San Francisco Bay Area homes you can buy for the national median price

San Jose Mercury News ran a story about buying home for $157,000 in San Francisco Bay Area where median single-family home price slid recently to $396,000, but still almost three times higher than the national home price.

$157,000 will get homebuyer a 460-square-foot house in East Palo Alto that would fit inside a Los Atos Hills walk-in closet. Or a two-bedroom in Antioch with mold, a squatter's mattress in the kitchen, and what looks like a bullet hole dead-center in the front window. Or burned down San Jose bungalow on North 13th Street.

East Palo Alto
Address: 2169 Addison Ave.
Price: $130,000
The catch: It's 460 square feet

San Jose
Address: 642 North 13th St.
Price: $166,900
The catch: "Burned house," says the note from the realtor. "Don't go in!"

Hayward
Address: 22026 Western Blvd.
Price: $155,000
The catch: "It's a fairly quiet neighborhood. Except for the train every ten minutes," says real estate agent David Ormonde

San Francisco
Address: 1482 Underwood
Price: $145,900
The catch: "The house is all crooked," said realtor Alyce Cardinale