Results tagged “Santa Clara” from Knife Catchers

There's been a fair amount of activity lately, what with the renewal of the irresponsible tax credit and idiot agents cheering for the second coming. Here's a messy summary of interesting happenings in our little town.

• 452 Santa Clara: here's a bank that's not messing around. 31 photos, nice property, 2,800+sqft Victorian fourplex, REO, listed super aggressively for $400,000. It'll be gone for way over asking in just a few days.
• 2267 Clinton is back, yet again, with a puny price drop (now down to $1,369,000). The idiot perma-sellers will never get their asking price and are wasting everybody's time. Remember this is the listing that claimed rents were rising just a year ago in spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
• 3246 Liberty is a very pretty, large bungalow in a part of town that has people go ga-ga and overpay on a regular basis. This is one of the larger houses on that block, and it's priced comparably to what smaller bungalows were listed for this year ($599,000). Still too much, but some idiot buyer will probably pay that much.
• 1312 San Antonio is an expensive Tudor on a tiny lot in an excellent Gold Coast location. A short sale at $819,000 (previous transaction $869,000 in late 2005), it's unlikely to sell for over $800,000.
  
• A cute little Victorian 891 Oak Street just dropped its price from $575,000 to $475,000 in one fell swoop after remaining unsold for over a year. It's now a short sale.
  
• The unsellable duplex at 1626 Alameda Avenue dropped its price by a whole $1,000, to $942,000. Lovely price history:

03/24/09 -- $1,145,000 to $1,095,000
05/12/09 -- $1,095,000 to $1,049,000
06/23/09 -- $1,049,000 to $999,000
07/23/09 -- $999,000 to $950,000
08/25/09 -- $950,000 to $945,000
09/21/09 -- $945,000 to $943,000
10/25/09 -- $943,000 to $942,000

• 1304 Morton is finally pending! What price did the stubborn kitchen-pimping sellers accept? We shall see.
  

A glance at Zip Realty will indicate the market is still littered with listings in various stages of foreclosures, and the market appears to be poised for a second wild ride starting early next year with tens of billions of dollars in bad loans coming home to roost (notice the inverse shape of the graph below and the Case-Shiller home price index):



Yes, I did use the word "idiot" an inordinate number of times in this post.

I don't know what about Stonehenge makes people pay too much and regret it with such alarming regularity. A third unit, 1547 B Santa Clara, just hit the market, for too much money, and just two years after its prior sale. The specs:

2 bedrooms,1 bathroom (2 per MLS(r)), 1,325 sqft, 2,880-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40425692, $598,000 ($451 / sqft)

ENCHANTING "Storybook" home. [...] Hardwood floors, stone fireplace, period lighting, built-in cabinetry, "cook's kitchen???-stainless appliances, marble trim, leaded glass. GLORIOUS fountains, ponds & garden views [...]

This unit was bought at the very top of the market, in late July 2007:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 07/31/2007: $630,000

2009 Property Tax: $8,056

At $451 / sqft it needs to drop quite a bit to make any kind of sense.

Remember 1019 Santa Clara, the obscenely overpriced Tudor revival that started out at $895,000 only to slowly drop to $748,000 and then disappear, about a year ago? It's back. The agent's name and broker (Sima Talai, Prudential CA Franciscan Properties) match the email address last used on the Craigslist posts ("simat@sfpru.com"), so she hasn't been fired yet and will almost certainly close a full-price sale this time around now that the price has been massively cut unchanged to $748,000.

Can not get any better than this! [...] Tudor house with huge family/office, fireplace, manicured, easy to maintain back & front yard, [...] One garage, possibly 3 car port tandem.

I'll refer interested parties to the original post for specs and commentary. It's now known as MLS(r) #354673. In fairness, it's very pretty inside, the kitchen hasn't been Luftwaffied, and it seems to be staged beautifully. But $748,000 $689,000? Not on your life.

(thanks to danielsf for the update)

Yet another West End Victorian on the market today. It will be familiar to those of us who've been watching Alameda Victorian sales for a couple of years, as we shall see directly. 461 Santa Clara, depending on who you ask (public records or the current listing) has the following specs:

MLS(r): 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,962 sqft, 5,904-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40395507, $780,000
Public records: 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathroom, 1,074 sqft

Gorgeous 4 bedroom 2 bath Victorian [...] Completely remodeled first floor with permits. High ceilings, wood floors, spiral staircase, updated bath upstairs and new bath downstairs. [...]  grand formal dining room. Nice landscaping.

Why is this a familiar sight? Turns out this property appears to be a flip:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 01/08/2008: $630,000 *

2008 Property Tax: $3,173

It's not clear why Zillow doesn't include that last transaction in their Zestimate--maybe the price is anomalous on the high side, considering Zillow only knows about 1,074 sqft and 2 bedrooms?

That last transaction is recent enough to still appear on various sites.

Full remodel or not, $780,000 is much too high ($398 / sqft) given the property's location and the fact that its "ground floor" (the one at the bottom end of the hideous, très non-period spiral staircase) actually started out as a high basement. It also has some competition from an architecturally similar Vic near the lagoon that's been on the market for almost six months around $600,000 and still hasn't sold (I might post about this one at some point; I'm very curious about the garden gnome playing hide and seek against the wall in the bottom right-hand corner):

Another day, another pretty, old West end 2-story house going back to the bank. 452 Santa Clara joins 450 Taylor in our rogues' gallery of failed real estate experiments. Here are the specs:

4 units (3x1BR 1BA, 1x2BR 1BA), 2,836 sqft, 7,810-sqft lot, MLS(r) #351187, $699,900

Large 4 plex in the heart of Alameda. Victorian Home built in 1900 converted to 4 units. Garage parking in the rear. Separate Meters. Short Sale! Grab this great deal! 

The property has a long history of multiple sales in the past 20 years, courtesy of Redfin for a change:

Property History for 452 SANTA CLARA Ave

Date	Event	Price	Appreciation	Source
Jan 15, 2009	Listed	$699,900	--	San Francisco MLS #351187
Jan 15, 2009	Listed	$699,900	--	MLSListings #80902277
Sep 09, 2004	Sold	$738,454	11.1%/yr	Public Records
Dec 30, 1999	Sold	$450,000	51.5%/yr	Public Records
Sep 15, 1994	Sold	$50,000	-36.7%/yr	Public Records
Oct 26, 1993	Sold	$75,000	-24.2%/yr	Public Records
Dec 18, 1992	Sold	$95,000	-30.5%/yr	Public Records
Jan 31, 1989	Sold	$390,000	--	Public Records

Whoever bought it last for $738,454 didn't appear to mind the 11% annual appreciation since the previous sale or the fact that the rental income doesn't come close to covering the costs:

Financial Information

• Tax Amount: $11,074.70
• Gross Rent Multiplier: 26.51
• Rental Income: $26,400
• Net Income: $6,381
• Gross Scheduled Income: $26,400
• Gross Annual Income: $26,400

(for reference, a 6.5%-interest, 80%-LTV loan for a $740,000 house comes out to about $3,700 a month exclusive of property tax).

Oh and by the way, $699,900 is still nowhere near cash-flow positive, either, so anyone buying at today's price is just as much of an idiot as the current owner. But I suppose they may have felt they were getting a great deal then too, since it was apparently listed at $895,000. Interestingly the agent's trophy page for the last sale mentions greater square footage, an owner's unit, and a sale price of $820,500.

I don't know what's going on today, but all of a sudden we have not one, not two, but FOUR big apartment buildings for sale.

$10,850,000 564 Central Avenue MLS(r) #40375220

$6,800,000 2020 Santa Clara Avenue MLS(r) #40375183

$1,350,000 1526 Everett Street MLS(r) #40375235

$8,300,000 1901 Shoreline Drive MLS(r) #40375161

Is it possible these are all owned by the same individuals or corporations and they're getting out of the apartment rental business all at once? It's pretty extreme.

It's not April 1st (I checked), so I can't find any explanation for the pricing strategy on today's itty bitty property. 423 Santa Clara Avenue bills itself as a "sweet little 1 bedroom cottage". I don't know about sweet, but it's certainly little:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 623 sqft, approx. 1,740-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40375010, $425,000

Sweet little 1 bedroom cottage [...] new Roof, new Brazillian Cherry flooring and tile in kitchen & Bath. Granite Counter, new stove, new kitchen cherrywood cabinets. [...] 20 minutes to SF [...]

The price isn't a typo. $425,000, or $682 / sqft. And if they really mean "20 minutes to SF" they must have forgotten to mention the helipad on top of the house.

For the life of me I can't figure out what could justify this demented asking price. Location? Nope. New interior? Maybe a $30K premium, if that. Lot size? Nope. Architecture? Nope.

There's no sale history on Zillow, so one presumes the owners should be able to drop the price to where it belongs, say, $175,000 (not drop it by $175K--drop it to $175K). It's not as if it's difficult to find comparably-sized properties for pricing ideas.

Idiots.

Update 10/27/08: Price dropped to $399,000 and a "MOTIVATED SELLER BRING OFFERS" note. The floors are gorgeous.

Update 2/2/09: Sold for $340,000, 20% off the initial price. If you think that's a bargain, consider that it's still $546 / sqft for a tiny, hard-to-sell one-person residence in the less-than-desirable West end.

It always amuses me to read descriptions of properties going into foreclosure describing them as great investments. It reminds me of those old high-mileage Buick Regal beaters with "RUNS GOOD" painted on them. If it RUNS GOOD, why sell it, really? And if it's such a great investment, why is it back on the market a few years after its last purchase, and being foreclosed on?

Today's brilliant financial move is what looks like a small Victorian chopped up into two units, on the 1500 block of Santa Clara. I can't tell from the Google Street View picture whether it's the little rickety one on the west side or the tall Italianatey-sticky one just inches to the east of it (my bet is the former). The specs, such as they are:

2x 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,572 sqft, no lot size available, MLS(r) #40374298, $449,000

Appealing investment opportunity! Upstairs [...] 1 bedroom and 1 bath with 2 bonus rooms, [...] updated kitchen and bathroom. Downstairs [...] updated kitchen. [...] Desirable location!

Interestingly, the previous sale price wasn't all that high, especially for 2004. It makes you wonder how much of the "updated kitchen(s)" was financed using a HELOC.

Last sale and tax info

Sold 05/14/2004: $405,000

2007 Property Tax: $5,797

I don't know what's going on in that part of Santa Clara, but it seems to be a hotbed of foreclosures and dilapidated houses. Maybe it's the bend in the street just a block to the east? Or the church across the street?

The Stonehenge complex in Alameda is a weird but delightful-looking cluster of English-y homes in an enclosed mini-park, complete with high-pitched roofs (sorry, rooves) and cutesy stone paths. It's also a hornet's nest of bad financial decisions, what with unit D being listed below its previous sale price a couple of months ago, and unit B following suit this week. Here are the specs:

2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,196 sqft, 3,000-sqft lot, MLS(r) #40371081, $569,000

English style home [...] park like setting. Hardwood floors, updated kitchen [...] charm [...] vintage details.

Amusingly, it was purchased just three years ago for $588,000 (note the great street view picture):

Sale History
03/18/2005:	$588,000

Another one bites the dust. Yay.

Update 10/28/08: Down to $499,000. Wowza.

$499000 New Price! ~2Bdrm Storybook Home -by Appt. (alameda) (map)

---

Reply to: daveparkrealtor@gmail.com ^[?]
Date: 2008-10-28, 3:35PM PDT


Don't miss this extraordinary two bedroom one bath split level Storybook home designed by Oakland architect Walter W. Dixon. Set in a tranquil courtyard and surrounded by similarly styled storybook homes with gardens and a fountain in the center, each property is truly a work of art.

Call Dave Park,Realtor (510) 710-4345 or visit www.1545BSantaClara.com for more information

The large house at 2824 Santa Clara was on craigslist a few months ago, described as an "executive home" if memory serves. I'm not sure what that means other than a euphemism for "around $1M." It's now back on various real estate sites with a shiny new MLS(r) number, 40366628 (no link until EBRD issues are resolved). First, the publicly-available specs:

2 or 3 bedrooms (depending on where you look), 2 bathrooms, 2,082 sqft, 6,656-sqft lot, $990,000

From Zillow:

This elegant and stately split-level traditional is located in highly coveted Fernside. Features include arched entryways, vaulted ceiling in lvg rm/great rm, formal dining rm, and a landscaped back yd. An additional bonus room and bedroom may be used as rec/rumpus room or guest quarters

Reader BigDot asked about 152 Santa Clara (MLS(r) #40352991), a property that completely went by me when it first appeared on the market in late June, so here's what I found. First, the publicly available specs:

3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,091 sqft, 6,204 sqft lot, built in 1945

Magnificent gardens [...] charming Cape Cod Bungalow nestled on a 6,204 sq.ft. lot; [...] lovely large studio [...] pond with waterfall [...] updated kitchen, bath, fireplace, dual pane windows, high ceilings it is truly lovely

How much is loveliness? A mere $850,000, or $779 / sqft.

There's nothing obvious in the sale history to justify such an obscenely high asking price--it was last purchased for under $450,000, so unless the sellers put in $400,000 worth of improvements (and it would take a rare brand of idiocy to spend $400K to improve a tiny bungalow in the ugly West End that's barely even worth that much to begin with) it's probably just another delusional asking price:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 08/20/2002: $433,000

2007 Property Tax: $5,925

Watch for considerable price drops or relists on this truly lovely bungalow, because at $850,000, it ain't going nowhere. For the record, $850,000 gets you a nice 2-story Victorian in the East End that's over twice as big as this.

Update 9/25/08 (thanks D. for the tip): Price dropped to a still-too-high $749,000.

Update 10/6/08: Relisted as MLS #40373840 at $675,000. Psst, morons: this house has no business being a penny over $400,000.

Update 11/3/08: Relisted as MLS #40379085 at $625,000. This is called "chasing the market down" and it rarely ends well.


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Three new properties appeared on the market last night, all under $700,000. Of course that's not saying much, since they're all relatively small, but then again, when sub-1000-sqft homes start at $675,000, it's still almost an accomplishment.

The first one is a craftsman at 1401 Santa Clara with the following publicly-available specs:

2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,316 sqft, approx. 3,500 sqft lot, $619,500, MLS(r) #40365126

This house is cheeky and wants you to buy it.

[...] Craftsman [...] updated, and has much to offer, [...] additional room downstairs. [...] what you have been waiting for. With landscaped yards, new paint, hardwood floors and the charm of an older home, what are you waiting for? Come and see.

COME AND SEE. You've been waiting for this one. I'm sure you've been waiting for a craftsman with only 1 bathroom at $471 / sqft--after all, those are incredibly hard to find in Alameda.

The description says nothing about Terminator appliances or granite everywhere, interestingly enough, but it still has the nerve to ask $154,500 (33%) more than its previous price less than 3 years ago

Last sale and tax info

Sold 10/18/2005: $465,000

2007 Property Tax: $7,475

Who wants to bet on a price drop by mid September?

Update 8/29/08: Massive Barely noticeable $500 price drop to $619,000 on 8/26.

Update 1/10/10: Sold for $530,000 (15% off list) on 12/1/09.

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This property appeared on craigslist yesterday and on the MLS(r) today (#40359548; no link until EBRD issues are resolved). It's an old home with some maintenance issues. What's particularly interesting to me is the difference in wording between the MLS(r) listing and the more direct craigslist post...

MLS:
Grand old lady suffering from old age. Dutch Colonial built in 1898 [...] Two stories plus full basement on grade level with two car tandem garage. Reports available 8-8-08.

Craigslist (my emphasis):
Grand old lady suffering from old age. Dutch Colonial built in 1898 [...] Two stories plus full basement on grade level with two car tandem garage. She needs a total rehabilitation. No maintenance done for over 40 years. Everything original to the house from fixtures, clawfoot tub, to brick foundation. It's a time capsule! Please contact Broker Phil Hunt at 510-583-5420 for futher information.

It doesn't look too proud:


It's also a far cry from a "grand old lady", as far as I'm concerned, especially in Alameda where truly grand old ladies abound.

The house (what's left of it) is fairly large, on a small lot, and does have...

4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 2,512 sqft, approx. 3,500 sqft lot, 3 stories

So what are they asking for a house that "needs a total rehabilitation" and has had "no maintenance done for over 40 years"?

Only $599,000.


Update 9/4/08: Price dropped to $550,000 a couple of days ago. Woohoo.

Update 10/20/08: Still listed, still $550,000. Give it up, already.

Update 11/9/08: Price dropped to an amusing $525,000 on 11/4. The MLS(r) listing includes this hilarious note:

Comps at $850,000. Price reflects "as is" condition.

Where exactly are "comps at $850,000"? Show me one, I dare you.

Update 9/29/09: Sold to some idiot masochist for $473,000.

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I thought the address sounded familiar, and sure enough it's one of the units in the Stonehenge complex at 1545 Santa Clara (MLS(r) 40359047). That complex has adorable stone walls, an iron gate, and whimsical Camelot architecture. Here's the publicly-available skinny:

2 units (1x1BR, 1x2BR), 2,066 sqft, $748,000

Straight out of a fairytale, enchanting and full of whimsical details, this turreted, stone walled, many windowed duplex is a treasure! [...] wood floors, stone fireplaces, & period details. [...] a find!

The address is familiar for another reason: I was watching the market the last time this unit was sold, just 18 months ago, for... more money.

Last sale and tax info

Sold 12/22/2006: $759,000

2007 Property Tax: $9,551

The moral of this fairy tale: when an agent tells you a property is "a [rare, exceptional, amazing, unusual] find", don't believe them. If it was sold between 2004 and 2007, it'll be back on the market before you know it (for less).

I just saw this Santa Clara listing in the real estate section of this week's newspaper. It's "coming soon" according to the broker's Web site and so there is no price or MLS number, but the pedigree, size, location and picture already have me salivating.

Two houses on one lot don't come around very often, though Alameda does seem to have more than its fair share. This listing (MLS #40324309) has been on the market for over 2 months with no reduction yet (per ZIP Realty), and at $950,000 something tells me it's going to stay there for a little while longer.

RARE TO FIND 2 HOUSES ON ONE DEEP LOT. EACH HOUSE HAS 3BD AND 2 FULL BTH. NICE HARDWOOD FLOOR. LARGE DINING NOOK. LIVING RM. W/ FIREPLACE. PRIVATE COURTYD. 1 CAR ATTD. GARAGE. SHARED DRIVEWAY W/ NEIGHBORING 2 HOUSES ON 751 SANTA CLARA (ALSO FOR SALE). CAN PURCHASE SEPARATELY OR AS A PACKAGED DEAL. 

(my linkage)

The neighboring houses are also tremendously ugly, just like these two:


Come on, people. You bought these four monuments to tastelessness in architecture over 28 years ago, in one of the prettiest towns in the Bay Area, for $71,500 + $89,000, and you expect them to sell for almost TWELVE times as much? In this condition? Seriously?

You'd think all the damage perpetrated against the real estate market by the vast media conspiracy, people would know prices have been going down, not up. But maybe not. This charming Tudor revival home is now on the market 3 years after it was last purchased, for the whopping wishing price of $895,000 (MLS #40330121):

Spacious two story home. Large detached family room perfect for entertaining. Original features with some modern upgrades. A must see!

The specs and location are nice but certainly nothing to warrant such an inflated price, especially on such a tiny lot:

4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,760 sqft, 3,400-sqft lot, MLS #40330121, $895,000

Note no price reduction in the 35 days it's been on the market. This home was purchased barely 2 1/2 years ago for $550,000:

Last sale and tax info

Sold 12/27/2005: $550,000

2007 Property Tax: $8,991

How someone has the gall to expect a $345,000 appreciation in 28 months (or $12,321 a month) in this kind of market is beyond me.