot of money.

Prison? Don’t be ridiculous.  This is a highly secure storehouse for your hard-earned savings!  Just look at all these different places you could keep them in while they multiply, and all you have to do is live here.

Now check out how much the previous owners were all able to accomplish in putting their money to work:

See? These transactions are Special, just like you’ll be when you take advantage of this amazing offer to “Walk to Stanford.” It’s a beautiful 1.6 mile walk to Memorial Hall, on the Road of Kings, even! If I were you, I’d get walking to that agent’s office right now.

Here’s a great find from comments by Burbed reader Swan!  Thanks for keeping Burbed to its low-priced roots with this San Jose charmer that’s selling shortly, now listed for less than it sold for nine years ago.  At least it should probably maintain its value well above when it was first sold in 1950.

 

2495 WALNUT GROVE Ave, San Jose, CA 95128
$440,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 1,040
$/SQ. FT.: $423
LOT SIZE: 6,000 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1950
COMMUNITY: Santa Clara
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81137964
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 3 days

Well Maintan, move-in ready home. Walking distance to SANTANA ROW AND VALLY FAIR MALL. CLOSE TO FREEWAY 880-280

Props to the agent who, despite mangling Valley Fair, managed to miss the “Santa Row” goof.  Also I do not consider this place “close to freeway.”  This house is more my idea of “close to freeway.”

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

I don’t know what the Dudes are up to these days, but this house has a dude who could use a friend. Check out the pic of one of the bedrooms. You can only see his knee, but it’s still a DHO! The realtard’s write up and the other pics are worth a look and a laugh too. When you are ready for another laugh, head to Zillow and check out the price history.

My friend went to one of the many open houses and told me that the realtard is the owner’s sister.  The owners always have a garage sale before it hits the market, after a long time a "Sale Pending" sign goes up, that stays up a long time, they have another garage sale, and then the sign comes down.  Rinse and repeat.  The house is on the corner of Winchester Blvd., and is located near senior housing, a convalescent hospital, The Casket Store, and a cemetery.  I thought, "I’ll never have to leave a 1/2 mile radius from my home!" Oh, and the church directly across the street recently put a cell phone tower up in its front yard!

Let’s see those other pictures, then, because I thought the exterior shot of the house was actually pretty nice!  Remember, we are looking at a “The Contemporary” model from “Orchard Park,” and the original floor plan is a whopping 1034 square foot 3/1.  Looks like they gained 6 feet somehow.

What’s the expression?  Oh yeah, “needs updating.”  But like I said, the grounds are well-kept.

So well-kept, the house is irrelevant really.  What do you want for under half a million, anyway?  A fountain that isn’t in the way of the basketball court?

Here’s some more comments from Swan about this house.

We went to the open house on Walnut Grove yesterday.  The interior is much different from the pictures online.  The turquoise room (the one with the Dude) is now a dark green with a hand painted mural on the wall.  The gold wallpaper, purple bedspread, and scarves above the bed are gone too.  The walls are just white now.  No dude hanging out watching TV either. 

However, the realtor and her niece were surfing the internet in the dining room.  The house is horribly full of clutter – furniture, boxes, knick-nacks, you name it.  There was even a goldfish in a bowl on the kitchen counter and a dog sleeping in a bed on the patio! 

Basically, it violates EVERY show I’ve watched on HGTV.

I didn’t take any pics though I wanted to.  There was sooo much much clutter I didn’t know where to start with photos.  The goldfish was great, the mural so tacky, the shiny gold chairs all over the living room…it was overwhelming!

Finally, Swan asked us to check out the price history on Zillow:

Tsk, tsk.  Pending twice.  It’s almost as if the bank would rather keep the house.  And the dude.

Today’s listing is courtesy of Burbed reader rotoiti, who alerts us to a frequently featured fiasco in Mountain View!

 

1755 PEACOCK Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043
$728,000

BEDS: -
BATHS: -
SQ. FT.: -
LOT SIZE: 6,200 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Residential Land (Single Family)
VIEW: Neighborhood
COMMUNITY: North Shoreline
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81138265
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 1 day
NEW LISTING (24 HOURS)

Huge price reduction! Motivated seller! Price includes approved plans and permits from the city of Mountain View.

Here’s what rotoiti had to say about this place:

$1,380,000 for an empty lot, but with a pretty house … painting. List price reflects home being built by owner – what does it even mean? I have to pay 3x going price for the land in the area and then I have to pay for the house? Ugh, no.

Now when rotoiti first sent me this listing, this lovely illustration was indeed part of it, along with that insane $1.38M wishing price. (You can still find that withdrawn listing on a few places, like on Trulia.)

The painting’s been since pulled, and for that matter, so was the listing. But it’s back, and it’s better than EVEH! Without the painting, you save $652,000!  That’s so much instant equity you’re going to need to build an extra house to keep it in!  Good thing the lot is cleared for takeoff!

But that isn’t the best part. Burbed has featured this property not once but twice already!  Let’s fire up the ol’ Wayback Machine and have a look.  First, we ran this vacant lot amazing opportunity just seven months ago!

Only back then, the seller assured us there was a 4 bedroom 3 bath house on the place, or at least the price reflected that there was GOING to be one.  Even though the plans were approved, they’re not in the February listing, which was remarkably short on photos.

But this place has been on and off the market for much longer than that!  Try another year back!

Just how many times was this property listed, anyway?

And if we head over to Zillow, we can fill in some of those missing asking prices.

Wow, my head hurts!  Either the seller was a couple who couldn’t agree on a pricing strategy (and went around behind each other’s backs signing listing agreements as well as hiring architects), or they were very suggestible and had a manic-depressive agent who couldn’t decide if this was a peacock or a pee pot.

Net result: Seven different listings (6 MLS and one FSBO on oodle.com) at wildly fluctuating prices since Summer, 2008, for a place that sold for only $674,000 at the peak of the Bubble.  No wonder, even at a reduced price, it’s still clearly worth an extra $54,000 for all their time and trouble.

Shake out your tailfeathers, strut on down, and pick up this display property today!

Here’s another terrific find in comments by Burbed reader Sam Adu!  Thanks very much, Sam!

Want to be on the front page like today’s Guest Blogger? Find a winner of a listing (like this one!) and write it up. Send it in with pictures you’ve taken, or we’ll use what’s on the listing.

Don’t think you can write as well as Sam? Just send in the listing, we can’t write as well as Sam either.

Please give Sam Adu a big, warm Real Bay Area welcome, as today’s featured Guest Blogger with another eye-popping property from the highly-desired Campbell neighborhood that’s not in Campbell.

Yesterday (last week) there was the awesome house that had its price reduced again and again and again.

How about this house that has gone pending again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again (Yes, that’s 9 times pending!!!!!!!) since it was first listed for sale in 2009.

 

2286 RIORDAN Dr, San Jose, CA 95130
$575,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 1,557
$/SQ. FT.: $369
LOT SIZE: 5,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Ranch
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Mountains
YEAR BUILT: 1963
COMMUNITY: Campbell
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 80952568
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 662 days

Great value! The garage was converted to a family room (with permits) offering an additional 460 sqft of living space. Two bathrooms were remodeled before the home went on the market. Don’t let the days on market keep you from seeing this home! Great neighborhood!!

All-in-all a pretty unremarkable home although the garage conversion looks pretty hideous from the outside of the house and is darn annoying from a utility/usability standpoint.

I love this part of the listing: “Don’t let the days on market keep you from seeing this home!”. The person responsible for setting the price of this home should be interned in an insane asylum since it has been their crazy pricing strategy that is responsible for this home being on the market since 2009.

What sort of spooky skeletons are hiding in this property to cause it to fall through pending 9 times? Or maybe the pendings are some sort of anomaly in the way the property history is being displayed?

Anyone care to guess how many more times this property goes pending before it gets sold? My completely wild-ass guess is 11.

Here’s a house direct from comments by Burbed reader (and occasional Guest Editor) sfbubblebuyer.

 

805 MOHICAN Way, Redwood City, CA 94062
$675,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 1,330
$/SQ. FT.: $508
LOT SIZE: 7,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Cottage/Bungalow
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Bay, Neighborhood, City Lights
YEAR BUILT: 1952
COMMUNITY: Cordilleras Heights
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81135848
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 9 days

Great little single level, 1330 sq. ft, 3bdrm/1ba bungalow in Emerald Hills w/ pool. Tiny peak of bay. Roy Cloud School around corner. Location and price make this a winner! This home would be fabulous with some updating! CAR FORMS ONLY PLEASE. Please make sure all doors are locked and lights off when leaving.

Here’s what sfbb had to say about this house:

That whole tract [area around Stony Hill Road] is picked clean right now. There were some SERIOUS crapfests that I was sure weren’t going to sell. Of course, the worst offenders have disappeared without being marked as ‘sold’ so I’m sure they’ll be back.

Here’s a house for you in the general area, a short sale listed for less than the 1999 sale price.As you can see, this piping hot potato was passed many times before it decided to burn the bejeebus out of the current holders. That’s gonna leave a mark!

No need to water your own lawn, either, all the water’s in the pool!

I’ve heard that school district is one of the most important priorities people have in buying a property, but including this photo (right) is ridiculous.

We got a Redfin agent tour on this place, too!  Let’s see how they’ll help us find our perfect home this time.

Agent listing descriptions sometimes reveal things they don’t mean to, such as the last line implying the housing price adventure is lurching toward its lonely conclusion.  Lock up and lights out, people.  And that other phrase: Tiny peak of bay.  This place for $875K was a tiny peak all right. A tiny peak price.

The bank can accept or decline your offer, even if your overbidding brings the price up to where it should be.  After all, it doesn’t want to get stiffed on the last house of the Mohican.

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater for this double-your-pleasure set of listings.  Michael says this is a great street name, as it reminds him of one of his favorite film characters.

6 Sparrow Ct, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
$300,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,940
$/SQ. FT.: $102
LOT SIZE: 8,190 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Traditional
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1994
COMMUNITY: East of U.S. 101
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81126961
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending With Release
ON REDFIN: 23 days

Want a description?  Too bad.  However, the place next door is for sale, and they can arrange for one!

4 Sparrow Ct, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
$499,900

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,940
$/SQ. FT.: $170
LOT SIZE: 5,600 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1995
COMMUNITY: East of U.S. 101
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81123303
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 46 days

Amazing Curb Appeal. Beautiful Home Nestled at the end of a Cul-De-Sac. Enjoy all the features of a newly built home. Vaulted Ceilings, Bright Open Floor Plan and Spacious Design. Great CASH FLOW for Investment. Make offer subject to inspection. TENANT OCCUPIED-RENT CONTROL. DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANTS.

Your decision to make: Do you want the exact same house on an 8,000 sf lot for $300K, or do you want to pay an extra $200K for the same house on 2,400 fewer square feet… BUT… you get a description!  Also, 4 Sparrow has been foreclosed not once, not twice, but three separate times!

Take all the time you need to decide.  I think you should go with 4 Sparrow: it sold for $790K in 2006, so it has much more instant equity, and therefore much better stories about the previous owners.  That’s #4 in the red outline, and #6 with the big lot at the end of the block.

Keep your eye on the sparrow!

$150,000

296 S CRAGMONT Ave San Jose, CA 95127

Beds:	2
Baths:	1
Sq. Ft.:	872
$/Sq. Ft.:	$172
Lot Size:	10,240 Sq. Ft.
Property Type:	Detached Single Family
Style:	Ranch
Stories:	1
Year Built:	1948
Community:	Alum Rock
County:	Santa Clara
MLS#:	81045651
Source:	MLSListings
Status:	Active
On Redfin:	262 days

2 bedroom, 1 bath, across from school. OPEN HOUSE Sunday 6/5/11 2:00-4:00PM.

This is the cheapest house in Santa Clara county north of Morgan Hill. Wow, just look at the size of that lot! This is huge huge huge!

If this isn’t the perfect investment property, I’m not sure what is. Plus, just look at the instant equity waiting for you to tap:

What’s stopping you from buying this house? I bet most of you could buy this with your credit card!

Here’s a find from comments by Burbed reader SEA.  Perhaps Fortress Palo Alto is… looking a lot more like an actual fortress.

195 BRYANT St, Unit A, Palo Alto, CA 94301
$1,298,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,574
$/SQ. FT.: $825
LOT SIZE: 1,306 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
YEAR BUILT: 1980
COMMUNITY: Downtown
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81102659
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 124 days

Sophisticated living in downtown PA. Top floor condo with security gate entry. Unit has been customized  or modern lifestyle! Chic finishes incl. cherry flooring, Macassar Ebony paneling, FP with Brazilian marble slab surround and granite counters in updated kitchen. Master suite enjoys lavish bath with amazing shower, 2nd ensuite has dressing area and spa-bath. Secured bldg. , underground garage.

Ah, one reason to visit this place.  I always wondered what an antimacassar protected against, other than a tongue-tied serial killer. This place has “Macassar Ebony paneling,” so bring your Victorian furniture doilies when you tour this customized unit.  I’d hate to imagine how little it would be worth if the owner had left this place stock.  Although the (cough) $521 a month HOA dues don’t help matters here.  I suspect those were slightly lower when the place last changed hands; it was only 9 years old then.

Now, not only could you have paid more for this place 22 years ago, in 1989 dollars, but also we discover that the seller is somewhat thin-skinned:

What kind of owner doesn’t want blogs discussing their property for sale?  Either someone who can’t take any kind of criticism, or someone who knows they have an absolute pig and wants us to admire the lipstick.  And look at all the penciling on this porker.  Got granite?

Don’t stop with the 9 pictures included in a Redfin listing, there’s a Virtual Tour, too!  For example, this one is entitled “Community” but I am still thinking “Fortress” from the first picture.

And this one is mistakenly titled Living Room.

I think a better title would be, “Lost over $200,000 in equity over 22 years despite buying in can’t-miss downtown Palo Alto, where property values should double every ten years, yet owner has still not thrown the flat screen TV out the window.”