Here are three houses we saw last weekend. All three were either estate sales or homes in a similar state of disrepair. If you’re looking for that fixer upper, this is the post for you.
I’m rushing to get this post in before midnight to make it a full week of daily posting. Woo hoo!
629 Morrison St
- MLS# 2225526 – Zillow Page
- Ask $359,000
- 3 bedrooms – 1.5 bath
- Taxes: $9,337 – Village Taxes: None
This house is up on the northwest edge of the 11702 zip code. It’s in the Babylon School District, but outside of the Village proper. Hence no Village taxes. The backyard butts up against the Belmont lake park/North Babylon Cemetery. It’s about a hundred yards from Sunrise Highway. When you’re out in the backyard, you can’t see the highway, but you can hear the traffic.
According to the Realtor, this house belongs to an older man who is now in an assisted living facilty. He’s not coming back and the house must be sold. The basement and garage are full to the brim with junk. I’m thinking that this man was living alone for a long time.
This is the typical split built in this section of Babylon, exactly the same layout as the 81 Pilcher house that we looked at last year. But, where that house was reasonably updated, this one looks like it’s been stuck in a time warp. Take the living room. It looks like something out of a 60’s magazine layout.
Look at those lamps and that sunburst clock. Neato!
While nothing major in the house is in serious disrepair (as far as I can tell), a lot of the house is OEM equipment. The kitchen looks like it’s original from when the house was built. The bathrooms aren’t original, but they’re 20 or 30 years old at best.
There’s a good opportunity for someone looking for a fixer-upper. A reasonably handy person could probably do most of the work themself.
179 Cadman Ave
- MLS# 2232398 – Zillow Page
- Ask $449,000
- 5 bedrooms – 2 bath
- Taxes: $9,211 – Village Taxes: $1,019.00
I actually saw this house months back when it was first listed. The owner pulled the listing shortly after and it’s just back on the market now. When I first saw the house, it was in its original 70’s glory. There was Harvest Gold and Avacado Green in the kitchen and some scary flocked wallpaper in the living room.
The house is a fairly typical high ranch. Three bedrooms, living room, dining room and bathroom upstairs. A bedroom, a bonus room/laundry room and large family room downstairs. Like a lot of these high ranches, it’s been converted to an illegal two family, so there’s a row of kitchen cabinets and a stove set against the near wall of the family room.
The house has been cleaned up quite a bit. They’ve done a fair bit of work to it, but it’s a big stretch to call it renovated. Both sets of kitchen cabinets have been repainted/refaced. There’s new appliances and a new laminate countertop in the upstairs kitchen. The walls have been painted and the wood floors upstairs refinished. Both bathrooms are still pretty much disasters though. The owner was very proud of the complex tile work in the upstairs bathroom, but that doesn’t make it any less hideous.
37 Ellen Ave
- MLS# 2230599 – Zillow Page
- Ask $429,000
- 3 bedrooms – 1.5 bath
- Taxes: $7,602 – Village Taxes: $632.75
Another unpolished gem in Babylon Village. Actually, not so much an unpolished gem as a total gut job. Given the state that the house is in, I’m assuming that this is another estate sale.
Beyond the fact of this house’s age and state of disrepair, there are issues with the layout and the modifications made to accommodate more modern requirements. For example, there was originally very little closet space in the bedrooms, so additional closets were built. In one case a closet was built in a corner around a window because they couldn’t figure where else to put it.
The big plus for this house is obviously the plot of land that it sits on. At 100×110 it’s just over a quarter acre, a big lot with a lot of potential.
Well…The Ellen Ave is definitely a fixer upper…but that is some prime location. I was hoping that was the one you offered on..but I was wrong. Hoping you got the inside track on a nice place.
Looking at the July solds..esp. the one on S. Carll Ave and comparing it to the Livingston Ave house..people are def trying to creep up the price. S. Carll blows Livingston away…location location, charm.
So..I am assuming that you’re not really amenable to doing a bunch of kitchen/bathroom gutting?
Once I buy a house and pay for closing costs I’m not going to have that much left over for repairs and improvements, especially not if I spend too much for the house.
I could swing that Morrison house if I wanted. It’s a livable house. It just needs work.
The Ellen house isn’t really livable. It needs the kitchen and bathrooms done ASAP. Not to mention the horrible paneling on the walls. Plus I really don’t like the layout, especially of the bedrooms.
By the way we saw also saw 11 Ellen Ave on our little jaunt out with the Realtor. I didn’t write about it because it’s off MLS now. Someone probably snapped it right up.
That’s a great house with tons of potential, although sadly way out of our price range.
yeah..that had some nice potential with the cottage. I suspect that place needs some updating also.
11 Ellen needs a lot of updating — bathrooms, kitchen, etc — but the house itself is in pretty decent shape. It has “good bones” as they say. Also, That little cottage in the back was pretty neat. It’s a good opportunity for someone with money and vision.
Where did you get info. that 629 morrison is not within the village? I beleieve that is mistaken.
The house was listed with no Village taxes and the Realtor told me that it was outside the incorporated Village.