When a market is as hot, hot, HOT as Mountain View, it pays to look at what won’t sell.  Take a gander at this gorgeous gatehouse and let us know why you think it’s still without a prom date.

140 HORIZON Ave
Mountain View, CA 94043
$899,900; raised from $879,900 on 8/24/12

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,419 Sq. Ft.
$634 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1970
Lot Size: 6,100 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 38 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Community: North Shoreline
MLS#: 81230153
Stories: 1
County: Santa Clara

LOCATION!LOCATION!LOCATION! Beautiful home in downtown MtView! Mostly dual pane windows/doors; gleaming hardwood flr, plantation miniblind/shutters, skylight, mirror closet drs, newer roof, newer landscaping. Relax in leafy backyrd. close to everywhere–downtown restaurants, light rail and train station, high tech companies/google/facebook. .Ready to move in!

Yet another house in Mountain View, but this one has a “bunus”!  It’s right here in Picture #21.  We had to use a different Red Arrow, because while we were busy finding housing fail, Aviary went and dumped its Advanced Suite of Red Arrow Drawing Tools.

Yes, we found a real Dude Hanging Out, plus flash in the mirror.

Maybe if the agent goes back and takes this picture again, from an angle with no DHO and no flash, the house will go Pending in a day.  After all, LOCATION!LOCATION!LOCATION!

Gosh, they raised the price two weeks after listing it, too!  Doing everything right like this should make this house as popular as Bill Clinton at a haiku convention.

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.

Yes, we are back to Mountain View, because we cannot seem to stay away.  Every time we Google “Center of the Universe” this is what pops up.  Although if our readers would send in properties somewhere else, anywhere else, please, please, please, we are begging you, send us a house NOT in Mountain View, even not in the RBA if you have to.

Pardon us. Ahem.  Anyway… hope you like some color other than white in your house.  That is if by “some” we mean “way, way more than some.”  And by “your house” we mean “someone else’s house” because, of course, this pad is Pending!

1602 MORGAN St
Mountain View, CA 94043
$679,900

$679,900 Listed at Price 
4 Beds 
2 Baths  1,425 Sq. Ft.
$477 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1976 
Lot Size: 7,000 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 35 days
Status: Pending Without Release
Pending Without Release
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara
Stories: 1
Community: North Shoreline
MLS#: 81227072

Remodeled Single Family Home w/ high walk-score. Kitchen includes granite counters, cherry cabinetry, tile floor * Living Room with vaulted ceiling, fireplace, hardwood floors * Double pane windows * Nice private backyard for entertaining and enjoyment. Convenient location near all the major commute arteries and employment centers. Near move-in ready. .. needs a little interior work. OFFERS DUE 11AM 7/25

So much to love about this house, whether it’s that it was foreclosed on this past Valentine’s Day, or that it sold for more in 2005 than the current listing price, or that the helpful Redfin agents want you know that not all appliances are present.  As in are any appliances present?

But other than that, this house is indeed near move-in ready, provided you’re near ready to open up a preschool onsite (but only after you clean up the carpets).  This is some serious color coordination we’re talking.  The house was just remodeled, so the sellers decided to stick with the original 1976 paint scheme of tomato, avocado, and mustard.

Which means the plums out back are ready for you to have for dessert.  Or to paint another room.

Who wants to make a small fortune in real estate?  You know what to do: start with a large fortune.  That is, unless you’re investing in Real Bay Area real estate.  Then all you have to do is let the checks roll in while the property appreciates every single minute!

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater for this bodacious apartment block in… of course!  Mountain View!  In case you haven’t already noticed, we’re giving Mountain View a lot of extra love for three days in a row.  Why?  Because we didn’t talk about them once last week!

1720 WRIGHT Ave
Mountain View, CA 94043
$2,200,000

BEDS:  -
BATHS:  -
SQ. FT.:  8,120
$/SQ. FT.:  $271
LOT SIZE:  0.55 Acres
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT:  1969
COMMUNITY:  North Shoreline
COUNTY:  Santa Clara
MLS#:  81228487
SOURCE:  MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN:  9 days

The units are unusually large, averaging 902 square feet. They offer private backyards and balconies that face an expansive green space protected by the city. Built on over half an acre the land offers the investor a very strong long-term investment as both a rental property or a for sale redevelopment opportunity. The property is less than a mile from a number of major Mountain View employers.

Every real estate purchase is an opportunity in the RBA, and this is a great example.  We particularly like the realtard’s 100% correct but absolutely useless claim that the units average 902 square feet. The listing info says the building has eight one-bedroom apartments, each 865 square feet, and one 2/1 apartment, weighing in at 1200 sf. 

Are you on the fence about buying this place?  So’s the math!  The Gross Rent Multiplier is 15.03, right in between buy versus rent.

And speaking of opportunity, check out the location!

Looks like you’ll have a front row seat on whatever’s going in that right-of-way!  Maybe if you’re really lucky that’s the alternate route for High Speed Rail!

Here’s the denouement of a Burbed perennial, and best of all, it’s even in Mountain View!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader mabel du for giving this turkey one more roast with this fine guest post.

And speaking of birds, soon we’re going to have to talk Mountain View and Chik-Fil-A, but we did enough politics yesterday next door in Los Altos.  So please give mabel du a real, warm, RBA welcome as today’s Guest Blogger!

1755 PEACOCK Ave
Mountain View, CA 94043
Sold for $475,000 on 4/13/2012

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: Sold

Sale price includes building plans for 4 bedroom 3 bath home

Do you prefer a bath or a shower?

This flipper-to-be sure took a bath in his bubblicious real estate gamble.  A fun bubble bath?    Not so much.

Plans to feather his nest ran afowl when he ate more than $200k to unload this rotten egg, and that ain’t chicken scratch.   Buyers didn’t flock in as hoped, so after hovering for years on a wing and a prayer he finally ended the drag and landed a buyer.

Purchased for in 2007 for $674K, dropped more cash to remove the previous crapshack, finally sold for $475 in 2012.  I don’t think that’s how RE investments are supposed to work, certainly not in the RBA.

To wax nostalgic on this oldie but goodie, let’s revisit previous Burbed entries for this 4H fowl failure:

Sept 8, 2011: This Peacock is looking a little less proud

 Click to see the other entries:  (more…)

For some reason, Mountain View seems to be Ground Zero for this website.  Sure, we get plenty of listings in other cities, but for a place with a population of 75,000, Mountain View sure gets a lot of Burbed Love.  And we’ve got some more for you today, thanks very much to Burbed reader Erin.  Let’s take a walk on the wild side… at least as far as the inside of today’s house is concerned.

976 Burgoyne St
Mountain View, CA 94043
$849,000

Well appointed 5 year old home single level home. Open floorplan with designer touches and upgrades throughout. large living room with fireplace and door to a side yard, Chef kitchen with ample cabinet and counter space, generous size master suite w/ doors to the backyard, natural lighting, hardwood floors throughout, attached garage and large private backyard. A very nice home.

3 bedrooms  |  2 bathrooms
Neighborhood: North Shoreline (203)
Property details
Appliance: 1 Dishwasher, Disposal, Dryer, 1 Refrigerator, Microwave Oven, Self Cleaning Oven, Washer, Window Coverings, Built-In Oven/Range Combo
Architecture Style: Ranch
Cooling System: Central Air Conditioning
County: Santa Clara
Exterior Type: Stucco Exterior
Fireplace: Fireplace in Living Room, Gas Log Only Fireplace
Floor Covering: Hardwood
Heating System: Central Forced Air Heat, Gas Heat
Horse Property: No
Lot Size: 5670.0000
MLS#: 81225685
Num Floors: 1
Parking Type: Attached, Electric Door or Gate Opener, 1 Car Garage
Pool: No Pool
Roof Type: Composition Roof
Square Feet: 1346
Status: Active
Type: Single Family Detached
View Type: Neighborhood View
Water: City/Public Water
Year Built: 2007
Zoning: R1

We’re still a little peeved with Redfin for not linking back to us of late, so we’ve been using whatever sites our contributors send us.  But here’s the Redfin link if you find the Intero site a little too busy.  Do feel free to let Redfin know if you find links to our articles useful.

Anyway, back to today’s house.  Here’s why Erin sent it in:

Someone should write a post on this charmer for all the taxidermy enthusiasts out there, who are well-known to live in Mountain View.  See how many rooms you can find with dead animals on the walls!

Designer touches!

Like this room.  We have to include it because we haven’t had enough opportunities to break out the Burbed Good Housekeeping Tag of Approval.

A very nice home.

Here’s a fantastic find from Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for your Super Tuesday pleasure.  Almost anything with a Mountain View address is going to sell in a New York minute, so imagine how Rocky Mountain High the overbidding will go with a brand new house!

The new UPDATE is at the bottom, with more pictures!

285 STIERLIN Rd
Mountain View, CA 94043
$1,500,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 4.5
SQ. FT.: 3,235
$/SQ. FT.: $464
LOT SIZE: 5,001 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Modern/High Tech, Contemporary
STORIES: 3
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2012
COMMUNITY: North Shoreline
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81205009
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 25 days

Here’s why Petsmart Groomer sent this house in for some Burbed loving:

Definitely where people want to spend $1.5M: Walking distance to Social Services Agency.

That sounds really handy.  Pick up your disability check and your government cheese without needing to borrow a shopping cart from the Safeway.

And we can see from the 25 photos of the house that the inside is just loving its close-up.  Wonder why the outside was so shy?  Nary a shot of the house or the grounds.  Let’s see if Google Streetview can help.

Looks like the Googlecam is overdue for a neighborhood spin.  Fortunately, there’s a Virtual Tour available.  And I do suggest you check this one out, because it has dozens and dozens of pictures not found on the listing.  The Virtual Tour is not afraid to show us what the house looks like.  Click on through to see those pictures and so much more!

(more…)

Did you ever shop at a warehouse club and have to buy three of something when one was all you needed?  This listing, sent in by Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer, will make you feel like you’re caught in the gloomy caverns of Costco.  Only it’s real estate, so it will cost more than $200 to pass GOogle.

This may be the cheapest house in Mountain View, if you buy in bulk!

674 WILLOWGATE St, Mountain View, CA 94043
$1,250,000

BEDS: 6
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 720
$/SQ. FT.: $1,736
LOT SIZE: 0.32 Acres
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1965
COMMUNITY: North Shoreline
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81112528
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 256 days

THREE 2 BEDROOM 1 BATH HOMES ALL UPDATED IN WALKING DISTANCE TO DOWNTOWN MOUNTAIN VIEW. ALL HOMES HAVE THERE OWN GARAGES. AMPLE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES . MATURE LAND CONVENIENTLY LOCATED TO CENTRAL EXPY AND 85 YET STILL PRIVATE. LIVE HERE AND RENT OUT OR RENT OUT ALL 3 ENJOY THE LOCAL TRAILS AT DAY & DINE DOWNTOWN AT NIGHT. BUYER TO VERIFY SF. EXPENSES BASED UPON SELLERS EST.

Take that, Palo Alto!  This place is listed at a whopping $1736 a square foot!  In your dreams beating this one!

I can’t understand why these bargain has been wasting away on Redfin for so long?  Three different houses, if you get tired of one, then move into another one!  Rent out one, two, or all 3!

Haven’t you always wanted to be a slumlord?  This is your chance to get in at the ground level.

And talk about location, location, location?  Just steps away from the train station!

You’re going to have to step across Central Expressway, but that will get you into great shape fast!

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 a listing with a rather intriguing backstory.  I wonder if any heads will roll over this monumental mismanagement in Mountain View.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for sending this in.  Except what PG sent in isn’t what you’ll see when check out the Redfin link.

 

505 CYPRESS POINT Dr #30, Mountain View, CA 94043
$220,000

BEDS: 1
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 645
$/SQ. FT.: $341
LOT SIZE: 2,000 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
YEAR BUILT: 1971
COMMUNITY: North Shoreline
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81135529
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 7 days

Beautiful 1 bedroom and 1 bath, single story townhome. Spacious living room, nice and quiet neighborhood. Prefect for 1st time home buyers. Great location, close by parks, schools and shoppings. Must See Now!

Um, okay, yet another cubicle condo so your homelife can be just like your work life.  But what PG sent me isn’t what’s on Redfin now.  Here’s what was sent in:

Update: lots of photos follow, so come see them after the break.  This is kinder to the front page in the true Real Bay Area Spirit.  Or something.

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