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That's a lot of interest for a house of a mere 792 square feet priced
at -- no, it's not a misprint -- $409,000.
``There are people who really want two bedrooms who are saying, `Oh,
what the heck,' '' said Dunckel, an agent with Alain Pinel Realtors.
``I mean, this is the cheapest house in Palo Alto, I think.''
It's true. At the end of last week, the Mediterranean-style home on the
2,875-square-foot lot was indeed the least expensive single-family house
on the Multiple Listing Service in Palo Alto, a city where the median
price of a detached home was $847,000 last month.
But one-bedroom homes, usually considered starters for single people or
newly married couples, used to represent the affordable end of the market.
No more.
And when the real estate season begins in earnest, traditionally just
after the Super Bowl, home-buying may turn even more frenzied in Santa
Clara County -- especially if there are few new listings forthcoming.
After all, another Palo Alto one-bedroom, 1140 Bryant St., was
listed last fall at $495,000 and sold for -- ready? -- about $750,000.
On Saturday, the College Terrace bungalow was open for viewing. Three
women were waiting when Jane Hummert, a colleague of Dunckel's, arrived to
show the house, and more than 50 people streamed in and out in two hours.
Resigned to the
price
``I think 409 is a quite good price, even though it's only one bedroom.
Doesn't that sound ridiculous?'' said Stella Bryan, who owns a home in San
Jose but wants to move closer to her job in San Francisco and needs room
for her dog. ``Palo Alto is a great location. And what else is there at
409?''
But for Sally Campen, who is contemplating a move from Southern
California to be near her daughter, who lives in Redwood City,
house-hunting in Palo Alto brought on a case of sticker shock.
``The prices here are just astounding,'' Campen said. ``What else is
there to say?''
Many potential buyers have asked about the possibility of adding on to
the 68-year-old College Terrace house, which is on a lot only 25 feet by
115 feet. They have until Tuesday at noon, when Dunckel will review
purchase offers, to research the issue with the city planning department.
Right now, the little house in College Terrace is one of only four
one-bedroom houses in about 620 single-family homes listed for sale last
week in Santa Clara County.
``What the seller is selling there is the land value of the property
there in downtown Los Gatos,'' said Dan Schwarzbach, the listing agent for
the house with Schwarzbach Associates Inc. in Boulder Creek. ``Somebody
will buy it with the idea of building a new home.''
Still, it occupies a lot of only 3,300 square feet. Schwarzbach said
the city will only allow a building of 1,280 square feet, plus a
400-square-foot garage, on the lot.
The price for this rustic piece of yesteryear in the foothills? That
would be $850,000.
Williams put the home on the market last Tuesday and had 10 or 15 calls
by the following afternoon. ``It was overwhelming,'' Williams said.
Because the home is on a large lot, she said, some of the potential
buyers are pondering the feasibility of subdividing the parcel. ``A lot of
my colleagues have let people know there's land for sale, but no one cares
about the house,'' she said.
The asking price: $369,950. Again, buyers only care about the land
value.
Living in this one-room house ``pretty much would be like camping out
in a cabin,'' said listing agent Judy Yeager Salberg of Century 21 Seville
Contempo. There are several other petite homes on the street, she said,
but this one is in bad shape.
How can she justify the price tag? ``It seems like a high price, but
it's because of the location'' near Los Gatos, she said.
A seller's market
``At this point I don't see it [one bedroom] as a disadvantage at all,''
said Amy Gear, an agent with American Dream Realty in Scotts Valley,
who recently listed a one-bedroom Los Gatos mountain cabin on 13 acres
for $365,000. The home, which is only reachable by driving down five
miles of unpaved road, is in escrow, but she declined to say for
how much.
``People are grasping for whatever housing they can get that's
affordable,'' she said.
One-Bedroom Bonanza
Hot market, good locations bring
top dollar for valley's tiniest homes
With
the number of houses on the market nearing record lows, some one-bedrooms
fetch prices as high and higher than homes that offer owners much more
elbow room, especially if the one-bedroom home is well-located or easy
to demolish to make room for a larger house.
Contact Sue McAllister at smcallister@sjmercury.com or
(408) 920-5833.
