Listings: May 2008 Archives

This listing is so fresh none of my favorite MLS sites has a picture yet (MLS #40344267):

Waterfront view of Yacht Harbor, large Back Yard, Unfinished Basement, Per Owner Property Has Potencial to Built Up to 6 Units. This is a rare opportunity to own a west end property on the water

It's a 1,482-sqft Craftsman on a .15-acre lot in a nice neighborhood, with a view. It also has "Potencial" to build on it. They're (only) asking $1,399,995.

Not $1.4M.

Five whole dollars less.

View notwithstanding, its one of the most expensive properties in town on a per-sqft basis, at $945 / sqft, and the price just seems wildly out of touch with the market, considering:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 09/29/2005: $763,500

2007 Property Tax: $9,344

Don't people know that houses double in value every 410 years, not 2 1/2 years?

It makes you wonder what exactly was done to this property to add $636,495 in value (83%) in less than 3 years?

Update: Picture went up.

This property has been on the market for a little while (can't find it on the MLS, though):

This clean and bright corner bungalow is centrally located for easy access to the Islands many amenities; schools, shops restaurants and commuting outlets. Move in ready, this property boasts such features as beautiful hardwood floors, a formal mantel over the decorative fireplace, crystal chandelier, freshly painted living and dining rooms, crown moldings, newly remodeled bathroom, large and stylish kitchen with access to the intimate and lush rear yard with covered patio. Makes for great entertaining!

The inside photos are nice, but there's something weird about the outside. It looks to me like a big FEMA trailer with that whitish siding all over it:

See?

This lovely bungalow (MLS #40342439) is now on the market for $715,000:

Picture perfect behind the white picket fence! This 2-bed / 2-bath bungalow must be visited for full appreciation. Relax and enjoy island life inside and out. Patio and garden offers privacy and beauty amidst the flowers. Walk to Park St & Town Centre.

It is adorable and the location is hard to beat: almost on the lagoon, and truly within walking distance of most amenities in town you might need (if you're a decent walker).


One has to wonder what causes a property to be sold or transferred 4 times in the past 8 years. Perhaps the last transaction, "not included in Zestimate," is a repossession?

Sales History

Sale History & Tax Info

Sale History
01/25/2007:	$550,000 *
11/20/2003:	$434,955
07/12/2000:	$340,000
11/15/1995:	$180,000
Show all sale history See less sale history
* Transaction not included in Zestimate.

That plus the fact it's only a hair over 1,000 sqft (i.e. the price is $689 / sqft) makes me think its sale streak is about to end.

The Willows is a condo complex on the shore with what looks like fairly upscale amenities, but it hasn't escaped the bust unscathed. Witness this unit (MLS #40338980):

BEACH RESORT lifestyle at much-desired The Willows condominium complex. Premier location on Shoreline which is for its beautiful views of the bay and San Francisco, it is a favorite for walks, jogs, picnics and play.

The unit is reasonably large (1,135 sqft) and is listed at $419,000 or $369 / sqft. Units come up for sale maybe one every quarter, if my recollection of the real estate section in the newspaper is to be trusted, so there's some competition but it's not a mass sell-off. Quite a few condos in other complexes down the street have been on the market for a while, though.

This unit's purchase history makes it a tough proposition to come out ahead:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 07/27/2004: $398,000

2007 Property Tax: $5,275

In fact after property taxes (which you don't have to pay if you're renting, so don't give me the "you have to live somewhere, so this expense and that expense don't count" argument), HOA dues (which are probably steep) and 6% commission, this is a losing listing.

This listing has been threatening to divulge its address for a while, and only tonight did it show up on MLS sites (MLS #40340785). The Craigslist post doesn't say where exactly on Park Street it is, but the size (1,100 sqft), lot size (2,925 sqft) and other specs match the MLS data for 1102 Park Street:

Location: Central

Such a cutie pie...2 bedrooms and 1 bath, beautiful backyard, private and fenced...perfect for entertaining! Walking distance to all shops and restaurants on Park. Just blocks to Trader Joes, Bed Bath & Beyond and the BEACH! All original detail is intact, hardwood floors throughout, formal dining room..lots of light.....much more. Please do not disturb occupants...thanks!

It is listed at $580,000 ($527 / sqft on a tiny lot), which is way too high, but the seller might be flexible:

Pricing

Asking Price: $580,000.00

Flexibility: You never know!

Not too surprisingly, this is a mid-boom purchase that may be trying to get out before it's too late:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 12/22/2004: $500,000

2007 Property Tax: $6,499

Sorry, folks, but the area doesn't have all that much to recommend it other than proximity to the beach and Trader Joe's. The lots are tiny, the houses are close to each other, there's a lot of traffic and buses on Park Street, and KFC and other lovely upscale fast food joints are within sniffing distance. Good luck.

I won't make a habit of writing about the dirt people in 94502, but when I saw this trophy McMansion come up for sale at a price that should make the owner sad, I just couldn't resist. 250 Creedon Circle (MLS #40326249) has been on the market for over 2 months at $1.55M:

Be the proud owner of this highly upgraded home. Upgraded kitchen with high quality appliances, 2 br, 2 baths + 3 master suites. Custom built pre-wired media room. The perfect home for family, and for great entertainment

As much as I love big huge old Victorians, which presumably were also "the perfect home [...] for great entertainment" and decadent as they come, something about these new gigantic homes with THREE MASTER SUITES rubs me the wrong way. Everything about them screams self-obsessed pamperism, to coin a phrase, and they're not even pretty. And the property tax alone ($22,085) is more than a whole year's rent for the Opine compound.

This particular one is listed at $1,550,000 just 3 years after selling for $1,539,000, and hopefully it'll drop some more and teach someone a lesson.

It's a bit early, but I thought I'd extend birthday wishes to this listing (MLS(r) #40271729; no link until EBRD issues are resolved) at 1351 Crown Drive, currently expecting offers any moment now at $579,000:

Bay views [...] 2 bed, 2 bath ground level condominium [...] corner unit next to greenbelt, new furnace, pergo floors [...]

The Crown Harbor condos are very nice and a lot of them have magnificent views, but $579,000 for a 1,188-sqft condo ($487 / sqft), ça ne se fait pas.

Having purchased this condo near the end of the bubble, these folks are more upside down than an ovenful of cakes:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 11/18/2005: $620,000

2007 Property Tax: $6,589

They never even tried to make their money back, but it just ain't moving.

Price dropped from $619,000 to $599,000 in early August, 2007
Price dropped from $599,000 to $579,000 in late September, 2007

So happy birthday, little listing. May you not live another year.

Update 8/23/08: This listing appears to be inactive in the MLS(r), but Google's cache of the listing as of 8/12/08 shows a big price drop (screenshot unretouched except for 2 black rectangles for emphasis):

This Mediterranean home hasn't made it onto the MLS yet, and for some reason I can't find any search functionality on Postlets, so I'll just post selected bits here:

Year Built	1928
Sq Footage	1,290
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Floors	Unspecified
Parking	1 Car garage
Lot Size	3,069 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

---

This home features 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms smartly arranged on its 3 levels. Oak floors greet you at the door while the floor to ceiling arched windows brightly lite up the living room. A fireplace to cozy up in front of during the cooler days. The formal size dining room still has its original builtins cabinets flanked beautifully by 2 sets of french doors. The kitchen waits for your personal touch! Or do nothing as you sit and eat breakfast in the quaint little built-in nook. The 2 bedrooms look out over the patio style backyard or sit & relax on the deck outside of the bedroom.

The photos do look nice, as does the location (Central between Benton and Paru, a couple of blocks west of Grand):

That said, whoever set the price is a little out of touch with today's market: at $749,500, this is one of the most expensive homes I have seen per square foot ($581 / sqft), especially considering how tiny the lot is. There is no sale history on Zillow so one would hope the owners have enough equity to drop the price to where it should be, i.e. around $516,000 or under.


Update 5/15/08: It didn't take long for the price to drop to a still-too-high $699,000.


Update 7/17/08: desperation hits?

$2500 Lease Option to Purchase Available - contact agent for details (alameda) (map)

---

Reply to: hous-758785544@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-17, 10:29AM PDT

Lainie Acacio & Trish Moore | Gallagher and Lindsey, Inc., REALTORS | lainiea@glrealtor.com | 510.295.5459 1522 Central Avenue, Alameda, CA

Poking around my "reductions" search results on Zip Realty, I noticed this listing still hasn't sold. It's now priced at $575,000 (MLS #40307280):

Charming colonial revival home. Property is larger than you think. HUGE BONUS SPACE. Spacious kitchen and lovely dining room and living room with original detail. Great size yard a must see.

It's a 1,074-sqft house with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom of a 4,320-sqft lot.  

Some ultra-brite poster on Zillow's Q&A for this property helpfully points out that this is actually a 2-bedroom house, not a 2-bedroom house as the public records show. And just to make sure his/her point gets across, s/he mentioned that crucial tidbit twice:

The seller might want to consider dropping the price a bit, because $575K for 1,074 sqft ($535 / sqft) puts this property well above the average of those few houses that are actually selling these days. Oh, wait, they already did, from $599,000 to $575,000 in February, 2008. A brave 4% price drop! I guess maybe they just have the house on the market for the hell of it, because it's so much fun to keep your house in showing condition every day. Or maybe they're dead-set on following the market all the way down the tubes. Having purchased the home in 2002 for a grotesquely high $465,000, they're obviously very sophisticated real estate investors.

Last sale and tax info

Sold 03/29/2002: $465,000

2007 Property Tax: $6,505

Update 9/14/08: Amusingly, this house is still on the market for $575,000. I wonder if it's shooting for a second Christmas season on the market, because those are so much fun.

Update 10/11/08: Miraculously, the price dropped to $549,500 at the end of September. 20 more days and we have a new lifer!

Update 12/13/08: Finally sold for $515,000 after 360 days on the market.

Ugliness and mediocrity are rarely assets in competitive markets, as today's let's-chase-the-market-down listing shows (MLS #40340108):

Great opportunity! Clean inside and out. Extra deep backyard. Tile floors in both units. Close to shopping, restaurants and transportation!

I'm not sure how a 4,000-sqft lot with an 1,840-sqft house on it can have an "extra deep backyard" but the picture suggests none of the lot is in front or on either side of the structure, so I suppose relatively speaking the backyard must be extra deep:

This hideous, hurriedly-built post-war building was relisted at $528,000 on 5/1/2008, but I had seen it before, and indeed it's on Zillow with a bunch of agent-provided information. Given how quickly realtors (tm) rush to update or publish online listing information, one has to assume the Zillow details were from the previous listing attempt.

A quick Google search unearths a mid-2007 list price of $658,000 (here's the original PDF from the ominously-titled "No Bottom Yet for National Housing Market Downturn" Berkeley Daily Planet feature dated June 8-11, 2007, and Google's converted HTML version):

It takes a special kind of chutzpah to list a home for more than twice its previous price when that last transaction occurred just over two years ago. 2152 Pacific Avenue (MLS #40340522) just showed up on the market listed at $1,570,000, or $523 / sqft (aka way too much):

Remarkable remodeled central alameda triplex. Suitable for owner occupants. Fabulous kitchens, bathrooms, floors, paint & light fixtures. Elegant kitchen & bathroom tile. Foundation replaced in 2007. Lots of updated electrical & plumbing. Separate gas, electric and water meters.

SQFT:	3000
Lot Size:	0.14
Building Description:	Total Units:3 Unit 1 Bedrooms:3 Unit 2 Bedrooms:4 Unit 3 Bedrooms:1

The previous transaction closed in January, 2006 for $690,000:

ZESTIMATE^®: $719,500

• Value Range: $618,770 - $805,840
• 30-day change: -$20,500
• Zestimate updated: 05/02/2008

Last sale and tax info

Sold 01/18/2006: $690,000

2007 Property Tax: $9,171

Yes, replacing a foundation is very expensive, and building "fabulous" kitchens and all the rest isn't cheap, but one has to wonder what kind of a Wunderrenovator creates $880,000 worth of value in 27 months (that's over $30K a month). One also wonders how a $1.57M triplex is ever expected to be cashflow positive when a 90% LTV loan at 6.5% interest comes out to about $9,000 a month.

Update 5/4/08: My, oh my, it's a HGTV special floating-sink-travertine-granite extravaganza. They must be trying to grab the high-end rental market, which as we all know is simply booming in Alameda. Or maybe they're trying to appeal to the incredible pent-up demand from buyers who are waiting the market out and want to rent it style. Or something.

Usually, when an item can't sell, its price is reduced to entice potential buyers.

Sometimes, however, it is put up for sale again at a higher price. It must be reverse psychology.

A large Victorian on Park Street with no picture showed up in the MLS again today at $925,000 (MLS #40340126):

This property was being renovated and owner states that she has spent over $120K on renovation. Owner states that the sewer plumbing was redone recently. THIS PROPERTY NEEDS FURTHER RENOVATION AND IS BEING SOLD AS IS. This home sits at the end of the commercial and is a prime real estate area

One trivially finds that its former incarnation languished on Zillow for over 2 months at $27,000 less:

While the owner's renovation efforts and contribution to the maintenance of Alameda's cultural patrimony are commendable, knowing how much she claims to have spent is not only completely irrelevant to the next buyer, it's in poor taste and smacks of desperation. "I'm not going to give it away! I just spent $x! You shall reward me for my efforts!"

No.

Today's Craigslist post is a 1930s Fernside house of modest size (1,660 sqft on a 4,343-sqft lot) but impressive ambitions ($849,000, i.e. $511 / sqft):

Location: Fernside

Celebrating 30s Architecture: Fernside s Mission Revival

Smooth stucco siding, arched entry porch and red tile roof [...] attention to designer details in this spacious and stylish home [...] Carefully selected color palettes, charming old-world architectural details [...] elegantly created European inspired baths [...] Understanding the need for a sanctuary away from the daily grind, the media room is tucked away from the main living space [...] up-to-date audio system-bringing the cinema experience to your home. [...] climate controlled wine cellar [...] perfect place to store your treasured wine collection [...] make any party a unique dining experience [...]

If you ignore the piffle about being close to everything (the island is 4x2 miles, ferchrissakes), this listing has all the earmarks of the reprehensible, hubristic, self-indulgent and profligate middle of the decade. Designer paint, "European inspired baths" (probably some jetted tub and travertine-covered spa-in-the-home extravaganza, or maybe not), and the ultimate necessity, the state-of-the-art wine cellar.

I hope they really enjoyed their sanctuary for all of the 18 months or so they've had to take baths while watching Terminator III in 5.1 while sipping on slightly chilled Zinfandel.

An "adorable" bungalow, described as "an oasis of serenity," just appeared on craigslist for a picayune $599,000:

Adorable 2/1 Bungalow with bonus room in the East End!This adorable Bungalow features the following:

• Two bedrooms with hardwood floors.
• One full bathroom with shower over tub.
• Living Room features hardwood floors and a
wood burning fireplace.
• Separate dining room with French doors to garden.
• Kitchen features include gas stove and oven,
dishwasher, garbage disposal, refrigerator, tile
counters, tile flooring and country kitchen cabinets.
• Laundry room with gas dryer & storage off kitchen.
• Attached one car garage with built-in work benches.
• Large, lighted attic with thermostat controlled attic fan
and access via pull down ladder in garage.
• Wonderful private back yard with gazebo, mature fruit
trees, flowering shrubs, tool shed and bike shelter.
• The light and airy garden house in the back yard can be used as an
office, rumpus room or art studio.
• Ceiling fans and some dual paned windows in the
main house.
• Front porch off living room.

Serenity and adorableness! What more could you ask for. But it's not a cheap combo:

1311 Fernside Boulevard, Alameda, CA

Public Facts:

• Single family
• 2 beds
• 1.0 bath
• 1,054 sqft
• Lot 4,275 sqft
• Built in 1939

My guess is that adorableness is about $200 / sqft and serenity is $384 / sqft.

Update 6/21/08: Serenity is now a whole $10,000 cheaper ($589,000). That's a whopping 1.67% price cut.

Update 8/15/08: Serenity is getting cheaper and cheaper. Now $575,000. Another < 2% price cut. Whoop-de-doo.

Update 10/26/08: Sold for $560,000 on 9/24/08.

Hot on the heels of today's "where the hell did all that money go, and how the hell did it go so fast" post, here's a plain bungalow with a vertiginous descent into insolvency (MLS #40339956) currently listed at $685,000:

Reo. 4 bed and rumpus room. Remodeled by previous owner, but needs a little work. Priced accordingly. Originally 2 bed: flowing room addition integrates well - square footage is an estimate and not verified. Hard wood floors. Dual pane windows. This home won't last! Open sunday, 5/4, 2-4.

Decent location, not-too-bad specs, and ordinary looks would make this home a complete snoozefest were it not for the fact it only took 18 months to blow away a quarter of a million dollars in phantom money, not to mention the cost of the "remodel[ed] by previous owners":

Last sale and tax info

Sold 07/24/2006: $920,000

2007 Property Tax: $9,684

And so I ask: what the hell is wrong with people?

Update 9/18/08: Sold.

1836 Harvard Drive
$665,000, sold 08-25-08, 2 bdrms, 1527 sq. ft., 1924

Although I've been watching the real estate bubble reach the bursting point and deflate for the past 2 years, I'm still occasionally shocked by how quickly things turn sour for recent "homeowners" who bought overpriced properties they couldn't afford, using wacky mortgage products. To wit: I remember when this home was for sale the last time around, and given my memory for trivial things, it means it was for sale a really short time ago. It's already been repossessed and is back on the market for close to what the bank must have lost on the initial deal (MLS #40339936):

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,393 sqft, 2,550-sqft lot

Updated alameda classic, [...] end of a cul-de-sac. [...] some upgrades to the kitchen including granite counters and oak cabinets. [...] Bank-owned, make an offer!

It's listed aggressively at $568,000. Given how reluctant banks have been to list at less than their loss, and the previous transaction, one imagines the previous owner either had money down (fat chance) or a piggyback loan from a 2nd lender that's now out $90K or so. Either way, it's a wonderful example of savvy financial management from all involved.

Update 7/16/08: Apparently sold for $514,000. Ouch.