For anyone in the market for a single family residence in Noe Valley under $1 million, pickings are slim, at best. Condos, sure, they’re a dime a dozen as the Noe Valley condo market follows rents off the proverbial cliff, but the attractive single family home for less than 7 figures is a rare find indeed. (click to enlarge images)

2324 Castro Street could be that find. Maybe.

At 1,380 square feet with a back yard and two
parking spots, the self-proclaimed cottage certainly
fits squarely into the “condo alternative” category.
The house does seem to try and crowd a lot into a
small space: Kitchen, dining room, reading alcove,
master bedroom with parlor, office/den, laundry,
storage and the aforementioned parking.

But the outdoor space could make up for what may be a cramped interior, and the premium for not having to share the yard with the condo owners upstairs should be significant.

The only question left is whether 2324 Castro is a DEAL OR NO DEAL?

Address: 2324 Castro St., San Francisco, CA 94131
(MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 2; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,380 sq ft
Lot Size: N/A
List Date: 9/11/2009
Original List Price: $849,000
Current List Price: $849,000
MLS no.: 361149

Real Estate Agent Comment: The Quintessential Garden Cottage – Indoor/outdoor living at it’s best! Enchanting home-privacy through a tranquil garden + porch in the front + private manicured back yard w/ apple trees + charming patio on the rear. Home features living room w/garden outlook. Dining room that opens to kitchen w/reading alcove. Kit w/granite counters &skylight. Master bed has separate parlor
w/ensuite bath. Office/den w/french doors out to back yard.
Laundry + storage. Hardwood floors.

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

Every once in a while, we run across a house where the list price just doesn’t make sense. When 5692 Cabot Dr. in Montclair popped up on our radar screen, it screamed DEAL without question. So, naturally, we immediately tried to figure out what was wrong with the house. (click images to enlarge)

Good location? Check.
Walking distance to downtown Montclair, an upscale enclave in the Oakland Hills.

Nice interior? Check.
Tasteful updates, high ceilings.

Yard? Check.
Many homes in the Oakland hills are wedged into cliffs and don’t have yards. This one has one– albeit it a small one — but plenty of room for a table and BBQ on the patio, plus some flat ground for a garden.

Quirky? A bit.
The downstairs bedroom has no bathroom and is sort of
long and skinny, but certainly not a deal killer.

We scratched our heads — what gives? This place should sell in a nanosecond above list.

Then we found it: No parking.

Not only does the home have no a driveway or garage, the part of the street immediately in front of it is a No Parking zone! There is street parking nearby, but this should be viewed as a definite negative. That being said, this home still offers a relatively inexpensive to move into a popular neighborhood with excellent public schools.

So, does all that add up to a DEAL OR NO DEAL?

Address: 5692 Cabot St., Oakland, CA 94611 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,687 sq ft
Lot Size: 7,242
List Date: 7/30/2009
Original List Price: $649,000
Current List Price: $649,000
MLS no.:40422306

Real Estate Agent Comment: Heart of Montclair, move-in ready w/a Walk Score of 80. HWF’s, FP, deck in front, patio/yard in back. Upgraded kit & baths. Plus room. New paint inside and out. A must see..

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

Ask a sample of Bay Area residents to point to San Ramon on a map, and you’ll likely get as many people looking in Marin for San Rafael as you get people who can actually locate it in the East Bay just north of Dublin and south of Danville.

New developments sprouted up all over San Ramon during the housing boom, and prices screamed upwards. Values have since fallen back to earth, and attractive homes can be financed with low cost government loans. We don’t expect prices to stabilize
in the near term, as mid-markets are being pinched from trouble in the high-end, but we do believe that the steepest of price declines in San Ramon are now behind us.

This week’s Deal or No Deal is located in a cul-de-sac, which is always desirable, and has a nicely landscaped yard, updates throughout and a decent amount of square footage. The only question, of course,
is whether it’s a DEAL OR NO DEAL?

Address: 470 San Diego Pl., San Ramon, CA 94583 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,665 sq ft
Lot Size: 8,000
List Date: 7/27/2009
Original List Price: $649,000
Current List Price: $649,000
MLS no.:40421615

Real Estate Agent Comment: This beautifully remodeled home is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the desirable neighborhood of Cape Cod-style homes near Montevideo Road in San Ramon. The open floor plan of ~1700 square feet has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2-car garage, family room with fireplace, and formal dining.

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

As the San Francisco rental market softens, so too is the market for condos and TICs (Tenancy in Common). This bodes well for buyers — as long as they can be patient. In general, we do not forsee a stabilization in the lower end of the condo/TIC market in San Francisco in the near term, so until that changes buyers very much have the upper hand, as they can demand price reductions, parking and other amenities to be included in the sales price.

This week’s Deal or No Deal is a newly remodeled TIC in
Nob Hill, close to the bars and restaurants of Hyde Street.
2 units in the building are up for sale, this being the middle
(and therefore lower priced) unit. Updates throughout, access to the back yard and a list price drop of $70,000. Parking, however, is listed as an extra $45,000 or $75,000 (depending on size of the spot).

In addition, HOA dues of $394 makes the monthly maintenance on this spot a bit on the pricey side.
The spot looks great, but do the numbers add up?
That’s what will determine whether this is a DEAL OR NO DEAL.

Address: 1446 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94109 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 2; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,025 sq ft
Lot Size: N/A
List Date: 5/26/2009
Original List Price: $669,000
Current List Price: $599,000
MLS no.:357053

Real Estate Agent Comment: Spectacular studs-out contemporary remodel of vintage Edwardian. 2BR/2BA flat with custom finishes throughout. Modern open floor kitchen/great room w/professional Viking appliances & Ceasarstone breakfast bar has french doors that open to rear deck w/access to lush landscaped rear yard. Master bath w/glass mosaic tile & walk-in closet. White oak floors, custom lighting & fixtures & new windows throughout.
In-unit W/D, garage pkg available.

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

Click HERE for the results of this Deal or No Deal.

Nestled in the heart of Ignacio Valley, Walnut Creek is the heart of the Contra Costa County economy. During the dotcom boom, tech companies of all stripes opened offices downtown, as the skyline grew and housing developments began to dot the hillsides. (click on images to enlarge)

During the housing boom, surrounding towns like Antioch,
Brentwood and San Ramon saw rapid development as
homebuilders threw up houses where farms and rolling hills
once stood. Traffic, along with the local economy, grew, and
Walnut Creek gained mightily as its neighboring towns overflowed.

Housing prices in Walnut Creek shot up during the boom, like they did everywhere else, but the town’s relatively strong economy caused values to hold up relatively well. Median prices peaked at just north of $900,000 as recently as January 2008, but have since tumbled to just over
$600,000.

630 Sitka is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with 1,602
square feet on an nice sized lot. The property has a nice
yard and some updates, but there certainly is room for
improvement. The only question (of course) is whether
it’s a: DEAL or NO DEAL?

Address: 630 Sitka Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94598 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,602 sq ft
Lot Size: 8,880 sq ft
List Date: 6/19/2009
Original List Price: $669,950
Current List Price: $649,950
MLS no.: 40415690

Real Estate Agent Comment: Like a smile is to happiness, this home’s perfect blend of structure and environment creates a warm, comfortable place to relax and enjoy with your family & friends. You’ll appreciate how this home has been tastefully updated throughout and how the abundance of natural light brings this home to life

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

Cirios Verdict: NO DEAL (Click here for the original Deal or No Deal post)

The subject is an updated home in the hills of Belmont, CA. The home has an updated kitchen and two updated bathrooms. The backyard sits on the side of a hill but it has been tiered, which makes it significantly more usable than just a hillside. However, the home only has two bedrooms and neither of them are pictured, which is concerning. Also, the home only has a carport at the bottom of the hill which is not ideal.

Belmont is a very desirable city on the Peninsula. Schools are very good and it is close to numerous job centers. Even though values have been falling, Belmont is not a distressed market and sales activity has been strong over the past few months. One of the biggest factors in the decline of values is the lack of a jumbo loan market, which remains constricted. However, the long term outlook for Belmont remains very strong as the Peninsula will remain a desirable place to live for the foreseeable future.

Positives: Updated kitchen and Bathrooms

Negatives: No pictures of the bedrooms / no garage

Verdict: No Deal

Two bedroom / One Bathroom homes are selling in the mid to high 600s and this home is only listed for $695,000. As long as the bedrooms are not too small, this home looks pretty attractive, but at a slightly lower value.

(Don’t forget to start saving money to turn the car port into a garage)

Address: 1715 Notre Dame Ave., Belmont, CA 94002
List Date: 4/4/2009
Current List Price: $695,000
Cirios Value: $670,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 3.6% over-listed

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

Have a home you’d like Cirios to use for our next House of the Week?

Cirios Verdict: (ALMOST) DEAL (Click here for the original Deal or No Deal post)

The subject is a small home in the Berkeley Hills on a large lot, a good portion of which is usable. Crystal Way is a not-through street located in the lower part of the Berkeley Hills, close to the UC Berkeley Campus and around a 10-minute drive to the North Berkeley BART. The home is one of the smallest in the area, and also one of the lowest priced.

The Berkeley Hills is a desirable part of Berkeley, with lots of old money, big homes, many of which have amazing views of the San Francisco Bay Area. In general there is not much for sale in this area, especially at this price point. In recent weeks however, more supply is coming onto the market. We expect this trend to continue, and home prices to weaken. Since the broader housing downturn began, this part of Berkeley has held up remarkably well.

The subject is a unique home in the Berkeley Hills in that it is small and priced below $500,000. The only truly comparable homes are located down the hill closer to campus and the BART, as there is virtually nothing in the Berkeley Hills that is similar to the subject. For this reason, we believe the subject should sell close to list, but we believe a buyer should be able to talk the seller down a bit.

Address: 30 Crystal Way, Berkeley, CA 94708
List Date: 6/30/2009
Current List Price: $499,000
Cirios Value: $499,000
List Price vs. Cirios Value: 5.0% over-listed

For a complete Cirios Valuation, click here for our CLEAR report, or on the image to the right.

Have a home you’d like Cirios to use for our next House of the Week?

San Mateo is about as convenient as it gets for Peninsula job centers, 15 minutes north to San Francisco and another 20 minutes south to Mountan View. This home is a perfect example of what happens when you list a property too high.
(click images to the right to enlarge)

First listed 10/31/2008 for $839,000, the asking price has chased the market all the way down to $699,000, where its been since early March. The ultimate question at this point is how much room the seller has to lower the asking price without getting into a short sale situation — the home was bought in February 2005 for $761,900.

DEAL or NO DEAL?

Address: 2605 Garfield Ct. San Mateo, CA 94402 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,110 sq ft
Lot Size: 7,400 sq ft
List Date: 10/31/2008
Original List Price: $839,000
Current List Price: $699,000
MLS number:80842997

Real Estate Agent Comment: WELL SITUATED IN QUIET CUL-DE-SAC. 3 BEDROOM 2 BATH. FRESHLY PAINTED. NEW CARPETS. HARDWOOD FLOORS, FIREPLACE, EAT-IN KITCHEN. FABULOUS YARD. CLOSE TO SCHOOL, SHOPPING AND TRANSPORTATION. ONE LEVEL CUTIE. WASHER/DRYER ARE INCLUDED BUT NOT WARRENTED.

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!