Novato "House Has No Value"

House has no value, but if you can clear the land, build your dream home in a beautiful novato location. Major work, not a weekend project!

Hmmm... "clear the land" + "build your dream home" = "not a weekend project". I am so glad that I can rely on the acumen and clarity of thought of Marin real estate agents to let me know that building a home is not a weekend project. Otherwise, I might have hurt myself.

"House has no value". Finally, the truth. And that must be why there is no photo for this one. This house-of-no-value comes in with 3 br 1 ba (each of which has no value), 1280 sq ft of no value, built in 1926. Since there is no value you would think it would be asking something close to $0 but you would be wrong; it's asking just $499,000. Thank goodness they are not asking for a half mill because then it would be overpriced.

"a beautiful novato location". I admit I am not all that familiar with Novato but judging by this Google Map image it does not seem to be located in such a beautiful location...smack dab in the middle of the Novato flats:


Update: So I did the blogger thing and drove out there and took this pic of the house:

The New Chic in Fairfax

Come to Marin and live the Mac & Cheese lifestyle. All you need is a tiny cottage with all the lifestyle clichés and you're set. Like this one. Marin cottages are the new chic, the new in-thing. Thanks to the housing bubble in Marin we find that living below one's means is the New Cool. Never mind that's it's more requirement than option. Ignore those troublesome psychologists and what they say about rationalization and cognitive dissonance.

This Fairfax POS is perfect for those of you who want to pretend that you cannot afford a real house. It comes in with 2 br 1 ba, 858 sq ft, built in 1920. It's got french doors, hardwood floors, yadda yadda, even a gated entry (for all of that 4487 sq feet of lot). But in order to give the appearance of living below your means while not really doing so you have to expect a steep price and that's why this one comes in at $795,000 ($927/sq ft).

POSs Like This Make Me Mad

This 1 br 1 ba, 700 sq ft POS is in San Rafael. They are asking $559,000 which works out to about $800/sq ft. I don't know about you but that seems like a lot to pay for a yellow box with an old roof and with a tiny-arsed garage with one of its walls falling down. But hey, that's just me. What do I know? It's Marin after all and everyone wants to live here, right? Marin is the only place on Earth that is not an "armpit" or so they say. That means you just have to forget about how much stuff like this costs...you know, bring your bucket of money and box of stupid, shut the F up and suck it up like recent Marinites before you. And I'm sure the real estate agent who is peddling this thing off to the "lumpinvestorate" has a whole laundry list of reasons why this is the perfect Marin starter home for that young family.

Rustic POS

Major project! Nice location in idyllic west marin. Like a lot with some prep work done. Septic system done with permits for repair. Foundation repair done with permits. Expired roof permit. Needs roof! Has full basement.

It is sometimes quipped that out in West Marin people are, shall we say, a bit "rustic". Yeah, that's it. This Lagunitas POS is so rustic that you have to sleep and do-your-business out of doors -- it comes in with 0 ba 0 br, 1086 sq ft, and is asking $339,000 making this the cheapest "house" currently for sale in Marin.

(Sorry about the bad pic; it is the only one offered; I guess it did not occur to the agent to actually photograph the house in question.)