Here’s a moldy oldie that got stuck to the lining of the ol’ Burbed inbox.  Of course you can no longer buy it since it went pending in ten days and has now sold. But we can still enjoy it.  Many thanks to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for bringing this superb Sunnyvale shelter to our attention!  That’s right, Sunnyvale, one of the ten best places in the entire country to raise kids!

884 BROOKLINE Dr
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Listed for $1,198,000; Sold for $1,288,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 2,411
$/SQ. FT.: $534
LOT SIZE: 7,605 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1967
COMMUNITY: Sunnyvale
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81214209
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Sold

Pinnacle of Contemporary Indoor-Outdoor Living * Landscaped Open Air Atrium * Spacious Living & Dining Area w/ Brick Fireplace & Glazed Cement Floors * Gourmet Kitchen w/ Granite Counters, White Frameless Cabinets, Island, Sitting & Eating Area, Italian Tile Floors * Master Suite * Pitched Roof * Two Car Garage * Landscaped Yards w/ Stamped Cement Patio, Lighting, Sprinklers, Fruit Trees * Cumberland Elem/Homestead *

There’s no doubt that the Real Bay Area is hot, hot, hot!  But even here in the Corridor of Not Quite (which hugs El Camino Real), there’s hard evidence of overbidding.  This house sold for 7.5% above asking!  How else can anyone explain the sale price for this home that doesn’t have Cupertino schools or even the best Sunnyvale elementary?

At least the photographer did a nice job lining up photos 3 and 4 so everyone could really enjoy that pitched roof.

Too bad the same care wasn’t applied to the HDR.

If those trees glowed any more the EPA would have to remediate the entire neighborhood.

We continue our look at crapboxen lower-priced homes.  Here’s another more affordable property that you can no longer purchase because someone beat you to it.  Didn’t we tell you the market was hot, hot, hot?  Why aren’t you running out there and buying a house right now?  Do you want to be PRICED OUT FOREVER?

Thanks very much to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for passing along this excellent property in East Palo Alto.

533 WEEKS St
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
$260,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 1,170
$/SQ. FT.: $222
LOT SIZE: 6,325 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Traditional
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1947
COMMUNITY: East of U.S. 101
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81214470
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending With Release
ON REDFIN: 41 days

great property for invester or first time hom buyer.

Here’s why PG shared this home with you:

9 words, 2 typos.  Close to Facebook, though.

And since a picture is worth a thousand words, best we share the rest of the photos.

Isn’t this place charming?  Now look at the Google Streetview.

Curb appeal!

Welcome back to Adventures in HDR!  This occasional series shows the cutting edge of today’s real estate photography, if by cutting edge I actually meant OMG my eyes are bleeding.  Today’s featured property was sent in by Petsmart Groomer, so thanks very much!

The update is at the end of the article and it is an important one.

555 4th St #404
San Francisco, CA 94107
$750,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 993
$/SQ. FT.: $755
HOA DUES: $545/month
LOT SIZE: –
PROPERTY TYPE: Attached, Full, Condominium, Unit Above, Unit Below
STYLE: Contemporary
VIEW: Garden/Greenbelt
YEAR BUILT: 2006
COMMUNITY: South of Market
COUNTY: San Francisco
MLS#: 396886
SOURCE: San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 2 days

Welcome to another simply fantastic unit at The Palms. This northern-facing unit is perfect for the SF professional, it features spacious living and bedroom areas, as well as outdoor access to the garden belt. Gourmet kitchen includes SS Bosch stove-top and insert oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, Cabria Stone counter-tops, and Studio Becker cabinets. The kitchen and bathroom flooring/tub area were redone with new grout, wood floors were resurfaced, and new accent paint throughout. Custom CA Cabinetry in living and bedroom closets gives you tons of storage space. This unit comes with deeded parking at no extra cost to your HOA dues. Close to Wholefoods, Safeway, 25 Lusk, District, CoCo500, SF Tennis Club, AT & T Park, and public transportation.

Welcome to another simply fantastic set of photos of this Condo With Too Many Fours.

You think this is something?  Click on through to see the rest, after donning a welding helmet that can shade to at least #13.

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Let’s finish out the week with another find in San Francisco. Once those Facebookers get their hands on all that IPO money, lots and land there are going to be made out of unobtainium.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer for this SoMa spot, ready for your serendipity.

1376 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94103
$699,000

BEDS: –
BATHS: –
SQ. FT.: –
LOT SIZE: 2,374 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Lots & Acreage
COMMUNITY: South of Market
COUNTY: San Francisco
MLS#: 392692
SOURCE: San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 126 days

Billboard on Site

This urban homestead, or Garage 4.0, depending on what use you feel is best, ready for you to build upon.  But there’s so much more than a generous half of a tenth of an acre lot.  There’s also a steady stream of hard liquor advertising dollars, too.

Well, the billboard seems attached to the building next door, but we didn’t say the advertising payments would be going to you.  The agent just notes there is a “Billboard on Site”. 

The photo also reveals that you’re close to transit.  Real close.  So let’s get a better picture of the lot, courtesy of Google Streetview.

Billboard still on site.  Facebook’s better watch out for you!

There are a number of ways to measure whether a market is favoring buyers or sellers.  Right now, it’s Spring selling season, and the buyers are definitely out there.  It’s a challenging time to buy, because there’s much less for sale.  So is it really a sellers’ market, or are the sellers waiting until prices go up even more?

Today’s find from Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer shows that even an unloved listing will find a suitor in this market.  This home went pending last week after a price reduction, and the agent promptly pulled the photos down.  But that didn’t stop us from checking every real estate site until we found them for you.  Today’s I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-violating-their-MLS-contract site is ZipRealty!

179 HAMWOOD TER
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043
Listed for $849,999, reduced from $869,000

3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 0.0 partial bath, 1,612 square feet, Single Family

Lot Size: 1,742

Year Built: 2007

Neighborhood: North Whisman

School District: Mountain View Whisman Elementary School District, Mountain View-Los Altos Union School District

FIPS: 06085

APN: 160-81-013

Source: Public Records
Walk Score^®: 43

This is a Single Family home located at 179 HAMWOOD TER, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. 179 HAMWOOD TER has 3 bedrooms, 3.5 full bathrooms, 0.0 partial bathrooms, and approximately 1612 square feet. The property has a lot size of 1742 square feet and was built in 2007.

We found the photos, but there’s no listing copy, just boilerplate assembled by a computer.  Although several living, breathing Real Estate Professionals could have come up with “has 3.5 full bathrooms, 0.0 partial bathrooms.”

The reason PG sent in this home (other than this excellent photo of the spacious deck) is that the house previously sold near the peak of the bubble market.  2008 was post-peak for most areas except the Special parts.  We’d have to look at the other first-time sales in this development to determine if this was as rich as it got.

Sold on June 18, 2008 for $820k and it is now on the market for $869k. Anybody thinks it has gone up $49k since 4 years ago? Or is it just in hope of breaking even after commission?

You mean It was on the market for $869K!  At the reduced price the FBs won’t break even, unless they had a pet agent who would sell the house for free.

Even the homes that weren’t selling are now selling.  And this one is full of location win.

Close to freeway, tasty street name, conveniently located steps from historic Superfund sites, what more could anyone ask for?

We hope you enjoyed Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer week last week.  Here’s another fine PG-produced property in San Francisco.  Last week, we had a Tenderloin tenement masquerading as a Civic Center squat, so let’s move on to the Mission!  And in acknowledgement of Spring Bounce, this property is also pending.  San Francisco is hot I tell you, hot, hot, HOT!

3223 20th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
$650,000

BEDS: 5
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 2,244
$/SQ. FT.: $290
LOT SIZE: –
PROPERTY TYPE: Single-Family Home
YEAR BUILT: 1900
COMMUNITY: Inner Mission
COUNTY: San Francisco
MLS#: 394741
SOURCE: San Francisco MLS
STATUS: Contingent – Show
ON REDFIN: 21 days

Situated in the heart of the Inner Mission (cross-street is Harrison), this spacious and vacant 5BD/2BA home is on the market for the first time in over 50 years! Large one car garage. Rear yard. Just down the street from Flour + Water and close to an amazing variety of other great restaurants, cafes, and shops. Walk-Score = 97. Zoned RH-3, per the city’s 3R report. A great potential development opportunity in one of the city’s warmest and liveliest neighborhoods!

Look, it doesn’t matter how big a turd this building is.  Location, location, location; even if every single piece of hardwood in the entire house ended up in this one room.

How low could those low ceilings be?

If that doorway is standard width, that’s pretty low.

Today is the last entry of a string of hella fine housing from Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer.  We hope you have enjoyed Petsmart Groomer week.  Next week we’ll return to a mix of properties from all over the Bay Area submitted by some of our other readers (if we still have any).

Many thanks again to Petsmart Groomer for all the finds, including this, um, place that’s been on Burbed twice already!  But you’d have to go all the back to 2008 to remember this one.  That was so long ago we were still using the MLS website for our listings!

And then we revisited the same house again three months later!

Now it’s back, and it’s better than EVEH!  You can find out how much better after the break!

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Burbed continues with Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer week, and now we return to Palo Alto.  Ah Palo Alto, home of high prices for working-class residences.  This fine investment property/teardown/whatever cannot be yours because it went pending in just six days.  Let’s drool on it and hope the sale falls through.  We’ll use Zillow this time because Redfin already took the listing copy and pictures down.

2316 Amherst St
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$1,498,000

Beds: 4
Baths: 3
Sqft: 2,025
Lot: 6,098 sq ft / 0.14 acres
Type: Single Family
Year built: 1959
Parking: —
Cooling: —
Heating: —
Fireplace: —
On Zillow: 9 days
MLS #: 81211442
County: Santa Clara
Legal description: —
Parcel #: —
Per floor sqft: 2,025
Zillow Home ID: 2120434658

Sold in conjunction with 2320 Amherst. Two buildings: 2316 is spacious 1/1 with hardwood & updated kitchen. 2320 has 2/1 downstairs with refinished hardwood & updated kitchen; small 1/1 upstairs with huge deck and lovely views of the hills. Both buildings have laundry facilities. Legally 2 lots, zoned R1. Fabulous College Terrace location – Move in, buy for investment or build a new home! [Listing information © MLSListings Inc. All rights reserved.]Brokered And Advertised By: Dreyfus Properties, Inc.Listing Agent: Lucy Berman

This one is a Wow!  As in Wow, that photography really hurts to look at.  We’ll include a number of pictures in case the listing is scrubbed from teh internets forever.

You can also try your luck with the Virtual Tour, which has the same pictures, only in much sharper focus.  The color intensity is still dialed up to 11, though, so you keep that feeling you accidentally wandered into The Bee Movie.

This photo at right is from the Virtual tour.  It’s the only one not on Zillow as well, and lucky for us, it’s got that riot of color so distinctive of this photographer.  The kind of buyer who wants an investment property in Palo Alto will definitely appreciate this effort that makes it look like a Henri Rousseau painting.

The rest of the photos, available after the break, are straight from Zillow.  That way you can enjoy the blurry effect on top of the bright colors.

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Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer week continues, this time right in the heart of San Jose!  No, not downtown, silly.  Santa Row!  The Real San Jose!

334 SANTANA Row #300
San Jose, CA 95128
$1,298,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2.5
SQ. FT.: 2,042
$/SQ. FT.: $636
HOA DUES: $620/month
LOT SIZE: 435 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Condominium
STYLE: Modern/High Tech
STORIES: 1-3 (Low Rise)
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 2002
COMMUNITY: Campbell
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81202429
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 77 days

Santana Row Villa space at a great loft price! Over 2,000 sf on just 2 floors! ~$200k in upgrades, including, remodeled kitchen with high end all-European appliances, remodeled bathrooms with Japanese soaking tub, 3 parking spaces, and more.

Burbed has visited Santana Row before, and it was thanks to PG that we discovered something very exciting about the real estate over there: All of the Santana Row condos that sold new in 2005 and ‘06 have dropped around 40% in value since then.  That article last May featured twenty separate units for sale or recently sold, and all but one of them showed some homedebtors taking pretty serious haircuts.

All but one.  This one.  Because this one is Special.  It’s so Special, you can still get it at the 2011 asking price!  How’s that for Special?  It’s so Special that despite selling new for $996,000 in the wild, heady, bubbly days of June, 2006, and despite the $200K in upgrades, it’s now worth more than $300K than it was six years ago!  Or at least this seller thinks that’s the best way to recover all those monthly $600 HOA fees.

This unit does come with three parking spaces, which is one thing in limited quantities here.  We suggest you snap this place up for that reason alone.  You’ll make your investment back within ten years just from renting out the spaces.

Burbed reader Petsmart Groomer week continues, now featuring this fine find in superb Santa Clara! Who needs to drive all the way to San Francisco for overpriced property when you can do that in your own backyard?  But it’s hot, hot, HOT in the Valley too!  This is place not only went pending in five days, the listing photos were yanked down everywhere I looked.

Thank Woz for Movoto!

3086 Arthur Ct
Santa Clara, CA 95051 
$599,000

Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Size: 1,104 sqft
Type: Single Family House
Year Built: 1954
Lot Size: 5,148
Days on Movoto: 14 days
Neighborhood: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81210711
Status: Off Market
Views: 58

This contemporary-style hm on a cul-de-sac has ample natural lighting w/many windows&skylights*warm wood ceilings in the living rm&kitchen add to the ambiance*fully fencedyard(incl front)offers privacy&outdoor areas to use*you’ll appreciate the lower cost Santa Clara-owned utilities & award-winning Cupertino schools*convenient location for freeways,shopping&parks*Shows nicely too!

Poor Movoto.  Seems all they’re good for is for finding expired listings that everyone else dutifully removed when asked.  Burbed readers send in links to housing finds using Redfin, Zillow, Trulia, ZipRealty, even Realtor.com. 

It’s been a long, long time since a contribution linked to Movoto, and they once were the Official Burbed Listing Link.  Does anyone use them? This poor house only had 58 views, and 54 of them were probably from our putting today’s feature together.

Anyway, the listing copy demonstrates the usual proof that real estate agents are highly-esteemed professionals.  And while you’re trying to decipher that copy, enjoy these photos, after the break.  Someone associated with this house may be asking Movoto to take them down real soon now.

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