90 Alvarado Living (Wide)
It’s two different perspectives on the “open concept living/dining area” within 90 Alvarado (and with no real argument from us as both shots are included and titled in the listing).
90 Alvarado Living
We’re digging the high ceilings and ladder to the loft storage area (but desperately want to reconfigure the rest). And assuming the remodeling was prior to its sale for $415,000 in November 2007, it’s an apples to apples TIC sale to be and asking $449,000.
∙ Listing: 90 Alvarado (1/1) – $449,000 (TIC) [MLS]

23 thoughts on “One Room, Two Perspectives (And An Alvarado TIC Apple To Be?)”
  1. This is an excellent demonstration of how a wide angle lens can distort reality and make a room look more spacious. The photographer must have held the camera against the wall in the first photo and against the window in the second.
    I wonder if there are still any buyers placing offers remotely and without seeing it in person ? It takes a real leap of faith these days to evaluate a property via the marketing photos alone.

  2. Pay careful attention.
    The reason that the lower glass in the windows is translucent is because you are right on the sidewalk level on both street frontages.
    No, that is not the sound of a patio fountain you hear, but some party boy pissing against the side of the building 6-inches from your head while you lay in bed. Sweet Dreams!

  3. Good point Redseca2. I generally avoid most corner properties at all costs in the city. I’d feel too exposed and vulnerable to break-ins, graffiti and general noise. On the upside you don’t have any neigbors on one side and you get more natural light. Still, the negatives outweigh the positives in my mind.

  4. Good point Redseca2. I generally avoid most corner properties at all costs in the city. I’d feel too exposed and vulnerable to break-ins, graffiti and general noise. On the upside you don’t have any neigbors on one side and you get more natural light. Still, the negatives outweigh the positives in my mind.

  5. Wow, that widescreen TV appears REALLY wide in one of those photos. Do they really think people take these photos seriously when they see them?

  6. If it sells for $400K, it’s $2150 after tax (incl allotting $400 per month for HOA assessments and $200 per month for insurance).
    That’s about $100-200 above the asking rent for a place like this, but then you have to plan on paying the $20,000.00 “move out fee” to the realtor plus 2720 in transfer taxes. If a landlord told you they’d rent you this place for $2150 but there was a $22,720 move out fee, would anyone seriously take it?

  7. Well you do insure that the landlord can never evict you for anything other then non-payment of rent, you can sublet or rent it out without worrying about giving the landlord a cut, you do not have to worry about an owner move-in eviction (had it happend to me), or being Ellis’d out of the building. You in effect get a lifetime option on renewing the lease without the landlord having any say on the matter what so ever.
    There are also so disadvantages to renting as compared to owning too. But I wonder what this means for the market that instead of the just the casual dismal of a place as being a bad deal cause you could rent it for so much cheaper that we used to see, we now have Tipster making some weird stretch about “move out fees” to try to justify why renting is still better.

  8. Apart from all the kookie wide lens shots, two things jumped out at me with this listing.
    1. “10% down OK!” … no kidding. This is desperation folks.
    2. “Second closet behind orange curtain.” Now we know why there is that strange orange curtain back of the bed … and just how we get to the so-called closet is a mystery. Move the bed each time?

  9. Oceangoer — if you look at the picture before (#9) the one you’re referencing, it appears the bed is some distance from the orange curtain. I believe the wide angle lens makes it appear that the bed covers the closet in #10.
    These pictures are very confusing, because the perspectives are all screwed up. It’s just comical.

  10. Agree on the laundry room. But why use a stackable when there’s plenty of room on the porch for a side by side?

  11. If it sells for asking, the old owner will have spent $178 per month to live here. I hope they enjoyed it!!!!
    That’s assuming 6% realtor fee, not getting jacked on your insurance like Tipster does (based on quote above), and no mysterious HOA assessments. Course, that doesn’t include the interest tax deduction, so it was probably free.

  12. Tipster,
    What if the person owned it for 10-years before moving out, and in so doing, built up $80,000 in equity? And what if they wrote off an additional $70,000 in income taxes during that time?
    Does $150,000 help cover the $22,000 “moving fee”?
    Yes, it does.
    Sometimes you say sh** that is so stupid, that one can hardly believe it’s you writing it.

  13. “What if the person owned it for 10-years before moving out, and in so doing, built up $80,000 in equity?”
    Uhh, but he didn’t own it for 10 years. Purchase was in 11/07. Sorry to rain on your hypothetical with reality.

  14. Does anyone else question the island bar in the kitchen? Narrow kitchen, island right in the middle. Perhaps placing cabs, reconfig of kit would work better. Inquiring minds want to know.
    If this sells for > $400k the orig developer probably did well, as a ground floor unit like that is definitely ‘funky.’ Perhaps the bold design moves will make (or break) this unit.

  15. “What if the person owned it for 10-years before moving out, and in so doing, built up $80,000 in equity? And what if they wrote off an additional $70,000 in income taxes during that time?”
    Wrote off $70,000 as a deduction or $70,000 in actual taxes? There’s a BIG difference. $70,000 as a deduction, may mean between $17.5K (25%) and $24.5K (35%) in actual federal taxes at this price range. Writing off $70K in actual federal taxes means you paid $200K-$280K in interest, which makes no sense for this house, even if the 10-year ownership were possible for someone who bought in 2007.
    Most people don’t understand how the mortgage interest deduction works. This is why people often make such terrible calculations when they are trying to determine the cost of ownership of a house.

  16. “And what if they wrote off an additional $70,000 in income taxes during that time?”
    The income tax writeoff would only serve to keep the rent vs buy at the same $100-200 excess for the entire ten year period. It doesn’t go into the owner’s pocket, it just means that the cost of ownership stays about $100-200 more than the cost of renting.
    Your comment about $80,000 in gains is speculative and was not borne out by the post Japanese bubble prices, which went down for 20 years. And very few people live in one bedroom apartments for ten years. Certainly some do, but most do not.

  17. Milkshake, also take a look at #9 and #10. Guess you actually can’t play Arena Football in the living room…

  18. I do not think this is an apple. I stopped by the open house earlier today and the broker indicaed that the renovation was done largely over the past year. It’s cute so far as it goes, but the room size is sorta backwards–big bedroom, small living room.

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