Renovated, Character Home, Garage, Historic
1917 Charles City House, Fully Redone Inside, Big Lot — $125,000
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 | 1917 1.5-story, 1240 sqft, detached garage, large lot, front porch, formal dining |
| Condition | 25% | 8 | Named upgrades: windows, insulation, 2 mini-splits, flooring, bathrooms, kitchen — turn-key |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 4 | Listing $101/sqft vs zip median $72/sqft — 40% above; thin 8-comp data noted |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 4 | $125K vs $129,944 median — within 4%, essentially at market; no discount |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 6 | DOM 49 days median, 24.8% price drops, 99.2% sale-to-list — mild buyer signals |
The work here is already done, which is the thing that catches your eye. A 1917 house in this price range usually means you're buying a project. This one has new Window World windows throughout, RetroFoam insulation, two mini-splits, updated flooring, remodeled bathrooms, and a modernized kitchen. Someone put real money into the mechanical and cosmetic stuff that usually eats the first few years of ownership. You walk in and it's finished.
The house is 1,240 square feet across one and a half stories, which is a familiar shape for this era. Main floor has a living room, a bonus room, a formal dining room, the updated kitchen with a breakfast bar, a mudroom at the back, and a three-quarter bath. Upstairs, two bedrooms and a full bathroom. The rooms are described as generous, and for a 1917 house at this size, the layout has more going on than you'd expect. Front porch faces the street.
The lot is 75 by 150 feet, which gives you a real backyard, not just a strip of grass. There's a detached one-stall garage. For a house in town at this price, that's a setup worth having, whether you want storage, a workspace, or just somewhere to put a car.
The honest wrinkle is price. At $101 per square foot, this listing is sitting about 40 percent above the zip code median, and it's priced essentially at market with no meaningful discount built in. The 1917 character and the recent updates support a premium, but the data has only eight comparable sales to lean on, so the picture is thin. The market in Charles City has shown some softness, with nearly a quarter of listings taking price cuts, and this one has been sitting for a bit. That context is worth keeping in mind.
What you get here is a house where the hard decisions have been made and the heavy lifting is done. Two bedrooms for a couple or a small family, a big lot to use however you want, and a 1917 frame with enough updates that you can move in and live in it.
