21 Comment

  • Whoa. My mind has just been blown. Does it say something about your personality which direction up or down you saw it first?

  • Hmmmm… As-is, no disclosures given, can’t be torn down, must be all cash deal. Somehow this sounds like the realtor signed up for a job of Sisyphus.

  • Careful! The first step’s a doozy!

  • Geez. Where do you even start to fix this up?

  • Wow, usually I am opposed to tearing down homes, but in this case, where is the sledge hammer.

  • The terms are extra sketchy on this property. I think we can all safely assume a few things:

    -structural damage
    -non-permitted work
    -knob and tube wiring
    -asbestos

    Given these remarkable qualities, are they smoking a bunch of crack wanting 349$ cash for uh, the land basically? The no teardown is also suspicious.

  • This is why historic districts are bad.

  • The no teardown is because it’s in the Avondale Historical District. It’s not bad enough structurally to be unsafe and need teardown, so it must be remodeled, and meeting their standards. Definitely needs a gut job, but some of the features, like the fireplace and moldings are a definite plus. And the attic is big enough to finish out, too. I just can’t see the brick front as being original to the house. Looks like it was added to enclose a sleeping porch. I would open it back up, if it was allowed.

  • Looks like the ending of “The Blair Witch Project” to me.

  • I’m afraid of what might be “historical” about that house… what a sad result of the Historic District designation.

  • This house reminds me of The Silence of the Lambs, it’s that scary lookin’.

    “It puts the lotion on it’s skin!!”

  • I love it. But I’m strange like that.

  • I’d love to buy it and fix it up, but shudder at how much “love” the new owner will have from the city.
    .
    Before the ink is dry on the closing docs, the city will have the property surrounded. It’ll be made structurally sound due to all the red tags that will be holding it up.
    .
    It wouldn’t be *THAT* hard to make it nice if you could just do what needs to be done on your own.

  • Cody, for an individual, isn’t it a lot easier to get permits, as opposed to rental property?

  • As is and no disclosures required indicates that the seller didn’t buy this house but somehow just ended up with it (i.e., administration of an estate, foreclosure, etc.). The ironic thing about the bricked in porch is that particular remuddleing might itself be old enough to qualify as “historic.”
    Enough cash, vision, and patience, though, and one could end up with something very cool.

  • Call “This Old House” folks. They love this kind of thing.

  • @Jerseygirl I only see standing at the top looking down. Is there more?

  • @ Bubba – Great idea. They’re also very accustomed to dealing with historic districts, and have been known to do winter time shoots someplace warmer than metro Boston.

  • The days of “This Old House” doing realistic renovations in-town are long gone. They need to get back to their roots.

  • Anyone looking at this house as an investment, I agree you will definitely be getting lots of city love if trying to cut corners to maximize profits. And rightfully so.

  • This house is not that historic.

    According to HCAD it is a duplex from 1945, although the listing says it is 1904.

    Also, the price seems to be conjured based on tax values, even though the actual land value is nil due to the deed restrictions.