A big ol' pile--1312 Mound Street, Alameda, CA
A "new" listing caught my eye this week, both because of its "low" price ($460,000) and its familiar address (1312 Mound Street).
Interestingly, though, this is the second incarnation of our bungalottage (or cottalow). It was recently on the market as MLS(r) #40352822 and priced at $550,500. There's still plenty of evidence of the old price, including this very blog (scroll down about half-way).
It was also sold not that long ago for $385,000 and another two times between 1999 and 2002:
Update: I ran into a rental property report site named krunching that shows very interesting numbers. If this property were purchased as a rental, krunching calculates its breakeven sale price should be--guess what--its 1999 price + 10%:
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,103 sqft, 2,800-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40374881, $460,000There's no photo yet, but based on the area and description, I suspect this is one of those bungalowy cottages (or maybe a cottagey bungalow). At $417 / sqft, it's less obscenely moronic than other recent listings but still too high for a small house on a postage-stamp lot.
Great east end location. [...] Large living room with hardwood floor. Formal dining room. [...] Detached garage. Common driveway.
Interestingly, though, this is the second incarnation of our bungalottage (or cottalow). It was recently on the market as MLS(r) #40352822 and priced at $550,500. There's still plenty of evidence of the old price, including this very blog (scroll down about half-way).
It was also sold not that long ago for $385,000 and another two times between 1999 and 2002:I'd bet it would probably fetch its 1999 price again if it came on the market after Xmas 2009, given the way things are going. As it is, though, it will probably break even after commission and such. Good luck. Or not.
Sales History
Date Price Appreciation Aug 26, 1999 $210,000 Apr 12, 2002 $332,500 Oct 20, 2006 $385,000
Update: I ran into a rental property report site named krunching that shows very interesting numbers. If this property were purchased as a rental, krunching calculates its breakeven sale price should be--guess what--its 1999 price + 10%:
Investment Summary
This investment summary assumes a 30-year fixed loan, 20% down, 7% APR. It uses operating assumptions of 10% management fees, 9% vacancy allotment, 3% repairs. This investment summary assumes that rents increase each year by 5%. This property would need to be purchased for $233,640 in order to generate a break-even cashflow based on prevaliing market rents.
I started tracking this property back in the early spring when it first came on the market, and it was listed then as $585,000. I toured it, and it's a weird little property with an odd bedroom configuration. There's an extra pass-through room that can be configured as a third bedroom, so it was word-of-mouthed as a 3BR.