Here’s what less than $500K buys

Turns out a half-a-million bucks is chump change these days when it comes to the Bay Area’s sizzling real-estate market.

While you can still find plenty of properties for a cool million or more, homes selling for under the $500,000 mark are getting increasingly hard to find. Throughout the Bay Area, sales for those relatively “inexpensive” houses plummeted 17 percent in June from a year earlier, mainly because of lack of supply.

So while this phenomenon is pushing prospective buyers farther and farther out from the region’s core of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, what might you still be able to pick up for under that magic half-million?

Here are a few possibilities:

Cute and cozy in Pleasanton: $196,500

Sitting in space number 123, this little baby at 3231 Vineyard Ave. is a 1,526-square-foot mobile home with two bedrooms and two baths. A couple of caveats, says realtor Eva Deagen with Remax Accord in Pleasanton: it’s a 55-and-over community, and once

you’ve moved in you’ll pay a monthly rent of $1,226. “These units were built in the early ’70s,” she says, “but they’ve been updated over the years and this one is in move-in condition. A lot of residents of Pleasanton like to buy these to bring their parents closer; it’s a great option.”

Backing up in the Santa Cruz mountains

Realtor Paul Zech recently reduced the price on this charming little three-bedroom home on Hoot Owl Way in the woodsy town of Boulder Creek, and it’s yours for a mere $439,000. “It’s been on the market longer than we’d anticipated,” says Zech, acknowledging the fact that the small lot size, lack of a usable yard and other issues may have given buyers cold feet. Still, he says, “you’d think that anything under $500K would fly off the shelf; this one has not flown off the shelf.” Another drawback: “A lot of properties in the Santa Cruz mountains don’t have garages, don’t have carports, don’t even have driveways. And while this house does have a driveway, if you pull your car down into it you have to back up 200 feet to get out. That’s a drawback. Otherwise,” he says with a chuckle, “three bedroom, one-and-half bath for under five — come on!”

Walking distance to the After Hours Cocktail Lounge

Like they say, big surprises come in small packages. And while this Vallejo beauty’s got only 782 square feet of packaging, it’s priced at a sweet $319,888. The listing agent, Oscar Nunez, admits it’s not for everyone: “It’s small, with two bedrooms and a small kitchen,” he says. “And the neighborhood’s not a desirable area, but there’s nothing on the market for under $300,000, so we’ll sell it soon, I’m sure.” You’ll get two bedrooms and one bath and you can easily walk over each evening to After Hours, described by one online reviewer as “my go-to spot to grab a drink and relax. Hands down the best bar in Vallejo. Great pricing for the middle class working man and friendly attentive bartenders.”

Living large in Oakland (in a very small space)

Yes, the listing agent’s phone number on Zillow seems to be out of order, but if you poke around you may be able to get a viewing of this condo at 245 Perkins Street in Oakland. But since it’s only 715 square feet, it will be a very brief viewing. Take a few steps around the one bedroom, walk into and out of the one bathroom, then head outside and enjoy the now-thriving neighborhood near Lake Merritt called Adams Point. Don’t think of this as a house — think of this as a crash pad to use when you’re not out and about at the nearby Whole Foods, Fox and Paramount theaters or Grand Lake farmer’s market on Saturdays. You can also hang out in your condo with your dog, assuming he/she’s under 25 pounds. All yours for just $435,000!

Enough room for you and your checkbook

So you want to live in San Francisco, one of the priciest addresses these days in this corner of the solar system? Well, good news: Apartment A at 412 Green Street is listed on Zillow for $435,000, a mere pittance to get your foot in the door of high-end Bay Area real estate. Sure, there’s a small catch — the one-bath studio is just 232 square feet. But compared with, say, a phone booth, that’s like huge, right? Here’s part of the realtor’s pitch, which on its own is worth the price of admission: “This stylishly updated North Beach pieda-terre is the perfect opportunity for the savvy investor or owner/user. Newly remodeled to maximize use of space, high end finishes were thoughtfully selected with luxury in mind. An elevator ride to the shared roof deck presents amazing views of some of San Francisco’s most iconic sites: the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, St’s Peter and Paul Church, and of course, the sparkling San Francisco Bay!”