House Hunting: FSBO Plan House #1

Here’s a little house we toured recently:

 Foreclosure, 3/1/0, asking price: $34,900

• nice enough neighborhood
• small fenced yard,
• no garage or storage shed
• recent carpet
• no holes in sheetrock or doors
• no missing trim.
• signs of low-cost upgrades and work
• almost new kitchen cabinets and counters (lowest quality, but new and functional)
•  new bathroom sink
• nice utility closet with washer/dryer hookups

 On first glance, the house is cute as a button. A coat of paint and on the market she goes.

The only bathroom was actually better than the picture– lots of solid wood cabinets. Needs a good scrubbing, caulk and paint.

The kitchen showed recent work and lots of attention to detail. My guess? Someone without a lot of cash tried their best to turn this place into a home.

The house has serious structural issues stemming from additions to the back bedroom and the garage. Fortunately, the mister and I viewed this house on rainy day which probably saved us several weeks of offering, counter-offering and inspections before having to back out. A leak at the front door clued us off to possible water issues. A little checking around and we found water leaking into the walls and draining behind the sheetrock in 4 separate locations. The mister sniffed about (literally) and found black mold–the ugly stuff.

I’m not afraid of mold, but wouldn’t sell a house without fixing the problem, which would involve removing almost all sheetrock from exterior walls as well as reframing the roof.

Conclusion: Even if the bank would accept an offer of 20-25K, the cost of fixing structural issues means this place is not a candidate for our new owner financing venture.

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