We are done with the April blogging challenge, so let’s get back to what made Burbed what it is: ridiculously overpriced crapboxes! And what better place to find it than in our very favorite city, Palo Alto?  Thanks much to Burbed reader Pizzawillcome for this, um, thing you could seek shelter in if you absolutely had to.

3375 STOCKTON Pl
Palo Alto, CA 94303
$1,299,900

4 Beds
2 Baths
1,716 Sq. Ft.
$758 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1958
Lot Size: 6,400 Sq. Ft.
On Redfin: 52 days
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Community: South Palo Alto
MLS#: 81307408

Classic Eichler home with central atrium. Nice backyard. Large utility room can also function as a den, office, or playroom.

Here’s why Pizza sent in this house:

I didn’t pull the trigger on this one, and now it is back! Same pictures as a month ago. Gotta burb-alert it now.
Unfolded laundry on the couch and floor, littered stuffed animals and toys. When I get bored with overly staged houses, I think of this one.

Fortunately, the Redfin agent has some useful comments to share as well!

Original condition! That’s excellent news! None of those second-rate replacements of vintage pressboard walls.  But these photos just sell the house, don’t they?

And note how the use of light draws your attention in to all the details.

That is, if you can see them. This technique seems to work just as well in the outdoor shot of the yard, demonstrating just what kind of a professional we’re dealing with.

So, if a house is for sale in the Real Bay Area, but it’s on a street named for somewhere that is Most Certainly Not In The Real Bay Area, how high will the overbids be?

Want to look at Open Houses but inventory is too low? Here’s yet another reason why Bay Area Bubble 4.0 is in full swing for Spring: Flash sales. Redfin coined this term for a house that’s in contract within 24 hours of being listed.

They also made a list of how many flash sales there have been in the last five months in each of the markets they cover, and San Jose came in 15th out of 15 with 74 quickies. San Francisco didn’t even make the cut at all!  All-time flash sales champion? Phoenix, with 540.

8271 SKYLINE Cir
Oakland, CA 94605
Sold for $650,000

3 Beds
2.5 Baths
2,090 Sq. Ft.
$311 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1998
Lot Size: 10,119 Sq. Ft.
Sold On: Dec 26, 2012
HOA Dues: $140/month
Style: Traditional
View: Bay, Greenbelt, Water
County: Alameda
Type: Detached
Stories: Split Level
Community: Skyline/Oakknoll
MLS#: 40598366

Amazing Oakland hills. 3/2.5 w/ extra office space. Incredible living space with 10ft ceilings, beautifully appointed thru/out. Chef’s kitchen with custom island, grnite, countertops, s. s. appliances. Electronic window coverings, deck with bridge views, gorgeous pergola/ backs to open space. Perfect!

This Skyline Circle home in Oakland was a Flash Sale and is featured on the Redfin Blog. It sold quick, and for list price. This is how we know Oakland, even in the hills, is not the Real Bay Area. Everyone knows Real Bay Area homes sell way over asking.  Also RBA homes don’t fester on the market for a year and a half until the Bubble finally blows up again.  The HOA dues are just the sickly sweet icing on the Not RBA cake.

Location: Oakland, CA
Listed By: Lynda Divito, Redfin
Listed: December 14, 2012
Pending: December 14, 2012
Closed: December 24, 2012
List Price: $650,000
Final Sale Price: $650,000

“This house never even hit the market! We had a brokers’ tour in the afternoon on the very same day the house was to hit the market. A broker came in with his buyers who offered all-cash at full list price and with the quick closing we had requested, making it an easy choice for my clients to accept their offer that same day.” - Lynda DiVito, San Francisco Bay Area Redfin Agent

Planning on visiting any Open Houses today? Let us know of any suitcases full of cash changing hands you see. This is also your Weekend Open Thread, so sky’s the limit!

We’re happy to report the first Monta Loma sighting of the year. Thanks very much to Burbed reader LomaLuvr for alerting us to this awesome opportunity!  And once more we’re using Movoto, because they understand the difference between Pending – Do Not Show The House To Lookie-Loos Who Want To Tramp Through The Place and Pending – Do Not Show Photos.  *cough * Redfin *cough*

2348 Jane Ln
Mountain View, CA 94043
$719,000

Loan Payment: $2,543/mo
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Size: 1,392 sqft
$/Sqft: $516/sqft
Type: Single Family House
Year Built: 1955
Lot Size: 5,400
Days on Movoto: 10 days
Neighborhood: Thompson
MLS#: 81303400
Status: Pending – Do Not Show

3BR/2BA 1392 sf Eichler-style home with 5400 sf lot in great Mountain View neighborhood. Additional office/possible 4th bedroom. Close to Shoreline and Google. Fixer-upper with possibilities!

As opposed to all those fixer-uppers with no possibilities, merely potential.

Possibilities, indeed!  Adding on a room to the side of a house when the lot is only 5400 square feet is an architectural challenge indeed! Plus that gives the bedroom plenty more fresh air, to make up for the lack of natural light in the back.

Also, we think we solved the mystery why the back of the house doesn’t get as much light as the front.  We think it’s the patio shade.  Don’t tell the agents, though.  We wouldn’t want to ruin it for them.

Here’s the other two pictures.

All that perfectly good sky cut out.  Speaking of cutting out, here’s some perfectly good listing copy cut out from both Zillow and Trulia:

As Is probate fixer. Contact Broker at (707) 693-0400 with any questions.

Nothing like a Broker who specializes in the neighborhood you want to buy into.  You may want to double-check if the property really is Close To Google after all.

Today’s featured property was sent in by Burbed reader Swan! Thanks very much for this wonderful Woodside win.  (Oh yeah, PENDING!!!!!!)

133 MARVA OAKS Dr
Woodside, CA 94062
Listed at $1,895,000

2 Beds 
2 Baths 
1,400 Sq. Ft.
$1,354 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1961 
Lot Size: 3.73 Acres 
On Redfin: 112 days
Status: Pending Without Release
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: 1
Community: Central Woodside
MLS#: 81231887
Style: Contemporary
View: Canyon
County: San Mateo

Driveway is a slight downslope, house is on the flat, then another downslope on a road to a lower, larger flat pretty area. From there property does go down to Raymundo, but too much brush to walk.

We sure like this description of the property.  Here’s what Swan had to say about it.

Let’s start with the realtard listing 3.73 acres in Woodside for $2250.  Why I didn’t jump on the deal then, I’ll never know!  Suddenly, the price went up to $2,250,000 only to be reduced to $1,895,000.  Of course, the listing is pending! 

Anyway, how about the realtard’s description of the property.  Huh?  Say that again?  The Redfin agent seems to sum it up nicely:  fixer.  Oh, and be sure to check the satellite view in Google.  There’s a an RV (or something) with a lovely blue tarp over the top.And, on the back part of the property, a broken down vehicle along with that burned down barn.  I’m sure the surrounding mansions love living next door to the hillbillies!

Wait, what’s this about 3.73 acres for $2250?

Yowza.  And the Redfin agent?

She did not actually say “fixer.”  Just “open your wallet.”

If you haven’t already sent in your absentee ballot, today is the day for you to vote.  There’s a clutch of candidates who made speeches and some of them are going to get elected.  Burbed has not endorsed any specific candidates, but we have a guide to the state propositions based on how much each would increase the value of your house.

Now, here’s the house we’d vote for if it were on the ballot.  Thanks very much to Burbed reader MJ for nominating it!

1430 South Wolfe Road
Sunnyvale CA 94087
$728,888

Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
175 days on Trulia
33 views
Property type: Single-Family Home
Size: 1,768 sqft
Lot: Ask agent
Price/sqft: $412/sqft
Year built: 1949
MLS/ID: 81218044

REGULAR SALE, NOT A SHORT SALE!!!NOT A SHORT SALE!!! NEWLY REMODELED PROPERTY!!! 1,768 SQ FT. GRANITE COUNTER TOPS, NEW BRAZILIAN CHERRY CABINETRY, NEW CARPETING IN ALL THE BEDROOMS, MARBLE IN BATHROOMS & HALLWAY, HOUSE IS IN A GREAT LOCATION. CONVENIENT ACCESS TO HWY 280, 85 AND LAWRENCE EXPY. IN OTHER WORDS A TURNKEY HOME FOR YOUR BUYER.

Here’s MJ’s nominating speech.

I’ve read the blog for a while but never felt compelled to send anything in. Until now. I believe I found a home with every Burbed cliche. It is a crapshack. It has a sweet price history, quadrupling in price in fourteen years, eights in the listing price, garage converted to “living unit with two bedrooms and a kitchen”, awful location on a busy road (though oddly the listing copy mentions its proximity to a different busy road), seven photos of the stove, and insane listing copy noting twice it isn’t a short sale. It even has DHO, see the reflection in the patio door.

I don’t feel like I can take credit for this. The realtor really deserves it all.

Oh it gets better. My wife found out it come with Sunnyvale utilities but Santa Clara schools, four Redfin agent comments, and the first shot is a Google street view. We really have hit every Burbed cliche except pink house.

But was it a former meth lab?  Got ya there, huh?

MJ sent us a link to Redfin, which was perfectly fine when we checked it out a couple of days ago, but this is what we see now.  Another Burbed cliche, the listing got pulled the day we wanted to write it up.  Fortunately it’s still on almost every other real estate site (for now), so we’re going to grab those pictures while the grabbing is good.

Whoa, how’s this for a cliche?  Search for the house by address, click on the Trulia listing, and get the wrong house in the wrong town.  We swear we’re not making this up, but the Google link to the house was sending us to 1395 Jefferson in Santa Clara.  Whew!

At least the Redfin comments are still there, even if the 24 photos were taken down.  See some of what you missed, after the break.

(more…)

Under Water around the Bay Area has been taken off SFGate.  This was an interactive feature that showed what percentage of each zip code’s homes had mortgages on them for more than they were worth.  While it was a great idea, the data hadn’t been updated in several years.  Thanks to Burbed reader JF for reporting the broken link; we’ve removed it from our collection.

Meanwhile, when Burbed readers send in listings to some neighborhoods, we can’t write them up fast enough.  This cute Palo Alto house sold for over $300K, or 23% over the asking price.  And the Redfin agent says it’s impossible to park nearby! 

With this crazy overbidding, can the $800,000 crapshacks of 2006 be far behind?  Is Burbed about to discover that what’s old is new again?  This is going to be GREAT!  We can rerun every single house from six years ago and nobody could tell the difference!

Tell us what you’re seeing at Open Houses, or about anything.  It’s Open Thread time!

Today’s amazing abode in Almaden comes to us courtesy of Burbed reader ChinoBoy.  Thanks very much for this fab find that shows what a real estate professional can do that you can’t: get the exact price that will get your house sold!

Or maybe not.  Read on!

6521 TIMBERVIEW Ct
San Jose, CA 95120
$914,950

4 Beds 
3 Baths 
2,450 Sq. Ft.
$373 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 1984 
Lot Size: 6,230 Sq. Ft. 
On Redfin: 139 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Detached Single Family
Stories: Tri-Level
Community: Almaden Valley
MLS#: 81215055
Style: Contemporary
View: Mountains
County: Santa Clara

WOW, NEW PRICE, Fantastic Pierce Ranch Blackwell home. Great floor plan with extra large master bedroom, plus bonus room. Formal dining room, wet bar, family room with fireplace, entertaining backyard, swimming pool with Jacuzzi. Mountain Views. Fully landscaped front and back. Updated kitchen, 3 car garage and top schools. First floor bedroom with full bath.

And this is why ChinoBoy was kind enough to share:

House has been on the market for 122 days. 

If you look at the price history, 3 price reductions, and now today they suddenly raise the price.

Logically, if they had offers at the last price, it would have sold, so why raise the price again?

LOL i know, this market is ridiculous!

WOW!  Good thing we’ve got some “Agent Insight” to help you decide if this is a good choice.

Um, we can see that in the picture, Keith.  But, um, thanks.  Meanwhile, check out the price history!

WOW!  How’s that price increase working?  Does it make this house even more Special?

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.

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.

Last week we looked at a series of very expensive houses.  Let’s return to our Burbed roots and examine some less stratospheric home options.  Today’s featured façade is a Milpitas mansion, thanks to Burbed reader PKamp3.

436 COELHO St
Milpitas, CA 95035
$340,800

BEDS: 6
BATHS: 3
SQ. FT.: 1,962
$/SQ. FT.: $174
LOT SIZE: 7,975 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
YEAR BUILT: 1964
COMMUNITY: Milpitas
COUNTY: Santa Clara
MLS#: 81215571
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 30 days

Wow! What a price! This beautiful 5 bedroom 3 bath home has enough square footage for a large family. Grand entry with pillar columns opens into a large living area with fireplace. Some bedrooms downstairs and the rest upstairs. 1 full bathroom downstairs as well!

Here’s why PK thought we should check this one out:

How about revisiting a house which has been featured on Burbed before?

So… if it was featured on Burbed on June 17, 2011 for $674,950 and it costs $340,800 today… is a 54% annualized loss the new 7.2% gain?

Yes, indeed, this house was featured before.  Bet you didn’t recognize its new look above, either.

According to Zillow, the price was only lowered one other time from the original $674,950 “WON’T LAST!!” listing, to $660,000.  And if the place didn’t sell at $674,950 between May and October, slashing $14,950 off (a whopping 2.2%) should have commenced the overbidding immediately.

The new asking price has been sitting for a month, despite the amazing features of the house (Some bedrooms downstairs and the rest upstairs).  I know that when I buy a six bedroom house, I’m always really cheesed off when discovering some of the bedrooms under the septic tank.

Also, the price cut also reflects another cut: this new listing no longer features a view.  But the kawlums are still included.  Do check out the pictures on this new listing, though, as there are surprisingly few of the inside of the house compared to last time.  There are four different shots of the back yard, and every single one of them features the portable grill.

Meanwhile, three different Redfin agents have left comments on the house.  Let’s share in their expert opinion.

Question: Does the master bedroom have a Jacuzzi tub in it?  Second question: How come two out of three realtards can’t spell Jacuzzi?  J’accuse!