Another bargain in the Shaker Heights School District

I was browsing local real estate when I came across this bargain at 13605 Shaker Blvd. While the address is in the City of Cleveland, it is, contrary to what the listing states, in the Shaker Heights School District. This map clearly illustrates the boundaries of the district - Shaker Square is shown at the left edge of the picture.

Yes, this is probably a foreclosure. But it's also 1576 square feet, 3 beds, 2 baths, and a fireplace, with Shaker Schools, for $4900. One can only screw up a condo so much, right? I have no idea as to the condo fees, but I can't imagine that they could be that much of a deterrent.

Even if the condo needs a full gut, the electrical and plumbing are probably still good. The rest of that stuff is cheap. Since it is in the city of Cleveland, one doesn't have to deal with the pesky point of sale inspections required in Shaker Heights.

At this price, it's almost a buildable lot!

I like to pay attention to what duplexes are available in Shaker Heights. They tend to be at least as interesting as the single family homes, if not moreso. Many of them have a surprising number of original fixtures - I came across one just a month or two ago that had not one, but two completely original 1920s kitchens, complete with tile countertops, wall-mounted faucets, built in cabinets and ironing board, and a massive ventilation hood for the stove. They also tend to be much cheaper than comparable single family homes, because the city's standards for rental properties are even higher, and because many people don't even think about the potential of the two family home.

I have not personally seen 18526 Chagrin Road, but it seems to have quite a bit of potential. Emphasis on the potential. The lot is a third of an acre, about twice the size of most of the duplexes in the city. This Victorian was almost definitely built as a single family home. From what I can see, the windows have probably been replaced and it's covered either with vinyl or aluminum siding. Still, at the price point, it could be a great rehab.

The only issue that I can see being a problem in the future is that it shares a single-width driveway with the next door neighbor.

Another house we didn't buy

The following duplex, 14170 Onaway / 14201 Becket was our first choice for quite a while. It is a large house, (4000 square feet), on a large lot (.43 acres), with decent exterior lines and reasonable potential. Though it does not appear to presently be on the market, it is still bank owned, and I suspect it could be purchased for somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000-$30,000 - it was last listed at $57,900, and has been on the market for two years.

While there is definitely quite a bit of interior wear and tear, the only truly major issue I saw was the lack of copper plumbing in the basement. Neither kitchen is currently functional, though it wouldn't take much work to get it there. I think that it makes most sense if rehabbed into a single family dwelling, especially for someone who could do a lot of the work themselves.

Some downsides:
It has been cursed with the cheapest, most poorly fitted replacement windows that I've ever seen.


The house


The yard


A sample window


Screened-in porch


The lack of a downspout on this gutter has caused some water backup issues, with leaks damaging the plaster in the room below. This doesn't appear to be serious, and I believe that installing a downspout would remedy most of the problem.


Living room and central hall


Fireplace


Entryway


A bedroom. Virtually all of the doors are original and unpainted.

If this isn't enough, check out some more photos of this house.

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.

The worst house in Shaker Heights?

15901 Onaway has all the appearances of a stately Shaker Heights home. It sits on 3/4 of an acre lot, across the street from Shaker Heights High School. It's a 4900 square foot ranch / Cape Cod, built in 1951, with an addition to the rear added later. It has hot water heat and central air. It has a slate roof and wood siding, covered by vinyl.


This is the addition, to the back, which includes some office space and a second two car garage. Due to the shape of the driveway and the edge of the lot, one must back into this garage, making it far more useful as a workshop space than for parking.


One of my favorite exterior elements are the numerals, made from neon. They appear to have been damaged and repaired at one point. While it is unclear as to whether they are original, they are definitely at least 35 years old.


Inside the house, the kitchen looks reasonably decent, if not quite the build quality that one would expect of a house in this neighborhood.


In the living room, however, the water damage becomes obvious.


Other rooms didn't fare much better.




The master bathroom has this, um, wonderful tub. Or perhaps awful is the word I'm looking for.


The second floor was in better condition. The largest roof featured a shuffleboard court and a wet bar. Yes, a shuffleboard court.


On the back patio, which is has a nice balcony (perhps a a railing could be put around it on the second floor?) is this wood-fired grill.


The back yard is spacious, although the landscaping needs some real work.

If you haven't run away screaming yet, check out some more photos. The house is currently listed at $139,000. Fixed up, it'd be a $400,000 house. I think, with the market as it is, the bank might be willing to take $30K on it. It'll take a ton of skill or a good chunk of money, but I think it's totally repairable.

From what I can tell, the pipes must have burst this winter. There is virtually no water damage on the second floor - the exception is by one of the radiators - which leads me to suspect that the radiator pipes froze. The house has good lines, and would be great for entertaining. Overall, it's a great deal if you're willing to wear a respirator for the next year while you fix it up. I doubt there'll ever be this much house at this price point in Shaker Heights again.

I've seen the city point of sale inspection report, and it's not so horrible as one might expect. The damage seems to be primarily to the plaster, as well as the usual foreclosure vandalism.

All in all, the house has great lines and great potential. There must be some other idiot than myself who thinks that restoring this house would be a good idea.

1853 Farmhouse

23550 Fairmount, Shaker Heights, OH 44122 is an 1853 farmhouse on a quarter acre lot. It's a perfect little house, with emphasis on the "little" - the only reason why I'm not interested in it is the size - 1200 square feet.


The windows and interior trim appear to date from the last quarter of the 19th century. The exception is the south side, which faces the back property line, where the windows and wood siding have been replaced. The replacement windows are lower-end, while the siding seems consistent with the original.


The back is as lovely as the front.


The interior trim appears to be in good condition.


Carpet that once covered the wood floors seems to have been removed recently.


The kitchen seems decent enough.


As does the bathroom.


Another detail.


The house is almost completely hidden from the street.

Of course, this residence requires the usual work associated with a house of this age, but most of the real issues appear cosmetic - paint applied over poorly stripped paint on the exterior siding, cleaning up of floors, etc.

The house is listed at $79,900. It's bank owned, and right now, in this area, bank owned properties are selling for about 50% of the amount that the bank took the property for. (This is based on my calculations, of bank owned houses sold under $200,000, for which data was readily available, in the months June - March, which are the last for which I have complete data.) It could be a really wonderful first home, or place for someone who doesn't need quite so much space. The only major thing I'd change would be to build a garage that better suits the residence.

See more photographs of this house.