Welcome back--1350 Broadway, Alameda, CA

A friendly reader pointed out that 1350 Broadway was back on the market at a slightly lower price. I toured that dump property when it was on the market a year or two ago (unsuccessfully, and for good reason, for it reeked of age, neglect and cooking oil) and was thoroughly unimpressed. Agent Kirk Knight picked it up, repriced it, and thankfully published no photos of the inside on any MLS sites (as of today, anyway). My gut tells me he's going to wait as long as Griselda Bissett did the first time around.

On to the specs.

2 units, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,381 sqft, ~7,000-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40390078, $600,000

Classic Americana [...] Farmhouse. Legal duplex - convert back to single family? Excellent Otis Elementary (880 API) [...] Huge lot, park-like back yard, [...] sep office bldg + detached garage. [...] Neighboring 1885 fixer now transformed for inspiration.

(here's the "Neighboring 1885 fixer").

You can see this property's slow price descent here:

I dug up my notes from my 2007 tour of the place. I haven't seen it since, so for all I know it's fabulous and all new inside now, but this is where it started from:

• Some hardwood floors, in bad shape
  
• Horrible old stinky carpet elsewhere
  
• Floors have noticeable tilt
  
• Downstairs bath: no sink, only a tub
• Upstairs kitchen looks like converted sun porch
• Tiny bedrooms
• Pronounced traffic noise in front living room
  
• Foundation is old, brick-cement mix
• Legal little building in yard has 2 big rooms, but no bathroom or kitchen
• Huge detached garage for 2 normal cars (probably)
• Listed at $699,500 as of 12/16/2007.

The yard is indeed very large, but there's nothing "park-like" about it. And as our friendly reader points out, an 880 API score is nothing to write home about.

The sale history certainly doesn't show anything that justifies a price above $250,000, which is about as much I'd be willing to pay:

Sale History
06/12/1998:	$102,000 *
No other sale data is available
* Transaction not included in Zestimate. More info

$600,000 is obscene.