Stoic--2515 Clement Ave, Alameda, CA

In real estate, it's all about location, location, location. And when your location blows, your sale prospects are grim. This gorgeous, amusingly described "stoic" Italianate Victorian is nestled amidst auto body shops, dilapidated warehouses, graffitied corrugated fences and a number of home-based businesses in the industrial area of Alameda:

Its specs are mouth-watering:

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 stories, 2,183 sqft, 6,750-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40349929

Stoic italianate victorian in mixed use area. [...] office-lower and residential income upper. [...]

The MLS(r) pictures I'm not allowed to show suggest it's in great condition, at least the outside. But not great enough to warrant its current asking price of $695,000 ($318 / sqft), or its previous list price of $719,000 (the price drop occurred in early September, 2008). Certainly not on that block with its dilapidated, train-track-encrusted blacktop.

But it's not clear the owner has much room to budge on the price, given:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 10/04/2006: $650,000

2007 Property Tax: $6,276

Note to "investors": paying $650,000 for a duplex does not make sense, especially when said duplex's location knocks a good 25% off the price of any comp you might be looking at for your CMA.

I'd hate to see this fabulous-looking house on a big lot go to pot, though. Maybe someone can come in, buy the whole block, and raze those businesses to build a latter-day Fernside estate.