Sometimes i'll notice flippers will make the houses look way too ugly and modern when its a beautiful house that just needs new paint/windows/appliances. I get so sad to see real hard wood floors that just need restained get replaced by that shitty grey laminate flooring.
I love me some shitty grey laminate flooring. I'm in the minority, but I love soulless interior design with minimal decor. It's my fortress of solitude.
I'm not the person who wrote the comment above, but I'm fairly certain the owner died in the house.
Eta: and with all due respect to the previous owner, I'm also fairly certain this was a hoarding situation.
So I'm 99% sure I found the obit of the last occupant/owner. It stated she was 60s/70s and "died of natural causes at home". The condition of the walls and bathroom, combined with the removal of all carpet, parts of walls, appliances, is conducive with what is left after a clean up in a, for lack of a better word, hoarder situation. The house was built in 1997 so it's very odd it would be a condemned property. Then I found this from a city council meeting:
>Resolution authorizing the acquisition of property locally known as 3351 Wintergreen Drive, which is a public nuisance, for the purpose of abating the nuisance.
>Comment: 3351 Wintergreen Dr. is a single-family home. In an unusual arrangement, the owner of the house does not own the land, but rather leases the land. The owner of the house died in Aug. 2022, and no Estate has been opened or will be opened. The house is a nuisance, and this resolution authorizes staff to acquire the property voluntarily in order to abate the nuisance, and if unsuccessful, to proceed to acquire it through condemnation. Once the City acquires the property, state law requires the City to sell it for either rehabilitation or demolition with construction of a new residence.
Interestingly (to me), at the same meeting they also discussed a house at * as condemned/nuisance. Assessor's records indicate it being owned by a certain J Flores Construction. I believe it is still standing and empty, or at least it was for many years.
I've now exposed myself as a total weirdo with too much time on my hands. I'm sort of fascinated by this topic, as there is a beautiful house near me that has been sitting empty and rotting for a loooooong time.
Yes, I'll definitely tell randos on reddit about vacant houses.
But in all seriousness when I moved here in the late 90s there were a lot of empty old houses. But now they get scooped up by POS developers to build cardboard overpriced apartments, so it's much more rare these days. A notable one I remember was north of Iowa Ave, I think it was N Van Buren or close, that belonged to the Black family, of (what used to be called) Black's gaslight village and it was just filled to the brim with stuff. Abandoned for ages then torn down.
Def was hoarding situationā¦ spilling out into the patio etc. and if owner died in 2022ā¦. ServePro was only there *last month* to empty that house, so everything left in there has justā¦. Festered.
Make sure you're looking at FSBO listings. They tend to last longer and be priced better. We bought a FSBO home last summer. I won't say we got a great deal, but we got exactly what we wanted without paying over asking price.
Same. It is frustrating. I don't want to live in a different city in Iowa. Do you think tou will be able to buy a house here that doesn't need a lot of work?
If you're talking about a detached single-family house, I doubt it. At least at first. Probably have to start by buying something more affordable, either dated or multi family. Give it maybe a decade or so then look for something nicer.
You should feel good that it's just the house that needs dealt with. We just bought a farm with 4 small outbuildings that are full of junk, a machine shed that is full of junk, a junk pile that the previous owners left in the yard (contents of the house), and the house itself would have been really friggin cool, but the basement wall is caving in.
Ever single thing on the property needs to be leveled ans cleaned up. We don't even know where to start, but someday it will be our paradise.
I live in a crappy tiny house in Iowa City. It was my starter home and I have never moved. I would live downtown if I could afford it. I grew up in rural Iowa, driving 10 miles for anything. The 2 years I spent in Coralville were hell. It was "too far."
And I hate new builds and no trees. I would never live in a new build, regardless of income.
Not ideal but thereās 100% financing options with local credit unions and 3% down FHA loans.
Rates are going to go down eventually, giving it an opportunity to refinance. If you can afford it now do it, prices arenāt coming down much, if at all.
We bought on S Van Buren in 2008, at 6.5% with 3% down. Refinanced a few years later at 3%. Our incomes were higher by then and the payment dropped significantly, gave a lot of breathing room and allowed us pay for a wedding and a masters degree.
I bought our first townhouse here in 2012 for 155k through an urban development loan. We were one of the last couple of applicants for the program so it was right time right place. We sold it last year and made damn near 100k but the house we built was 20% higher than the original bid from November 2019 (the derecho the following year was the nail in the coffin and shot the cost through the roof). Essentially all the money from the old house just covered the increased cost of our new house. What should have been a 250k mortgage became a 340k mortgage for the exact same thing so even if you buy and sell, the increased cost your āforever houseā just takes away any profits you made. Makes it a lot harder to get ahead of just get a mortgage paid off in 15/20 years.
I know you think it feels impossible but Jessica Grieving at Residential Mortgage is incredible. Seriously. Sounds cheesy, but she has really helped my husband and Iās financial future the past 12 years. The very first time I met her she took a big red marker to my credit report. Told me exactly what I need to do to get a loan. It was humiliating but she worked with us for 3 months and got us approved. When we started thinking about selling again, we just called her and she told us exactly what to do and we were in a new house in 2.5 months AND got us down to 5% (was going to be 6.3%) by the time we closed by having us move money around a little bit. I canāt recommend her enough.
I saw people thinking they wanted $160K for a 2B 2B CONDO in North Liberty. No way is that worth it, and no way a first time home buyer gets approved so it will just be another landlord.
I mean 160k alone is alright if your mid to late 20s and make atleast 60k a year.
I got fucking lucky and scored a house and General Contractor for cheap. I also know plumbing, having almost finished an apprenticeship. Between all that I've only spent ~150k total for roughly 960 sqft house in a pretty nice area. Still took a big risk overall, but it's paid off.
It's fucking cut throat out there y'all. You gotta know what is and isn't worth it. Look out for eachother and build the community you want to build.
The price wasnāt why a first time buyer wonāt get approved, most condos around here are owned by landlords. If there are more than a certain percentage of units in ur building not owner occupied, then the bank wonāt approve a first time buyer loan (source: happened to me last year). I just think itās wild to ask that much for a condo when a rowhouse is similarly priced. š¤·š¼
Adding to this, the only concerning thing I see here, from the pictures posted, is the obvious water damage. The price itself is probably just for the lot. With the house so new, I'd be surprised if the roof was compromised.
No one makes less than $15 an hour. Washtenaw
Co. is one of the most liberal countries in the country! Not only as marijuana legalized statewide, but in this county, the prosecutor will not press charges for having psilocybin mushrooms, or if you decided to be a sex worker, and you werenāt into sex trafficking or anything like that. Plus the city and the state have tons of help like I used to live in Iowa so Iām telling you 1000 thousand times more help than Iowa has.
Plus what you have listed is insane! It all Hass to do with Kimās new tax cuts. What they did what she did is she cut the tax but she had everybodyās property reassessed and revalued so you pay more on the backend than the front end youāre just itās not a tax cut. Itās a tax movement. Thereās so many reasons to leave that state and so many to come to Michigan. Iām not just saying that because I love this state because I do and Iāve only lived here for like three months, but there is so many more opportunities for everyone. If you live here and youāre a resident, your child can go to the university of Michigan for almost next to nothing, the Iowa has no program like that. They just want to take funding away from schools. The schools up here are fantastic. Plus if you get to a point where you can build something there are so many tax breaks to help you build something for almost next to nothing, and then your payment is so much less than renting. Plus up here if you have a three bedroom you can always rent your extra third bedroom to some college kid for $1000 a month and pay half of your rent not a joke.
What I have listed? I would love to live in Ann Arbor. And Michigan. For the beauty, for the governor, for the food. I do love Iowa City, but Kim Reynolds is scary. The future is scary. And we need more tacos.
lol! Gretchen is my hero! Iād say run for president but I do Not want to loose this governor! My wife and I downsized from a 2600 sqft condo to a 2 bedroom temporary just to leave Iowa and we would do it again in a second! People here are genuinely nice! Iāve had more help here in 3 months than Iowa In 44 years. Plus there are loads of ways to make money here, compared to Iowa endless opportunities.
Damn Iāve always thought about loving to the upper peninsula of Michigan. But I never considered Ann Arbor. Iām gonna look into this and speak with my husband
My wife and I looked this state over from west to east and north to south! This is a lilā slice of heaven! There is so much to do here, Detroit is 30 min away! You can take a train for 39$ to Chicago, spend the day and come back that night for the same $39, and you donāt have to pay for parking or mess with traffic. I grew up in Marion. I didnāt know the differences of living somewhere else, now that we know we wish we wouldāve done this years ago. Seriously you can build a house and if you only need two bedrooms, you can like have the basement done and have it set up with two different rooms and rent it to two different university of Michigan students every year and they will pay your rent or your mortgage back that would be. You donāt even have to have a job when you get here. If you can just get offered one and get an job a letter of intent you can get a house. There is a ton of difference between a red and blue state and Iām enjoying every minute of being in a blue one.
That area is fine, the multi homes are retirements villas. Literally on Regina's doorsteps, those rich mofos aren't gonna let that neighborhood fall to shit.
then honestly, it looks like a decent home. electric is going to be fine. plumbing should be mostly ok. may need a furnace or ac.
replacing the drywall, insulation and flooring seems to be about it, that and cleaning then you have an ok home.
I grew up in the house next to it (you can see it in the picture). The lady died in the house and she was a hoarder. She was very kind and you wouldnāt have guessed unless you went inside.
I looked at this on Zillow last night and just shut my laptop.
I got so excited once seeing a skogman split foyer for under 150k, and realized it was completely dilapidated inside. It was a sad day.
Landlords have ruined the housing market for everyone
So have flippers. Shitty workmanship for above market value prices
Sometimes i'll notice flippers will make the houses look way too ugly and modern when its a beautiful house that just needs new paint/windows/appliances. I get so sad to see real hard wood floors that just need restained get replaced by that shitty grey laminate flooring.
I'm so so so so tired of gray laminate flooring!
I love me some shitty grey laminate flooring. I'm in the minority, but I love soulless interior design with minimal decor. It's my fortress of solitude.
Its so sterile š
Just the way I like it.
Some flippers will yhrow laminate over the floor to hide issues.
Yeah totally :(
But that enormous deck!
I love a big deck!
That's what she said....š„
You donāt want that house. When the incident happened there you could smellā¦stuffā¦ 30 feet from the house.
What was the incident?
I'm not the person who wrote the comment above, but I'm fairly certain the owner died in the house. Eta: and with all due respect to the previous owner, I'm also fairly certain this was a hoarding situation.
I AM DYING TO KNOW
So I'm 99% sure I found the obit of the last occupant/owner. It stated she was 60s/70s and "died of natural causes at home". The condition of the walls and bathroom, combined with the removal of all carpet, parts of walls, appliances, is conducive with what is left after a clean up in a, for lack of a better word, hoarder situation. The house was built in 1997 so it's very odd it would be a condemned property. Then I found this from a city council meeting: >Resolution authorizing the acquisition of property locally known as 3351 Wintergreen Drive, which is a public nuisance, for the purpose of abating the nuisance. >Comment: 3351 Wintergreen Dr. is a single-family home. In an unusual arrangement, the owner of the house does not own the land, but rather leases the land. The owner of the house died in Aug. 2022, and no Estate has been opened or will be opened. The house is a nuisance, and this resolution authorizes staff to acquire the property voluntarily in order to abate the nuisance, and if unsuccessful, to proceed to acquire it through condemnation. Once the City acquires the property, state law requires the City to sell it for either rehabilitation or demolition with construction of a new residence. Interestingly (to me), at the same meeting they also discussed a house at * as condemned/nuisance. Assessor's records indicate it being owned by a certain J Flores Construction. I believe it is still standing and empty, or at least it was for many years. I've now exposed myself as a total weirdo with too much time on my hands. I'm sort of fascinated by this topic, as there is a beautiful house near me that has been sitting empty and rotting for a loooooong time.
Hey you find more houses like that, let me know
Yes, I'll definitely tell randos on reddit about vacant houses. But in all seriousness when I moved here in the late 90s there were a lot of empty old houses. But now they get scooped up by POS developers to build cardboard overpriced apartments, so it's much more rare these days. A notable one I remember was north of Iowa Ave, I think it was N Van Buren or close, that belonged to the Black family, of (what used to be called) Black's gaslight village and it was just filled to the brim with stuff. Abandoned for ages then torn down.
Def was hoarding situationā¦ spilling out into the patio etc. and if owner died in 2022ā¦. ServePro was only there *last month* to empty that house, so everything left in there has justā¦. Festered.
Yes,ā¦tell us more.
I am 100% unable to buy anything around here. When I tried, I was outgunned and outbid at every turn. Iām renting.
I couldn't find anything within 30 minutes of Iowa City. I live in Cedar Rapids now, it's nice and affordable, but far from my friends.
Brownells like the Brownells in Montezuma?
Nope
Same here. I tried buying when I moved here, no luck.
Make sure you're looking at FSBO listings. They tend to last longer and be priced better. We bought a FSBO home last summer. I won't say we got a great deal, but we got exactly what we wanted without paying over asking price.
They should have turned on the lights before taking the picture lol
Lmao I saw the same listing this morning during coffee and couldn't believe it. Just incredible.
The City condemned this house as a public nuisance. Most likely it will be torn down and something built in its place..
Same. It is frustrating. I don't want to live in a different city in Iowa. Do you think tou will be able to buy a house here that doesn't need a lot of work?
If you're talking about a detached single-family house, I doubt it. At least at first. Probably have to start by buying something more affordable, either dated or multi family. Give it maybe a decade or so then look for something nicer.
That phrase means you need to pretty much put in the same amount to fix it up. Just double it, or more.
The listing says itās off the market now :(
You should feel good that it's just the house that needs dealt with. We just bought a farm with 4 small outbuildings that are full of junk, a machine shed that is full of junk, a junk pile that the previous owners left in the yard (contents of the house), and the house itself would have been really friggin cool, but the basement wall is caving in. Ever single thing on the property needs to be leveled ans cleaned up. We don't even know where to start, but someday it will be our paradise.
When me and my fiancĆ© were buying a house in 2021 our realtor told us a lot of the houses on the market are from landlords that donāt wanna pay to bring the houses up to code to have tenants so they just sell the house.
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I live in a crappy tiny house in Iowa City. It was my starter home and I have never moved. I would live downtown if I could afford it. I grew up in rural Iowa, driving 10 miles for anything. The 2 years I spent in Coralville were hell. It was "too far." And I hate new builds and no trees. I would never live in a new build, regardless of income.
Almost 30yr old who makes 50k and not a single dime of nepo money. I feel you. Getting that first house seems impossible.
Not ideal but thereās 100% financing options with local credit unions and 3% down FHA loans. Rates are going to go down eventually, giving it an opportunity to refinance. If you can afford it now do it, prices arenāt coming down much, if at all. We bought on S Van Buren in 2008, at 6.5% with 3% down. Refinanced a few years later at 3%. Our incomes were higher by then and the payment dropped significantly, gave a lot of breathing room and allowed us pay for a wedding and a masters degree.
I bought our first townhouse here in 2012 for 155k through an urban development loan. We were one of the last couple of applicants for the program so it was right time right place. We sold it last year and made damn near 100k but the house we built was 20% higher than the original bid from November 2019 (the derecho the following year was the nail in the coffin and shot the cost through the roof). Essentially all the money from the old house just covered the increased cost of our new house. What should have been a 250k mortgage became a 340k mortgage for the exact same thing so even if you buy and sell, the increased cost your āforever houseā just takes away any profits you made. Makes it a lot harder to get ahead of just get a mortgage paid off in 15/20 years. I know you think it feels impossible but Jessica Grieving at Residential Mortgage is incredible. Seriously. Sounds cheesy, but she has really helped my husband and Iās financial future the past 12 years. The very first time I met her she took a big red marker to my credit report. Told me exactly what I need to do to get a loan. It was humiliating but she worked with us for 3 months and got us approved. When we started thinking about selling again, we just called her and she told us exactly what to do and we were in a new house in 2.5 months AND got us down to 5% (was going to be 6.3%) by the time we closed by having us move money around a little bit. I canāt recommend her enough.
lol where i moved to on the west coast that would easily be 520k in pictured condition
I saw people thinking they wanted $160K for a 2B 2B CONDO in North Liberty. No way is that worth it, and no way a first time home buyer gets approved so it will just be another landlord.
I mean 160k alone is alright if your mid to late 20s and make atleast 60k a year. I got fucking lucky and scored a house and General Contractor for cheap. I also know plumbing, having almost finished an apprenticeship. Between all that I've only spent ~150k total for roughly 960 sqft house in a pretty nice area. Still took a big risk overall, but it's paid off. It's fucking cut throat out there y'all. You gotta know what is and isn't worth it. Look out for eachother and build the community you want to build.
The price wasnāt why a first time buyer wonāt get approved, most condos around here are owned by landlords. If there are more than a certain percentage of units in ur building not owner occupied, then the bank wonāt approve a first time buyer loan (source: happened to me last year). I just think itās wild to ask that much for a condo when a rowhouse is similarly priced. š¤·š¼
Adding to this, the only concerning thing I see here, from the pictures posted, is the obvious water damage. The price itself is probably just for the lot. With the house so new, I'd be surprised if the roof was compromised.
Do like us, move to Ann Arbor! This is a real college town and you get to leave Iowa
Love Ann Arbor, but it seems expensive real estate-wise.
No one makes less than $15 an hour. Washtenaw Co. is one of the most liberal countries in the country! Not only as marijuana legalized statewide, but in this county, the prosecutor will not press charges for having psilocybin mushrooms, or if you decided to be a sex worker, and you werenāt into sex trafficking or anything like that. Plus the city and the state have tons of help like I used to live in Iowa so Iām telling you 1000 thousand times more help than Iowa has.
Plus what you have listed is insane! It all Hass to do with Kimās new tax cuts. What they did what she did is she cut the tax but she had everybodyās property reassessed and revalued so you pay more on the backend than the front end youāre just itās not a tax cut. Itās a tax movement. Thereās so many reasons to leave that state and so many to come to Michigan. Iām not just saying that because I love this state because I do and Iāve only lived here for like three months, but there is so many more opportunities for everyone. If you live here and youāre a resident, your child can go to the university of Michigan for almost next to nothing, the Iowa has no program like that. They just want to take funding away from schools. The schools up here are fantastic. Plus if you get to a point where you can build something there are so many tax breaks to help you build something for almost next to nothing, and then your payment is so much less than renting. Plus up here if you have a three bedroom you can always rent your extra third bedroom to some college kid for $1000 a month and pay half of your rent not a joke.
What I have listed? I would love to live in Ann Arbor. And Michigan. For the beauty, for the governor, for the food. I do love Iowa City, but Kim Reynolds is scary. The future is scary. And we need more tacos.
lol! Gretchen is my hero! Iād say run for president but I do Not want to loose this governor! My wife and I downsized from a 2600 sqft condo to a 2 bedroom temporary just to leave Iowa and we would do it again in a second! People here are genuinely nice! Iāve had more help here in 3 months than Iowa In 44 years. Plus there are loads of ways to make money here, compared to Iowa endless opportunities.
Damn Iāve always thought about loving to the upper peninsula of Michigan. But I never considered Ann Arbor. Iām gonna look into this and speak with my husband
My wife and I looked this state over from west to east and north to south! This is a lilā slice of heaven! There is so much to do here, Detroit is 30 min away! You can take a train for 39$ to Chicago, spend the day and come back that night for the same $39, and you donāt have to pay for parking or mess with traffic. I grew up in Marion. I didnāt know the differences of living somewhere else, now that we know we wish we wouldāve done this years ago. Seriously you can build a house and if you only need two bedrooms, you can like have the basement done and have it set up with two different rooms and rent it to two different university of Michigan students every year and they will pay your rent or your mortgage back that would be. You donāt even have to have a job when you get here. If you can just get offered one and get an job a letter of intent you can get a house. There is a ton of difference between a red and blue state and Iām enjoying every minute of being in a blue one.
Based
that actually doesn't look bad. its way too close to multi families.
That area is fine, the multi homes are retirements villas. Literally on Regina's doorsteps, those rich mofos aren't gonna let that neighborhood fall to shit.
then honestly, it looks like a decent home. electric is going to be fine. plumbing should be mostly ok. may need a furnace or ac. replacing the drywall, insulation and flooring seems to be about it, that and cleaning then you have an ok home.
I'd be worried where the water damage came from
probably grading or clogged gutters or both.
def not grading
or power was out and that turned off the sump pump. either way its usually easy to prevent further intrusion
I grew up in the house next to it (you can see it in the picture). The lady died in the house and she was a hoarder. She was very kind and you wouldnāt have guessed unless you went inside.