So you think Reno housing prices are out-of-whack? How about taking a little side trip to San Francisco, our feeder market ruled by pure sanity. This beautifully staged little Brady Bunch number, priced at just under a million, includes bonus pink carpets. Puh-lease, how can you resist? see
Not to be outdone by our more sophisticated sister-by-the-bay, I offer you the Durastone Fun House, Reno’s own version of decorating, um, creativity. Innocent, charming little farmhouse on the outside, laboratory of all the crazy built-ins you could possibly create with whatever Durastone is on the inside. If this house is ever held open, you must go. You can actually roll marbles through more than 100 feet of clear, plastic tubes from the second floor to the first, a bonus far more cool than ho-hum pink carpets. see
Move to Reno?
The house in SF has a lot of potential. I especially like the “entertainment room” with the large bar. Given the SF market, the place could be considered “reasonably priced” even with the large cost of re-modeling.
A 4 car garage in SF has to be worth something given the 15000+ car windows broken out every year in the City.
Insider
Diane,
Why don’t you do some analysis of cost versus rent? For example, how much did it cost to rent a house (on average) in Reno in 1995. Compare this to what it would cost to buy in 1995 using a 30 year mortgage, taxes, etc. Then do the same for 2000. Again for October 2005 (top of market) and finally for today. This way we can see how cheap it is to buy right now based on Reno’s past. This will tell us if there is “value” in the current real-estate market. I realize this would take some work, but is sure would be interesting.
BanteringBear
Wow, those places are quite repulsive. Nobody is going to pay a million for that dump in SF. And speaking of the bay area, it looks like prices aren’t faring so well there either.
From the Contra Costa times:
“East Bay cities such as Berkeley, Brentwood, Clayton and Walnut Creek experienced a nearly 25 percent drop in median home prices from February of last year. Walnut Creek’s median home sales price dropped to $519,000, according to DataQuick, making it lower than the median home price for Martinez, Brentwood and Pinole.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/17019067.htm
Kevin
An entertaining site you might get a big laugh out for Bay Area madness of it Burbed.com- here’s a “gem” in San Jose- a 580 sqft 1/1 dump for a 1/2 million:
http://www.burbed.com/2007/04/02/hiding-from-680-499000-583sqft-house/
BanteringBear
In regards to that San Jose crack shack: If there’s a realtor representing that seller, they should lose their license due to incompetence.
BanteringBear
Hi Diane.
Speaking of pricing perspective, what’s the deal with the .58 acre lot in Somersett with an asking price of $255k? That seems outrageous to me. I can’t say I’m surprised it is not selling. I seem to remember seeing acreage there for around the same price.
Diane Cohn
Insider, thanks for the idea. That’s a big job, but it could reveal some interesting results.
BB, when we priced that lot last fall, it was actually a good value compared to the competition, but I’ve been watching prices drop all around us. The owners may just have to hold and wait. There are so many lots for sale in Somersett right now… it’s a very challenging selling environment.
Kate5000
Hi Diane,
What do you think of the current state of economy in the Reno-Sparks area? Are many new companies moving in or is it all stalled for now?