Precarious POS On A Stick

It's been much too long since my last POS post. No, there is no shortage of POSs in Marin as there has been a huge number of new listings; I've just been lazy. Then again, nothing is moving and I'm sick to death of looking at the same list of Marin POSs for sale. One thing I have noticed is that many of the newer listings do not have pictures attached and way more than enough time has elapsed for the agents to update the listing. Maybe this blog is having an effect; maybe agents have been shamed into hiding the true POSness of their listings and so don't want to show a picture. Or maybe not.

Anyway, this POS in Sausalito was sent in by a reader (thank you). It comes in with 2 br 1 ba, 1040 sq ft, built during the 1920s. This is the actual picture you see on the agent's web site:

Looks nice. The interior is really nice too. But the reader who sent this in took this picture of the back end:

You gotta love those stilts. And one of the stilts comes with its own home-made staircase. To where? Who cares? How cool is that! The kids will love it.

So many houses in Marin are propped up like this one but rarely do you get to see pictures of them. One good mud slide, e-quake and you can ride your POS down the side of the hill. In Marin that's called "hill surfing". Heck, even a stout wind would do it. Or maybe stacking up all your crap on one side of the house would do it too. Or maybe jumping up and down a lot...

And for this precarious POS you just need to put $895,000 on the line. Seems like a safe bet to me. Not!

Commonplace Mill Valley POS

Just listed charming wood & glass secluded home desirable homestead valley.Remodeled w/fresh inside paint,carpets and mostly newer windows,new bath & kitchen appliances/shiny new tile.Spectacular views.Private road.Has a sunny separate area (studio style)w/separate entrance below main house.Not zoned as sep.Unit.Adjacent to acres & acres of wooded open space/hiking trails.This has not been on the market for many years & is unique & special.

This Mill Valley POS is not terribly "unique & special" as like many POSs in Marin it is small (2 br 1 ba, 1000 sq ft) and old (built in 1968). And I'm sorry, but being near open space does not make it special nor unique because most of the houses in Marin are near open space. And the upgrades are cheap as hell so they don't make it "unique & special" either. And, unfortunately, the price is not all that special at $898,000. In fact, this POS is so commonplace that I don't even know what distinguishes it enough to use as a title for this post.

Sorry about the bad picture, but this was the only one that shows the house; it looks like the agent used her cell phone camera.

One of Many POSs in Mill Valley

Opportunity for the right buyer who is looking for mill valley. A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home plus 1 bedroom 1 bath non-conforming rental unit. Foundation work required on the house with estimated from $150,000-$250,000. The house has not been tagged. Owners can live there but work should be done on the foundation before the next rainy season. Lots of upside in the neighborhood. Lockbox, go direct

This $599,000 Mill Valley POS comes in with 3 br 2 ba, 1536 sq ft, and a very pointed roof (and what the heck is going on there to the left of the main entrance?). At least it hasn't been "tagged" yet. Phew, what a relief. Otherwise, we might have to question our assumptions.

"Lots of upside in the neighborhood". Uh, "upside" what? Lot's of recent upside down buyers? Lot's of people with upside down priorities? Everyone in this neighborhood has to build up because of the 45 deg slopes? No doubt what the realtor meant was "upside potential" which implies that this is a whole neighborhood of POSs (not very surprising for Mill Valley, especially up on the mountain). Misery loves company don'tchyaknow.

So let's say some fool buyer pays the $599,000 asking price and then ends up paying an additional $150,000 to $250,000 to fix the foundation. (As the existence of toxic loans attests, it is clear that there are a lot of mathematically-challenged buyers out there so... that's a total of $749,000 to $849,000.) What are you left with? You are still the proud owner of one ugly-arsed Mill Valley POS in a whole neighborhood of POSs. The only difference is hopefully your house won't slide away next winter.

New ZipRealty Feature

Ok, this is not a POS post. I just wanted you to know of a new feature offered by ZipRealty.com:

Customer Home Reviews – customers can now post home reviews on any home they see for sale on our website. So far, we have had a pretty healthy number of reviews coming in from our clients. We have seen things from comparable sales, estimates from Zillow, and qualitative reviews of homes (roach-infested, etc…). Reviews are based on curb appeal, interior appeal, neighborhood, and an overall rating. Customers can also provide their own comments.

So have at it. Let these Marin sellers know what you really think of their POSs.

Power to the people!