Hidden Gem, Finished Basement, Income Potential
1957 Ranch with Finished Basement and Kitchenette, 50% Below Zip Median — $124,500
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 | 1,968 sqft ranch, finished basement with kitchenette, bonus rooms, deck, front porch |
| Condition | 25% | 6 | 1957 build, no system dates given, no renovation history — unknown condition |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 9 | $63/sqft vs $126 zip median — 50% below; 8 comps, directional but meaningful |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 9 | $124,500 vs $186,651 median — 33% below; thin market, directional signal |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 5 | Balanced — 100.2% sale-to-list caps upside; 28.1% price drops a mild positive; floor applied |
At $63 a square foot, this is about half what comparable homes in this zip code are selling for. That number alone is what makes you stop. The zip median is $126 per square foot. The broader market median sale price sits around $187,000. This one is priced at $124,500. That gap is large enough to matter.
What you get for that price is a 1,968 square foot single-level ranch with a fully finished basement. The main floor has three bedrooms and the layout reads straightforward — front porch, living space, back deck with access to a flat backyard. The porch and deck are both there, which is more than a lot of houses at this price can say.
The basement is where the square footage opens up. It has a family room, two bonus rooms, a full bathroom, and a kitchenette. That is a lot of usable space below grade. A family could put it to work as a second living area, guest quarters, or a home office setup with a bathroom and a place to make coffee. The kitchenette and separate bathroom also make this worth thinking about if you have someone who needs a degree of independence — an older parent, a college-age kid, or a tenant. Whether it clears the bar for a legal rental unit in Johnson City would need verification, but the bones of a second living space are there.
The honest problem with this house is that it was built in 1957 and the listing provides no dates on any of the systems. No roof age, no furnace, no water heater, no windows. That is a meaningful gap. A house this age with no renovation history disclosed could be fine or could be carrying deferred maintenance you cannot see in photos. A thorough inspection is the only way to know what you are actually buying.
At this price, there is room for that uncertainty. Even if the inspection surfaces real work to do, the gap between $124,500 and the market median leaves space to absorb it. That is what the price makes possible here.
