Two Extra-New Listings on My Beat
One of my readers (Shorty from JP) has been asking about money pits — that fear every potential buyer has, that the floor under the toilet will rot away, that the water pipes will explode, that the roof will cave in, leaving the new buyer bankrupt and homeless, with only her Subaru and 37 bicycles. (The photo below is of the Johnstown Flood, 1889. Tip: don’t buy a house below an earthen dam belonging to callous robber barons).
Probably, you could make a nice geodesic dome out of bike frames and a tarp, Shorty. Or, don’t buy a fixer-upper unless you want to get into that. AND, there’s a big difference between a house that needs “updating”, a house that needs “TLC”, a “Handyman’s Special”, a “Contractor’s Special”, and a “Rehab Property”. Don’t believe the seller or broker — if you like a place, and you offer on it, you don’t have to sign NUTHIN’ until you hire a building inspector and have the place gone over with a fine toothed comb. Our guy spotted a few things, and we knocked over $2000 off the price on the day before closing to compensate for them. If a major system is bad — if the roof or furnace is shot — and the seller won’t budge, you decide “I can cover that” or “eff this,” and go back on the market. And it isn’t just “yes or no” — our inspector told us what was old, what was new, what would have to be replaced within 5 or 10 or 15 years.
55 Kernwood Avenue in Beverly’s Ryalside is a nice, solid little house on a good sized lot for $245k. It might not be your idea of heaven — yet — but the price is great, pending inspection. Condos go for more, and $245 for 3 bedrooms, a yard, and no condo fees is my idea of a deal. I expect it to sell fast.
39 Walters St #1, in Salem, is also new on the market — 3 bedrooms for just under $255k, urban convenience, and a condo association to plan repairs and deal with maintenance issues.
Personally, I’ll take the boxy little house over a condo any day of the week, but I’m young and handy.
