Recently in Priced to sell Category

Today's newest Victorian has a mysterious obsession with water.

6 bathrooms, 4,501 sqft, 12,660-sqft lot (!), MLS(r) #40378361, $1,150,000

Great water income property. [...]  victorian w/full basement and finished attic, 3 story water tower for future use, 6 off street parkings, 2 newer units in back [...] on lagoon. Approx. 300' deep [...] 

The public records say nothing about bedrooms; only bathrooms matter in this "water income property" with a "water tower for future use" (is that when the aliens have invaded Earth and turned all our water into liquid hydrogen?) "on lagoon." Regardless, it is a striking building: 


The sale history suggests an intra-family transfer of some kind--a plot of land that size, with lagoon access, was worth far more than $56,500, even without a beautiful Victorian sitting on it.

Last sale and tax info

Sold 03/21/1997: $56,500

2008 Property Tax: $5,218

Without any information about the layout, it's hard to even guess at what kind of income the property might bring in, but at $255 / sqft in that location, it's a steal and should go in a heartbeat, assuming the property's inside matches its exterior. And guess who's not too happy about this listing?

Calling all fine neighborhoodlums, today's good-sized Colonial on a miniature lot has a lot to recommend it: location, location, location, size, the whole neighborhood's extraordinary curb appeal, and an interesting pricing strategy.

2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,389 sqft, 1,980-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40376605, $588,000

Alameda's Gold Coast calls those who want a fine neighborhood AND a classic Colonial Revival. [...] small lot has an afternoon sun-drenched garden. Nice sized rooms on both levels [...] surrounded by many of Alameda's large stunning properties.

From the outside, it's pretty and certainly holds its own against its neighbors; at least as much as the big Craftsman right next door to the Zeus temple building a couple of blocks away, if it weren't for the tiny lot and possible garagelessness. But what's of interest is that the asking price is almost reasonable given the area ($423 / sqft), and is strategically below $600,000, which seems to be the sweet spot for "starter homes" in Alameda--except it's a lot larger and/or in an arguably better neighborhood than most of its sub-$600K brethren. Another notable tidbit is that $600,000 is precisely what the owner paid four years ago, almost to the day:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 10/19/2004: $600,000

2007 Property Tax: $7,644

The list price is also less than the current Zestimate of $615,000, the much-maligned inaccuracy of which some agents are very willing to ignore when it serves their interest.

Unless there's something truly wretched about this property, I expect it won't last terribly long.

An adorable Victorian at 1514 Minturn showed up in my email box today courtesy of Trulia. It's a pretty "duplex", which really means "high-basement conversion" based on the square footage and the high-basement look of it (photo below) with the following specs:

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,300 sqft, MLS(r) #, $599,000

Victorian Duplex Pride of Ownership , 2 floors, harwood floors

The location is great if you like peace and quiet--it's at the end of a cul-de-sac--but less so if you like large lots. I couldn't find the lot's square footage anywhere, but judging by the Google map's aerial view, it doesn't look too big. The property (or part thereof) appears to have been used as the headquarters for a painting business named Grand Finishes.

Listed at $599,000 ($461 / sqft), it's probably going to sell reasonably quickly, although the current credit contraction + holiday season combo is not exactly playing in its favor. It's also not clear how it would be cash-flow-positive as an investment property, given that a 6.5%-interest mortgage assuming 20% down is at least $3,000 / month, not counting maintenance or property tax, and I have a hard time imagining either unit in this house renting for much more than $1,500 $750 a month (turns out each unit is about 650 sqft).

It certainly hasn't been a terribly cash-flow-positive investment for the current owners:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 09/30/2005: $720,000

2007 Property Tax: $9,404

Who exactly thought this little house justified paying almost three quarters of a million?

Update 11/3/08: Here's a bank that doesn't mess around. Priced at $420,000 today.

Update 11/20/08: A reader reported this property sold for $476,000, a 34% drop in value from its previous transaction just three years ago. Yay (and thanks for the tip)!

Update 11/25/08: Back/still on the market?

Update 1/2/09: Still on the market.

One of four listings to hit the market all at once this week, 1724 Alameda Avenue is also the most interesting. I wasn't able to find any public domain pictures, so I'll probably shoot a couple this weekend and post. First, the specs:

4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 stories, unfinished basement, 2,652 sqft, 13,200-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40373116, $899,999

Sonoma in Alameda? [...] 4 bedroom Italianate style home [...] huge double lot with gardens, it also includes a spa like studio cottage. Main house needs cosmetics.[...]

You read right. 13,200-sqft lot, in a great location, where they truly aren't making any more land. Built in 1889, it's also been owned by the same folks for a long time, judging by the low property tax ($1,774) and absence of sale history on its Zillow page.

I took a look at this property; the lot is so big you can't really take good pictures of the building without trespassing, which I wasn't interested in doing, so here's what you can see from the street:

$339 / sqft for a big, beautiful house with bonus cottage on a giant lot in the Gold Coast means it's not going to last.

Working late last night, I took a look at the MLS(r) sites without much hope of interesting new listings, and much to my surprise and delight, several new properties had shown up. Write-ups forthcoming for the following properties:

• 1800 Alameda Avenue, a bitsy Gold Coasty Craftsman
• 1724 Alameda Avenue, a large Gold Goasty "Italianate" with 2 structures on an enormous lot
• 1101 College Avenue, a grossly overpriced, probably upside-down East End home
• A mysterious, expensive, address-less Gold Coast house 
• A less mysterious, overpriced house in the East End
• A very expensive fourplex built in the 1960s at 1354 Pearl
  

I don't know if someone actually did to a decent CMA, or if the market beat the astronomical odds of having two sellers with a clue list their homes the same week, but we have ourselves an interesting battle of the Craftsman homes brewing.

To my left, the incumbent, listed on 9/19/08, is 1371 Pearl Street, a large Craftsman with the following specs:

3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, 1,691 sqft, 4,920-sqft lot, finished basement(!), MLS(r) #40370464, $599,000

Charming [...] East End. Large living room [...] brick fireplace box beamed ceiling's and inlaid hardwood floors. [...] finished basement perfect for office [...] Deck off master bedroom [...]

No sale history on Zillow and a very low property tax for 2007 suggest it's been owned for a long time.


To my right is 3215 Fairview Avenue, a far-East-End Craftsman with the following specs:

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,665 sqft, approx. 4,790-sqft lot, split level, MLS(r) #40371023, $599,000

[...] craftsman [...] one of Alameda's most sought after neighborhood

The sale history is somewhat recent, but suggests the owner has maneuvering room:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 02/22/2001: $400,000

2007 Property Tax: $5,882

Pearl has a basement and seems to be in beautiful condition judging by the photos on the property site. Fairview has the extreme East End appeal that makes people lose their minds and overbid like crazy.

I don't know which one will sell first, but they're certainly priced somewhat reasonably for this market ($354 / sqft and $360 / sqft, respectively), and directly in competition with one another. My guess would be that Fairview will sell for more money and/or sooner, because of its location.

What is certain is that the fixers in the neighborhood are in for a serious reality check.

WTF is up w/ those abbrev. posts on MLS(r) sites? Today's listing has "ez acces to parks."

Excellent Home buying opportunity [...] Adorable 1 bed and 1 bath fully detach victorian nestled on a traquil tree line st with ez acces to parks, [...] one of the LOWEST priced homes is Alameda and a great condo alternative on a Huge lot.

This abbreviated listing is for an abbreviated home with the following abbreviated specs:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 888 sqft, 3,750-sqft lot, $276,500, MLS(r) #40368605 and #346373

I remember seeing this mini Vic on the market not that long ago, and indeed it has sold twice over the past 3 1/2 years, not counting its latest run-in with the bank (data courtesy of the excellent Bay Area Sold Homes site):

08/12/2007	2253 Clinton Avenue	$525,000	1	888	1895	Alameda	94501
05/29/2005	2253 Clinton Avenue	$475,000	1	888	1995	Alameda	94501

The earlier transaction made the agent proud:

We sold it for way over asking! Yay us! Of course that was the responsible thing to do, since $475,000 for 888 sqft (a mere $535 / sqft) is such an incredible deal. Things had turned sour a couple of years later, as the property sold for $525,000 (a steal at $591 / sqft) after being listed for $549,000 in late 2006; it didn't sell until August, 2007 (my emphasis):

Open Homes for the Weekend of Oct. 7 and 8, 2006

Written by Alameda Sun    Published: Friday, 06 October 2006

Information on open homes listed below was gathered by the Alameda Sun for the purposes of providing prospective real estate buyers a place to start their search. The Sun does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information. To list your property on this page or www.alamedasun.com, call 263-1472. 1437 Morton St. $259,000 Sunday 2-4 1433 Morton St. “B” $315,000 Sunday 2-4 955 Shore Point Court #212 $325,000 Sunday 2-4 2133 Santa Clara Ave. #212 $398,000 Sunday 2-4 1533 Pacific Ave. $450,000 Sunday 2-4 2137 Otis Drive #209 $475,000 Sunday 2-4 1816 Chestnut St. $495,000 Sunday 2-4 1033 Verdemar Drive $520,000 Sunday 1:30-4:30 1033 Verdemar Drive $520,000 Saturday 1:30-4:30 2253 Clinton Ave. $549,000 Sunday 2-4

This week's recent sales on SFGate showed a small bungalow I hadn't noticed when it was on the market, 1541 Paru Street. The specs are, ahem, cozy:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 952 sqft, 2,058-sqft lot

thumbnail from Alameda Sun not MLS site (why)

This little house just sold for $355,000, which is encouraging considering the obscene asking prices we've been seeing on other small properties.

What's also encouraging is that it was once listed for $429,000, when it was Alameda Sun's Home of the Week. This means someone lowballed and the seller (get this) accepted the 17%-off bid instead of chasing the market down for months. We need more sellers like that.

The sale history doesn't reveal anything scary, so one hopes everyone's reasonably happy with the transaction.

Sales History

Sale History & Tax Info

Sale History
08/12/2008:	$355,000
04/04/2006:	$267,500
09/30/1992:	$156,000
No other sale data is available

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As time goes on, I would expect to see more distressed sales from recent purchases (2005 and newer), and fewer from older transactions, at least based on the ARM reset schedule as I understand it. Interestingly, though, I've been seeing a lot of properties coming on the market in various degrees of avowed or suspected distress that were sold in the first half of the 2000s, so one has to assume the first wave hasn't completely crashed yet.

Today's craigslist post is one of those. 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 1,550 sqft, $385,000 ($248 / sqft).

$385000 JUST ON MARKET -SHORT SALE-FABULOUS 2BD,2.5BA TOWNHOUSE NEAR SSHORE (alameda) (map)

---

Reply to: rnied@apr.com ^[?]

Date: 2008-08-30, 10:00AM PDT

This fabulous 2Bd/2.5Ba Townhouse is located in a prime location within walking distance to Alameda Town Centre with Trader Joe's, TJ Max, Starbucks and close to the beach. This sunny unit has 2 master bedroom suites, high vaulted ceilings, spacious open floor plan, fireplace in living room, carpeted throughout, 2 car garage, private patio and shared pool. A similar unit sold in July of 2008 for $492,500! Take advantage of this short sale. Call and set up a viewing appointment with Rose Nied, Alain Pinel Realtors, (510) 530-7011. (No photos yet. DO NOT DISTURB OCCUPANT. All terms and conditions are subject to the lender).

2063 at Whtehall Pl

The "2 master bedroom suites" makes me think someone went a little crazy self-indulgent with a HELOC-funded remodel (but I don't know that for a fact). This might be borne out by the short-sale price of $385,000, which one assumes should be just enough to cover the amount owed, given the sale history--it seems as though the original $300,000 sale price (which in a reasonable market should mean a $240,000 loan balance) has grown a beer belly:

Sale History
08/01/2000:	$300,000
11/07/1996:	$165,000

This is good news for those of us waiting for a return to sanity in the market, as there appears to be a large supply of comp-resetters available for the foreseeable future. I have the feeling we won't see any significant tightening of the market until around 2011. We'll have run through the bulk of the distressed inventory, and because sales volume started dropping severely in 2007, there should be a relative paucity of new listings coming on the market then (compared to today), contributing to reduced supply. We shall see.

Update 10/25/08: Still on the market, at the same price of $385,000. Looks like the agent has done some advance work (emphasis mine):

FABULOUS Condo! Close to Everything-Town Center-Great Shopping Trader Joes, TJ Max, Starbuck. Walking distance to Beach. Vaulted Clgs, 2 Mstr Ste., Open Floor Plan, Frpl, Spacious/Sunny. Private Garden. Shared Pool. Really nice. Rencent Comp July of '08 $492,500. This is a short sale-I have been in contact with bank and they are willing to move quickly on this. Don't miss this opportunity--great space, great price...Make it your next home!

For more information or showings call: Rose Nied, Alain Pinel Realtor, (510) 530 7011

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I vaguely remember this duplex at 1811 Sherman being on the market in the past couple of years (MLS(r) #40365538; no link until EBRD issues are resolved). First the specs:

2 units, each with 2 bedrooms, 2,320 sqft, $524,900

Bank owned. NOT A SHORT SALE. [...] Plenty of off street parking. No financial data available.

At $226 / sqft it is definitely priced to sell and should go really fast, unless there's something truly egregious about the building. The location isn't great, but at $524,900 it might actually cash-flow.

I'm curious about the sale history:

Sales History

Sale History & Tax Info

Sale History
03/25/2008:	$465,000 *
09/14/2004:	$250,000 *
05/22/2001:	$300,000
No other sale data is available
* This transaction was not used in computing the Zestimate for this house due to anomalies we detected with this transaction. These anomalies can include unusual document or transaction types, sales between possibly related parties, unusually high or low transaction prices, or other data irregularities that might indicate the transaction is not a full-value, arms-length transaction.

That's two in a row. Hrm...





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It's not often that I compliment sellers or agents on their pricing strategy, so I'll make this one special: I'm creating a new category, "priced to sell," to highlight listings with non-idiotic prices relative to the current market. It doesn't mean I condone those prices--in most cases they're still too high given rents, salaries and other indicators. That's why the category isn't named "The price is right." Still, I wanted to recognize these sellers' non-cluelessness, and have an archive where all those listings could be found together for ease of reference. It might be fun to track how quickly the category grows as the market cools off, say, around the holidays.

Today's inaugural inductee is a large townhouse on Oak Park Drive (MLS #40361652):

3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 1,701 sqft, listed in early August, 2008

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.

A new Victorian! Yay! (MLS #40327725) Looks like a big house on a tiny lot for $780,000. The publicly-available specs first:

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,167 sqft, 2,700 sqft lot

(photo provided by the new owner and used by permission)

[...] Spacious rooms [...] Some tlc needed. Very motivated seller.

I wonder why the seller is so motivated, and how low they'll go.

Let's see.

Last sale and tax info

Sold 06/30/2006: $685,000

2007 Property Tax: $8,659

Now, unless that house was a wreck (which seems unlikely, given the sale price in 2006), the whole "Some tlc needed" suggests to me they haven't done much to maintain it or fix it up in the whole 18 months they've owned it, or that it was going to be a luxury flip that they weren't able to complete. Either way, expecting a $95,000 appreciation in 18 months, or $5277 a month, seems a little obscene to me, especially considering how much houses have been appreciating since summer 2006.

This one should be interesting to watch.

Update 3/22/08: Price dropped $100,000 all at once, to $680,000, heralding this home's induction into our loss leader category.

Update 4/12/08: Still not sold.

Update 4/20/08: Holy mother of cow. Relisted at $550,000 with MLS #40337496. You've got to give the sellers credit--when they say they're very motivated, they're not kidding. I wonder if that'll be enough.

Update 6/2/08: Guess what, it's back on the market, disguised as a new listing (MLS #40346226). $515,000. That's $170,000 up in smoke in less than 2 years, or $7,391 / month. It's also a $265,000 price drop since the first time it was listed (34% off!), and it is now at a much more reasonable $238 / sqft.

Update 10/31/08: The new owner and I have been exchanging the occasional status email, and I can confirm this home is now owned by real people who took possession some time last summer and are busy restoring it the old-fashioned way. Yay!