The $100,000 Getaway Challenge

Recently I've gotten a lot of requests from new shoppers about second home getaways under $100,000. Often, an email inquiry includes a list of houses they've selected from online sources they'd like to come up and see. Usually I know something about the houses, particularly the negatives that have kept these apparently great deal houses from selling. For example, there's a house in Callicoon that looks great on the internet — a 1900's charmer with beautiful woodwork listed for $118,900. That one house is the most frequently emailed listing I get. The drawback? It sits on a tiny 1/5th of an acre lot smack at the intersection of Route 17B and Route 97. There are a half dozen other houses that buyers regularly email that have equally major drawbacks, from being located in a flood plain, to having a front porch view of a state prison to being a totally gut renovation handyman special. (There usually is a reason why there are no interior photos in a listing!)

Given the number of inquiries I get in this price range, there is a lot of interest and demand. I can envision couples curled up on their sofas (well, more likely loveseats because they're in NY sized apartments) surfing through listings and making comments to each other like, "Wow, look at this house priced at $99,000!" and "This one looks great at $79,000." When they've collected 6, 8 or even a dozen or more listings and emailed them to me to come up and take a look, they're all excited about finding their little piece of heaven in the country for under $100,000.

So sometimes I feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas when I email them back comments about the houses. Often from their selection of listings I can tell what catches their fancy and will suggest that finding something similar, but in a better location or not on a main road, would likely start at X dollars, maybe $150,000 or $175,000.Sometimes they're amenable to looking in a higher range, sometimes not.

Can you find a getaway here under $100,000? Yes, but ... it probably isn't the country dream you had in mind. It might be a cozy 800 sq. ft. probably seasonal (summer use) cottage on a quarter of an acre in Smallwood, a 1,000 sq. ft. ranch on an acre with paneling, shag carpeting and neighbors, or an in-towner in Liberty or Livingston Manor. (The starting point for in-towners in Jeff, Callicoon or Narrowsburg pushes somewhat above $100,000.) Pushing into the $125,000 to $150,000 range opens up some possibilities with a little more land, a slightly larger house or a little more privacy.

I've pulled together a group of 11 houses in a range from $75K to $159K that are some good options in the affordable range without many of the drawbacks of some of the 'glitzier' online listings that might catch your attention.

Comments

[ar]

This collection of houses makes me wonder: Where's the bottom? Take 21721 -- 3 br's, 2baths, Dave's implicit seal of approval -- and yet, after a FOURTY THOUSAND DOLLAR price reduction, it's still unsold. Or 26087 -- the original price was 179K, now they're down to $135K and still sitting there. Who's to say those folks emailing Dave won't be right if they just hold out a bit longer, or if they make some aggressive bids. Offer 21721 or 26087 $85,000 and see what happens. People may be emailing Dave the wrong houses, but they may not be unrealistic in their price aspirations. Remember, these unsold deeply discounted houses are the ones that Dave himself says are "without many of the drawbacks. . . . " which he says are preventing sales of many sub-$100K/ask houses.

[David Knudsen]

You don;t have me quite right. Those 'drawbacks' aren't necessarily preventing the sales of those sub-$100K houses. Rather they limit the appeal to many second home buyers, who envision getting a charming farmhouse in the country for $89,000. And putting together that list was more to illustrate what may be likely with some appeal for second home buyers in the $100,000 plus or minus range. I don't necessarily think that all of them are yet well priced, nor that they don't have some room to move.

[ar]

Then I guess it's the "negatives," not the "drawbacks," that are keeping the houses from selling, as you wrote:
" Usually I know something about the houses, particularly the negatives that have kept these apparently great deal houses from selling."

[Bix]

Yeah, for instance the 159K house in Eldred is perfect, except that it has only one bath. I don't know about you, but as a city dweller I had this fantasy of actually living in a place with more than one bath. So you spend a bit more and get two baths, and maybe a better location. There's always a reason houses sell for what they do.