What is Going on With This Newton Duplex? (Gardner: for sale, rent)

[Japanfan1986]

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...A_M38785-13540

Okay I get that this one may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s freaking Newton! I’d figure this one would have been snapped up shortly after going on the market, not getting marked down by another $25K!

For comparison aside from this one there is one more duplex for sale. That one cost $100K more and I’d be curious why that one wasn’t selling if I wasn’t more curious about this one. Everything else is going for $750K minimum and most of those are single families.

[yesmaybe]

Says Unit 6 needs a new kitchen and Unit 8 needs a lot of work. 575k is a lot when you might have to drop another 100k to get it fixed up.

[wolfgang239]

What's wrong is that it will need to be gutted in order to even begin resembling something people are interested in.

If you are a regular buyer you won't even be able to live in one unit while you fix up the other. You definitely won't be able to afford or find a contractor. For an investor it is likely better to bulldoze and start with something brand new but I'm guessing the numbers aren't quite there at that price. Lots of municipalities make it harder to convert from multi to single these days too due to housing crunch advocacy.

[Lampert]

The land is the only thing appealing.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Lampert

The land is the only thing appealing.

The lot is microscopic. I don't think many developers would be interested in it even at this price.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

The lot is microscopic. I don't think many developers would be interested in it even at this price.

I agree, what I meant to say is that an investor is only going to look at the land and come up with an evaluation based on that. The building is an extra cost.

[id77]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

The lot is microscopic. I don't think many developers would be interested in it even at this price.

This is also what came to my mind. Too small to drop a McMansion on, so most developers will pass. Worse, the existing building is in need of head-to-toe upgrades and updating to be appealing to the typical Newton crowd.

Basically, I see a heavy fixer-upper with a low upgradeability ceiling due to lot constraints. Poison pill right there.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

What's wrong is that it will need to be gutted in order to even begin resembling something people are interested in.

If you are a regular buyer you won't even be able to live in one unit while you fix up the other. You definitely won't be able to afford or find a contractor. For an investor it is likely better to bulldoze and start with something brand new but I'm guessing the numbers aren't quite there at that price. Lots of municipalities make it harder to convert from multi to single these days too due to housing crunch advocacy.

Before I bought my house I saw it another and it was very cheap but to be frank I wasn't going to pay rent and then pay a mortgage on a house that I can live in and then for the repairs on that house all at the same time. Ironically there is a guy that's doing just that the cross the street but the property was in much better condition. Somebody did buy the one I mentioned and they did do significant updates and its back on the market

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by Lampert

I agree, what I meant to say is that an investor is only going to look at the land and come up with an evaluation based on that. The building is an extra cost.

Surely if you fixed it up you'd get more than 3k in rent from the two units? That lot is too small to do a teardown.

[robr2]

Even to rebuild it, there's no room for parking except on the paver area in front. You might be able to build a long, skinny 2 story with a 1 car garage and a small driveway. But it'll be pushing over $1 million to do so.