As good as it gets--1208 Saint Charles Street, Alameda, CA
An enormous Craftsman on the Gold Coast recently appeared (5+4, 4,400 sqft, double lot, very close to the lagoon, MLS #40335717), asking a mere $2,395,000:
There is no question the house looks magnificent, and the address is as good as it gets in Alameda. That being said, it's not obvious where the market is for these white elephants (this is now the second most expensive residential building on the market in all of Alameda after this huge house with a view, and the most expensive on the main island), considering recent activity in the top tier:
We'll have to see what happens.
Update 5/13/08: What happens is a price $200,000 drop from $2,395,000 to $2,195,000 on May 9th.
Update 8/29/08: Apparently sold for $2,050,000 on 7/31/08. What is a bit weird is that four $2M+ homes on Saint Charles, almost right next to each other, were reportedly sold (closed, at least) on 7/31/08 for the exact same price of $2,050,000:
There is no sale history on Zillow, but the Berkeley Daily Planet shows a previous price of $1,374,545 in 2002.
Trulia has a similar history:
Immaculate Gold Coast home on huge lot. [...] bocce ball court & pool. Renovated throughout. Large gourmet kitchen [...] formal dining room. Huge living room with library and wet bar. 3 fireplaces! [...]
There is no question the house looks magnificent, and the address is as good as it gets in Alameda. That being said, it's not obvious where the market is for these white elephants (this is now the second most expensive residential building on the market in all of Alameda after this huge house with a view, and the most expensive on the main island), considering recent activity in the top tier:- A giant Victorian compound at 1723-1725 Central Avenue took months to sell for $2.025M in late January, 2008, barely $50K more than the previous purchase price after 6% commission; it was listed at $2.2M in summer 2007
- 1234 Hawthorne Street (MLS #40321930), possibly the largest single-family home in town (it is twice as big as this property and just a block or two away), was listed at $2,250,000 last year, went off the market over the holidays, came back in January at $1,900,000, and is still sitting there (see some interesting dirt on 1234 Hawthorne)
- 1200 San Antonio Avenue was on the market for ages for $2,595,000 if memory serves, and it didn't sell
- There's another 4,000-sqft elephant right down the street at 1260 Saint Charles that happens to be bank-owned and not selling, even though it's priced at just a hair over half this home's asking price (MLS #40317490, $1,298,000)
- A "custom" estate still owned by its original owner (who must be pushing 100 by now) at 1600 Dayton Avenue started out over $2.2M in 2007 and is still languishing at $1.995M (MLS #40315927)
We'll have to see what happens.
Update 5/13/08: What happens is a price $200,000 drop from $2,395,000 to $2,195,000 on May 9th.
Update 8/29/08: Apparently sold for $2,050,000 on 7/31/08. What is a bit weird is that four $2M+ homes on Saint Charles, almost right next to each other, were reportedly sold (closed, at least) on 7/31/08 for the exact same price of $2,050,000:
1206 St. Charles StreetI'm guessing this property just sprawled over 4 addresses. Zillow has no record of 1206 or 1212, and 1214 St. Charles looks like a 0-bedroom, 1 1/2-bathroom, 234-sqft garden shed.
$2,050,000, sold 07-31-08
1208 St. Charles Street
$2,050,000, sold 07-31-08, 4059 sq. ft., 1910
1212 St. Charles Street
$2,050,000, sold 07-31-08
1214 St. Charles Street
$2,050,000, sold 07-31-08, 234 sq. ft., 1937
There is no sale history on Zillow, but the Berkeley Daily Planet shows a previous price of $1,374,545 in 2002.
$2,050,000 1214 St. Charles St 234 1937 $1,374,545 2002 7/31/08 94501 $2,050,000 1212 St. Charles St 7/31/08 94501 $2,050,000 1206 St. Charles St 7/31/08 94501 $2,050,000 1208 St. Charles St 4059 1910 $1,374,545 2002 7/31/08 94501
Trulia has a similar history:
Sales HistoryHistorical home sale price (1): $1,300,000 Prior sale date: May 25, 2004 Historical home sale price (2): $1,374,545 Prior sale date: Aug 29, 2002 Change since this sale (2): -5%
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