Buying a condemned house. Bad idea?

[peestandingup]

Can you post the address?

1323 Ionia St

[Dan B]

Gotcha.

Hey, there is another great house on Laura between 3rd and 4th you should look into as well. Last time I looked into it, it was under contract, but it still has a for sale sign. I think its under Amanda Searle.

[AlexS]

Not totally related, but there is a COA for demo request by owner on the upcoming HPC agenda for 1340 Ionia St. N.

[sheclown]

Not totally related, but there is a COA for demo request by owner on the upcoming HPC agenda for 1340 Ionia St. N.

What's the deal with that house?  Can someone post a picture?

[iloveionia]

Okay, I've gotta speak for my street.  Certainly I believe you, but 1323 Ionia was lived in not too long ago.  Within the last 6 months.  Only recently was it vacated.  Have you seen the inside?  There are 3 empty lots to the south of this pink house/duplex.  It's about 5k - 8K to demo a house.  Offer $5 k for it.  But only after you see the inside.

As for 1340 Ionia.  Too bad.  It sits on a split lot (front house, back house, but different lots,) and it is completely unsecured and has been since November.  A fire burned the front and the living area.  I have a picture, but can not figure out how to upload here.

[peestandingup]

Okay, I've gotta speak for my street.  Certainly I believe you, but 1323 Ionia was lived in not too long ago.  Within the last 6 months.  Only recently was it vacated.  Have you seen the inside?  There are 3 empty lots to the south of this pink house/duplex.  It's about 5k - 8K to demo a house.  Offer $5 k for it.  But only after you see the inside.

No offense to your street, Im just going by what they're telling me & I havent seen the inside. Like I wrote earlier, the lady said it was being lived in by a couple of people who didnt rent or own the house, & they were living in absolutely filthy conditions, dangerous too (they couldnt even get up to the 2nd floor). So they had them removed & then examined it more closely afterwards. From what I understood, plenty of people were coming & going from the residence too, using it for god knows what, so thats probably what you saw.

The house is going up for tax auction at the courthouse on Feb 17 & the starting bid is for something like $7,500 (which is the amount of the overdue taxes), so add the cost to demo & all the other stuff, & thats pretty hefty. I doubt anyone would even bid on it though (at least anyone who has done their homework).

But, like I said, the demo is not a done deal yet, so maybe someone with a better grip on this stuff can look into it more closely. I myself simply cant afford all that cost, but someone with deeper pockets & a little pull who wants to save it could at least give it a shot. Its just too much of a project for what I was looking for personally.

But hey, at least I found out about it

[buckethead]

25 Grand and some elbow grease and you've got yourself a little slice of heaven. That seems like a pretty reasonable price to me.

[iloveionia]

So sorry for the family that lived there prior.  I shouldn't assume that when someone(s) live in a house it is in habitable condition.  There are a lot of great deals in Historic Springfield.  A LOT.  Houses for less than a new car that need only cosmetic work.  While I am all for saving a condemned home as I and others have done, it is very cost prohibitive.  You are not wearing rose colored glasses on this one, so it is a good thing.  It will not surprise me to see the house go down.  Particularly based on what you state.  Sigh.  Where is my winning lottery ticket?

I love my street.  But desolate and blighted are probably the best adjectives to summarize it.  Thankfully a few of us have some diamonds in the rough on Ionia. 

PM me if you wish.  There is a bungalow you might be able to get your hands on.  Cash in hand speaks volumes in desperate times.  And no, it is not mine. . . . . 

[samiam]

Now is the time to buy a house if you have cash. IMHO that the down turn in the market is good for the neighborhood in the long run. It seems that most of the out of state investor that came here and purchased 10 houses with the intentions of selling them for 100% more without doing anything to them have gone into forcloser. The houses are now selling to people that want to restore and live in the house Or they are selling to people that are already living in springfield that are picking up some good deals near them to rent out or sell restored after the market turns around   

[peestandingup]

25 Grand and some elbow grease and you've got yourself a little slice of heaven. That seems like a pretty reasonable price to me.

Oh, I think its still a decent price for what you get (if it can be saved). Its a huge house on flat land & has a massive backyard, so it would make a great family home. Its just I dont have that much disposable income laying around to sink into it initially. Plus, its more of a fixer upper than I'd like cause it would take years I'd imagine. But for someone not in any kind of hurry & with the means, it may be worth looking into.

Plus, I was kinda looking for something a bit more modest (bungalow) & more move-in ready. It can still need work, just not "sewer in the living room" work, lol. Thats a whole nother ball of wax right there. But like I said, at least we know about it now & there's still time if someone wants to act on it. My advice for someone who is serious about it is to locate the official owner before the auction & see if they'll sign over the deed to you for a couple hundred bucks, then pay the taxes off so it doesnt go to auction.

I've done a bit of research on its owners, so whoever wants it just PM me.

[buckethead]

I looked at the house on Google Earth. Not a bad setup.

Bleach works wonders.

Not to be nitpickey, but isn't it "whole nuther"?

I live in PVB and my mortgage is crushing me due to the fact that I now work for "The Man" instead of myself. Construction is a feast or famine business. It's famine time.

I do wish I had bought a cute house like that and dumped this ball and chain when the market peaked. I don't know how well my wife would have responded to moving into Springfeild short of living in a Manor House, but after a couple years of living with your money gone before you get it, humility sets in.

Actually, it has been a blessing.

[aubureck]

As I understand it about 1340 Ionia St it was deferred for a month by the JHPC to see if the owner can find a buyer for it.  It was an investment gone bad and a private money lender from out of town is now the owner and he is trying to get rid of it or something.

[peestandingup]

I looked at the house on Google Earth. Not a bad setup.

Bleach works wonders.

Not to be nitpickey, but isn't it "whole nuther"?

I live in PVB and my mortgage is crushing me due to the fact that I now work for "The Man" instead of myself. Construction is a feast or famine business. It's famine time.

I do wish I had bought a cute house like that and dumped this ball and chain when the market peaked. I don't know how well my wife would have responded to moving into Springfeild short of living in a Manor House, but after a couple years of living with your money gone before you get it, humility sets in.

Actually, it has been a blessing.

The house looks much worse now than whenever Google went through with their cameras.

I always thought it was "nother" cause its short for "another", but its all damn dirty slang gibberish anyways, so who cares, lol.

Yeah, I'm like you man. Each month I cringe when we pay our mortgage, knowing how upside down we now are & that it'll take years & years to get back to where it was (we bought at the height of the bubble). I'm so ready to GTF outta here & into an area/house I actually wanna be in & that means something to me.

And to not be butt-slammed each month on a mortgage that's not even worth it will just be icing on the cake.

[Timkin]

Perhaps he is looking to save the structure, and was just wanting to make sure the city wasnt going to force his hand.

Personally, I would rather not see any more buildings come down in Springfield.

Yeah, I have all intensions of trying to save it. Or at the very least, save anything I can from it if it HAS to come down.

Bad news though. I called the city & asked about it. Apparently it was recommended by an agent to the head supervisor to demo the entire house, citing "structural damage" & the 2nd floor is collapsing, so sounds pretty severe. But the supervisor has to do a final inspection before giving the final go ahead to destroy it.

I think the city will prob end up eating it on this one, as it also has a few years of back taxes too. I wonder if they would work with me on a deal if I decided to take it off their hands??

 My thinking is , they WOULD work with you. And if the house is still standing, it is savable.. When you completely remove (raze/tear down ) a building, you pay an impact fee to replace that building, whereas with an existing structure , you CAN take it down to ONE WALL and rebuild the structure, unless code has changed.  

My Grandparents house in Ortega was in HORRID condition in 2000 when my family sold it.  It was never placed in "condemned" status simply because my Grandmother was respected in the neighborhood , and the many kind-hearted neighbors she had, knew she did not have the means to restore the house..and Utiility and the like people ,loved her , and just turned their heads, because it was clearly unstable.   When we sold it ( 2 story Mediterannean Stucco House) the West Wall was buckling tremendously outward, the South west wall buckling inward toward the Kitchen area downstairs, the second story floor was sagging, the Staircase was sagging , the First story Floor joists were completely eaten up from termites.. in fact most of the first story of the house was termite damaged.. It was clearly at the point of not being able to be saved... but the person who bought the building , SAVED IT because : A: he could not replace the house with one of the same size on that footprint in Ortega, and B: Because he was able to renovate the existing structure ,as bad as it was , considerably less expensively..  The home was pictured in the Ortega Showcase of homes on MJ and is in incredible condition today.  When we sold it, I was hopeful , but very doubtful of the reality of it being spared.  It was !

[Springfield Chicken]

Cash isn't always necessary to buy and restore a home.  Some banks (Wells Fargo being one) offer Renovation Financing.  You can get a 203K loan and build in the cost of the work to be done into the mortgage.  Yes, there are some terms and conditions attached, but for someone with limited cash available, it can work.