A burned-out husk of a home in San Jose, California that looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie—but which happens to be close to the proposed site of the $67 million Google Village lots—has sold for far more than its original listing price of $800,000.
Real estate listings show that the fire-ravaged shack (as well as its 5,800-foot square lot) has sold for $938,000, or just a little over 17 percent of the original asking price. Photos of the lot show it’s perfect for a coven of sunlight-fearing vampires, Tom Hank’s character in The Money Pit, a tech employee with enough extra cash on hand to burn on a replacement or rebuild, or Silence of the Lambs secondary antagonist Buffalo Bill.
Realtor Holly Barr, who was managing the property, told KTVU that the house was originally left standing because it could conceivably be possible to remodel what remains of the building instead of building a new house on the plot.
“They did leave it standing so you can remodel it versus tearing it down,” Barr told KTVU. “You save a lot of money when you can leave a wall up and do a remodel versus a complete teardown.”
While locals told KTVU that the high price for the destroyed house was a little ridiculous—and a perfect example of how tech companies are making the cities they take up residence in unaffordable—Rick Smith of the Santa Clara Realtors Association told the station that “Buyers are trading money for time all the time now so they can be closer to their employment.” In fact, buying the home may ultimately end up being a good investment given that the median price for a house in the area is around $1.4 million, KTVU added.
[KTVU, h/t Mike Rosenberg]