One of the problems with buying a house in Mountain View is that much of the housing stock is old yet expensive.  And by “old” we don’t mean “charming,” we mean “out of style” and “needs major renovation.”  We’re still talking about cookie-cutter tract homes, but in Mountain View, they’re million dollar cookie-cutter tract homes.

Not today’s property!  Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater found us a new property, so new we’re having trouble figuring out where it is.  And that’s where you come in!

291 Geary Way
Mountain View, CA 94041
$1,249,900

Loan Payment:  $4,283/mo
Bedrooms:  4
Bathrooms:  4
Size:  1,744 sqft
$/Sqft:  $716/sqft
Type:  Single Family House
Year Built:  2012
Lot Size:  1,768
Days on Movoto:  48 days
Neighborhood:  Downtown
MLS#:  81231702
Status:  Pending – Do Not Show

This gorgeous new 4 bedroom home is sure to impress with its stunning wrap-around balcony. This Home is in a prime location on the park AND it is an end-unit! The open floor plan is spacious and fully equipped with all the latest interior finishes. The first level has a bedroom and full bath which is perfect for a guest or the in-laws. Hurry in before it’s too late!

You didn’t hurry in and now it’s too late!  Despite the lack of interior photos, you cannot buy this house (for $1.25M!!!!) because someone’s already beaten you to it.  And note that by “house” we really mean “who are they kidding, if they admit this is an ‘end unit’ then why not just call it a townhouse?”

Note the clever home type: “Single Family House.”  Nothing about whether it’s attached to or detached from anything (other than pricing sanity). 

Does anyone know where this complex is and if anything is still for sale there?  Could it be this one?  Because if it is, you have better like trains.  And by “like” we mean “like listening to them.” Lots of them. Most realty sites don’t map the location, and the one that did seems to be somewhat lost.  (Hint: Fremont is not a neighborhood in Mountain View.)

More importantly, are you impressed with its stunning wrap-around balcony?  PS: If you liked this house, you might also like this one, which is on the same street but not too late.

And if we’re showing such waaaaaay out of the RBAaaaaaa listings again, that must mean we’ve heard from Burbed reader Tom Paine!  Thanks very much for sending in these properties that are of zero interest to anyone working at Google.

5636 Mcfarlane Rd
Sebastopol, CA 95472
$395,000

2 Beds
2 Baths
1,232 Sq. Ft.
$321 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1947
Lot Size: 2.72 Acres
On Redfin: 9 days
Property Type: Residential, Detached, Single Family
Stories: 1
County: Sonoma
Style: Ranch
Community: Sebastopol
MLS#: 21222490

Contractor Fixer on close to 3 acres at the end of a private lane. 2 bedroom , 2 Bath, 1300 sq ft home on Sunny, level, gorgeous park like setting that includes fruit trees, mature oaks and a lovely pond. Nice Large clean 2 car Garage that can also be used as a workshop, additional outbuildings and plenty of room for gardening complete this private serene location. Septic and well reports on file. New 1/2 HP submersible pump. Do not miss this.

Here’s what Tom had to say about this yallar thang.

The Lovely Pond…

Is on the neighbors property.There’s a mudhole on this one. Carpets smell like something wild peed on them, the ceilings are 6’6″ and if there is any part of this house that was ever up to code it’s the rain gutters. It’s actually a nice 2 acres and change, but the house is a teardown.

Plenty more to check out in the pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  And not a single one of them inside.

Yesterday, Our Fearless Leader came out of retirement and shared a really Special House in Millbrae.  It was soooo Special that burbed asked me to follow up with this possibly related listing.  So, thanks for sending this one in, Burbed reader burbed.  To, um, the blog you started.  Right.

821 MORNINGSIDE Dr
Millbrae, CA 94030
$1,258,000

4 Beds 
4 Baths 
2,140 Sq. Ft.
$588 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 2002 
Lot Size: 5,100 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 36 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Bay
County: San Mateo
Stories: 3
Community: Telescope Hills/Silva Ranch
MLS#: 81231418

4 Bedroom/4 Bath, only 10 years new home with marble and wood flooring, cherry cabinets, granite countertops throughout located in a great school district.

Did you like yesterday’s house?  Well, you’ll just love today’s, because it is right next door and it also new while having the advantage of being time-tested.  This house is even more awesome than yesterday’s, because all you can do is longingly look at the front facade.  There’s not a single shot of the marble and wood flooring, cherry cabinets, granite countertops throughout, let alone the great school district.

That must mean the staging is so amazing, you’ll need to wait in line for hours just to buy tickets to see it.  And if they hired ILM to stage yesterday’s house, who could be the artiste for this one?  Maybe it’s Peter Bohlin?  Could the landscaping be the work of Lawrence Halprin?  Or is the entire project the genius of Denis Weil?

One thing is for sure: no matter how many computers and servers you have, you should plenty of power to run all of them.

Here’s both homes for you to admire.  Let us know which one you’d rather be trapped in by a million dollar mortgage for the next 30 years.

“Bunus:“ Same agent representing both houses!  Can you say Buy Two Get Two?

Okay, have we been telling you that Mountain View is hot, hot, hot?  We have.  And today we have a home in, yes, Mountain View, that wasn’t just sold and didn’t go pending over the weekend.  Or maybe it did, but they hadn’t updated it yet.  What can we say?  RUN do not WALK to get your overbids in!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader dollarbin for yet another Monta Loma medalist!

Updated 12:04: Not in Monta Loma actually.  See below.

726 TELFORD Ave
Mountain View, CA 94043
$712,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,104 Sq. Ft.
$645 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1955
Lot Size: 5,529 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 6 days
Property Type: Attached Single Family
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara
Stories: 1
Community: North Shoreline
MLS#: 81233532

Mountain View k-8 schools with-in 2 minutes walk and 5 minutes bicycle ride. Work at Microsoft? Google? Spectra Phsyics? 5 Minute bike ride. Need to get coffee, turn the corner hit StarBucks. You can create a place to call home near everything, far from nothing. Quiet street, awesome neighbors, no cross traffic – this will sell quickly. Don’t miss the boat!

Here’s what dollarbin thought about this latest Mountain View dispatch:

This RE agent was so busy spewing hyperbole that he neglected to provide any interior shots.  I think my favorite line is “near everything, far from nothing.”

I’m not versed in RE speak, but is “Negotiate Possession” a warning sign, or does it just mean that there’s rental tenants that you’d have to boot before you move in?

Well we think it means “Mountain View is hot, hot, hot! So just because we’re going to sell you this house doesn’t mean we’re moving out any time soon.  Your appreciation will more than pay for your rent somewhere else.”

Do any of our readers have a better idea?

Work at Microsoft? Google? Spectra Phsyics [sic]?  Does anyone still work at Spectra Phsyics?

Updated 12:04: The house is not in the Monta Loma neighborhood (also observed in comments).  Here’s dollarbin with some followup.  Burbed regrets the error on our part.

Small correction, this house is not in Monta Loma, it’s on the wrong side of Rengstorff and the wrong side of Middlefield. It’s the same kind of Mackay and vintage as those built in ML, though.

…Once they’ve seen the bright lights of South San Jose?  This is a floor wax and a dessert topping, two mints in one, yes an actual farm in San Jose.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Abby Dow for this fantastic farmyard complete with funky photos and retail store pricing.

3630 KETTMANN RD
San Jose, CA 95121
$2,999,999

3 beds
2 baths
1300 sqft
8 acres
1937 built
18 days on site
MLS# 81229181
Walk Score™ 48

Wow- Great Location and Potential. Developers, investors and owner builder; come see for yourself this one of a kind evergreen property, wonderfully located on 8+ acres.

The value must be in the land because the actual house doesn’t appear in the listing photos until you get to #4.  Our pal Abby seemed quite taken with the idea:

I’m sure this is priced for development, but it’s still strange to see a shabby looking little farm with a rundown house going on the market for $2,999,999 in San Jose.

It sure is.  8 acres?  It should be going for $3,999,999, especially with trash bins of this quality.  Plus you can be lord of the manor on that much property right in the middle of all this suburban sprawl.

Except that big house we’re seeing on Streetview is someone else’s manor.

You’ll get to know them well, as it looks like you’ll be sharing that gated one-lane road.  That’s going to be awesome when you build you PUD zoned 12 homes to the acre.  Who needs Santa Cruz, you can play real bumper cars just trying to get in or out!

Today’s featured home is a San Carlos scraper brought to you by Burbed reader nomadic.  This low-hanging lemon has been overripening on the Redfin vine, and was spotted on a fruitful locale for Burbed bounty: the Redfin forums.  Thanks very much for the harvest! 

437 HILLCREST Rd
San Carlos, CA 94070
$850,000; was $875,000; was $899,000; was $910,000

2 Beds 
1.5 Baths
1,120 Sq. Ft.
$759 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1941 
Lot Size: 7,644 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 130 days
Status: Active
Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: San Mateo
Style: Contemporary
Community: Cordes
MLS#: 81213411

Great westside location, this home is a major fixer upper bring your contractor with you large level lot perfect for building your dream home building plans and engineering reports have been submitted to the city for approval

Here’s what nomadic had to say about this perplexing property:

Check this out, from the Redfin forums:

  I lived in this home, as the flippers who bought it in 2011, rented it to me so they could get the permits in place.  Long story short, is that they thought they had the permits in place in February of 2012 so they asked me to move.  Turns out just more paper shuffling by the city, and things are still moving slow.  The house is in bad disrepair.  The son of the original owners (since 1941) died and the family sold it.  All the plumbing was shot, and a poorly constructed addition was slapped on the porch in the back.  The chiminey was falling off the side of the house, and there was quite a fair amount of landscaping growing out of the roof.

  Shortly after I moved out, a bunch of  vagrants ransacked the place, stole all the copper, and broke most of the windows.  Permits are still pending for the tear down and rebuild.  As I was browsing the listings, I found it funny that it was relisted at $910k basically a year after they bought it for $622, and its now no longer livable.

The asking price is now $850k.  When did San Carlos wedge itself into the RBA?

Hmmm, this comment doesn’t seem to be on the thread anymore, but this reply references part of the above.  So nomadic was not hallucinating the post.  Perhaps Redfin is getting a little gun-shy about actual discussion of houses rather than oh-so-postive realtardese.  Talk that way for too long and you won’t even need to take any uppers.

Bunus: Trash bag and abandoned monitor in Streetview shots, plus extra bin at neighbor’s.

898 TULLY Rd
San Jose, CA 95111
$1,300,000

Do you love Instagram pictures? Do they help you make an emotional connection to the subject?

Guess what – now we can combine all the things you love! Realtor photos, soft focus, distortions, and other filters!

Just look at this photo above. What emotions does this evoke for you? Does it make you feel better about spending $765 per square foot for this house?

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!

Have you ever realized that you aren’t spending enough of your time parking all of your cars?  Why not buy a house that fixes that terrible lack in your life?  After all, pure parking pleasure requires just the right property, and perhaps this is the perfect palace!  Thanks much to Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater for this beauty of a building in Belmont!

820 EL CAMINO REAL
Belmont, CA 94062
$669,000, reduced from $709,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,200
$/SQ. FT.: $304
LOT SIZE: 3,250 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Mediterranean
STORIES: 2
VIEW: City Lights
COMMUNITY: Belmont Country Club
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81211546
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 76 days

Single family home locate on commercial zoon, city may allow home office use for light industry. Interest party need to confirm with city ordiance. 3 bedroom 2 bath upstairs (one master), two additioanal bedroom 1 bath downstairs done with permit. Spacious garage park up to 4 cars tandem.

Today’s featured house convenient to, well, everything (how much more central can you get than the Street of Kings?).  Plus, by only including one photo the agent has made it easy for you to review this listing as quickly as possible.  Not only that, this house is even more Special than you think.  It’s been on Burbed before!

Wow, you can buy it for less than its 2009 asking price, despite it being in the middle of a red-hot market.  And that’s an old asking price, because the home was delisted the day before it appeared here back in 2009. 

Also we just had to sneak in this really old listing picture from when it sold in 2000.  For $535,000.  Think of how much this place is really worth now!  And there’s more good news!  The Redfin agent has done the legwork so you don’t have to.

This location is perfect.  If you don’t already have four cars, step next door and buy them.

Don’t like what they’re selling next door?  No problem at all!  Just head across the street to the CalTrain station and check out what’s chillin’.

Look, you’re a busy person.  This house has a four car garage.  That works out to 25 years per covered parking space.  Now that’s a DEAL.

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!