Mark and Laura's new house

Well, I am finally getting around to posting about the house we are buying in Stephenson. It is about 3 miles from Daggett, where I work, so I will still have a pretty short commute, but a bit longer than my current walk-across-the-street routine.

The house was built around 1900, and it is 2450 square feet. It is a foreclosure that needs some work, so we are getting it pretty cheap, as it has sat on the market for about a year with no bites. We got a copy of the appraisal, which gave us some interesting past history on it. We also found out it was built by one of the branch members' grandfather, who was the first barber in Stephenson.

It is on a triple city lot, so it has a nice large yard, and about .6 acres. From the appraisal we found out that it was sold in 2006 for $60,000, and in summer 2007 it was listed for $70,000 by the owner. It looks like it was foreclosed late last fall or winter, and when we first saw it it was listed for $39,900. After we had walked through it, they dropped the price to $35,000, and we then offered $32,000 and the lender agreed.

The previous owner had started chipping away the plaster and lath in one of the bedrooms, so you can see inside the exterior walls, and see that it has no insulation in the walls at all. The attic has less than 4 inches of blown in insulation, and much of the electrical is very old, with some knob-in-tube style wiring. One window is missing, and part of one is broken, and the outside doors need new knobs. The floors are almost all hardwood, that need to be refinished, and the furnace is very old and probably needs replacing. All of this is why it had not sold, even though it was cheap.

The bank had the appraiser do it based on the value after it had been rewired, insulated, and a new furnace, and it came back valued at $81,000! So in addition to the purchase amount, we are getting another $15,000 to help pay for the repairs. I plan to do most of the work myself to save money. Even with the additional money, our house payment, including insurance and taxes, will be less than $450/month!

The first photo is from the street, front right side:

The second one is the front left side (you can see the board covering the missing window)
The third one is from the back yardThere is also a two car detached garage, and a paved driveway shared with the house next door.