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That is a beautiful home- I especially like the staircase- it's cost 50k just to have someone build that for you today....lol.
The map shows the location of the house being fairly close to 280, and not far from Llewellyn Park, which is the address to have in West Orange. It's a pretty nice section of town- not the best, but pretty nice. As much as the house looks great from the pics, I'm wondering if there's something we're not seeing- like knob and tube wiring, a complete lack of insulation, inadequate heating (I saw a few radiators, and there's probably no cooling at all), a wet basement, or rot/water issues- we are talking about a house that's over 125 years old, after all.
It's probably a good deal for someone who's willing to live with the inadequacies of such a home in exchange for the character and features, but the average buyer wouldn't touch it even if they had the money. Back in the early 90s, we did a bunch of work for a woman who paid 900k for a huge old house in Fanwood that had many of the same features. She used to walk around the house with a parka on (seriously) in the winter, because she'd run through a 275-gallon tank of oil in a week if she tried to heat the house up to 68 degrees. Over the years she sunk more than $1 million into restoring and modernizing that house, and it still cost her a fortune to heat- now she only needs a sweater.....lol.
I didn't see where the home was located, though I know the western half of WO is desirable, and I've heard enough about Llewellyn Park, to know that it's nice, as well. A low price like that almost makes me wonder, and possibly agree with the possibility of lack of updating for heating/cooling, or something else (perhaps foundation, or something in the walls, etc) could be wrong. Beautiful home, either way.
I remember seeing a house/mansion from the 1800's (if my memory serves me correctly) that was listed in a nicer part of West Orange, for, if I remember, a little over 700k....that also made me wonder about such a low price, for the home and the neighborhood it was in (another house, upon viewing, you'd swear to be close to, if not over a million).
Maybe these people are just trying to sell quickly.
Besides being haunted - which I think a realtor needs to disclose these days - Did anyone die in the house? I might be strange but I dont want to live in a house that had a murder or something bad happen in it. Damp basement - not good - how about termites, radon - and the big danger these days MOLD? A lot of people get a mold inspection done -
It is a really cool house - I bet it even has secret passages in it...
Besides being haunted - which I think a realtor needs to disclose these days - Did anyone die in the house? I might be strange but I dont want to live in a house that had a murder or something bad happen in it. Damp basement - not good - how about termites, radon - and the big danger these days MOLD? A lot of people get a mold inspection done -
It is a really cool house - I bet it even has secret passages in it...
Don't think they have to disclose if someone dies in a house.
Beautiful house. I used top hang out at one in Elizabeth that I'm pretty sure someone knocked down. It also had the beautiful wood. What a shame, it used to belong to a Kean frat.
Interesting....We are getting different feedback from our friends who have kids in the schools of West Orange....2 are in the Gregory School & I believe the other is called Rosevelt, but not positive. They are educated people (One is a college professor at Columbia) and they have been very happy with the school system & how active the parents are involved.
The house in question appears to need over 100K in work....but the Gregory section is a beautiful part of WO.
But test scores dont lie, these can easily be found online. West Orange schools used to be competative with it's neighbors to the west. Now they arent even in the same ball park. But to be fair, I dont think it's a huge problem at the elementary school level as it is when they hit middle school.
But test scores dont lie, these can easily be found online. West Orange schools used to be competative with it's neighbors to the west. Now they arent even in the same ball park. But to be fair, I dont think it's a huge problem at the elementary school level as it is when they hit middle school.
Too a point....If the WO school system does have more kids that don't have the same economic means (Or students that English isn't there 1st language), as some of the other towns west, it will effect the the overall scores, but it does not mean they do a bad job of educating kids. The tests are one way to measure a school, but many more factors go into it.
One of the towns we looked at was Short Hills.....A beautiful town, but we decided not to move there for the same reason we choose not to move to Southern Connecticut...Generally speaking, everyone was the same. That is not necessarily a bad thing....but coming from Manhattan one of our biggest concern moving to the burbs was the lack of diversity. That's why Mapelwood, South & West Orange were so attractive to us.
My husband found this house advertised in today's Star Ledger. West Orange. It's so cheap we both thought it needed to be completely gutted inside, so I found it online. It's gorgeous, and so unique.
I know West Orange has some sketchy areas so I suspect this is in one of them, but what else could account for this rock bottom price? I honestly thought before I saw the price it was well over $1M - and after seeing the pictures, I'm more baffled.
Well my curiosity was peaked so I signed up so I could get more info
Taxes are over $11,000 a year
address is 88 Forest Hill Rd
now going to see what else I can discover
Well my curiosity was peaked so I signed up so I could get more info
Taxes are over $11,000 a year
address is 88 Forest Hill Rd
now going to see what else I can discover
Not unusual taxes for Essex. Let us know what else you find, if you find anything!
Upon further investigation on Mapquest.com, it appears that the home is on the other side of Prospect (I've heard that Prospect is the "dividing line" of sorts, correct me if I'm wrong).
It's also only several blocks away from Scotland Road in Orange (5 minutes driving time)...which could be another reason why the house is priced so low.
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