Carbondale , The Good ,The Bad , The Ugly , The Potential.. (Scranton: sale, lease) - Northeastern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania (PA) -Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area - City-Data Forum

Riverside4ever · 03-14-2010, 06:55 AM

I see a slew of ""Cheap "" houses for sale in Carbondale . I have a friend who is flipping one there , I dont know much about the town as I drove through about a dozen times . ( to me it looked run down ) then I see they built a brand new YMCA , Is this town on a rebound ? Or is it just what it is . I dont see a lot of shops open (lots of Bars ) Would you buy a house there ? I might jump into a Flip house or two there If my friend sells theirs ..

They got a house for $30,000 cash and invested another $25k and say they will get $90K for it .. Hell if they do I can handle a $40k profit and do the remodel in 1/4 of the time its taking them..

I'd like some imput on this town .. The outskirts mainly Not the dead center of town ( where the Y and dunkin donuts is )

unionjack3902 · 03-14-2010, 07:45 AM

We are looking at a house to rent w lease/option about three blocks off n main street. Neighborhood looks a little bit "worn" from the street nothing a bit of scraping and paint won't fix. Going to have to get inside and do some hard looking around first. We haven't looked at the outskirts mainly because we dont care for the cookie cutter houses with little to no architectual interest. It looks like what you call "flippers" are doing most of the reno's but if that saves some fundamentally sound homes I am all for it. If you get buyers that want to preserve the "older" homes it could be a tremendous boom to carbondale and a few others that have suffered through neglect. With the current state of economy there will have to be a population with some disposable income to attract new businesses prefferably mom and pop as opposed to another walmart, or a hometown bakery compared to the dunkin doughnuts lol. I say go for it one place at a time, do a quality job with good materials and craftsmanship that will last and word will get around. In your exampe above if you can do the redo in 1/4 of the time why not do 4 houses and make say 20k on each instead, more chance of resale on 70k instead of 90k and more $$$ to you in the long run. But yeah I/we would buy in C'dale

Jackie2008 · 03-14-2010, 05:49 PM

There are some nice areas surrounding Carbondale, including a development in Carbondale Township, which you would find if you go up Church Street and make a right past the light at the former Zazzera's Market. Go up Garfield Ave., make a left and then another right. The name of those streets escape me now. But there are lots of nice homes up there. Also, all the older homes around Marian Community Hospital are nice - lots of Victorians. As far as Carbondale thriving, a hotel is supposed to be built not too far from Dunkin Donuts in the near future. Whether it happens remains to be seen.

unionjack3902 · 03-14-2010, 06:36 PM

Oh yes the house we are getting is not far from the hospital at all and yes some lovely homes, but rather on the large size for a "downsizing" couple lol. As far as a hotel being built, wouldn't it be grand if some older houses could be turned into b&b's. We stayed exclusively at country b&b's in great britian with the exception of the hotel at heathrow airport and found them not only charming and warm but a much better "deal" than the "antiseptic" airport hotel. Love to see the pbs show "This Old House" do some in the area, I'm sure lots less would have to be done than in my home neck of the woods in Boston.

carbondalian · 03-22-2010, 06:08 PM

Carbondale has some nice areas. Around the hospital and down through Archbald, High, and Park streets are nice. There are some nice old homes up there. Drive (from downtown) up the 2 roads that run parallel to the hospital. Turn right on any of those streets and drive all the way over to 10th, and 8th streets. You will see nice, quiet, old communities within walking distance to downtown.

Check out the cozy corner cafe across from the American Baptist church in town for a good breakfast....very clean and good food.

As for selling....that's a question for the economy in general. Old houses in Carbondale that have a lot going for them are listing in the $120's. If you got a solid house within 5 blocks of the good side of the hospital for less than 60K, you could probably fix it and sell it for 100K or more if it had offstreet parking and a yard.

But don't buy cheap off of Burkett Street. That is not the side of town to purchase in at this time. Give it a few more years, though it is changing, slowly and noticeably.

KarenRice · 03-22-2010, 07:14 PM

It would be nice to see this sleepy old former coal town wake up - there are some really cool houses there, and it's a really convenient location.

when i was little my mom used to go to a salvation army in town. I remember a lot more stores and the town actually looked alive then - I guess it was the mid to late 70s. We used to go to the Ames there as well before the one in Hamlin opened. I always liked Carbondale for some reason, even years later as it became more and more run down, I still have some kind of affection for it, probably just cause I liked going there with my mom.

Riverside4ever · 03-23-2010, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbondalian

Carbondale has some nice areas. Around the hospital and down through Archbald, High, and Park streets are nice. There are some nice old homes up there. Drive (from downtown) up the 2 roads that run parallel to the hospital. Turn right on any of those streets and drive all the way over to 10th, and 8th streets. You will see nice, quiet, old communities within walking distance to downtown.

Check out the cozy corner cafe across from the American Baptist church in town for a good breakfast....very clean and good food.

As for selling....that's a question for the economy in general. Old houses in Carbondale that have a lot going for them are listing in the $120's. If you got a solid house within 5 blocks of the good side of the hospital for less than 60K, you could probably fix it and sell it for 100K or more if it had offstreet parking and a yard.

But don't buy cheap off of Burkett Street. That is not the side of town to purchase in at this time. Give it a few more years, though it is changing, slowly and noticeably.

Thanks for the info ,,

ConfusingRotary · 03-24-2010, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarenRice

it's a really convenient location.

To what? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just curious.

I don't know much about Carbondale, I've only ever been there maybe 5 times in my life. That said, I'm looking to potentially buy up a cheaper house and I also noticed the low prices there.

I'd obviously look around it more before I got anything, but it seemed promising price-wise.

to570717 · 03-25-2010, 07:39 AM

I have a special affinity towards Carbondale. My mothers side of the family has operated a business there since 1929!

Again, the thing that makes the town, much like Scranton is its Community feel and the people. I personally do not see the attraction for someone who does not have deep roots the the area. You'll end up sounding a lot like the other posters on this board who are miserable with their current status.

People don't move to Carbondale for the amenities. They move to be near family or raise their kids. IMO

I like Archbald, that is is a great little town.

KarenRice · 03-25-2010, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marchawg

To what? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just curious.

I don't know much about Carbondale, I've only ever been there maybe 5 times in my life. That said, I'm looking to potentially buy up a cheaper house and I also noticed the low prices there.

I'd obviously look around it more before I got anything, but it seemed promising price-wise.

It's close to Scranton where a lot of people work and shop. It's also not far from Honesdale, where other people work.