Comments on: Kensington: A Blueprint For Your Next Home

By: tracey.taylor

tracey.taylor — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:50:25 +0000

D Gordon: Somebody out there knows what’s going down with this house/lot. Anybody?

By: D Gordon

D Gordon — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:55:48 +0000

This property was just purchased for $550k in August 2007. Wonder if it just being abandoned at this point due to lack of funds…

By: Tracey Taylor

Tracey Taylor — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:51:12 +0000

KJ: Thank the Lord for informed readers such as yourself. I was merely dipping my toe into the Kensington market (I’m a Berkeley “connoisseur”) and so I am delighted you enhanced my post with such valuable information. Thank you.

SC: The average price for a 2-bedroom house in Kensington is $952K (according to Trulia) which makes $549K look reasonable. But without seeing the house it is impossible to judge. Maybe you’re right or maybe…

David: … is right and all we have here is a tear-down. It would certainly explain the listing’s absence of photos.

By: David

David — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:37:48 +0000

It’s not really a “fixer.” It’s a tear-down. You’re paying $550K for the lot and the privilege of building essentially a new house.

By: sc

sc — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:12:21 +0000

I really dont think 549k for a tiny 2/1/5 fixer in kensington is a good deal.

I think you need to readjust your thinking out of bubble pricing and into reality of the new market which is affected by affordability, price/income ratios, economic indicators, and the mortgage crisis.

I think a more appropriate description of the home would be a small fixer listed at 549k would be a good deal with a 15% discount off list price, credits toward updating, and seller paid closing costs.

In this market, who wants to pay that price in that neighborhood for a tiny fixer???

By: kj

kj — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:35:05 +0000

Kensington has what is known as KMAC, or the Kensington Municipal Advisory Council — they review re-modeling plans & receive input from neighbors before issuing a ruling on any proposed work. It’s a non-binding approval that gets forwarded to the County, which normally follows the suggestion.

Neighbors have tremendous sway over the council, as views, neighborhood character, scale, etc. are all valid reasons for opposing modifications. I have personal experience with this – I used to live next door to a house that sold to an Albany developer who wanted to put up a horrible Mc Mansion that nobody in the neighborhood wanted – we all opposed the deal and eventually shut it down. So the ‘neighborhood approved’ comment is actually quite relevant.

Here’s a link for more info:

http://www.aboutkensington.com/kmac.html