on 22 May 2004 : 07:45, button sez:
on 22 May 2004 : 08:58, Taylor sez:
on 22 May 2004 : 12:38, James sez:
$350,000 for a 950 square foot house, barely enough room for two people to live comfortably.
What do people who buy a house like that do for a living?
Where I live, $350,000 would easily buy you a stately old three-story home of 1920s vintage with 5000 square feet.
on 22 May 2004 : 15:37, Jacob sez:
on 22 May 2004 : 18:01, alison sez:
on 22 May 2004 : 18:19, James sez:
Memphis, Tennessee.
I may have exaggerated a bit. I couldn't find a 5000 square foot house for that amount, but here's a 3300 square foot house, built in 1902, for $349,000.
The second link above says it's 2.70 stories, which I guess means the attic is a living space (common in these old houses). Note also that it has a wine cellar in the basement!
on 22 May 2004 : 18:51, Lisa sez:
on 23 May 2004 : 05:57, Taylor sez:
Memphis is one of the poorest areas in the US.
On the other hand, the bay area has silicon valley driving up prices like mad.
on 23 May 2004 : 09:10, James sez:
I'm not saying Memphis is anything like the Bay Area, just that the difference in house prices is staggering. I knew things were expensive there but not that expensive.
I mean, a house the size of Justin's would be extremely cramped even for two people.
on 23 May 2004 : 09:50, Judy Rheingold sez:
Wow Justin....the place cleans up nice! Looks adorable. Hope the last "open" goes over well. It is so under market value I bet you will get a ton of walk throughs. I hope for multiple bids for you!
950 square feet is about 50 more then our main house. We managed 3 people in this space until the office was added bringing us up to 1150 total. If only we don't all want to sell and move to Oregon. Whoops, that has already been done. Maybe MO?
on 23 May 2004 : 17:48, Ezekiel sez:
on 23 May 2004 : 21:24, chaching sez:
Dude, is the paint still peeling in the bathroom? Cause if the paint is still peeling then maybe you'll only get 25k over* asking price.
Yes folks...in the good ole republic of Bay Area you better be prepared to bring your American Express. Cause noone pays asking price only these days. It's take at least another 50k.
on 23 May 2004 : 22:01, luke sez:
Give me southeast over west
A stately home, a twist in the tea, a smell of the acrid past, floating over tracks that seperate the black...from the whites, for the past and the present are real in the eyes of the southern dweller, who confronts the legacy and roles in the dirt making it fresh and hospitable, and courteous...honestly.
on 24 May 2004 : 08:52, le sez:
on 24 May 2004 : 10:19, justin sez:
I was sad to think about moving out of that place, until I realized that there are nice and neat homes everywhere. Inside and out - people work to make comfort and beauty where they stay, in their way.
During a trip to Estonia, I saw a wonderful looking house near a big city for around $100,000.
James talks about a house in Memphis Tennessee; it may not be the Bay Area, but if you look at demographic data for the area where that giant old house sits, you'll see that most of the people living around there make a lot of money, have graduate degrees, live in homes built before the 1970s, but moved into the neighborhood during the very late 1990s. Memphis may not be the Bay Area, but this area sounds similarly upwardly affluent. Just cheaper, with fewer avocados and better barbeque.
on 24 May 2004 : 23:34, Steve Rhodes sez:
It was fine for 3 people when I stayed there for a while back in 2000.
When you live in the bay area (or NYC), you just get used to living on a smaller scale than say Memphis or Indianapolis.
on 25 May 2004 : 07:37, C(h)ristine sez:
Justin's house is not such a bad deal -- it's a great starter home for the Bay Area.
And the house up the street is a tad bigger, but priced much higher (which I hope means multiple bids for you, Justin):
http://redoakrealty.mlsb.com/mls/property_detail.cfm?ClientID=1&LIST_NUMB=40015871&list=1&ht=3
on 25 May 2004 : 15:32, Don Wrege sez:
on 25 May 2004 : 20:10, Pablo Escobar sez:
on 26 May 2004 : 09:29, bubbe sez:
Oy! The place it should look so good always. But Bubbe confesses, I never saw it look that way when Mr. Too Much Electronics lived there.
Advice from Bubbe: keep the next place so clean you could eat off the floors!
on 26 May 2004 : 18:07, nubchai sez:
950 sf is really small. In Chicago there are apartments bigger than that. But the flip side is location. With the weather, ocean etc. people are willing to pay over $300 K for the complete package.
on 27 May 2004 : 19:00, Pat sez:
How safe is the area? Needless to say if Pablo Escobar is looking to move in it might be going downhill
on 27 May 2004 : 19:21, Pablo Escobar sez:
Where Justin lives is really nice. There are some isolated property crimes but the murders are usually situated closer to the Oakland Coliseum or in the West Oakland badlands. I would open up some branch operations from Cali, but the territories are pretty much spoken for.
on 28 May 2004 : 11:03, alison sez:
on 28 May 2004 : 11:11, Howard sez:
on 29 May 2004 : 03:34, Mark sez:
I wish you well down there, and I don't doubt that it is probably a wise career move... but can I be the first to say that Los Angeles is just too L.A.?
on 29 May 2004 : 09:04, Howard sez:
on 30 May 2004 : 19:57, tim sez:
Just did a double-take when I walked past the Red Oak Realty on Solano in Berkeley and recognized the drawing for your house listing. Small world indeed.
on 22 June 2004 : 06:45, Peter sez:
on 6 September 2004 : 13:05, leslie sez: