1561 WESTMOOR Rd Burlingame, CA 94010

Price: $775,000

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $75,000 or 8.8%

Sep 05, 2008 Listed

Here is another Burlingame rancher that’s being listed for way too much.  Seems like it took just about 2.5 months to sell in 2006.  I wonder how long it is going to take this time.  Open house is today 1/25 from 1pm to 4pm.

1561 WESTMOOR Rd Burlingame, CA 94010

Price: $775,000

Last sale: Aug 28, 2006 Sold $850,000

Loss if sold for asking: $75000 or  8.8%

This small pre-World War 2 home is pretty much backed up onto El Camino Real so it might be a little bit noisy and it is still $705 per square foot .  There is an open house this weekend on 1/25/09 from 1 to 4.

14 S ELDORADO St San Mateo, CA 94401

Price: $439,000

Last sale: May 09, 2006 Sold $724,500

Loss if sold for asking: $285500 or  39.4%

This bank owned antique home is very close to downtown San Mateo.  I think it is owned by Wells Fargo. It is appealing for the price, but the age of the home may be problematic.

1150 GREENWOOD Ave San Carlos, CA 94070

Price: $1,448,850

Last sale:

Loss if sold for asking: $91150 or 3.84%

This is a 13 unit building that sold in 1988 for 760k and 1998 for 750k.  If history repeats itself, it is supposed to be worth $740k now.  However, San Carlos is a good area that gets decent rents, so this could be a good investment.

Oh come on.. you left out the best parts of this little dandy.

1) How about the food left in the back room- is it still decaying on the dresser?

2) Has anyone ever flushed the toilet, or is hte floater still around?

3) How about all the fun you can have rolling down your own private hill- a.k.a, the second level living room floor;

4) The bulging outdoor walls where you can estimate for yourself how much longer before the house gives way.

5) Ever take a peak inside the ‘attics’ of the little rentals? Please do- then you’ll know where all those used oil containers go.

6) It wasn’t a woman who owned the house- it was a man. You can see all of his bank and tax records in the bedroom where he died.

7. The woman, I believe, was his sister- she was collecting the rents and putting them in her pocket. This lasted until the bank protested and kicked everyone out. I could go on and on, but I think you get the gist why this home is still on the market.

Thank you KT for these insights.  I also heard that there was an official looking notice taped to the door that said all the structures are worth less than $100.  Is that still there?  Keep the tips coming because they’re pretty entertaining.

421 BEACH Ave Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

Price: $554,050

This homeowner just changed the sale price from 849.9k to 554k a few days ago.  This is now a difference of $425k since the last sale price.   This is definitely one of the cheaper homes in Half Moon Bay, but it is a short sale so the bank is probably still hoping for better offers.  These days banks are so busy with financial problems, refinances, and dealing with other troubled real estate so it may take them a while to get back to anyone.

2 WILBURN Ave Atherton, CA 94027

Price: $1,495,000

Last sale:

This is listed as a fixer uppper in Atherton. It’s one of the smaller lots in Atherton and it’s right next to El Camino.

Jan 02, 2008 Sold $649,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
Dec 18, 2007 Sold $509,000 -100.0%/yr Public Records
Dec 17, 2007 Sold $1,165,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
Dec 10, 2007 Sold $769,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
Dec 07, 2007 Sold $480,000 -100.0%/yr Public Records
Nov 15, 2007 Sold $1,200,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records
Sep 28, 2007 Sold $489,000 >1,000%/yr Public Records

The home has been on Redfin for about two months now, and this is pretty tragic.  I am glad that the Nguyen children are safe and their mom was really a hero.  I hope the family does well under the circumstances. I worked for more than a year pretty much on the other side of that house and it’s definitely not a horrible neighborhood so I think there is probably more to this story. I asked my ex-coworkers about this and they said that they actually heard the gunshots and ran to the window and saw the SWAT team and people running away. That sounds quite surreal.

341 SEVILLE Way San Mateo, CA 94402

Price: $1,489,000

Last sale: Aug 15, 2006 $1,521,000

Loss if sold for asking: $32,000 or  2.1%

It seems that they put the lockbox password on the listing: 84361199 .  That never seemed very wise to me because I think bums and criminals could just scan these listings, find the passwords and steal all the nice staged furniture inside these homes or squat there.

2827 SAN JUAN Blvd Belmont, CA 94002

Price: $630,500

Last sale: Apr 15, 2008 $900,000
Loss if sold for asking: $269500 or 29.9%

At first glance, this home looks like a good deal for Belmont, but my friend actually went to see it and found out why it was so cheap.   Apparently the previous owner was a “crazy lady” who built 9 unsanctioned studios on the lot, and she rented them out against city permits.  Her neighbors hated her and the city tried to tear her studios down for years, and then she died.  The listing is just for the main house, but whoever is the next owner will probably have to tear down all the unsanctioned construction, and who knows what kind of fines she had.  Anyway, my friend said that the place looked like a cult commune.  I thought it was pretty funny.