Waterfront, Character Home, Acreage, Historic
1920 James River Frontage, 0.88 Acres, Covered Porch — $86,000
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 | Riverfront + 0.88 acres + 1920 home + covered porch + shed; two floor qualifiers stacked |
| Condition | 25% | 7 | New windows and LVP flooring noted; no roof/HVAC dates given; condition partially unknown |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 6 | Listing $94/sqft vs zip median $96/sqft; essentially at median, thin 7-comp dataset |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 6 | $86K vs $135K median — 36% below, but single comp makes zip median directional only |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 7 | DOM 198 days zip median, 100% price drops, 95.1% sale-to-list — clear buyer's market |
The backyard ends at the James River. That is the thing to understand first. This is a 1920 house on 0.88 acres in New Rockford, and the back of the property runs directly to the water. For $86,000. That combination takes a minute to process.
The lot itself is big enough that the river feels like a private amenity rather than a shared one. Mature trees throughout. A shed for storage. Room for a garden, a firepit, a dock if you wanted one. The kind of yard where you could spend a whole afternoon and not feel like you need to go anywhere.
The house is 914 square feet across two floors, with a covered front porch that faces the street. Inside, the main level has a living room, dining room, kitchen, and laundry, plus one bathroom. Upstairs are two bedrooms, a second bathroom, and an additional room that could go a lot of different ways — office, hobby space, guest overflow. Vinyl plank flooring runs throughout, and new vinyl windows have been installed. Forced-air natural gas heat, city water, city sewer.
Where things get less clear: no information on the roof or HVAC age. The windows are new, the floors are new, but the house is 104 years old and the listing does not tell you much about what else has been touched. That is worth a careful walk-through and an honest inspection before anything else.
The market context here is also worth knowing. Homes in this zip code have been sitting 198 days on average, and every recent listing has had a price reduction. This one has been on for a while. That is the environment you are negotiating in.
But the math is hard to dismiss. Riverfront property with nearly an acre of land in a town with city services for under $90,000. If you want space, water access, and room to make something your own without starting from scratch financially, this is where you look.
