Starting with this lovely:
According to Zillow (not the most reliable or accurate website), for $229,000 we could get this great old 4 bed/1.5 bath/1763 sq ft house in a great up-and-coming neighborhood. The kitchen needs and upgrade and the yard is tiny, but don't you think the potential is irresistible?
Something must be drastically wrong with it to be listed at this price.....
12 comments:
Wow, I love it. There is tons of potential with this!
Could need new plumbing, new furnace, new electrical, floors refininshed...... ask Maggie what it could need. (And a fence for Roscoe)
Been there done that... Don't buy anything that old unless you have a lot of money and are willing to spend it to fix the home. Watch the old video the "MONEY PIT" :(
I'm with Dan's mom and Anonymous. Check its guts thoroughly - that's not the fun stuff.
....and it may ruin your nails.
You really never can tell. After a couple months of searching (and..oh, a MILLION houses) we came to realize that some houses photograph well (or get good photographers!) and some don't. And you just really can't tell NEARLY as much as you think you can from pictures on the realty websites. The pictures can be "wrong", if you will, in either direction. You really just have to start looking in person (which is the fun part anyway)! We bought an AWESOME house in Los Angeles that we just about passed up when our realtor sent it to us as an option! Go see it - you never know!! :)
Love it. However, the above comments definetely give one reason to well, um "search, ponder & pray." My Mom wanted us to buy an old fixer upper like this, that was out of our price range in the first place - and would cost quite a bit of both time and money to fix up. Two things we don't have - which is why I'm looking at your blog. Anyways, our small city is great for historic homes. One day while driving by an older home with my Mom and kiddies in tow the following conversation ensues:
Mom: You see Em, you could have bought a house like that and fixed it up so cute.
Me: Mom, there are some pretty unsavory characters who wander through here (peds, drug addicts) and I'd just be a little afraid of something happening.
Mom: Oh don't worry. They'd love your daughters and give them candy too. In fact, they'd propably baby-sit for free!
Thoughts: This is why I may jsut have to start the 3rd facebook group dedicated to my mom.
Now that's a house I could really see myself living in...
But yeah - that sounds pretty cheap for this area - particulary Boulder.
But check it out and find out about it's bones. If you have to renovate/fix up - good to start with good bones.
something tells me if the bones were that good it would sell for more - but then again, this market could be lowering prices significantly - I don't think we know yet what house prices might level out at. They've been overinflated for a long time. If they come back down to 'reasonable' a lot of owners could lose money.
Have fun dreaming and scheming! That house looks beautiful. This goes without saying (because I know you totally will), but do your homework. Buying a new furnace in the middle of November when you weren't planning on it isn't all that much fun. Also, old homes are FUN to have but not fun to heat or cool. Those are the real costs that get my goat. Check out how the house is insulated!
Something I tell all of my clients - "You can't judge a house by its listing." As it has been said several times already - go see the house. Even then, you won't know everything until you have the house inspected, and in this case I'd recommend having a structural engineer check out the property as well.
Do you know any engineers?
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