Yesterday we had a place in hot, hot, HOT Mountain View that has been on the market for more than a hundred days.  That was a fun game, so let’s play Why Won’t This House Sell yet again.  Today we move to San Mateo County and the delightful breezy bivouac of Brisbane!

772 Sierra Point Rd
Brisbane, CA 94005
$629,000

3 Beds
1.5 Baths
1,400 Sq. Ft.
$449 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1968
Lot Size: —
On Redfin: 130 days
Property Type: Single-Family Home
Community: Brisbane
MLS#": 403999
View: Bay
County: San Mateo

So much potential nestled on the hill, great floor plan. SF Bay views from almost every room, kitchen breakfast bar, living room with fireplace, 2 car garage, deck in front, back yard has stairs leading up to tiered gardens of peach, lemon and Japanese plum trees, absolutely gorgeous when in bloom. Yellow roses, and room for your gardening dreams. Inside open stairway with wall of colored/obscure glass that could be replaced with windows with more SF Bay views. Low E Dual pane windows only 4 years old, Furnace only 7 years old and new water heater. Broken window and minor wall repairs will be done by sellers. House is dated and needs some TLC for sure.

Is this the wall of colored/obscure glass on the left? Better not break any of it, as it’s going to be a long look through lots of old, musty catalogs finding where to replace that.  And really, who cares about the house anyway? Value is in the land, because what you’re paying for is this view of the Bay.

And of the power lines.

Today’s featured Villa is brought to you by the letter V. Yes, the danged Blogging from A to Z Challenge has not been Vanquished yet.  Verily, we have a Vague suspicion that some are Vexed that we’re skipping over the Rodney Dangerfield of the Bay Area, Vallejo. We feel Vallejo’s been Vanquished and another Village needs the Vital exposure this site gives to Bay Area real estate.

Translation: Vacaville, on Burbed for the Very first time, show us your Virtues!  We could mention the Very name means, literally, “cow town.” At least Vallejo was named after a Victorious general.

200 Brown St
Vacaville, CA 95688
$114,900

2 Beds
1 Baths
904 Sq. Ft.
$127 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1950
Lot Size: 6,098 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 33 days
Property Type: Residential, Detached, Single Family
Stories: 1
County: Solano

This fixer has a good size lot and tremendous potential close to public transportation schools great freeway access.

This listing copy has a good start and tremendous potential close to acceptable noun plural noun adjective concept whoops run on sentence.

We can smell the potential from here.

Ah, a saluting toilet! We’ve missed these.  Maybe more agents read Burbed than we thought, as open toilets are getting more difficult to find in listing photos.  And that’s a Good Thing.

Sunny yellow kitchen and space to dine.

Also this house was foreclosed on in February.  February, 2013. And that’s Vexing, as foreclosures and NODs and other housing fail are down substantially Virtually everywhere. 

Yes, we’re still in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and the Juicy Joint de Jour is right here in the wanna-be capital of Silicon Valley: San Jose!  Poor San Jose.  This city and its metro Just can’t catch a break. San Jose is bigger than San Francisco, but nobody loves it.  Even when Journalists mention Silicon Valley they’re usually talking about Palo Alto and Mountain View.  San Jose has been Jolted by spending problems, while the local Journal hasn’t heard anything from the mayor it wouldn’t Join.

So are you Jazzed?

4140 CADWALLADER Ave
San Jose, CA 95121
$1,100,000

3 Beds
3.5 Baths
2,525 Sq. Ft.
$436 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1915
Lot Size: 1.51 Acres
On Redfin: 117 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Evergreen
MLS#: 81243242
Style: Ranch
View: Mountains, Valley, City Lights
County: Santa Clara

Very private and quiet 1.5 acres with panoramic view! Surrounded by upscale new homes, existing 3BD 3.5BA farm house with pool has great potential for future vineyard estates with TLC. Enjoy Fig, Apricot, Prune and Cherry trees and huge garden. Rural residential zone. Livestock, horse allowed. Minutes to Evergreen Village Square, Community Center, Library, College, Reid Hill Airport.

Looks like another round of “never mind the house, look at all this land!” in the photoset. And there’s enough for you to plan your next startup Web-enabled Social Media Just-in-time Agile Japanese Lean 6.0 App, be a Job Creator, plus room to set up housing for any workers who can’t afford to live further north!

Ja, you could be the next Steve Jobs! And if your venture doesn’t succeed, how about Jumping into a Juvenile Jail franchise?  If that doesn’t Jibe, there’s always land! Just plant Jicama and Jalapenos to stay out of Jeopardy!  For great Justice!

Also, if horse allowed, so is Jackass.

How would you like to live in Los Gatos and not spend a million dollars?  Wish granted!  Thanks very much to Burbed reader wahnny for this, um, residence.

16005 SHANNON Rd
Los Gatos, CA 95032
$788,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
668 Sq. Ft.
$1,180 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1940
Lot Size: 10,800 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 4 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Los Gatos/Monte Sereno
MLS#: 81307108
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

Los Gatos Schools. Unique property on desired street. Upscale neighborhood surrounded by multimillion dollar properties. House has beautiful country setting with beautiful redwoods. It’s tranquil and private. One of a kind with creek and stone bridge that adds to its charm. Close to town, restaurants, Whole Food Market, etc. Additional storage or workshop inside of garage. Lots of potential.

You know this is going to be a good one when they don’t’ show the house until picture #5.  Now let’s check in with wahnny.

Some additional data points that further support the Bubble 4.0 hypothesis.

A cobbled-together 1940s cottage in (possibly RBA) Los Gatos.

The photos don’t do it justice.

Visited during open house (along with several other groups), and although nicely staged, the place is tiny (or, as the Redfin video understates, "compact")! 

It was amusing to listen to the realtor speak of all the positive possibilities (e.g., the house could be torn down or rebuilt (e.g., adding 2nd level)) while minimizing the downsides (creekside property is literally in a flood zone, and would require special build permits/fun with the county).  Yes, yes, value is in the land, but is it really worth more than the Bubble 3.0 sold price?

We also love how the video states that the house is “on the water” and that the 1-car garage means “you’ll always have a place to park your car!”  Also the view of the back patio reminded us of a famous house.

See some resemblance?

If you don’t recognize this house, click here.

We’ve been calling Bubble on the Real Bay Area for several months.  For the next few days we’ll continue to make the case that the housing bubble in the Bay Area is absolutely unmistakable.  Yesterday, we had a 35% overbid in Prime Palo Alto for a tear-down bungalow on a lot too small for subdivision.  Today, we have an even smaller lot with a return of what we called a “wishing price” when the Bubble was about to pop.  But before it did, we had another name for a WTF asking price.  Let’s see what one would look like in Millbrae.

140 MAGNOLIA Ave
Millbrae, CA 94030
$1,100,000

2 Beds
1 Baths
990 Sq. Ft.
$1,111 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1927
Lot Size: 6,000 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 3 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: San Mateo
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
Community: Highlands
MLS#: 81306376

Charming Two Bedroom and One Bathroom Single Family Home situated on a Lot that is Zoned R-2 (Residential Duplex). This home is located conveniently around the corner from Downtown Millbrae’s Finest Restaurants and Shopping. Great Development Potential, come see this home!

A thousand a foot is a fair price for convenient access to SFO plus two freeways! Plus this is primo real estate photography. At least the agent isn’t snapping pictures in corners like yesterday.

Plus this home is located conveniently around the corner from Downtown Millbrae’s Finest Restaurants and Shopping.  According to Yelp, the Best Restaurant in Millbrae is the Millbrae Pancake House, so we’re talking haute cuisine.  Or at least hot cuisine. 

Now, this lovely home last changed hands in September 2010, for $675,000.  Aren’t you sorry you didn’t snag it then?  Look at all the instant equity you missed out on!  As you can see from the old listing photo (right), the only improvement done to the home since then was to Photoshop in a better sky.  Also back then the place was “Close to BART, Airport, Freeways and schools.”

Not any longer!  Now it’s just one big Great Development Potential opportunity for you! With a price like this, this is now a Real Bay Area house, therefore the train tracks, airport and freeways must have been relocated.

We hope you realize this is THE SECRET of how to make money in Bay Area real estate:

1. Buy house not in the Real Bay Area due to its location fail
2. Eliminate location fail so house moves to RBA
3. ???
4. PROFIT!

Remember, a WTF asking price isn’t a Wishing Price unless there’s no chance of getting it. This is a Bubble Price.  This seller is saying, “You want this house? You’re going to have to pay me enough to Make Me Move.”

Updated 11:30 AM – Second house found; see end for details and plenty of pix!

AOL has been doing a real estate area for a while, including a series of videos and articles beyond the listings and search tools. Someone over there must have been reading us, because they did a piece discovering that (gasp!) there are very expensive yet definitely crappy houses for sale in the Real Bay Area.  Worse, they had the gall to call this an “AOL original.”

Have they been living under a rock? This has been our signature claim for more than seven years! Let’s listen in as self-important talking heads who don’t bother introducing themselves tell us what we already know.  (Warning: dude with beard is extra smug.)

M’kay.  There’s some really useless accompanying text, so our mission is to do a slightly better job.  Remember, it’s fairly easy to succeed when you set your standards this low.

Decrepit Homes in San Francisco Bay Area Fetch Top Dollar for Mountain Views

By AOL Real Estate Editors | Posted Feb 21st 2013 5:14PM

A sorry-looking shack, with deep cracks in the cinder-block walls and busted windows, that looks like it’s ready to collapse: You wouldn’t pay a dime for that, would you? OK, say it’s nestled in the gorgeous hilltops of the San Francisco Peninsula with no shortage of pristine mountain views. Now how much would you pay? More than $1 million? Well, that’s how much it’s going for.

We’ve probably violated Fair Use by quoting an entire graf, because there’s only one more.  There’s also only two homes in the video, and only the more than $1 million OMFG Emerald Hills (Redwood City) place (shown above in a clip from the video) has mountain views.  The other (at left, also clipped from the video) is in Willow Glen, and didn’t seem to have any views beyond the neighborhood street.

We were able to find the place in Emerald Lake in about 3 minutes, and it definitely could use a big ol’ Burbed sloppy kiss, Of course it’s already pending.  This is the Real Bay Area we’re talking about!

209 LAKEVIEW Way
Redwood City, CA 94062
$1,275,000

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,490 Sq. Ft.
$856 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1948
Lot Size: 0.38 Acres
On Redfin: 207 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
View: Mountains
County: San Mateo
Stories: 1
Community: Cordilleras Heights
MLS#: 81228879

Incredible opportunity in Emerald Hills. Originally three lots under two APN#’s (APN #057-031-480 and APN #057-031-049) which have been combined into one lot at approximately 25,150 SF. The value is in the land and the views of the surrounding hills with easy access to 280. Walk the site and let your imagination run wild. Dream big and build new or renovate. Plans are available for viewing.

We didn’t have the same success in finding the Willow Glen weedery.  This one is similar to it (Craftsman style bungalow, over 12,000 square foot lot, to be sold as-is) but we don’t think it’s the right house.  Can any enterprising Burbed readers find the house in the video? 

Update: House in video found by Burbed reader Chris. See end of this article for details and photos. We’ll also throw in a break as this is starting to get long, so click on through!

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So many times we hear the refrain, “I would love to buy a house, but I can’t afford anything.  It’s just too expensive here.” And so many times we have found affordable houses that YOU could go and buy.  Today we have yet another exciting opportunity for YOU, the would-be homeowner.  Just imagine yourself watering your very own lawn!  Or even better, your very own Rose Garden!

1951 FOREST Ave
San Jose, CA 95128
$350,000

1 Beds
1 Baths
525 Sq. Ft.
$667 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1915
Lot Size: 3,600 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 70 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Community: Central San Jose
MLS#: 81241926

This home is located in the desirable Rose Garden neighborhood. Needs a lot of work. Not livable now. Contractor’s special. Located on a 3,600 square foot lot. Has a lot of potential. Great opportunity for someone looking to move into a fantastic area.

This property is Special for a number of reasons, and we don’t just mean for Contractors.

That’s a Streetview shot on this property listing.  The realtard didn’t even bother cropping it a little to strip out the Google logo.  It also, LUCKY YOU, conveniently fell out of contract just a couple of weeks ago, and is relisted at the same attractive price. 

Speaking of attractive, let’s swing that Streetview camera just a little to the right (below).  While the white truck is intriguing, the station wagon is vehicular WIN.  And from the satellite shot on the left, we can see exactly why this is such an attractive proposition: this looks like a Hoarder House.  Can you imagine what sorts of “bunus” loot awaits the lucky buyer of this affordable home that wears its 98 years proudly?

Bunus Specialtude: This home has been featured as the cover photo of our brand new Facebook Page for a couple of days.  Keep checking over there for new cover photos, and play “Find That Crapbox!”

That’s right, who doesn’t love a pink house?  Especially a pink house in San Jose!  How about East San Jose, because that’s what Burbed reader Tracy Tea House has found for us.  And once more, you are TOO LATE.  Seriously, would you get off your butt and buy another house? Do you want to be PRICED OUT FOREVER in Bubble 4.0?

50 PICKFORD Ave
San Jose, CA 95127
Listed for $324,950
Sold for $391,000 on 11/28/2012

3 Beds
2 Baths
1,381 Sq. Ft.
$283 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1930
Lot Size: 10,000 Sq. Ft.
Sold On: Nov 28, 2012
Status: Sold
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
County: Santa Clara
Style: Craftsman
Community: Alum Rock
MLS#: 81239001

BANK OWNED REO! Excellent opportunity to own a home with lots of upside potential. Property has two garages, both have had permits pulled but never finaled. Property needs lots of work and is to be sold in its present “AS IS” condition. Home is in fairly good condition inside but you will need to replace some doors and windows. Some kitchen appliances are missing.

Opportunity! Potential! Fairly good condition! Unfinaled permits! Bank Owned REO! (What other kinds of REO are there?) What are you waiting for, don’t walk, don’t run, rent a helicopter and FLY over there right now!  Let’s listen in on Tracy’s nomination speech:

Pink and dismal. So much more than “some of the appliances are missing.” How about the sheet rock? Stinking Pink, tiny halls, open toilets, this bank owned house has it all.

Is this the “RBA?” I like the three pictures of the street in the wild west of East San José.

Wild West is right, they even show the broken windows.  We don’t know where Tracy got the above shot because it’s not on Redfin, and ZipRealty wanted us to sign in (As If, ZipR!)

Enjoy the pictures.  We included a bunch, because we never know when some real estate site will make us sign in.  The street, the open toilet, and many more right after the break.

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1305 AVONDALE Rd
Hillsborough, CA 94010
$2,100,000

“First time on market in many years”

No interior pictures.

“Lots of potential”

For some, these these facts may inspire some horror. What lies beneath this placid surface? Will it be a den of moldy rooms, complemented with wood panels and… gasp… a lack of pergraniteel?

I, however, am an optimist. I believe that these are actually code words for the savvy that this house is for those who value their privacy. Targeted at the execs that run Major Social Network Site and Major Search Engine, who don’t want anyone to know anything about them. In fact, it’s probably a good bet that it’s not pergraniteel inside… but rather redwood tree-elephant tusk-titanium inside. Could anything be more elite? Could anything require more privacy?

Are there any adventurous Burbians who could take a look inside this house and report back on what’s inside?

Time once again to visit one of our favorite places in the entire Real Bay Area!  And it’s been a while because the properties go pending faster than we can click through the listing photos.  We’ve been telling you that many RBA neighborhoods are hot, hot, HOT.  Now we’ve got even more proof that The Bubbly is Back.  Check out this Palo Alto palazzo from Burbed reader Michael Boltonestater!

411 PEPPER Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94306
$868,000

3 Beds 
1 Baths 
987 Sq. Ft.
$879 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1940 
Lot Size: 6,534 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 5 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories:1
Community: Ventura
MLS#: 81300120
Style: Cottage/Bungalow
View: Neighborhood
County: Santa Clara

Walk to California Avenue and enjoy all it has to offer, from this charming 1940s cottage with endless potential. Light filled rooms, hardwood floors, remodeled bathroom. Expansive backyard. Quiet location. Outstanding Palo Alto Schools. No offers prior to 1/14/13.

Not just a house in Palo Alto with endless potential (after all, every house in Palo Alto has endless potential, just by being in Palo Alto!), this is a 1940s cottage with endless potential.  Just look at that kitchen!  They sure don’t build them like they used to.

But did you catch the last line in the listing?  “No offers prior to 1/14/13.”  If that isn’t proof that it’s 2006 again, we don’t know what will convince you.  Once again, the realtards are so convinced that their listed houses sell themselves, they get to decide what day they sell themselves.

Now here’s what Michael thinks about this Would Sell Way Over Asking Right Now If Only The Agent Hadn’t Made Everyone Wait a Week property:

Nice neighbors too, if you like junkyards.

These will be terrific neighbors… if you ever need to borrow a cup of brake fluid.