I keep seeing inexpensive bank owned homes for sale, and... (Keene: mortgage, houses)

[canyontothesky]

I have the means to and am looking to buy a house in the next couple of years to take advantage (for once) of the poor economy.

I live in Manhattan right now, next year we're relocating to Westchester county in NY or Fairfield county in CT. After that, who knows. I know I can't afford a house in the tri-state area, and I want to buy a house in cash, or else have a very inexpensive mortgage and use the cash to fix up the house. I want a fixer upper, but something that'll set me back no more than $100,000, or at least not more than that up front, and more over a period of years.

I'm born and raised outside of Boston and we've been toying with Maine for a while, but that might not be the best option whereas Vermont and New Hampshire may. There are other factors to consider than just what I'm listing here, like jobs, but we'll leave that for another time maybe.

Long story short, I've been looking on the MLS lately and I'm seeing some wonderful homes with great potential for about $50-75,000. They both have upwards of 2,000 square feet, 1/2-2+ acres, built around 1900, attached barns or extensions. I know that they are somewhat (or a lot) distressed, but like I said fixing isn't a problem so long as it's not structural. I saw two great homes, one in Danbury and one in Winchester, both, it seems are very close to the VT border and to Brattleboro, which I've never been to, but I understand is a great area.

Anyway, I am looking for comments in two arenas. One, about these fixer upper homes that are in fairly rural areas but seem like great deals. Have you done this before? Bad/good experiences? Etc. Two, the areas in specific. I haven't seen many of these kinds of homes listed in eastern NH, they are all right along the border with VT. What's this area like? Naturally, I'll visit, and I don't even know if I'm looking seriously in that area, but just to consider. I want semi-rural, with a nice town feeling, but also close to skiing, food, Target/Wal-Mart, shopping, etc.

Thanks!

[scone]

IIWY I'd send a DM to Valerie, she's the resident realtor here, she knows everything.

[canyontothesky]

Maybe she'll see this thread and reply. Otherwise I'll DM her.

[Valerie C]

Gee, there I was, catching up with the news of the day, and my mouse finger started to twitch. That means my name was mentioned here

Thanks for the big kudo's Scone, I sure do wish I knew *everything* (my kids remind me quite often that I don't know anything LOL) and I hate to disappoint, but truly I don't get to the western part of the state often enough to be able to advise anyone. My first guess would be that it's at least semi-rural--we do have a mod here who I believe lives in that part of the state (or possibly in Vermont) and seems very knowlegable. Vter is his or her name, and they are very forthcoming with information. I, otoh, am located in the in south/eastern part of the state, where anything other than a major fixer upper is going to be at least 125K

[canyontothesky]

Should I post this maybe in the Vermont forum? I hate to post there about NH and have people hate on me, haha.

[Suzet2262]

Sure you can post this in the Vermont Forum. Vter is the Mod in that forum, and I am sure he can answer pretty much any question you have about Vermont. Good luck to you.

Originally Posted by canyontothesky

Should I post this maybe in the Vermont forum? I hate to post there about NH and have people hate on me, haha.

[GregW]

My in laws just renovated and greatly expanded the family farm house in northern NH. The original part of the house required:

New roof
Foundation repair
Basement floor
New heating system
New plumbing
New wiring
New Kitchen

The new addition doubled the space

I am not certain what they spent but it was in the range of $300,000. I think that 100k went into the old house part of the renovation. The house is beautiful, the view spectacular and the quiet worth every dime. The rest of the family is welcome to visit. Good deal for everybody.

[vter]

The Brattleboro/Keene area is very nice. Brattleboro is pretty bohemian. Keene is a small college town. Both are big enough to have decent shopping & services. There is a Target in Keene and a Walmart in Hinsdale (NH) which is just across the CT river from Brattleboro.
I'm not all that familiar with the Brattleboro area other than that. Sorry .

[WannaComeHome]

If you decide to make an offer on either of the houses, make sure to have it inspected first! You never know what you might find on them (kinda in the same boat: we're looking at a few houses as well. be sure I'll put an inspection clause in any offer)

[canyontothesky]

I've never even been to the area, I don't think I want to be so far inland as Vermont, I rather be in Maine honestly, but no I am not planning to make an offer on either house, but you can be sure that whenever I do it will be a conditional offer based on an inspection, you betcha!