Historic, Garage, Finished Basement, Character Home
1909 Manly Iowa House with Detached 3-Car Garage — $109,900
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 | 1909 build, 1375 sqft, 3-car detached garage, full basement, pre-1950 floor qualifier |
| Condition | 25% | 6 | Cosmetic updates needed; solid bones stated; heated tile bath is specific positive signal |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 6 | Listing $80/sqft vs zip median $82/sqft — essentially at median, thin 8-comp data |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 4 | $109,900 is ~12% below zip median $124,946 — modest discount |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 5 | 49.5% price drops is strong buyer signal; DOM 4 days, sale-to-list 100.1% balanced |
The garage is the first thing worth understanding here. A detached 3-car garage on a property under $110,000 is the kind of thing that stops people who know what they're looking at. That's real space, the kind you can actually use for vehicles, a workshop, storage, a project. At this price, in most markets, you get a single stall if you're lucky.
The house itself is from 1909, which means you're looking at 115 years of wear alongside 115 years of what original construction actually looked like. It's 1,375 square feet across what the listing calls a functional layout, three bedrooms, one full bath, and a full basement below. The basement is useful in the straightforward sense: storage, workspace, room to expand the usable square footage if you're willing to put in the effort.
The upstairs bathroom has heated tile flooring, which is a specific and pleasant detail in a house this old. Someone put real money into that room at some point. The rest of the interior needs cosmetic work, which is an honest way of saying it will take time and money before it feels finished. How much depends on what you find and what your standards are.
At $109,900, this is priced about 12% below the zip code median. That's a modest discount, not a dramatic one. The price per square foot lands right at the local median, so you're not getting a steal on paper. What you're getting is a 1909 house with a basement and a three-car garage in a market where nearly half the active listings have taken price cuts. That context matters.
The work ahead is real. This is a house that will ask something of you before it gives much back. But for someone who wants the space, wants the garage, and has the patience for an older house, $109,900 buys a lot of room to make something of it.
