A burned-out house in California’s Silicon Valley has astounded home buyers by hitting the market for $799,000.
Images of the fire-ravaged home were shared on Facebook by real estate agent Holly Barr of Sereno Group on Tuesday. By Wednesday afternoon, the post had been shared 855 times.
Although Barr says the home’s price is based on local housing prices in the Willow Glen neighborhood, many say it is an example of the lack of affordable housing in one of the hottest markets in the US.
A burned-out house in California’s Silicon Valley has astounded home buyers by hitting the market for $799,000
Images of the fire-ravaged home were shared on Facebook by real estate agent Holly Barr of Sereno Group on Tuesday
Barr says that since posting on Facebook, 10 people have reached out to her who are interested in buying
‘Houses nearby have sold for $1.6million,’ Barr told SFGate. ‘This is land value at half of that.’
Social media commenters posted about how indignant they were at the expense of homes in Silicon Valley.
‘What has this area come to when a family earning good money cannot even afford to buy even a burnt out wreak [sic],’ one user wrote.
‘Sad that prices have jumped that high. Ill never be able to buy a home in the wonderful neighborhood I grew up in…and I make a “good” living,’ wrote another
According to Barr, there are many benefits that come with buying the dilapidated house, which burned down two years ago.
The lot is 5,800 square feet and is near a commercial strip brimming with restaurants, stores and cafes.
And the value is showing. Barr says that since posting on Facebook, 10 people have reached out to her who are interested in buying.
Many who have seen the listing criticized the fact that the building will likely have to be torn down, but Barr said there is a better way to go about things to save money.
Many who have seen the listing criticized the fact that the building will likely have to be torn down, but Barr said it is cheaper to simply remodel
According to a recent report released by Zillow, a typical homeowner in San Jose gains $99.81 of equity on their home every working-hour with homes valued at approximately $1.078million
The house looked much different in May 2015 (above). It burned down two years ago
‘[The previous owners] did leave it standing so you can remodel it versus tearing it down, so you save a lot of money when you can leave a wall up and do a remodel versus a complete tear down,’ Barr told KTVU.
Doug Goss, vice president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, told SFGate that there has been an increase in people buying homes in Willow Glen following the news that Google will be building a new campus in nearby downtown San Jose.
‘It’s like what happened in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara when Apple was anticipating putting in the new headquarters, and prices around there skyrocketed,’ he said.
According to a recent report released by Zillow, a typical homeowner in San Jose gains $99.81 of equity on their home every working-hour with homes valued at approximately $1.078million.