The one that got away

I've mentioned this house before. This is the one that we probably would have purchased if the listing agent hadn't been impossible to reach and totally non-responsive. It also had an awful listing photograph:



This was the only photograph in the listing, and is displayed here at full resolution.

It appears to have been relisted listed by a different agent, after quite a few months off the market.

It's really an attractive house, for the right person, although I believe that the asking price is too high. I think, right now, something around $20-30K would be reasonable, with the seller paying the back taxes and city assessments. There are numerous small code violations that need to be fixed, and there is a leak in the roof in one spot due to a gutter that doesn't have a downspout. The big issue is that the property was not properly secured and the copper plumbing has been ripped out everywhere it could be reached with a bolt cutter.

The lot is more than twice the size of what one might expect for a duplex like this - .4 acres. If we had purchased it, I'd convert it into a single family home. I'd take the opportunity created by the lack of plumbing to have all the mechanicals replaced. One could buy this house and have the mechanical work done very comfortably in a 15 year mortgage, with money left over for other rehab work in the house as well. When one considers the size of the house, the yard, the location, and that you'd essentially have a very livable shell with great mechanicals for $100,000, it suddenly looks like a good value.

What bank would be willing to finance such a project, with the economy as it is? I discussed this with my lender, Third Federal Savings & Loan, who said that there should be no problem getting a loan to purchase and rehab this house, so long as the house would appraise for the total value once the work was complete. The rate would be the same as their published rates for a standard mortgage (currently 4.8% on a 15 year or 5.05% on a 30 year). They'd require that an outside contractor would do the work. Other than this, they saw no problem with my plan.

It's a great house for someone with a bit of vision.

More weirdness

Our realtor has spoken with the person responsible for such things at city hall to force the current owner of house A to get the point of sale inspection done. This is legally the seller's responsibility. The seller's agent still hasn't returned any of our agent's phone calls.

To my surprise, this morning, when I checked the listings of the houses that we are interested in, as I do every day, I saw that the asking price for house A had been lowered by almost 30%.

This is strange. I've called my realtor to see what she thinks. I guess it all just means more waiting.

Interesting connections

This weekend, I learned that, for our two top choices, one is just around the corner from the house where my paternal grandmother grew up, and the other is across the street from the house where my paternal grandfather lived for a few years as a child.

Still waiting.

Waiting

We're waiting for our realtor to contact the listing agent for one of the houses that we're interested in. She hasn't been able to get any response from him regarding the point of sale inspection. Once we have that, we can get a contractor to provide an estimate as to the cost of the work detailed in the inspection.

With the estimate in hand, we'll be able to make a decision as to which house is truly more attractive.

For now, it's just a lot of waiting.