Please, Please Buy This San Rafael POS
I didn't find any good pictures of this San Rafael POS. It comes in at 858 sq ft, 2 br 1 ba, built in 1961. Asking $499,000. What really got my attention was the realtor write-up:Estate sale/as is/rear deck needs work, enter at your own risk. Home needs work but has potential. [Realtor BS] Offers if any on 4/21."Offers if any"...WTF!?!
posted by Marinite at 4/13/2006 10:29:00 AM
6 Comments:
That is ugly beyond belief. When I drive through East Bay neighborhoods see all the lovely old Craftsmans, then come to Marin and see some of the utter junk that passes for housing stock here, and how much more it costs on average, I'm flabbergasted.
'oh and the prices for those lovely craftsmen are just as un-affordable as Marin.'
How can that be? Marin is special, right?
oh and the prices for those lovely craftsmen are just as un-affordable as Marin.
You're right. Prices in many areas of Berkeley are just as steep; I think most of the BA is affected, not just Marin. I've also noticed what Anon 11:15 wrote about: there's some really haphazard house construction around here. For example this home looks like an apartment from this angle.
Not to mention, we've all seen these cottages with shoddy additions, "homes" built like sheds, converted garages sitting on bay mud, slab-floor homes in flood plains, and tree houses teetering on unstable hillsides. Pick your natural disaster that could massively "reset" these communities. I often hear how hard it's become to get city approval for building plans, but how is all that oversight reflected in local construction? Were standards that much more lax in the past?
Estate sales are great.
Someone recently explained to me what happens. (I'm not up on estate taxes, so I didnt' understand).
Essentially, when someone dies, if they have a net worth of something like $1M, then the government can tax them on the value of their estate. This is the "death tax". Rates can be outrageous (I have heard as high as 55% of all holdings). So, the estate needs to liquidate things; fire sale type stuff where if you have cash, you can really score. It's all about cash at that point because they need to pay the taxes I think within 6 months. Most rich people get life insurance just to cover estate taxes so that their family doesn't need to sell everything when they die.
And let us not forget the traffic, oh and the prices for those lovely craftsmen are just as un-affordable as Marin.
At least you're getting a decent house while you're being financially raped. That was the point of my original post, which I see you've ignored.
In reference to East Bay, I mean Berkeley Hills, in relation to Marin: There is a certain Ethnic Group that has built North Berkeley over the course of who knows how long? Were they allowed to live in the City? Why else did the Beats commute from North Berkeley to the city. Spend 2 hours walking around North Berkeley, avoid the student areas. Walk Walnut, visit the bakeries. Sal's.
Marin is the absence of that type of community. Both are fine, right? I'm just saying North Berkeley is special because it has been developed that way by people who decided that their community was special.
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