The First Home in Albany to Hit the $2 Million Mark-Sells for $765,000 Over Asking Price

[sav858]

Crazy that some homes in the East Bay are starting to sell for above $1K a square foot. That must be a first I'd imagine.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

I just happen to remember back when prices were at that price point...even much less.

At that price point, it was a 1-br. house with a kitchen from 1917. For the times, that would have been overpriced, for a 1-br.

[artemis78]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

At that price point, it was a 1-br. house with a kitchen from 1917. For the times, that would have been overpriced, for a 1-br.

It was very likely a 2/1 when they bought it--the second bedroom on the first floor would have been converted to public space/stairs footprint when the second floor was added. But yes, $330K for a 2/1 in 1989 was pretty expensive, so that likely reflected a house that was in pristine condition and relatively nicely done to start with. Just looked at the full gallery, and it's really beautifully done. I envy the lucky buyers!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by artemis78

It was very likely a 2/1 when they bought it--the second bedroom on the first floor would have been converted to public space/stairs footprint when the second floor was added. But yes, $330K for a 2/1 in 1989 was pretty expensive, so that likely reflected a house that was in pristine condition and relatively nicely done to start with. Just looked at the full gallery, and it's really beautifully done. I envy the lucky buyers!

That's what I was thinking; there must have been a 2nd br. that was converted to a different use. And probably the proximity to Solano and to BART figured into that $330K price, as well.

[TR95]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The house does have Bay views (see link for photos). It looks like one reason the previous owners added a second floor was to take advantage of the Bay views. They added a second floor, turning the house from a 1-br. to a 4-br., and prior to selling, did a major remodel on the kitchen and breakfast area/pantry. Clearly, that paid off.

Yes, very nice view at that. So, the prior owners likely had $800k+ into the house. 1989 was almost the top of the market back then. Not sure how bad it got here, but in the South Bay of LA, Beach cities (Manhattan, Hermosa), houses declined 30%+ from 1990-1995/1996. All the aerospace people were let go and moved to Phoenix or other places and rented their houses out. I remember people thinking how crazy it would be to pay $300k for a house less than a mile from the beach back then. Not so crazy now, and I'm sure there were plenty on here 3 years ago saying how crazy people were to pay $900k for a 1,400 sf house in Albany.