Somebody talk me down

At the link you will find a real estate listing for a historical home in my hometown of Miamisburg, Ohio that was built in 1902. It is in excellent shape and has many antiques that are original to the home. The place is beautiful as you can see from the pics in the listing. It has a full basement that's dry as a bone and a walk up finished attic that could easily serve as a 5th bedroom or some other purpose. The only thing that I can see that's wrong with it is that it could use a new furnace. I find it very desirable, but it is also impractical.

http://dayton.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Dayton&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDetail&ARGUMENTS=-N819082083,-N361424,-N,-A,-N18295298

2,000 sq ft too. I can't talk you out of it.

I would jump on that for that price. Why is it impractical?

And also because I'm single and have no children or other housemantes. There would be a lot of empty space there if I lived there.

As far as the price goes, we have some of the lowest housing rates in the country here and the owner of the place is alos in distress and the house is being offered as a short sale, so it's cheaper than it would be under other circumstances.

Some good and some bad, but a lot of people are buying these old houses around here and restoring them.

beside the furnace? Man $89,000 - it really looks good.

As far as the neighborhood goes the only drawback is that the house is located near a somewhat busy intersection, by small town standards anyway. But it's really no bad.

I can tell of any other maintenance issues besides the furnace, but I'd have to get an inspection doen to knwo for sure. But I've got a pretty good eye for these things and I don't think I'd have much trouble out of the place for a while.

And you're handy so you can do the upkeep yourself. You could possibly get roommates later or if there's empty space, so what? I've got empty space too, but I don't want to live in a one bedroom closet.

I wish I lived there, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. The views are just beautiful.

Banks don't want to let a lot of these properties go when they are really undervalued... they're hoping to start a bidding war and they can afford to sit on their hands until they get the price they want. I think it's very unlikely this house will sell for $89,000 if it goes at all. My brother wasted almost nine months trying to buy a short sale and finally had to give up. The bank kept messing around claiming they were waiting on another offer that never materialized. Bottom line: they didn't really want to sell it.

But going through a foreclosure process is probably costly for the bank as well.

Before the crash this place would probably have been appraised at about $110,000. We have some of the lowest housing costs in the nation here so what proabably looks impossibly low to a lot of folks from around other parts of the country just looks like a good deal around here.

My aunt is a realtor and she tells it to me like it is. She's got my back and she won't let me get into a bad deal unless I insist on it.

My ex SIL went through that and ended up losing out to someone else bringing in a "higher offer" at the last minute, after several weeks of the bank hem-hawing around.

My ex SIL went through that and ended up losing out to someone else bringing in a "higher offer" at the last minute, after several weeks of the bank hem-hawing around.

Keep the rest of the house just warm enough that the pipes don't freeze, right?

Sorry, I know you wanted to be talked out of it.

There are times I really miss living in the Midwest.

fyi, bought for 179 in '85, sold last year for 400.

It's the only room I'd want to change.

Nice place. I'm not sure you need to be talked down, assuming you're up to maintenance. We bought an old home years ago, and I thought we were up to taking care of it. I was tragically wrong. It all ended well, but now we're in a new home with no personality, and I often miss our old place, sticky doors, iffy heating system, and leaky basement and all.

Tobin...this is a steal.
You have no idea how much that house would cost in this area.
Neither do I!

WoW....it's gorgeous.
Refuse to talk you down.

Good luck!:hug:


peace~

If I had a deal on my place I'd have an extremely difficult time not making an offer on the place. I could probably swing two payments, but I don't think I don't know if I could get a lender to go for it now days even thoughb my loan is only for about $32,000.

I'm afraid that I can't talk you down either. It's a lovely place.

So many of life's gifts seem to be impractical, and end up as treasures. Best of luck!

seriously a good friend of mine owns a historical home

it is nothing but heartache, what you pay to buy the home is only the beginning of your troubles, he's poured $180K into his home -- "only" the boiler room could use a new furnace indeed! -- and it's still beautiful on the outside but an expensive misery on the inside

plus everything he does, he has the historical association on his back

don't do it unless you want every busybody in town in your business

the joy of owning your own home is privacy, but you have ZERO privacy when you own a historical home

the other people egging you on this thread are out of their tree in my humble opinion, sorry, guys, i call it how i see em and owning a historical home is NOT like owning a regular home, it's an open invitation to every 93 year old nosey parker in your parish or county to put their nose in yr business and in your bank acct

enjoy the beauty of a historical home by strolling past somebody else's lovely historical home on a sunday walk but DON'T take on this hassle & expense for yourself

you WILL regret it

:rofl:




Just because your friend has had a problem, doesn't mean everyone that owns a historical house has the same.

I think it would be different if this house was way overpriced or in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it's a steal. With a good home inspection, you can find out the condition and it doesn't necessarily have to be a money pit.

remember the old urban homesteading houses for $1? did you ever look at any of those fine historical properties w. lots of fine woodwork? do you remember now why you ran screaming for your life if you did?

sorry the guy asked us to talk him down, he KNOWS in his guts it's a shitty idea, i'm being real

if you want to buy a home, you get a deal on a nice inexpensive home that ISN'T a historical home and doesn't come w. the historical association baggage

if you want the vanity of owning a historical home you are going to pay and pay and not just in $$$ but in interference

the freedom of home ownership will be a joke for you

as for my friend, the house was in the family, and he passed on the chance to take on a second former family home, the fine yuppies who bought up later got a home inspection and a "great" price but they will never recoup the $480K they spent bringing it back to its glory

i don't think it's cute or fun to encourage other people to make big serious financial fuck-ups that you yourself would never dream of doing, it's like putting a stick in the road to cause a bicycle to fall in front of a car just to see what happens

But, I don't think those of us with other opinions are "out of our tree". Kind of an unnecessary put down.

Also, I don't think anyone here is trying to mislead him into a trail of misfortune, heartache & financial ruin as you insinuate. I said myself, I'd buy it.

I can even do a roof myself, if the local code permits, or even not if the codes lightly enforced.

I once lived in a city where the building inspectors wouldn't show up for anything unless the paramedics or fire department had been there first.

But true, if you don't have the time and/or you are a klutz with tools, these kinds of houses are EXPENSIVE because people who know what they are doing like to be paid for their work.

needs a serious redo. The counter with the stove chopped into the middle?!? :wtf:

It seemed to have window units in the upstairs bedrooms. So, updating to central HVAC would be a real investment.

I would check with the historical society and see what the regs are for having an historic home in that neighborhood (only certain colors on the exterior for example)

OTOH, the stained glass is lovely! :wow: And the wood work is mmmm mmmm good. :-)

$89K is a great buy though.

It's not a Sears home is it?

I've lived with a wall unit for the past three years and it's kept me comfortable. But, yeah, like I said above I'd want to do something about the kitchen.

I don't know what a Sears home is.

before katrina there were several of them still standing in gentilly, new orleans

they were tiny

:)

were prefab kits that you could buy out of the Sears Catalog around the 1880-WWI era, IIRC. You picked out the model and floor plan you wanted. They delivered everything: wood, doors, windows, interior walls, nails.

These homes are now very hrm.. collectable and desirable because of their craftsmanship and durability. That's why I was asking. And some of them were two-story multi-bedroom.

How to tell if you have a Sears kit house:

http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/kithome/rt-searskits.shtml

edit: I see Sears houses were from about 1908 - 1940 so yours isn't. Still it's a good house.

It was built 6 years too early to be a Sears home.

Nicer ring than "Sears home" eh?

Detroit was filled with them and a lot of people have done beautiful jobs with updating.

That said...be very, very careful on investing on this Tobin. These types of historical homes have become extremely difficult to appraise at the values desired and that market, itself (historical homes) has taken a giant hit.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do...it's a wonderful looking house.

LARGE window unit in 'dining room' cooled entire first floor >, window unit for 'master' b'room, and 'all house' fan in 'attic' room did perfectly well. Your weather not quite as warm/hot as DC summers, I think.

I'd have a great home inspector look at it first. There are probably a lot of livable flaws that you can take care of over time.
It just seems like a great deal for a gorgeous old place. It'd be hard for me to pass that up.

:-)

(We are not doing a very good job of talking you down, are we? lol)

Does the style of the home appeal to you? Your decorating style will be relatively limited.

How are the taxes? $3000 a year in my area of sw PA for a home in that price range would be considered a lot...I don't know how the tax structure is in OH.

The river seems very close. Would you be required to carry flood insurance?

So, the house is gorgeous; it looks like a beautiful place to live! The fact that it comes with some of the original antiques is absolutely amazing...their value alone would be quite considerable! :)

Good luck with your decision. It's a great time to buy a house!

89,000?

Damn! You couldn't get a CRACKER JACK box for that in this town! WOW!

sure things are cool there

Looks SO MUCH like my house in DC (sold it. sad story.) Age and features including exterior, color, SAME! (and I attended Miami U!)

Impractical why? DO IT! (easy for me to say, except don't know why 'impractical.'

Those old houses aren't known for their insulation.
A friend of mine has a similar house the cost of heating it in the winter is killing them.

I LOVE big old houses.

the rules of the local historic association.

Here's an article from Bob Vila regarding purchasing a historic home:

http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Buying_a_Home_in_an_Historic_District-Subject_Real_Estate_Home_Buying-A1541.html

If you are serious, get an inspection. Since it's a short sale, you probably cannot negotiate any of the fixes but at least you will know what you are in for.

Also look into flood insurance. You look close to that river.

I'm with you on old houses. They are great looking, but impractical when it comes to maintenance and utilities.

:hi:

And it's a frugal price. You could also always rent out to a roommate, if there are enough bathrooms so you'd be comfortable doing that.

Taxes look do-able.

How much time would you have to get an inspector in there? Furnace is an issue, also check roof, wiring, plumbing, termites, foundation. Also, for future resale value, central air could be a very good investment.

Everything else would just be cosmetic.

Also make sure there are no county/city/state restrictions on what you do with the place; if there are any historic property protection restrictions you might not be able to do too much to it.

I walked in, looked around, then heard a disembodied voice scream "GET OUT!"

Other than that, it's a steal.

new furnance, ok.

No central air. Since it's forced air already, if you're going to replace the furnace, just put in one that can also serve as the blower for the a/c.

Might also want to see what the insulation is like. Older homes generally don't have the proper insulations. Windows might need replacing also. Coupling these things could reduce your heating/cooling bills.

Take another walk through. If the floors squeek, you may be looking at redoing the hardwood floors. and the underlying joists may be off level.

Otherwise, price looks right. Add another 25-30k for renovations and improvements and you got yourself a nice little place to call home.