Hot Potato--1304 Morton Street, Alameda, CA

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Hard to believe, after all the trouble it had to sell, but 1304 Morton is back on the market.

Check out this recap post for its sad history, captured in spotty but gory detail on Redfin:

morton_history.jpgFor reference, the current MLS(r) ID is 40499154 and the new list price is an eye-popping $1,329,000. The photos on Redfin are something else--get a load of the recording room with the built-in guitar-hanger niche, and the totally over-the-top home cinema room.

If I wanted a studio or a high-end movie theater in my house, I would want to have them built to my specs so I could pick out the components, layout, furniture, etc. The only reason I can think of to spend $400,000 over last year's price to get someone else's vision of those rooms is if I wanted those things but didn't have the cash to have them built, and so I'd want to roll their cost into my mortgage. But my sense is that this Victorian enchilada is going to have a hard time appraising out for an 80/20 loan--these kinds of "improvements" are so specific they rarely resell for what you spent on them. So any buyer is going to have to come up with some serious cash, and my contention is that any buyer with that kind of cash reserves isn't going to want someone else's dream theater/editing room/studio--they're going to want their own.

And it's not as though there's a penury of seven-digit houses (or almost) on the market; this house is now the priciest in all of 94501.

There's no question this is a superb house, and now as a bonus you can record your hit album and shoot (and edit!) your videos in your swank Victorian palace. And there's a handy gas station 200 feet away for your pyrotechnic effects. What's not to love?

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by L. Opine published on December 3, 2010 7:32 PM.

Knifecatcher of the month: 1831 San Jose Avenue, Alameda, CA was the previous entry in this blog.

West Virginia--1708 Willow Street, Alameda, CA is the next entry in this blog.

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