First night in <20K home..... (Congress: credit, house, neighborhoods)

[khuntrevor]

yes....did you see it?

[AZgarden]

No, I didn't see it, but thought maybe there would be (or should be) in that area. Its a great deal for you cause you could always fix it up and rent it out if you decide you don't like the area. As for me, I would be scared to death to live there.

[khuntrevor]

Thousands of people spend a good bit of time and money to come work in this area, every day. 7th St. and Indian School are both well lit, and heavily patroled. For very urban living, imo, it is above average safety wise. It also appears to be a little better than many of the areas between 16th St. and the 51, where I was also looking. The slab foundation was key for me. I was real close to buying on 13th St., in the Coronado for less than 50K, but the 1936 home needed extensive crawl space/floor joist work (it did sell for 40K).

[GreenNorthwestScott]

Originally Posted by khuntrevor

Thousands of people spend a good bit of time and money to come work in this area, every day. 7th St. and Indian School are both well lit, and heavily patroled. For very urban living, imo, it is above average safety wise. It also appears to be a little better than many of the areas between 16th St. and the 51, where I was also looking. The slab foundation was key for me. I was real close to buying on 13th St., in the Coronado for less than 50K, but the 1936 home needed extensive crawl space/floor joist work (it did sell for 40K).

Good for you. That is a steal. Just a few blocks of you are some of the designated historical neighborhoods plus some of the really pricey older homes that in the old days used to be the original Phoenix. I would love to have that small of an investment with that upside potential. Do all the visible (inexpensive) landscape things, some paint, maybe a little picket fence in the front, and you show you are in the neighborhood to stay and start attracting other investors/homeowners. In this market you might find yourself with lots of positive company willing to recreate a nice piece of the past for a small investment and nice future returns. This may have been the best deal you ever make on this planet. Congrats.

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by khuntrevor

Thousands of people spend a good bit of time and money to come work in this area, every day. 7th St. and Indian School are both well lit, and heavily patroled. For very urban living, imo, it is above average safety wise.

Back in the days before Times Square was a Disney-fied tourist mecca, I had a friend (a working actor you never heard of) who lived in a highrise right in the center of the mayhem. Everyone shrieked at him, "How can you live there? You're going to be murdered!" And it was noticeable that at night the place did favor drug addicts, hookers, and homeless people. Bob would reply, "That's just the point. On any given night there are more police officers here than any place in New York. I've lived all over this city and I've never felt safer. And I can afford my own place without having roommates."

He's not with us any more, but it had nothing to do with crime or urban danger. Had he BOUGHT that tiny condo he was renting, his relatives would have inherited a sizable amount of cash.

As one who also remembers South Beach when it was a place nice Miami residents didn't go and the Tenderloin in San Francisco before one bedrooms cost more than half a million dollars, I'd wager you're going to have the last laugh. All the best to you, khuntrevor. Enjoy your gentrification project and keep us posted. How about a blog of your adventures in Phoenix urbanism?

[dougstech]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

Back in the days before Times Square was a Disney-fied tourist mecca, I had a friend (a working actor you never heard of) who lived in a highrise right in the center of the mayhem. Everyone shrieked at him, "How can you live there? You're going to be murdered!" And it was noticeable that at night the place did favor drug addicts, hookers, and homeless people. Bob would reply, "That's just the point. On any given night there are more police officers here than any place in New York. I've lived all over this city and I've never felt safer. And I can afford my own place without having roommates."

He's not with us any more, but it had nothing to do with crime or urban danger. Had he BOUGHT that tiny condo he was renting, his relatives would have inherited a sizable amount of cash.

As one who also remembers South Beach when it was a place nice Miami residents didn't go and the Tenderloin in San Francisco before one bedrooms cost more than half a million dollars, I'd wager you're going to have the last laugh. All the best to you, khuntrevor. Enjoy your gentrification project and keep us posted. How about a blog of your adventures in Phoenix urbanism?

A very well written post. Congrats to the OP on the steal.

[imcurious]

Pictures, please: Also what is lot size, sq ft of house, state of elec & plumbing . . . is it wood or something else?

If you like it, that is all that matters. I am just curious.

[khuntrevor]

Green, Juke, and Doug...thanks for the encoragement. Curious, the lot is over 7200, and the house is small, as previously stated, 400 SF to be exact, but it has a really nice cottage feel to it. Electrical is a B, Plumbing B-, foundation A, block wall A. Pictures will come soon. I think I got 45 channels of TV for free, a Dollar per week for Wed. and Sunday for the Republic, APS for electric, and SWG for gas, and Cox Internet. BTW, I was very impressed with the professionalism of the utility companies. It's not like that everywhere.

[amatrine]

They have houses out here in Arizona city starting at auction at 15k.
Its sad. My house that was 100k, is now worth 39. You can get a steal out here rite now.

[khuntrevor]

Amatrine, those auction starting bids mean zilch if there is an unpublished reserve price. Only participate in absolute auctions REDC is rife with fraud, and you could easily end up paying a lot more than if you had just called zip or remax.