Location, Location, Location

Information from Zillow.com

We're used to seeing outrageous prices for homes in Palo Alto---excellent schools and proximity to Stanford and Silicon Valley provide a partial explanation---but $5 million for a 610-sq-ft house on a 5,000-sq-ft property was an extreme outlier.

The explanation: Bernard Newcomb, founder of E*Trade ($6.7 billion market cap), lives next door and made the owner an offer he couldn't refuse.

Good fences make good neighbors, but a successful IPO makes even better ones.

Buyer on the left, seller on the right (Google street view)