New-to-Us House

Our new-to-us house was built in 1945. There are four identical houses in a row on our block. Going west to east, we're the third. There's yet another identical colonial a bit further down the street on the corner. The property we're purchasing is a foreclosure.

The house has 1275 square-feet of living space and hardwood floors throughout (except in the kitchen, bathrooms and basement). Upstairs there are three bedrooms along with a full bathroom, and a stand-up attic. On the main floor there's a living room, a dining room, a kitchen with electric stove, a half-bathroom, a fireplace, and a tiny screened porch connected to the kitchen. The basement is partially finished with a couple built-in fixtures. There's also a working radon detection system in the basement, a security system (currently disconnected) in the house, and a one-car garage out back.

The house has oil heat and an old electric water heater. There's a plug-in air conditioning unit installed in a wall upstairs in the southwest bedroom. Apparently a gas line is connected to the house and runs into the basement, but it's not being used. The inspection which occurred May 12 was clean, except for some minor faults:

1. Upstairs toilet leaks into the ceiling of the foyer downstairs.
2. Kitchen sockets need to be grounded.
3. Water heater needs to be replaced.
4. Attic insulation needs reinstallation.
5. Washer/Dryer electric needs reworking.
6. A few other odds and ends.
   

Here are the pictures I took on our initial walk around and through the place. I regret I didn't take more, but we were sort of confounded, because the price made us think there was something terribly wrong with the property -- like massive flood damage, pervasive termite infestation or a cracked foundation. We spent the majority of the short tour befuddled, looking for "dirt beneath the carpet" we never found.

On our way out of the house, we were lucky enough to talk with one set of our would-be neighbors. They have lived in one of the identical models, the most western property, for eight years. They were very nice, and they noted the street was safe. They said the houses were sturdy.

They said they had purchased the eastern most identical property a couple years back in order to repair and flip it, but the timing wasn't good. After they had put their time and energy into it, they had only broken even. Considering the steep downturn of the market, I think breaking even was extremely fortunate.

They also thought the asking price for the property we purchased was appealing -- $165,000.