Historic
1846 Wapello House with Two Porches and Flower Gardens — $130,000
6
out of 10
HousesUnder150K Score
Property Merit 50% · Condition 25% · Price/Sq Ft 15% · Market 10%
| Category | Wt. | Score | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property Merit | 50% | 7 | 1846 build, two porches, flower gardens, 1,392 sqft — genuine historic character |
| Condition | 25% | 5 | AS-IS with warm description; no system dates; historic exception applies |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 7 | Listing $93/sqft vs zip median $116/sqft — ~20% below; thin 8-comp data |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 6 | $130K vs $191,917 zip median — ~32% below median, meaningful discount |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 6 | DOM 79 days, 36% price drops, sale-to-list 97.6% — mild buyer lean |
This house was built in 1846. That is not a typo and it is not a renovation that kept a few original details. This is a 178-year-old structure still standing in Wapello, Iowa, which makes it one of the oldest homes in the state. That fact alone is enough to stop and look.
At 1,392 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath, it is a small house by any measure. But it has two porches: a front porch and a screened porch off the kitchen. If you spend any time in Iowa summers, you understand what a screened porch is worth. The backyard has flower gardens that the listing describes warmly, and from the sound of it, someone has put real care into the outdoor spaces over time.
The price is $130,000. The zip code median sits around $192,000, and at roughly $93 per square foot this comes in about 20% below comparable sales in the area. For a house this old with this much presence, that gap is meaningful. You are getting into a piece of genuine American history at a discount relative to the market around it.
Now for the honest part. The property is being sold as-is, no system dates are disclosed, and a house from 1846 has had a long time to accumulate deferred work. The condition score here reflects that uncertainty. What you cannot see in the listing is the state of the electrical, the plumbing, the foundation, or the roof. Those unknowns are real and they belong in your budget before you make an offer. An inspection matters here more than it would on a 1990s ranch.
What the price makes possible is this: a two-bedroom house with serious historic character, outdoor space someone already loved, and room to put your own work into something that most buyers will never have a chance to own. If you want a house with a story that predates the Civil War and you are prepared for the work that comes with that, this is the one.
