A Zip Code is Not Enough for Luxury

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed)
Jul 14th 2006 at 3:59PM

When it comes to real estate, many people will tell you that it all boils down to: location, location, location. This may or may not be true, but more people than you can shake a stick at (or shake a mortgage at) believe in it wholeheartedly. A nice house can do a lot for a property, but it seems that people are paying a premium for the property alone now. And I'm not referring to a vacant lot, priced expensively but accordingly. I'm talking about lots with run-down, unimproved houses so small you might actually be at risk of inhaling them when you hear the price - assuming they don't collapse first.

These so-called houses are what are known as PoS homes. People are buying them because the prices are so inflated in certain areas that they are positive they will be "priced out of the market" if they don't snap it up now. This makes some realtors very happy, but it also makes for good reading because the Marin PoS blog is a chronicle of many, many PoS properties in the notoriously expensive Northern California area of Marin.

Take this charmer above, for example.

It has 1 br 1 ba, was built 1948, and measures a tiny 528 sq ft. The asking price is $639,000, which comes out to $1210 per sq ft. For comparison, consider that the Monte Sereno Estate is only $1,900 per sq ft. and the Fort Lauderdale estate we featured is $1,243 per sq ft.

At least the red door is included with purchase.

Check out the rest of the blog for some overpriced homes that are not at all worth it and remember that just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's good. And that "charmer" is real-estate speak for PoS.

Tags: blog, california, marin, marin housing, marin real estate, market, pos, pos house, real estate, RealEstate, red door, RedDoor, rela estate market