Two Castroville-labeled houses can have the same reported bedroom count and sale date while answering different pricing questions. Public sold rows for 10904 Oak Street and 4 Bayview Road both carry September 23, 2026 labels and four bedrooms. Their reported floor areas, lots, service descriptions and practical settings differ. That makes them useful candidates for an evidence audit, but it does not establish a controlled pair or a dollar adjustment for land, condition or utilities.
The Castroville guide introduces the need to price supported accommodation rather than assumed future possibilities. This article develops a limited, original two-record comparison and a source-version check. It is not a complete market dataset or a broker-authored valuation. No private MLS export, independently authenticated closing evidence, subject inspection or professional adjustment was available. The purpose is to show what the public figures do and do not support.
Define the candidate pair and its limits
The public MLSListings sold rows, reviewed October 26, 2026, report $849,000 for Oak Street, ML82043559, and $885,000 for Bayview Road, ML82054017. Matching a reported date and bedroom count controls only those two fields. It does not establish equivalent location, condition, terms or ownership rights. These two rows were deliberately selected to examine differences, rather than drawn from a complete, predefined local closing cohort.
The individual Oak Street record reports 2,052 square feet and an 8,547-square-foot lot. Bayview reports 1,750 square feet and a 21,344-square-foot lot. The two houses therefore differ in more than one substantial measurement. A buyer’s actual subject should determine whether either belongs in the final comparison. A mailing-locality search is useful for finding candidates, but its results cannot substitute for a verified geographic boundary or a reasoned explanation of subject fit.
Same reported sale day, different evidence questions
| Field | 10904 Oak Street | 4 Bayview Road |
|---|---|---|
| Record | ML82043559 | ML82054017 |
| Reported sold price | $849,000 | $885,000 |
| Reported living/lot area | 2,052sf / 8,547sf | 1,750sf / 21,344sf |
| Reported bathrooms | 2 full + 1 half | 2 full |
| Service research lead | Public water/sewer fields | Shared-well/septic fields;Elkhorn-area description |
| Unresolved material issue | Current condition,improvements and transaction terms | Same,plus garage-field/narrative conflict and shared-system evidence |
Own arithmetic: selected price sum$1,734,000;two-record mean/median$867,000. Bayview-minus-Oak price difference$36,000;Bayview lot difference+12,797sf;Bayview living-area difference−302sf. Descriptive reported price/area ratios:Oak$413.74/sf;Bayview$505.71/sf.
| Candidate evidence | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Two selected four-bedroom house rows | Research candidates only | No controlled pair,subject match or independent closing established |
| 13422 Agua Caliente #212 park-home row | Separate ownership comparison | Manufactured-in-park interest requires different governing evidence |
| Older Bayview contingent asking-price page | Do not substitute for sold row | Different record date/status and purpose |
| $36,000 price gap | No causal feature adjustment | Several differences and transaction facts remain unresolved |
Original limited factual audit; no listing remarks,images or publisher charts reproduced. No complete market sample,licensed data export,verified concessions,subject value or broker review claimed. Publication rights/attribution review remains required.
The larger house has a lower reported total price
Oak Street reports 302 more living square feet than Bayview, yet a $36,000 lower total price. That observation does not establish a negative value for interior space. It shows that these fields alone cannot explain the transactions. Investigate layout, condition, outdoor usefulness, services and terms before attributing the difference to any one feature. An adjustment should arise from evidence about the actual subject and comparables, rather than from a need to make a table’s numbers align.
The price-per-square-foot ratios also need a defined role. They divide each entire reported transaction by its reported living area. They are not the cost of adding a room and do not isolate the contribution of another square foot. Applying Bayview’s ratio to an addition would import its site, location, condition and transaction differences into the calculation. A useful analysis can display descriptive ratios while declining to use them as unsupported marginal adjustments.
More land requires a usability investigation
Bayview’s reported lot exceeds Oak Street’s by 12,797 square feet. A broker should determine what that additional area contributes to the subject comparison. Identify accessible outdoor space, actual restrictions, services and the relationship between the house and the usable ground. Total acreage or lot area is not a direct measurement of approved additional accommodation, gardening suitability or expansion potential. Marketing suggestions about future uses should remain separate from established features.
The Bayview description places the property in the Elkhorn area despite its Castroville mailing label. That distinction matters when selecting a comparable for a home closer to the community’s established streets. A shared locality field does not establish the same practical location or buyer alternatives. Define the subject’s setting, explain the geographic search and state why a farther or differently situated candidate remains relevant. If the evidence cannot support that relevance, exclude the candidate instead of inventing a location adjustment.
Service differences are neither automatic premiums nor discounts
The public service fields report public water and sewer at Oak Street and shared-well/septic arrangements at Bayview. These are leads that require actual records and agreements. Establish the obligations, condition and capacity relevant to the intended use before making a pricing comparison. A system description does not quantify an annual cost or establish an adverse condition. It also does not support a universal value penalty for one service type.
Use current evidence to distinguish an operating expense from immediate required work and an unresolved future risk. A suitable estimate can quantify a defined correction, but it does not automatically establish the market’s dollar response. If the comparable’s service obligations were different or unknown at sale, preserve that uncertainty. A broker’s supported adjustment should explain the evidence connecting the difference with price, rather than merely subtracting a budget number.
Reconcile the building description before adjusting it
Bayview’s structured garage field and narrative do not agree about the parking structure. That conflict should be resolved before assigning a garage adjustment. It could reflect a data-entry issue, a different area definition or another circumstance, none of which was established here. The actual layout, approved use and relevant records should control the comparison. Choosing the field that produces the preferred result would turn a source limitation into an unsupported valuation claim.
The County’s historical Seymour Street house-and-ADU proposal provides another local lesson: house, garage and detached dwelling areas should remain separate. Proposed accommodation should not be pooled with completed living space. For a subject or comparable with additional rooms, identify the relevant plan, construction stage and present use. A public total-area field cannot answer every approval and configuration question that matters to the buyer.
Separate ownership types and source versions
A public sold row for Agua Caliente #212 reports manufactured housing in a park. It may be a real alternative for an individual buyer, but it should not be inserted into this detached-house pair as though it includes the same land interest and governing obligations. Place it in a separate ownership comparison. Obtain the actual park and unit documents before interpreting the amount paid, recurring responsibilities or relevance to a particular subject.
The public records also contain older contingent or asking-price versions alongside later sold labels. Bayview’s older individual page reports an asking figure, while the later sold row reports a different amount. Retain the status, identifier and date attached to each observation. A page’s modification date is not automatically the closing date, and an older advertised amount is not verified original-list-price evidence for calculating a negotiation discount.
Build the final recommendation from verified subject evidence
The later Axtell sold row illustrates a refresh question without proving a trend. It reports a three-bedroom house and an October 14 date, rather than the four-bedroom September 23 pair used here. A broker may investigate whether that sale helps the subject analysis, but should explain the changed configuration and timing. Adding it solely because its price is newer would change the comparison rules after seeing the result. A transparent file records why the search expanded, which candidates were added and whether the original boundary remains appropriate.
The selected $867,000 mean and median describe only these two deliberately chosen publisher rows. They are not a Castroville market estimate or a suggested asking price. A defensible recommendation requires a defined subject, appropriate authorized data, verified transaction details and qualified broker analysis. This draft assumes no permission to redistribute a private MLS dataset; publication of the limited factual comparison still requires data-rights and attribution review.
Use the Monterey County guide for the wider search context and the selling process guide for transaction planning. Refresh the file when the subject’s condition, verified sale evidence or competing alternatives change. The useful conclusion should explain why each comparable belongs, which differences are documented and which adjustments remain unsupported, with the same clarity used to present the reported prices.
