Historic, Fireplace, Character Home
1885 Brick Farmington Home with Fireplace and Open Staircase — $74,500
7
out of 10
HousesUnder150K Score
Property Merit 50% · Condition 25% · Price/Sq Ft 15% · Market 10%
| Category | Wt. | Score | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property Merit | 50% | 8 | 1885 brick, fireplace, open staircase, 1928 sqft — historic floor qualifier met clearly |
| Condition | 25% | 6 | Newer roof and new windows confirmed; AS-IS sale, interior condition unknown |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 8 | $39/sqft vs $50/sqft zip median — 22% below; thin 3-comp data, directional signal |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 8 | $74,500 vs $150K median — 50% below; thin market, 1 sale last month |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 9 | Strong buyer's market: 76.9% sale-to-list, 33% price drops, 542 median DOM |
The brick is the first thing. This house was built in 1885, and the exterior shows it — solid masonry construction from an era when that was simply how you built a house meant to last. At $74,500 for 1,928 square feet, you're paying $39 per square foot, which runs about 22% below the zip code median and roughly half of the broader market median for the area. That gap is large enough to mean something even accounting for the thin comparable data in a slow market.
Inside, the open staircase is the architectural centerpiece. It's the kind of detail that gets built once and then copied in cheaper form for the next hundred years. The living room has a fireplace. The upstairs bathroom sits adjacent to the laundry area, which is a practical arrangement even if it's a tight one. Three bedrooms, one bath, nearly 2,000 square feet — there's room for a family here, or room to spread out if it's just one or two people who want space without a mortgage that requires two incomes to carry.
The roof is newer and all the windows have been replaced. Those are the two big-ticket exterior items that tend to stop a renovation budget cold, and they're already done. What's left is interior work, and the AS-IS sale signals there's likely some of it. The listing doesn't describe the interior condition in any useful detail, so you'd be walking in without a clear picture. That's the honest downside. You need to see it in person and price the work before the number makes full sense.
Furniture and appliances stay, including the washer and dryer. That's a minor convenience, but it means you're not moving into an empty shell on day one.
For someone willing to put in the work, this is 140 years of brick construction with the expensive exterior updates already behind it, in a buyer's market where properties sit for over a year and sellers are cutting prices. The leverage here runs in the buyer's direction.
