Is the asking price too much for this La Salle Gardens House?

[masterblaster]

http://www.realestateone.com/homes/2...troit-MI-48206

What do you think?

[gnome]

Dang Blaster, how can that be?

[ct_alum]

Location, location, location.

[qdaddy77]

so how much is the water bill?

[EastsideAl]

What a shame. Those are some beautiful houses over there too. When my mother was growing up in the area her "rich" friends lived on La Salle Gardens. She dreamed of being able to live in a place like that. I guess she can afford it now...

[DLife]

The back taxes will be significant...plus the estimated taxes are probably wrong too. I bet the house is still appraised much higher for taxable value purposes.

[Hermod]

Master Blaster: M1 or M60?

[Zacha341]

Yep, I live not far from there and it is on the other side of Rosa Parks Blvd [[12 street) with Linwood with Clairmont boarding to the north as the next largest cross street and that spells a someone what spotty area [[48206)... a bit more so than the other side of RP leading to midtown and new center that has its issues too.

There's a new police mini station up on the Virginia Park Plaza not far from Lasalle Gardens. Still as others have said the water bill may be sky-high and the taxes too. Those houses mostly face out onto the Lasalle park and that adds to the tax assessment just like living on a street with a grass median does or living on a corner house.

Location, location, location.

[casscorridor]

too much? you got to be joking me. 9,800 is dirt cheap for a good neighborhood! and five bedrooms, this would be like a palace for a price less than a car.

[swingline]

Given the mere four-figure listing price for that home in that neighborhood, it is undoubtedly a bank-owned property and it is very likely that the home was not winterized after it became vacant. Invariably, these homes have sustained massive water damage. This has been a huge problem with foreclosures in Detroit. Probably thousands of homes have had their value destroyed in this manner since the foreclosure crisis began. When the pipes burst in these homes, it can easily cause $75-$100K in damage. There's plenty of shame and blame to spread around when this happens. In many neighborhoods, the market cannot support a renovation of a property with this kind of damage. If so, the property stays vacant and often gets stripped. This is how blight gets a foothold in nicer neighborhoods. It sucks.

[5speedz34]

I thought winterizing a home involves just shutting the water off?

[n7hn]

I thought winterizing a home involves just shutting the water off?

thats just part..... see below

If you live in an area where freezing pipes can be a problem, drain toilets, water heater [[turn off gas or electric supply first) and if on a well and pump system, the expansion tank. You'll also need to completely eliminate or dilute the water in drain traps by pouring an "RV" type antifreeze solution in them as directed by the instructions. RV antifreeze is commonly used to protect pipes from freezing in RVs and mobile homes. This antifreeze is a type that is safe for use in and around drinking water systems when used as directed. Never pour "regular" automotive antifreeze in the locations listed in this Wiki.

[5speedz34]

Bottom line never but automotive coolant anywhere but in a car.

[n7hn]

recent sale a few houses down...... $12,000

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/25...88413670_zpid/

[afoley]

Funny thing that this house came up as a DYes topic. I had an appointment to view this house today, but the agent had to cancel because there was a fire in the home. No word on how much damage, but I'm guessing the asking price is going to take a slight dip as a result.

[English]

Some folks who are foreclosed on really don't care about winterizing their homes or leaving them intact, for that matter. We've been looking at places that have been vindictively stripped not by outsiders, but by the previous occupants. It's indicative of the local and national zeitgeist, I think... a lot of people just don't give a ____ anymore.

It is a beautiful home, though. I, too, had friends in that area growing up, but long after it was a ritzy neighborhood.

[davewindsor]

Funny thing that this house came up as a DYes topic. I had an appointment to view this house today, but the agent had to cancel because there was a fire in the home. No word on how much damage, but I'm guessing the asking price is going to take a slight dip as a result.

Yup, the architecture looks a lot like the one I remember seeing online last last year for $16,900 and it was all boarded up. I wonder if it's the same house, all boarded up and this was a picture from many years back.

[5speedz34]

Some folks who are foreclosed on really don't care about winterizing their homes or leaving them intact, for that matter. We've been looking at places that have been vindictively stripped not by outsiders, but by the previous occupants. It's indicative of the local and national zeitgeist, I think... a lot of people just don't give a ____ anymore.

It is a beautiful home, though. I, too, had friends in that area growing up, but long after it was a ritzy neighborhood.

I've heard this also nationwide, generally when someone is losing their home they strip it of everything they put into it. Cabinets, toilets, light fixtures, etc.

[detroitbob]

Remember, you are dealing with a 90 year old house which has probably not been totally updated. A friend of mine left a home on LaSalle Blvd and 'gave' the house away as the market conditions are such. The new owner supposedly put a lot of money updating a house that was in great shape, tight roof, gutters, no structural problems. Also remember the heating costs can be huge, as most are steam/hot water heat.

[masterblaster]

Afoley, please follow up on this house to see how much fire damage it sustained. That really angers me. These banks are not securing these houses properly, and then you have sociopaths setting them on fire. A georgeous Georgian house at 7694 La Salle also suffered the same fate.


7694 La Salle St, Detroit, MI 48206
Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,86.35,,0,5.01>
[[it takes a few seconds to load the "street view" picture of the house, this is the "before" picture)

http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?p=116210
[[pictures of the burnt-out carcass in the middle of the thread, the "after" picture)

[5speedz34]

It's my understanding that steam/boiler is a very efficient and cheap way to heat a home.

[mwilbert]

Steam can be pretty efficient but that isn't the issue in these houses; the problem is that there is generally very little ceiling or wall insulation, uninsulated windows, and often a lot of air infiltration. Also a lot of them have very old boilers, which aren't so efficient.

These problems can mostly be fixed, but it costs money, and in a big house, quite a bit of money.

[Zacha341]

Yeah, I always say old house great, but "modern" heating and cooling please. There's little that is practical or quaint about a hissing and fizzing boiler or scalding hot or ice cold radiators! And stormed or insulated windows is a must, though the walls are usually good with solid plaster as appose to the thin drywall of modern buildings.

Steam can be pretty efficient but that isn't the issue in these houses; the problem is that there is generally very little ceiling or wall insulation, uninsulated windows, and often a lot of air infiltration. Also a lot of them have very old boilers, which aren't so efficient.

These problems can mostly be fixed, but it costs money, and in a big house, quite a bit of money.

[Zacha341]

I drove by that Georgian house tonight to see it and though dark it was obviously boarded up and while the roof remains intact in the front of the house towards the back you have that horrid, open to the sky burnt up look. Where the rain do surely poor in. And we know water always wins where the flames did not! I'll take a closer look during the day...... perhaps wit a camera....

Afoley, please follow up on this house to see how much fire damage it sustained. That really angers me. These banks are not securing these houses properly, and then you have sociopaths setting them on fire. A georgeous Georgian house at 7694 La Salle also suffered the same fate.


7694 La Salle St, Detroit, MI 48206
Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,86.35,,0,5.01>
[[it takes a few seconds to load the "street view" picture of the house, this is the "before" picture)

http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?p=116210
[[pictures of the burnt-out carcass in the middle of the thread, the "after" picture)

[Zacha341]

I went looking for this house tonight, but as it was dark I did not find it just circling the park once... Encouraging was that there were several lit homes in the square block radius of home that make up LaSalle Gardens.... a few did look a bit worn... too bad Linwood Ave. has taken such a beating. With so many abandoned and stripped properties.

http://www.realestateone.com/homes/2...troit-MI-48206

What do you think?