Queen Plain Victorian--3226 Central Avenue, Alameda, CA

I was very excited when this listing came on the market a few days ago: a big 1890 Victorian in the far East end, on a big lot, with a big price tag of $959,000 (MLS #40335927).

Classic Victorian beauty East end. Brand new gourmet kitchen and Master BR/BA suite (converted from an organ studio) with permits, oversized LR/DR on the first floor. Polished hardwood floors throughout, fresh paint. Large landscaped rear yard.

The specs had me interested:

List Price: $959,000
ZipRealty will give you up to $5,754 cash back.*

Bedrooms:	4
Full Baths:	2
Partial Baths:	1
Square Feet:	2,541
Lot Size:	6,300 Sq. Ft.
Year Built:	1890
Listing Date:	04/10/08
On Market:	9 days
Type:	SFR
Status:	ACTIVE
MLS #:	40335927

As happens often, there was no picture for a while, and I was growing impatient--show me the big beautiful old house, dammit!

Well, I just checked Zip Realty (they often display pictures sooner than pacunion, which still doesn't have one as of 4/19), and... there goes nothing.

Come on! At a hair under a million dollars, and given the competition, at least have the decency to put on a show of extravagant excess, like, say, this one:

or this semi-recent comp:

There's no sale history on Zillow, so I predict this house will be taken off the market in a few months when its outraged owners (who won't reduce the price significantly at any point) don't get the million dollars their house is "worth." Either that or they'll slash the price by $200,000 and it'll be gone in a week. Who knows.

Update 4/25/2008: MLS #40335927 is, well, not on the MLS anymore, and I can't find the property on either Zip Realty or pacunion.